The
U.S.
healthcare
system
is
good
at
outreach,
but
engagement
is
another
story.
A
startup
looking
to
change
that
raked
in
millions
of
dollars
on
Thursday.
Digital
health
app
Wellth
closed
a
$36
million
Series
C
financing
round,
taking
the
Los
Angeles-based
company’s
fundraising
total
to
$76
million.
The
funding
round
was
led
by
Mercato
Partners
and
had
participation
from
CD-Venture,
Comcast
Ventures,
FCA
Venture
Partners,
New
York
Life
Ventures
and
SignalFire.
Currently,
the
healthcare
system
tries
to
“engage”
with
patients
through
a
series
of
infrequent
and
often
annoying
outreach
messages,
noted
Wellth
CEO
Matt
Loper.
“We
are
constantly
told
what
to
do
by
doctors
and
care
teams,
then
we
receive
text
messages
reminding
us
to
pick
up
our
prescriptions
at
the
pharmacy
or
pay
our
bills.
Soon,
we
will
be
inundated
by
AI
chatbots
and
care
companions
asking
us
to
connect. All
of
this
outreach
overwhelms
us,
raising
our
stress
and
cortisol
levels,”
he
explained.
This
type
of
outreach
fails
to
motivate
people
to
accomplish
their
care
goals
or
establish
healthy
habits,
Loper
added.
Typically,
people
only
interact
with
the
healthcare
system
when
they
feel
ill
or
injured
—
that’s
how
the
country
ended
up
with
a
“sick
care”
system,
he
pointed
out.
Interventions
come
too
late,
leading
to
hundreds
of
billions
of
dollars
in
preventable
costs
—
as
well
as
widespread
human
suffering
and
premature
death.
Wellth,
which
was
founded
in
2014,
has
developed
a
“daily
care
motivation
platform”
that
gives
users
a
rewarding,
positive
experience
each
day
that
encourages
them
to
prioritize
their
health
—
instead
of
just
inundating
them
with
outreach,
Loper
said.
The
app
motivates
its
members
to
build
healthy
daily
habits
by
combining
small
financial
incentives
with
personalized
nudges
that
resonate
with
their
personal
goals.
Wellth
typically
offers
users
small
cash
rewards
or
gift
cards
for
doing
things
like
confirming
they
took
their
medication
or
recording
a
vital
sign.
These
financial
incentives
act
as
an
initial
hook
to
help
people
consistently
engage
with
their
health,
but
the
goal
isn’t
to
pay
users
forever.
Over
time,
as
members
form
routines
and
experience
the
benefits
of
healthier
habits,
the
external
rewards
are
gradually
outweighed
by
intrinsic
motivators
like
feeling
better
or
wanting
to
stay
healthy
for
family.
Wellth’s
app
is
designed
to
provide
daily
dopamine,
Loper
added.
“We
all
know
the
feeling
of
waking
up
first
thing
in
the
morning
and
checking
Instagram
or
Tiktok
—
or
binging
8
hours
of
Netflix
and
thinking,
‘Where
did
the
time
go?’
The
main
reason
that
these
digital
experiences
are
so
addictive
is
because
they
give
us
a
ton
of
dopamine
every
time
we
use
them.
Instead
of
inundating
members
with
stressful
cortisol-inducing
outreach,
Wellth
creates
the
same
sort
of
daily
positive
reinforcement
through
dopamine
that
is
achieved
with
the
most
addictive
social
media
interactions,”
he
explained.
This
allows
Wellth
to
have
91%
daily
engagement
rates
—
even
from
previously
nonadherent
Medicare,
Medicaid
and
dual-eligible
members,
Loper
said.
The
platform
has
engaged
more
than
100,000
members
to
date,
with
more
than
50
million
daily
behaviors
being
completed
by
users.
As
a
result
of
this
sticky
daily
engagement,
Wellth
can
help
health
plans
and
providers
improve
end
metrics.
For
example,
Loper
said
the
platform
has
measured
statistically
significant
reductions
in
inpatient,
emergency
department
and
overall
costs,
as
well
as
improvement
in
key
quality
metrics
like
Medicare
Advantage
star
ratings
and
care
gap
closure
rates.
Wellth
partners
with
health
plans
and
risk-bearing
providers
that
have
financial
risk
at
stake
for
both
the
cost
of
care
and
quality
outcomes,
he
stated.
“We
help
quantify
the
business
case
upfront
of
how
much
savings
and
quality
we
can
drive
based
on
their
actual
metrics. We
identify
exactly
which
member
cohorts
need
to
change
their
behaviors
to
realize
the
business
case. Then
we
put
our
fees
at
risk
for
actually
driving
that
behavior
change
and
end
ROI,”
Loper
remarked.
Investors
seem
to
believe
that
the
company’s
dopamine-driven
model
can
deliver
healthier
patients
—
and
healthier
margins.
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PeopleImages,
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