Oak Street Health buys virtual specialty care company RubiconMD for up to $190M

October 24, 2021 Vera

Oak Street Health buys virtual specialty care company RubiconMD for up to 0M

Oak Street Health, a chain of primary care clinics geared toward the Medicare population, has acquired virtual specialty care provider RubiconMD for up to $190 million.

The deal includes a base $130 million in cash with up to $60 million added subject to performance, paid either in cash or a cash and stock combination, according to an investor presentation.

RubiconMD provides a network of specialists providing care in areas including cardiology, nephrology and pulmonology.

“Carlos Reines and I founded RubiconMD to democratize medical expertise so that primary care providers can offer all patients the care they deserve, and we are thrilled for this next step with Oak Street Health,” Gil Addo, cofounder and CEO of RubiconMD, said in a statement. “We share similar cultures and values, as well as a commitment to delivering high-quality patient care and lowering costs, and we look forward to continuing to innovate together.”

WHY IT MATTERS

Some patients face difficulties accessing specialty care, particularly those who are low-income or live in rural areas. Oak Street Health is positioning its purchase as a way to deliver specialty care more easily, with a better experience for patients, improved care coordination and lower costs.

“Oak Street Health is on a mission to rebuild healthcare as it should be, which we are doing by focusing on preventive care and driving more resources into the primary care setting,” Mike Pykosz, CEO of Oak Street Health, said in a statement.

“Like traditional primary care, specialty care is broken for older adults, but together with RubiconMD, we can rebuild it into a model that meets patient needs. Integrating and virtualizing specialty care into Oak Street Health’s innovative model enables us to improve access, experience and coordination for patients while substantially lowering costs. RubiconMD’s technology platform and national footprint [allow] us to scale the model across our current and future markets to further our mission.”

THE LARGER TREND

In March 2020, RubiconMD scooped up $18 million in Series C funding, building on a $13.8 Series B from 2018.

Primary care is a popular space for healthcare innovation. Other players include ChenMed, another primary care provider focused on seniors, and One Medical, which completed its purchase of Medicare-focused Iora Health in September and launched a digital chronic care product earlier this week.

Virtual or hybrid primary care options abound too. Virtual care giant Teladoc Health’s Primary360 offering recently became available

Pre-Workout Dry Scooping Trend Is Awful for Your Health and Fitness

October 23, 2021 Vera

Being into fitness is a good thing, but it’s easy to cross the line into viral fitness trends that hurt your health rather than help it. Enter: dry scooping, one of the latest fitness trends making the rounds on TikTok. Essentially, dry scooping involves eating a scoop of pre-workout powder or protein powder to boost energy before hitting the gym. Instead of diluting these powders and drinking the contents, fitness fanatics jumping on the trend are dumping the powder directly into their mouths and swallowing the powder dry (no water or milk included). But pre-workout dry scooping can have serious detrimental effects on your health. In one of the worst case scenarios, it can even land you in the hospital.

Does Dry Scooping Pre-Workout Have Any Benefits?

The reason why gym buffs dry scoop is to absorb pre-workout energy powder faster. And to this effect, dry scooping does work. Eating the powder dry does get it into your system quicker, allowing the user to feel the effects more rapidly, says Benedict Ifedi, MD, a family and sports medicine physician with Memorial Hermann Medical Group in Texas. However, fast absorption isn’t necessarily a good thing. Not only can rapid absorption of the ingredients found in pre-workout powder be dangerous (more on that in a minute), but these supplements don’t actually have the benefits proponents claim they do.

When it comes to pre-workout energy powder, which often contains caffeine, there is some proven boost to anaerobic energy. This means it gives you more energy for short, high-intensity bursts of training. But when it comes to increasing your upper and lower body power, you won’t see much benefit.

Further, pre-workout powders are lacking long-term research — not only for efficacy, but also for safety. They’re unregulated and can even contain banned substances, such as anabolic steroids and harmful stimulants or hormones (1,3-dimethylamylamine, or DMAA, which can lead to heart attacks, is one of the most widely publicized).

As for protein powder, research has found that protein intake has a similar effect both before and after workout. So there’s no need to hastily dry scoop before you work out. A post-workout protein shake will work just as well.

Why Is Dry Scooping Pre-Workout Bad For You?

There are two main dangers of dry scooping. First, consuming dry powder itself can lead to choking or inhalation, which can cause

Health officials investigating cluster of rare Legionnaires’ disease cases in New York

October 22, 2021 Vera

Health officials on Long Island are investigating 10 reported cases of Legionnaires’ disease — a rare form of pneumonia caused by a bacteria called Legionella. The source of the cluster has yet to be identified, but New York is seeing an uptick in Legionnaires cases statewide, the Nassau County Department of Health said.

The 10 cases of the disease, first identified in October, have been reported within a one-mile radius in a Long Island neighborhood, the county’s health department said. According to CBS New York, medical teams are working on contact tracing, as well as swabbing and sampling on site to find the cases’ origins.

The cluster of cases include people between the ages of 35 and 96. As of Saturday, one person has died from Legionnaires, two are hospitalized and seven have been released from the hospital, CBS New York reported.

People can contract Legionnaires by breathing in a mist or vapor containing the Legionella bacteria, which occur naturally in the environment, according to the county health department. Legionella are commonly found in fountains, spray parks, hot tubs, showers and faucets. The disease is not spread from person to person, the health department said.

In 2018, there were nearly 10,000 cases of Legionnaires reported in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But the number of cases could have been 2.7 times higher than what was reported because it is often misdiagnosed as one of the more common forms of pneumonia, the CDC said.

Symptoms of Legionnaires typically begin between two to 10 days after exposure to the bacteria and include shortness of breath, high fever, cough, muscle aches and headache. The disease usually lasts between two to five days and can range from a mild cough to a “rapidly fatal” case of pneumonia, according to the World Health Organization. Complications from the disease can include respiratory failure, shock and acute kidney failure.

The general death rate for the disease ranges from 5 to 10%, and typically depends on how severe of a case it is, where the disease was acquired, and if the patient has preexisting conditions. Those over the age of 50, current and past smokers, those with chronic lung disease and immunocompromised people are at higher risk of coming down with Legionnaires, the Nassau County Department of Health said.

Those with Legionnaires are usually treated with antibiotics, and

A 6.6 Billion Units Global Opportunity for Mobile Health and Fitness Sensors by 2026 – New Research from StrategyR | National News

October 22, 2021 Vera

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 21, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — A new market study published by Global Industry Analysts Inc., (GIA) the premier market research company, today released its report titled “Mobile Health and Fitness Sensors – Global Market Trajectory & Analytics”. The report presents fresh perspectives on opportunities and challenges in a significantly transformed post COVID-19 marketplace.

FACTS AT A GLANCE

Edition: 9; Released: April 2021

Executive Pool: 6609

Companies: 18 – Players covered include Fujitsu Ltd.; Abbott Laboratories; Honeywell International, Inc.; Texas Instruments, Inc.; Medtronic, Inc.; GE Healthcare; Qualcomm, Inc.; Omron Corporation; Analog Devices, Inc.; Bayer Healthcare AG; Adidas AG; Casio Computer Co., Ltd.; Jawbone; F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG; AgaMatrix, Inc.; Asahi Kasei Microdevices Corporation; LifeScan, Inc.; Acute Technology, Inc.; Philips Healthcare USA; RF Technologies, Inc.; ChoiceMMed Technology India Pvt. Ltd. and Others.

Coverage: All major geographies and key segments

Segments: Segment (Mobile Health and Fitness Sensor)

Geographies: World; United States; Canada; Japan; China; Europe (France; Germany; Italy; United Kingdom; and Rest of Europe); Asia-Pacific; Rest of World.

Complimentary Project Preview – This is an ongoing global program. Preview our research program before you make a purchase decision. We are offering a complimentary access to qualified executives driving strategy, business development, sales & marketing, and product management roles at featured companies. Previews provide deep insider access to business trends; competitive brands; domain expert profiles; and market data templates and much more. You may also build your own bespoke report using our MarketGlass™ Platform which offers thousands of data bytes without an obligation to purchase our report. Preview Registry

ABSTRACT-

Global Mobile Health and Fitness Sensors Market to Reach 6.6 Billion Units by 2026

Amid the COVID-19 crisis, the global market for Mobile Health and Fitness Sensors estimated at 953.4 Million Units in the year 2020, is projected to reach a revised size of 6.6 Billion Units by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 37.8% over the analysis period.

The U.S. Market is Estimated at 415.2 Million Units in 2021, While China is Forecast to Reach 1.1 Billion Units by 2026

The Mobile Health and Fitness Sensors market in the U.S. is estimated at 415.2 Million Units in the year 2021. China, the world`s second largest economy, is forecast to reach a projected market size of 1.1 Billion Units by the year 2026 trailing a CAGR

Walgreens shares surge on plans to boost focus on health services

October 22, 2021 Vera

Walgreens Boots Alliance’s new CEO Roz Brewer said Thursday that the drugstore chain will sharpen its focus on health care and turn it into the company’s “new growth engine.”

At a virtual investor day, she said the company’s nearly 9,000 stores across the U.S. will become places where customers can go to a doctor appointment, get medical tests and seek advice from a nurse or pharmacist. Those services will be under a new division of the company called Walgreens Health.

“This new Walgreens Health will make a difference and will began to transform us away from retail and just dispensing pharmaceuticals,” she said in an interview with CNBC’s Bertha Coombs. “It will be about the lives that we manage, and the lives that we touch and the lives that we can wrap physician and clinicians around in our buildings, both physically and digitally.”

Investors appeared receptive to Walgreens’ plan. Shares closed up 7.4% at $50.77 on Thursday. So far this year, shares are up more than 29%.

Brian Tanquilut, an equity research analyst for Jefferies, said Walgreens delivered on what many investors wanted Thursday by spelling out how it will become a proactive health-care player.

“Right now, people are saying, ‘It’s a sound strategy and we’ll give you a little bit of credit for that'” he said.

Walgreen’s plan calls for opening hundreds of primary care clinics, shaking up its selection of front-of-store merchandise and taking a stake in several health-care companies.

The company expects that strategy to pay off in the coming years. Next year, adjusted earnings per share are expected to show flat growth on a constant currency basis, it said. But growth will accelerate so that adjusted earnings per share will rise about 4% annually over the next three years. Beyond fiscal 2024, the company’s growth algorithm will lead to adjusted earnings per share growth of between 11% and 13%.

Brewer pointed to the company’s fourth-quarter earnings as evidence that Walgreens is building on a firm foundation.

Tanquilut said the new vision for Walgreens is a notable pivot.

“You are making the pharmacy a health center,” he said. “Instead of having a retail focus, the driver of value is no longer driving scripts [prescriptions] out of the pharmacy. It’s actually delivering care and making the patient loyal to the store.”

Ramping up health services

It recently decided to invest an additional $5.2 billion in VillageMD, a primary

Health Department: Pandemic having devastating effects on the community | Local News

October 21, 2021 Vera

It’s here. It’s real. It’s not going anywhere soon.

Some 19 months in, the coronavirus pandemic continues to result in infections, hospitalizations and lives lost. At the center of the local response is the La Crosse County Health Department, and while they understand the community is tiring of masking and distancing, the have seen the devastation of COVID-19 firsthand, and they are urging residents to take the virus seriously.

“It’s been 18 months of crazy and ‘when is is this going to end?’,” says Paula Silha, health education manager at the La Crosse County Health Department (LCHD) and COVID response testing lead. “This is a marathon, not a sprint.”

La Crosse County Health Department Director Audra Martine — Martine

Contributed

Jacquie Cutts, nurse manager for the LCHD, says, “A lot of people are just pretending it’s not a thing anymore, and that’s just not true. And we’re concerned about how that will impact people, how it has impacted people and how it will continue to impact people. And there’s a balance there to be had. We have to find ways to live our lives. But there are ways that we can do that safely, and a lot of those ways are not being leveraged right now and there are consequences to that.

“So there are people who would be alive right now and aren’t. There are people that have really astronomically high medical bills that don’t need to have those. And what we’re trying to get across to people is the message that COVID is still with us for a while longer,” Cutts continues. “We need to to bring back some of those practices to protect people and that they should have a vested interest in doing that. So you can find a safer way to see your friends and family and recreate that doesn’t necessarily put put as many people at risk.”

In late spring, the state experienced something of a reprieve from COVID with a dip in case rates and, from mid May to early August, no coronavirus deaths, Cutts says. For a while, the CDC relayed masks were no longer essential for the vaccinated. But the delta variant proved rapidly spreading and a catalyst for breakthrough infections, and masks for all were once again strongly urged.

In August, cases started trending up again in La Crosse County, with a 60-fold increase from July to mid-August through early October.

Does Dry Scooping Pre-Workout Have Any Benefits?

Why Is Dry Scooping Pre-Workout Bad For You?

Ramping up health services

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