Ringadoc raises $700k to move closer to the frontline of virtual health care
photo: Haryadi CH
San Francisco-based Ringadoc has raised an additional $700,000 to help doctors streamline communication with patients. Read more »
With $2.5 million in new funding, PingMD wants to help doctors manage incoming calls
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As doctors prepare for an influx of new patients, PingMD, a newly-relaunched mobile app, wants to help doctors more efficiently communicate with patients and peers. Read more »
Qualcomm Life buys HealthyCircles to tie patients, caregivers and health data
Qualcomm Life has acquired HealthyCircles, a startup founded by a former Microsoft HealthVault executive. Read more »
How a virtual health insurance card could help doctors reduce bad debt
As more of our lives go digital, a Philadelphia startup has a plan for making our flimsy paper insurance cards virtual. Read more »
Health startup Greatist buys Sportaneous to stretch from content to tech
New York-based health startup Greatist has acquired fitness class discovery app Sportaneous in a move meant to build the company’s tech chops. Read more »
Kinsa launches a smartphone-connected thermometer to create a real-time health map
New York-based Kinsa is trying to create a real-time picture of the country’s health with a smartphone and a simplified digital thermometer. Read more »
It’s not just about big data: here’s why small data matters to your health
photo: Digital Storm
The “digital exhaust” from your mobile phones and other devices could give doctors a valuable window into your wellbeing. Read more »
The Data Doc: Meet the MD who wants to bring custom healthcare to the masses
photo: Shutterstock / Luis Louro
As digital health technology booms, MDRevolution is a first stab at trying to show how mobile health tracking tools, genetic assessments and personalized coaching can work together. Read more »
Don’t forget your meds: Mango Health gives you perks to stay on track
Mango Health, founded by former executives from mobile gaming company ngmoco, is using game mechanics to get people to be more conscientious about managing their health. Read more »
What mobile health app developers need to know about looming government regulation
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This week, Congress held three days of hearings on regulating mobile health. The FDA hasn’t yet released its final guidance, but here are a few details on how it views the market so far. Read more »
WebMD and Qualcomm Life team up to bring Quantified Self tech to the masses
WebMD and Qualcomm are partnering up to help consumers sync and analyze data from wireless health and fitness devices. Read more »
Practice Fusion buys mobile health startup 100Plus to power patient tools with clinical data
In its first major acquisition, electronic health records provider Practice Fusion has purchased 100plus, a personalized health prediction mobile startup. Read more »
Exclusive: Happtique releases standards for ‘seal of approval’ for mobile health
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Happtique, a New York company building a certification program for mobile health apps, on Wednesday will release its final set of standards for developers. Read more »
4 ways mobile health could save $400B in health costs
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A report from the GSMA and PricewaterhouseCoopers estimates that mobile health could save developed countries $400 billion in 2017. Here are four uses of mobile technology that could help make that happen. Read more »
Health tech’s monthly checkup: investment nearly tripled in January (infographic)
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Investors put a total of $272 million into 47 deals in health tech last month, according to Startup Health. Our graphic shows some of the other investment highlights from January in health tech. Read more »
Fresh from primetime cameo, Sotera Wireless’ remote patient monitoring tech nabs $14.8M
Sotera Wireless, the company behind the VisiMobile patient monitoring device, has raised $14.8 million in its latest round of funding. Read more »
Diabetes startup Glooko goes for the hat trick: new CEO, new product and FDA clearance
Mobile diabetes-management startup Glooko has hired its first CEO, former Intuit Health executive Rick Altinger, launched a new product in the U.S. and recently received FDA clearance to sell its products to patients over the counter. Read more »
Athenahealth to acquire physician favorite mobile app Epocrates for $293M
photo: Christos Georghiou
Athenahealth, a provider of Electronic Health Records software and other online services for doctors and hospitals, on Monday said that it plans to acquire Epocrates, a drug reference app used by about half of the country’s doctors. Read more »
PatientSafe raises $20M for iOS-based, mobile health system for hospitals
photo: PatientSafe
PatientSafe, a San Diego-based medical technology company, on Monday announced that it had raised $20 million in a Series C round of financing led by health care giant Merck’s Global Health Innovation Fund. Read more »
Mobile health in 2013: from the gym to the doctor’s office
Mobile health is on the upswing but, to date, consumers have mostly gravitated to apps for fitness tracking and general wellness. In 2013, however, the field could make its biggest strides yet in the actual delivery of healthcare services. Read more »
Priceline for health? PokitDok launches on mobile
photo: JCD
One of the latest startups aiming to bring comparison shopping to health, PokitDok this week launched a new mobile app that lets consumers search for local healthcare and wellness providers to find prices that match their budgets. Read more »
Subscriber Content
Health care and big data in 2012
Opportunities for big data and data-analytics firms in health care are likely to expand dramatically in the coming years. Driving this are trends such as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the use of data to address inefficient processes, and the rapid growth of mobile health. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
NYC shapes up with new health tech incubator
Backed by the New York Economic Development Corporation, the Bio & Health Tech Entrepreneurship Lab will next month announce its first class of startups. Although it doesn’t provide funding or space, it is the latest program to provide health tech funders with mentorship and coaching. Read more »
Half of smartphone owners consult the ‘doctor in their pocket’
photo: Christos Georghiou
In a study released Thursday, the Pew Internet & American Life Project reported that more than half of smartphone owners consult their devices for medical information and one-fifth of them say they have downloaded a health app. Read more »
Simplee’s payment portal for for health care gets boost from Medicare support
photo: JCD
With a new integration that enables Simplee to support millions of Medicare beneficiaries, as well as other recent partnerships with healthcare companies, the Palo Alto, Calif.-based health tech startup is moving closer to its goal of being a comprehensive PayPal-like portal for out-of-pocket healthcare spending. Read more »
HealthTap wants to get the vote out – for the country’s top docs
Hoping to bring more transparency to the quality of care doctors provide, Palo Alto, Calif.-based HealthTap is announcing a ongoing competition on its site that lets patients and doctors vote for top physicians in each field. Read more »
Note to startups: Don’t forget the ‘skinny jeans’ health trackers
Health tracking doesn’t need to involve high-tech apps and devices. According to early results from a Pew Internet & American Life Project study, 7 in 10 Americans could be considered self-trackers, if you consider those who monitor health with notebooks, journals and mental notes. Read more »
QuantiaMD raises $12M for online community for doctors
QuantiaMD, a Waltham, Mass.-based company that provides an online collaboration and communication platform for doctors, has raised $12 million from existing funder Fuse Capital. Launched in 2008, the company said it has more than 160,000 physicians on its network. Read more »
So you’ve collected oodles of personal data: Tictrac helps you actually use it
Tictrac, a U.K.-based startup, integrates with data from a range of third-party apps and tools — from those that monitor health and activity to those that track social activity and fundraising — to help users make the most of their personal data. Read more »
Rock Health’s new class of startups: apps, APIs, artificial intelligence
Rock Health, a San Francisco-based accelerator for health tech startups, Thursday announced its fourth class of companies. In addition to introducing the class, the accelerator announced that Kaiser Permanente is joining its roster of partners. Read more »
ZocDoc heads west with new flagship office in Phoenix
Now that it serves patients and doctors in 31 major metropolitan areas across the country, New York-based ZocDoc is opening its second flagship office in Phoenix. The new office will focus on sales and operations and help move ZocDoc to a 24/7 service model. Read more »
Startup Health launches AngelList-like platform for health and wellness
Startup Health, the New York-based academy for health and wellness entrepreneurship, has launched an online platform for connecting startups, investors and customers in health tech and tracking funding in the sector. Read more »
Intel’s Andy Grove sounds off on data transparency in healthcare
In an article in the latest issue of Wired magazine, longtime Intel CEO Andy Grove argues “1950s-era thinking” still prevails in healthcare and that patients need more data about healthcare costs and medical histories. Read more »
Will monitoring our health be like managing a stock portfolio?
photo: argus
Stephen Wolfram, the scientist and innovator behind Wolfram Alpha and Mathematica, has spent decades tracking his personal information. As the collection of personal data becomes more mainstream, he believes people could watch their health in a manner similar to how they manage their financial portfolios. Read more »
Healthrageous nabs $6.5M for personalized data-driven health support
Healthrageous, a Boston-based startup, has raised $6.5 million in Series B funding to enhance its mobile and desktop platform that gives patients a personalized, data-driven way to track and improve their health. Read more »
Why build a health tech biz? Software “hasn’t taken a nibble out of healthcare”
With twelve years, two companies and a total of $100 million in venture capital funds raised, Jeff Tangney knows his way around health tech. The Epocrates and Doximity co-founder said the health tech landscape is changing and offered entrepreneurs in the field a little guidance. Read more »
3 health tech startups to watch from the DC to VC showcase
Ten forward-looking health tech startups pitched Wednesday at the DC to VC showcase in San Francisco, an annual event bridging Silicon Valley and Washington, DC. Take a look at three companies that won the judges’ and audiences’ endorsement. Read more »
Twitter courts healthcare — but cautiously
Health-related tweets are on the rise and Twitter wants healthcare marketers to pay attention. This year, the company said, tweets about health are up 51 percent. But even as it makes inroads in health, Twitter offers a few caveats. Read more »
VC funding for digital health up 70 percent, says report
A new report from health startup accelerator Rock Health shows that funders have invested $1.08 billion in digital health startups this year, which already eclipses the $956 million they spent in all of last year. Read more »
Qualcomm exec: In health, we’re ‘driving without a dashboard’
Despite the boom in connected health devices and the ‘quantified self’ movement, Qualcomm exec Clint McCellan says people won’t get a fuller picture of the health until interoperable systems make it possible to correlate siloed streams of biometric data. Read more »
