#202 - Hollywood on the Term Sheet

The one-minute healthtech roundup

Jul 14, 2024

Hi friends,

This week: automating GP admin, tech is no ‘magic bullet’ for cancer, and celebs go all in on diagnostic testing.

Tired eyes? 👀 Listen to the Healthtech Pigeon podcast ➡️ James, Jessica and Daisy from SomX breakdown the best stories from this week’s newsletter. Available now on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

News Bites 🥪

⌨️ Monzo alumni raises $3.5m to automate admin in doctors surgeries – Glamorous though Pigeon’s life may appear from the outside, we’d kill to spend less time on admin. Unlike GPs however, the risk of someone dying because we were busy faffing with the document management system is minimal (definitely not zero though. That’s where Healthtech-1 steps in, with plan to streamline clinical and non-clinical tasks in primary care.

🔫 NHS urged to prioritise cancer care basics over tech and AI ‘magic bullets’ – When it comes to cancer care in the UK, experts say we need to stop expecting tech to solve all the problems we face. Ultimately, it’s a fair point, well made – but equally, it’s our job to hype the exciting tech. If you want reasoned arguments about systems and spending, go subscribe to HealthPolicy Pigeon.

🤩 Function pockets $53M for personalized health testing backed by celeb investors Matt Damon, Pedro Pascal and Kevin Hart – Debate continues to rage within the medical community over the value of asymptomatic testing, but are we on the verge of a pro-testing consensus? With Matt Damon on board, the answer is surely…maybe. As broad ranging diagnostic testing becomes more accessible, there’s surely an argument that it’s valuable – but is this more about prevention or optimisation?

👉 AI-Driven Behavior Change Could Transform Health Care – On that note, could a health coaching app designed to nudge you into making better health and lifestyle decisions be closer to the preventative mark? Thrive AI isn’t the first health coaching app by any means, but it may be among the broadest in its focus, and have the most impressive backers.

💊 PolyModels Hub raises £1.1m to digitise pharmaceutical R&D – The latest company to attempt to crack the drug manufacturing nut picks up a health seed investment as it aims to bring everything companies need into one place.

🛒 AgileMD's eCART software receives FDA approval for clinical use – If the idea of a device that “continuously assesses the risk of impending death” sounds a bit off-putting, rest assured, it’s only for use in hospitals, where it draws on data from countless hospitalisations to determine when you’re most likely to take a turn for the worse.

📈 Zoi Capital’s health AI fund aims to change doctors' views of healthtech – Too much money has gone into digital health use cases that don’t work, says a New-York based VC whose background includes clinical work and a spell at McKinsey advising other funds. So when it comes new tech, what excites a doctor-investor?

🩸 Effectiveness of digital health interventions for telemedicine/telehealth for managing blood pressure in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis – Sure, Pigeon’s confident that digital health can have great results, but it’s always nice to see data that proves it.This review of digital health support for blood pressure management found, ultimately, some pretty positive impact.

What to listen to 🔊

Events 📅

How to use Generative AI and Prompt Engineering for Clinicians - BMJ Group
🕣 Jul 17
📍 Online

AI in the NHS: Shaping the future of healthcare - The Health Foundation
🕣 Jul 18
📍 Online

Visit the SomX events page or subscribe to SomX’s events roundup to see all of the best upcoming healthtech, biotech and healthcare events

Opportunities 🕵️‍♀️

🧒 Digital Healthcare Manager, Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health – What are the headline technologies in use by paediatricians? Do paediatricians have the necessary digital skills to make the most of these tools? These are questions you could be answering, helping drive forward the use of technology in children’s healthcare.

📲 Clinical Product Manager, Numan – Data driven product manager with a passion for healthcare and a knack for developing solutions that meet clinicians’ needs? This role at men’s health champions Numan is for you.

🏥 Digital Health Team Lead, Cleveland Clinic – The team at Cleveland Clinic are looking for a digital health expert witha background in healthcare IT and clinical admin to ensure a high quality service. Apply now.

Got news, jobs or events you think is worth coo-ing over? Let us know! Email us: news@healthtechpigeon.com

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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.