The Pulse by Wharton Digital Health

Our guest on this episode is Sean Duffy. Sean is the co-founder and CEO of Omada Health, a virtual integrated care solution that helps people manage a range of conditions, including pre-diabetes, diabetes, hypertension, and musculoskeletal conditions. Founded in 2011, Omada works with over 1500 employers, health plans and benefit consultants to deliver integrated care pathways for over half a million members. Earlier this year Omada raised a $192M Series E round of funding led by Fidelity. In this episode, I spoke with Sean about: His journey to starting Omada and launching one of the earliest virtual specialty care models Turning Omada into a one-stop-shop for employers and health plans in a sea of point solutions A new survey of healthcare buyers’ perspectives on virtual care offerings

In this episode (and Jing’s last for The Pulse!) we are excited to feature Erica Jain, the Co-Founder & CEO of Healthie. At Healthie, Erica empowers health and wellness organizations to launch & scale their businesses and build long-term relationships with their clients to deliver personalized, preventative care. Healthie is an API-forward platform that allows companies to build the back-office infrastructure systems necessary to support patient-centric operations. Healthie uniquely enables companies to effectively dispense longitudinal care. Healthie recently raised $16.5M in Series A funding in a round led by Velvet Sea Ventures with participation from Greymatter Capital, Watershed Capital, and Builders VC. We discussed: Designing a solution to support longitudinal care coordination between patients and their care teams, improving upon the legacy healthcare infrastructure systems geared towards one-time episodic care. Healthie’s API-first, out-of-the-box offering enables healthcare companies of any size to focus their resources on developing their core product without sinking resources into creating complex backend systems. The importance of operational excellence for healthcare startups and continued interest from venture capital firms and other investors to accelerate innovation across the healthcare industry.

In this episode, we sat down with Cindy Adam, Co-Founder & CEO of Choix and a nurse practitioner. Choix is a telehealth clinic offering abortion care and sexual and reproductive health care to patients in their homes. Choix recently raised $1M in seed funding in a round led by Elevate Capital. We discussed: The recent history of abortion care in the U.S. and the legal implications of the Dobbs v. Jackson decision eliminating the federal constitutional right to abortion. The clinical background of medicated abortion care and how permanent FDA authorization for providers to mail mifepristone, the pill used in medicated abortions, enabled abortion care to be practiced through telehealth. The importance of the November midterms and potential regulatory shifts after voters express their views on abortion at the polls.

In this episode, I sat down with Colin Quinn, President of Included Health Communities & Co-Founder of Included Health. Colin started Included Health in 2019 to improve care equity for underserved populations, starting with LGBTQ+ individuals. In May 2021, the recently merged Grand Rounds, a care navigation company, and Doctor On Demand, a virtual care company, acquired Included Health. In October 2021, the new entity rebranded as Included Health, which provides integrated navigation and virtual care across everyday and urgent care, primary care, behavioral health, and specialty care. As President of Included Health Communities, Colin leads the organization’s work on health equity and raising the standard of care for underserved populations. The company’s first offering, which we discuss in-depth in the episode, is tailored to the LGBTQ+ population. Colin and his team are also working on a solution designed to serve the black community’s needs. Colin and I discuss: His path to founding Included Health and how his prior experiences at a Fortune 500 company and a startup prepared him to start his own company His decision to sell to employers as well as how employer healthcare purchasers’ priorities have evolved in recent years What Colin and his team learned from the research study they conducted and how its findings influenced the company’s trajectory and product strategy Why partnering with Grand Rounds and Doctor On Demand made sense for Included Health and why the new entity took on his original company’s name What it will take to rebuild trust in healthcare amongst populations for which that trust has been broken

In this episode, we sat down with Kevin Dedner, Founder & CEO of Hurdle Health. Based in Washington D.C, Hurdle Health provides culturally intentional teletherapy to eliminate barriers that make it harder for people of color to get mental healthcare. Hurdle Health raised $5M in seed funding, led by Point 406 Ventures and Seae Ventures. F-Prime also participated in the round. We discussed: Kevin’s personal struggles with finding culturally responsive mental healthcare as the motivation for founding Hurdle. Hurdle’s emphasis on training its therapists in cultural humility to provide more efficacious mental healthcare for low to moderate-acuity patients. How minority founders must build a solid business plan instead of only following a vision and nurture mentor relationships to raise capital and overcome systemic barriers for launching successful companies.

In this episode, we connected with Josh Hix, Co-Founder and CEO of Season Health. Season Health is a platform that connects members with healthy meal ideas and grocery options to help members and providers manage chronic conditions. Prior to starting Season Health, Josh co-founded the meal prep delivery service Plated, which led to an appearance on SharkTank. Season Health recently raised $34M in Series A funding led by Andreessen Horowitz. LRV Ventures, Company Ventures, Cityblock CEO Toyin Ajayi and other angel investors also participated in the round. Prior to this, Season Health raised $11M in seed funding. We discussed: Leveraging Josh’s prior experience co-founding Plated to realize a vision of creating a consumer-grade software platform that connects food and medicine. Season Health’s mission to make nutritious food more accessible by shaping the increasingly digital food environment and partnering with payers to make food more affordable to improve health outcomes for patients with chronic diseases. Partnering with healthcare industry leaders Geisinger, CommonSpirit, and Cricket Health to scale Season Health’s offering and enrich scientific research linking nutrition with better chronic disease management.

In this episode, I sat down with Chris Altchek, CEO and Founder of Cadence. Founded in 2019, Cadence is a health tech platform that combines personalized clinical care with a breakthrough technology platform. With this Cadence offers consistent care for people managing chronic conditions, such as congestive heart failure, type 2 diabetes, hypertension and COPD, from the comfort of their home. Cadence recently raised a $100M Series B round, putting its latest valuation at $1 billion. During our conversation, Chris and I discussed: Chris’s career journey and entry into healthcare How Cadence is scaling remote monitoring to serve large patient populations How the pandemic changed the healthcare system’s perception of remote care The future of Cadence and his advice for MBA students interested in the space

Our guest on this episode is Dr. Jerrica Kirkley, co-founder & Chief Medical Officer of Plume. Plume delivers gender-affirming care via telehealth for trans and non-binary individuals, currently operating in 41 states. Plume provides hormone-replacement therapy, such as estrogen and testosterone, as well as letters of support for gender-affirming surgery or changing name or gender markers for its patients. Jerrica and her cofounder, Plume CEO Dr. Matthew Wetschler, raised a $14M series A round of funding last year Craft Ventures. In this episode, Jerrica and I discussed: Her journey to starting Plume Her experience as a patient and provider of gender-affirming care The current anti-trans political climate and Plume’s role as an advocate for the trans and nonbinary community To celebrate Pride Month 2022, please consider a donation to The Trevor Project.

Our guest on this episode is Kelsey Mellard, founder & CEO of Sitka, a virtual specialty consultation company facilitating primary care and specialty communication via video consults, also known as eConsults or “curbside consults”. Sitka and their virtual specialty provider network, Sitka Medical Associates, work with payers, provider groups and accountable care organizations to improve access to specialty care while avoiding unnecessary specialist costs. Last year, Sitka raised a $14M series A round of funding led by Venrock. In this episode, Kelsey and I discussed: (1) her journey to starting Sitka and how her time in the public sector has impacted her career (2) how Sitka closes the specialty access gap by removing scheduling inefficiencies and virtually connecting PCPs and specialists, and (3) her experience as an early-stage founder, including how she navigated taking parental leave as a Series A CEO

In this episode, we chatted with Dr. Somi Javaid, Founder & Chief Medical Officer of HerMD. Dr. Somi Javaid is a board-certified OBGYN and pioneer in the women’s sexual healthcare space. She founded HerMD, a female-forward, insurance-based women’s healthcare center to help educate, advocate for, and empower women to take control of their health care. Recently, HerMD raised $10 Million in their Series A fundraise to bring their unique healthcare model to women across the US. JAZZ Ventures led the Series A round. We discussed: Watching her mother struggle to receive the care she needed and experiencing personal job dissatisfaction and burnout led Dr. Somi Javaid to found HerMD, a clinic specializing in menopause and female sexual health, designed to empower both patients and clinicians to create a positive care experience. The importance of promoting access to innovative therapies treating menopause and female sexual health disorders through insurance reimbursement, opening physical locations in “flyover” states, and championing education and patient advocacy. The rise of female healthcare-focused startups is likely to persist in conjunction with more VC funding, with opportunities for consolidation and collaboration across brands.