StartUp Health

27/02/2026

“If 90% of people stop taking a drug within two years, maybe the problem isn’t patient compliance.” 👀

StartUp Health community member Richard Hanbury of Sana Health breaks down why gabapentinoids like gabapentin often fail people living with neuropathic pain, from weight gain and brain fog to side effects that push patients off treatment and leave opioids as the fallback.

This clip gets straight to the uncomfortable truth, and why non-pharmacologic options matter.

Watch the full interview ⤵️
https://bit.ly/4sggFQv

27/02/2026

Big congratulations to StartUp Health community member Amy Cohn of Joydays on a major leadership milestone. 🎉

Joydays has welcomed Nancy Pak to its Board of Directors, bringing deep experience scaling iconic consumer brands including Tate’s Bake Shop, Tom’s of Maine, Mondelēz International, and Colgate-Palmolive. Her decision to join is a strong signal of Joydays’ momentum as it builds a category-defining, blood-sugar-friendly snack brand that proves healthier food can still deliver real joy.

Kudos as well to Women On Boards Project for helping make this connection happen and for continuing to expand representation and leadership at the board level. Excited to see what this next chapter brings for Joydays.

🔗 https://bit.ly/4rF43Cm

We’re proud to share a major milestone for Joydays: Nancy Pak has joined our Board. Yes, that Nancy Pak - the former CEO of Tate's Bake Shop, Tom's of Maine and formerly at Mondelēz International and Colgate-Palmolive. 🙌 🍪 Nancy has built, scaled, and stewarded iconic consumer brands at eve...

27/02/2026

👏 Huge congratulations to StartUp Health community member Sinaptica on their pitch at MTW Middle East 2026!

Your innovation and vision are helping push the boundaries of medtech — and it’s exciting to see the momentum you’re building on the global stage. Well done to the entire team!

🔗 https://bit.ly/4cjn5cN

27/02/2026

StartUp Health community member Sift Healthcare just dropped its Fourth Annual Denials Insights Report — and the findings are a must-read for anyone in healthcare finance or revenue cycle management.

Drawing on millions of claims from 2025, the report identifies nine payer trends that are reshaping reimbursement risk in 2026 — from rising DRG downgrades and post-payment recoupments to AI-assisted adjudication by payers that's making denial management more complex than ever.

The takeaway? Denial activity is no longer predictable or contained — it's moving earlier in the revenue cycle and showing up long after payment is assumed final.

Download the full report
👉 https://www.sifthealthcare.com/denial-insights/

RevProtect 2025 Denials Insights Report Patterns, Root Causes, Actionable Intelligence from Billions in Healthcare Claims Healthcare organizations spent $19.7 billion contesting denied claims last year—yet denial rates persist at 15%. Our analysis of claims and payment data across diverse health.....

27/02/2026

When founders come together, the 'what ifs' turn into solutions. 💡

StartUp Health community member Christopher Jue of CAREgivers Insight shares why collaboration across the startup ecosystem is critical — especially in health innovation.

🎥 Watch the full Health Moonshot Update conversation with Unity Stoakes. ⤵️
https://bit.ly/4aU82nH

27/02/2026

What a privilege it is to work alongside optimistic entrepreneurs who keep building a better world! 🌟⁣
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Vishal Vasishth from Obvious Ventures reminds us: despite the noise, humans have an incredible power to solve problems and create positive change.⁣
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To all the Health Transformers out there - keep innovating! 💪⁣
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🎯 This clip is part of a full Fireside Chat recorded in front of a live virtual audience of StartUp Health community members, where Unity Stoakes sat down with Vishal Vasishth, Co-founder & Managing Director of Obvious Ventures. Listeners get to hear not only Vishal’s insights on purpose-driven investing but also questions from community members who joined the conversation in real time.⁣
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✅ Don’t miss the opportunity to learn from the best! Join a Health Moonshot Community to be part of live conversations like this ⤵️⁣
https://www.startuphealth.com/membership

26/02/2026

Big news from StartUp Health community member NEXT Life Sciences! 🙌

For the first time, two male birth control options are now in Phase II clinical trials — and both are non-hormonal and reversible.

Plan A™ offers long-acting, on-demand protection and already proved its delivery device 100% successful in early trials. NLS-133 is a pill that provides 24-hour protection, designed for both daily use and on-demand use.

This is a long-overdue shift. Today, half of all pregnancies worldwide are unplanned, and the contraceptive burden falls almost entirely on women — over half of whom experience side effects more severe than expected. NEXT Life Sciences is changing that by giving men and couples more options to share responsibility in family planning.

A Series A round is planned for 2026.

👉 https://bit.ly/3OEfxrl

NEXT Life Sciences now has two non-hormonal male contraceptive candidates in Phase II clinical trials - a long-acting reversible option and an on-demand pill - positioning the company as one of the more active players in a space that has...

26/02/2026

Healthcare costs keep rising, yet too many everyday health needs still go unmet.

StartUp Health community member Justin Ayars of EqualityMD is tackling this challenge upstream with a pre-insurance healthcare model designed to resolve care needs before insurance is triggered. New research shows EqualityMD can address up to 80% of employees’ diverse health needs pre-insurance, helping employers reduce claim and administrative costs while lowering out-of-pocket expenses for employees.

By operating outside the traditional insurance system, EqualityMD combines culturally competent virtual care, mental health support, urgent care, and prescription access into a claim-prevention layer that reduces care avoidance and expands access.

Read, watch, or listen to the full Health Moonshot Update on how EqualityMD has repositioned to tackle America’s broken healthcare system ⤵️
https://bit.ly/3Oy7IDD

StartUp Health community member Justin Ayars of EqualityMD is expanding his mission from direct-to-consumer care to an employer-focused model designed to lower costs, close data gaps, and rebuild trust in healthcare. By combining culturally competent virtual care, insurance-free access, in-house pha...

26/02/2026

🤝 StartUp Health community member MiSalud Health is partnering with Anthropic to offer all-inclusive GLP-1 support for just $25/month — expanding affordable access to evidence-based weight-neutral care and metabolic health support.

By pairing personalized care with responsible AI assistance, this collaboration aims to help more people achieve sustainable health goals without financial barriers. A meaningful step toward equitable access in metabolic and preventive care.

👉 https://bwnews.pr/4seUwSx

26/02/2026

Big news from StartUp Health community member MiSalud Health 🎉

MiSalud Health has partnered with Anthropic to launch an all-inclusive GLP-1 support program for just $25/month — a fraction of the $75–$249/month other programs charge for far less.

The program bundles everything patients need for long-term success:
✅ Clinical intake & FDA-approved medication prescription
✅ Unlimited physician oversight & health coaching (English & Spanish)
✅ Integrated nutrition coaching & mental health support
✅ 24/7 access via video, phone, and messaging

Powered by Anthropic's Claude for Healthcare, MiSalud can now deliver culturally competent, personalized care at scale — with AI supporting proactive outreach, on-demand patient questions, and alerting human care teams when someone needs extra help.

The program is designed specifically to serve communities that have historically been left behind by the healthcare system — including Spanish-speaking patients, those without a primary care doctor, and essential workers who can't take time off for appointments.

Currently available by invitation in 16 states, with a full rollout via the App Store and Google Play later this quarter.

👉 https://bwnews.pr/4seUwSx

26/02/2026

Primary care doctors are becoming the unexpected front door for mental healthcare. 🚪⁣
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StartUp Health community member Indira Paharia, PsyD, CEO & Co-founder of VIBEcare, explains why people feel safer discussing their mental health concerns on their P*P - less stigma, more accessibility.⁣
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Virtual care is scaling solutions! 💡⁣
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See the full conversation as Indira shares why integrated behavioral care must live inside primary care, how virtual models remove access barriers, and what it takes to scale evidence-based care where patients already seek help.⁣
🔗 https://youtu.be/GOwWnY7N2qA⁣
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25/02/2026

💡 Bold truth from Mitul Desai: Healthcare depends on unpaid family caregivers but gives them ZERO support.⁣
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These aren't just "helpers" - they're our parents, siblings, children doing the work of a second healthcare system.⁣
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Time to integrate families into care. It's smart business AND the right thing to do.⁣
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This clip is from a deeply personal conversation between StartUp Health community member Mitul Desai, CEO & Co-founder of The Care Hack, and Unity Stoakes about transforming support for cognitive caregivers. Drawing from decades of lived experience caring for a brother with schizophrenia, Desai shares how he and psychiatrist Dr. Eli Shalenberg are bringing caregivers into the center of the healthcare system — and why it’s the smartest investment health systems can make.⁣
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🎯 Watch the full interview to learn how The Care Hack is scaling support that works. ⤵️⁣
https://www.startuphealth.com/startup-health-blog/empowering-cognitive-caregivers-how-the-care-hack-is-transforming-family-support-in-healthcare⁣
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✅ Join Mitul in a Health Moonshot Community ⤵️⁣
https://www.startuphealth.com/membership⁣
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