In May 2025, TeleMed2U announced its acquisition of SIGMA Tactical Wellness, a healthcare enterprise dedicated to reducing cardiovascular risk among the law enforcement community. Today, we sit down with SIGMA co-founders, board-certified cardiologist Dr. Jon Sheinberg and Ben Stone, PhD, to discuss the origins of their risk assessment program to address the unmet cardiac health needs of police officers, and how SIGMA and TeleMed2U are now working together to close the care loop for these first responders moving forward.
Thanks for joining us. Let’s start at the beginning—what problem were you trying to solve with SIGMA, and how did your partnership begin?
Stone: The core issue is stark: law enforcement officers are at significantly greater risk for cardiovascular events, heart disease, sudden cardiac death than the general population. They're constantly exposed to trauma, long shifts, and high-pressure environments, all of which take a toll on the heart. Yet, this is a group that historically hasn't been consistently or appropriately screened.
I was interested in finding a better solution and even though I was not a trained physician, I did have my PHD in cardiovascular physiology and when challenged by my-cofounder Craig Bettis, a retired law enforcement commander and now SIGMA Western Sales Director, to build something to address this critical health need in the law enforcement community, I was up for the opportunity. While I was focused on piloting an initiative focused on the metabolic side of the issue, during the same period of time in Texas Dr. Sheinberg was doing a similar style of deployment, except he was focusing specifically on cardiac and dabbling in metabolic disease prevention.
What started as a LinkedIn connection turned into me flying down to Austin to meet him and the synergies between what we were both trying to accomplish were uncanny. We even used the same statistics in our pitch decks. It was like the perfect marriage. In 2017, Dr. Sheinberg came on board as SIGMA’s Chief Medical Officer, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Before SIGMA, was cardiac screening just left to individual officers and their primary care providers?
Stone: Exactly. And it’s still largely the case today. For context, fire has what's called the NFPA or the National Fire Protection Act and the NFPA has a long list of recommended screening checkboxes that range from cardiac screening to heavy metal testing to additional blood work and evaluation to spirometry and pulmonary function tests. It’s a conservative test that if you hit a certain number of screenings, you can get a big cut on your health insurance and life insurance which is a huge incentive. This is all backed by the International Association of Firefighters, a very tight-knit organization with a phenomenal culture of health.
Law enforcement doesn’t have anything comparable. There are no uniform standards, no central authority pushing health initiatives. It’s essentially every agency, and every officer, for themselves. That’s why our risk-screening approach is so critical.
How are wellness initiatives typically staffed in law enforcement agencies?
Stone: In a department of 30 to 40 officers, you'll often find a "wellness sergeant”, usually someone with a background in kinesiology or fitness who is tasked with promoting health resources. But they’re not physicians and often lack the tools or scope to address issues like metabolic disease or cardiac risk. Every agency is doing its own thing, which is why SIGMA’s cardiac risk screening program fills such a big gap.
Is education still a barrier in getting officers to prioritize early screening and cardiac care?
Stone: Law enforcement culture has definitely evolved over the past decade. Ten years ago, it was rare to see a proper gym in a police department. Now, we’re seeing CrossFit-style facilities, and they’re actually being used. That said, law enforcement can be slow to adopt change.
With law enforcement, when staff come in and mandate something, there is often a tremendous amount of pushbacks. “I don't want to do it. You can't force me.” However, if we go through and say that we have a benefit for you and the Union endorses it and people are finding it beneficial, officers start to pay attention. Especially if you lead with a message like “you don't have to do this, but if you do, this may help save your life.” It really depends on how you present it to the line officers.
Are officers hesitant to participate in SIGMA screenings out of fear it might impact their job status?
Stone: That’s a common concern, but SIGMA's program is completely voluntary. Officers opt into cardiac risk assessments and afterwards they own their data. It's not shared with departments unless they choose to do so. Our goal is not to disqualify anyone or affect promotion, it’s about improving health longevity and reducing cardiac risk, plain and simple.
Has the SIGMA offering evolved since you launched in 2017?
Stone: Our screening has become more comprehensive, especially with Dr. Sheinberg on board as our Chief Medical Officer. And it is certainly far advanced over what you would receive with a PCP but for us, we really wanted to take things to the next level which is where TelMed2U comes in. The vision of being able to interact once the cardiac screening is complete. Now we can offer continued continuity of care once that assessment is done. Today, we are proud to say we are the only company in the nation that has the ability to screen and treat officers all in one visit. And it's done in a very uniform, seamless, and organized manner.
Tell us about the strategy behind the TeleMed2U acquisition.
Dr. Sheinberg: The partnership with Telemed2U marked a pivotal step in scaling SIGMA’s impact nationwide. Originally, we were limited in our ability to provide ongoing care after cardiac a risk screening. Telemed2U enabled us to not only identify high-risk individuals but also treat them efficiently within a culturally competent framework. This collaboration eliminated long waits and high out-of-pocket costs common in traditional healthcare. Now cardiac patients can move seamlessly from diagnosis to virtual treatment with specialized clinicians—maintaining continuity, lowering costs, and significantly improving outcomes. This partnership closes the loop, transforming our model into a full-spectrum care solution.
What made TeleMed2U the right fit as a buyer and partner?
Dr. Sheinberg: The beauty of the relationship is that now instead of being limited to a cardiac screening capability we are able to assess a patient’s risk and then quickly connect them with a provider that understands the advanced cardiac science and has the ability to deliver important clinical information in a manner that is clear and easy to understand. And these connections can all be accomplished in just 10 days or less. With this acquisition we are now able to make our cardiac program complete. This is something we couldn’t have done on our own.
Looking ahead, what’s your vision for the next 2–3 years?
Dr. Sheinberg: Previously we were limited in our ability to help officers following a cardiac diagnosis, we would take all these cops, we’d identify all this heart disease and then basically we would stop and come back to a department and say, “OK, we found that half of your department, which is really the average, is at high risk for heart disease. Thanks for letting us come in.” Again, while we don’t share individual health details with higher ups, those people who are found to be at high risk then had to go and find their own cardiac care with no support. With this collaboration with Telemed2U, we are now able to offer a total solution for cardiovascular care to go into a department, identify those who are at risk and then take the necessary steps to fix the problem.
It's never been done before. All of the screening companies have stopped at just that, screening. We want SIGMA to be a complete cardiovascular solution, and this partnership allows us to do that. We want to help as many officers as humanly possible to prevent cardiac issues from killing them. If we do this, we save money, we save lives and as a result we positively impact as many families as we possibly can.
