More than 40% of Americans have obesity, a number that continues to rise. And despite being a multi-billion dollar business — the weight loss industry just isn’t helping people lose weight. Perhaps that’s why new GLP-1 medications are getting so much attention. To learn more, I spoke to Sarah Jones Simmer, CEO of Found. With over $130M in venture funding, Found is the largest medically-supported weight care clinic in the country. Join us as we delve into the history of the weight loss industry, and discuss how telehealth (and responsible prescribing) along with new medications, may just be an inflection point. Visit the Heart of Healthcare website for episode recaps and more!
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The healthcare industry has made significant strides in the past 50 years… or has it? In this episode, we sit down with Adrian Aoun, CEO of Forward, an AI-based healthcare system, who is simply not impressed with the lethargic pace of progress. We discuss how artificial intelligence (AI) can help us achieve exponential improvements to human health and how ChatGPT is the worst of the new world. Follow guest Adrian Aoun on Twitter. Follow host Halle Tecco on Twitter. Visit the Heart of Healthcare website for episode recaps and more!
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In this episode, guests Sofia Guerra and Steve Kraus from Bessemer Venture Partners discuss their recently published report, "State of Health Tech 2023." We discuss what’s going on in the public markets (and why), bad bubbles vs. okay bubbles, how health tech companies compare to other sectors, and looking for phoenixes to rise from the ashes. Read the BVP report here. Read the article on publicly traded digital health companies here.
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This year's Heart of Healthcare $50,000 Grant Challenge winner is the team from the Libertas Center for Human Rights, located at Elmhurst Hospital in Queens, NY. In this episode, we learn about how they provide survivors of torture and human rights violations with comprehensive medical, mental health, social and legal services to help them regain function and restore humanity in their lives. Learn more about support Libertas here. Learn more about the Heart of Healthcare grants here.
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Some clinics have a BMI threshold, which means that women who are considered overweight or obese are often turned away from services without a fair look at their full health. In a world where medical science continually refines its understanding of human physiology, clinging to outdated metrics like BMI as a gatekeeper for reproductive freedom is not merely archaic—it's a negation of evidence-based care. When it comes to the right to preserve fertility, the dimensions of the scale should never outweigh the nuances of individual health and autonomy. Read the full article here.
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