The Pulse by Wharton Digital Health

Our guest on this episode is ⁠Mike Uchrin⁠, Co-founder and CEO of ⁠Monogram Health⁠. Founded in 2019, Monogram Health is revolutionizing kidney care through its value-based, in-home care model, improving outcomes for patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) as well as related polychronic conditions. By integrating evidence-based clinical protocols and personalized care delivery, Monogram ensures that CKD patients receive comprehensive support directly in their homes. The company was recently recognized as the third fastest-growing privately held company in the U.S., backed by over $350 million in funding from major healthcare players like CVS Health, Cigna Ventures and Humana, among others.

In the episode, Mike and I discussed: 1)Monogram’s value-based, in-home care model for CKD and ESKD patients, 2) The importance of multispecialty care and evidence-based protocols in improving patient outcomes, 3) Challenges of scaling nationwide while maintaining care quality, and 4) Innovations in kidney care, including genetic and pharmacological breakthroughs.

Our guest on this episode is Dr. Neel Shah, Chief Medical Officer of Maven Clinic, the world’s largest digital clinic for women’s and family health. Dr. Shah is a practicing obstetrician and a visiting scientist at Harvard Medical School where he previously served as a professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive biology. Dr. Shah joined Maven in 2021 with a mission to expand and diversify women’s and family health practices. He is a big advocate for health equity and reproductive justice with numerous awards and media recognitions for his impact on maternal health in the United States.

Neel and I discussed:

-The fertility industry has evolved rapidly, with new technologies and a more inclusive approach to care

outcomes and reducing overutilization.

-Health equity is a critical issue in women's healthcare, and Maven is actively working to address disparities and provide culturally humble care.

-How Maven integrates cultural humility into its care delivery and medical practice design to ensure patients feel seen and heard.

-Maven's expansion into Medicaid demonstrates its commitment to accessible and equitable healthcare for all.

In this episode, I sat down with Jared Dauman, co-founder and Head of Operations for Soda Health. Founded in 2021, Soda Health is a healthcare technology company focused on reducing health inequities. Soda Health uses technology to simplify healthcare transactions, similar to retail purchases, using debit cards. This approach aims to bridge the gap between medical claims and retail payments, ensuring consumers have easier access to benefits. In this episode, Jared and I discuss his journey from working in the directed spend space at Walmart to becoming a co-founder of Soda Health, the business model of Soda Health, the integration of fintech and healthcare, the challenges and opportunities in the world of digital health partnerships, and the evolving role of social determinants of health interventions.

In this episode, I sat down with Dr. Andy Moye, CEO of Paige AI. Founded in 2017, Paige is a digital pathology software provider that uses AI to improve cancer diagnoses. Paige is currently the only company with FDA approval for an AI based product, and they are also collaborating with Microsoft to build the world's largest image-based AI cancer model. In this episode, Dr. Moye and I discuss the journey of Paige's origin as a spin-out from Memorial Sloan Kettering, the role of AI in supporting cancer diagnostics, the process of navigating corporate partnerships and FDA approval with AI tools, and the value of new AI applications in healthcare.

In this episode, I sat down with ⁠Buck Poropatich⁠, Head of ⁠Lyft Healthcare⁠. Lyft Healthcare launched in 2016 as part of Lyft's broader efforts to address transportation barriers in healthcare. Today, Lyft Healthcare partners with 9 of the 10 largest US health systems, non-emergency medical transportation brokers, and the top 10 payers to provide rides across the patient journey.

By providing reliable transportation through its extensive network, Lyft Healthcare helps reduce patient no-shows, enhance the member experience, and ultimately improve patient outcomes. Since he joined in 2019, Buck has helped secure key partnerships with industry leaders like ⁠ChenMed⁠, ⁠CVS⁠, and ⁠Kroger Health⁠, alongside countless others. 

Buck and I discussed: 

-Lyft Healthcare’s founding story after the company discovered a hidden product-market fit in the healthcare industry.

-Creative partnerships with companies like ⁠Best Buy Health⁠ and ⁠Instacart Health⁠ that have enhanced Lyft Healthcare's services and expanded their reach in the healthcare space.

-Lyft Healthcare’s alignment with the shift towards value-based care, ⁠as transportation plays a strategic role in improving care adherence, member satisfaction, and managing total cost of care⁠.

-Future expansion plans for Lyft Healthcare include ⁠expanding their Medicaid footprint⁠, extending their Lyft Assisted product, and leveraging mobile app technology and data modeling to improve the member experience.

Our guests this episode are ⁠Dr. Sameer Berry⁠ and ⁠Sam Holliday⁠, co-founders and CMO and CEO of Oshi Health. ⁠Oshi Health⁠ is a virtual gastrointestinal care clinic increasing access to care for the one in four Americans with digestive disorders. In this episode, I spoke with Sameer and Sam about:

- Oshi’s high-touch, integrated care model for GI patients

- Purpose-built clinical workflows to improve outcomes and cost savings

- Oshi's partnerships with independent GI practices and health plans

- The future of virtual first specialty care

Our guest on this episode is ⁠Nawal Roy⁠. Nawal Roy is the founder and CEO of ⁠Holmusk⁠, a company that specializes in real-world evidence, AI-powered analytics, and digital solutions to solve the evidence gaps problem in mental health.

Last year, Holmusk raised a series B funding round of $45M, led by Veradigm, a leading provider of healthcare data and technology solutions. Powered by this investment, Holmusk’s NeuroBlu database recently reached a pivotal milestone of 4 million patient lives, becoming the largest NLP-enriched, de-identified real-world data platform designed for behavioral health and mental health research.

Nawal and I discussed:

-Holmusk’s founding story, how Nawal connected his background and skill sets in finance to healthcare, and where he saw opportunities in building a “Bloomberg Terminal” for behavioral health

-Holmusk’s flagship platform, Neuroblu, which organizes and analyzes a large volume of real-world data to provide insights for research, care improvement, and marketing purposes

-Generative AI and natural language processing (NLP) and their potential to revolutionize mental health care by enabling precision psychiatry, improving the standardization of treatment protocols, and bridging the evidence gap

-Holmusk’s active partnerships with healthcare systems, pharma companies, and government organizations to expand its data set and drive meaningful change in the industry

In this episode, I sat down with ⁠Ankit Jain⁠, Founder and CEO of ⁠Infinitus Systems⁠. Founded in 2019, the company automates tedious and time-consuming administrative processes across the healthcare ecosystem with AI to free up clinician time and improve access, adherence, and affordability. Infinitus is the only solution that automates the entire phone call process to complete benefit verifications. Infinitus returns that hard-to-find information so providers have the most comprehensive view of treatment coverage and can confidently move forward with a patient treatment plan. The company has raised money from Google Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, Coatue, and a number of other healthcare luminaries.

Ankit and I discussed: 1) The company’s “spark story,” and how a Google digital assistant for restaurant, spa and salon reservations was pivoted to fill an unmet market need in healthcare, 2) The importance of freeing up time spent on administrative workflows for clinicians to serve patients, 3) Applications of AI in healthcare to solve for areas of unmet need

Our guest on this episode is Pablo Pantaleoni, the Chief Digital Officer of LifeStance, a mental health care company focused on providing evidence based medically driven treatment services for children, adolescents and adults suffering from a variety of mental health issues in an outpatient care setting, both in person and through his digital health, telemedicine offering.

In this episode, Pablo discussed: 1) His unique background and path to LifeStance. 2) LifeStance’s value proposition in the digital mental health space. 3) AI’s role in combating the mental health crisis. 4) Advice for young entrepreneurs in this space.

In this episode, I sat down with ⁠Belinda Tan⁠ and ⁠Noah Craft⁠, Co-Founders and Co-CEOs at ⁠People Science⁠. Founded in 2019, People Science is a human-centered clinical research platform addressing the need for rigorous clinical science to back alternative medicines and wellness solutions that do not typically fall under traditional Western medicine. The company’s platform studies a range of solutions spanning microbiome and food-as-medicine interventions, natural and synthetic psychedelic medicines, cannabis and cannabinoids, functional medicines, and digital therapeutics. Its user-facing app called Chloe (Consumer Health Learning and Organizing Ecosystem) supports users to test these alternative treatments on themselves, and enables users to view personal results in real time while comparing themselves to others. People Science secured its $8.5 million seed funding through two rounds, most recently in December 2022.

Belinda, Noah and I discussed: 1) Their founding story and unique co-CEO leadership model, 2) The philosophy behind the People Science platform, including the nuances of alternative medicines compared to traditional Western medicine, 3) The business model, including both how studies are launched with B2B partners and the consumer-facing app (Chloe), and 4) Insights and advice from having co-founded and co-led not one, but two, companies together.