Exclusive: Transcarent raises $126 million

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Transcarent, the fast-moving company helmed by health tech investor and former Livongo CEO Glen Tullman, today a nnounced $126 million in Series D funding, valuing the company at $2.2 billion.

The investment round was led by venture capital giant General Catalyst and 7wireVentures. Transcarent will use the funding to support development of artificial intelligence capabilities across the enterprise, growing its business, and pursuing acquisitions, Tullman told me. Transcarent has raised about $450 million to date.

Cybersecurity

UnitedHealth CEO grilled on Change hack

On Wednesday, UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty appeared before Congress to answer for the cyberattack on its claims processing subsidiary Change Healthcare. Witty confirmed several aspects of the incident, including that the hackers used compromised credentials to access the company's systems, that it paid a $22 million ransom to hackers, and that sensitive health information was posted to the dark web.

As STAT's Brittany Trang reports, hovering over the whole hearing were questions about UnitedHealth's size and influence in the nation's health care sector. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) pointed out that "by revenue, UnitedHealth is the 11th largest company in the entire world," Witty responded that United might be big but that it only employs about 1% of doctors in America, owns no hospitals, and owns no drug companies.

Ultimately, he argued, the Change hack probably would have happened either way. "Because it was a part of UnitedHealth Group, we've been able to bring it back," he said. "We're going to bring it back much stronger than it was before."

VIRTUAL CARE

Walmart to shut down virtual care service

Walmart announced Tuesday it will shutter its 51 medical clinics across five states, as well as its virtual care offering. Walmart attributed the decision to low payments from health insurers and high costs to operate the clinics. The company has for years touted the opportunity to use its expansive footprint as a site for care, and it's true that Walmart operates in places where care may be harder to find and serves people with lower health care access.

Still, the shutdown underscores the difficulty retailers have faced as they wade into health care. As STAT's Bob Herman reports, it's not obvious that people want to get their primary care in the same place they get their groceries. Moreover, the shutdown provides another shard of evidence that using primary care to get people in the door and billing for as many services as possible is a tenuous business model.

telehealth

Report: Pfizer plans telehealth service for drugs

The Financial Times reports that Pfizer is plotting a direct-to-consumer telehealth service to help sell drugs like Paxlovid and its recently approved anti-Migraine nasal spray Zavzpret. The service will connect people to virtual appointments with independent clinicians who will evaluate a consumer's symptoms and recommend the appropriate treatment, so Pfizer would not technically be dispensing the treatments itself.

Pfizer would be just the latest company to stand up a service that cuts out the burgeoning ecosystem of telehealth companies that prescribe drugs to consumers. Eli Lilly earlier this year announced a similar service to connect people to drugs like its obesity treatment Zepbound.

DISABILITY

How private equity made wheelchair repair a pain

The U.S.'s nearly 5 million wheelchair users often face lengthy wait times for repairs, which advocates argue can be traced to private equity's control of the industry. STAT's Timmy Broderick reports that as typical cost-cutting measures and consolidation take root, it becomes harder for people who depend on their wheelchairs to move around, to get access specialized repairs. Executives meanwhile claim that their immensely profitable companies simply don't have the the resources to provide better service.

Lengthy wait times can have devastating lifestyle and medical consequences for wheelchair users.

"[Companies] said the cost is too much for them to bear," said Maureen Amirault, a Connecticut resident who started using a wheelchair after living with muscular dystrophy for decades. "But the cost of them not [doing] it is too much for us to bear."

digital therapeutics

Akili layoffs, hunt for 'strategic alternatives'

Akili Interactive made a splash in 2020 when its video game treatment for ADHD was cleared by the Food and Drug Administration. Since then, the company has struggled to sell the treatment. After the prescription therapy failed to find traction, the company pivoted to a direct-to-consumer strategy last year. Now, Akili says it's hunting for "strategic alternatives." As part of the process, the company will lay off 46% of staff and cease most of its promotional activities for its treatments.

Akili is set to report its first quarter earnings on May 14.

What we're reading

The day the electronic medical records system went down, JAMA Internal Medicine
Electronic health record signatures identify undiagnosed patients with common variable immunodeficiency disease, Science Translational Medicine
Vision–language foundation model for echocardiogram interpretation, Nature