In this episode, we meet Dr. Vijay Yanamadala, Chief Medical Officer of Sword Health. SWORD Health is the world’s fastest growing virtual MSK care provider, on a mission to free two billion people from pain.

The company’s clinical-grade virtual therapy platform pairs expert physical therapists with FDA-listed wearable technology to deliver a personalized treatment plan that is more effective, easier and less expensive than traditional physical therapy. SWORD Health believes in the power of people to recover at home, without resorting to imaging, surgeries or opioids. Since launching in 2015, SWORD Health has worked with insurers, health systems and employers in the U.S, Europe and Australia to make quality physical therapy more accessible to everyone.

Launched in 2015, the company has raised approximately $324 million to date, with nearly $300 million raised in 2021 alone. In November 2021, Sword closed a $189M Series D financing round led by Sapphire Ventures with participation from new investors including Sozo Ventures and Willoughby Capital as well as previous investors including General Catalyst and Khosla Ventures. This round valued Sword Health at $2B. (Source: Bloomberg)

Dr. Vijay Yanamadala brings over a decade of clinical medical expertise as a world-renowned surgeon with a firm belief in reducing dependency on surgery through data-driven and patient-centered treatment plans. He has published over 60 papers focused on the safe and effective treatment of complex spinal conditions through advanced and innovative techniques and the use of multidisciplinary teams, for which he has received numerous awards. He is a graduate of Harvard Medical School (MD), Harvard Business School (MBA) and Harvard College (BA).

In this episode, Dr. Yanamadala and I chat about:

• How his early childhood experiences motivated him to pursue a career as a surgeon and what led him to join Sword Health
• Why over 50% of spine surgeries today are avoidable and unnecessary and why the least invasive & highest value care (physical therapy) is underutilized
• Sword Health’s approach to improving access to comprehensive digital MSK care and how their outcomes compare to traditional care

In this episode, we meet Vijay Kedar, Co-Founder and CEO of Tomorrow Health. Tomorrow Health is a technology-driven healthcare company changing the way individuals and families manage healthcare at home. They are partnered with over 125 health insurers and provider organizations to coordinate and deliver home-based care for their members. To support their ambitious vision, they have raised $32.5M from investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Obvious Ventures, Box Group, Rainfall Ventures and CEOs and founders of Tenet Healthcare, DoorDash, Flatiron Health, Oscar Health, Quartet Health, Casper, Moat and PillPack.

In 2021, Business Insider listed Tomorrow Health as one of the Most Promising Healthcare Startups of 2021, according to top VCs.

Prior to Tomorrow Health, Vijay spent several years helping to scale Oscar Health — leading care management strategy and operations to support chronically ill patients through home-based interventions. He was critical in shaping the success of the company by executing on strategy, financing efforts, network development, medical management, regulatory affairs and more. He is an alum of Harvard College and Harvard Business School and made his way to Oscar after years in Private Equity at Goldman Sachs, where he evaluated $1.1B in investments across healthcare, technology and energy.

In this episode, Vijay and I chat about:

• How his experiences as an early employee at Oscar Health and navigating his mother’s cancer care ultimately led him to start Tomorrow Health
• What is driving unprecedented growth in the US home healthcare market and the biggest challenges facing each stakeholder in the ecosystem — DME suppliers, payers, providers, patients and their caregivers
• Tomorrow Health’s approach to building a holistic home-based care ecosystem, starting with Medical Equipment and Supplies
• What it means to Vijay to change the healthcare system from within and the importance of marrying innovation with distribution
• Vijay’s approach to assembling a world class team of advisors, colleagues and investors

In this episode, we meet Chrissy Farr, Principal at OMERS Ventures. Previously, she was a writer and frequent on-air contributor for CNBC, Fast Company and Reuters News, among other publications. She was raised in London, UK, and received degrees from University College London and Stanford University.

Over the last five years, OMERS Ventures has invested more than $340 million of capital in nearly 30 disruptive technology companies across North America, creating over 5,000 jobs, and attracting an additional $1.2 billion for portfolio companies. Their portfolio companies include: 360insights, AmpMe, Busbud, Citizen Hex, D2L, DCG, Fusebill, Hootsuite, Hopper, Interaxon, Jobber, Kaleo, Klipfolio, Klue, Leafsift, League, Mojix, Nudge, Ranovus, Rover, Shopify (IPO 2015 — NYSE & TSX: SHOP), Smile.io, Vidyard, Vision Critical, Wattpad, Wave.

Chrissy continues to write and share her perspectives here: https://ovsecondopinion.substack.com/

In this episode, Chrissy and I chat about:

• Chrissy’s personal story: from her time at Stanford to her experiences as a journalist and her love for research, learning and connecting with innovators
• Her approach to investing and thesis development, areas of digital health which are underserved/overlooked and opportunities in women’s health
• Digital health superlatives — Chrissy’s takes on the most disruptive healthcare company of the year, most interesting merger/acquisition, innovative early-stage start-up to follow, and her favorite news sources
• Predictions for digital health in 2022, reflections and words of wisdom