The Grand Roundup: Agentic voice AI wars, recent funding roundup, Cityblock acquires Homeward, UpDoc's FDA clearance, Humata's WISeR rollout, and more

Kevin and Martin start with a discussion about a crowded week in healthcare AI funding. Prosper AI and Assort Health’s fundraising announcements were released on back-to-back days, with nearly identical customer quotes claiming each was "the only true platform." Kevin and Martin work through what that signals about the agentic voice AI space. They also cover Alan's €480M raise at a $6.3B valuation, Trase's $107M seed round, Cadence's RPM-to-chronic-care-management pivot, Hera's CCM play, Upside's Medicaid housing engagement numbers, the Cityblock-Homeward acquisition, and UpDoc's FDA 510K clearance. They close by explaining stop-loss lasering and what it means for insurability when the bag keeps getting passed.

Then Jeremy Fries, CEO and founder of Humata Health, joins to talk through WISeR — the CMMI prior auth program now live in Oklahoma. Jeremy walks through how the program works (AI says yes instantly; humans adjudicate everything else), what the rollout has actually looked like on the ground, why provider adoption numbers are better than the headlines suggest, and why he thinks prior auth, done right, is one of the few places in healthcare where payers and providers can actually find common ground.

Links referenced

• Bloomberg article on MyConnections: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2019-11-05/unitedhealth-s-myconnections-houses-the-homeless-through-medicaid
• WSJ article on UpDoc: https://www.wsj.com/pro/venture-capital/updocs-ai-gets-fda-nod-to-act-as-concierge-doctor-between-visits-2b7fa41b
• Marsh McLennan report on lasering: https://view.ceros.com/marsh-mma-mid-atlantic/success-stories/p/19
• CBS article on WISeR rollout in Oklahoma: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/medicare-ai-program-wiser-prior-authorization-errors-delays/
• Substack on AI usage in prior auth: https://spinalcolumn.substack.com/p/the-algorithm-is-denying-your-auth
• Humata Health: humatahealth.com
• Jeremy Friese: jeremy@humatahealth.com

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