As the MedCity ENGAGE conference nears, the applicants for the startup pitching event Pitch Perfect have been whittled down to a short list of 10 finalists. The contenders span behavioral health, helping people with respiratory diseases communicate to helping patients prepare for and recover from surgery.
At the San Diego patient engagement conference on November 6-7, these companies will get the time to provide an overview of their businesses to attendees. A group of judges will be on hand to question these startups about their strategy and products, including John Mattison, CMIO and Assistant Medical Director at Kaiser Permanente; Dr. Michael Pellini, Managing Partner with Section 32 and Chairman of Foundation Medicine; and Glenn Winokur, Managing Director with Healthbox.
Last year, the winner of the competition was Care + Wear. The company, which produces clothing aimed at helping people with ports and peripherally inserted central catheters or PICC lines lead more active lives, teamed up with Oscar de la Renta earlier this year.
Here’s a look at the finalists:
Ataia Medical developed a communicator that helps patients undergoing respiratory therapies to speak with their loved ones and care providers while continuing to wear their NIV masks. The goals are to improve the patient experience, medical outcomes, and hospital efficiency. The device includes a disposable patch that can be attached to the outside of virtually any hard-plastic hospital mask and connects to a reusable communicator that outputs the patient’s voice through a speaker.
Boundlss describes its approach as providing a “recovery buddy” that acts as a health coach to users —part AI, part human. The goal is to reduce preventable readmissions by helping patients prepare for procedures, guiding them through their recovery and supporting behavioral change, using chat in a mobile app
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
genneve is a digital health company focused on middle-aged women’s health, in particular, midlife changes that include declining hormones. The company provides data, digital resources, and telehealth tools.
GenXys developed what it refers to as precision prescribing software and pharmacogenetic solutions to prevent adverse drug reactions, and personalize drug selection to dramatically increase drug efficacy.
Litesprite developed a game platform to help people manage and mitigate the effects of behavioral health, cancer, and diabetes. Sinasprite, for example, uses evidence-based treatment methods, including CBT-based and mindfulness strategies, to help people manage stress, anxiety, and depression, according to the business. Its custom data feed is important for clinicians to remotely monitor patients.
Medumo developed a patient navigation program to help hospitals, surgical centers, and care teams automatically guide patients throughout their care journey.
NeuroFlow created a HIPAA-compliant, cloud-based program to help healthcare providers to objectively assess, track, and engage patients using evidence-based practices to support their mental health. Its suite of tools enables remote monitoring and behavioral health integration across the continuum of care, including psychology, primary care, and pain management settings.
Nicolette zeroes in on the neonatal intensive care unit. It builds dashboards to help new parents understand complex topics, and move through treatment options to ultimately reach a collaborative decision with their baby’s healthcare team.
OcuMedic is developing a timed, drug-eluting contact lens/corneal bandage with extended seven-day ware replacing eye drops for post cataract,
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