At the JP Morgan Healthcare conference earlier this year, former CMS administrator Andy Slavitt cast a spotlight on the need for healthcare innovations that would help the most vulnerable patient populations, not just the worried well. The HLTH conference in Las Vegas this week saw the launch of a new venture firm Slavitt has cofounded, Town Hall Ventures, to back some of the companies that are addressing these needs.
Slavitt will lead Town Hall Ventures with Trevor Price, founder of executive search and investment firm Oxeon Ventures and CEO of Oxeon Partners, and David Whelan, who previously served as general partner and CFO of the private equity firm Accretive, according to a news release.
So far the group has backed four companies. Cityblock Health which delivers primary care, mental health services, substance use disorder treatment, palliative care, and supports the management of complex chronic conditions. Somatus seeks to improve the way people with chronic kidney disease are treated. Welbe Health provides integrated medical and social services to frail seniors who qualify for Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE), provided under Medicaid. Aetion is a health IT business that develops real-world analytics and evidence to help biopharma companies and payers better understand how drugs work in practice.
Earlier this year, Slavitt was the keynote speaker for the Medicaid Forum at Glide Memorial Church in San Francisco. He called attention to companies that he believed were doing a good job of trying to meet the needs of Medicaid patients, in an interview at the church.
He highlighted the work of Somatus in particular and decried the way the U.S. health system takes care of people on dialysis. Somatus uses software tools and on-the-ground teams to provide “concierge” kidney care for referring primary care physicians. Physicians provide services such as psychosocial and clinical needs assessments, CKD education, renal nutrition and renal social care services, in-home and post-acute care visits.
“If you have two different people with the same disease, it costs a lot more to take care of someone if they have housing insecurity, food insecurities, if they don’t have access to transportation to pick up their medications,” Slavitt said. “And as a result, if they show up in ER after they haven’t taken their medication, you have to manage back a situation that’s much more challenging.”
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