Mariza Hardin and Erik Cardenas wanted to build a healthcare model that put families like their own first- and second-generation Mexican American families first.

Hardin and Cardenas, who met at the now-shuttered Amazon Care, connected over being “care navigators” for their families, which included helping find culturally knowledgeable providers who spoke Spanish and navigating the complexities of health insurance.

The pair founded Zócalo Health in 2021 and raised $5 million in seed funding with the goal of bringing virtual primary care services to US Latino communities. It is seeing patients in California and Texas. For a $40 monthly fee, patients have access to virtual same-day and next-day appointments (in both English and Spanish) with a physician, and support from their personal “promotores de la salud.”

The “promotores de la salud” acts as a wellness “navigator that helps you answer all the questions and helps connect them to the different resources within the community,” Hardin said.

Access to primary care can affect the “health of our patients over a lifetime,” according to Cardenas.

Still, their experiences of trying to navigate the US healthcare landscape are not unique.

Financial obstacles. Hispanic and Latino people are the second-largest racial or ethnic group in the US, making up 18.9% of the total population, according to the 2020 Census. However, they are overrepresented within the uninsured population compared to their non-Hispanic white peers.

In 2019, Latinos accounted for 37% of nonelderly uninsured people in the US, a 2021 report from the US Department of Health and Human Services found. A little more than half of Hispanic immigrants who had been in the country for a decade or less reported that they had seen a healthcare provider in the last 12 months, according to a 2022 Pew Research Center survey of 3,716 Latino adults.

Keep reading here.—KW

Do you work in healthcare or have information about the industry that we should know? Email Kristine at [email protected]. For completely confidential conversations, ask Kristine for her number on Signal.

You may want to triple check that you’re looking at the right patient’s medical records.

Turns out mixing up medical records is a common problem that costs the US healthcare system roughly $6 billion per year, according to Black Book Research.

Electronic health records (EHR) are usually matched up using data like a birthdate or address, but formatting differences can result in mismatches, according to The Pew Charitable Trusts. Life events can also introduce new discrepancies, as patients change their names or move.

But you know what’s likely to never change over a patient’s lifetime? A fingerprint. That’s why health systems are using biometrics more often to make sure providers look at the right patient records before treatment begins.

Biometrics on the rise. The use of biometrics in hospitals isn’t very common yet, according to Julia Skapik, chief medical information officer at the National Association of Community Health Centers, a trade group. But a boom in use is on the rise, with the healthcare biometrics market projected to be valued at $78.4 billion by 2030.

Louisiana-based Terrebonne General Medical Center began using RightPatient, a biometric patient identification platform, to match up patients’ medical records in 2015, and Harris Health System in Harris County, Texas, started using palm scanners for the same purpose in 2011, according to the Houston Chronicle.

These authentication systems collect and store biometric data—like images of a patient's fingerprint, face, palm, or iris—to verify identity. Facial imaging is the best option for hospitals, according to Pew, because it’s contactless and relatively cheap compared to fingerprint or iris scanners. Plus, a lot of people are used to using facial imaging to open their phone these days.

Keep reading here.—MA

Do you work in healthcare or have information about the industry that we should know? Email Maia at [email protected]. For completely confidential conversations, ask Maia for her number on Signal.

This year will be pivotal for AbbVie, one of the top five largest US pharmaceutical companies, as it loses market exclusivity for Humira, a drug that has brought in $200 billion over the last 20 years and is one of the best-selling drugs of the last 25 years.

During AbbVie’s 2022 year-end earnings call, CEO Richard Gonzalez said the company expects Humira sales to fall ~37% in 2023, with biosimilar versions of the drug now allowed on the market. A biosimilar from Amgen called Amjevita has already hit the market, and seven more are expected this year, according to drug marketplace GoodRx.

AbbVie executives previously estimated Humira sales would drop somewhere between 35% and 55% this year, so the 37% figure falls on the lower end of the spectrum. It’s also less than some analysts predicted—Morningstar analysts predicted a 50% sales decline. But it’s still a potential decrease of $7.9 billion from 2022, which is not pocket change (unless you’re Jeff Bezos).

Humira treats a variety of inflammatory conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease, and ulcerative colitis, and brought in $21.2 billion in 2022. (*Lowers glasses, checks notes*: That’s 73.4% of AbbVie’s immunology portfolio sales and 36.6% of the company’s total drug sales for 2022.)

Gonzalez said AbbVie is betting on two other immunology drugs—Skyrizi and Rinvoq—to collectively make up for the drop in Humira revenue.

Both Skyrizi and Rinvoq received FDA approval in 2019 and can be used to treat the same conditions as Humira’s main indications, as well as atopic dermatitis. The two drugs collectively brought in nearly $7.7 billion in combined sales in 2022, and Gonzalez said the company expects them to bring in $11.1 billion in revenue in 2023.

“We anticipate these two products will collectively exceed the peak revenues achieved by Humira by 2027, with significant growth expected through the end of the decade,” Gonzalez said during the earnings call.

Keep reading here.—MA

Today’s top healthcare reads.

Stat: A proposed FDA rule could limit food manufacturers to 2.5 grams of added sugar per serving to grains and dairy products. (the Washington Post)

Quote: “You don’t see wastewater surveillance on the school level, so proving that it’s effective and can be done is really exciting.”—Loren Hopkins, chief environmental science officer at the Houston Health Department, on a study that indicates school-level monitoring detect “viral outbreaks in schools” (Houston Public Media)

Read: A procedure called an endovascular thrombectomy could radically change stroke outcome in some patients—but only if it’s performed in time. (the New York Times)

Putting patients first: Clinical documentation is essential, but more paperwork means less time for patient care. Nuance’s latest white paper examines how their AI-powered, voice-enabled DAX solution saves time and enhances the patient-physician experience.* 

^{*This is sponsored advertising content.}

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