Digital Health bits | June 4th 2021

Note: Opinions expressed are solely my own and do not express the views or opinions of my employer

#DigitalHealth #Innovation #AI #DigitalTherapeutics #TeleHealth #TeleMedicine

London-based digital health startup Babylon to go public in $3.6B blank check deal

Digital-first value based care startup Babylon plans to go public via a merger with a special purpose acquisition company, the latest in a rash of digital health companies entering the public markets spurred by the coronavirus pandemic.

Babylon was founded in 2013 with the aim of realigning the $10 trillion global healthcare market towards low-cost preventative healthcare. The company has two primary channels: Babylon 360, a digital-first care management and navigation service that includes the option of telehealth visits; and Babylon Cloud Services, a platform with self-care tools for patients and doctors, including an AI-enabled symptom checker.

Babylon makes money by taking on medical risk for its members and looking for cost savings, along with annual licensing fees for its software, per an investor presentation on the blank check deal.

Combined, its platforms cover 24 million people in 16 countries.

Swedish digital healthcare company Doktor.se announces €50M funding boost

Stockholm-based digital healthcare provider Doktor.se has received a funding boost of €50 million (SEK510 million) to expand its services and deliver its aim to provide safe and accessible healthcare for all. 

Doktor.se is the second most downloaded doctor app in Europe, according to app analytics tool Appfigures. By the end of 2021, the Swedish company aims to provide its digital health services in more than seven countries.

The new funds will be used to develop its technical platform to offer improved services for mental health and chronic illnesses and to expand its digital operations and physical clinics to meet growing demand.

Over 1.2 million patient consultations were carried out through its app or its physical clinics in 2020. The company is now looking to expand further into new markets and to investigate strategic acquisitions. 

The company also plans to keep expanding its digi-physical services by acquiring physical healthcare services to integrate into its digital platforms. 

Trying to lose weight? Digital tracking tools help, researcher says

Stanford, CA — Want to shed a few pounds? Using digital health tools to track your progress can help you reach your goal – no matter what weight loss strategy you use, a researcher from Stanford Health says.

Michele Patel, a postdoctoral scholar at the Stanford Prevention Research Center, reviewed 39 studies published between 2009 and 2019 that involved weight loss monitoring using digital and paper-based tracking of physical activity, food intake and weight. Websites were the most common self-monitoring tool used, followed by mobile apps, electronic scales and text messaging.

Results show that 74% of the time, frequent digital self-monitoring was linked to weight loss. According to Patel, individuals who track diet or physical activity digitally were more engaged and used the tools more consistently, which led to better results.

Digital physiotherapy tool could save Wales ￡1m per year

A digital physiotherapy tool has the potential to save more than ￡1m annually in Wales, results from a pilot suggest.

The pilot of PhysioNow supported more than 1,000 musculoskeletal patients across Cwm Taf Morgannwg and Hywel Dda health boards access medical care and advice.

Initial results of the pilot suggest it could create more than ￡1million of annual savings if rolled out across the country, with 69% of users feeling they received faster access to physiotherapy.

PhysioNow is a clinically led chatbot that provides remote triage and support for musculoskeletal conditions. Patients using the service are guided to the right pathway for their needs, enabling them to access the right care at the right time.

In August 2020, it was rapidly introduced within NHS environments in the health board target areas, by Connect Health and its partners, EQL and PhysioSpace Cardiff.

How GP data is saving lives

With the GP Data for Planning and Research (GPDPR) service launching next month, Richard Alcock, director of primary care technology at NHS Digital explores how GP data is helping to save lives.

The health service is rich with data which can provide us with life-saving insights. For years it has been used to help us better understand and develop cures for serious illnesses, such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.

Never has this been clearer than during the response to the Covid-19 pandemic where the access to data benefitted millions of us.

NHS data was vital in managing the response, from making policy decisions and ensuring hospitals weren’t overwhelmed, to rolling out vaccines and building the Shielded Patient List to identify and protect those most vulnerable.

Data from General Practices was also absolutely crucial for the University of Oxford’s RECOVERY trial which identified which treatments were most effective.

The trial was lifesaving for people hospitalised with Covid-19. It found that using dexamethasone as a treatment reduced deaths by one-third in patients on ventilators and by one-fifth in other patients receiving oxygen only.

Digital literacy program helps keep seniors connected

The program started in 2017 through the partnership between the YMCA and Digital Charlotte, an initiative of the Knight School of Communication at Queens University.

The classes were initially held in-person, but amid the pandemic, they moved online. The curriculum focused on teaching active older adults important skills beneficial amid the pandemic. The topics included using Zoom, scheduling doctor’s appointments online, doing online grocery shopping and recognizing trusted sites. 

Digital Health Literacy Program lead instructor Holly Van Kuren taught students while COVID-19 restrictions were in place. 

“Older adults need to be able to have the confidence and independence to seek information online, especially in the time of the pandemic when there's so much isolation,” Van Kuren said.

Bill Colyer, who participated in the classes last fall, had been online before, but he noticed a difference after the end of the program. 

“[I’m] a lot more comfortable using Zoom, messaging [and] emailing,” Colyer said.

He was able to watch his granddaughter’s first communion and graduation in California through Zoom. He’s glad he was able to see these milestones, even being many miles away. 

“This is fantastic. This is the next best thing to … being there,” Colyer said. 

Antidote raises USD23m to scale digital patient engagement services

Antidote is a company in high-growth mode aiming to solve one of the most difficult problems of clinical research — connecting patients to trials.

This new round of funding will allow the company to build on recent commercial success and accelerate growth. In 2020, Antidote increased its annual revenue by 66 per cent and the number of projects handled by 158 per cent over the previous year. In the first quarter of 2021 alone, the company surpassed its entire 2020 revenue.

Note: Opinions expressed are solely my own and do not express the views or opinions of my employer