The end of last week marked an Apocalypse Light in telehealth, but it was coming in this Editor’s opinion. And Pepper the Robot has nothing to do with it, other than representing telehealth’s state, and perhaps this Editor’s. Two events–the forced exit of 15-year CEO Jason Gorevic from Teladoc and both Teladoc’s and Amwell’s continued market weakness and long roads to breakeven, if ever–have caused many in the field to think hard about our direction and where telehealth is going. Both Teladoc and Amwell are the pioneers in provider-to-patient telehealth, going back over 20 years. While Amwell is no longer... Continue Reading
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Weekend reading: AI cybersecurity tools no panacea, reality v. illusion in healthcare AI, RPM in transitioning to hospital-at-home, Korean study on older adult health tech usage
A potpourri of current articles. Hope you don’t feel like Pepper the Robot after you read them! AI won’t boost cybersecurity, that’s cutting corners (Cybernews) AI tools that make cybersecurity more effective and faster in response are increasingly available. They are estimated in a Techopedia article rounding up multiple studies to be a global market of over $133 billion by 2030. IBM claims that organizations with AI cybersecurity took 100 days less to identify and contain data breaches. Yet AI can also leave organizations more vulnerable to cyberattack. Hackers and ransomwareistes have been using AI for years in phishing and... Continue Reading
News roundup: Musk’s Neuralink implants first human BCI; Cigna’s $3.7B MA sale to HCSC; no Amazon deal for iRobot; DispatchHealth-Instacart food Rx; 5 India health tech fundings (updated)
...tying pharmacy services to the MA plans for four years after the HCSC buy. Healthcare Dive iRobot sale to Amazon fails due to “no path to regulatory approval”, company lays off 31% of staff. In more bad news for Amazon, regulatory disapproval by the EU finally put paid to the deal for the Roomba maker. The EU found that Amazon’s ownership would have restricted competition in the robot vacuum cleaner category by restricting access to Amazon’s marketplace. This is no different than the FTC and DOJ in the US which blocked it for two years. Amazon will pay iRobot a... Continue Reading
News roundup: Owlet’s Dream Sock, BabySat go to market; General Catalyst’s HATco agrees to buy Summa; Cigna’s contrasting provider strategy; new ElliQ robot assistant debuts at CES
...Becker’s Payer They’ll have some cash to do so; Cigna’s sale of their Medicare Advantage business will likely be to Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC) and fetch $3 to $4 billion. Becker’s Payer Intuition Robotics debuts ElliQ 3 at CES. An interactive desktop companion robot designed to improve social connection and alleviate loneliness of older adults and those with assistive needs, the new version updates the robot hardware and software capabilities including generative AI capabilities powered by Large Language Model (LLM). The new design from Yves Behar’s design studio, Fuseproject, is also 1.3 pounds lighter and has a 36% smaller... Continue Reading
Short takes: Intuition Robotics gains $25M funding, Akili Interactive abandons digital Rx therapeutics, NextGen goes private for $1.8B, ATA’s DC advocacy ‘fly in’ + launches new tools on disparities
Catching up on the catchup… Israel-based Intuition Robotics raised $25 million. The unlettered round closed at end of August with $20 million in venture capital plus $5 million in venture debt. According to the release, the funding was led by Woven Capital, the growth fund of Toyota, with participation from Toyota Ventures, OurCrowd, Western Technology Investment, and additional investors. Intuition Robotics is the developer of ElliQ, an interactive desktop companion robot targeted to older adults and those with assistive needs, last covered in their 2.0 update last December and their involvement with New York’s Office for the Aging [TTA 25... Continue Reading
Ireland’s Clare Island as multimodal rural telehealth and telemonitoring testbed
...monitoring, including blood pressure, weight, and blood glucose. This connects to clinics on the mainland, freeing up local clinic time. Irish company MyPatientSpace provides the platform. The RPM for islanders is augmented by an artificial intelligence algorithm that allocates clinic slots if data readings for blood pressure or glucose readings indicate the need for an in-person clinic visit. A recent demonstration showed how a drone could deliver an epipen to the local clinic, while MADRA the robot (Medical Autonomous Droid Remote Assistance–above left) scaled mountainous terrain to deliver first aid. A private 5G wireless system was installed to facilitate video... Continue Reading
DOJ drops appeal to block UHG-Change; more hints that FTC will be hunting big game with Amazon
...beyond the Amazon-One Medical buy and warnings about failing to maintain consumer privacy [TTA 3 Mar] to include multiple practices. The POLITICO report indicates that there are at least six ongoing investigations by the FTC’s competition and consumer protection teams, with three apparently near the boiling point of action: Blocking the acquisition of iRobot, famous for its Roomba robot vacuums. Amazon’s $1.7 billion acquisition has stalled with FTC rumoring action and Amazon apparently shutting down any further information. It does not have UK or EU approvals, which gives the FTC some more time to build a case. iRobot is the... Continue Reading
News (and robot) roundup: ElliQ companion robot upgrades, named to 2022 TIME list; Robin the Robot introduced for older adult care; Utilita acquires Canary Care (UK)
ElliQ, a desktop companion robot targeted to older adults and those with assistive needs, announced an upgrade to their software, a new 2.0 edition of their hardware (left), and a communication app for caregivers. In March, when Intuition Robotics launched it, this Editor noted its unusual shape, versatile small size, controlled by a small tablet with a simplified interface, and its ability to combine both chat interactivity and wellness tracking, including appointments and med reminders. The new software enhances interactivity with deeper conversations, and more content, such as museum exhibit tours, virtual travel, and the recording of memories to send... Continue Reading
News briefs, catchup edition: UnitedHealth/Change decision October?, CVS wins $8B Signify Health auction, Walgreens majority buy of CareCentrix, FTC requests more info on Amazon-One Medical
...This was announced in a 1Life Healthcare (parent of One Medical) 8-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Both 1Life and Amazon received requests for additional information on 2 September, above and beyond the usual required Hart-Scott-Rodino Act (HSR) reports that will be reviewed by the FTC and DOJ. Effectively it extends the HSR waiting period by 30 days after One Medical and Amazon have substantially complied with the additional information ‘second request’. The FTC isn’t winning popularity contests with Amazon’s legal department, as the agency is reviewing their acquisition of iRobot, maker of robot vacuum cleaners. Mobihealthnews... Continue Reading
Mid-week roundup: UnitedHealth-Change trial kicks off; Amazon’s One Medical buy questioned; Cionic’s neural sleeve designed by Yves Behar; Medable-Withings partner; Orion Health’s new CEO; IBM Watson Health’s Simon Hawken passes
...fabric feels like an athletic legging, and is available in multiple colors and sizes. Paired with the intuitive CIONIC app, the sleeve enables the user to be in control of their own mobility journey.” Cionic is taking pre-orders for delivery in early 2023. Also The Robot Report. Medable partners with Withings for clinical trials. Medable, a clinical trials platform, is partnering with Withings Health Solutions to connect Withings devices for monitoring at home. Withings devices will provide medical-grade measurements, including temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, sleep patterns, and weight to connect the data into Medable’s decentralized clinical trial platform. Direct... Continue Reading
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