Page 200 - Mployee Wellness Programs News Today

Healthcare providers are the key to closing the vaccination gap: both as persuasive messengers and as the practical providers of vaccination.

Reporters are pitched endlessly about companies they need to meet at this annual healthcare conference and the ecosystem it has sprung. These companies stood out to me and they play in the biopharma, devices, diagnostics and health tech worlds.

California's Office of the Attorney General contends that drugmakers and pharmacy benefit managers work together to “aggressively raise the list price of insulin in lockstep with each other to artificial levels.” Insulin manufacturers deny the allegations, pointing to availability of lower-cost versions of their products.

The funding round was led by 8VC and included participation from Chelsea Clinton’s fund, Metrodora; the Female Founders Fund; Collaborative Fund; and Alumni Ventures. In total, Oula has raised $22.3 million. The company plans to use the funds to grow in its New York market and add more services.

There's been a recent wave of nurse strikes, but Theresa Brown — a nurse and New York Times bestselling author — said she's never met a nurse who happily embraces striking. Nurses only strike when it's the only option left to protect patients and deliver quality care, she declared.

The FDA approved a change in Rybelsus’s label, allowing the drug to be used as an initial therapy for type 2 diabetes patients. The once-daily pill has already become a blockbuster product for Novo Nordisk.

Dr. B began as a virtual service providing access to Covid-19 vaccines and later Covid-19 treatments. It has now expanded to treatments for dermatology, sexual health, reproductive health and primary care.

UC Davis Health announced the first startup to come out of its health tech innovation incubator. The company, named WellCent, is a platform that allows patients and caregivers to onboard medical devices into their home and access digital health resources.

In a media briefing during the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco, Paul Hudson said unlike Sanofi, large pharma companies with top-selling drugs have a portfolio akin to a leaky bathtub because in a few years, they will have to replace much of that revenue as drug patents expire.

M&A activity among health systems picked up last year — key trends included cross-market mega-mergers and academic medical centers expanding their community hospital networks. Despite tough economic conditions, Kaufman Hall experts expect this activity to continue growing in 2023.