This week, Abbott announced its plans to acquire Bigfoot Biomedical — a startup selling a “smart” insulin pen cap, which collects data from a user’s CGM to help them calculate the right dose. Most analysts were unsurprised to hear of the acquisition given that the two companies have been collaborating for more than six years, but they said the deal reinforces the steady pace of digital innovation in the diabetes care space.

Medtech funding reached its low point in the first quarter but will slowly pick back up over the rest of 2023, according to a new Pitchbook report. It noted that this year’s medtech funding total will not come close to the $19.7 billion the sector raised in 2021, and it might even come in below last year’s funding total of $13.5 billion.

The healthcare AI space will be an exciting one to watch over the next couple years, as investment dollars flow to startups and providers launch more AI pilots. Two of the most interesting trends to watch will be the use cases that healthcare organizations prioritize when deploying generative AI models, as well as M&A activity within the healthcare AI field, a CB Insights analyst declared during a recent webinar.

Global funding for digital health companies finally stabilized in Q1 of this year. The sector raised $3.4 billion — this marks the first time the digital health world didn’t experience a quarter-over-quarter funding decline since Q4 of 2021. By holding steady, digital health startups defied the dwindling fundraising totals seen across the broader venture capital landscape, where funding dropped by 13% quarter-over-quarter.

M&A activity among health systems picked up last year — key trends included cross-market mega-mergers and academic medical centers expanding their community hospital networks. Despite tough economic conditions, Kaufman Hall experts expect this activity to continue growing in 2023.

Affiliates of Bain Capital and Hellman & Friedman struck a deal to buy the health IT company from its current private equity owners, Veritas Capital and an affiliate of activist investor Elliott Management. The two took the company private through a takeover bid in 2019.

Oak Street Health plans to integrate virtual specialty care into its primary care centers for Medicare patients. It struck a deal to acquire RubiconMD for $130 million in cash, with another $60 million in milestone payments.

The Delaware Supreme Court ruled on Monday that Cigna can’t seek a $1.85 billion breakup fee after its failed merger with Anthem, upholding a judge’s decision last year. 

Nearly a dozen companies were identified in a report as potentially attractive for buyouts by larger firms. Japanese companies could be big players.

BPCI Advanced, the next generation of the original Bundled Payments for Care Improvement (BPCI), announced earlier this month. marks the further progression of the value-based care movement and is one of three major changes this year.

Healthsense places wireless sensors around living spaces to monitor patients at home and in skilled nursing and assisted living facilities, then applies algorithms to detect signs of potential health issues.

Edwards Lifesciences is paying up to $690 million to a buy an Israeli company that makes transcatheter mitral valve and tricuspid repair devices. Last year it bought a mitral valve replacement company for about $400 million.

The all-cash deal will give Wolters Kluwer a more complete suite of health information products and allow Emmi to gain a foothold in international markets.

The new Salus Telehealth brings together a traditional telehealth and remote monitoring platform from Salus and a mobile app from VideoMedicine that connects consumers to physicians, including specialists.

Fast Company said that Gliimpse makes “a personal health data platform that enables any American to collect, personalize and share a picture of their health data.” Haven’t we seen this movie before?

Pfizer would be acquiring Xtandi, a blockbuster treatment for prostate cancer that is expected to generate annual sales of $1.33 billion by 2020, according to Bloomberg.

Coverys, which collects $420 million in malpractice premiums annually, has now completed five acquisitions in the last two years.

The companies disagreed, though some more strongly than others. All four have vowed to defend their planned mergers in court.

“It was driven by the recognition that fundamentally the biological platform for both companies was a mirror image. We both independently uncovered the biology of the immune-microbiome.”

“It took time to make sure the service was ready,” Ron Gutman, HealthTap founder and CEO, said. “We made the announcement when they were ready and can serve our physicians well and patients well.”

The newly formed Providence St. Joseph Health comprises 50 hospitals, 829 clinics and affiliated social services in seven states, making it the third-largest nonprofit healthcare organization in the country.

Plus, Bristol-Myers Squibb acquires Comorant Pharmaceuticals, Google’s DeepMind gets access to eye scans at British hospital and a court rules that biosimilar makers must notify patent-holders six months before launching competitive products.

Plus, a sound-based smartphone app may be an alternative to X-rays for detecting fractures, a health IT CEO loses it on social media and eClinicalHealth tackles remote monitoring for clinical trials.

Will the combined company be called HealthNEXTRight or HealthRightNEXT, both of which sound like traffic directions?