Best digital health companies backed by Amazon

Walmart and Amazon compete not only as retailers. That is just a skirmish compared with a much bigger prize: the global healthcare market, worth $8.5 trillion. The US accounts for more than 40% of the total $3.65 trillion in spending. Walmart Health offers a range of clinics and services right in its stores, including optometry, dentistry and even chiropractic care. 

Amazon Care is largely digital, with telemedicine services and in-person visits from caregivers at selected locations. According to the analytics firm CB Insights, about $1 out of every $5 invested in startups goes to healthcare financing. In 2021, more than $97 billion had already been invested in medical companies, compared with $80 billion for all of 2020. 

Amazon is launching its accelerator program for digital health companies. Amazon Web Services has already announced the first 10 startups selected from 427 companies in 31 countries. The technologies cover the full spectrum, from virtual medical assistants to remote patient monitoring and automation of medical services. 

Pieces

Founded in 2015, the company is based in Dallas, Texas, and has raised $61.5 million in investment for three health software solutions: Pieces Predict, Pieces Connect and Pieces Guide. Predict is the flagship platform that uses cloud artificial intelligence to identify patients at risk by scanning their electronic medical records with natural language processing. 

The algorithms analyze structured and unstructured patient data to predict not only risks, but also the likelihood of readmission and probable outcomes based on social determinants. Pieces emphasizes social aspects of health in two other solutions, Connect and Guide. Connect is a software platform for managing social services for patients, while Guide connects patients with community services. 

b.well

Founded in 2015, the company from Baltimore has built one of those all-in-one digital health management platforms that combine patient data (from complete medical records to wearable and genomic data) by connecting doctors, pharmacies, lab results, genetics, medications and insurance information. 

The platform then uses analytics to guide patients toward specific actions, with push notifications about things like upcoming vaccinations, discounted medications or a reminder to skip the chips based on the latest cholesterol test. This is consumer-oriented healthcare. About 7 million people already use the app, which also has a telemedicine feature for virtual communication with caregivers. 

OneRecord

Founded in 2016, the company takes a different approach to the all-in-one idea, consolidating all of a patient's medical records on a single cloud platform. US law requires doctors and insurers to give patients access to their electronic medical records, and OneRecord provides a free app built specifically for this purpose. 

Users can tap any of the fields to view prescribed medications or review their health data history. The app even stores immunization records, so a coronavirus vaccination card can be attached to it. 

Gyant

Founded in 2016, the company from San Francisco has raised $23 million for its Front Door artificial intelligence solution, which offers a symptom-checking chatbot integrated with the patient's medical records. As the name suggests, Front Door serves as the single entry point for a patient's digital journey through the US healthcare system, helping customers, among other things, find a doctor or clinic. 

The company wasted no time and jumped on the coronavirus bandwagon, deploying a virtual pandemic assistant in partnership with Intermountain Healthcare, which cut call center volume by 30%. 

Aiva

Founded in 2016, the company from Los Angeles raised only $100,000 in disclosed funding, but Amazon and Google invested in the startup as early as 2018. The company developed a so-called voice operating system designed specifically for healthcare. Aiva uses Google Home, Amazon Echo and other smart speakers to connect patients with caregivers. 

There is a mobile app for medical staff to manage assistance requests, a dashboard for performance reports, and a separate section for managing voice assistant settings and interaction with other smart devices such as TVs, lighting and thermostats. Elderly care is one of the company's key markets, and the system integrates with motion detectors and other monitoring systems.

Ejenta

Founded in 2012, the company from San Francisco raised only $156,000 in public funding to develop an AI-based patient monitoring platform built on technology originally developed by NASA for monitoring astronauts. It is essentially a more advanced version of the Aiva Health platform, combining both sensors and wearable device data through a virtual assistant that the company calls an intelligent agent.

These agents use data to learn more about users, detect deviations and predict health problems in advance. Forbes reports that clinical trials of the system, conducted by a large healthcare provider, showed that readmissions decreased by 56% thanks to software for interacting with patients at home.

GIBLIB

Founded in 2015, the company has raised $7.6 million in investment, with the Mayo Clinic as a notable investor. GIBLIB produces accredited content for medical professionals so they can earn continuing medical education credits. Basic subscription plans start at $200 per year, while more expensive plans offer more features on the company's video platform, such as note-taking and detailed transcripts. 

Kaizen Health

Founded in 2016, the company has raised $4.3 million in investment to become the Uber of medical transportation. Care coordinators use the company's HIPAA-compliant platform to browse a fleet of cars, minibuses, non-emergency ambulances, hearses and more in search of the right type of transport. The system sends a reminder 24 hours before the appointment. Tipping is optional.

Neuro Rehab VR

Founded in 2017, the company has raised $225,000 in investment for its FDA-registered virtual reality therapy system called XR Therapy Systems. VR healthcare startups such as Neuro Rehab use this technology for everything from physical therapy to pain management and medical training.

In this case, the Texas-based company uses machine learning to develop virtual reality training exercises that meet individual therapeutic needs. For one stroke patient, the company's VR content improved balance within seven months, while another patient recovered faster after surgery to repair a broken ankle by playing games such as Fowl Play and Retail Therapy.