10 Digital Health Startups Successfully Partnering with Health Plans
Cameron Jacox is the founder of Rocket Digital Health, the foremost digital health scale consultancy. Go-to-market is hard in healthcare, and we believe that you don’t need to reinvent the wheel to bring your brilliant invention to market. Having helped scale 13 digital health startups, including for 4 years as Chief Growth Officer at Lark Health from Series A to Unicorn status, Cameron & his team work with select startups to bring growth strategy to bear to beat their growth goals and catch their stride.
Clinical Innovation, Use Cases, Benefits, and Selling Strategies
How Digital Health Startups Sell to Health Plans
This article highlights 10 digital health startups that have successfully partnered with health plans by demonstrating clinical innovation, use cases, benefits, and selling strategies. Companies include Butterfly Network, Hinge Health, Happify Health, Babylon Health, Pear Therapeutics, Biofourmis, Glooko, and Color. These startups offer a wide range of solutions, such as diagnostic imaging, musculoskeletal therapy, mental health support, telemedicine, remote patient monitoring, diabetes management, and genetic testing. Health plans benefit from improved patient outcomes, cost savings, and increased access to care. To secure partnerships with health plans, these companies emphasize evidence-based approaches, clinical effectiveness, and seamless integration with existing systems.
Case Studies: Digital Health Startups With Strong Health Plan Partnerships
Company: Butterfly Network
Clinical Innovation: Butterfly Network revolutionizes diagnostic imaging with a handheld ultrasound device.
Health Plan Use Cases: Partnerships with UnitedHealthcare and Aetna have broadened access to their innovative technology.
Benefits to Health Plans: Health plans benefit from increased access to diagnostic imaging and cost-effective care.
How They Sell to Health Plans: Butterfly Network demonstrates cost savings, improved care quality, and increased accessibility to health plans.
Company: Hinge Health
Clinical Innovation: Hinge Health offers digital musculoskeletal (MSK) therapy with a focus on personalization.
Health Plan Use Cases: Partnerships with Cigna and Blue Cross Blue Shield support patients in need of MSK care.
Benefits to Health Plans: Health plans experience reduced MSK treatment costs and improved patient outcomes.
How They Sell to Health Plans: The company emphasizes its evidence-based approach, remote monitoring, and personalized coaching.
Company: Happify Health
Clinical Innovation: Happify Health provides a digital mental health and wellness platform.
Health Plan Use Cases: Collaborations with Humana and Anthem increase access to mental health support.
Benefits to Health Plans: Improved mental health outcomes and cost-effective care are notable benefits for health plans.
How They Sell to Health Plans: Happify Health promotes its scalable solutions, evidence-based interventions, and seamless integration capabilities.
Company: Babylon Health
Clinical Innovation: Babylon Health develops an AI-powered telemedicine and health management platform.
Health Plan Use Cases: Partnerships with Centene Corporation and Prudential ensure broader access to primary care.
Benefits to Health Plans: Health plans benefit from reduced costs, improved patient experience, and greater access to care.
How They Sell to Health Plans: Babylon Health focuses on expanding services, AI-driven diagnostics, and personalized care when pitching to health plans.
Company: Pear Therapeutics
Clinical Innovation: Pear Therapeutics pioneers prescription digital therapeutics (PDTs) for mental health and addiction.
Health Plan Use Cases: Collaborations with Sutter Health and Anthem offer innovative mental health treatment options.
Benefits to Health Plans: Health plans see evidence-based treatment and cost-effective care as key benefits.
How They Sell to Health Plans: Pear Therapeutics emphasizes its FDA-approved digital therapeutics and clinically proven results.
Company: Biofourmis
Clinical Innovation: Biofourmis creates an AI-driven remote patient monitoring platform.
Health Plan Use Cases: Partnerships with Aetna and Cigna lead to enhanced patient care and reduced hospital readmissions.
Benefits to Health Plans: Health plans benefit from personalized care plans and real-world evidence.
How They Sell to Health Plans: Biofourmis highlights its advanced analytics, personalized care plans, and real-world evidence when engaging with health plans.
Company: Glooko
Clinical Innovation: Glooko develops a diabetes management and remote monitoring platform.
Health Plan Use Cases: Collaborations with Blue Cross Blue Shield and Kaiser Permanente improve diabetes care.
Benefits to Health Plans: Health plans experience improved patient outcomes and cost savings.
How They Sell to Health Plans: Glooko demonstrates clinical effectiveness and seamless integration with existing systems.
Company: Color
Clinical Innovation: Color offers genetic testing and population health management solutions.
Health Plan Use Cases: Partnerships with Blue Shield of California and UnitedHealthcare enable personalized care and early risk identification.
Benefits to Health Plans: Health plans benefit from actionable insights and evidence-based interventions.
How They Sell to Health Plans: Color focuses on scalable solutions and personalized care when pitching to health
Company: Lark Health
Clinical Innovation: AI-driven chronic disease management and wellness platform
Health Plan Use Cases: UnitedHealthcare, Anthem
Benefits to Health Plans: Enhanced patient outcomes, reduced healthcare costs
How They Sell to Health Plans: Personalized coaching, data-driven insights, and scalable solutions
Company: Omada Health
Clinical Innovation: Digital therapeutics for chronic disease prevention and management
Health Plan Use Cases: Cigna, Blue Cross Blue Shield
Benefits to Health Plans: Improved patient outcomes, reduced costs, and preventive care
How They Sell to Health Plans: Evidence-based programs, user engagement, and integration with health plan offerings
Company: Virta Health
Clinical Innovation: Online diabetes and metabolic health treatment platform
Health Plan Use Cases: Blue Shield of California, Humana
Benefits to Health Plans: Better patient outcomes, cost savings, and effective disease management
How They Sell to Health Plans: Clinically-proven results, personalized interventions, and performance-based pricing
Company: Ginger
Clinical Innovation: On-demand mental health support and therapy
Health Plan Use Cases: Optum, Cigna
Benefits to Health Plans: Improved mental health outcomes, cost-effective care, and increased access to services
How They Sell to Health Plans: Scalable solutions, evidence-based care, and seamless integration with health plans
Company: Propeller Health
Clinical Innovation: Digital respiratory health management platform
Health Plan Use Cases: Express Scripts, Dignity Health
Benefits to Health Plans: Reduced asthma and COPD-related costs, improved patient outcomes
How They Sell to Health Plans: Real-time data, remote monitoring, and proven clinical effectiveness