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Articles by Zachariah Reitano
Ro selected to present new research at The Obesity Society's ObesityWeek 2024
Research advances knowledge about the role telehealth can play in supporting obesity care , /PRNewswire/ -- Ro, the leading direct-to-patient healthcare company, is set to present new research at The Obesity Society's ObesityWeek 2024 conference in San Antonio, TX. All six of Ro's abstracts, authored by leaders from across the company's clinical, research, and data teams as well as several of Ro's renowned obesity advisors and other obesity thought leaders, were selected for poster presentation.
Food For Thought: The Potential Ripple Effect of GLP1s
At risk of stating the obvious, GLP1 agonists have taken over the zeitgeist — from jokes at the Oscars, to standing ovations at diabetes and obesity medical conferences, to mentions in quarterly earnings calls across the globe. And there are even more effective treatments on the horizon (e.g., patients losing 25–30% of their body weight, experiencing more significant improvements in underlying biomarkers like A1C, LDL, BP, and benefitting from improvements in their quality of life).
An Accusation Audit
What about obesity’s link to cancer? There are strong links between obesity and cancer. “An International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) Working Group (NEJM link) concluded that there is consistent evidence that higher amounts of body fat are associated with an increased risk of a number of cancers.” — . They put together the table below.
Let’s talk about it: Growth, Business & Culture at Ro
I want to respond directly to the TechCrunch piece written about Ro (Oct. 27, 2021). Before I begin, I want to emphasize a few things. While I did not speak to Natasha for this article, I’ve spoken to her a few times in the past. We’ve always had great conversations about the future of healthcare and, while I believe that much of the article is inaccurate, I believe she is writing with no other intent other than to genuinely cover a startup in a rapidly changing industry.
Welcome Kit
“I’ve wanted this to exist for 20 years.” This is what Philip Fung, Kit’s founder, said to me when I asked him why he started Kit. Both of Philip’s parents are lab technicians. He’s seen both the life changing power of diagnostics and the unfortunate limitations of the current system up close for decades. So four years ago, he set out to give everyone access to affordable, convenient, and high quality lab testing. Shortly thereafter, he and Erik Salazar joined forces and Kit was born.
Ro’s Vaccine Drive
I’m incredibly proud to share that Ro is working directly with the New York State Department of Health to vaccinate the most vulnerable patients (65+ homebound) in their homes. Here’s how: the patient, or family member/guardian, will go through an asynchronous dynamic online doctor’s visit, answer questions about their medical history, and sign up for an appointment on Ro’s platform.
Welcome Workpath
Necessity is the mother of invention. This has never been more true than it is today as this tragic pandemic has served as the catalyst for incredible innovation and change. Telemedicine is the quintessential example and, over the last nine months, has seen unprecedented adoption. But with this rapid adoption, the limitations of telemedicine have also been on full display. You cannot draw blood via telemedicine. You cannot administer a vaccine via telemedicine.
HLTH Matters
COVID-19 Updates with John Brownstein March 23, 2020 In response to theCOVID-19 pandemic, our team will be interviewing experts from across the ecosystem to bring the HLTH community timely facts and updates. About John Brownstein: John Brownstein, Ph.D is Professor of Biomedical Informatics at Harvard Medical School and is the Chief Innovation Officer of Boston Children’s Hospital.
Free Coronavirus Telehealth Assessments, Powered by Ro
On March 4th, Ro launched a free telehealth triage service for people who are seeking guidance and information about the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). If an individual thinks they may be experiencing signs or symptoms of the novel coronavirus, they can complete Ro’s online assessment and, if appropriate, Ro will connect them with a U.S.-licensed physician for a free video or phone consultation.
Plenity, Powered by Ro
Eight weeks ago, my dad almost died, again. He had chest pain and was having his third heart attack in 25 years. Fortunately, my mom was able to get him to the hospital in time. Three hours and two stents later, he was put on a strict diet and a new innovative treatment for his heart. He has been sticking to his diet but it’s hard. It’s obviously worth it. After all, Papa Reitano just became Grandpa Reitano. But it’s not easy. My dad has struggled with his weight for as long as I can remember.
DTC METRICS, EXPLAINED
In the early days of Ro, we realized that not every team had the same level of understanding of some of the most important business metrics and how they relate to one another. To fix that, Aron Susman (our Head of Finance) and I wrote a “Metrics Explained” which was incorporated into Ro’s onboarding process for new Ro’ers. A number of people have found this helpful so we decided to share it. For the purposes of this explainer, all of the numbers are made up.
Important Update from Ro
I have an important update I want to share. Ro recently learned about an incident that affected the confidentiality of a limited number of Ro patient profiles (less than 0.25% of all accounts). This incident occurred because a laptop used by a physician on our platform was compromised. The laptop was issued by a large health institution to the physician to treat patients at the institution’s health center. The physician, at some point thereafter, downloaded unsecure software onto the laptop.
On behalf of Hims’ patients, thank you for copying Ro
Recently, Hims debuted a brand new digital doctor’s visit. Look familiar? If you’ve ever seen Roman’s online visit, it should.
How Ro puts patients first by making it painless to cancel
A friend of mine sent me this image earlier today. It’s the answer one of our competitors gives to the question: “How do I cancel my [ Name ] subscription?” In order to cancel, you have to pick up the phone between 10am ET and 6PM ET. And they aren’t alone. This is unfortunately common practice among many companies that offer subscription products or services. This is inexcusable, particularly in healthcare.
How Ro produces accurate and unbiased content for our patients
Recently, there has been a lot of attention paid to how we produce our advertisements for Roman, Rory, and Zero and the products available through each digital health clinic. To be clear, this attention is a good thing. For us, it’s an opportunity to share the process through which we create, edit, review, and share content internally and externally.
How Ro helps providers treat patients 2 mins, 2 days, 2 weeks, and 2…
The future of healthcare is one in which providers are not replaced but empowered by technology, unburdened from administrative paperwork, and liberated to practice medicine in concert with their patients where and when they need it most. Ro is striving to make this a reality every single day. To make this vision a reality, it’s crucial that we offer what has been missing from health care for far too long — unrivaled transparency.
Why You Should Pick Your Investors Based On Their Failures
Paul Graham says that startups die for two reasons: They run out of money The founders give up When I first heard that, I was ecstatic. Those were two things over which I felt I had complete control. Then, my sister was diagnosed with a brain tumor. At first, working was a respite. I was spending long days at the office and longer nights at the hospital. I kept busy and, though it was stressful, it was a way to cope.
Why Airbnb brought my family to tears (the good kind)
My father had his first heart attack and a stroke at the age of 39. In an instant, the fulfillment of his life's purpose ended. He could never return to his practice, his research was to be completed by others, and he retired from medicine. For the last 20 years, he has been a full-time dad. Unfortunately, what I know of him as a physician was gleaned from the discretely disguised stories related in the medical jargon physicians use at neighborhood barbecues and holiday celebrations.
Inevitability of GLP1s & Potential Acceleration of Health Inequity
There has been a lot of debate on the merit and cost of GLP1s. I’m here to tell you that their dominance is inevitable and why. I’m also going to explain why every day we don’t solve for the cost and coverage of these drugs, we risk the greatest acceleration of health inequity of our lifetime–creating an even greater gap in health equity that I believe will have a profound and durable impact on our society that will be increasingly difficult to reverse.
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