Koda Health

We’re proud to be featured in Fierce Healthcare for our partnership with Guidehealth, working together to transform #advancecareplanning. As Sanjay Doddamani, M.D., CEO of Guidehealth, said: "By embedding Koda into our value-based care ecosystem, we’re equipping providers to have meaningful conversations with patients, reduce unnecessary interventions, and ultimately improve the experience for families and clinicians alike." At Koda Health, we believe every patient deserves to be heard — not just in their final moments, but throughout their healthcare journey. Together with Guidehealth, we're making it easier for patients to share their wishes, for families to find peace of mind, and for providers to deliver care that truly honors what matters most. 🔗 Read more in Fierce: https://lnkd.in/g5QmeXu7 #AdvanceCarePlanning #ValueBasedCare #HealthcareInnovation #PatientCenteredCare #KodaHealth #Guidehealth

Just got back from the 9th Annual Medicare Advantage Leadership Innovations Forum in Alexandria, VA. The pace of change in this space is picking up and it’s clear we’re heading into a new phase. With policy shifts on the horizon and more pressure to deliver on value-based care, both health plans and solution partners are being pushed to move faster and think more holistically. Here are a few takeaways: ✔️ Cost containment is front and center. Between the latest risk adjustment changes and the bipartisan support behind the No Upcode Act, there’s a real shift happening. The focus now is on how to deliver better care without driving up costs—getting more efficient without cutting corners. That’s changing how plans look at performance, partnerships, and even tech investments. ACP should be a critical component of every plan's strategy given 25% of costs occur in the last year of life. ✔️Risk adjustment is becoming a year-round effort. With v28 and RADV audits in the spotlight, plans are starting to treat chart review and documentation less like a once-a-year push and more like a continuous process. It’s a big shift, but a necessary one if we want real accuracy and accountability. ✔️ Everyone’s talking about AI. Pretty much every conversation came back to some version of: “How can AI help us do better?” There are early examples out there—some plans are testing AI to improve outreach—but the real question is how to make sure it actually fits into the system and helps patients in a meaningful way. Julie Smith, MPH, BSN, RN from Sanford Health Plan gave a great talk on how they’re thinking about AI and what they expect from vendors, especially when it comes to supporting members and meeting plan goals. Shoutout to Dr. Kristyn Greifer from Sentara Health for sharing how complex a patient's journey through the healthcare system is. I left the conference feeling optimistic - and even more focused on the work ahead for my team at Koda Health, as the need for what we do and the patients we serve is more urgent than ever.

Something important happened last week and it didn’t get nearly enough attention. On July 22, HL7 officially published SMART Health Cards and SMART Health Links as a formal FHIR Implementation Guide. It may sound like a technical footnote - but it’s a milestone with major implications. Patients can now carry their health records in a way that’s secure, standardized, and universally verifiable. ✔️ SMART Health Cards provide a portable, signed, tamper-proof snapshot of key data - like immunizations or lab results. ✔️SMART Health Links go even further: they’re dynamic, updateable records that reflect where a patient is today and where their care is going. Why this matters: Until now, health information exchange has been system-bound, fragmented, and frustrating. If a patient wanted to share treatment preferences with a specialist outside their network, their best bet was often a faxed PDF or a portal login - and a lot of crossed fingers. SMART Health Cards and Links change that. Built on HL7 FHIR R4 and backed by cryptographic signatures, they remove friction at every step. No app downloads. No custom integrations. Just a QR code or secure link that grants real-time, verifiable access to essential health data — readable by both humans and machines. What this means for healthcare: 🔷 For systems and vendors: - One open standard instead of dozens of proprietary formats - Seamless care coordination across unaffiliated providers - Real momentum toward patient-centered interoperability 🔷 For patients: - Control over their own data - Records that travel with them - Less retelling, more alignment, and fewer gaps in care At Koda Health, this unlocks something powerful. We can now offer patients portable, verifiable exports of their care preferences - built on the same infrastructure being adopted by providers, payers, and public health systems nationwide. This means: - No more PDFs lost in inboxes - No more wondering if a critical conversation made it into the chart - No more disconnects between what the patient wants and what the system sees A single SMART Link can carry a person’s treatment goals, values, and preferences - and verify its authenticity instantly. Because care planning only works if the plan actually follows the patient. We’re proud to be building alongside this standard - and even prouder to help bring it to life for the patients and families we serve. This is the future of person-centered care. And it’s finally here.

🌱 Advance Care Planning is like planting a seed. You start with good intentions. You want to help it grow. So, you water it—with questions, reflections, and empathy. But here’s what I’ve learned: Too much water drowns a plant. And too much talking can overwhelm a person. Sometimes, our urgency to “complete” the conversation can backfire. We overdo it. The plant wilts. The moment passes. The connection fades. 🌤️ ACP is a process. Not a checkbox. Not a one-time talk. Let the conversation breathe. Plant the seed. Water it gently. Give it sunlight, space, and time. Let it grow in their season—not yours. What has helped you slow down and stay present in hard conversations? #AdvanceCarePlanning #PalliativeCare #CommunicationMatters #ACP #SeriousIllnessCare #HealthcareLeadership #TraumaInformedCare #TalkMedicine Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC) Koda Health

Excited to attend the 9th Annual Medicare Advantage Leadership Innovations conference this July 22–23 in Alexandria, Virginia! With so many changes coming to the MA market in 2025 - from shifting demographics and evolving member expectations to major regulatory updates - it’s more important than ever to connect, share strategies, and innovate together. Looking forward to catching up with Koda Health partners and friends, including two speakers I’m especially excited to hear from: Dr. Max Sungurov MD, MBA (BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina) and Dr. Kristyn Greifer (Sentara Health). Let’s build a stronger, more member-focused Medicare Advantage future. If you plan to attend, let me know - happy to chat!

Thank you to Laura Furr Mericas at InnovationMap for sharing the incredible news of Koda Health's integration with Epic—and all the impact that will come with it. Patients and medical teams using MyChart and other Epic Systems software can now access Koda Health’s AI-enhanced advance care planning platform directly within their existing workflows. This is a huge milestone for the team at Koda and for advance care planning across the country. By embedding our tools directly into one of the most widely used EHRs, we’re making it easier than ever for care teams to guide critical conversations—ensuring that patients’ wishes are honored during serious illness and at the end of life. 🩺 Clinicians can now manage ACP directly in Epic via a simple order 📁 Advance care plans drop directly into the chart, accessible to care teams and patients 📉 The platform helps reduce unnecessary interventions—saving $10K–$15K per patient on average 🏥 Clinicians can also initiate engagement sequences for patients directly from Epic 📈 85% of users complete documents (4x the national average) This builds on Koda’s growing momentum, including our recent partnership with Guidehealth, which supports over 500,000 patients through value-based primary care. We're proud to continue scaling access to compassionate, informed care decisions—right from the tools clinicians already use every day. Read more via InnovationMap: https://lnkd.in/e4CpFsGb 

🧬 This week's Austin Bio & Health Roundup highlights an expanding narrative, partnerships, clinical milestones, national recognition, & action across the Texas Bio Triangle. 🧬 💡 Insights from Local Builders & Innovators I spoke with Community Impact about the need for real infrastructure to support life science founders and why Austin already feels like the future. I also joined Walt Maciborski on Tech This Out to talk Austin innovation and launch the new Austin Bio & Health Digital Hub from Jani Tuomi and me. Link below. 🤝 Partnerships & M&A Everlywell partnered with GRAIL to offer the Galleri multi-cancer early detection test directly through its platform. Congrats Julia Cheek & team. 🚀 Launches, Expansions, Milestones & Wins Koda Health, the digital health planning platform, is now live on Epic. Huge step forward Tatiana Fofanova, Ph.D. & team. 🔬 Research & Medical Advancements PanTher Therapeutics dosed its first patient in the Phase 1b trial of PTM‑101, its long-lasting chemo patch for pancreatic cancer. Big milestone Laura Indolfi & team VISIE Inc. performed a total knee arthroplasty without pins, clamps, arrays, or manual alignment, a major achievement in spatial computing. Impressive work Douglas Fairbanks & team. 📊 Data Microsoft dropped new data on AI’s performance in clinical diagnostics, showing a shifting Pareto frontier. (h/t Arthur MacWaters) 🏆 Recognition Alafair Biosciences, Inc. and QbDVision were named to Inc.’s 2025 Best Workplaces list. Well deserved, John Joyoprayitno & Yash Sabharwal. 🤠 Texas Bio Triangle Dallas: Colossal Biosciences announced its next de-extinction target: the giant moa, an 11-foot, 500-pound bird from New Zealand. Exciting times Ben Lamm & team. Houston: BioWell was named an NSF Regional Innovation Engine semifinalist. Nearly there, Paul Palmer & Veronica Breckenridge! What’s Next? 🤠 🚀 🦾 🧬

1 in every 5 dollars in the U.S. economy will go to healthcare by 2033. That’s more than we’ll spend on housing, education, or infrastructure. According to the latest Health Affairs report (July 2025) from Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services actuaries: In 2024, national health expenditures rose 8.2% In 2025, they’re projected to grow another 7.1% Healthcare’s share of GDP will rise from 17.6% in 2023 to over 20% by 2033. This isn’t about more people getting more care. It’s about an aging population. It’s about rising prices. And it’s about a system that still rewards volume over value. Here is a breakdown: ▪️ Employer-sponsored insurance saw its steepest increase in over two decades - up 11.1%, almost entirely due to rising prices. ▪️ Public spending followed: Medicare rose 8.4%, Medicaid 5.7%, even as enrollment fell. Fewer people. Higher costs. While patients are still expected to make life-altering decisions with limited information. This is where the infrastructure conversation gets real. Because this isn’t just about engagement anymore. It’s about financial survivability. At Koda Health, we're addressing these challenges head-on by ensuring patients receive the care they truly value - reducing unnecessary interventions, preventing avoidable hospitalizations, and significantly lowering costs. ✅ Personalized care planning, real financial impact: In a recent study with Houston Methodist, high risk patients who completed ACP through Koda experienced a median reduction in total cost of care of $28,000 within just four months—demonstrating clear ROI that health systems can realize within two quarters, with even greater long-term savings as these programs scale. ✅ High engagement, meaningful action: Our digital ACP platform achieves an exceptional completion rate - 80% of older adults fully complete their advance directives, far surpassing industry standards. More importantly, this empowers patients and families with confidence in their care decisions. ✅ Data-driven interventions for high-cost populations: Koda integrates seamlessly with payer and provider data, proactively identifying patients at high risk of costly medical episodes. For example, more than 70% of Chronic Kidney Disease patients currently crash into dialysis - a traumatic, expensive event. By engaging these patients earlier, we can guide them toward preferred, cost-effective treatments such as peritoneal or at-home dialysis, aligning patient preferences with financial sustainability. Better care doesn’t have to cost more. When we clarify and respect patient wishes proactively, everyone wins - patients, families, providers, and payers alike. Healthcare is becoming one of the biggest line items in the American economy. Let’s build the tools that make healthcare understandable, accessible, and financially viable. Because our future - and our retirement - depends on it.

There is no shortage of hot takes about the “One Big Beautiful Bill” right now - its sweeping cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, and ACA have sparked a slurry of vitriol across all of my feeds. And maybe this is the slavic exasperation in me, but it doesn’t really matter what any of us think about the bill. It passed. And we’re not going to collectively shove our hands in our pockets and give up on serving patients. We adapt. We find new levers for sustainability that don’t compromise care. That’s where our energies need to go. 🧠 "I’m New Here - Why are people yelling?" In short, the One Big Beautiful Bill includes over $900B in federal health spending cuts, with sharp implications for Medicaid, Medicare, and value-based care. Medicaid faces a 13% projected reduction, new caps on managed care payments, work requirements, and more frequent eligibility checks… all of which risk coverage loss and increase administrative burden. Medicare cuts may further limit much needed innovation. While supporters see this as a move toward deficit reduction and accountability (which, fair), critics warn it could undermine care for vulnerable populations and stall progress on value-based care (also fair). 🔍 Hot Take: Turn Right! My son’s favorite movie is Cars, and there’s a line that sticks with me: “Sometimes you have to turn right to go left.” In a margin crunch, investing in proactive interventions might seem counterintuitive, but it’s the move that keeps you in the race. If you’re a health system leader or a vendor trying to stay relevant in this space, now is the time to pair short-term ROI with long-term viability and focus on tools that reduce administrative drag while preserving care quality. While vendors must lead with cost containment + time-to-impact, not just mission alignment. That’s why I’m focused on immediate ROI that compounds over time. In a case-controlled study we conducted with Houston Methodist, Koda Health saw a $28K median reduction in TCOC for patients who died during the follow-up period… just four months after completing their ACP. This certainly points to an ROI to health systems in the next two quarters - one that only improves with time as clients continue to accrue long-term savings. And, most importantly, it’s the care that patients want. And this isn’t limited to ACP. Cost containment can align with patient preference in every discipline. For example, >70% of CKD patients crash into dialysis. But if we intervene earlier, directing them to options like peritoneal or at-home dialysis proactively, everyone wins! In the face of shrinking margins and rising uncertainty, proactive care alignment remains one of the few strategies that improves patient outcomes while controlling cost. This isn’t the first major policy shift, and it won’t be the last. But those who adapt first win the race.

Patients often know what they want. They’ve reflected on their values, talked with loved ones, and made decisions about the kind of care they would or wouldn’t want in a crisis. But far too often, those wishes are lost in the system in case: Advance care plans are frequently: - Documented inconsistently -  Filed away on paper or in disconnected systems -  Invisible to the care teams who need them in critical moments When preferences aren’t accessible, decisions fall to chance. And that chance can lead to aggressive treatments a patient never wanted, prolonged hospital stays, or loved ones left to make impossible choices in the dark. In fact, studies show that even your loved ones have only a 50% chance of accurately identifying your care preferences without clear guidance. Advance care planning exists to close that gap. That’s why how we document these conversations - and where that information lives - is as important as having the conversations in the first place. At Koda Health, we’ve focused on making ACP not just easier, but truly integrated into clinical care. Through our integration with Epic, we’ve helped transform ACP from a static document into an active, accessible part of the care journey: ✔️ Patients and their proxies can complete advance care plans directly in MyChart ✔️ Clinicians can review, refer, and manage ACPs right within Epic Hyperspace or Hyperdrive ✔️ Finalized plans drop straight into the patient chart - no scanning, faxing, or chasing forms ✔️ Bidirectional integration means information flows both ways, so care teams always have the latest version ✔️ Health systems can track progress, manage outreach, and ensure follow-through across departments This level of integration reduces friction for patients, families, and clinicians. More importantly, it reduces the risk of delivering care that doesn’t reflect a person’s goals. Advance care planning only works when it’s both thoughtful and accessible. Let’s make honoring patient wishes the norm, not the exception.