Tag Archives: Pandemic Response

UCSF’s Dr. Michael Blum Talks How COVID-19 Changed Expectations Around Virtual Care at the Highest Institutional Levels

December 15, 2020Uncategorizedcoronavirus, Covid 19, COVID19, Logan Plaster, Pandemic ResponseStartUp Health NOW

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 58:24 — 80.2MB)

As a cardiologist and the Chief Digital Transformation Officer at the University of California, San Francisco, Dr. Michael Blum assesses and deploys digital health technology across UCSF’s multi-layered health system. In this week’s podcast episode, we get an inside look at how one of the biggest, most advanced hospital systems in the United States thinks about health innovation, what successful integration looks like, what he looks for in a startup partner, and how COVID-19 changed expectations around virtual care at the highest institutional levels. This episode is pulled from a recent StartUp Health Fireside Chat where StartUp Health’s Editor-in-Chief, Logan Plaster, interviewed Dr. Michael Blum in a live session, which was attended by a panel of founders from the Startup Health portfolio.

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Conversa Health Built on Its Virtual Care Platform to Quickly Launch COVID-19 Screening Tools for Frontline Workers

December 8, 2020UncategorizedAccess to care, coronavirus, Cost to Zero, Covid 19, COVID19, Cure Disease, Logan Plaster, Pandemic ResponseStartUp Health NOW

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 49:30 — 68.0MB)

Today’s episode is a conversation with Murray Brozinsky, CEO of Conversa Health. Before COVID-19 struck, Conversa was working with big health systems, supplying them with a type of chatbot that kept patients and doctors connected between appointments. Turns out a few well-worded and well-timed questions, even if they’re automated, can improve care and reduce costly bouncebacks. When COVID-19 hit, Murray and his team knew they had the technology – and institutional relationships – to really make a difference. They quickly scaled up multiple COVID-specific products using automated chat and have seen massive growth in 2020 as a result. This conversation with Murray is pulled from a recent Expert Office Hour, which was attended virtually by an audience of other founders from the StartUp Health portfolio. We dug into how Conversa was able to stay nimble and grow in spite of uncertainty, and other Health Transformers weigh in with their thoughts as well.

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How LifeBio Is Using the Power of Storytelling to Improve Mental Health for Seniors

November 10, 2020Business, Health, Innovation, Startups, UncategorizedBeth Sanders, coronavirus, Covid 19, COVID19, elder care, Healthy Longevity, LifeBio, Logan Plaster, Loneliness, Longevity, memory care, mental health, Pandemic Response, senior, StartUp HealthStartUp Health NOW

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 30:52 — 42.4MB)

In 2020, the coronavirus caused a societal lock-down like this generation has never seen before. Many who were already isolated and lonely — like seniors – were put into a desperate situation. Beth Sanders, CEO and Co-founder of LifeBio, a startup that’s been with StartUp Health since 2014, has always had a heart for isolated and lonely seniors. She’d worked with them for years, helping them to tell their stories, using what’s called reminiscence therapy. But COVID-19 put LifeBio and this important work into overdrive. Not only was the work needed more than ever, but LifeBio was able to connect the dots between fighting loneliness and improving health outcomes. Turns out a phone call with a trained conversationalist can fight depression, anxiety and keep you mentally nimble. Their findings got the attention of health systems, insurance companies, and even won them a coveted SBIR grant. Logan Plaster, Media Director at StartUp Health, caught up with Sanders to learn more about how LifeBio works and the critical role of storytelling in healthcare in a post-COVID world.

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Pregnancy in the Time of COVID, With ROBYN Founder Alli Kasirer

August 4, 2020Business, Health, Innovation, StartupsAccess to care, Alli Kasirer, coronavirus, Covid 19, COVID19, Health Moonshot, Logan Plaster, moonshot, Pandemic Response, ROBYN, StartUp Health, womens healthStartUp Health NOW

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 21:17 — 16.4MB)

Today’s podcast is a throwback to one of our favorite interviews from 2020 thus far. Back in early May, we linked up with Alli Kasirer, CEO of a company called Robyn, for an interview on StartUp Health TV. Robyn – online at we are robyn.co – is a digital health company that acts as a 21st century guide for aspiring, expecting and new parents. They cover everything from fertility coaching to infant sleep training, with a modern, tech-forward sensibility. When COVID hit, demand for virtual services for expectant and new parents skyrocketed, and Kasirer and her team stepped up to the challenge. If you want to watch the full conversation, you’ll find it on the Startup Health YouTube channel, at youtube.com/startuphealth.

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Cityblock Scales Up to Meet the Needs of NYC’s Hardest Hit During COVID-19

June 2, 2020UncategorizedAccess to care, Nicole Clark, Pandemic ResponseStartUp Health NOW

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 28:51 — 26.4MB)

When the pandemic first hit, Toyin Ajayi, MD, Chief Health Officer & Co-founder of Cityblock, says her team knew, instinctively, that the patients Cityblock serves would be some of the hardest hit. Their patients are people without a financial or social safety net who live in communities where, because of poverty and racial health inequities, they experience poorer outcomes from the virus. “We want people to know that it is both possible and necessary that we serve these populations and that we do it well.” In an interview for StartUp Health NOW, Ajayi shares how Cityblock adapted and scaled their community-based health services to meet covid-specific needs, from on-demand in-home visits that follow COVID-19 safety guidelines, to one-on-one outreach to their most vulnerable members through culturally-competent telehealth visits and SMS communication.

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The Health Transformer Making EMS COVID-Ready

May 13, 2020Business, Health, Innovation, Startups, UncategorizedAccess to care, Addiction, coronavirus, Cost to Zero, Covid 19, Emergency Medical Services, EMS, EMS Communication, entrepreneurship, health innovation, Innovation, Nicole Clark, Pandemic Response, StartupStartUp Health NOW

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 17:41 — 16.2MB)

One day after the WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic, Beyond Lucid Technologies announced that it would be appending its EMS health information exchange platform, adding the ability to receive and sort fire and EMS encounters involving patients suspected of suffering from, or being exposed to, the deadly coronavirus. In this fireside chat with the company’s CEO & Co-founder Jonathon Feit, he shares how his platform is transforming EMS in over half of the United States.

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Three of Telemedicine’s Original Visionaries Weigh in on Its Future

April 28, 2020Business, Health, Innovation, Startups, UncategorizedAccess to care, Amwell, cleveland clinic, health innovation, Innovation, Nicole Clark, Pandemic Response, remote care, RxRevu, telemedicine, Virtual CareStartUp Health NOW

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 33:46 — 30.9MB)

In the last two months, the adoption of telemedicine has escalated as remote clinical services become a critical part of a pandemic response. In this episode of the StartUp Health NOW podcast, three of telemedicine’s pioneers from the Cleveland Clinic, Amwell and RxRevu share the impetus for their work to build a future where world class healthcare can be accessed beyond brick n’ mortar health facilities, and what the next decade holds for telemedicine adoption.

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Health Transformers Bringing Diagnostics Into the Home

April 21, 2020Business, Health, Innovation, Startups, UncategorizedAccess to care, Cancer, Cure Disease, diagnostics, Innovation, Longevity, Nicole Clark, Pandemic Response, remote care, Telehealth, telemedicineStartUp Health NOW

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:48 — 24.6MB)

A tricorder, a centrifuge that fits in the palm of your hand, stick-on thermo patches that can detect early stage breast cancer… What used to be considered sci-fi are now existing technologies that are helping medical professionals meet patients where they’re at – in their home. Tune into this episode of the StartUp Health NOW podcast to learn how the founders of Welwaze, Sandstone Diagnostics, and Aidar Health are using these devices to bridge the access to care gap and why tech like theirs is paramount to an effective pandemic response.

Entrepreneurs: How to get investment from StartUp Health https://www.startuphealth.com/
Investors: How to invest in StartUp Health Moonshots http://www.healthmoonshots.com

Dispatch From the Frontlines of a U.S. Pandemic Response With KnowNOW’s Dr. Marcelo Venegas

April 17, 2020Business, Health, Innovation, Startups, Uncategorizedcoronavirus, Doctorpreneur, KnowNOW, Marcelo Venegas, Nicole Clark, Pandemic, Pandemic Response, Symptom Checker, Telehealth, telemedicineStartUp Health NOW

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:24 — 25.1MB)

StartUp Health’s senior writer Nicole Clark talks with Dr. Marcelo Venegas about how he’s expanding his telemedicine platform, KnowNOW, to screen and treat COVID-19 patients. As a doctor at urgent care facilities in Queens, Venegas offers candid insights into what’s working and what’s not at the epicenter of the US’ pandemic response. Learn more about KnowNOW’s COVID-19 platform at knownowhealth.com.

Entrepreneurs: How to get investment from StartUp Health https://www.startuphealth.com/
Investors: How to invest in StartUp Health Moonshots http://www.healthmoonshots.com

Meditation Together, Virtually: the App Helping Meditation Beginners During COVID-19

April 8, 2020Business, Health, Innovation, Startupscoronavirus, health innovation, Journey Health, Journey LIVE, maxim owen, Meditation, mental health, mindfulness, Pandemic Response, Stephen SokolerStartUp Health NOW

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 25:54 — 23.7MB)

At Journey Meditation, Stephen Sokoler is rooting the practice of meditation back in its origins – community. In this episode, StartUp Health’s ventures team member Maxim Owen talks with Sokoler, Journey’s founder & CEO, to learn about the startup’s app, Journey LIVE. The app connects users with meditation instructors who lead group meditation classes that teach users how to become familiar with their thoughts and themselves, leading to greater calm, clarity, and peace of mind. And because peace of mind is something we all so desperately need during these turbulent times, Sokoler is offering the app for free throughout the duration of the coronavirus pandemic. Listen here, then visit this link to start your free trial.

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Investors: How to invest in StartUp Health Moonshots http://www.healthmoonshots.com