Hi friends,
This week: Corporates aren’t buying what healthtechs are selling, UnitedHealth gets hacked, slashed and burnt, and a chatbot says you should quit your job.
News Bites 🥪
🤴 Bring on the chief health AI officer – Dear clinicians, forget how terrible your electronic health record is for a moment and prepare to embrace AI. If you do, apparently it’ll be much easier for you to communicate to your superiors just how terrible your EHR is. At least, that’s Pigeon’s takeaway….as always, YMMV.
👩🏫 Thinking of selling into the employer? You probably shouldn't – Ever the optimist, Second Opinion’s Christina Farr has a bleak warning for the health innovator looking for buyers in the corporate world. Pigeon would never be so blunt in our recommendations (and even if we were, they wouldn’t be helpful). Nevertheless, this one’s worth your time.
💉 Let’s talk differently about obesity – As a new weight loss medication hits the market, following in the footsteps of Ozempic (and filling the gap left as a shortage kicks in), what is the role for digital health companies in tackling the obesity crisis? A little birdie told pigeon (a much bigger bird) that Luke Pratsides, Head of Medical at men’s health company Numan joins the podcast this week to help us answer that question.
🧱 NLC Health Ventures Secures €14M for Healthtech Expansion, Eyeing Global Impact – Are we witnessing the rise of the venture builders? With a hefty sum raised to keep funding new healthtech innovations, there’s definitely a certain segment that believes it's the way forward.
🪇 Kry profitable in all markets: “We wouldn’t have managed it as quickly without AI” – Pigeon congratulates the European healthtech scaleup on turning around 8 years of losses to get to this point. The credit you’re giving AI tells Pigeon you weren’t using ChatGPT. Or at least not while it was giving all of its answers a certain….Spanglish flavour….
Hackers Behind the Change Healthcare Ransomware Attack Just Received a $22 Million Payment / UnitedHealth shares tumble after report of antitrust investigation – If you think you’re having a bad week, thank your lucky stars you don’t work for UnitedHealth*. The US group (and owner of UK EPR provider EMIS), was recently hit with the mother of all cyber attacks, probably paid a $22m ransom to the hackers, and has since become the subject of an unrelated antitrust investigation launched by the US Dept of Justice.
🏚️ Exclusive: ambitious shared EPR procurement for four NHS trusts ended – Some accuse the market for electronic patient record systems in the UK of being a duopoly. Pigeon questions how this can be true when more than six EPR providers bid for a recent 4-Trust contract. Wait… what do you mean none of them won the contract?
🤖 Meet the AI chatbot therapists filling the gaps in Europe’s mental health care shortfall – Here’s a quick note to chatbot developers: When Pigeon’s had a bad day and loudly threatens to quit being Pigeon to no one in particular, all we’re looking for is a bit of empathy, rather than ‘You do You. Here’s a pre-drafted resignation letter.’ With responses like this, can AI chatbots really be the answer to the mental health crisis?
🧠 Limbic Raises $14M in Funding – Here to prove that, yes actually AI chatbots can be useful for mental health and why don’t you just shut up, Mr. Pigeon, is mental health care companion Limbic, which announced an impressive $14m series A this week. Congrats team, that put us in our place.
🤷♂️NHS agrees to up productivity in return for tech investment – Clinicians and managers, pay attention. You’re getting the tech (some of it may even work), but you’ve got to be more productive, ok? With a maximum of 10 months left until this Government’s gone, it’s likely neither side really felt like they were risking much with this agreement.
What to listen to 🔊
🐦 The Healthtech Pigeon Podcast — Join Jessica, James, Huw and Numan’s Head of Medical Dr Luke Pratsides as they take a deep dive into the week’s healthtech news and views.
🔊 The Healthtech Podcast #340 What is a Chief Medical Officer? And how do I become/hire one? With Benjamin Viaris De Lesegno — James is joined by Benjamin Viaris De Lesegno, NHS consultant, humanitarian doctor, and co-founder of Leva Clinic.
🔊 Digital Health Unplugged: The role of effective teams in deploying digital platforms in the NHS — If we’re going to use technology to save the NHS, we better get good at deploying it quickly and building teams which make it possible. Digital Health’s Jordan Sollof speaks to Dr Lia Ali, Simon Noel and Nick Black to find out more.
🔊 Two commissions on the future of the NHS – with Rachel Sylvester and Parveen Kumar — These days, it feels like everyone’s talking about what to do with the NHS, so the Health Foundation brought together two people who’ve overseen wide ranging initiatives focused on just this to compare notes.
Events 📅
HIMSS Global Health Conference & Exhibition
🕣 March 11-15
📍 Orlando, FL
Digital Health Rewired
🕣 March 12-13
📍 The NEC, Birmingham
WIRED Health
🕣 March 19
📍 London
Edinburgh Medtech Forums
🕣 March 27
📍 Edinburgh
HPN North
🕣 April 23-24
📍 Manchester
Digital Healthcare Show
🕣 April 24-25
📍 ExCel London
LSX World Congress
🕣 April 29-30
📍 Business Design Centre, London
Visit the SomX events page to see all of the best upcoming healthtech, biotech and healthcare events.
Opportunities 🕵️♀️
AI Engineer, Visiba — Swedish triage-tech developers Visiba are looking for an engineer to solidify their AI capabilities. If you’re a engineering whiz with a passion for health AI, take a look at this role.
Digital Health Lead, Sr. Director, Pfizer — The Pharmaceutical giant is looking for a digital health afficionado with experience in digital projects, leadership skills and a scientific background to oversee a wide ranging strategy for its digital health approach. Sound like you?
Digitla Health Strategist, HIMSS — HIMSS analytics delivery team takes a leading role in pushing forward digital health globally, and they’re looking for a strategist to join them.
Exec Director of Digital Health and Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Our Future Health — The national project to understand more about our health is looking for a deputy chief medical officer with experience of launching digital products. Pigeon suspects we know a few people who meet the bill.
Business Development Manager, Quiddity Health — Experts in the NHS and how to work with it, Quiddity Health is a fantastic team filled with lovely people (that’s a Pigeon promise). If you’re a BD pro, apply now.
Doctors in Industry Fellowship, Medic Footprints - Applications are now open to clinicians who are thinking about joining another flock. The brainchild of Dr. Abeyna Bubbers-Jones - doctors alternative career guru and LinkedIn Top Voice, this incubator has got the backing of a sparkling faculty of industry influencers from across the world!
*If you do work for UnitedHealth, sorry. Fancy a chat?
Got news, jobs or events you think is worth coo-ing over? Let us know! Email us: news@healthtechpigeon.com
SomX is a communications and creative agency for healthcare. We are clinicians, scientists, creatives and communicators dedicated to serving our healthtech, biotech, pharma and public sector clients with services across strategy, content, PR, design, events and media production. Get in touch to learn more.