📣 Digital Health Download: May 2025

Women make 80% of healthcare decisions and outspend men two to one on care—yet when it comes to designing, funding, and scaling health tech, they’re still treated like a niche.In this episode, we break down the broken flywheel holding women’s health innovation back including fewer growth-stage investments, limited exits, and a system not built to serve women as the primary users of care. I’m joined by Carolyn Witte, co-founder of Tia, and Katie Drasser, CEO of Rock Health, to talk about what needs to change—and how we get there.We cover:📱 What Rock Health’s latest report says about women as digital health consumers🚫 Why men shouldn’t be the benchmark for women’s health💸 How women’s health companies struggle to raise beyond Series A (and what to do about it)👩‍⚕️ Why every company should be a women’s health company💡 What founders and investors need to do differently to unlock women’s health at scale—About our guests:Katie Drasser is CEO of RockHealth.org, leading a team of experts in health equity, social enterprise, and design to encourage more equitable innovation in digital health. Drasser has launched programs that address complex global issues with a focus on public health innovation and the role of innovative financing and leadership in systems change. Previously, she curated health content for the Aspen Ideas Festival and was managing director of the Aspen Global Innovators Group, steering global leadership programs to address poverty alleviation and human rights. Drasser has worked internationally on HIV/AIDS treatment strategies in Romania, private health services delivery in Myanmar, and the scale up of Kenya’s national emergency medical system. She designed a network of charter schools and developed Good Capital, a venture fund that invests in social enterprises like the Hub Bay Area and the Social Capital Markets Conference.Carolyn Witte is a visionary healthcare entrepreneur dedicated to creating a personalized, preventive, and human-centered healthcare system. As the founding CEO of Tia — the leading tech-enabled primary care provider for women — she pioneered a new model of “whole-women’s” healthcare, integrating virtual and retail-style clinics, technology, and a multidisciplinary care teams to transform the business and experience of going to the doctor. A former strategist at Google’s Creative Lab, Carolyn brings an interdisciplinary approach to healthcare innovation through design, technology, and brand. Her latest passion project is The XX Factor — a newsletter and community advancing the women’s health category through hard won lessons, shared learnings and collective action. She’s been recognized by Fast Company, Forbes, and Inc. Magazine as a trailblazer for women in business.—Show notes:Women in focus: understanding women as digital health consumers (Rock Health)There’s a Growth-Stage Cliff Plaguing Women’s Health Startups—🙏 If you're enjoying the show, we would so appreciate it if you left us a review!—📍 Connect with us:Heart of Healthcare websiteTikTok (NEW!)LinkedInInstagramSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this month's Digital Health Download, Steve and Halle unpack the headlines shaping healthcare, policy, and technology—with an eye toward where things may be heading next. From shifting political support for Medicaid and the ACA to state-level action on PBMs, they explore the unexpected ways the system is evolving.We cover:🩺 Why more Republicans are backing Medicaid and ACA expansion—and what the data tells us🧠 Autism in the spotlight (and Halle's favorite show)⚖ How a new Arkansas law could disrupt the PBM status quo📊 Bessemer’s new Health AI Adoption Index, including what separates pilots from true deployments📚 A lawsuit against academic publishers that’s raising questions about access and transparency in research—📍 Show notes:Enrollment Growth in the ACA Marketplaces (KFF)Love on the Spectrum (Netflix)Arkansas adopts first-in-the-nation law forcing companies to choose between running a PBM or pharmacies (STAT News)Scientists’ suit against top academic publishers lays bare deep frustration over unpaid peer review (STAT News)Another Call for Open Access (Halle’s blog)The Healthcare AI Adoption Index (BVP)—🙏 If you're enjoying the show, please leave us a review!—📍 Connect with us:Heart of Healthcare websiteLinkedInInstagramTikTokSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The average American family spends over $24,000 a year on healthcare, and costs continue to rise faster than inflation. Why can't we create a healthcare system that delivers more value for less money?In this conversation with Ann Somers Hogg, Director of Healthcare Research at the Clayton Christensen Institute, we explore the concept of "Zero Inflation Healthcare" and uncover why traditional health insurance models continue to drive costs up. Ann breaks down why many InsureTech startups initially struggled to disrupt incumbents and how a new approach to business model innovation could finally tame runaway healthcare costs.We cover:🌟 The "optimal care business model" that could help transform healthcare📊 Why InsureTechs like Oscar and Clover struggled initially against incumbents🧰 If and how insurance companies can fix their reputations💰 Why health insurance companies' "spend more to make more" profit formula fails to incentivize the desired outcome🔄 How regulations create barriers to disruptive innovation in health insurance🛑 Why Haven (the Amazon-Berkshire-JPMorgan venture) failed despite its resources💡 How the "Jobs to Be Done" theory applies to healthcare choices—About our guest:Ann Somers is the director of health care research at the Clayton Christensen Institute where her research focuses on the structural pathways to improve health. This includes business model design, leadership approaches, customer orientation, and innovation strategy. Prior to joining the Institute, Ann Somers worked for Atrium Health (now Advocate Health), where she served as the AVP of Strategy and Transformation. She started her career in consulting at Oliver Wyman, working to develop value-based care strategies for large payers. Ann Somers holds an MSPH in Health Policy and Management from UNC-Chapel Hill and a BS in Commerce from the University of Virginia. She lives in Richmond, Virginia with her husband and two children.—Show notes: Read the full paper here: christenseninstitute.org/publication/health-insurance-innovation If you’d like to learn more about the Institute’s broader work, feel free to explore: www.christenseninstitute.org —If you're enjoying the show, we would so appreciate it if you left us a review!—📍 Connect with us:Heart of Healthcare websiteLinkedInInstagramTikTokSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Each year, 2 million Americans are diagnosed with cancer and face a fragmented, overwhelming healthcare system with minimal guidance between doctor visits, even as they make life-altering decisions.In this episode, we talk with Robin Shah, Founder & CEO of Thyme Care, who has devoted his 17-year career to improving oncology care and is now building a virtual support system that has already helped over 50,000 cancer patients nationwide.We cover:🏥 Robin's origin story saving his father's oncology practice during the 2008 financial crisis💊 How community oncology has consolidated from independent doctors to large corporations🚀 Key insights from scaling Flatiron Health as employee #3 and co-founding One Oncology📈 How value-based care is creating new opportunities in specialty care🔮 The future of cancer care coordination beyond active treatment—About our guestRobin Shah is the Founder & CEO of Thyme Care, an oncology population management company providing virtual clinical support for cancer patients. His career in oncology began by helping his father's community practice survive both the Great Recession and aggressive competition from hospital systems. Robin was an early employee at Flatiron Health and a founding team member of One Oncology before launching Thyme Care, which now supports over 270,000 people across the country with a team of 400 employees.—🙏 If you're enjoying the show, we would so appreciate it if you left us a review!—📍 Connect with us:Heart of Healthcare websiteYouTube (NEW!)LinkedInInstagramTikTokSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Health insurance has a Net Promoter Score of around 0-10 industry-wide, one of the lowest ratings of any industry. This is exactly why the founders of Oscar Health, with no background in healthcare and a distaste for the industry, started the company in 2012. Since then, Oscar has grown to 1.7 million members, gone public, and achieved profitability—all while receiving an NPS significantly higher than the industry average.In this episode, we talk with Mario Schlosser, co-founder and CTO of Oscar Health, about building a tech-first health insurance company in an industry notorious for poor customer experiences.We cover: 🏥 Why outsiders without healthcare backgrounds decided to tackle the insurance industry💰 How Oscar grew to 1.7 million members while maintaining a 60+ NPS score in a hard-to-please industry📊 The balance between denying unnecessary care and empathetically supporting members⚙️ How ICHRAs (Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangements) are disrupting traditional employer-sponsored healthcare🧶 The beginning of the unraveling of the employer markets💼 The changing employer healthcare market and why small businesses are seeking alternatives—About our guest:Mario Schlosser is the Co-Founder & CTO at Oscar Health. In this role, Mario leads product and engineering, with a focus on building Oscar’s technology platform for the future and continuing to set the strategy for the +Oscar strategy.Previously, Mario served as CEO of Oscar, leading the company from inception to serving over 1M members across Individual & Family, Medicare Advantage, and Small Group health plans.Before co-founding Oscar, Mario also co-founded the largest social gaming company in Latin America, where he led the company's analytics and game design practices. Prior to that, Mario was a Senior Investment Associate at Bridgewater Associates and worked as a consultant for McKinsey & Company in Europe, the U.S. and Brazil.Mario also spent time as a visiting scholar at Stanford University, where he wrote and co-authored 10 computer science publications, including one of the most-cited computer science papers published in the past decade, in which he developed the EigenTrust Algorithm to securely compute trust in randomized networks. In May 2019, Mario and his co-authors, Sepandar D. Kamvar (Mosaic Building Group Inc) and Héctor Garcia-Molina (Celo), received the prestigious Seoul Test of Time Award from the International World Wide Web Conference Committee (IW3C2) for this work.Mario holds a degree in computer science with highest distinction from the University of Hannover in Germany and an MBA from Harvard Business School.—🙏 If you're enjoying the show, we would so appreciate it if you left us a review!—📍 Connect with us:Heart of Healthcare websiteLinkedInInstagramTikTokSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this month's Digital Health Download, Steve, Halle, and Michael take a deliberately optimistic look at key headlines in healthcare technology. From the impressive impact of AI scribing tools on physician satisfaction to encouraging survival rates among digital health unicorns from the ZIRP-era, the hosts highlights bright spots in an often challenging industry.We cover:🏆 Rock Health's 10th annual Consumer Adoption Survey revealing how each generation uniquely engages with digital health🤖 How AI-powered ambient scribing is transforming physician documentation and reducing burnout👩‍⚕️ The concerning trust gap between younger generations and healthcare providers💊 The effectiveness but not yet cost-effectiveness of GLP-1 medications like Ozempic💼 New analysis showing 89% of digital health unicorns from the pandemic era are still operating🏛️ Potential opportunities for innovation within the current administration's healthcare policies—Show notes:Rock Health's Consumer Adoption ReportJAMA article: Lifetime Health Effects and Cost-Effectiveness of Tirzepatide and Semaglutide in US AdultsHalle's article: What Happened to the Digital Health Unicorns of 2020-2022?JAMA article: Clinician Experiences With Ambient Scribe Technology to Assist With Documentation Burden and Efficiency—🙏 If you're enjoying the show, please leave us a review!—📍 Connect with us:Heart of Healthcare websiteLinkedInInstagramTikTokSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Venture capital in healthcare has evolved from "the trailer park of venture investing" to a fundamental core tenant of the ecosystem, reflecting a quarter-century transformation of the entire industry.In this episode, we sit down with Mohamad Makhzoumi, co-CEO of NEA, who shares his 25-year journey from unpaid intern to leader of one of the largest healthcare investment funds, offering his insights into the evolution of healthcare startups and VC.We cover: 💼 His trajectory from carrying a partner's briefcase to co-CEO, and what it takes to break into venture capital today 🎭 Healthcare's distinct "eras" - from HMO revolution to digital health booms and regulatory cycles 🏥 Why healthcare venture capital follows different rules and timelines than traditional tech investing 💰 The challenges of timing exits in healthcare, and the regrets that come with leaving promising companies too early 🚀 How NEA has moved beyond traditional investing to incubating healthcare companies 🔄 The cyclical nature of healthcare regulation and its impact on investment strategies 🔮 Where digital health stands today – "transitioning from one party to another"--About our guest:Mohamad Makhzoumi first joined NEA in 2000 and now serves as co-CEO of the firm. He was previously NEA’s co-president, prior to which Mohamad served as managing general partner, healthcare, where he led and oversaw NEA’s global healthcare investing practice across digital health and life sciences. Mohamad’s investment practice is focused on healthcare services and technology from early venture to late-stage growth, and he has helped many entrepreneurs build and scale transformative companies. Outside of NEA, he is a board member of the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health at Stanford.---🙏 If you're enjoying the show, we would so appreciate it if you left us a review!---📍 Connect with us:Heart of Healthcare websiteLinkedInTwitterSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

One in four Americans relies on Medicaid, yet the program faces billions in federal funding cuts.In this episode, we speak with Dr. Rajaie Batniji, co-founder and CEO of Waymark, about delivering tech-enabled community care to Medicaid patients.We discuss what cuts to Medicaid could mean, the impact of "value veneers", and how predictive algorithms can overcome bias in healthcare delivery. Dr. Batniji also shares his personal connection to healthcare equity and his motivation for serving vulnerable populations despite investor skepticism about Medicaid-focused businesses.We cover:🏥 How to address the unique needs of Medicaid patients💰 The potential impact of proposed $880 billion Medicaid cuts and why they may not generate real savings🔄 The failures of Medicaid work requirements and why eligibility cuts won't reduce actual healthcare 📊 What "value veneers" are, and how they are harmful to healthcare innovation🌍 Advice for founders looking to serve the Medicaid population—About our guest:Dr. Rajaie Batniji is a physician, entrepreneur, and advocate for improving healthcare delivery. He is the co-founder and CEO of Waymark, a company providing tech-enabled community care for people on Medicaid. Previously, he co-founded Collective Health where he served as Chief Health Officer for eight years. He was also a clinical assistant professor at Stanford University in Medicine where he trained in internal medicine.—Show notes:Supporting Rising-Risk Medicaid Patients Through Early Intervention (NEJM Catalyst)Geographic Variations and Facility Determinants of Acute Care Utilization and Spending for ACSCs (AJMC)Procedural Prescription Denials and Risk of Acute Care Utilization and Spending Among Medicaid Patients (JAMA Open)Value Veneers And How To Enable Value In Medicaid Care Delivery (Health Affairs)A Social ACO For Medicaid Managed Care (Health Affairs)The Public's View on Potential Changes to Medicaid (KFF)—🙏 If you're enjoying the show, we would so appreciate it if you left us a review!—📍 Connect with us:Heart of Healthcare websiteTikTok (NEW!)LinkedInTwitterSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In 2020, telemedicine company Teladoc acquired remote patient monitoring company Livongo for a record $18.5 billion, creating a $38 billion entity. Today, the combined company is worth less than a tenth of that.Rebecca Mitchell, who spent years as a product leader at both companies, reveals how this landmark healthcare deal fell short of expectations despite strong underlying products, and what we can learn from it.We also get her insights on the need for physician innovators, and how she came to co-found Scrub Capital.We cover:💻 The rise of physicians in product management roles at digital health companies💰 The untold "body and internal organs" story of the Livongo-Teladoc merger🩺 How incorporating clinician expertise leads to better healthcare products💼 Scrub Capital's approach to leveraging 700+ clinicians for smarter healthcare investing🤝 Why healthcare innovators should support rather than criticize each other🏆 Critical lessons for future healthcare M&AAbout our guest:Rebecca Mitchell began her career in global health as an academic researcher and Fulbright Fellow in maternal health. After receiving her medical degree from UCSF, she served as the medical officer for innovation at HHS before spending a decade in product roles at startups, including Livongo and Teladoc. Rebecca now leads Scrub Capital, an early-stage fund that incorporates the expertise of over 700 clinicians, founders, and operators to invest in healthcare companies.—🙏 If you're enjoying the show, we would so appreciate it if you left us a review!—📍 Connect with us:Heart of Healthcare websiteTikTok (NEW!)LinkedInTwitterSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Startup capital accelerator and venture capital firm Y Combinator has a long history of backing healthcare startups, with a particular focus on technical founders tackling difficult problems. In this episode, YC partners Jared Friedman and Ankit Gupta share their insights on healthcare investment, the transformative potential of AI, and why they believe young, tactical founders will continue to disrupt the healthcare industry despite its challenges.We cover:🏥 YC's approach to healthcare investing over the years⚕️ How AI has a 10x faster adoption curve than anything else we've seen💻 The potential for AI to automate healthcare's administrative burdens and provide universal access to medical knowledge🌍 The opportunity to bring primary care to billions who currently lack access🔄 Why an outsider's perspective can be valuable when rebuilding healthcare systems🚫 How patient privacy regulations might be hindering healthcare innovation—About our guests:Jared Friedman is Managing Director, Software and Group Partner at YC. He was co-founder of Scribd, which was funded by Y Combinator in 2006 and grew to be one of the top 100 sites on the web. Jared previously worked at a pioneering AI company and studied computer science at Harvard.Ankit Gupta is a Visiting Partner at Y Combinator and former Co-Founder and CTO of Reverie Labs, a small molecule therapeutics company that leverages machine learning to develop oncology treatments. Ankit led the team through its acquisition by Ginkgo Bioworks in February 2024. Ankit studied computer science at Harvard.—🙏 Thanks to Flexpa for sponsoring this episode. Flexpa is refactoring healthcare. Connect to 300+ health plans through a single, secure integration to access patient-consented, identified claims data instantly.—📍 Connect with us:Heart of Healthcare websiteLinkedInTwitterSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.