Alyssa Jaffee

This 👂 podcast episode and insight’s from a16z Bio + Health's Julie Yoo spoke so clearly to the fundamental challenge facing both 🩺 clinicians and 🏥 healthcare systems.  There is a huge disconnect between supply, in the availability of clinicians, and demand, in the increasing volume and complexity of healthcare needs. -     36% of physicians plan to reduce their hours next year according to the AMA -     48% of physicians reported feeling burned out in a 2024 Medscape survey At the same time, the demographic baby boomer bubble and steady increase in the prevalence of major chronic disease, which consumes up to 90% of healthcare expenditures according to some estimates, is driving demand. With this context, Yoo points to a major opportunity for AI adoption in healthcare in 2025. Yeah, a VC hyping a wave of new AI companies that will replace the decades of training and experience of clinicians, the skeptic would say.  But Yoo is thoughtful in pointing to the role AI can play, and is already playing, through solutions such as ambient, autonomous scribe solutions (of which local star Abridge is leading the pack) in not replacing, but freeing up productivity for clinicians. There is so much unstructured context in both the complexity of disease and treatment options and the social/emotional considerations that we shouldn't be looking for AI to *replace* clinicians. But companies are getting better at finding the structured, repetitive and time-consuming places where AI tools can *help* clinicians. Nearly two-thirds of doctors cited bureaucratic tasks as the leading contributor to burnout. Rigorously trained-AI driven solutions can be a force multiplier for clinicians, and I’ve seen several interviews where nurses and doctors go as far as to say some of these solutions are ”restoring their joy in practicing medicine”. Our health is precious; and we rightly want any technology engaging with it to be developed thoughtfully and thoroughly tested. This requires top AI talent and diverse and realistic training data. Pittsburgh’s strengths in both areas is why we are an emerging hub for data-driven healthcare. #AIinhealthcare #clinicianburnout #healthinnovation #digitalhealth

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Another large funding round in the virtual behavioral health space. It's interesting to note Talkiatry's focus on a physician-centric care model with W-2 providers, as opposed to most of the other players who are delivering care with 1099 mid-level therapists. However, it's still not clear to me how they are measuring care quality and outcomes, which is the foundation of true value-based care.

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I always read Rock Health's digital health reports as they give a nice pulse feel for what is happening in the digital health funding space. Good to see funds raised in H1 2024 suggest funding in the sector seems to have stabilized at 2023 levels. Its no surprise the report emphasis the buzz around AI and healthcare. There have been clear winners in the AI healthcare space in the area of process and cost optimization and the R&D space. The impact of AI in care and treatment delivery is so far much more muted. One area I never though to look at AI was in its ability to bring together multiple healthcare pathways and digital point solutions into a more holistic seamless experience for the patient. There is a clear trend away from using stand alone digital health point solutions, and could AI address this challenge by facilitating the efficient integration of disparate processes and technology into unified care programs. I can see this happening with digital health products but this will be more tricky to do with physical care programs involving clinicians and HCPs. “AI is helping us combine multiple parts of the care journey, across all care experiences. In the future, benefits navigation, clinical guidance, and care delivery won’t be delivered by separate companies or point solutions within the healthcare ecosystem. They’ll be features that work in concert within products, and they’ll happen in under 90 seconds for a seamless patient experience.” – Glen Tullman, CEO, Transcarent and Managing Partner, 7wireVentures

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🎥 Exciting update: I recently joined Jody Tropeano Greene to discuss the DiMe Seal, a milestone in building trust and accountability in digital health. Check out our conversation here: https://lnkd.in/epMHYU5x 🌟 Launched at HLTH 2024, the DiMe Seal recognizes high-quality, trustworthy digital health software products. Since its debut, we’ve seen incredible momentum: 🏥 Healthcare systems and payers across the US are looking to the DiMe Seal to help de-risk their digital health software purchases 🌍 Digital health software developers across the world are recognizing the value of the DiMe Seal to distinguish their products in a crowded market 👉 Are you a developer of digital health software products? Pursue the DiMe Seal and join the leaders setting the standard for quality and trust in healthcare innovation. Register today and use the code HLTH25 for a 25% discount https://lnkd.in/eTb6rRbj Let’s continue to raise the bar for digital health together! 🚀 #DigitalHealth #DiMeSeal #HLTH2024 #Innovation #TrustInHealth

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Imagine swallowing the competition whole. That's what many players in tech do via roll-up strategies, gobbling up smaller firms to deliver richer solutions and amass greater market share. Where else are roll-up strategies common? // HEALTHCARE Picture being a patient at a medical practice that’s been part of a roll-up in Healthcare Services. It's an industry ripe for roll-ups due to its fragmented nature and potential for greater efficiency. // CONSUMER SERVICES Or let's say you needed your HVAC serviced, and notice your local repairman is now part of a bigger Consumer Services entity? Centralized management and scale economy turn these localized businesses into roll-up targets. // FINANCIAL SERVICES Think about your insurance agent or wealth management advisor. They're working in complex, highly regulated environments. In the Financial Services sector, roll-ups offer an effective way to consolidate expertise, streamline operations, and enhance customer offerings. // MANUFACTURING Now, imagine driving past factories under a new name — the result of Manufacturing and Industrial Services roll-ups. Bulk purchasing reduces costs, enhances production capabilities, and expands geographical footprints. // REAL ESTATE Lastly, envision your real estate brokerage firm. The industry sees roll-ups as a strategic move to increase market penetration, enhance service offerings, and hike up portfolio value. Roll-ups play a huge role in most industries, rather like a snowball rolling downhill, gaining momentum, and size. Are you seeing roll-ups in your sector or considering M&A?

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✅Our healthcare report and market map are finally live✅ Over the past several months, I have shared with anyone who would listen that Michael Cardamone and I were in conversation with innovation executives across four of the top healthcare systems in the U.S. including Mayo Clinic Ventures, Hackensack Meridian Health, Cone Health Ventures, and University Hospitals Ventures to understand current strategies and priorities in order to hone in on our investment thesis. The goal was to arm healthtech founders with the inside perspective on the critical investment areas for US hospitals to help establish product-market fit and solve the industry's most pressing challenges. Links to download the report, check out the market map, and submit your company are all in the comments. Thank you to our contributing experts Shai Ran Sapir, Technology Development Manager at Mayo Clinic Ventures, Sandra Powell-Elliott, Chief Innovation and Commercialization Officer at Hackensack Meridian Health, David Heenan, Managing Director at Cone Health Ventures, and Matthew Zenker, Director of Deal Flow and Investments at University Hospitals Ventures. #healthcare #innovation #healthtech #earlystage #healthtechfounders #healthcarestartups

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Still trying to make sense of Walmart pulling back from healthcare delivery? 3 quick thoughts: 🏥 Healthcare delivery is hard, even for companies where it's a primary focus. Navigating reimbursement and competition is extremely challenging. 💸 The patient may be a customer, but they are never the payer. 📊 No matter a company's stature, cooperation and reimbursement from health plans—both nationally and locally—are still critical for building profitable businesses. For a deeper dive, check out our full analysis here: https://lnkd.in/eXTeugKD

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Redesign Health has launched its largest fund to date, securing $175M to support over 20 new healthcare startups. Founded in 2018, the venture builder has previously incubated more than 60 companies, including Scriptology and Vivid Health. The new fund aims to address challenges such as healthy aging, interoperability, and expanding sites of care. This funding underscores investor confidence in tackling the $4T healthcare market's persistent challenges.

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Taking stock of primary care today and looking ahead.... Increasing presence, market share for non-traditional providers - payers, advanced primary care providers, primary care enablers. Question marks over retail's presence in primary care and what care models and patient populations they might need to focus on to be a force. #VBC #populationhealth #primarycare #caremodels

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On the latest Vital Signs, Nikhil Krishnan and I sat down with Parth Mehrotra, CEO of Privia Health. Privia is a physician enablement platform and >$2B public company partnering with 4500+ providers on practice improvement and value-based care. We talk about the most important ways to manage risk, building effective physician enablement solutions, the future of value-based care programs & contracts, and more. Some highlights: 🏥 Capabilities practices need to participate in risk-based contracts Parth highlights 3 sets of capabilities:  1. Diversification of risk. This can range from pooling the risk with other providers to hedging risk across multiple programs.  2. Audit, compliance, controls and documentation 3. A tech stack and data that allows the provider to understand their patient population and care for them throughout the entire care workflow (e.g., identifying the patient’s relevant conditions, closing care gaps, caring for the patient after the visit). 🏥 The types of providers partnering with Privia Parth explains that physicians have 4 general settings in which to practice medicine: 1. Being employed by a hospital or a clinic. 2. Starting their own practice or joining another independent practice. 3. An independent practice that partners with another entity to help with business operations. 4. Selling the practice and having the new owner transform it. He notes that practices that join Privia are self-selecting: these physicians want to stay independent but need another player to help throughout the entirety of the practice. 🏥 How physician enablement companies influence practices Parth is a strong believer that physician enablement companies don’t need to buy practices in order to influence outcomes. Rather, companies can achieve better outcomes by giving physicians more autonomy. Improved performance is driven by the combination of 1) giving physicians the tools to manage everything outside of direct patient care and 2) maintaining incentives for physicians to want the practice to succeed. A must-listen for anyone looking to understand the physician enablement landscape and how providers can take on risk. Check out the full episode below: Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Ulb7FL Apple: https://apple.co/4dQwS7i

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An interesting new service for accelerating time to market for digital health products and embedding them properly in pathways. Palantir's recent CEO statement is also very revealing. While focused on their defence work, it can be equally read as a rather blunt critique on where much (but not all!) of the digital health industry is at right now: "A premium was placed on developing software products whose principal purpose was to sell themselves. And a perception of value became more important than value itself....... Those companies, however, are now being swept to the side. They attempted to seize the cultural and moral high ground at the expense of anything resembling a commitment to outcomes. And society, not to mention customers, have grown disinterested in their theater." Ouch. https://lnkd.in/e8iVd9wV

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Which founders fit the mold for success in healthcare? I spoke with Anne DeGheest, Founder and Managing Director at HealthTech Capital, about the key characteristics of successful #healthtech entrepreneurs. Listen to the full conversation here: https://lnkd.in/eqwUCkPx

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Healthcare is highly suited for AI automation, with many opportunities to improve accessibility, affordability, and outcomes. AI can drive efficiencies across various functions, though it will inevitably reduce the need for some human roles. #higherorder #ai #automation #healthcare #healthtech

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💡Are outdated practices still holding healthcare back? The pandemic was a wake-up call. It revealed that despite advancements, many of healthcare’s practices are built on outdated infrastructure. In Data Nerds in the OR, Dr. Bruce Ramshaw reflects on these challenges, sharing his journey from witnessing both triumphs and flaws in surgery to uncovering the true potential of real-world data and collaboration. This podcast is a reminder that the future of sustainable healthcare lies in using data to measure outcomes and continuously improve them. I highly recommend you tune in! #FutureOfHealth #DataDrivenCare #HealthcareInnovation #Caresyntax

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I had the honor of moderating a panel of three hospital Presidents/CEOs at Laudio's inaugural Leadership Innovation Exchange (LINE) conference. We discussed “Future-Proofing Health Systems” and what is required for the next generation of hospital leadership to effectively manage the healthcare workforce. We didn’t have a crystal ball, but we had the next best thing -- insights from these three impressive leaders. Quick takes: 💡 Mark Slyter, DSc, FACHE of Dignity Health: High reliability organizations are the way of the future. When implemented correctly, retention is the output and not the goal. 💡 Bill Santulli, FACHE formerly of Advocate Health: When looking for his successors, he looked for leaders who are effective at change management…it’s ultimately all about culture. 💡 Joseph Mitchell of Franciscan Children’s: It took a strong arsenal of leaders who were resilient to complete the integration with Boston Children’s and ultimately to bring attrition down from 35% to 18%. Heard throughout the day were these fascinating tidbits from C-level leaders on what is improving their workforce culture and satisfaction: 🐕 Geisinger: ‘Paws to Reflect’ program that brought in dogs for healthcare workforce, not for patients 🤖 El Camino: Robots for patient wayfinding – an idea that stemmed from their nurses when they saw the robots delivering specimen 💻 Stanford: Being discerning about not automating processes that are terrible, but only the ones that are deserving Hats off to the Russ Richmond, CJ Floros, Emma Smith, Ashley N. and the whole Laudio team on this fantastic LINE-up!

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The rise of the payvider model 🩺 Healthcare is undergoing a major shift as insurers expand beyond the traditional payer role into direct care provision - a strategy known as the "payvider" model. While the concept of payviders isn’t new, advancements in technology and a focus on value-based care have renewed interest in this integrated approach. The payvider model merges the roles of payers and providers to enhance care coordination, improve cost efficiency, and drive better patient outcomes. This patient-centered approach, aligns incentives and leverages comprehensive data to deliver high-quality care. By acquiring or building healthcare delivery capabilities, insurers can create value across the care continuum and play a more active role in patient care, integrating services and ultimately improving care through a holistic, personalised, efficient care. What does this mean for the mental health sector? 🧠 I believe this shift could be transformative. By directly providing mental health services, insurers can streamline care and ensure that mental health is treated with the same urgency and integration as physical health. It also promotes better coordination between mental health professionals and primary care, driving more and better comprehensive care. My view is that it isn't just about cutting costs or boosting profits; it's about gaining deeper data driven insights into their clients and patients. It holds significant potential to improve mental health outcomes and hopefully make quality care more accessible and tailored to individual needs.

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The digital health rhetoric these days seems to be quite polarizing. While acknowledging the pivotal role of technology in enhancing health, we are still in the early innings for healthcare tech as it relates to the transformative impact many had expected to come to fruition. I sat down with my long-time friend and colleague, Mona Siddiqui, MD, MPH, MSE, leader Highmark Health to put together our thoughts on how to truly create scale in healthcare through technology. The TL/DR: 💻 1. Scalability requires greater connectivity, diving into the integration of technology in clinical settings. 💵 2. Payer reimbursement models need to catch up to the changing care delivery landscape 🧠 3. There is real potential for AI and machine learning but it doesn't replace care 💢 4. The future of digital health scalability relies on a multifaceted approach. Highlights include some of the key players leading the way like 7wireVentures portfolio companies NOCD, Jasper Health, GroundGame.Health, as well as Waymark, Author Health, and more. Read more of our thoughts in our latest MedCity piece below! https://lnkd.in/gYSvdPgC

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