InStride Health hit the ground running, well maybe walking, as it raised $30 million in additional capital for its pediatric mental health business. Children's mental health would be just fine if we keep them away from the woke indoctrination of schools and, by the way, mental health providers.
GoHealth is another of those excessively valued health startups that was always destined to flounder and not it has filed bankruptcy and the company will be turned over to lenders. GoHealth supposedly had a sensational new way to sell Medicare Advantage plans to beneficiaries. The company had gone public so a lot of investors lost a lot of money.
Garner Health isn't gathering any accolades from me, as it raises a new round of $100 million in capital at about a $2.5 billion valuation. The company supposedly steers patients to the best (i.e., cheapest) providers. To my cynical eye just looks like another over-hyped, over-valued company.
IKS Health, a British company with a US subsidiary that offers "care enablement" and mentions AI, of course, is buying TruBridge for $557 million. TruBridge offers revenue cycle management and EHR software and services to rural and community hospitals.
Innovacer, which basically collects data on a patient from multiple sources and aggregates it, raised an astounding $275 million in new capital, supposedly at a valuation of almost $3.5 billion. The company wants to expand its use of--wait for it--artificial intelligence. There is apparently no shortage of capital, but I wonder how much is being wisely deployed.
A company called Whoop raised a ridiculous $575 million in new capital at a supposed $10 billion valuation. The press release was released on April 1, so I would like to think it is a prank, but apparently it is not. Investors have learned nothing. The company has a wearable that supposedly helps with all kinds of health issues. Wearables are the hot new fad, and it will be a fad, but hey, if people want to throw their money away on fads, God bless them.
Big deals continue in health care financings. eMed, which manages weight loss medications for employers, raises a hefty $200 million, giving it a valuation of $2 billion, which seems crazy. But hey, the company has Tom Brady as an investor so there is that.
Color Turquoise Health happy, as it raises $40 million in new capital to support an expansion of its business from price transparency to managing contracts for providers. Unfortunately the price transparency rules have mostly been used by providers to raise their prices to the highest price charged for the same service by other providers.
Eight Sleep, another one of those weird names that litter health care, raised a new round of capital which supposedly values the company at $1.5 billion. Eight Sleep sells sleep hardware and software and claims to use AI to personalize and improve sleep. Sounds like another grossly overvalued company.
Simplistically, high health spending is due to high hospital prices, which is due to excessive market power. An article shows just how concentrated most US hospital markets are. In almost every state over 50% of hospitals operate in a highly concentrated local market, meaning they face little competition.
The Healthy Skeptic is a website about the health care system, and is written by Kevin Roche, who has many years of experience working in the health industry. Mr. Roche is available to assist health care companies through consulting arrangements through Roche Consulting, LLC and may be reached at khroche@healthy-skeptic.com.
The Healthy Skeptic is a website about the health care system, and is written by Kevin Roche, who has many years of experience working in the health industry. Mr. Roche is available to assist health care companies through consulting arrangements through Roche Consulting, LLC and may be reached at khroche@healthy-skeptic.com.