Think about it 💡

👩‍⚕️ The impending end of the covid emergency looms over telehealth. The January 2020 federal emergency declaration lifted some obligations which prompted a boom in telehealth, including the requirement for providers to meet with patients in person before prescribing controlled substances. While the end of this waiver (planned for May) might disrupt newly emerged practices, it will further disrupt some patients' access to medications they have been on for nearly three years now. A wide range of patients could be affected, from those being treated for opioid use disorders to those in gender affirming care.

🍆 (Market) size doesn't matter. The global sexual wellness market was valued at $80 billion in 2021 and is expected to reach $120 billion by 2030. Yet, Sifted reports that these numbers have not resulted in significant funding. In the past two years in Europe, sextech has only raised £232 million, less than a third of what pet tech startups have raised, even though the sextech market is four times larger. Could be that the societal taboo surrounding sex, especially in Europe, is reverberating onto VCs, making them s-k-i-t-t-i-s-h.

Reddit as a way to predict drug overdoses 📍

💊 The dark side of drugs now and how social media may not be so bad. In the United States, nearly 300 people die every day from drug overdoses. In response to this perennial crisis, authorities have set up systems to share information in real time and try to predict where the next wave of deaths might occur.

📊 But the data is far from consistent. Most monitoring programs face gaps in time, coordination, and knowledge. Academics have turned to social media to try to bridge those gaps.

💬 For instance, a team of researchers created a system that uses machine learning to analyze thousands of daily comments in Reddit forums about new drugs and how people experience them. They published a study in the International Journal on Drug Policy showing how seven drugs were discussed online before they appeared in overdoses or intoxications.

Neat News 🗞️

👭 Wellen launched its healthtech platform for women with osteoporosis and osteopenia. Neat.
🎧 Spotify founder Daniel Ek is venturing into healthtech with an AI-powered body health scanner. Super neat.
👁️ Youtube star MrBeast sponsored cataract surgeries for 1000 people. UItra neat.

What the hellth? 🔬

🔑 How many times have you found yourself fumbling for your keys, desperately trying to get your hands on that shiny little artifact? It usually happens at life-changing moments: before a big interview or just as your uber eats arrives. And no doubt someone is always around to give the perennial but infuriating advice: picture where you had it last!

🥼 In a new study, researchers tried to measure these spatial and temporal memories. Participants were asked to remember objects placed on a grid. They viewed 300 items and were told to recall each one and where it was placed.

💡 Turns out, we’re pretty good at remembering where we last saw things. About ⅓ of participants remembered 100 or more locations. So why do we struggle to locate lost items? Most likely, we don't. The research suggests that we feel this way because we tend to focus on the failures and overlook the many successes. Focus on the po-si-ti-ve. They’ll turn up. Probably. Have you tried picturing where you had it last?

Clean Content 🧼

👭 These startups are changing the way women in Latin America access abortion and sexual health resources.
🔮 BCG has released a report on the future of digital health. Great font, great color palette and even greater ideas.
🎙️ Alexandre Lebrun, CEO of Nabla, discusses ChatGPT, MedPalm, and other fun NLP things in healthcare with Israel Krush (Hyro) on Faces of Digital Health.

This is what you came for 🍑

💕 Today is no other than Valentine's Day and with it comes the enchanting perspective of chocolate poisoning, piggy bank breaking, and highly unexciting fornicating. As it turns out, more than a third of Americans aren't looking forward to having intercourse with their partner on Valentine's Day. Better luck on Easter.

Bon voyage,

The Healthcare Hoagie 🥪

#16 The imminent doom of telehealth? ⚰️