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- Community Brain Trust | 10/3/23
Community Brain Trust | 10/3/23
LLM-based coding, poly-pharmacy startup market, health insurance for gig workers, and more!
Amanda DiTrolio
October 03, 2023
🧵TOP THREADS OF THE WEEK
In case you missed them, here are highlights of a few interesting conversations from different channels:
Threads included below:
Startups building for the midlife age demographic
LLM-based services for automated coding
Poly-pharmacy startup market
Understanding health insurance for gig workers
Physician targeted email campaign best practices
1. Startups building for the midlife age demographic
Q: I have an unusual amount of interest in the problems of midlife, both for personal reasons and opportunities.
It's a life stage with unique issues and the worst branding. We only think of it as a time of crisis, when you feel the urge to buy a red convertible.
I'm interested in any companies or resources that may be addressing this life stage: indirectly, point solutions, or even outside of traditional healthcare. 2x points if you have recommendations based on personal experience.
Also, which convertible would you recommend I buy? Thanks.
– Rick Foerster | via #buildersask
Thread Summary: HTNers discuss personal and professional problems surrounding the midlife age demographic. Several folks jump into share resources that have helped them work through both personal and career issues - top mentions include BetterUp, Second Mountain by David Brooks, and more.
Top Response:
Anthony Leon: While not targeting specifically mid-life, BetterUp coaching was something that helped me both personally and professionally. My fav thing my coach said to me was "while this isn't therapy, you'll often find our discussions and work therapeutic"... I assume others like Modern Health would also fall under that category.
1. I was on a trial with them prior to going to a tiered structure which was a subscription (x amount of sessions per month). You can pick a 30 min or 1 hour session.
2. They only went after employers but I was part of an early trial with D2C. They keep changing their minds if they want to do D2C or not.
3. I paid ~$85 a month at the end of it for 1 30 min session per month. Employer model was typically aimed at 7 figure deals. Rarely anything under 200 employees and usually aim for lot larger.
I separately have a lot of opinions on about their business, culture, etc. but absolutely loved my coach with them. So from user experience, loved it. As a potential employee and knowing their sales team, not a fan.
2. LLM-based services for automated coding
Q: Is there any LLM-based service built so far that takes doctors notes in and automates billing codes?
From what I've understood so far is that all of this is currently handled by a billing department in the clinic (or a secretary in smaller places), and seems like a highly manual task. Has someone automated this yet?
– Luis Wenus | via #buildersask
Thread Summary: The crew chats about companies building LLM-based services/companies that help automate billing codes. Several suggestions mentioned in the thread.
Top Response:
Bethany Vick: I would check out some of the companies in the coding bucket on this market map [link here]
3. Poly-pharmacy startup market
Q: Anyone aware of any start ups addressing poly pharmacy?
– Hamza Hussain, MBChB | via #buildersask
Thread Summary: An interesting thread of folks brainstorming companies building in the poly-pharmacy space - mentions include Synapse, Cureatr, Arine, food-as-medicine startups, and more!
Top Response:
Vish Srivastava: There are a few companies out there building tech-enabled Comprehensive Management Management, like Cureatr and Arine.
4. Understanding health insurance for gig workers
Q: Question for y'all: How do people who depend on income from gig working (Uber/Nurse gig, etc.) get health insurance? Based on what I found the options for individuals are not great (at least not in NYC).
– Daniel Yuabov | via #buildersask
Thread Summary: The group discusses various pathways for gig workers to access health insurance. The main ideas center around eligibility via Medicaid in some states and ACA-marketplace options.
Top Response:
Michael Herrick: I think there's such a huge difference between the two examples you cite, Uber and nursing, that you couldn't give one answer. The traveling nurses I know work for an agency that offers insurance. I think that's pretty common but someone here would know more. Uber? Ha! You won't make enough money to repair your car at the end of the year. Your options are marry someone who has health insurance, or don't get sick.
Interesting. I think the income would allow Medicaid for almost any gig driver in almost any market if the income were reported correctly with all the hidden costs they have to bear for car maintenance and depreciation. If an Uber driver grosses $50K (and I'm skeptical they make that much, let alone $70K) it would be grossly unfair to treat that as equivalent to wages. If a miscategorization of their income is pushing them out of Medicaid, that could be an interesting problem.
5. Physician targeted email campaign best practices
Q: Has anyone ever tried running outbound email campaigns at physicians? If so - how did it turn out? If it was bad - how did you shift your sales strategy to ultimately succeed in reaching them?
– Tyler Brown | via #topic-sales
Thread Summary: A solid thread of HTNers offering up ideas for best practices when assembling / distributing sales campaigns targeted at clinicians.
Top Response:
Josh Pappas: +1 I think it depends on your goal for outreach, is it asking for their time? (During or after clinic hours) typically they don’t have much of this, is it awareness for product, requests for feedback on product? There are also some ways your can leverage local contacts with the established rep relationship if you are looking to break in to this ambulatory/ private practice market.
IMO Zoominfo/ Apollo are worth purchase and have emails/ cell #s if you have a team of trained healthcare SDR's, full cycle founding AE's on pure getting contacts and reach. I think most know the contacts are there, its strategy to convert to demo that is hard and is more process than data where in healthcare you are chasing folks for meetings while they see patients 9-5. so I think valuable for some folks, as there is no silver bullet in what "works" for clinic sales.
🤖HTN KNOWLEDGE BOT
If you have your own question(s) to ask, don’t forget that a good place to start is our HTN Knowledge Bot. It’s our smart search tool that makes it easier to access the wisdom shared within the HTN powered by ChatGPT. You can log in and use it on the website (here) or see how to use it directly in Slack here.
Check out the example ask below!
Member Question:
What are the ways in which MA plans reduce costs or deliver behavioral change?
Knowledge Bot Answer:
Based on the conversations and articles provided, here are some ways in which Medicare Advantage (MA) plans aim to reduce costs and deliver behavior change:
1. Utilization management: MA plans can use tools to reduce unnecessary use of services, such as low-value care, which is more prevalent in fee-for-service models. By managing utilization, MA plans can generate savings. (source)
2. Select networks: MA plans have the flexibility to contract with preferred providers, granting them discounts over regular Medicare rates. This preferential selection of providers helps generate savings for the plans. (source)
3. Value-based payments: Larger MA plans, such as United and Humana, have a portion of their beneficiaries managed by providers in value-based payment arrangements. These arrangements help cap per-member costs, contributing to cost savings. (source)
4. Improved care delivery: MA plans may modify care delivery models to focus on preventive care, chronic disease management, and care coordination. By emphasizing proactive and preventive measures, they aim to reduce costly hospitalizations and unnecessary emergency department visits. (source)
5. Personalized engagement: MA plans are increasingly focusing on personalized engagement based on member preferences. This can include tailored health education, targeted interventions for high-risk individuals, and remote monitoring technologies to support self-management. By engaging members in a personalized way, plans aim to improve health outcomes and reduce costs. (source)
It's important to note that these strategies may vary across different MA plans and may be implemented in combination to achieve cost reduction and behavior change goals.
Here we highlight helpful resources from across the community:
Medical Tourism Market Map by David Paul – An overview of the medical tourism startup market, including categories like Travel Management, Treatment Sourcing, Language Translation, and more.
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