At HLTH, Bessemer investors Sofia Guerra and Steve Kraus detailed four predictions about where they think the digital health world is headed in 2024. One of these was that “services-as-software” will emerge as a new category of healthcare AI. Another was that some healthcare technology vendors will have to rethink their distribution models and rely on indirect monetization strategies.

7wireVentures launched its largest fund to date on Tuesday — the closing of the $217 million digital health fund brings the Chicago-based firm’s assets under management to more than $500 million. Two-thirds of the new fund’s capital will be allocated to 7wireVentures’ existing portfolio companies for follow-up investments, and the remaining third will go toward Series B and Series C funding round for companies in which the firm hasn’t yet invested.

Solera Health recently launched HALO, a platform that allows payers and employers to manage both Solera point solution partners and non-Solera point solutions in one place.

A new PitchBook report listed several predictions for digital health companies in regards to weight loss drugs, including the potential for new weight loss startups and possible challenges for existing nutrition companies.

The Peterson Health Technology Institute will function as an “independent evaluator” of digital health solutions. It will analyze solutions’ clinical effectiveness, how they’re affecting healthcare costs, their ability to improve health equity, and their privacy and security capabilities. 

Affect Therapeutics’ $16 million Series A funding round was led by ARTIS Ventures and included participation from AlleyCorp, CityLight, LifeArc Ventures, Samsung Next and What If Ventures. In total, Affect Therapeutics has raised about $26 million, said Kristin Muhlner, co-founder and CEO of the company.

Providers often have a checklist of requirements they use to determine whether they should bring new technology into their organization. Digital health startups would be wise to learn about these criteria when taking their products to market, said Meg Barron, the AMA’s vice president of digital health strategy, at a recent conference. That way, startups can build their products around meeting providers’ needs.

A new cohort of startups has graduated from PharmStars, a digital health accelerator. This latest group focused on women’s health and health equity.

Israeli health tech fund Shoni Health Ventures recently launched to invest in digital health and medical device startups that are in the pre-seed and seed stages of fundraising. The fund is affiliated with Sheba Medical Center, the largest hospital in Israel. Startups will have access to the hospital’s innovation center so that they can develop, pilot and commercialize their products.

Numerous clinical, regulatory and financial factors are behind this digital shift in pharma. Regardless of the reasons, investors, pharma, and research organizations are recognizing that advanced digital health tools will be a significant competitive advantage and generate meaningful return on investment (ROI) in an industry that is becoming more personalized and specialized.

Hospitals’ digital health adoption exploded during the pandemic, leading to many vendor contracts spanning three to five years. As these contracts reach their expiration dates over this year and next, a new report predicts that telemedicine platforms and remote patient monitoring tools face the highest risk of being turned over by hospitals.

A group of healthcare researchers and health system leaders recently proposed a new framework to evaluate evidence for digital health products. The framework seeks to provide hospitals, payers and trade organizations with a clear set of steps they can use to determine whether or not a digital health product is evidence-based and therefore suitable for their company to adopt.

Hyro — a New York-based startup selling a conversational AI platform for providers — recently closed a $20 million Series B funding round. The platform is “mostly plug-and-play” and requires minimal effort and resources from providers, CEO Israel Krush said.

Global funding for digital health companies finally stabilized in Q1 of this year. The sector raised $3.4 billion — this marks the first time the digital health world didn’t experience a quarter-over-quarter funding decline since Q4 of 2021. By holding steady, digital health startups defied the dwindling fundraising totals seen across the broader venture capital landscape, where funding dropped by 13% quarter-over-quarter.

It’s clear that services like telehealth and remote patient monitoring have potential to provide value within the healthcare industry, but hospitals and digital health companies need to show payers clearer evidence of the outcomes these care modalities can produce in order to earn reimbursement, panelists argued during MedCity’s INVEST conference.

A panel during the MedCity News INVEST conference discussed what digital health technologies need to do to demonstrate return on investment for payers, providers, and other stakeholders.

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To build remote patient monitoring technology for ready adoption, repetitive data streams must be avoided. To be successful in clinical adoption, we offer technology companies the following three recommendations.

With five tracks of startups across healthcare and life sciences, INVEST Pitch Perfect, scheduled for May 22-24 at the Ritz Carlton in Chicago, is MedCity’s largest startup pitch contest of the year. 

Carallel, a startup that provides digital tools to support family caregivers, recently raised $8.2 million in Series A funding. The Chicago-based company’s services are offered as a benefit by health plans and employers.

Implementing and pursuing innovation in digital health and healthcare IT should be a priority for all U.S. healthcare providers and payers — especially as the lessons and response to the Covid-19 pandemic become permanently part of our everyday lives.

A clinical trial population should mimic the patient population that will ultimately use the therapy […]

During Q3, digital health’s funding fell 36% quarter-over-quarter and 72% from its all-time high during last year’s Q2. The primary driver of this reduction is macro market trends, experts said, though digital health companies need to tie their services more directly to value to get funding in the future.

Executives from Huma, Abbott, Smith & Nephew and AliveCor share how they are using real world evidence collection to support remote patient monitoring, maximize patient engagement and navigate the regulatory landscape.

As digital health gains popularity, the survey provides payers and other healthcare stakeholders with key information on consumers’ preferences when it comes to virtual primary care.

The SCOTUS vote to overturn Roe v Wade has drawn greater attention to women’s health and health equity. Here’s a look at some of the health tech companies addressing this shifting landscape.

Traditionally a wellness company focused on meditation and relaxation, Calm is moving into the healthcare space with a new solution called Calm Health. The solution will launch early next year and will cater to payers, providers and self-insured employers.

Ochsner Health recently released the results of its digital health pilot program for Medicaid patients with hypertension and type 2 diabetes. The program, which combines remote patient monitoring with personalized care teams, did an efficient job at bringing down patients’ blood pressure and hemoglobin A1c levels.

Biohacking, also known as human augmentation or human enhancement, is a way to do-it-yourself when it comes to your personal biology, with an aim to improving performance, health, and wellbeing through strategic interventions focused on prevention.

Hear from patients, leading provider and payer executives, investors, and healthcare startups about how to improve the patient experience at the event, which kicks off the first day of the HLTH conference. ENGAGE at HLTH is scheduled for November 13 at the Venetian Expo in Las Vegas.