Imagine a world in which instead of scheduling an appointment with your primary care doctor when you have a cold or need a routine checkup, you go inside an eight-by-eight-foot pod in your office building, gym, or local mall.

That’s the world Forward—a startup Google alums Adrian Aoun and Robert Sebastian founded in 2016—is trying to create with its new CarePods.

The startup first announced in November 2023 that it had raised $100 million to build and deploy the CarePods, which it bills as the “world’s first artificial intelligence (AI) doctor’s office.”

“CarePods combine advanced diagnostics, personalized health plans, and a premium in-person experience—empowering you to live a healthier and happier life,” Forward executives said at the time.

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 confidential conversations, ask Maia for her number on Signal.

Healthcare is at a promising tipping point. With breakthroughs in medical technology, smart devices, and connected care solutions, clinicians are increasingly able to provide personalized care fast and without the administrative burden.

That’s right: Healthcare’s latest innovations are brightening its future, helping healthcare systems deliver value-based care.

With the help of AI and connected systems, clinicians can diagnose and treat patients quickly and with more precision than ever. And the progress doesn’t stop there—these breakthroughs can help transform the future of care.

GE HealthCare is motivated by the opportunities these breakthroughs provide—for their ability to not only reshape the future but also improve patient, clinician, and provider experiences.

These innovations are happening fast, paving the way to relieve clinician burnout, heal fragmented systems, and increase access to care. Best part? This is just the beginning. Learn more.

The White House on January 22 announced a series of steps it plans to take to increase access to abortions and contraceptives to mark what would have been the 51st anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision that codified the right to abortion into law.

Following the court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade in June 2022, 21 states have restricted or banned access to abortions, forcing thousands of patients to travel out of state to receive abortion care.

“In states across the country, women are being turned away from emergency rooms, forced to go to court to seek permission for the medical attention they need, and made to travel hundreds of miles for healthcare,” President Joe Biden said in a statement shared with Healthcare Brew.

Keep reading here.—MA

On Fridays, we schedule our rounds with Healthcare Brew readers. Want to be featured in an upcoming edition? Click here to introduce yourself.

This week’s Making Rounds spotlights David Stein, the co-founder and CEO of Ash Wellness, an at-home testing diagnostics platform that was originally developed to help LGBTQ+ patients with testing for HIV and diseases spread through sex. Ash now offers at-home testing for more than 100 conditions, including issues related to fertility, obesity, and heart disease.

Stein spoke with Healthcare Brew about his company’s expanding mission and how Ash benefited from the Covid-19 pandemic’s embrace of at-home testing.

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

How would you describe your company to someone who doesn’t work in healthcare?

We work with provider partners, be it digital health companies, universities, health systems, etc., to turn on self-collected testing. That means patients get a testing kit physically at home from us—it’s completely white-labeled, or in our partner’s brand—and they self-collect those samples.

Keep reading here.—SY

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

Today’s top healthcare reads.

Stat: In Gaza, 40% of pregnancies are high risk, according to CARE International. (the Washington Post)

Quote: “I have two daughters and five sisters and a mom, so making sure women’s reproductive rights are protected is important to me.”—Rob Houseman, a town official in Hanover, who wrote in President Biden—New Hampshire’s winner—as his pick in the state’s Democratic primary (KFF Health News)

Read: The FDA told drugmakers to add a warning for CAR-T therapy, which uses a patient’s immune cells to treat certain types of cancer, that the treatment may increase cancer risks. (NBC News)

A new era: With technological innovations and connected solutions, healthcare clinicians can precisely diagnose and treat patients faster than ever. GE HealthCare is motivated by the breakthroughs in healthcare. Learn about healthcare’s bright future.*

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