Navigating Medicare Star Ratings: How Data Analytics Paves the Way to Excellence

The Medicare Star Rating System, implemented by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), is an instrumental tool for evaluating Medicare Advantage and Prescription Drug plans. With a one to five-star scale, the system assesses plans’ quality of care, customer service, and more. High ratings are tied to significant financial rewards, reflecting the performance across several key categories.

The Star Rating System assists Medicare consumers in comparing and selecting suitable health and drug plans. It has a far-reaching impact on driving quality improvement across the healthcare landscape and affects reimbursement and recognition.

Scalable Health specializes in data analytics to help payers elevate their Medicare star ratings. Learn More

Healthcare Fundings

Generate:Biomedicines , a Cambridge, MA-based startup established five years ago focusing on utilizing #machinelearning to engineer new proteins for disease treatment, has secured $273 million in a Series C funding round. Notable investors in this round include 安进 and 英伟达 and returning backers such as Flagship Pioneering , Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) , 富达 , Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation , ARCH Venture Partners , Altitude Life Science Ventures , MORNINGSIDE VENTURES LIMITED , and T. Rowe Price . The company has amassed a total funding of $693 million to date.

Actio Biosciences, Inc. , a San Diego-based startup established two years ago focusing on crafting drugs for specific genetic mutations responsible for rare diseases, has garnered $55 million in a Series A funding round. The investment was co-led by Canaan and Droia Ventures and featured participation from Deerfield Management , EcoR1 Capital, LLC , and EUCLIDEAN CAPITAL, LLC .

Sonex Health , a nine-year-old Eagan, Minnesota-based startup with an FDA-approved ultrasound technology device for treating carpal tunnel syndrome, has garnered $40 million in a Series B funding round. KCK Medtech , a returning investor, exclusively financed the entire round. Overall, the company has raised $90.1 million in funding.

Virtual Incision , a Lincoln, Nebraska-based firm with 17 years in creating small #surgicalrobots, has garnered $30 million in an extended Series C funding round. The investment came from a mix of new and returning backers, including Arboretum Ventures and InVivium Capital, along with earlier investors like Bluestem Capital , Endeavour Vision , Baird Capital , cultivate(MD) , and PrairieGold Venture Partners . To date, the company has accumulated $146 million in total funding.

Cambridge, Massachusetts-based startup AIRNA , focused on RNA editing therapeutics, has successfully raised $30 million in funding. Leading the investment round was ARCH Venture Partners , joined by +ND Capital , Fast Track Initiative , Novalis , and Codon Capital .

Vivance , a Singapore-based firm specializing in portable dialysis machines with 16 years in the industry, has successfully secured $20 million in a Series B funding round. The investment was co-led by Lion X Ventures and Vickers Venture Partners , with further contributions from Advanced MedTech and Eckuity Capital . To date, the company has accumulated $77.2 million in funding.

Sempre Health , an eight-year-old startup based in San Francisco that collaborates with health plans and life sciences firms to lower patient medication costs, has secured $20 million in funding. The investment syndicate featured Cencora Ventures, Echo Health Ventures , and returning backers The Blue Venture Fund , UPMC Enterprises , and Industry Ventures . To date, the company has accumulated $45.5 million in total funding.

Broken String Biosciences , a Cambridge, UK-based startup established three years ago, focusing on advancing a platform to expedite the creation of safer cell and gene therapies, has garnered $15 million in a Series A funding round. The investment was co-led by Illumina Ventures and Merieux Equity Partners and also saw participation from HERAN Partners and returning investors 腾讯 and Dieter von Holtzbrinck Ventures .

Briya , a Tel Aviv-based startup founded two years ago, has secured $11.5 million in a Series A funding round. The company offers a blockchain-protected platform to exchange data for hospitals and life sciences firms. Team8 spearheaded the round and saw contributions from the George Kaiser Family Foundation and returning investors Insight Partners , Amiti , and InnoCare Health Investments.

Iomed, a Barcelona-based startup founded seven years ago specializing in Natural Language Processing to mine data from #medicalrecords, #clinicaltrials, and patient surveys, has successfully raised $10.7 million in a Series A funding round. The investment was co-led by Philips Ventures and XTX Ventures and featured Fondo Bolsa Social and Redseed participation. The company has garnered $14.9 million in total funding to date.

Vaxess Technologies , an 11-year-old Cambridge, Massachusetts-based firm specializing in developing a self-applicable vaccine patch, has successfully secured $9 million in funding. The investment round featured RA Capital , The Engine , GHIC, and Ulu Ventures contributions. To date, the company has amassed $75 million in funding.

BioLoomics , a Boulder-based startup founded four years ago, which focuses on creating a novel class of antibodies capable of breaking down bacteria, viruses, and other harmful pathogens, has successfully raised $8.7 million in a seed funding round. Innovation Endeavors took the lead in the investment, with additional contributions from Horizons Ventures , TechU Ventures, Boom Capital Ventures, Hummingbird Nomads Fund, Cooley GC&H, BoxOne Ventures , and Viswa Colluru, PhD .

Awell, a Brussels-based startup established seven years ago to streamline clinical workflows and minimize administrative duties for #healthcare professionals, has secured $5 million in seed funding. Octopus Ventures led the round and featured participation from S16.

Carenostics , a Philadelphia-based startup founded two years ago that leverages #AI to detect undiagnosed #chronicillnesses, has secured $5 million in seed funding. M13 spearheaded the investment round and saw contributions from GreatPoint Ventures and Gaingels .

News

Neuralink revealed that it has started the search for participants for its inaugural human study. The firm is particularly interested in individuals with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or quadriplegia resulting from cervical spinal cord injuries.

Researchers have created a self-supervised artificial intelligence model capable of assessing the likelihood of conditions such as ocular diseases, heart failure, and Parkinson's disease using retinal images.