Conversa Health, a leading virtual care and triage platform, has expanded its Series B financing to $20 million during a year in which the company experienced sixfold growth of its platform. With the closing of the Series B round, Conversa has raised a total of $34 million. The Series B round, first announced at $12 million in June, was co-led by Builders VC and Northwell Ventures, the corporate venture arm of Northwell Health, New York’s largest healthcare provider with 23 hospitals and 800 outpatient facilities.

“Northwell has been successfully using Conversa to scale our communications and patient engagement initiatives which include thousands of COVID-19 patients,” said Michael J. Dowling, President and CEO of Northwell Health. “Conversa has become a critical collaborator in achieving our vision for virtual health, helping Northwell to engage, monitor and manage patients more efficiently than ever before.”

Investing to catalyze the shift to digital first

The COVID-19 pandemic compressed years of virtual care tool adoption into months. Conversa was perfectly positioned to meet this need. Conversa’s Automated Virtual Care and Triage™ platform enables health systems to remotely monitor, analyze and communicate with patients and healthcare consumers at high frequency and scale—for chronic care, acute discharge, perioperative, oncology, OBGYN, prevention and wellness, and more. The platform automates care where possible, identifies at risk patients, and provides digital triage to higher levels of care for those patients – e.g. phone calls, telehealth, e-visits, scheduling in-person consults – when necessary.

In addition to co-leads Builders VC and Northwell Ventures, the investor syndicate includes UH Ventures, the venture arm of University Hospitals, an 18-hospital health system in Ohio; and venture capital firms P5 Health Ventures, Genesis Merchant Capital,, J-Ventures, Epic Ventures, StartUp Health, and Nassau Street Ventures.

“Conversa links providers’ EHRs and other patient data to best-of-breed interactive digital care pathways and clinical analytics engine to automate care management 24×7. This improves care plan adherence pre and post visit, reducing costs and generating better outcomes for patients,” said Mark Goldstein, Builders VC partner and Conversa board member. “Conversa’s enterprise platform and library of digital pathways are used by providers to care for patients across their populations, as opposed to one-off point solutions. It fills an enormous gap in the market.”

By automating remote management of vulnerable populations with Conversa, health systems gain significant clinical and operational benefits, including:

Improved patient satisfaction and engagement—97% of patients feel Conversa helps them manage their care and 87% feel better able to follow their care plan;
Lower total cost of care—hospital readmission rates 32% lower in patient cohorts using Conversa;
Increased revenue—over 70% reduction in procedure no show/cancellation rates; and
Enhanced care team coordination and productivity—82% of care team members using Conversa would recommend it to a colleague to help them deliver care.

Innovating with health systems

Innovative healthcare companies are partnering with Conversa to create a new care delivery model based on automated, evidence-based digital pathways. Conversa was one of the first digital health companies to develop a suite of COVID-19 Virtual Care Solutions, helping hospitals increase capacity by automating the outreach to and monitoring of vulnerable patient and employee populations. Northwell, UCSF Health and UNC Health were among the first health systems to adopt these solutions to educate patients about COVID-19, direct them to care when needed, deliver COVID-19 test results and provide daily quarantine check-ins.

Conversa and UCSF Health rapidly launched Conversa Employee HealthCheck last spring to enable UCSF to effectively and efficiently comply with a city of San Francisco mandate to screen all workers daily before entering their hospitals and clinics. Analyzing the data helps employers spot burgeoning hot spots and respond to potential workforce needs more quickly. Prisma Health in South Carolina and SCL Health in Colorado, as well as other employers, such as retailers and universities, also adopted Employee HealthCheck. Northwell recently began offering HealthCheck to employers and schools working to create and maintain a safe environment throughout New York.

Conversa integrates remote patient monitoring (RPM) and other devices to incorporate vital signs and biometrics into its automated digital pathways where needed. Seeking to care for lung transplant patients better at home to avoid exposure to coronavirus, UCSF integrated a Conversa chat program with a home spirometry kit to detect early signs of declining lung function.

Conversa has also extended its COVID-19 response to help with vaccine education, outreach, appointment scheduling and post-shot monitoring. Healthcare workers at UCHealth in Colorado have their vital signs monitored by a stick-on sensor, made by Conversa partner BioIntelliSense, starting two days before receiving their COVID-19 vaccinations and continuing for seven days after. Conversa collects temperature, respiratory rate and heart rate data from the BioButton and integrates the data with insights from a daily automated vaccination health conversation.

Accelerating the transformation of healthcare

Conversa will use the additional Series B funds to continue to scale its technology platform, expand its library of automated virtual care digital pathways, and fuel growth with new and existing customers. The new investment comes after a year that saw an acceleration of Conversa’s business and market recognition of its platform, including being named “Best Remote Diagnostics Company” for 2020 at the UCSF Digital Health Awards

“In the future, much of healthcare will be done remotely. Conversa’s automated platform helps care teams practice at the top of their license to deliver high-quality care at much lower cost. Our technology continually analyzes health data, using the resulting “signals” to navigate patients along personalized journeys down evidence-based pathways. This data plus behavioral science approach maximizes engagement and drives positive behaviors while reducing variability of care,” said Conversa CEO, Murray Brozinsky. “We’re honored to partner with our visionary customers and investors in our crusade to transform healthcare.”

Biobeat, a global leader in continuous remote patient monitoring solutions for the healthcare continuum, has launched a new home-based remote patient monitoring kit. The solution allows healthcare providers to remotely monitor patients’ vital signs and receive updates and deterioration alerts, helping to alleviate hospital overload, reduce costs and improve patient care.

Based on the same hospital-grade wearable monitoring sensor technology used in hospitals and care facilities around the world, Biobeat’s home monitoring kit includes chest-monitors, compatible adhesive units and a user-friendly manual. Patients will utilize an accompanying intuitive mobile app (compatible with IOS and Android devices) to share the data with providers and view their own health status. Moreover, the patient data is analyzed by Biobeat’s AI-powered cloud-based patient management system, giving health care staff a continuous view of patient health and predictive patient deterioration alerts.

“Our new hospital-level home-based patient monitoring kit is essential in today’s socially distant pandemic climate,” said Arik Ben Ishay, CEO of Biobeat. “As hospitals continue to grapple with over flooded COVID wards and increasing rates of infection, it is crucial to empower health staff with trusted clinical-grade wearable AI-powered patient monitoring tools that will allow them to provide hospital-level care from a distance. In this way, providers can better manage patient influx, reduce facility expenses and most importantly, improve patient outcomes. We expect to see hospital-level home-based remote patient monitoring solutions become the standard of patient care in 2021 and beyond, strengthening the Hospital at Home concept.”

Biobeat’s FDA-Cleared and CE Marked chest-monitors utilize proprietary non-invasive reflective photoplethysmography monitoring technology to automatically and continuously track multiple vital signs and health parameters. The wireless solutions connect to a cloud-based patient management system to provide medical staff with real-time data and alerts, enabling early identification of clinical deterioration. The management platform includes an integrated automated, customizable early warning score system that incorporates advanced health-AI-based algorithms that analyze aggregated patient data to identify deterioration more accurately and provide predictive analytics. This platform could help patients, their family members, and healthcare providers in multiple settings, allowing to optimize care of patients in the post-discharge and outpatient settings, as well as hospital-level home care of oncology patients, COVID-19 patients, and more.

About Biobeat

Biobeat is a med-tech company with unique health-AI abilities in the patient monitoring space. The company’s remote patient monitoring (RPM) health-AI platform includes a disposable short-term chest-monitor and a long-term wrist-monitor, both of which utilize a photoplethysmography-based (PPG) sensor to continuously provide accurate patient readings of 15 health parameters, including cuffless blood pressure, pulse rate, respiratory rate, blood oxygen saturation, temperature, stroke volume, cardiac output, one lead ECG (only chest-monitor) and more. Leveraging its automatic, continuous and noninvasive RPM AI platform, Biobeat has generated the biggest vital-sign database in the world, which it utilizes to identify early deterioration of patients via its proprietary big-data and health-AI tools.

Aggregated patient health data is viewed by medical staff via Biobeat’s secure HIPPA and GDPR compliant cloud-based patient management platform, which utilizes an automated real-time early warning score (EWS) system that incorporates advanced AI-based algorithms to provide alerts on patient health status and potential deterioration. These capabilities allow Biobeat to support medical teams with tailored patient care such as adjustment of therapeutics and early prevention of specific disease exacerbations. Biobeat’s wearable devices are the first devices to be FDA-Cleared for cuffless non-invasive blood pressure monitoring and are also CE Mark certified. Founded in 2016, Biobeat is headquartered in Petah Tikva, Israel.

Asus Intelligent Cloud Services (AICS), Asustek Computer’s AI R&D center, has cooperated with Chung Shan Medical University Hospital in central Taiwan to develop an AI-based electronic medical record search engine and an AI-based de-identified medical big data search system, with the two to be adopted by 15 medical centers and hospitals, according to AICS director and Asustek corporate vice president Tai-yi Huang .

The hospital has used the medical big data search system in evidence-based medical education, practice of preventive medicine and management for quality of medical care, said vice president of Chung Shan Medical University Hospital Ming-che Tsai.

For application to evidence-based medical education, in case of cystitis, information on common cystitis-causing bacteria and the most frequently prescribed antibiotics can be searched, Tsai noted.

As used in management for quality of medical care, hospitals can regularly check important indicators, such as the proportion of emergency treatment patents for those hospitalized within three days and the number of patents hospitalized again within seven days after being discharged, as reference for minimizing repeated hospitalization, Tsai said.

NYU Langone Health has opened its first outpatient orthopedic practice on Staten Island, making it more convenient for residents to access care from one of the top-ranked hospitals in the country for orthopedics.

Specialists at NYU Langone Orthopedic Associates—Staten Island, located at 1534 Victory Boulevard in Sunnyside, provide advanced, personalized care for conditions affecting bones, joints, muscles, and soft tissues. Patients also benefit from the latest technology, enhanced care coordination across the entire health system, and a commitment to quality that is a hallmark of NYU Langone.

“We continuously look for opportunities to better serve our patients where they live and work,” says Andrew Rubin, senior vice president for clinical affairs and ambulatory care at NYU Langone. “Adding to a range of clinical services available at NYU Langone on Staten Island, this new practice brings high-quality orthopedic care directly to our patients in their community.”

Expanding its orthopedic care team, NYU Langone has welcomed foot and ankle surgeon Raymond Walls, MD, from Yale School of Medicine, to treat patients at NYU Langone Orthopedic Associates—Staten Island alongside surgeons Vinay K. Aggarwal, MD; Jadie E. De Tolla, MD; Tina Raman, MD; and Spencer Stein, MD.

On-site X-ray imaging services, nonsurgical therapies, and video doctor visits also are available. In addition, patients soon will be able to participate in a portfolio of clinical trials at the practice through NYU Langone’s Department of Orthopedic Surgery.

Surgical procedures, if necessary, are performed nearby at NYU Langone Hospital—Brooklyn, or at the world-renowned NYU Langone Orthopedic Hospital and the Joan H. and Preston Robert Tisch Center at Essex Crossing outpatient surgery center in Manhattan. To minimize travel between boroughs, pre- and postsurgical appointments are scheduled at NYU Langone Orthopedic Associates—Staten Island.

World-Class Orthopedic Care

NYU Langone’s orthopedic surgery program is one of the largest in the nation, and it’s ranked among the top five hospitals in the country for orthopedics by U.S. News & World Report.

The department has a history of pioneering innovative techniques that improve patient outcomes. For example, NYU Langone recently implemented a new spinal fusion surgery technique that reduces operating room time and length of stay for patients, as well as a same-day hip replacement surgery program for eligible patients that allows them to recover at home the night of surgery. In response to the opioid epidemic, the care team is also leading efforts to help patients manage pain safely and effectively with fewer opioids.

“Our team provides comprehensive musculoskeletal care that takes the whole patient into consideration,” says Joseph D. Zuckerman, MD, the Walter A.L. Thompson Professor of Orthopedic Surgery and chair of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at NYU Langone. “Using the latest evidence-based medicine, we help improve our patients’ quality of life and mobility so they can lead full and rewarding lives.”

NYU Langone’s orthopedic care is available throughout New York City’s five boroughs, Westchester County, Long Island, and New Jersey. High-Quality, Integrated Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond

NYU Langone is committed to providing the highest level of medical care during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

“We are taking extraordinary precautions during the pandemic to make sure our physician practices, emergency departments, and hospitals are as safe as they can possibly be, so patients can safely schedule annual checkups and not delay care for a health concern,” says Rubin.

NYU Langone has maintained its position as a leader while growing its ambulatory care network throughout the region and in Florida. NYU Langone consistently comes out on top nationally, in New York state, and the metro area across the leading healthcare quality ratings, including Leapfrog, U.S. News & World Report, Vizient, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Patients of NYU Langone have access to more than 350 locations—more than 70 of which are located in Staten Island and Brooklyn.

ViiV Healthcare and Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust are continuing their innovative partnership to transform HIV patient care with the launch of a new service, Klick, which leverages digital technology to provide patients with improved access to the most appropriate care. Created under a Joint Working Agreement, Klick uses digital clinic tools to triage patients according to clinical need and is supported by a mobile app allowing patients to manage appointments, complete health assessments, review results and communicate with their healthcare team.

The new service is being gradually launched to patients at the Kobler Outpatient Clinic, one of the largest centres of HIV care in Europe and is then planned to expand to larger patient populations across multiple sites at the Trust in the coming months. The launch follows impressive results generated through a pilot, also in the form of a Joint Working Agreement, which were presented at last year’s British HIV Association (BHIVA) Annual Congress and demonstrated exceptionally high levels of patient satisfaction and quality of care.

Dr Thomas Van Every, Global Medical Affairs Director at ViiV Healthcare, said: “All too often, innovations in healthcare fail when placed into the complex environment of a health system. ViiV Healthcare’s innovation specialists design solutions which leverage technology but are also rooted in the science of implementation. This demonstrates our commitment to understanding the drivers and barriers to implementing innovations in real-world settings. Our partnership with Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has combined experience in innovation with delivering quality care to patients within the NHS. The output is a robustly tested service for HIV patients, designed to be fit for the future of HIV care.”

Klick has also been designed to respond to the current demands on HIV healthcare services brought by the COVID-19 pandemic allowing outpatient clinics to rapidly evaluate clinical needs, provide access to care remotely and communicate effectively with patients. The design and implementation of the service has been led by a project team comprising individuals from ViiV Healthcare’s innovation team, along with clinical and non-clinical staff from the Kobler Clinic. The service has been designed with a focus on ensuring digital solutions can integrate with and enhance the service model, whilst delivering a positive experience for patients.

Dr David Asboe, Clinical Director for HIV at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, added: “We have made significant advances in the care of people living with HIV, but this work is not finished. In many regards, it has just begun. Our combined efforts have shifted HIV from an acute to a predominantly long-term condition. This brings its own challenges and responsibilities. It is our duty to understand the emerging needs of our patient cohort, to design care that is responsive to these needs, and to provide care in a sustainable fashion. We must achieve these things with a backdrop of the challenges we now also face with COVID-19. Health systems are under more pressure than ever and using new technologies in a way that genuinely enables our services to evolve is absolutely critical to ensuring we can continue to improve how we deliver quality care to our patients. The collaboration between the Trust and ViiV Healthcare has provided an opportunity to produce an evidence-based and practical service concept that provides a strong platform on which we can build.”

About ViiV Healthcare

ViiV Healthcare is a global specialist HIV company established in November 2009 by GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK) and Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) dedicated to delivering advances in treatment and care for people living with HIV and for people who are at risk of becoming infected with HIV. Shionogi joined in October 2012. The company’s aim is to take a deeper and broader interest in HIV/AIDS than any company has done before and take a new approach to deliver effective and innovative medicines for HIV treatment and prevention, as well as support communities affected by HIV.

About GSK

GSK is a science-led global healthcare company with a special purpose: to help people do more, feel better, live longer.

Workwear management company Polytex has announced that the demand of hospitals over the globe for its hygienic workwear management solution has risen sharply in 2020. The fully automated, hands-free end-to-end solution, which includes machines, software, and a smartphone application, supports the entire workwear lifecycle. The system monitors turnover and inventory level and ensures 24/7 availability of the workwear at multiple location points across the entire hospital.

Covid-19 has strengthened the understanding that hygiene standards in hospital units must be maintained at a high level. To achieve this, medical teams need a consistent supply of clean scrubs to prevent contamination and the spread of viruses and bacteria. Polytex solutions ensure that medical teams get clean and fresh workwear via a fully automated closed system unit featuring hands-free dispensing and returning of items.

There are currently over 3,000 Polytex units operating in 20 countries, including Israel, the U.S., Spain, Germany, and France, alongside countries in east Europe and Asia. The healthcare sector and specifically hospitals are the largest customer for the Polytex automated workwear management solution. Hotels, health clubs and industrial facilities where hygiene is important, are also target markets of the company.

In Israel, the company’s end to end solution is currently in operation at all the mid to large size hospitals in the country. Israel’s Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer, the country’s largest hospital, typifies how the pandemic has impacted hospitals. In 2019 the hospital ran a pilot program with one scrub dispensing and return unit at the Rehabilitation Department. By the end of 2020 Sheba had deployed 20 stations around the hospital and is planning further installations.

According to a Sheba case study, the major advantages of using Polytex technology have been a 45% reduction in annual uniform purchase costs, improved staff satisfaction and no less important, improved hygiene levels. More than 4,500 doctors, nurses, and lab workers – over half the entire staff – now have clean and hygienic uniforms waiting for them at convenient locations through the Sheba campus, eliminating the need for a central storeroom. In addition, the deployment of the Polytex solution at Sheba was in line with the hospital management’s strategy of adopting innovative technologies to improve efficiency while at the same time receiving the support of the workers’ committees for pooled uniforms and automation.

The Polytex solution is fully automated and enables hands-free dispensing and collecting of individual uniforms. The system itself is sealed, keeping garments in a clean environment that is opened only by laundry professionals during collection and restocking. The system is available on a 24/7 basis and often installed at multiple locations enabling staff to receive and return garments in seconds thereby avoiding unnecessary crowding. The units can also be moved to special temporary wards dedicated to infectious diseases like Covid-19. The Polytex automated system is backed by a centralized cloud-based management and monitoring applications for end-to-end tracking.

“Medical staff uniforms have become a potential health hazard as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, and this has led to tremendous interest in our solution from medical institutions around the world new and existing markets,” said Yariv Matzliach, CEO of Polytex. He added that “our solution allows medical staff to change uniforms faster, often many times a day, without fear of contamination. In the coming weeks, we expect to sign agreements in new markets.

At any given time, there are millions of bacteria living in your mouth, and they can build up to cause cavities and gingivitis. It is crucial to observe good oral hygiene, not just for a beautiful smile, but for oral health benefits as well. Oral health is more important than many people might realize. The health of gums, teeth, and mouth affects your overall health.

Although most bacteria found in the mouth are harmless, the mouth is the entry point to your respiratory and digestive tracts, and some of these bacteria can lead to illnesses. Problems in your mouth can affect other body parts, and your oral health gives clues about your overall health. Protect yourself and family members by observing the following best oral health practices.

1. Start early with children

Although there have been big strides in tooth decay prevention, 25% of children still develop tooth decay signs before they begin school. Additionally, 50% of kids aged 12 to 15 years have cavities. Dental care for your kids should begin after the first tooth appears. Remember to have dental insurance coverage for the whole family, especially when you have kids to cover for all the dental visits.

2. Seal off trouble

You can use sealants to prevent permanent molars from decaying or cavities. Sealants are protective coatings applied to the molars. They are an effective way to prevent cavities and tooth decay in children who can’t reach their back teeth when brushing.

3. Brush regularly and properly

Almost everyone knows that brushing their teeth twice every day is the best way to remove bacteria and plaque and keep their mouth clean. However, brushing is only effective when done properly. The correct way of brushing is using small circular motions and making sure you brush the front, back, and top of every tooth.

Brushing should take about two to three minutes. Don’t use a hard-bristled toothbrush or brush too aggressively, as it can damage your gums and tooth enamel. This may result in tooth sensitivity, gum erosion, and permanent damage to the tooth enamel.

4. Use a fluoride toothpaste

Flavour and whitening power are important elements to consider when buying toothpaste, but fluoride is more important. Whichever toothpaste flavor you choose, make sure it contains fluoride.

Fluoride comes from fluorine, and it helps to prevent cavities and tooth decay. Research suggests that lack of fluoride can result in tooth decay, no matter how well you take care of your teeth. If you don’t use fluoride, flossing and brushing won’t help you to prevent cavities.

Fluoride should be used sparingly in children. Too much of it can cause white spots on the teeth. Additionally, do not rinse with mouthwash immediately after brushing; otherwise, you won’t realize the benefits of fluoride. Wait for about 15 minutes to let fluoride work on your enamel.

5. Brushing is important, but flossing is equally important

A lot of people brush twice a day but forget to floss. Apart from removing food debris stuck in between the teeth, flossing helps to lower inflammation, stimulate the gums, and reduce plaque.

6. Use mouthwash

A lot of people don’t use mouthwash because they don’t know how they work. Mouthwash helps to clean the areas around the gums that are hard to brush, remineralizes the teeth, and decreases the amount of acid in the mouth. Mouthwash helps to bring things into balance. It is particularly helpful in seniors and young children who don’t have the ability to floss and brush properly.

7. Regular dental checkups

Brushing twice a day, flossing, and using a mouthwash are all important for your oral health, but you still need to see a dentist regularly. Make sure you visit your dentist at least twice a year. Your dentist will look for cavities, remove calculus, and spot potential problems before they happen. If your dental insurance company covers for more than two checkups a year, take advantage of it.

8. Consider Orthodontics

Getting properly aligned teeth is about more than just your smile. Even a fairly mild case of dental crowding can cause plaque to build up in hard to reach places, producing cavities. And bite disorders, such as crossbite or overbite, can produce strain on the jaw, leading to headaches and TMJ. Though many associate braces with teens, people of all ages can benefit from orthodontic treatment.

9. Eat vegetables and fruits

Ready-to-eat foods may be convenient but maybe not so much when it comes to your oral health. Crunchy fruits and vegetables are a great source of fiber and are also good for your teeth.

10. Limit acidic and sugary foods

Sugar in the mouth ultimately converts to acid, which results in enamel erosion and cavities. Tea, coffee, acidic fruits can also lead to enamel erosion. It doesn’t necessarily mean you stop taking them, but you should be mindful.

Endnote

Observing good dental practices from infancy to adulthood can help you keep your teeth and gums healthy. Additionally, good oral health contributes positively to your overall health.