Latest news with #MindBody
Indian Express
20-06-2025
- Health
- Indian Express
PGIMER Chandigarh consultants referred 153 patients to yoga centre last year
Consultants of various departments of PGIMER, including medicine, cardiology, eye centre, etc, have referred 153 patients in the last year to PGI's CCRYN-Collaborative Centre for Mind Body Intervention through yoga, says Prof Akshay Anand, Department of Neurology, and in charge of the Yoga Centre. PGIMER's Yoga centre has been conducting five-minute yoga sessions in 19 departments and for patients' caregivers daily since June 1, 2024. However, yoga for caregivers is a routine activity which is conducted twice a week in the park behind Bhargava Auditorium at PGI. Yoga offers numerous benefits for both mental and physical health, as it helps reduce stress, anxiety, and depression, supports the management of hypertension and diabetes, alleviates chronic back pain, and improves posture, among other advantages. PGIMER has actively taken steps to integrate yoga into holistic healthcare and research, recognising its vital role in promoting overall well-being and executing research in the field of yoga to determine the mechanism behind the effect of Yoga on the body's physiology. The centre, apart from working on evidence for yoga intervention studies, has specialists take daily yoga classes and sessions for healthcare workers and patients referred by doctors and also for doctors' families. The larger intent is to include yoga into holistic healthcare and research to promote well-being, with the programmes designed scientifically and validated internationally. 'Yoga is an important tool for rejuvenation and holistic care,' says Prof Vivek Lal, Director, PGI. In a pioneering move towards holistic healthcare, PGI's Advanced Cardiac Centre (ACC) started yoga sessions for patients and caregivers to enhance their cardiac and mental well-being. Underpinning the therapeutic potential of yoga in addressing blockages in arteries, Prof Lal said, 'Yoga offers a holistic approach to cardiovascular health, including the potential to address blockages in arteries. Through regular practice, individuals can experience improved blood flow, reduced stress and enhanced overall heart function.' Dr Neelam Dahiya, Department of Cardiology, the brain behind the initiative, said that integrating yoga into cardiology fosters a holistic approach to health, empowering individuals to nurture their hearts and minds in unison. 'We intend to make this an integral part of our medical advice/treatment.' According to Dr Dahiya, the idea behind the project goes beyond physical well-being and strives to ease the stress and anxiety of patients and their caregivers as they wait in the OPD for their turn. 'We are so encouraged by the response that now specific modules for patients will be designed,' added Dr Dahiya. In another initiative, Dr Babita Ghai, Professor and Consultant in Charge of the Pain Clinic, Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, PGI, Chandigarh, has been evaluating the role of yoga therapy in managing chronic low back pain (CLBP) in the community. This DST-SATYAM-funded research project is aimed at providing a sustainable intervention to reduce pain symptoms and associated disabilities among adults in semi-urban and rural areas of Chandigarh. As part of the project, PGI will conduct free health camps at various community health centres for screening, awareness, and patient recruitment. Recruited patients will receive daily yoga or physical exercise classes for two weeks, conducted by trained yoga therapists at the Sector 25 Public Health Dispensary. In recent years, yoga has been increasingly recognised for its role in managing chronic low back pain (CLBP), and a study by Dr Ghai evaluated the effectiveness of the Integrated Approach of Yoga Therapy (IAYT) in a randomised controlled pilot study. The study compared IAYT with usual care in 29 CLBP patients recruited from the Pain Clinic at PGI. Results showed significant improvements in pain scores, functionality, depression, anxiety, and quality of life in the yoga group after one and three months.
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Payments firms account for bulk of fintech revenue
This story was originally published on Banking Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Banking Dive newsletter. Fewer than 100 of the approximately 37,000 fintech companies globally account for roughly 60% of industry revenue – and payments firms are the 'indisputable winner' of the realm to date, accounting for more than half of that success. Of the $378 billion in global fintech revenues in 2024, $126 billion came from payments fintechs, some of which have seen growth from digital wallets (like PayPal and ApplePay) or vertical software-as-a-service (like Stripe, Toast and Square), according to a report released Monday by QED Investors and Boston Consulting Group. 'Companies like Stripe and Adyen and Square really filled the gap when there was a shift to [e-commerce] and mobile commerce. They were able to just win that race and grab market share,' explained Laura Bock, QED partner and one of the authors of the report, 'Fintech's Next Chapter: Scaled Winners and Emerging Disruptors.' 'What we talk a lot about, and think a lot about, is how financial services lives downstream of the real economy,' she said. 'When there are shifts in how the real economy works, that's a huge opening for fintech to make waves.' While fintech accounted for just 3% of overall banking and insurance revenues in 2024 ($12.7 trillion, according to the report), fintech revenues surged 21%, compared to the 6% growth rate of incumbent banks. In recent years, embedded payments has revolutionized how consumers and merchants transact for certain things, Bock explained – for their fitness classes, as with MindBody, or their dinner, as with Toast. Artificial intelligence presents the possibility of another major shift, she noted, this time due to agentic payments. 'For example, I use ChatGPT for way too much,' Bock said. 'Yesterday, I was trying to figure out where to go on my honeymoon … so I was asking it 'what's the weather in Italy in September? Which part should I go to? What should I book?' You can have it generate an entire itinerary. Imagine that I could then just say, 'Hey, I like this plan, book it.'' 'I've connected [it] to my wallet or my card, I've given [it] the appropriate permissions. Maybe I say, 'don't spend $500 without asking me,' but I sign off on it, and it books my hotels, my activities, my flight. I don't think it's crazy that a bot [will be] your travel agent, and that it just uses your card or ChatGPT wallet to make payments,' Bock said. 'I think that will become more mainstream, maybe not like in a year or two, but at some point over the next five or so years.' Before AI agents are granted the ability to make payments, though, proper guardrails must be built to verify that the agent is acting on behalf of a person, and within the boundaries permitted by the person. Current regulatory frameworks are designed with human actors and institutions in mind, noted QED and BCG in their report; with AI agents, questions arise regarding authentication, fraud prevention, and liability. 'Say my bot goes rogue and books me in first class when I didn't want to pay for it. What happens now? Am I the one arguing with Delta?' Bock said to Banking Dive. 'Every time there's a change with how payments are made, a whole new set of infrastructure needs to jump up to support it.' Privacy and data security also pose challenges for agentic AI, according to the report, as data incidents can be devastating both financially and reputationally. 'This is where regulators will need to provide clarity and guidance,' the report said. 'Given these challenges, the use of agentic AI in financial services may lag other sectors of the economy. Nonetheless, we are already beginning to see its transformational potential in software development, particularly for earlier-stage, AI-native fintechs.' Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Lifevantage Corp (LFVN) Q2 2025 Earnings Call Highlights: Record Revenue Growth and Strategic ...
Revenue: $67.8 million, up 31.3% year-over-year and 43.5% sequentially. Gross Margin: 80.5%, an improvement of 190 basis points from the prior year. Adjusted EBITDA: $6.5 million, representing 9.6% of revenue. Adjusted Non-GAAP Net Income: $3 million or $0.22 per fully diluted share. Cash Position: $21.6 million with no debt. Capital Expenditures: $500,000 in the second quarter. Americas Revenue: $57.2 million, a 46.3% increase. Asia Pacific and Europe Revenue: $10.6 million, a decrease of 15.5%. Active Accounts in Americas: Increased by 25% sequentially. Adjusted Non-GAAP Operating Income: $3.9 million. Dividend: $0.04 per share, totaling approximately $500,000. Fiscal 2025 Revenue Guidance: $235 million to $245 million. Fiscal 2025 Adjusted EBITDA Guidance: $21 million to $24 million. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 7 Warning Signs with LFVN. Release Date: February 05, 2025 For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript. Lifevantage Corp (NASDAQ:LFVN) reported a significant revenue increase of 31% year-over-year and 44% sequentially, reaching $67.8 million in Q2. The launch of the MindBody GLP-1 system in the US was highly successful, with initial inventory selling out in just 13 days. Gross margins improved by 190 basis points compared to the previous year, indicating strong profitability. Active accounts in the Americas increased by 25% sequentially, with a notable rise in both independent consultants and customers. The company has secured sufficient manufacturing capacity to meet the strong demand for its products, ensuring future supply stability. Revenue in the Asia Pacific and Europe regions decreased by 15.5%, primarily due to a decline in active accounts and foreign currency fluctuations. Commissions and incentive expenses increased to 48% of revenue, up from 42.1% in the prior year, impacting overall profitability. The company faced inventory challenges, with stockouts affecting sales momentum in November and early December. Despite strong revenue growth, the company anticipates continued elevated costs related to incentives and commissions in the near term. Foreign currency fluctuations negatively impacted revenue by $300,000 in the second quarter. Q: With the recent focus on attracting more social sellers and micro-influencers, how do you plan to continue scaling and building off the solid growth in active accounts? What efforts are being made around brand awareness? A: Steven Fife, President and CEO, explained that LifeVantage is expanding brand awareness and product offerings beyond the traditional independent consultant model. The company is initiating proactive advertising outreach to drive higher awareness, particularly targeting key products like MindBody, collagen, and Protandim. The success with social sellers is growing, as they attract followers who join LifeVantage, seeing the benefits of MindBody and other products. Q: Are there any material expenses we should anticipate post the initial launch phase in the next quarter or two? A: Carl Aure, CFO, noted that while there will be some continued elevated costs related to incentives in Q3, these will gradually decrease and normalize by Q4. Most launch-related costs are behind them, and they expect commission and incentive expenses to stabilize. Q: Can you explain the margin dynamics and why the flow-through to EBITDA might be lower in the back half of the fiscal year? A: Carl Aure, CFO, stated that while there are some elevated incentive and commission expenses expected in Q3 and Q4, the flow-through should remain consistent or slightly better. They anticipate seeing incremental leverage benefiting adjusted EBITDA and EPS in FY26. Q: How did revenues for MindBody trend month-to-month throughout the quarter, considering the stockouts? A: Steven Fife, President and CEO, shared that October was the biggest revenue month in the company's history. However, due to inventory stockouts, November and part of December saw no shipments. Despite this, they managed to fulfill all backorders by the end of December, ending the quarter with no backlog. Q: How are MindBody subscriptions performing compared to expectations? A: Steven Fife, President and CEO, reported that MindBody subscriptions are tracking above average, with over 50% of new customers joining on a subscription. This is higher than previous product launches, indicating strong positioning as a lifestyle and weight management product. For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Sign in to access your portfolio
