Six Health 2.0 firms reinvent doctor-patient ties
(UPDATED: Added screenshots and a link to video of the Myca patient-record interface.)
The just-concluded Health 2.0 Conference in San Diego showcased some 30-odd startups and Web sites — with dozens more in the audience — all intent on using the Internet to improve patient care, streamline healthcare practices and bolster the ability of individuals to take charge of their own medical treatment. There’s lots more to say, and I hope to do so over the next… Continue Reading
Google Health is here — or is it?
(UPDATED: See below.)
Well, the WSJ says so in this somewhat breathless report that states Google will announce its long-awaited personal health-record service today.
My first thought was that the announcement was timed to get Google on the record in advance of the Health2.0 “Spring Fling” conference in San Diego next week, which will feature lots of talk about the role of the Internet in improving healthcare. Another possibility is that Google is pulling a bait-and-switch similar… Continue Reading
Google Health and its Cleveland testbed
The impending — or so it’s seemed — launch of Google Health has spurred any number of comparisons, invidious and otherwise, to Microsoft’s flashier but ultimately disappointing launch of HealthVault last October.
Now that Google has finally announced its first big health project with the Cleveland Clinic, though, it’s far from clear exactly how its platform is going to address nagging privacy issues and the fundamental question of how much control patients will have over their… Continue Reading
Google Health’s Cleveland pilot program — and the nagging questions it doesn’t come close to answering
So Google Health has finally made its first formal announcement — not a splashy rollout along the lines of Microsoft’s HealthVault (see our coverage), but a limited — and closed to the public — testbed launched in partnership with the Cleveland Clinic.
Here’s what we know about the project: The Cleveland Clinic, which already has a sophisticated electronic medical-records system serving some 100,000 patients, will allow 1,500 to 10,000 of them to sync up their records… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Monday, Feb. 4, 2008
TODAY’S HEADLINES:
PEAK Surgical takes in $21M for electrosurgical tools (release)
CellGate acquired by Australian cancer biotech ProGen for $2.5M (release)
Traversa raises $2M for RNAi-delivery technologies (release)
RemitDATA, Web-based healthcare-service co., takes in $5.5M (bizjournals.com)
Spinal-implant maker Archus Orthopedics gets $10M venture loan (release)
Promedior pulls down another $5.5M for fibrotic disease (release)
Acrongenomics takes 11 percent stake in Molecular Vision (release)
Hepatitis drug-developer Biolex withdraws IPO (IPO Home)
Employee drug screener eScreen gets Carlyle investment (release)
NovaMin raises $2.5M for dental-care products (VentureWire)
Cardious… Continue Reading
Google Health launching soon?
Trust the reliable folks over at Google Blogoscoped to unearth a login page for the long-awaited Google Health service before it actually launches. Neither the login nor any of the links on the page seem to work, but it’s another tantalizing glimpse at what Google may soon be unveiling.
It’s worth noting that Marissa Mayer, who took over the Google Health project after Adam Bosworth unceremoniously decamped to launch his own health-related startup, said last… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Thursday, Jan. 17, 2007
TODAY’S HEADLINES:
TransEnterix gets $21M for minimally invasive GI surgery (release)
Stem-cell developer Bioheart’s IPO postponed (Forbes.com)
Medical-practice software provider AdvancedMD acquired by Francisco Partners (release)
Peptimmune draws $8.2M for MS drug trials (release)
Drug-delivery co. Talima Thera names Martin Babler CEO (release)
Alimera Sciences aims for autumn IPO to fund diabetic eye-disease drug (VentureWire, sub req’d)
TransEnterix gets $21M for minimally invasive GI surgery — TransEnterix (no Web site), a Research Triangle Park, N.C., device maker developing tools for “natural orifice”… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Monday, Dec. 31, 2007
TODAY’S HEADLINES:
PowerVision pulls in $20M for intraocular lenses (VentureWire)
Heart device maker Mitralign raises $24M (release)
LifeOnKey, electronic medical-record IT firm, draws $5M of $10M round (Globes)
Merrion Pharma withdraws IPO filing (Edgar)
Hi-Tech Pharmacal acquires Midlothian Labs for $5M (release)
Anti-infective developer Calixa receives $15M (VW)
PowerVision pulls in $20M for intraocular lenses — Belmont, Calif.-based PowerVision, a device company developing implantable intraocular lenses, raised $20 million in a second funding round, VentureWire reports. Investors included Advanced Technology Ventures, Frazier… Continue Reading
Medsphere hires new CEO, a “reinvention” that could boost electronic medical records
Medsphere Systems, a controversial Aliso Viejo, Calif., healthcare-software firm notorious for suing its co-founders last year when they released an open-source version of the company’s code, named a new CEO, a sign that it may be moving to heal old wounds.
Warning: Some of what follows is a bit convoluted — business disputes are rarely cut-and-dried, particularly once lawyers get involved. But it’s an interesting and important story, not least because the electronic medical-records system at… Continue Reading
Microsoft’s HealthVault puts your medical records online and in your hands — sort of
In a previous post, I set out to review Microsoft’s new health-related Web services, including its new online medical-record system, HealthVault. Plans went awry, however, when it took close to two hours simply to register for the service, so I decided to review the medical-records system in this post.
Microsoft clearly has grand plans for HealthVault, the main page of which you can see by clicking the thumbnail at left. Not only has it beaten rival… Continue Reading
Athenahealth files for $86M IPO
Athenahealth, a Watertown, Mass., maker of health IT systems for billing and management of electronic health records, filed to raise as much as $86.25 million in an initial offering. The company’s SEC filing is here.
Athenahealth’s systems work as Web-based services, a strategy designed to take advantage of the Internet’s flexibility and to make it easier for doctors to digitize their practices without making a huge amount of up-front investment. That said, Athenahealth’s business is still… Continue Reading