Mike Spadafore

According to the latest report from Rock Health, digital health funding in Q1 2024 totaled $2.7B across 133 deals, with an average deal size of $20.6M. It doesn’t break out device-related investments, but most medtech founders I meet these days are being forced to chase tiny rounds made up of endless little checks, consuming valuable energy and slowing their progress. The benign neglect of this next generation of diagnostic and therapeutic devices is counterproductive and surprising. Given the crowded virtual care market, for example, I’d expect more such companies would be exploring medtech partnerships, investments or acquisitions that'd enable them to back integrate into delivering sharper, and more differentiated, care and treatment. This is exactly what Maverix Medical is doing from the other direction: Reshaping the entire spectrum of lung cancer care by integrating more advanced + effective approaches to screening and diagnosis, treatment and therapeutics, and even palliative care…And putting it all to work through an innovative provider network. One notable investor exception is Y Combinator partner Surbhi Sarna who’s been backing great teams like Selera Medical (YC W24) doing foundational work on ambitious medical devices. Without more support from investors like her, we’re going to increasingly find ourselves stuck with the incremental portfolio improvements from the incumbents, and that’s just not nearly enough.

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The healthcare industry's impact on the environment is a hidden cost we can no longer ignore. The sector is responsible for nearly 5% of global emissions, and a significant portion comes from operating rooms (ORs). These critical spaces are energy guzzlers, generate massive amounts of waste, and contribute heavily to greenhouse gas emissions. Just think, a single surgery in the US produces as much waste as a family of four throws away in a week, and ORs alone are responsible for a whopping 50-70% of a hospital's clinical waste! At Caresyntax, we're committed to making surgery more sustainable. Our data-driven solutions tackle these challenges head-on by supercharging OR efficiency. Our platform optimizes energy use, minimizes waste generation, and streamlines resource management. This not only benefits the environment, but also improves patient outcomes. Caresyntax empowers hospitals to operate more efficiently, leading to a healthier planet and a healthier bottom line. By leveraging data analytics, we've helped partners achieve remarkable results. We're talking about a 60% drop in energy consumption, a 33% increase in surgeries performed per OR annually, and a positive net margin of $2,500 per patient due to fewer readmissions. Let's make surgery more sustainable together. Read the Caresyntax paper for a deeper dive into this critical issue and see how we can help your hospital reduce its environmental footprint. https://lnkd.in/ggM-P6ij #DigitalSurgery #DataDrivenSurgery #FutureofSurgery

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The healthcare landscape is rapidly evolving, driven by advancements in technology and a deeper understanding of patient care. I had the pleasure of speaking with Ambar Bhattacharyya, Co-Managing Partner at Maverick Ventures, on the latest episode of The Full Ratchet. Ambar has partnered with numerous billion-dollar companies like hims & hers, Cityblock Health, Devoted Health, and ConcertAI. His unique journey from rural America to becoming a prominent figure in venture capital offers invaluable insights into the future of healthcare and technology. We discuss his investment strategy at Maverick Ventures, the megatrends shaping healthcare, the impact of AI on the industry, and the importance of integrated care. Ambar also shares his thoughts on the challenges and opportunities in healthcare investment, offering a comprehensive view of what lies ahead. Check out TFR Episode 438 to catch our conversation. You'll be glad you listened.

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I used to spend 2-3 hours daily on clinic notes, skeptical of AI scribe technology. However, I've been impressed with RevMaxx, a generative AI company transforming clinical note creation by listening to physician-patient conversations and automatically generating comprehensive notes. This platform accurately captures crucial ICD-10 codes, saving valuable time ⏰. 👉 Why This Matters: - **Reducing Physician Burnout:** Administrative tasks are a significant contributor to physician burnout. Innovations like RevMaxx alleviate this burden effectively. #HealthcareInnovation #AI #PhysicianBurnout #MedicalDocumentation #HealthTech #RevMaxx

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Last week I had the pleasure of being on The Exit, which is hosted by Steve McGarry and presented by Flippa.com. In this episode, I talk about my exits from MeMD and NextCare. At the end of the episode, I discuss how I time my ventures and how I live life as a serial entrepreneur. #businessexit #exitstrategy #entrepreneur #businesstips #healthcareleadership

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Join us tomorrow for a panel discussion on the complex relationship many FirstGens have to money and how that affects founders, investors, operators and others. See you tomorrow! https://lu.ma/9rixyzgs

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Abby Levy talks about venture's role in US healthcare and what we can expect to see as technology impacts the space on TFR. Check out the rest of the conversation with Abby & Alan Patricof of Primetime Partners on Episode 433.

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Oral health is critical for emergency medicine. +76M patients did not have dental insurance in 2021… estimated +91M by end of 2023 #Medicare and #Medicaid patients are vastly under insured when it comes to dental benefits. For those patients, the emergency room serves as the only access point to get help. ED physician turned entrepreneur, Ramon R. Lizardo, MD, and his team at #Tele911 are addressing this issue head on… …and building a #Repeatable, #Monetizable, #Scalable business while at it. How? Our conversation below gets into the details.

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Digital Health: Countervailing Forces… Consider this: over the past five years nearly $78 billion has been invested in digital health companies and yet just this past year over 20 million Americans were taken off the Medicaid rolls. Certain policy changes can be very damaging, to say nothing of other human-induced factors like pollution, climate change, wars, inadequate housing and education, and hunger which have staggering implications on health. At times it can feel like bailing water out of a sinking ship.    The overall venture capital activity in 1Q24 was a relatively muted $36.6 billion across 2,882 companies for an average round size of $12.7 million, as compared to $51.6 billion and 4,026 companies in 1Q23. Notwithstanding that the level of investment activity in the healthcare technology sector has receded from the $30 billion highwater mark in 2021 to a more manageable $10 – $12 billion annual pace, the opportunities to “transform the business of healthcare” remain obvious and acute. Arguably, the 2021 hangover still lingers in the healthcare technology sector as companies that raised too much capital at too high a price work to sort out challenging cap tables. Out of the 2021 mosh pit of too many companies, it appears that the sector is in an “Emerging Winners” phase that will drive companies with narrow and/or incomplete offerings to combine or shut down.   Thoughts on what to expect for the remainder of the year… https://lnkd.in/egy7Afhg Flare Capital Partners #digitalhealth

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In the high-stakes world of healthcare venture capital, it’s the collective strengths and qualities of a startup team that are just as vital as the innovations they pioneer. Success in healthcare is more than just a brilliant spark of an idea – it's the harmonious blend of know-how, seasoned insight, and unwavering determination. This combination propels a startup through a sector known for rigorous regulations, extended product development journeys, and complex payment systems. It's the team's deep-rooted expertise and their collective push against the tide that form the cornerstone of a thriving healthcare venture. Here's why healthcare VCs scrutinize the team behind the startup: -Expertise and Experience: The healthcare sector demands a nuanced understanding of clinical workflows, patient needs, and the larger healthcare ecosystem. A team that combines entrepreneurial spirit with deep healthcare domain experience stands a better chance at crafting solutions that resonate with healthcare providers, payers, and patients alike. -Compliance and Regulation: Healthcare startups must navigate a labyrinth of regulations, from HIPAA compliance to FDA approvals. A team well-versed in these areas can significantly de-risk the venture by ensuring that products not only meet regulatory standards but are designed with compliance in mind from the outset. -Execution and Traction: Ideas are plentiful, but execution is key. A team with a track record of bringing products to market can signal to investors the ability to execute the startup's vision, drive adoption, and achieve meaningful traction in a competitive space. -Resilience and Adaptability: Healthcare is an ever-evolving field. Teams that demonstrate the resilience to overcome scientific setbacks, and the adaptability to pivot in response to market feedback or regulatory changes, are a more attractive bet for investors looking for long-term players. In essence, when healthcare VCs invest, they're not just investing in a product, they're investing in a group of people poised to make a significant impact on the industry. The right team can turn trials into triumphs, and this is the beacon that guides savvy investors in their quest to back the next big breakthrough in healthcare. #venturecapital #healthcare #healthcareinnovation #vc #venturecapitalist #startupfunding #businessfunding #team #startup

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_What makes a good investment in healthcare? _ When is a good time to start thinking about the path to exit? _Where do we see the next #unicorn in #systemichealth? Experienced healthcare investor Dai Feng from CareCapital Group joins me and Jonathan Levine for our very first *video* episode of the #ThinkOralHealth #podcast. Take a listen.

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Sometimes, the best way to describe what Caresyntax does is through real results. We don't just talk about optimizing healthcare – we deliver. This case study dives deep into how we partnered with a Southeastern health system to optimize their complex ventral hernia repair program. The results are staggering: - Annual cost reduction of $700,000 - Service line net margin improvement of $15,000 per patient - 54% decrease in post-surgical opioid use (safer, happier patients) - 33% reduction in length of stay (patients recover faster) Here's the secret sauce: We go beyond traditional data analysis. Our unique approach connects all the dots – patient factors, treatment details, costs, and reimbursements. This allows us to identify hidden opportunities for improvement. Read this case study to see how we did it. https://lnkd.in/gtebkRU7 #DataDrivenSurgery

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As the discourse shifts from models to compound AI systems / agents, we need better AI benchmarks to evaluate multi-modal and multi-step task performance, especially in healthcare and life sciences. When we wrote the first paper demonstrating ChatGPT's performance on the USMLE, we chose the US Medical Licensing Exam as a benchmark for accessibility, speed, and ease. This benchmark was never intended to represent AI model performance on real-world clinical tasks. Today, I still see so many research teams and startups using benchmarks (like the USMLE) that are ill-fitted for assessing the true clinical or scientific performance and utility of the models they are developing for real-world contexts. Benchmark development may be seen as a "less sexy" area of research, but it is of paramount importance. Years after the rise of the transformer, we still lack adequate benchmarks for so many single-step tasks in biomedicine. With compound AI systems (i.e., architectures that integrate multiple AI models to perform complex tasks) emerging, we need new benchmarks for agentic behaviors. I'd argue that developing an agent with novel capabilities without at least proposing a companion benchmark (if an industry standard does not yet exist) may hinder the adoption of said agent, especially for high-stakes workflows. Designing more benchmarks that capture/simulate real-world clinical and scientific workflows will help us mitigate the major discrepancies observed between in silico and in vivo performance and better support safe + effective deployment of AI in biomedicine. There are already brilliant people focused here, and we need more. DMs are open if you're researching or working in this area of multi-step/multi-modal benchmarking in healthcare and life sciences! #healthcare #ai #artificialintelligence #generativeai

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One key reason why healthcare technologies like AI, telemedicine, and software haven't structurally lowered costs or broadened access for the entire system after decades of experimentation (excluding pure financial engineering of payer contracts) is the limited reimagining of care delivery itself, with asynchronous telemedicine as a notable exception. In the same way that digitizing physical paper failed to exploit the capabilities of a new computing medium for word processing, hosting physician-patient conversations over video does not transform the actual delivery of care. In telemedicine, many of the inputs (e.g., clinician time) and therefore cost structures of in-person care persist, which is why we often see fee-for-service telemedicine companies struggle to achieve economies of scale (i.e., growing revenues non-linearly while growing costs linearly). Until we deconstruct the components of a medical appointment – from intake and triage, to chart review, history gathering, physical examination, diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up – we will continue to be underwhelmed by the disconnect between the transformative potential of these technologies and real-world patient/system impact. I’m optimistic that the emergence of reliable and performant medical AI agents will urge us to perform this deconstruction and redesign the fundamental building blocks of a “medical appointment.”

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This week Mikal Ventures brings you a 4-week breakdown of the US capital market with an emphasis on the Mikal verticals. Over the 4-week period ending April 15, just over 900 new companies were added, with 94,109 companies included in the US Health Tech, Med Tech, Fin Tech, AI Tech, and Ed Tech verticals. AI Tech again saw the greatest percentage of growth in new companies and transactions, weighing in at over double the vertical averages for the period. The US Fin Tech vertical again led the way in SEC Filings and news articles. Mikal Ventures publishes these stats on a rolling 4-week basis to provide a perspective on how the verticals and new startups move through time. We hope you find them informative and thought-provoking. VC Investors are always adjusting their "Play Book" with a variety of options for investing. Mikal Ventures is one of those alternatives, offering curated solutions to real world problems. Reach out if you have questions on how we can be of assistance and bookmark https://mikalventures.com/ for additional insights and information.

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This week Mikal Ventures brings you a 4-week breakdown of the US capital market with an emphasis on the Mikal verticals. Over the 4-week period ending June 10, just over 590 new companies were added, resulting in 95,661 companies included in the US Health Tech, Med Tech, Fin Tech, AI Tech, and Ed Tech verticals. AI Tech maintained its most active status, seeing the greatest percentage of growth in both new companies and transactions. The US Fin Tech vertical led the way in SEC Filings and news articles. Mikal Ventures publishes these stats to provide a perspective on how the verticals and new startups move through time. We hope you find them informative and thought-provoking. VC Investors are always adjusting their "Play Book" with a variety of options for investing. Mikal Ventures is one of those alternatives, offering curated solutions to real world problems. Reach out if you have questions on how we can be of assistance and bookmark https://mikalventures.com/ for additional insights and information.

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Navigating the Future: Top Healthcare Trends Shaping 2024 The healthcare landscape is evolving rapidly, fueled by innovation, technology, and evolving patient needs. In 2024, key trends are emerging that will revolutionize how we deliver and experience healthcare: - Telehealth and Virtual Care: Offering convenient access to medical care through virtual consultations, remote monitoring, and digital therapeutics. - Personalized Medicine: Tailoring treatments based on genetic makeup for more effective therapies and improved patient outcomes. - Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning: Enhancing diagnostic accuracy, predicting outcomes, and optimizing treatment plans. - Value-Based Care: Focusing on patient outcomes and cost-effectiveness to incentivize high-quality care and better health outcomes. - Mental Health Awareness: Increasing resources for mental health services and support to address the mental health crisis. - Interoperability and Health Data Exchange: Enabling coordinated care through seamless data exchange between healthcare systems. - Sustainability in Healthcare: Prioritizing sustainability by reducing waste, conserving resources, and minimizing environmental impact. - Health Equity: Addressing disparities in healthcare access and outcomes is crucial. Let's collaborate to shape the future of healthcare. 💙 #HealthcareTrends #Telehealth #PersonalizedMedicine #AIinHealthcare #ValueBasedCare #MentalHealth #Interoperability #Sustainability #HealthEquity #FutureOfHealthcare

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Whilst there has been a lot of focus on the impact of AI on administrative use cases within healthcare, we believe that AI should play a critical role in care delivery. Sword Health combines human clinicians with AI, working side by side to provide a significantly better patient experience, higher quality, and more cost-effective care delivery. AI applied to healthcare with real results, real impact, and real scale with over 3 million AI sessions delivered to date. #healthassurance #digitalhealth #healthtech

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