UnitedHealth Buys PatientsLikeMe After Chinese Investor Forced to Divest

PatientsLikeMe has interested me since its inception (see, for example:Genentech Taps On-Line Patient Communities to Improve Trials). It's a forum where about 600,000 patients with some 2,800 conditions"find answers, support and a path forward" by online conversations with others in similar circumstances. Thee company has recently been in the news because its majority owner was Chinese and it was forced to find a new owner -- UnitedHealth Group (see:UnitedHealth buys PatientsLikeMe, which faced Trump administration scrutiny over Chinese investor). Below is an excerpt from the article:PatientsLikeMe, a health-tech start-up that was forced by the Trump administration to seek out a buyer because its majority owner is Chinese, has found a landing spot: UnitedHealth Group. The news comes amid increasing U.S. government scrutiny of Chinese investments in tech start-ups as trade tensions between the U.S. and China drag on. Direct investment in the U.S. from Chinese firms has plummeted 90% in two years, from $46 billion in 2016 to $4.8 billion in 2018....Another $20 billion in divestitures is still pending.... PatientsLikeMe provides an online service that helps patients find people with similar health conditions. According to an email sent to customers that was obtained by CNBC, PatientsLikeMe joined the insurer ’s research and development group last Wednesday. The company said in the email that personal data will not be transferred in any way that wasn â...
Source: Lab Soft News - Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Tags: Electronic Health Record (EHR) Healthcare Information Technology Healthcare Insurance Medical Consumerism Medical Ethics Public Health Source Type: blogs