STAT+: From boom to bitcoin: A device maker’s surprising pivot amid a Medicare crackdown

For most of its 18-year history, Semler Scientific marketed a single medical product that became a popular way for top Medicare insurers like UnitedHealth Group to detect artery blockages in older Americans.

But in its most recent earnings call, the device maker’s focus on artery health gave way to a different strategy: “We are a bitcoin-first company,” Eric Semler, the company’s chairman, declared in announcing a large purchase of the cryptocurrency. The company now claims to be the fourth-largest bitcoin treasury in the United States.

Semler’s sudden shift toward digital currency speculation suggests that its long-running partnership with major health insurers was driven not by science or an enduring commitment to better health care, but by a singular desire to reach into a multibillion-dollar pot of federal money. Together, these companies had pledged to use Semler’s device, called QuantaFlo, detect artery disease early and head off its worst effects, such as amputation and untimely death. But as the money began to dry up, records and interviews show, so did their quest to track down the disease in communities nationwide.

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