5 powerful stories about authentic trailblazers making lives better – December 2, 2019
"If you see a bandwagon, it’s too late." James Goldsmith
Today’s itinerary:
Company profile: Lucina Health 
According to the March of Dimes, 9.9% of babies in the United States are born prematurely, which can have profound implications on both healthcare costs and quality of life. What’s more, says Kevin Bramer, president and CEO of Lucina Health, “We’re the only country in the civilized world that’s actually getting worse on maternal and fetal mortality; we have on an annualized basis over 700 moms and over 33,000 babies die during childbirth.”
Bramer’s Louisville-based company is working to improve those statistics. It mines health plans’ data, looking for more than 3,000 data points that identify pregnant members early and 7,000 more data points—everything from drug abuse to mental-health issues to domestic violence—that could indicate a high-risk pregnancy.
Fast Future caught up with Bramer to learn more. This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and conciseness.
What’s the impact of premature birth?
Bramer: The [neonatal intensive care unit] can be up to $5,000 a day. So when you equate it financially, it can get quite expensive for a baby that ends up in the NICU for 30 or 60 or 90 days. But there are lifetime implications, such as neurological deformation, pulmonary dysfunction, cardiovascular dysfunction, etc., that even adults deal with sometimes.
Talk about non-medical risk factors.
Bramer: Up in Warsaw, IN, for example, they have a 17% mortality rate for African American moms. It’s not because they’re African American; it’s because of elements of social trauma, substance abuse, mental-health issues, and inability to get to the grocery store and the doctor’s office.
How successful is Lucina Health at identifying expectant moms?
Bramer: We find 86% of all moms in the first and second trimester—usually about 50+% of those moms in the first trimester. In many cases we know before the physician even knows and certainly before the health plan knows. Believe it or not, health plans sometimes don’t even know a mom is going through their system. Yes, claims are paid. Yes, office visits are held. But the company really doesn’t know that Mom is at certain risk and doesn’t do anything about it.
What do you do with your results?
Bramer: We flag those moms who are in the top 10% to 15%. That information becomes readily available to the care manager at the health plan so that they’re focusing all their attention on those moms who are at the highest risk. Why locate your company in Louisville?
Bramer: I’m from Louisville and fortunately was able to start at Norton Healthcare and learn a lot from some really amazing clinicians and managers. Louisville offers a real opportunity for that kind of learning, because we have a strong healthcare market, especially with Humana, Kindred Healthcare, and the Louisville Healthcare CEO Council. We’ve got a wealth of talent in this market around data science and data analytics that is a bit untapped.
Any final words? The reason we’re so passionate about this business is that it’s not just an investment. This is a mission-driven company that has a real passion around changing the world.
For more information, visit www.lucinahealth.com.
Fast Future TRAILBLAZERS
Duke brings innovation to market If someone mentions Duke University during this time of year, most people probably think of Coach K and his Blue Devils. While no one can deny that basketball powerhouse, there are quite a few other things Duke can boast about.
The private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, has been affiliated with 15 Nobel laureates, three Turing Award winners, and 46 Rhodes Scholars.
Duke is also a leader in technology transfer through its Office of Licensing and Ventures (OLV). OLV helps Duke innovations get to market by developing partnerships with faculty, industry entrepreneurs and investors. Technology is transferred through a license agreement in which the University grants its rights in a defined technology to a third party for a period of years.
To date, OLV has had 354 invention disclosures, 360 US patent applications and 142 startups created. Click here to see more numbers.
Mayo Clinic doubles its net income, forges new partnerships Minnesota-based hospital system Mayo Clinic has reported impressive financial gains for the first nine months of the year. Total revenue is up 8.1% over the same time period in 2018, and net income climbed to $1.5 billion, as compared to $708 million last year—an increase of 112.9%.
In addition to that good news, Mayo has announced several new partnerships. In September, it inked a 10-year deal with Google to help streamline digital operations. It also opened a clinic in London, along with the University of Oxford and the Oxford University Hospitals Trust. And now it’s partnering with Boston Scientific to launch an innovation accelerator called Motion Medical, which will be based in Rochester, MN. Mike Mahoney, chairman and CEO of Boston Scientific, said the venture plays to the strengths of both organizations. “This collaboration between Mayo Clinic and Boston Scientific builds on our experience working together to support the shared goal of advancing patient-centered innovation. This approach combines the unique strengths of our two organizations, and we look forward to working together to solve complex health care challenges."
Des Moines marketing and tech companies join forces with new collective Four West Des Moines-based companies have recently joined forces to create Anthologic, a new professional collective designed to help clients solve today's most challenging business and marketing objectives. Anthologic's mission statement puts it plainly: “Marketing and technology have become increasingly connected. Where they meet is where we live.”
The companies include Performance Marketing, a marketing and branding agency; Shift, a software and tech operation focused on designing digital products; search engine optimization (SEO) specialists Blue Traffic; and Vector Haus, an animation studio specializing in visual storytelling.
The companies will continue to operate independently, but the alliance will allow each to tap into the niche expertise the others provide, as needed. Anthologic founder and CEO Kevin Lentz explained, “[W]e match our specialties to the objectives with purpose and intention. We fit in where our [respective] clients need us, but will always have access to the right resources when the challenge calls for bigger, more integrated solutions.”
“Sisterpreneurs” grow a teen venture into a $20 million business 
When you were a kid, did you try to make a little money by running a lemonade stand or selling homemade jewelry? Unless you were an extremely talented business-kid or artisan, you probably pocketed enough change for a Skittle or two. Well, this ain’t that.
Minneapolis sisters Caroline and Isabel Bercaw began creating and selling bath bombs when they were just 11 and 12. Interest steadily picked up, and in 2015, Da Bomb Bath Fizzers launched as a company. It has now become a thriving, self-funded business, generating $20 million in annual revenue—with products sold at national outlets like Target, Ulta Beauty, Hot Topic, and CVS.
Da Bomb is a family operation. Caroline and Isabel are chief creative officers (a challenging role, since one’s a high school senior and the other is a college freshman). Their mom is CEO and their dad is chief financial and operating officer.
The sisterpreneurs (and that’s a trademarked term, by the way) continue to diversify their product line, adding scents and various new types of bath-driven items. The pair even made the cover of Entrepreneur magazine in September. The Da Bomb future looks bright. And fizzy.
IN FLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT
It's ... Name that Fast Future city!
Useless information that is strangely fascinating.
Can you match the city to where each group of big companies is headquartered?
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