DiMe CEO Jennifer Goldsack

Scaling risk-based contracts is a big lift, even for the strongest clinical teams. Grab Arbital’s latest playbook to see what separates the best from the rest in VBC and get the modern infrastructure for scaling risk-based contracts effectively.

Startups

Function Lands $298M for Medical Intelligence

The face of the health membership movement is now worth $2.5B after Function landed $298M of Series B funding to prove that subscription care is here to stay.

Function is building an “operating system for human health.” The OS “fuses AI with medical expertise to empower 8 billion people to take control of their health and get ahead of disease.”

• Translation: Function offers personalized nutrition and lifestyle recommendations based on a massive menu of lab tests that members can access for $365 per year.

• Unlike most annual physicals that measure ~26 biomarkers, Function offers 160+ tests spanning from the heart and hormones to heavy metals and cancer signals.

• It also doubled down with the acquisition of Ezra earlier this year, adding AI-guided full-body MRIs (for detecting cancers, endometriosis, strokes) and CT scans (for lung tumors, heart plaque, soft tissue damage).

The Medical Intelligence Lab takes the vision even further. Function just launched its Medical Intelligence Lab to unify all of its data – labs, imaging, wearables, and medical records – into a continuously learning model designed to reveal patterns and surface actionable insights.

The lab gives members immediate access to three new AI capabilities:

• Private AI Chat – answers health questions with responses informed by member data.
• Protocols – translate complex data into health plans with easy-to-follow steps.
• Health Records – members can securely upload lab results, visit notes, and medical records to feed into Private AI Chat and Protocols.

The testing gold rush is here… but that might not be great for everyone. Research has shown that direct-to-consumer testing companies have a history of wading into murky waters, particularly misleading marketing and a lack of care continuity.

• Function hasn’t fallen into that bucket, but its tests definitely go beyond established evidence, and multi-cancer screening still hasn’t demonstrated its clinical value.

• A shotgun approach to proactive screening is also a recipe for worried patients and incidental findings – not to mention low-value care.

• Function will have to prove that its benefits outweigh those risks, but hundreds of thousands of members are already voting with their wallets that the math checks out.

The Takeaway

Function will tell you that it isn’t just leading a new category, it’s setting the standard for how we understand, manage, and extend human health. If that turns out to be true, then $298M should go a long way toward proving it.

Enrollment Timelines, State by State

Provider enrollment delays are shaping access to care, revenue timelines, and even workforce strategy. Ever wonder how they’re impacting organizations near you? Check out Medallion’s 2025 Geography of Payor Enrollments to see state-by-state enrollment times, how delays are compounding workforce shortages, and why you should factor this into your 2026 planning.

Using AI to Democratize Performance Data

You’re tracking clinical performance metrics – HACs, LoS, FCOTS, and more – but does tracking translate to better patient care? Tune in to C8 Health’s expert roundtable on December 10th to learn how leading institutions leverage AI to bring quality data to the bedside. Plus: See how this approach saved UTMB Health over $109k in three months. Grab your spot here.

The Wire

• Make Room for Roon: Roon for Doctors is squaring up against Doximity, and last week’s debut generated lots of buzz around the virtual physicians’ lounge reimagined for 2025. That means “verified doctors only, depth over noise, AI tools that work to serve your natural curiosities, and a service where anyone in medicine can collaborate and discover – together.” We don’t have the NPI credentials to poke around the platform, but the website highlights Roon’s AI-powered weekly digests, collaborative chat for gray-zone clinical questions, and deep physician profiles that include their publications.

• Ambient Scribes Need More Context: New research from Navina shows that incorporating patient history into ambient documentation significantly improves note quality. While it isn’t shocking to hear that extra context helps color in the clinical picture, it was interesting to see how much the medical history moved the needle when discussing chronic conditions. The study compared the “ambient only” approach to “ambient plus history” for 354 primary care visits involving diabetes and hypertension. Adding patient history doubled note completion scores from 40.4 to 82.9 (on a 100 point scale), while also improving overall documentation quality by 18%.

• Done CEO Found Guilty in Adderall Case: The former CEO of pandemic-era Adderall dealer Done is facing 20 years in prison after being found guilty of conspiring to distribute controlled substances to over 100k patients. Prosecutors were able to prove that Done gave NPs up to $60k per month to refill prescriptions without contacting patients, made its clinicians rush first visits, and even banned them from cancelling treatments when patients’ family members reported Adderall-induced psychosis. Yikes.

• Inbox Teams Up With AdvancedCare: Inbox Health is teaming up with practice management and RCM vendor AdvancedCare to enhance the patient billing experience across its provider network. The partnership equips AdvancedCare’s 350-practice provider network with access to Inbox’s omnichannel billing experience that automates outreach, simplifies statements, and streamlines payments with hands-on support. The collaboration integrates Inbox’s tech with AdvancedCare’s AI Clinical and RCM platform to equip behavioral health and psychiatry clinics with a unified solution for accelerating reimbursements and improving patient experiences.

• UnityPoint Joins Mayo’s AI Network: UnityPoint Health is already signed on to be the first system to join Mayo Clinic’s just-launched Platform_Insights network. The program will give UnityPoint “a guided path to reduce the digital divide created by the rapid evolution of AI” alongside access to Mayo Clinic’s digital expertise and clinical knowledge. Platform_Insights will also allow UnityPoint Health team members to leverage a variety of clinical and administrative resources, such as clinical decision-support tools, point-of-care resources, and patient education.

• Follow-Ups Aren’t Always Necessary: A large systematic review of 83 studies added to the heaping pile of evidence that follow-ups help prevent readmissions. The meta-analysis found that outpatient follow-ups within 30 days of discharge were associated with significantly fewer 30-day readmissions for patients aged 65 years or older (relative risk reduction: 0.68), while earlier follow-ups within 7 and 14 days were surprisingly only shown to reduce risk among seniors with heart failure or acute myocardial infarction (RRR: 0.57-0.68). The findings suggest that shorter two-week follow-ups might not be necessary for low-risk patients.

• GE Brings Intelerad Into the Fold: GE HealthCare is acquiring Intelerad for $2.3B in one of the biggest blockbuster M&A moves for radiology IT in years. Intelerad’s cloud-first radiology software and strong outpatient presence complements GE HealthCare’s hospital-based imaging software portfolio, creating a comprehensive AI-enabled ecosystem spanning from academic centers to ambulatory networks. The acquisition brings AI workflow orchestration, cloud PACS, and image sharing in a SaaS model, accelerating GE HealthCare’s goal to triple its cloud-enabled products by 2028.

• UpToDate Expert AI Enhances Drug Support: Wolters Kluwers beefed up its recently launched GenAI-powered UpToDate Expert AI with Lexidrug’s comprehensive medication information. Apparently ~30% of clinicians’ questions for the CDS solution are drug related, so the upgrade enables it to provide deeper answers from a foundation of around 3,000 drug topics in the areas most requested by its users. The topics are fully vetted and aligned with the trusted content of UpToDate, avoiding potential issues that might stem from outdated or questionable sources across the internet.

• Amwell Weighs Divestitures: Amwell is considering divesting “non-core assets” as it looks to narrow its focus around improving financial performance… and stop the bleeding for shareholders. The telehealth veteran is looking to part ways with legacy assets that can be separated from the rest of the business without creating challenges for customers, or service lines “that have a certain profile of clients that we could, in fact, cordon off.” Amwell already offloaded its virtual psychiatry business to fellow virtual care provider Avel eCare for ~$21M earlier this year.

• Comments Due on GenAI Regulation: The deadline is quickly approaching to submit comments on the FDA’s plan to regulate generative AI for real-world medical use. The agency is examining its GenAI regulatory approach after addressing the topic at the inaugural meeting of its Digital Health Advisory Committee in November 2024. The FDA wants to develop ways to monitor GenAI performance once algorithms have been approved and deployed for clinical use. Comments are due by December 1.

Ambient ROI – New Metrics From Health Systems

While Abridge’s value is clear from its rapid adoption and positive clinician feedback, discerning CMIOs, CIOs, and CFOs also require longitudinal and more precise impact measurement – including of operational and workflow processes. With a new ROI methodology, that’s what Abridge delivers for its health system partners. See how four health systems are using this new tool to measure ROI at a deeper level than ever before. Download here.

Discover Sleep Rx, the Clinically Validated Sleep Tracking Mat

Sleep Rx offers a contactless, at-home solution to aid in the diagnosis of sleep apnea, addressing a critical issue that affects millions. Available by prescription, this innovative sleep tracking mat is set to transform remote patient monitoring by providing detailed sleep analysis without the need for cumbersome equipment. Learn how Sleep Rx enhances diagnosis rates and ultimately improves long-term outcomes.

The Resource Wire

• Under the Hood of Navina’s AI: Navina’s AI engine harnesses over 600 proprietary algorithms to transform fragmented patient data into actionable clinical intelligence at the point of care. It’s shaped with the expertise of physicians to turn multiple data sources (EHR, HIE, claims, care gap files, etc.) into contextualized insights like suspected conditions or evidence for care gap closures – each linked back to the original source. Download the whitepaper to see examples of Navina’s AI in action.

• Nabla’s Hiring a New Marketer: If you’re based in NYC and passionate about improving the practice of medicine, Nabla is looking for a Marketing Operations Associate to help it on that mission. Nabla’s ambient AI assistant streamlines the workflows that get in the way of the human connection at the heart of healthcare. They’re on the hunt for a new operational backbone for their marketing team, so apply here if that sounds like you.

The Industry Wire

1. AMA wants Congress to protect patients from deepfake doctors.
2. UNC Health has a new chief executive. 
3. CDC reverses stance that vaccines don’t cause autism.
4. Former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb joins UnitedHealth Group board.
5. Providence to cut 446 roles in Oregon and Washington.
6. WVU Health acquires five-hospital Independence Health System.
7. Oracle Health gets approved to join TEFCA.
8. How Judy Faulkner helps government leaders understand EHRs.
9. Baptist Health names new CEO.
10. Physician resignations bring services to a halt at Pennsylvania hospital.