🗞️ RN Forward Newsletter - 2/28/25

Team Huddle

Happy Fri-YAY Nurse Forwardist! Its finally here, RN Forward’s first newsletter. 😱 I am feeling all the feels with this first publication to all ~16 subscribers (2/16 being my siblings) but keen on putting the knowledge learned from these health tech subscriptions to use!

I hope you find this round-up of information in the health care, tech, and innovation space insightful. Without further ado, here are the past 2 weeks of ...

News Nurses Need to Know

1. 10 strategies to protect your Nurse Innovation.

   • Details: Nurses lack foundational entrepreneurship knowledge like Intellectual Property (IP) law leading us to be more vulnerable to idea theft.

   • Why it matters: Understanding the basics of IP is how you can protect your nurse innovation.

2. UNC partnership with ShiftMed’s Flex Software rolls out.

   • Details: ShiftMed’s (Yes, one of the infamous uber for nursing platforms) software allows UNC nurses to pick up shifts and manage their schedules therefore leading to better staffing levels and reducing reliance on external agencies. It is reported to have already doubled workforce engagement.

   • Why it matters: Nurses have better control over their shifts and UNC better utilizes their Float Pool nurses. Travel nurse contract openings to UNC systems now less likely.

3. Advice to future entrepreneurs in health tech.

   • Details: Healthcare is complicated but almost everything deals with contracts and payments. Author, Mark Cavage of Nuna, gives a high-level of explanation and advice on the nuances of building in health tech.

   • Why it matters: This is a great high-level essay on topics that Nurse Leaders are guaranteed to run into.

4. FDA removes Wegovy and Ozempic from shortage list.

   • Details: U.S. regulations allow compounding pharmacies to copy brand-name meds that are in short supply. Novo Nordisk’s weight loss and diabetes medications Wegovy and Ozempic (aka semaglutide) were on that list until this week. Competitor Eli Lilly’s Mounjarno and Zepbound (aka terzepitide) were removed from the shortage list December 2024.

   • Why it matters: Companies big and small (including Nurse owned medspas) offering semaglutide will no longer be able to offer cheaper compounded weight loss therapies to their patients after May 2025, therefore reducing revenue.

5. Rubicon Founders acquires Horizon Infusion Centers for ~$125M.

   • Details: Rubicon Founders, a healthcare investment firm, made a majority investment in Horizon Infusions, Ohio’s largest network of ambulatory infusion centers from Private Equity firm BroadOak.

   • Why it matters: With market reports showing need for specialty infusions growing every year, need for Infusion Nurses will grow.

6. Hims & Hers acquires Trybe Labs.

   • Details: Trybe Labs, an at-home blood draw and lab testing startup, paired with their partnership with Tasso, a patient administered single-use lancet that collects whole liquid blood samples, allows for start to finish convenient blood testing.

   • Why it matters: Blood draws are a critical service that nurses provide in-home. Demand for this service will decrease once self-administered blood draw kits are perfected.

Funding Announcements

💸 = Hiring potential. Follow these companies closely to see Nurse-qualified positions posted. Remember: Just because some positions don’t say “Nurse”, doesn’t mean you aren’t qualified!

• Abridge, a generative AI solution for clinical conversations, raised $250M Series D.

• Frontera Health, an AI-powered autism care model, raised $32M Seed with plans to open its first Innovation Center, an ABA clinic offering diagnostic and therapeutic services.

• Posterity Health, a male reproductive health start-up, raised $13M Series A.

• Millie, a tech-enabled fertility clinic, raised $12M Series A.

• SimpliFed, a virtual maternal care platform, raised $4M Seed.

On The Blog ✍️