| |  By Casey Ross, Katie Palmer, Mario Aguilar, and Mohana Ravindranath | Good morning from Mario and Mohana! We've got an exclusive on Calm Science and fresh context on the Amazon-One Medical deal. | | | Exclusive: a shakeup at Calm Science Jennifer Huberty, the head of science at Calm, has left the company, Mario reports. Huberty has helped build an impressive portfolio of research on the meditation app since she first started working with Calm in 2017, and joined the company last year to form a science team. But the future of that team — which included researchers recently hired from Brown, Harvard, and other institutions — is now unclear. The disruption at Calm Science comes amid a shakeup at the company, which laid off about 20% of staff in August and named a new CEO in July. Mario has the scoop. | How telehealth boosted opioid use treatment Virtual care during the pandemic reduced patients’ risk of overdose and boosted use of medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder, the CDC, CMS, and the National Institute on Drug Abuse found in a new study out in JAMA Psychiatry.
Researchers examined data from more than 175,000 Medicare beneficiaries between September 2018 and February 2021. During the pandemic, receiving opioid-use disorder via telehealth was linked to better retention for medication-assisted treatment and lower risk of medically treated overdose compared to people who didn’t receive opioid use services via telehealth, researchers found.
The study is a boon to telehealth lobbying groups, which are pushing to make pandemic-era flexibilities around telemedicine permanent. The American Telemedicine Association touted the study in a press release, calling it “a strong signal to policymakers that telehealth can and should be a permanent part of healthcare delivery.” | One Medical founder Tom Lee on the ‘digital ratio’ Amazon’s $3.9 billion deal to acquire One Medical could help the primary care tech company expand its reach beyond its couple dozen markets — as long as patients are receptive to the retailer’s entry into primary care, One Medical founder Tom Lee told STAT. Though he’s no longer directly involved with One Medical’s day to day operations — he left in 2017 and founded telehealth company Galileo to reach what he calls “last mile” patients — Lee said the deal could boost access to primary care for some. “That being said, is it going to be 5 million or 10 million patients? That’s going to be a bigger question.”
For context, One Medical currently reaches about 790,000 patients and has more than 100 in-person clinics that tend to be located in wealthy, urban and white communities, according to a recent analysis. Amazon Care, which combined virtual visits with in-person care in about two dozen cities, reached a far smaller slice of patients before the company announced it was shuttering that business. . Lee also talked to Mohana about the shifts that have to happen as more clinicians join practices that blend in-person and virtual care. “They have to look at the broader business in which they operate…being aware of the economics, frankly, being aware of the costs to the individual, also being aware of security and privacy risks in any organization,” he said. | ESMO in 30 Seconds Stay on top of the most impactful developments coming out of the European Society of Medical Oncology conference by signing up for our free pop-up newsletter, ESMO in 30 Seconds. You’ll receive the best coverage of the convention right to your inbox, Sept. 9 - 11. Sign up now. | Using tech for breast cancer screening outreach could make disparities worse 
As more and more technology creeps into health care, there’s a persistent concern that new systems will be designed in ways that exacerbate disparities. In a new study published in Radiology, researchers looked at how computer scheduling might impact disparities in breast cancer screening. They conducted a retrospective analysis of 7,255 women between ages 40 and 74 who answered the National Health Interview Survey and found that 16% used a computer to schedule a doctor’s appointment. These women were more likely to be white, employed, high income, insured, and higher educated.
People who used computers for health care reasons were also found to be more likely to undergo annual breast cancer screenings. To the authors, that suggests “the expansion of digital health outreach and online portals may exacerbate breast cancer screening disparities.”
| The latest deals and partnerships -
MedMinder, which makes a connected pill dispenser targeted at seniors, raised $35 million in funding through credit and investment. -
Theranica, which makes an FDA-cleared wearable for treating migraines, raised a $45 million Series C round led by New Rhein Healthcare Investors with aMoon, Lightspeed Venture Partners, LionBird, Takoa Invest, and Corundum Open Innovation participating. -
Abridge announced it raised a $12.5 million Series A-1 round to advance its conversation AI, which aids with medical documentation. The round was led by Wittington Ventures. Existing investors Union Square Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, Pillar Venture Capital, and UPMC Enterprises participated. In addition, the company announced a deal with Google Cloud to “enhance the accuracy, efficiency, and completeness of its solutions using Google’s advanced research.” - Washington state health system MultiCare is the first to license technology from virtual primary care company 96point6 for its ambulatory division.
- Mayo Clinic, investment and business development firm Hibiscus BioVentures, and pharmaceutical company Innoforce are partnering on a new accelerator program for gene and cell therapy companies called Mayflower BioVentures.
| Personnel file -
Apple’s chief privacy officer Jane Horvath is leaving for law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Bloomberg reports. -
Cigna has hired David Brailer as its first chief health officer. Brailer is currently vice chairman of the Duke-Margolis Health Policy Center. - B-Secur, which develops technology to aid EKG interpretation, announced the appointment of Mark Bogart as its new Senior Vice President of U.S. Healthcare. Previously he was an SVP at heart health company AliveCor.
- Drug coupon company and telehealth marketplace GoodRx is laying off 140 employees — about 16% of its workforce.
| What we’re reading - Oscar Health loses its contract with Health First Health Plans, an early adopter, Fierce Healthcare
- The digital divide will grow when Medicare ends some telehealth benefits, Boston Globe
- Once a small player among biotech VCs, Mubadala Capital Ventures is punching above its weight, STAT
| Thanks for reading! More next week,  | | | |
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