<table style="border:1px solid #adadad; background-color: #F3F1EC; color: #666666; padding:8px; -webkit-border-radius:4px; border-radius:4px; -moz-border-radius:4px; line-height:16px; margin-bottom:6px;" width="100%">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><span style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:20px;font-weight:bold;">Health Tech | Fierce Healthcare</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table style="font:13px Helvetica, sans-serif; border-radius:4px; -moz-border-radius:4px; -webkit-border-radius:4px; background-color:#fff; padding:8px; margin-bottom:6px; border:1px solid #adadad;" width="100%">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><a href="https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/digital-health/hinge-health-lifts-2026-outlook-after-strong-q1-expansion-new-conditions" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">Hinge Health boosts outlook on strong Q1, platform expansion</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">May 6th 2026, 13:46</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; color:#494949;text-align:justify;font-size:13px;">
<p><div class="col content" morss_own_score="5.714926042133572" morss_score="159.69231531952283">
<p>Hinge Health boosted its full-year revenue outlook by $64 million as the company reported a stronger-than-expected first quarter and kicked off an expansion of its business beyond muscle and joint pain.</p>
<p>The digital musculoskeletal (MSK) care provider, which <a href="https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/health-tech/hinge-health-shares-jump-17-stock-market-setting-stage-digital-health-ipo-revival">went public</a> nearly a year ago, brought in first-quarter revenue of $182 million, up 47% year-over-year from $123.8 million in Q1 2025. The company posted first-quarter adjusted earnings of 45 cents per share, significantly exceeding Wall Street analyst estimates of 12 cents per share. Hinge Health's non-GAAP income from operations jumped 208% to $46.2 million compared to non-GAAP income from operations of $15 million during the same quarter a year ago.</p>
<p>The company's results easily topped Wall Street analyst estimates, with a revenue target of $172 million for the quarter and a Street estimate of $31.2 million for operating income.</p>
<p>Hinge Health now expects revenue to be between $798 million and $804 million, reflecting year-over-year growth of 36% at the midpoint. The company also is projecting non-GAAP income from operations to be between $205 million and $215 million, reflecting year-over-year growth of 76% and a non-GAAP operating margin of 26% at the midpoint.</p>
<p>Hinge Health reported last 12 months calculated billings increased 52% year-over-year to $769.9 million, compared to $507 million for the same period a year ago. The company's clients increased 23% year-over-year to 2,849 clients, compared to 2,311 clients as of March 31, 2025.</p>
<p>The company also reported free cash flow grew to $41.6 million compared to free cash flow of $4.2 million in Q1 2025. GAAP and non-GAAP gross margin were 85% compared to 81% in Q1 2025.</p>
<p>"Our business is scaling efficiently. Our AI and automation investments are driving real operating leverage. We're serving more members, delivering improved outcomes and reducing costs for clients, all while expanding margins. That's the triple aim in action, and it's also what makes this model durable," Daniel Perez, co-founder and CEO of Hinge Health, told investors during the <a href="https://ir.hingehealth.com/news/news-details/2026/Hinge-Health-reports-record-first-quarter-2026-financial-results/default.aspx">company's Q1 earnings call </a>Tuesday. "In a world where every company is being asked what AI means for their business, for us, AI is an accelerant, helping us better deliver the triple aim building a uniquely efficient business."</p>
<p>Hinge Health has a strong competitive position, Perez noted. "We've spent over a decade building the No. 1 rated digital MSK app, leveraging data for the millions of members we served to develop technology that automates over 95% of clinician hours associated with traditional PT (physical therapy). Combine that with our distribution of almost 3,000 clients, 60-plus health plans, PBMs (pharmacy benefit managers), TPAs (third-party administrators) and ecosystem partnerships, and we have a 'double-wall moat,' advanced platform capabilities on one side, difficult to replicate, commercial reach on the other. And frankly, in the age of AI, when things are easier to build than ever, proprietary data and preferential access to clients is a recipe for outsized returns."</p>
<p>Perez told Fierce Healthcare that Hinge Health has a long runway in its core market of physical therapy even as it innovates to expand to adjacent markets.</p>
<p>"We've done $646 million of revenue or so in the last 12 months for physical therapy, and that is just 1% of the $60 billion physical therapy market in the U.S. But physical therapy itself is just 1% of total U.S. health care spend. We are 1% of 1% at Hinge Health, so we've got a lot of momentum," he noted.</p>
<p>Hinge Health executives also touted the company's big investments in artificial intelligence to drive efficiencies and automate care services. </p>
<p>"Healthcare remains one of our economy's last redoubts of manual labor, and we have the opportunity to transform how care is delivered across multiple conditions. Our vision to build a new health system that uses technology to scale and automate care delivery isn't just a long-term aspiration. It's happening right now, one condition at a time, and we're moving with urgency to extend our leadership position," Perez told investors on Tuesday.</p>
<p>During an interview with Fierce Healthcare, Perez also addressed the company's decision not to apply for the new tech-enabled, value-based chronic condition management model being tested out by the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services, or <a href="https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/health-tech/deeper-dive-access-model-whos-participating-potential-headwinds-and-how-it-could-spur">the ACCESS Model</a>.</p>
<p>"We applaud CMS' goal of expanding access to evidence-based care. It's great to see CMS be entrepreneurial. However, we did not apply. We believe the ACCESS program as currently designed will not deliver any aspect of the triple aim. Moreover, it's structured in such a way as to necessitate the removal of any clinical oversight, putting one of the most vulnerable patient populations, Medicare patients, at risk," Perez said. 'Even for employer populations, who are a full generation younger, we provide a care team. Notably, we've had conversations with CMS, and we're hopeful they will continue to iterate and develop models that increase access to high-quality care for Americans on Medicare, and who knows what the future holds."</p>
<p>Last summer, Hinge launched a <a href="https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/health-tech/hinge-health-launches-provider-network-connect-virtual-and-person-msk-care">referral network of in-person providers</a> to complement its virtual physical therapy platform. The curated provider network for MSK care, called HingeSelect, includes imaging centers and brick-and-mortar physical therapy providers to help bridge the gap between in-person and digital care. </p>
<p>That service is seeing strong momentum, Perez said. The company ended Q1 with 4,100 provider locations, and it expanded Hinge Select access through one of its national PBM partners and three of the five largest national health plans by self-insured lives, he told investors. "We expect this to help accelerate client adoption during our sales season in the second half of the year. We expect the combination of strong pipeline development, solid win rates and the added value we can now offer through our migraine care and Hinge Select programs to position us well for the foreseeable future," Perez said.</p>
<p>Currently 25 million people have access to Hinge Health's products through the company's partnerships with employers and health plans, Perez said.</p>
<p>For 2026, average eligible lives for the year are expected to be slightly higher than what the company previously anticipated, James Budge, Hinge Health's chief financial officer, said during the earnings call. "We're seeing stronger than anticipated growth from both new client launches and expansion within our existing client base," he told investors.</p>
<p>"Additionally, our yield is trending up to slightly north of 4% as both new and legacy clients are seeing better member yields than we initially projected. Of our guidance raise, approximately half is attributable to yield improvements and half from lives growth," Budge said.</p>
<p>William Blair analyst Ryan Daniels noted that Hinge Health is "well positioned to capitalize on a strong demand environment for its offerings, as employers seek cost-savings solutions that also augment the employee experience."</p>
<p>"While the backdrop for HCIT (healthcare IT) and software remains challenging given narrative headwinds regarding AI disruption, Hinge Health continues to execute and produce pristine results on both the top and bottom lines. Moreover, we continue to believe that Hinge has market leadership with significant advantages both on the product and go-to-market fronts, thus translating into a durable competitive position in an attractive market for virtual MSK solutions," Daniels wrote in an an analyst note.</p>
<h3>Expansion to migraine care</h3>
<p>Last week, the company announced its <a href="https://www.hingehealth.com/product/migraine/">migraine care program</a> as its first expansion into a new condition and a proof point that Hinge Health's platform "can automate care delivery across multiple conditions," Perez said on the Q1 earnings call.</p>
<p>"We didn't come this far with digital physical therapy to stop at digital physical therapy." Perez told investors on Tuesday.</p>
<p>"This is exactly the kind of innovation that gets us excited about the decades of work ahead. We're building infrastructure to automate healthcare delivery across multiple conditions. Migraine is our next step, but it won't be the last," he said.</p>
<p>More than 125 Hinge Health clients covering more than two million people have adopted the migraine care program to date, signaling that employers are interested in care solutions that address a condition that impacts a large number of individuals, executives said.</p>
<p>"The client demand for a migraine product has been phenomenal, insatiable. As of last week, we had 125 clients already bought up to our migraine product within days of FDA granting clearance. I think we're now at over 135, with hundred that are essentially in the process. It's gratifying to see just how much the market has embraced this product," Perez said.</p>
<p>The strong early uptake of the migraine care program points to an unmet clinical need, Perez noted, but the company's distribution muscle and more than a decade working with enterprise clients also gives it a competitive advantage in the market, he added.</p>
<p>"I think there's a lot of anxiety right now about AI disruption, whether it's software or healthcare specifically. Focusing on healthcare, the hardest part in healthcare isn't actually building the product, it's getting paid for it. We've spent a decade-plus building a client base of nearly 3,000 logos, 60-plus health plan, PBM and other partner relationships. That's just not something a new entrant, AI-native or otherwise, replicates in a quarter or even a year. That requires contracts, clinical evidence, trust and integrations built over time," Perez told investors.</p>
<p>In an interview with Fierce Healthcare, Perez called migraine care "MSK adjacent." </p>
<p>"It's very widespread. It's a very disabling condition. One in six American adults are impacted by migraine, twice the prevalence for women versus men, and, our new product delivers pain relief, personalized insights and guidance," he said.</p>
<p>Hinge Health's Enso neuromodulation wearable device, which was designed for pain relief, received clearance from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to provide rapid drug-free pain relief, Perez noted. "Our data [to support FDA clearance] was very strong, demonstrating 56% of people had substantial pain reduction within minutes," he said in an interview.</p>
<p>Hinge Health is leveraging its expertise in nerve stimulation, exercise therapy and behavior change to deliver comprehensive, whole-person care for people living with migraine, MSK pain, or both, executives said.</p>
<p>The migraine care program also offers AI-powered insights help members identify and manage migraine triggers across environmental, lifestyle and dietary factors as well as exercise therapy and lifestyle guidance led by care teams reduce the frequency and severity of migraine attacks.</p>
<p>"We're adding a care team so that you have access to specialists, whether it's doctors or nurses or physical therapists to guide you through your care," Perez said.</p>
<p>There are a number of migraine relief tools on the market, but Perez said Hinge Health's migraine care program is "one of the most comprehensive products" on the market.</p>
<p>"Some just have a device. Some might just be telemedicine with a doctor. Some might just be trigger tracking. From our perspective, we haven't seen anybody put all of it together to where you have a neuromodulation device, you have a care team as well as you have AI-powered trigger tracking to help avoid migraines to begin with," he told Fierce Healthcare. "We're also with now over 2 million people with access, we're probably the most accessible migraine product out there on the market."</p>
<p>Approximately 75% of those who suffer from migraine pain <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24853166/">also have MSK pain </a>and the personal and financial burden is significant. People with migraine drive more than $16,000 in annual medical and pharmaceutical spend – over twice as much as those without migraine, according to a Hinge Health analysis of commercial claims data. Nationally, migraine costs U.S. businesses an estimated $78 billion each year, a 2017<a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ana.24897"> study</a> found, and drives absenteeism and reduced productivity.</p>
<p>For migraine pain relief, users put Hinge Health's Enso nerve stimulation device to their foreheads. Perez said Hinge Health designed custom-made gel pads for the device specifically for migraine care. "We're going to be having several new waveforms, patterns of electrical nerve stimulation that we'll be submitting to FDA for additional clearance," he said.</p>
<p>Hinge Health plans to continue innovating to build capabilities to address more conditions, leveraging its existing infrastructure and technology.</p>
<p>"We'll look for conditions with meaningful spend where we feel we could transform outcomes and experience at a fraction of today's cost. Ideally where we think we could move with haste. I'd say that the resources needed for migraine, it was very efficient relative to the resources needed to build digital physical therapy where it is today. We anticipate future products to be similarly capital efficient, given they will continue to leverage capabilities that we've already built," Perez told investors on the call.</p>
<p>In the second quarter, Hinge Health projects revenue to be between $194 million and $196 million, reflecting year-over-year growth of 40% at the midpoint. The company is guiding toward non-GAAP income from operations to be between $47 million and $49 million, reflecting year-over-year growth of 84% and non-GAAP operating margin of 25% at the midpoint.</p>
</div></p>
</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:13px; text-align: center; color: #666666; padding:4px; margin-bottom:2px;"></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table style="font:13px Helvetica, sans-serif; border-radius:4px; -moz-border-radius:4px; -webkit-border-radius:4px; background-color:#fff; padding:8px; margin-bottom:6px; border:1px solid #adadad;" width="100%">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><a href="https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/special-reports/heres-what-ceos-and-cfos-public-profit-health-systems-made-2025" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">Special report: Here's what the CEOs and CFOs of public for-profit health systems made in 2025</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">May 6th 2026, 13:46</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; color:#494949;text-align:justify;font-size:13px;">
<p></p>
</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:13px; text-align: center; color: #666666; padding:4px; margin-bottom:2px;"></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><strong>Forwarded by:<br />
Michael Reeder LCPC<br />
Baltimore, MD</strong></p>
<p><strong>This information is taken from free public RSS feeds published by each organization for the purpose of public distribution. Readers are linked back to the article content on each organization's website. This email is an unaffiliated unofficial redistribution of this freely provided content from the publishers. </strong></p>
<p> </p>
<p><s><small><a href="#" style="color:#ffffff;"><a href='https://blogtrottr.com/unsubscribe/55wMX0?signature=d3c0935c0cdbd702ef36555e19dabf249df69613966bbb1ace8ed255419b1ff3'>unsubscribe from this feed</a></a></small></s></p>