HEALTH TECHNOLOGY, DIGITAL HEALTHCARE
CCS | February 02, 2023
On February 1, 2023, CCS, a leading provider of clinical solutions and home-delivered medical supplies for those living with chronic conditions, announced the launch of its Scientific Advisory Council, comprised of four industry leaders who will assist CCS in its commitment to reinventing patient care at home through a more holistic approach. The Council consists of Karmeen Kulkarni, MS, RD, CD, CDCES, BC-ADM; Alexander Ding, MD, MBA; Steven Wittlin, MD; and Francine Kauffman, MD. This announcement follows the appointment of Arti Masturzo, MD, as CCS's first Chief Medical Officer.
Over 11% of the US population has been diagnosed with diabetes, which is projected to increase among American youth and young adults. Therefore, there is a great need for innovative technologies, partnerships, and services to fully support people in managing their diabetes. CCS chose to assemble its Scientific Advisory Council and assume a leadership position in redefining how health plans, providers, and employers support their patients and members impacted by costly, debilitating chronic diseases.
Additional information about the initial members of the Council is provided below
• Alexander Ding, MD, MBA, is a diagnostic and interventional radiologist, Associate VP of Physician Strategy and Medical Affairs for Humana, and an American Medical Association board member. He cultivates physician-health plan relationships and patient empowerment and engagement through digital health.
• Karmeen Kulkarni, MS, CD, RD, CDCES, BC-ADM, is a clinical pioneer in diabetes management with over 30 years of experience. She was Abbott's Global Scientific Affairs director for 15 years before starting her consulting firm. Ms. Kulkarni has unique experience integrating devices, technology, coaching, and clinical services to improve outcomes for diabetes patients.
• Steven Wittlin, MD, is an endocrinologist, published author, and University of Rochester's Director of Diabetes Services. His experience includes new diabetes treatment procedures that combine best practices in technology, medical devices, and clinical services.
• Francine Kaufman, MD, a pediatric endocrinologist, and former American Diabetes Association president, is the Chief Medical Officer at Senseonics, Inc., and previously held that position at Medtronic Diabetes. Dr. Kaufman, a key CCS Strategic Advisory Board member, will also be on the Scientific Advisory Council.
About CCS
Based in Dallas, Texas, CCS provides collaborative care programs and medical supplies delivered at home for people with chronic conditions, particularly diabetes. As a result, patients have better probabilities of starting and continuing therapy with CCS as their partner, lowering costs and enhancing outcomes. The company serves over 150,000 people in the United States with chronic conditions and delivers over 1.2 million medical products to homes yearly. With over 25 years of experience, CCS has the expertise, data, and relationships to usher in a new era of home-based, proactive chronic care management.
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HEALTH TECHNOLOGY
UpStream | January 27, 2023
On January 26, 2023, Innovaccer, Inc., a data platform for healthcare, announced that it had entered a multiyear partnership with UpStream Healthcare, a value-based primary healthcare provider solution. This partnership entails UpStream more than doubling its population on Innovaccer's cloud-native platform in the coming year, scaling its exceptional value-based care model across the U.S.
In April 2022, Innovaccer announced that UpStream Healthcare had selected the Innovaccer Health Cloud, Application Suite and Data Activation Platform to speed up its mission to transform senior healthcare with a full-risk model that improves outcomes, health equity, and care costs. Medicare and Medicare Advantage members on the UpStream platform have a 20-30% lower total cost of care and a 4.5-star quality rating.
The company's platform physically embeds a pharmacist-led care team in every primary care physician's office and nurses who visit Medicare-eligible seniors at home. Adding to the point-of-care clinicians, other team members will close any clinical and quality gaps to care for all seniors in full-risk financial agreements.
UpStream's clinical partners range from small independent primary care practices to IPAs, with two health systems and two ACO REACH entities supported. The company's data, analytics, and population health technology must scale quickly and cost-effectively to meet growing national demand. The company's platform, powered by Innovaccer Health Cloud, seamlessly integrates with EHRs of new providers and other healthcare IT. As a result, providers can easily access integrated workflows, unified patient records, and point-of-care analytics to deliver high-quality, low-cost care.
The expanded partnership follows UpStream's $140 million Series B round, raised to scale its value-based care model across the nation. Since 2018, UpStream has grown to serve over 180,000 Medicare patients and 1,000 primary care physicians in three states.
About Innovaccer
A California-based health cloud company, Innovaccer Inc., accelerates healthcare innovation. The Innovaccer Health Cloud unifies patient data across systems and care settings, enabling healthcare organizations to develop modern, scalable applications that improve clinical, operational, and financial outcomes. Over 1,600 U.S. care settings use Innovaccer solutions, empowering more than 96,000 providers to transform care delivery and collaborate with life sciences companies and payers. KLAS and Black Book rank Innovaccer #1 in Data and Analytics and Population Health Technology, respectively.
About UpStream
Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, UpStream is a primary healthcare solution provider that delivers value-based care to older patients and people with chronic conditions. The company offers an all-inclusive, risk-free solution for physicians that provides, finances, and sustains better outcomes by collaborating with healthcare practices and clinics. GAP-QTM (Guaranteed Advanced Payments for Quality) is UpStream's risk-free solution for physicians. GAP-QTM benefits physicians and practices by increasing income, professional satisfaction, and patients by lowering hospitalizations, decreasing copayments, and providing better benefits.
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HEALTH TECHNOLOGY, MEDICAL DEVICES
Sharecare | January 30, 2023
Sharecare, one of the leading digital health companies, has recently launched Get Active, a virtual reality program to make exercise an innovative, inspiring workforce towards well-being.
This program reports 82% engagement and 280% increase in average exercise span in a week of the healthy and high-risk employees of Lennar Corporation, one of the significant homebuilding companies in the U.S. It gives immediate health benefits, improves sleep quality, immunes from chronic diseases, reduces anxiety and blood pressure, and reverses pre-diabetes.
Dr. Pascal Goldschmidt, Chief Medical Officer of Lennar Corporation, said, "At Lennar, we believe deeply in empowering our entire workforce to be fit for adaptability – and physical activity is core to fulfilling that goal." He added, "While I was optimistic going into this pilot, engagement across the board exceeded our expectations and feedback from our highest risk associates has been very positive. Sharecare has demonstrated its continued commitment to innovation and driving sustained employee engagement, and we are excited to expand Get Active to more Lennar Associates this year."
(Source – Cision PR Newswire)
This program designs gamified physical exercise experiences for employees through Meta Quest 2. It paved the way for the well-being of the disabled and those who prefer home workouts over public gyms. Its virtual activity features stretching to basketball exercises with standing and seating positions.
William Janis, Senior Vice President of Health Advocacy at Sharecare, stated, "We have a strong track record of investing in innovation, including VR, to improve our comprehensive wellbeing platform and the employee experience, and the initial feedback on Get Active from Lennar's Associates is both encouraging and inspiring." He added, "We are excited to differentiate our whole health benefits offering on behalf of our partners and their populations with a unique and approachable program that's fun and naturally engaging for employees of all fitness levels while improving outcomes and reducing costs."
(Source – Cision PR Newswire)
About Sharecare
Sharecare is a prominent digital health company that provides comprehensive and personalized fitness and evidence-based programs with advice from health professionals. With the help of technology, it has innovated physical exercise by adhering to clinical protocols and utilizing updated coaching tools. It connects doctors, employers, updated digital tools, and health plans and provide quality information in one platform. It helps employers, service providers, health-conscious people, government organizations, and communities.
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