Digital Health Marketing Betting on Social Networks

 

 

Physicians Interactive acquires maker of doctor social network QuantiaMD

(from mobihealthnews)

Physicians Interactive (PI), the digital health marketing company that offers medical reference apps and resources like Omnio to physicians, has acquired Waltham, Massachusetts-based Quantia Communications, parent company of physician social network QuantiaMD.

The acquisition, the terms of which were undisclosed, adds the first peer-to-peer network to PI’s platform, which already includes a number of different resources for physicians and, as of last year’s acquisition, patient-facing health company MedHelp.

Nursing Homes Going For Big Money

SNF M&A Market Remains Robust

(from The Senior Care Investor)

With at least five transactions priced over $100,000 per bed so far this month, July may be a record for high-priced SNF sales.

The skilled nursing facility M&A market continues to lead the way in terms of where the post-acute sector may be heading. So far in the past three weeks, we have seen five deals close with values ranging from just over $100,000 per bed to over $200,000 per bed.

A-Listers Getting Into Telehealth Game

 

Pager Raises $14 Million from Ashton Kutcher’s Sound Ventures, NEA 

 

(from WSJ)

Pager, an app that allows New Yorkers to request at-home visits from doctors and nurses, has raised new funding from Ashton Kutcher’s Sound Ventures and New Enterprise Associates at a valuation of about $75 million.

The $14 million in Series A funding will be used to further develop its technology, said Pager co-founder and Chief Executive Gaspard de Dreuzy.

“We want to keep matching patients with the right type of care, whether it’s an in-person visit or a virtual consultation,” said Mr. de Dreuzy.

The service currently allows users to request in-home doctor visits between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. daily, after first attempting to diagnose users over the phone. Doctors, sourced from local hospitals, can also provide prescriptions through the app, which can be reimbursed by insurers.

Investing in Wellness Not Medicine

With $36M Funding, Arivale Walks Line To Push Wellness Business 

 
(from Xconomy)

They employ doctors, prescribe tests, and for $2,000 a year they’ll help you keep on top of your health, but they don’t diagnose illnesses. That’s the line new Seattle health startup Arivale wants to walk in providing “wellness” help to its customers—who, Arivale officials stress, are “participants,” not patients.

“We aspire to help people optimize their current health,” says CEO Clayton Lewis.

Now Arivale has a big bankroll and backers to expand from Seattle into San Francisco and beyond. The company has secured a $36 million Series B round from Arch Venture Partners, Polaris Partners, and Maveron, a fund cofounded by Starbucks mogul Howard Schultz.

Money Being Pumped Into Digital Health

 

With $2.1B in digital health funding, first half of 2015 is keeping pace with 2014  

(from Rock Health)

At the end of the first quarter, it was too early to tell if digital health funding could keep up with the record-breaking growth in 2014. But now at the half-year mark, investors have spoken—digital health isn’t slowing down with 2015 bringing in $2.1B in funding, just short of the same time period in 2014. There were 139 deals and the average deal size was over $15M, exceeding 2014’s $14.6M. (Note: Our venture funding data only includes disclosed US deals over $2M. Companies that are sector-agnostic with a healthcare vertical are excluded.)

Smart Phones on the Front Line of Medicine

UK startup Your.MD raises $5M for symptom checker app

 

(from Mobile Health News)

London-based Your.MD, which has developed a health management app that includes a symptom checker, raised $5 million in a round led by Smedvig Capital, with participation from existing angel investors. This brings the company’s total funding to $7.3 million.

The app, available on iOS and Android devices, allows users to explain what their complaints are to the app via voice or text. Next, users enter additional symptoms and other personal information, like their ages and genders. Your.MD will then ask the user up to three follow-up questions to improve the accuracy of the results.

Healthcare M&A Making Bankers Money

Boom times for healthcare mergers bring bankers 59% rise in fees 

(from The Economic Times)

LONDON: A surge in mergers and acquisitions in the healthcare sector has been a windfall for investment bankers, with fees from activity in the sector up 59 per cent in the first half of 2015, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Goldman Sachs commanded 11.8 per cent of all healthcare fees, followed by JP Morgan with 11.2 per cent and Morgan Stanley with 6.9 per cent.

Senior Home Care Going High Tech

 

HomeHero Locks Down $23M For Its Home Care Marketplace

 

(from Tech Crunch)

HomeHero, a Santa Monica-based startup that works to connect home care workers with the families that need them, announced today that it has raised $23 million. The sum includes a $20 million Series A round of capital, in addition to a previously undisclosed $3 million capital event. The funding was led by Graham Holdings.

I met the HomeHero founders, Kyle Hill and Mike Townsend, after their last startup, FlowTab, wound up its operations. Over the course of several interviews with them, I chronicled their progress with FlowTab and ultimate decision to shutter the startup.