H|T: The Healthtech Times – Former unicorn Olive AI winds down operations

The Healthtech Times is a weekly newsletter covering healthtech news from Canada and around the globe.

Subscribe to H|T using the form at the bottom of this page to ensure you don’t miss out on the most important healthtech news every week!

Nova Scotia taps Maple to expand free virtual care to the entire province (BETAKIT)

Toronto virtual care platform Maple and the province of Nova Scotia are expanding YourHealthNS, an app which provides access to healthcare services, resources, and information, to support the province’s over one million residents.

This care will include general consults and prescription refills, with the province covering the costs of two “visits” per year, while those without a family doctor can receive care 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year on YourHealthNS.

Once a high-flying 'unicorn,' Olive AI sells two key businesses, winds down operations (FIERCE HEALTHCARE)

In 2021, Olive executives said the company's enterprise AI was in place at more than 900 hospitals in over 40 U.S. states, including more than 20 of the top 100 U.S. health systems after raising $832 million in funding just since March 2020.

But, Olive AI has seen an equally dramatic fall as its business operations have been shrinking since last year. The Columbus, Ohio-based company is now selling off its remaining assets and shutting down operations, Olive announced Tuesday.

POWERED BY: INTEL

How to get hybrid work right for the long term

Did you know 89% of workers and decision-makers are onside for hybrid work?

As more knowledge workers, clinical practitioners, and front-line staff adapt to the new way of working, leaders are concerned about sustaining productivity and avoiding burnout.

This shift to hybrid work is not only straining the capacity of IT teams and budgets but also introducing new security risks that can’t be ignored.

What can Health Tech companies do to solve the challenges and take advantage of the rewards of hybrid work over the long term?

Read the article featuring a conversation with a hybrid work expert discussing best practices to ensure that businesses in 2023 are getting hybrid work right for the long term.

Read the article now.

RBCx hires former SVB Canada employees to bolster support for seed-stage and life sciences startups (BETAKIT)

The Royal Bank of Canada's technology and innovation arm, RBCx, has brought on Anne Woods, previously SVB Canada’s managing director of life sciences and healthcare, and Rebecca Ross (the first credit advisor hired by SVB Canada to grow its life sciences division) to co-lead its credit advisory group with a focus on life sciences.

Per RBCx banking head Tony Barkett, these appointments come as RBCx is rolling out its early-stage banking platform and is looking to take its existing life sciences practice national.

Amwell scores major deal with Defense Health Agency, but stock slides as losses grow (FIERCE HEALTHCARE)

Telehealth giant Amwell inked a major contract with the Defense Health Agency (DHA) to expand its reach into the government and public sectors.

In partnership with Leidos, Amwell will provide a hybrid care technology platform designed to power the “digital first” transformation of the Military Health System, according to the company.

Kento Health raises $4.1 million CAD to bring AI to cardiovascular care (BETAKIT)

Montréal-based healthtech startup Kento Health has closed a $4.1-million CAD ($3-million USD) pre-seed financing round.

Through personalized content delivery, adaptive learning, and natural language processing, Kento claims that its AI-powered platform ensures that patients receive tailored education and exercise recommendations, keeping them engaged.

BetaKit Live: Getting Hybrid Work Right (BETAKIT)

The future has arrived early for Canadian businesses, as hybrid work shifted from a COVID-19 emergency response to a permanent reality: sixty-five percent of Canadian knowledge workers now work in a remote or hybrid format.

In partnership with Intel Canada, BetaKit is happy to present a live-streamed panel conversation on the new best practices to ensure that businesses in 2023 are getting hybrid work right for the long term.

Health tech company IKS Health picks up AQuity for $200M to broaden its reach to hospitals (FIERCE HEALTHCARE)

IKS Health, a company that provides administrative, clinical, operational and revenue tech solutions, acquired AQuity Solutions for $200 million to broaden its services from ambulatory care providers to hospitals.

AQuity offers tech-enabled clinical documentation, medical coding and revenue integrity solutions for healthcare. The combined company, which will operate as IKS Health, will have annual revenues of more than $330 million.

BDC Capital recommits to leading seed deals in startups across Canada with new $50-million fund (BETAKIT)

The Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) has launched a new $50-million CAD Seed Venture Fund, committing $10 million annually over the next five years to pre-seed and seed-stage software startups across Canada through BDC Capital.

The software-focused Seed Venture Fund will be sector-agnostic, with an eye towards enterprise software-as-a-service, FinTech, healthtech, artificial intelligence (AI), and proptech startups.

The Seed Venture Fund marks BDC’s first foray back into general seed-stage investing since its Strategic Initiatives Program (SIP) ceased making investments in new companies around 2017.

AI-enabled radiology performance platform Covera Health secures $50M (MOBIHEALTHNEWS)

Covera Health, an AI-enabled clinical data analysis company focused on improving radiology readings, announced it secured an additional $50 million in Series C funding and finalized its acquisition of CoRead, which uses AI to flag medical errors on radiology examinations.

The New York-based company uses AI and data analytics to help radiologists improve their accuracy and reduce misdiagnosis.

Bridge the gap: SMB cybersecurity challenges threaten customer trust and business viability (BETAKIT)

Cybercrime is up over 600 percent since the start of the pandemic, but according to new Mastercard Canada research, only 16 percent of Canadian SMB owners surveyed say they know what to do in the event of an attack.

Speaking with BetaKit, Aviva Klein, the Vice President of Digital Payments and Cybersecurity Solutions for Mastercard in Canada, explained the disconnect between the priorities of customers and the actions of SMBs, and how conversations about cybersecurity need to be reframed.

Apple Has Plans to Eventually, Maybe Revolutionize Health Care
(BNN BLOOMBERG)

Today there remains a sense — both inside Apple and in the broader world of public health — of unfulfilled potential.

The company’s effort to weave health monitoring and disease prevention into its bestselling devices has yielded breakthroughs, but the strategy has also been short-circuited by philosophical disagreements, a culture of conservatism and technological realities.

Why Canadian SMBs are choosing managed service partners to protect against cyber threats (BETAKIT)

Let’s face it, the pace of business transformation has hit warp speed, especially for SMBs.

Cisco’s Cybersecurity Readiness Index found that Canada falls under the global average in cybersecurity readiness. Only nine percent of Canadian organizations have a “mature” level of preparedness to handle the security risks of our hybrid world, compared to fifteen percent globally.

So how do you pick the right cybersecurity partner?

Is This Microbiome Startup Selling a Wellness Fantasy? (BLOOMBERG)

Viome—Naveen Jain’s latest company—says its gut-health tests hold the secret to preventing chronic diseases. Scientists and former employees aren’t so sure.

Subscribe to The Healthtech Times

Don’t forget to subscribe to The Healthtech Times using the form below to make sure it hits your email inbox every week!

#mc_embed_signup{background:#ffcf14; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; } /* Add your own Mailchimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block. We recommend moving this block and the preceding CSS link to the HEAD of your HTML file. */

(function($) {window.fnames = new Array(); window.ftypes = new Array();fnames[0]=’EMAIL’;ftypes[0]=’email’;fnames[1]=’FNAME’;ftypes[1]=’text’;fnames[2]=’LNAME’;ftypes[2]=’text’;}(jQuery));var $mcj = jQuery.noConflict(true);