Today we're thrilled to get to know Travis Zack, Chief Medical Officer of OpenEvidence. OpenEvidence is the world's leading medical information platform and the fastest growing applications for physicians in history. Over 40% of US clinicians leverage OpenEvidence for evidence based practice support that is directly embedded into their workflows.
Through an array of strategic content partnerships (including the American Medical Association, The New England Journal of Medicine, The Journal of the American Medical Association, and all eleven JAMA specialty journals—such as JAMA Oncology and JAMA Neurology) OpenEvidence gives clinicians the power to search once, skip the scavenger hunt, and surface the science in seconds. Most recently, OpenEvidence has raised $200M in its Series C from Top Investors like Sequoia, GV Thrive, Kleiner Perkins and others!
In this episode, we discuss how OpenEvidence is transforming access to medical evidence, the company’s rapid growth and adoption by clinicians, its business model and journal partnerships, and the future roadmap for AI-powered clinical decision support.
Welcome back to the Pear Healthcare Playbook! Every week, we’ll be getting to know trailblazing healthcare leaders and diving into building a digital health business from 0 to 1.
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Today we're grateful to get to know Amar Kendale, Co-founder and President of Homeward, a company reinventing how care is delivered in rural America. Amar has spent the last 20 years building healthcare products that make life better for patients, providers, and health plans. At Homeward he is focused on improving access to care in rural communities. Before that, he helped grow Livongo from an early-stage startup to its $18B acquisition by Teladoc, where he became Chief Product Officer.
In this episode, we’re diving into how Homeward started, the challenges in building in rural health, how Homeward operates and gets paid, and how the company hopes to scale and navigate the upcoming year.
Today, we’re excited to get to know Adam Stansell, CEO and Founder of Axle Health, the operating system for Home Health.
Before founding Axle, Adam spearheaded the launch of new markets at UberEats and built a high-growth business line at Motive, a leader in fleet logistics. With deep expertise at the intersection of operations, technology, and scale, he’s now bringing world class logistics to one of healthcare’s most overlooked frontiers: home health.
Founded in 2020, Axle is tackling the $150B+ home health industry in the US growing at 9% every year, of which most of home health still runs on old legacy software or spreadsheets. Recently announced, Axle has raised $10M in Series A led by Carl Byers and Julia McDowell at F-Prime Capital, joined by Lightbank and previous investors YC and us at Pear VC! We at Pear, especially my GP Mar Hershenson and I have been super grateful to be part of his journey.
We're excited to introduce Chris Ellis, CEO of Thatch. With a background in cancer research and clinical software, Chris brings a unique blend of scientific rigor and product vision to one of the most complex challenges in the United States: healthcare. Under his leadership, Thatch has scaled quickly, now serving over a thousand companies and helping employees navigate their health coverage through a modern, fintech-powered experience.
Today, we’re excited to feature Michelle Davey, CEO of Wheel. Wheel is redefining virtual care by connecting clinicians to telehealth opportunities and equipping healthcare organizations with scalable, tech-enabled solutions. Under Michelle’s leadership, the company has become a leading platform expanding access to care nationwide. Before Wheel, Michelle brought together experience from Google, Favor Delivery, and Medtronic—insight that now helps shape her vision for the future of care delivery.
In this episode, we dive into how Wheel is powering virtual care infrastructure for enterprise healthcare, the strategic thinking behind acquiring GoodRx’s virtual care platform, how Michelle sees the future of telehealth evolving across consumer and pharma markets, and what founders should consider when navigating M&A in digital health.
Today, we’re excited to get to know Dr. Ali Khan, Chief Medical Officer of Aetna Medicare, overseeing healthcare services for over 4 million members.
His career spans across some of the most impactful value-based care organizations, including Oak Street Health, CareMore, and Iora Health. He is also an adjunct lecturer at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management and serves on the clinical faculty of the Yale School of Medicine. Additionally, Dr. Khan is a director on the American Board of Internal Medicine. Also a trusted advisor on Pear’s Health Industry Council.
Before Aetna, Dr. Khan played a key role in Oak Street Health’s rapid expansion, scaling it from 21 to 200+ clinics, culminating in its acquisition by CVS Health. Prior to that, he was instrumental in CareMore Health’s growth and innovation in care delivery for vulnerable populations.
He holds an MD-MPP from Virginia Commonwealth University and Harvard Kennedy School, completed his residency at Yale, and has taught at institutions like Northwestern Kellogg and Yale School of Medicine.
As a leader in value-based care, he has firsthand experience in building, scaling, and optimizing healthcare startups—making his insights invaluable for founders, investors, and industry leaders navigating the complex world of healthcare innovation.
We're thrilled to get to know Sam Holliday, CEO of Oshi Health. Oshi Health is changing the paradigm of GI care. They’re building a virtual GI center of excellence—not just tweaking the system, but completely redefining what high-quality, comprehensive digestive care looks like. This involves multidisciplinary teams, evidence-backed care models, and a real focus on driving outcomes while reducing avoidable medical spend. They are also fully in-network with leading health plans, making this care truly accessible.
In this episode, we’re diving into the future of GI care, what it takes to build a sustainable digital health company, and lessons Sam has learned with building Oshi.
This series aims to demystify Medicaid, starting with insights from federal and state agencies, FQHCs, and managed care organizations, before exploring successful founders' strategies. Readour primers on the key players and innovations here, and stay tuned for upcoming posts featuring interviews with key opinion leaders, purchasers, and startup founders.
Cityblock Health is a value-based healthcare provider focused on the complex clinical, behavioral health, and social needs of dually eligible and Medicaid recipients. Cityblock offers the only fully integrated and multi-modal solution that directly delivers clinical care to one of the most at-risk and hardest-to-reach populations. Powered by advanced technology that provides its care team with a data-driven understanding of member needs and risks, Cityblock has demonstrated industry-leading engagement, member retention, meaningful reductions in avoidable hospital readmissions, and reduced total cost of care.
Founded in 2017, spun off by Sidewalk Labs, and based in New York, Cityblock has raised nearly $900M to date from investors such as SoftBank, Tiger Global, Maverick Ventures, General Catalyst, Thrive Capital and 8VC, among others. It is now valued at $5.7B. Cityblock currently serves more than 100,000 members, and partners with four national Medicaid health plans and several health systems in 15 cities across seven states.
Mike's career has spanned both legal and healthcare leadership roles, starting as a commercial litigator before joining UnitedHealth Group as National Vice President of Medicaid Policy and Product. He went on to serve as CEO of UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Ohio, then as Chief Transformation Officer and President of Government Programs for Optum BH Solutions, and later as Chief Growth Officer and SVP of Growth and Product at UnitedHealth Community and State. In 2024, he joined Cityblock as President to help drive the company's next phase of growth.
Mike holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame, a JD from Notre Dame Law School, and attended an Executive Education Program at Stanford Graduate School of Business.
In this episode, we learn about how health plans evaluate startups, the complexities of improving access for Medicaid and dual-eligible populations, and Cityblock's innovative approach to building trust and engagement.
This episode is part of Pear VC's series on Medicaid, covering the basics that founders need to know to build innovations that support communities in need.
This week, we're excited to get to know Cesar Herrera. Cesar is the co-founder and CEO of Yuvo Health, a value-based care enablement organization for FQHCs.
Yuvo Health is an industry-leading healthcare organization that partners with community health centers to help them gain an advantage in value-based care, a healthcare model that prioritizes patient-provided quality and outcomes of care over the quantity of services delivered.
Founded in New York City in January 2021 by a fully BIPOC team that has experienced the power of quality care firsthand, the entire company shares a common goal of bringing fair, quality care to underserved communities. Yuvo Health empowers health centers to succeed in value-based care arrangements by qualifying for meaningful value-based care contracts and achieving success in those arrangements with a dedicated Population Health partner — and with Yuvo Health taking on the risk in doing so.
Yuvo has raised $28M to date from AlleyCorp, Mosaic General Partners, New York Ventures, HLM Venture Partners, Route 66 Ventures, VamosVentures, AV8 Ventures, Watershed, GreyMatter, Social Innovation Fund, and others
Cesar's journey in healthcare spans over two decades, beginning with strategy and policy consulting at Kurt Salmon Associates, Booz Allen Hamilton, and Booz & Company. He also worked at Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, where he spearheaded marketing and competitive strategy initiatives. He then transitioned to Head of Existing Business at Zocdoc, and then Healthify, where he served as Chief Solutions Officer, shaping his vision for Yuvo Health.
Cesar holds an MBA from NYU Stern School of Business, along with an MPH in Health Policy and Management from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
This episode is part of Pear VC's series on Medicaid, covering the basics that founders need to know to build innovations that support communities in need.
Today, we're excited to get to know Afia Asamoah and Dr. Sanjay Basu. Afia is the Head of Legal and People and Sanjay is the Head of Clinical of Waymark, a value-based primary care enabler for Medicaid.
Founded in 2021, Waymark has raised $87M in funding to date from investors such as Lux Capital, CVS Health Ventures, Andreesen Horowitz and NEA. The company is pioneering in the healthcare space by offering tech-enabled, community-based services to Medicaid beneficiaries, ensuring they receive top-notch care and support.
In this episode, we learn about Waymark’s differentiated, research-backed, care model for Medicaid and a thoughtful approach to cost-effectiveness that is consistent with the interests of low-income patients.
Today, we’re excited to get to know Dr. Muthu Alagappan, CEO and Founder of Counsel, the modern solution for access to care. Before founding Counsel, Muthu was the CMO of Notable Health for almost 4 years and was an Attending Physician at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and UCSF Medical Center. He graduated with his MD from Stanford Medicine and (fun fact!) was also the Student Commencement Speaker for his graduating class.Founded in 2023, Counsel provides patients with high-quality, personalized medical advice from expert doctors within minutes. Counsel recently announced $11M in seed funding from investors like A16z, Floodgate, Asymmetric Capital and Pear VC! We’re proud to be partners to Counsel!
Today, we're thrilled to introduce Neil Sanghavi. Neil began his journey with Atropos Health in 2020, initially focusing on product and launch strategy part-time, before taking on the role of President in 2021. Before joining Atropos, Neil lent his expertise as an advisor to prominent health tech startups such as Turquoise Health, Abridge, Tuva, and Ribbon Health, where he contributed to go-to-market strategies, data strategy, analytics team development, and network contracting models.
In addition to his advisory roles, Neil was the Provider Strategy & Analytics leader at Haven, the joint venture formed by Amazon, JPMorgan, and Berkshire Hathaway. His career also includes strategic positions at the Cleveland Clinic and The Advisory Board Company (now part of Optum), as well as leadership roles in product and commercialization at healthcare startups like Centivo.
In this episode, Neil and I explore his journey into health tech, the role of data in healthcare, and Atropos Health's growth. We discuss their go-to-market strategy, the development of ChatRWD, and the importance of data quality. Neil also shares his vision for the future of Atropos and offers advice for founders.
This week, we’re super excited to chat with Wei Deng is the CEO and Founder of Clipboard Health.
Wei came to speak to our early-stage pre-seed bootcamp, PearX and we repurposed the talk into a PHP episode because there were so many amazing nuggets. We were lucky enough to hear her insights on building a unicorn as a first-time founder. Wei Deng is also a Pear Healthcare Advisor and deeply committed to supporting the next generation of founders.
Wei got her career start as a lawyer and after a stint in investment banking, worked in a variety of startup roles from Head of Product to COO. Before Clipboard, Wei was one of the first 10 employees at Sendwave. Founded in 2016, Clipboard Health matches healthcare facilities with nurses nearby. Clipboard Health has raised $94M in funding and is now a credible unicorn backed by investors like Sequoia and IVP.
In this episode, we talk about persisting through the idea maze, creating accountability systems within your team, and how to set up frameworks for yourself for success.
Today, we're so excited to get to know Kevin Riddleberger, Co-Founder of DispatchHealth.
Kevin has over 20 years of experience in both clinical and management roles within the healthcare sector. His passion for transforming healthcare delivery is evident through his focus on technology, process improvement, and enhancing quality standards.
As a board-certified physician assistant, Kevin has contributed his expertise to hospital quality improvement committees and has held the position of president at the Colorado Academy of Physician Assistants. Additionally, he plays a vital role as an advisor in Colorado’s healthcare startup community, where he provides guidance on both business and clinical matters. Prior to his role as co-founder of DispatchHealth, Kevin was responsible for leading clinical solutions and strategy at iTriage.
In this episode, we explore the founding and scaling of DispatchHealth, the challenges of reimbursement and scaling, strategies for securing payer contracts, the provider model they use, their success stories, and legal and fundraising advice for founders.
Note: Kevin did the interview in early 2024 when he was working for DispatchHealth. He has since moved to a different position.
This episode is part of Pear VC's series on Medicaid, covering the basics that founders need to know to build innovations that support communities in need.
Today, we're delighted to introduce Taylor Justice, the driving force behind Unite Us, a company that uses advanced technology solutions to coordinate community-focused social care and integrate social drivers of health into the healthcare continuum and regulatory landscape.
Unite Us developed the first closed-loop referral (CLR) platform that links social care service delivery with detailed outcomes to understand a person’s total health journey. The platform streamlines collaboration among healthcare professionals, community organizations, health plans, and government agencies to provide real-time visibility into the community impact and actionable insights. Through active engagement and accountability, this model increases the efficiency of social care and improves the experience by removing the onus from the patient to navigate eligibility requirements for local services.
Founded in 2013, Unite Us has grown to more than 600 employees serving communities across the US. The company's investors include ICONIQ, Oak HC/FT, and more who are helping advance the company's mission to connect people to the care they need to improve their lives.
Taylor started his career in the US Army. After serving in the infantry, he transitioned into an Account Executive role at CCS Medical. From there he became a sales engineer for JDSU which offers products and solutions for communications. After that, Taylor started his entrepreneurial journey co-founding the consulting firm, HigherEchelon, which helped organizations meet their performance goals. In 2013, he co-founded Unite Us and serves as President to this day.
Taylor holds a BS in Latin American Studies and Environmental Engineering from West Point Academy and an MBA from Columbia Business School.
In this episode, we explore Taylor’s founding journey and how Unite Us's closed-loop referral process is improving care outcomes. We also discuss what it's like to be at the forefront of using social determinants of health data in Medicaid.
This episode is part of Pear VC's series on Medicaid, covering the basics that founders need to know to build innovations that support communities in need.
Today, we're delighted to introduce Tracy Douglas, the CEO of Virginia Community Healthcare Association (VCHA), which is the primary care association representing Virginia’s Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) .
Tracy brings over 25 years of healthcare administration and operations experience. She has held executive roles in FQHCs in Indiana and Maryland, overseeing multiple locations across both states. In these roles, she led operations, maintained financial strength, and supported strategic goals to achieve excellence in medical practices, programs, and services. Tracy has managed operations in various healthcare settings, including pediatric centers of excellence, providing cardiac, kidney, and pulmonary services, both clinic-based and surgical. She also oversaw outpatient and inpatient acute care services and led a large health system’s managed care division. Additionally, Tracy served as the Executive Director of a for-profit physician-hospital organization.
In her current role, Tracy is responsible for the overall operation, management, program development, and fiscal control of VCHA. She also advocates for the Association’s members with federal, state, and local policymakers to ensure they have the tools and resources needed to improve access to primary care for the underserved in Virginia.
Tracy received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland, College Park, and her master’s degree in General Administration with a focus on Healthcare Administration from the University of Maryland University College.
In this episode, we learn about the scope of FQHC services, how FQHCs are financed, what challenges they face and how they evaluate vendors.
This episode is part of Pear VC's series on Medicaid, covering the basics that founders need to know to build innovations that support communities in need.
Today, we're excited to get to know Eliot Fishman, a director at CMMI who focuses on policy and programs that affect Medicaid beneficiaries.
Eliot comes to us with a long history of impact in public health policy. Eliot started his career as a policy associate at Mt. Sinai Health System in NYC and then went on to Manatt, Phelps & Phelps. He transitioned into a management policy role on the provider side again at MJHS, a large health system in the New York Area before he left to join the government.
Eliot then served at NJ Department of Health and Senior Services and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for several years across different groups on Medicaid, Medicare and CHIP. Eliot also served in consulting roles at Health Management Associates and at nonprofits like Families USA.
In this episode, we learn about payment models within CMMI that attempt to foster innovation in care delivery for Medicaid, program and payment integrity and value-based care models as well as how the Federal government collaborates with State governments to improve care delivery.
Today, we're so excited to get to know Web Sun, President and Co-Founder of Komodo Health. Komodo Health leverages data-driven insights to enhance patient care and alleviate disease burdens. Their platform analyzes de-identified real-world data from a wide range of sources to offer detailed patient-level insights around treatment, diagnosis, costs, and outcomes for millions of patients across the U.S. Web oversees operations including business development, sales and marketing, and people.
Prior to founding Komodo Health, Web was a managing director at Zephyr Health, a leading life sciences data and insights solution provider, running all non-Engineering functions. He spent nearly eight years as vice president at Campbell Alliance (now Syneos Health) where he advised enterprise life sciences companies across corporate development, brand management and marketing, commercial effectiveness and medical affairs initiatives.
Web also served as an Executive Advisor to Reify Health, Heads Up Health and other healthcare/healthtech startups focused on Big Data, SaaS, Healthcare IT, and Predictive Analytics to improve patient outcomes.
In this episode, we explore Komodo Health's origins, the creation of their MVP and key products, their transformative impact on healthcare, their future with AI, and Web's unique insights for founders navigating the data science and healthcare landscape.
Welcome back to the Pear Healthcare Playbook! Every week, we’ll be getting to know trailblazing healthcare leaders and diving into building a digital health business from 0 to 1.
Today, we're thrilled to introduce Ron Vianu, the CEO and visionary behind Covera Health. Covera Health is a pioneering AI-enabled diagnostic technology company, specializing in radiology performance measurement and its consequential impact on healthcare. With a career spanning over three decades, Ron has been a driving force at the intersection of healthcare, technology, and insurance.
Ron's entrepreneurial journey began over 30 years ago, founding his first health tech company while a senior at NYU. His first deep exposure to the field of Radiology was with Spreemo, a company he founded with his co-founder, an orthopedic surgeon, in 2010. Spreemo was a referral management platform in the occupational medicine space. Spreemo grew to over 200 employees across offices in New York City and Dallas and received significant investment from venture and PE investors.
In this episode, we talk about Ron’s work with Spreemo, how he started Covera Health, the partnership with Walmart, his thoughts on the future of AI in radiology, and advice he has for founders.
Founded in 2020, Pearl Health was incubated by AlleyCorp and has raised a total of $95M in funding from 8 investors, led by Andreesen Horowitz and Viking Global Investors. Pearl now has over 100 employees and closed a $75M Series B in January of 2023.
Pearl Health is a provider enablement and value-based care technology company that helps primary care providers and healthcare organizations succeed in value-based care, starting with ACO REACH and, soon, MSSP and Medicare Advantage.. Pearl does this by helping PCPs and their staff focus attention on high-risk patients and conditions, enabling practices with insights to programs deliver high quality, holistic care to patients at the right time. In 2024, Pearl is partnering with about 1,800 primary care providers, who collectively serve more than 80,000 patients, across the US in 43 states and Washington, D.C.
With over 20 years of experience in healthcare, Jennifer started her career at Triage Consulting Group. She then served as a consultant at Deloitte for 5 years and moved on to Takeda Oncology where she was an Associate Director in market access. She then spent six years at athenahealth where she served in a series of roles in product management, ultimately concluding as an Executive Director for product management.
After Athena, Jennifer moved onto a VP / Head of Product role at Hint Health and finally became the Chief Product Officer at Pearl Health in 2021. Jennifer holds a BA from University of California, Berkeley and an MHA from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
In this episode, we learn how Pearl Health is trying to improve primary care provider workflows in value-based care, how Jennifer thinks about product management, and where Pearl Health is going next, with their partnerships with retail pharmacies.
