Chris Bergstrom
Recent months have brought with them a number of important hires and departures at digital health companies. Here's a roundup of some of the ones we've been tracking. Feel free to add your own in the comments below.
Chris Bergstrom has stepped away from his full-time position of Chief Strategy and Commercial Officer at WellDoc, but he will remain an advisor to the company. As a...
Optum, a division of the UnitedHealth Group, has purchased a majority stake in Audax Health Solutions in a deal "which included cash, options, preferred stock, and significant working capital," according to Audax.
Around the same time, Audax filed a $29 million funding raise with the SEC. It's likely that Optum's investment was contained within that round. UPDATE: Audax has told MobiHealthNews...
Earlier this month the Federal Trade Commission published a notice that granted UnitedHealth Group a preliminary green light to acquire Audax Health Solutions. These notices are granted both for outright acquisitions and for larger investments that include a large stake in the company. Since neither UnitedHealth Group nor Audax Health has commented yet, it's unclear which is in the works, but the...
Over the span of two days last week, Voalte, Audax Health and Google made mobile health hires. Over the span of a month, there have been seven total hiring announcements. While Voalte's new hire has a background in health, some, like Audax's addition of Zynga Chief Operating Officer (COO) David Ko was brought on to grow the company in a new way. MobiHealthNews has compiled a list of all the...
Audax Health Solutions has announced a $20 million funding raise led by Navigy Holdings, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Florida Blue Cross Blue Shield. Additional contributors to the round include former Aetna CEO and current Audax board member Jack Rowe and Dan Rose, VP of Partnerships at Facebook.
This round is the company's first publicly-announced equity raise, although the company reports it...
During the last few years health insurance companies have shifted from an employer-focused mindset to one that is increasingly consumer-, member-, or individual-focused. The move toward consumer engagement, Cigna's Director of IT Strategy and Innovation Willis Gee told MobiHealthNews, is being driven by cost and quality pressures, new benefits models and growing information intensity.
Nearly all...
Only four months into 2013, we've already seen several big moves from companies presenting as "health social networks."
In late January, Audax Health raised $21 million for its social network Zensey, and announced a partnership with Cigna. In February, employee wellness program Keas announced a new product that signaled a pivot into the health social network sphere. Last week, OneHealth raised $9...
One thread MobiHealthNews has been following since 2010 is the changing role of the payer in digital health. The buzz at the mHealth Summit suggested that 2013 could be a big year for payers taking on more proactive, preventative measures to reduce their own costs and improve the health of their clients.
Health insurer and self-styled "global health services company" Cigna has announced a...
Washington, D.C.-based Audax Health, a health social networking and gamification company, raised $21 million in debt, options, and other security, according to a recent SEC filing first reported by the Washington Business Journal. The company, founded by 23-year-old Grant Verstandig and supported by former Apple CEO John Sculley, is developing the Zensey social network, which is currently in...
Mobile and wireless health are trying hard to win over a public that at best is skeptical, but more likely has no idea what this stuff actually is.
As I argued in my previous column, most people don't get the whole concept of connected health, but explaining it in simple terms could change that. I also said that there hasn't been enough distinction made between healthcare and consumer health/...
