Health Innovation Matters (Robin L. Smith, MD, MBA)

Michael chats with Luká Yancopoulos, CEO of Grapevine, where he has been reshaping the healthcare supply chain since the company was founded in 2021. In this episode, Michael and Luká discuss how Grapevine is simplifying supply chain management in healthcare, eliminating intermediaries within the supply chain, saving clients significant time and costs throughout the supply chain journey, the impact of those savings, and much more.

Visit go-grapevine.com to learn more.

The views in this podcast do not necessarily reflect those of our sponsors.

Michael chats with Dr. Ivan Rusilko, a medical doctor, author, and pioneer in lifestyle medicine. In this episode, Michael and Ivan first discuss the state of precision medicine, then dive into mitocondriac cellular therapy, female hormone therapy, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) therapy, and the evolutions, science, narratives, and misperceptions surrounding those fields.

Check out these documentaries featuring the work Ivan discusses in this episode:

Parkinson’s: https://vimeo.com/654359320 
Burned: https://vimeo.com/767507931 
MS: https://vimeo.com/764813906

Aneel talks with Jim Elliot, Chief Marketing Officer at AdvancedMD, about why his company was uniquely positioned to assist independent practitioners with virtual patient care during the pandemic, especially in the mental health space. Since joining AdvancedMD in 2008, he has  played a key role in growing the company 10-fold by promoting a customer-driven culture. Elliot describes examples of how  the company’s recent innovations, which include harnessing  the power of the EHRs alongside patients engagement, under the umbrella of integrated workflow, benefits both the provider and patient. Elliott also talks about why there has been a resurgence in independent practitioners even as consolidation is going on in health care generally. He describes how practitioners using AdvancedMD are reporting that the integrated system has reduced their overhead by 40 percent or more through utilization of centralized billing and virtual care visits. Technology is a game-changer for independent practitioners, he concludes.

Michael chats with Kempton Presley, Chief Strategy Officer at AdhereHealth, LLC. In this episode, Michael and Kempton explore how advances in data analytics and behavioral science are transforming member engagement. They discuss how health plans and providers are leveraging predictive insights and omnichannel strategies to reach high-risk members by their preferred means. This personalized support, through incorporating science-backed techniques, helps address barriers to care and improve medication adherence. Kempton also shares insights on emerging trends in member engagement, the role of evidence-based interventions in shaping health outcomes, and what’s next for the industry.

Aneel chats with Peter Durlach, Chief Strategy Officer at Nuance Communications about Ambient Clinical Intelligence (ACI). As the head of corporate strategy, Durlach is responsible for advancing Nuance’s overall strategic direction and portfolio in line with emerging trends across key vertical markets. Nuance has established a platform, Dragon Ambient eXperience (DAX), that is distinctly disrupting the traditional physician-patient experience through the use of ACI. Nuance began working on this technology five years ago and release it last year. Specifically, Durlach explains, the technology securely and compliantly records and transcribes the physician-patient clinical encounter and produces structured notes, eliminating the need for the providers to remember and write out the salient points of the patient encounter. While there is currently human review of the notes produced under the platform, the “holy grail” is to eventually eliminate the need for human review, says Durlach. While the system is not perfect, he adds,  DAX does capture the patient story securely and accurately to automatically document at the point of care for increased efficiency and patient throughput. This technology is reducing physician burnout by 70 percent and is clearly reducing costs and time, according to Durlach. The discussion concludes with a look at a future in which ACI helps in clinical decision-making in various areas, such as depression. This episode is sponsored by Nuance.  Visit nuance.com/DAX to sign up for a livestream demo and explore how DAX, Nuance’s ACI solution, can transform your organization.

Michael chats with Dr. Jo Varshney, Founder and CEO of VeriSIM Life, which aims to bring clarity to drug development through computational sciences rather than the existing trial and error experimentation approach. In this episode, Michael and Jo discuss how VeriSIM Life’s work brings better outcomes without redundant trials and subjecting animals to cruelty, how the company’s technology helps to save and time and costs to bring drugs to market, Jo’s vision for the company’s future, and much more.

Visit verisimlife.com to learn more.

The views in this podcast do not necessarily reflect those of our sponsors.

Michael chats with Dr. Jeff Thompson, former CEO of Gundersen Health System, pediatrician, and author of Lead True: Live Your Values, Build Your People, Inspire Your Community; and Dr. Urvashi Bhatnagar, healthcare executive and co-author of The Sustainability Scorecard: How to Implement And Profit From Unexpected Solutions.

Jeff led strategic sustainability initiatives during his time at Gundersen, which has been nationally recognized for boosting quality and lowering costs, while seeing a 95% drop in greenhouse gas emissions. He was also honored by the White House as a champion for change and has served as the board chair of Healthcare Without Harm.

Urvashi, who holds an MBA from Yale University and a doctorate in physical therapy from Boston University, has forged a career spanning clinical care, research, advocacy, and strategy and operations consulting for leading healthcare organizations. Her work addresses breaking down barriers to care, advancing health equity, and improving access to quality care for all.

In this episode, Jeff and Urvashi talk about sustainability’s importance in healthcare systems, how providers can lead sustainability efforts and combat climate change, some promising and exciting decarbonization initiatives and innovations, and much more. This episode is sponsored by The Sustainability Scorecard: How to Implement And Profit From Unexpected Solutions by Drs. Paul Anastas and Urvashi Bhatnagar.

The Sustainability Scorecard: How to Implement And Profit From Unexpected Solutions: www.amazon.com/Sustainability-Scorecard-Implement-Unexpected-Solutions/dp/1523093781 

Lead True: Live Your Values, Build Your People, Inspire Your Community: https://www.amazon.com/Lead-True-Values-Inspire-Community/dp/1946633011

Our new host, Logan Plaster, chats with Timothy Peck, MD, co-founder and CEO of Call9 Inc, about the challenges he faced with his start-up company. (This episode is a cautionary tale of the roller-coast ride that almost all health care start-ups face at one time or another. Peck’s company recently shut down and is now figuring out how to rebrand with a different payment model (working with ACOs) in a way that could generate cash in the short-term.) Peck started Call9 to try to stem the rising tide of transferring patients from nursing homes to hospital emergency rooms. Calls9, in effect, ran a remote emergency department that dealt with patients and provided palliative care, while electronically connecting family with their loved ones. Call9 raised more than $30 million from investors, Peck notes, but was forced to shut down, in part, because of the transition in health care today from fee-for-service to value-based care, in which providers are compensated for outcomes and instead of services provided. Call9 was launched as a value-based company that entered into contracts with smaller providers but found resistance from other large providers. This group only offered Call9 a fee-for-service option and were seeking involvement of a larger patient population. Call9 changed its culture — at least temporarily — to be fee-for-service based, but that metamorphosis did not prove fruitful. Having created something for the company that wasn’t necessarily in the best interests of the patients it was serving had an “eroding” effect on everyone, according to Peck. When the company pivoted to FFS, that made it difficult to keep up the valuation Call9 had established for its business as a value-based company. Peck also discusses how the RUSH Act, which is designed to prevent unnecessary hospitalization of Medicare patients in nursing homes, could help save Medicare money and ultimately benefit patients with value-based care. This episode is emotionally intense and should be listened to for its discussion of value-based care v. FFS; challenges and opportunities for health care start-ups; and a personal story of an entrepreneur on a mission to save lives.

Aneel chats with Chris Klomp,  Executive Vice President, Acute & Payer, at PointClickCare. The company recently acquired Collective Medical, which is utilized by one-third of the hospitals in the United States. Basically, value-based care reward providers for outcomes, rather than volume of care, explains Klomp. But valued-based care is really about aligning incentives for coordinated patient care, he explains.  Patients need be better educated about the benefits of value-based care, especially vulnerable populations, Klomp adds. Both employers and providers can play a valuable role in this effort, he says.  The health care industry also needs to better educate patients on the privacy protections they’re entitled to, he asserts. Klomp also provides riveting examples of how his company uses technology and data to prove a single, streamlined care continuum. This episode is sponsored by PointClickCare, www.poinclickcare.com.  This episode is also sponsored by KNB Communications, www.knbcomm.com

Michael chats with Vijay Ramanathan, co-founder and CEO of RamSoft, a healthcare imaging software provider. In this episode, Michael and Vijay discuss the development of RamSoft’s OmegaAI solution, how it’s changing the landscape of radiology imaging, helping healthcare providers overcome challenges with radiology imaging, improving workflow efficiency for imaging centers, using AI and machine learning to enhance decision-making and patient care, and much more. This episode is sponsored by RamSoft, www.ramsoft.com.

The views in this podcast do not necessarily reflect those of our sponsors.

Aneel chats with Rick Farnell, the President and CEO of Protegrity, who brings a successful track record as an entrepreneur, executive, and operator of multiple global technology companies. At the helm of Protegrity, Rick is spearheading the company’s efforts to scale its industry-leading data-security solutions into the future as companies rapidly invest in data innovation. Kinetic data occurs when data is in motion and protecting that kind of data in next-level protection, explains Farnell. Protegrity is committed to protecting data even when it’s being shared — which is occurring more than ever  — says Farnell. For example, Farnell says, Protegrity can help research centers demonstrates that their patient data is being protected. Protegrity also specializes in protecting data while proving users with flexibility to blend in that information to enable data-driven innovation and performance. This episode is sponsored by Protegrity, www.protegrity.com

Aneel chats with James Schorey, Chief Technology Officer at Control Bionics, an assistive technology device company that enables people with communication challenges to participate more fully in daily life. The company’s   augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) offerings helps people with a range of conditions to find their “voice.” Inspired by Stephen Hawking, Control Bionics' Trilogy product line is the only AAC product to harnesses three modalities — touch, eye, and NeuroNode control — giving users the ultimate, personalized opportunity to express themselves. Hawking was instrumental in the eventual downsizing a key component of the technology —making it more user friendly, notes Schorey. Control Bionics helps a wide variety of clients, including veterans with ALS, quadriplegics, and those with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). The technology is approved by FDA and is often reimbursable. The technology involves interactions between the client’s body and a computer and is of enormous assistance to caregivers, adds Schorey..

Michael chats with Kelley Aurand, DO, FAAFP, Clinical Vice President and Chief Medical Informatics Officer of Legacy Health, where she represents all physicians and providers, advocating for technology that helps the delivery of care and provider well-being. In this episode, Michael and Dr. Aurand discuss the role of technology in healthcare, future technological innovations, preventing physician burnout, promoting greater work-life balance, and much more. This episode is sponsored by Nuance, www.nuance.com.

The views in this podcast do not necessarily reflect those of our sponsors. 

Michael chats with Grace Vinton, award-winning healthcare PR professional, patient advocate, and host of the podcast HITea With Grace. In this episode, Michael and Grace discuss her inspiration for becoming a patient advocate, what a patient “informaticist” is, how patients are using tech to “hack their health,” the importance of understanding the patient-led care and research revolution, moving forward in this new healthcare reality, and much more.

Listen to HITea With Grace on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

On location in Sioux Falls, SD, Robin chats with two Sanford Health officials, Micah Aberson and Dr. David Pearce, and the winner of the inaugural Sanford Lorraine Cross Award.  The $1 million award, which is donor driven, was created to reward those who have recently accomplished health care breakthroughs and to act as a catalyst to inspire the next generation to become “medical mavericks, “ according to Aberson, who serves as Sanford’s chief global brand officer, overseeing the planning, development, and execution of strategic marketing initiatives for the organization. Pearce, executive vice president of Innovation and Research for Sanford Health, notes that gene therapy will be a major weapon in combatting Batten’s disease and other rare diseases. The winners of the Sanford Lorraine Cross Award are Dr. Jean Bennett, the F.M. Kirby Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Pennsylvania, and Dr. Katherine High, president and head of research at Sparks Therapeutic. Their breakthrough, which is helping to restore the gift of sight for dozens of patients, was the result of a decades-long collaboration involving clinical trials and groundbreaking research. Bennett and High crossed the finish line to garner the first FDA approval for a gene therapy drug to cure a specific form of congenital retinal dystrophy.

Logan chats with Terri Seppala, CEO and President of Telehealth Associates, about the use of telemedicine to deal with the COVID 19 pandemic as things are changing by the day — and hour.  Seppala has been in the telemedicine space for many years and says that her company provides services to a wide variety of organizations. Providers, including specialists, are now able to assess, triage, and treat patients in the comfort of their own home.  Patients prefer this approach because of the stay-at-home recommendations during the pandemic and because telehealth can provide 24/7 access. Telehealth has reached a turning point largely because it is being talked about in every sphere, Seppala notes; also, it is marketed heavily, and reimbursement policies have changed. She strongly believes that if you are a health provider and you are not in the telehealth sphere, you will eventually become irrelevant, and those who are practicing via telemedicine will become “virtualists” who believe that medicine can be practiced in different ways. Now, more than ever, patients can be treated by an interdisciplinary team, which could include physical therapists, social workers, nutritionists, and can lead to higher quality encounters.  Seppala also says that some of the biggest changes in telemedicine due to COVID 19 pandemic have been regulatory changes regarding HIPAA and reimbursement, but it remains to be seen whether these changes will become permanent. The conversation closes with a discussion of technology in the telemedicine space and the importance of medical practices incorporating this technology and setting goals in this area. This episode is sponsored by Ora, www.oraclinical.com; Bridge Patient Portal, www.bridgepatientportal.com; Telehealth Associates, www.telehealthassociates.com; and Software Advice, www.softwareadvice.com. 

Our host, Dr. Robin Smith, chats with Dr. Ron DePinho, professor of medicine and former president of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and an internationally recognized physician for his basic and translational research in cancer, aging, and age-associated degenerative disorders. DePinho launched the Cancer Moonshot Program, played a critical role in the amazing discovery that aging can be reversed, and has been named one of the 100 most influential health care leaders by Modern Healthcare. By 2030, there’s expected to be a 50 percent increase in the incidence of cancer, according to DePinho. Our increasing knowledge of how cancer develops, such as why the immune system does not recognize cancer, has led to development of groundbreaking drugs and the rise of precision medicine in the cancer field, which includes targeting abnormal genes in patients with cancer. DePinho notes that checkpoint blockade therapies—part of immunotherapies—have been effective in treating several kinds of cancer, while not yet being successful in others, such as pancreatic cancer. But no one in this field is giving up on developing new therapies that could provide patients with hard-to-treat types of cancer. The opportunities to prevent cancer occur in childhood, DePinho notes, including the use of tobacco and tanning beds. This knowledge has put us in a position to prevent cancer, and we should seize this opportunity.  It’s important to bring the disparate groups working on cancer together because most solutions require cross-section collaboration, including those in academics, industry, government, and faith-based organizations. Since we now have stunning technological advances, including mobile connectivity, AI, You Tube, Facebook, it’s time to educate patients about their cancer risks early on. Finally, DePinho notes, we can develop vaccines that prevent cancer, as we’ve done for HPV. But we need to educate parents that this vaccine is available—and, most importantly, that it works.

As NASA and the nation celebrate the 50thanniversary of the moon landing, Logan chats with Chuck Doarn about the impact of the space program on health care. Doarn currently serves as a special assistant to the NASA Chief Health and Medical Officer at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC; co-chair of FedTel for the federal government; and governance team lead on a NATO project called Multinational Telemedicine System for Disasters; and a research professor and the MPH Program Director in the Department of Environmental Health, Division of Public Health, at the University of Cincinnati. As the principal author of NASA's Integrated Strategic Plan for Telemedicine and as the lead for  NASA’s Telemedicine activities, Doarn discusses, with first-hand knowledge, the development of robust remote medical care and the increasingly more affordable bandwidth capability for telemedicine. Doarn also talks about advances in telemedicine today as a result of Skylab and how state compacts now allow providers to practice medicine across state lines. But some old challenges, such as reimbursement and liability, still exist today, he notes. Doarn says that in telemedicine and other areas, the critical questions are whether we are fundamentally on the right track in integrating technology into our lives. And, the answer, he says, is “yes.”   

Aneel chats with Tracy Gibbs, the Chief Scientific Advisor at Vasayo.  Gibbs is the inventor and patent holder of an enzyme delivery system, author of four books, and a member of the American Society of Pharmacognosy.  Vasayo has many best-in-class product lines, including those in the anti-aging, multi-vitamin, and immunity building categories. The company utilizes several advanced delivery technologies to deliver various nutrients, including lipozomal, enzyme, and nanotechnology, to increase nutrient absorption by cells. It’s not what you eat, it’s what you absorb, Gibbs explains. Advance delivery technology is the trend of the future (that’s actually happening now), according to Gibbs. Look for Vasayo to introduce several new products in upcoming months, adds Gibbs. Vasayo is a direct sales company, Gibbs notes. This episode is sponsored by vasayo.com

Logan chats with Karen Guzdzial from TouchPoint Medical on how their customer-advanced solutions are making healthcare organizations more efficient, enabling healthcare professionals to focus more on the patients. Karen explains that TouchPoint Medical, founded in 2016, has a broad portfolio of products, and their customer-driven mindset allows for a flexible approach to each customer’s need. She and Logan discuss some of TouchPoint’s newer offerings and products, including Device as a Service (DaaS) and how it can drastically change the healthcare landscape creating greater efficiency and less redundancy. The following companies, all of whom are exhibiting at  HIMSS 2020 sponsored this episode: Ōmcare (omcare.com), changing the way the world cares with its Ōmcare Home Health Hub™; Fujitsu Computer Products of America (fcpa.com/us) the leader in document imaging and scanning, offering a full range of h technologies and solutions; 2bPrecise, (2bprecisehealth.com), helping healthcare organizations leverage the full value of genetic and genomic testing;  BPM+ Health (bpm-plus.org), a community that brings together CMIOs from hospitals and healthcare systems, industry and physician associations, vendors, and consultants to create machine-readable clinical pathways that can be shared across healthcare systems; TouchPoint Medical (touchpointmed.com), which designs, manufactures, and sells medical equipment around the world that mobilizes medical technology and manages medication dispensing; and Bridge Patient Portal (bridgepatientportal.com), a company that revolutionizes the patient experience by giving users access to an unprecedented set of tools and services to manage their care through a “single pane of glass.”

Michael chats with Apollo Enterprise Imaging’s Kevin Stinson, Chief Revenue Officer, and Tom Coppa, Chief Product Officer. In this episode, Michael, Kevin, and Tom discuss challenges and needs related to implementing enterprise imaging, why healthcare providers need to be able to view all images on a single screen, the paradigm shift in enterprise imaging, and much more. This episode is sponsored by Apollo Enterprise Imaging. Visit www.apolloei.com to download the company’s groundbreaking ebook, Delivering Relevant Medical Images Across the Continuum of Care.

The views in this podcast do not necessarily reflect those of our sponsors.

Logan chats with Cheryl Lulias, President and Executive Director of Medical Home Network, based in Chicago, Illinois, about how MHN strives to improve care for their most vulnerable patients in Cook County utilizing social determinants. MHN focuses on how care is delivered to to Medicaid recipients and unites healthcare systems and community organizations in providing that care. This comprehensive care model is based on behavioral, medical, and social factors explains Lulias. MHN coordinates care across the continuum, providing seamless communication in patient care, and mobilizing resources for the right patients at the right time, she adds. The result: Costs have been cut by more than $50 million in the last four years. This huge savings is derived from shortening  inpatient hospital stays, reducing emergency room utilization, increasing primary care involvement, improving communication, and connecting hospitals to patient’s homes to enhance real-time alert activity. In addition, their screening process focuses on “11 impactable barriers” that include access to food, security, and transportation, which are predictive of medical care costs. When COVID-19 arrived, MHN was able to use social determinants and AI to create effective treament plans. Understanding that this pandemic would strongly affect the elderly, poor, and socially isolated patients, MHN took preventative measures to reduce risk. The MHN care management team has now completed more than 6,000 outreach calls in the COVID-19 era in the hope that ERs would not be overrun and to help patients recognize symptoms and figure out the best treatment. This episode is sponsored by GrandPad, www.grandpad.net; Medical Home Network, www.medicalhomenetwork.org; and Orbita, www.orbita.ai. 

Logan chats with Tammy Combs and Julie Dooling, directors of American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) Practice Excellence, about medical data and health information management during the COVID-19 pandemic. This data and health information help the medical field to recognize and boost patient outcomes, code effectively, and improve clinical documentation. Dooling explains that medical coding is front and center right now because of the emergence of telemedicine and relaxed regulations on HIPAA guideline and the way data are collected. Combs notes that AHIMA is always in touch with its more than 103,000     members about changes in health care information management brought about by COVID-10. AHIMA has provided a wealth of templates and resources for providers to use, such as the QUERY form. This assists in providing clarification on diagnoses, including information accessible on the AHIMA website by primary care physicians, ER physicians, and CD and coding professionals.  Dooling explains OCR’s reasoning for relaxing the rules regarding HIPPA guidelines, especially as telehealth providers move in the direction of utilizing platforms such as Facebook Messenger, Google Hangouts, and Skype. This is a great time to look at company policies and procedures regarding confidentiality and security. Coombs closes out the episode in response to Logan’s question about advice for health care startups or clinics by emphasizing the importance of understanding the changing rules. This episode is sponsored by Ora, www.oraclinical.com; Bridge Patient Portal, www.bridgepatientportal.com; Telehealth Associates, www.telehealthassociates.com; and Software Advice, www.softwareadvice.com. 

Michael chats with Jennifer Sargent, CEO of Pacify. In this episode, Michael and Jennifer discuss Pacify’s evolution toward becoming a leading provider of wrap-around support in maternal care, how the organization is transforming maternal health outcomes and overcoming access barriers through accessible tech-enabled doula-led care, and much more.

Robin chats with Clynt Taylor, CEO of Intervention Insights, about precision medicine in oncology. Taylor discusses what it was like to deal with his father’s diagnosis of cancer and the difficulties in finding the latest treatment options for his father’s particular subset of cancer. Intervention Insights has a platform includes lab reports and payer data that deals with the clutter of information that cancer patients and their loved ones have to deal with, explains Taylor. You can’t ignore the payer, says Taylor, so why not bring them into the process by, for example, the kinds of test that might be ordered and be reimbursable, saving angst for the patient. This approach helps payers stay up-to-date in science of gene testing in the hopes of keeping their insurance policies current.  Artificial intelligence hold promise in the area of precision but it’s not really there yet and smart physicians are still very much essential, says Taylor. Finally, Taylor notes, through the Trapelo platform, Intervention Insights marries clinical trial data and lab tests to help figure out the optimal treatment for the patient. This episode was sponsored by Trapelo/Intervention Insights, www.interventioninsights.com and J&B Medical, www.jandbmedical.com.

Robin chats with Yann Fleureau, CEO and co-founder Cardiologs about the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on health care innovation. With their comprehensive database on EKGs and the use of AI, Cardiologs has the capability of significantly improving accuracy and speed of EKG reading and cardiac diagnosis, no matter where a cardiologist may be located. At the end of the day, Fleureau says, his medical device is different from consumer devices because it is considered a medical grade device. It is especially valuable for use in relation to traditional and extended halter monitoring. According to Fleureau, there are several significant applications for AI, including in the psychiatric and the clinical trials and drug discoveries space, as well as diagnostic support in general for physicians in the next three to 10 years. Finally, he says, AI can be particularly useful in robotic surgery and eventually in data-driven disease management. This episode was sponsored by J&B Medical Supply Co., Inc., https://www.jandbmedical.com.

Robin talks with Richard K. Burt, MD, chief of the Division of Immunotherapy and Autoimmune Diseases in the Department of Medicine at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, about the results of recently completed clinical trials that treated multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with stem cell transplants as an alternative to drugs. Burt, an internationally recognized pioneer in stem cell transplants, describes how MS patients typically face a lifetime of drug regimens that, while they can be effective in slowing the progression of the disease, often are very expensive. Newer drugs become available and may be even more costly, he notes. The concept of a stem cell transplant to treat MS is “similar but somewhat different,” Burt says. A stem cell transplant modulates the immune system, just as the drugs do, but the result is accomplished with a five-day infusion of stem cells that “knock out” old ones and cause the immune system to “reset.” Patients can leave the hospital after a short stay and resume their lives. According to Burt, about 84% of MS patients in the clinical trials did not relapse. “It’s a whole new approach to the disease,” he says. “They got better, stayed better, and there was no evidence of lesions on the brain in their MRIs.” Burt also describes studies of similar efforts with other autoimmune diseases, including systemic sclerosis and neuromyelitis optica, which have shown good results.

Logan chats with Paige Goodhew, who deals with product marketing at Redox, a scaleable, cloud-based platform that works with software vendors to break down barriers to health care integration. As a “self-professed health care nerd in an IT world,” Goodhew first became involved in EMR implementation at Seattle Children's Hospital. Her interest in health IT was piqued, and she moved back to the Midwest to work for Epic, one of the largest health care companies in the world.  Goodhew joined Redox three years ago and has been helping companies become integrated and moving the needle on industry-wide interoperability since then. Her experience as a user, implementer, and integrator of EMRs has brought a unique and balanced perspective to the challenges faced by tech adopters. It’s just as important to explain to tech adopters why the software innovation is being implemented as it is to explain the technology itself, according to Goodhew. It’s vitally important to bring empathy and understanding into the adoption of EMRs by explaining that this particular health care innovation is only about a decade old, she notes. Where are we headed in health care, according to Goodhew? It’s the BYOA model — Bring Your Own App.     

Michael chats with Ivan Childress, Director of Healthcare Identity Cloud at Saviynt, a provider of intelligent, cloud-first identity governance solutions. Ivan has spent 20 years in healthcare technology and security roles, including stints at Mass General Brigham and Boston Children’s Hospital. Currently, he leads the development of Saviynt's industry-optimized identity and governance solutions that address healthcare providers’ unique security challenges and business needs. In this episode, Ivan discusses the evolving cybersecurity landscape and identity's role in securing healthcare's people, applications, and infrastructure. Saviynt sponsors this episode. To learn more, visit saviynt.com.

Robin chats with Dr. David Nash, the Founding Dean and the Raymond C. and Doris N. Grandon Professor of Health Policy at the Jefferson College of Population Health in Philadelphia, about the intersection of population health and precision or personalized medicine. Nash, who helped create the first college of population health, says that population health must involve better outcomes, especially since the country spends 20 percent of its GDP on health care. Eventually, he explains, we need to get to a “no outcome, no income” world, which although it sounds “harsh,” will ultimately lead to better outcomes. And we need to get rid of waste in health care by “shutting off the faucet instead of mopping the floor.” The bottom line, according to Nash, is that population health management, combined with precision medicine, can make a difference in our health care system. Zip code, personal behavior, and genetic makeup are the significant determinants in personal health, which is why population health and precision medicine are complementary, and not competitive concepts. Gene therapy and cellular therapy both are innovative strategies for optimizing the intersection of population health and precision medicine. An example of optimizing population health, Nash notes, occurs when a patient is at risk for a particular disease and his or her physician can order the right diagnostic and screening tests for that person’s specific genetic makeup. In general, he says, we need to go from volume to value and improve individual health, achieve optimal outcomes from unsatisfactory results, and get rid of unnecessary waste to improve per capita spending, all goals of population health.

Michael chats with Dr. Jennifer Hledik, Chief Operating Officer at SomaTX Design Inc., and Dr. Tom Andriacchi, President and Chairman of SomaTX Design Inc. Together, they discuss the impetus for developing KneeMo^®, a wearable, non-invasive, drug-free device designed to address knee pain and improve mobility. Jennifer and Tom dive into the technology behind KneeMo^®, how it allows people dealing with chronic knee pain to remain active, the potential impact of KneeMo^® moving forward, and much more.

To learn more about KneeMo^®, visit thekneemo.com.

Michael chats with Jennifer Kolb, Vice President of Partnerships and Workforce Development at MedCerts. Together, they discuss MedCerts’ history, mission, programs, and partnership offerings; how the company has partnered with hospitals and healthcare systems to build talent pipelines; how partnerships with MedCerts benefit healthcare organizations and hospitals; and much more.

This episode is sponsored by MedCerts. Visit partners.medcerts.com to learn more.

Michael chats with Maria Nikol, CEO and founder of Revelar Analytics. In this episode, Michael and Maria discuss the genesis of Revelar Analytics, the evolution and impact of accountable care organizations and value-based care, price transparency as it relates to value-based care, strategies in implementing national-scale healthcare initiatives, the role of technology in the future of healthcare, and much more.

The views in this podcast do not necessarily reflect those of our sponsors.

Logan chats with Kristi Ebong, Senior Vice President of Corporate Strategy at Orbita about the advancement of chatbots and COVID-19. Orbita has developed advanced technology that enables vitual health assistant to help health care and life science organizations better engage with patients, improve outcomes, and reduce costs.  Orbita’s technology is centered on creating conversational AI platforms, which are designed and built to provide patients an optimal voice chat experience. The beauty of this technology, Ebong says, is that a 10-year-old can use it as well as senior citizens. The voice chatbots enable providers to create solutions, check in on patients, and ask about symptoms —all in the comfort of the patient’s own home, facilitating connection with the right providers, Ebong explains. Orbita has collaborated with several important organizations, such as Amazon and the Mayo Clinic, who have adopted its technology, enabling them to work with patients with cancer, on dialysis, or with other conditions. When asked about the World Forum Orbita recently attended, Ebong described discussions with Google and Babylon Health officials about deploying chatbots in response to COVID-19.  It is “remarkable to see the rapid pace at which chatbots are being adopted globally during the pandemic,” she says. Orbita, has the opportunity to solve major health problems and democratize the use of technology, according to Ebong. Consumer adoption of voice chatbots has been more rapid than other technologies, she says, perhaps because voice is “natural.” This episode is sponsored by GrandPad, www.grandpad.net; Medical Health Network, www.medicalhomenetwork.org; and Orbita, www.orbita.ai. 

Aneel talks with Rachel Ford Hutman, CEO and Founder of Ford Hutman Media, a boutique communications firm that provides media relations, thought leadership, and executive visibility to life science companies. Ford Hutman was named a San Diego Business Journal Women of Influence and selected the PR Professional of the Year by PRSA.  In health care and in most businesses, relationships are everything, says Ford Hutman, and it’s how you treat people that really matters. Her clients range from start-ups to large cap public companies. How does a founder know when they are ready to launch a business? How can a thoughtful communications program be a difference maker? 

This episode was sponsored by Ford Hutman Media, fordhutmanmedia.com.

Michael chats with Kevin Deutsch, General Manager and Senior Vice President of Health Plan Solutions at Softheon. In this episode, Michael and Kevin discuss all things ICHRAs (Individual Health Coverage Reimbursement Arrangements), including their growing popularity, challenges in adapting to increased ICHRA adoption, overcoming technical hurdles in getting products into ICHRA platforms, how the growth of ICHRAs might reshape the health insurance landscape in the future, and more.

Listeners can connect with Softheon at softheon.com. To learn more about the HRA Council, visit hracouncil.org.

Aneel talks about digital therapeutics with Dr. Joe Rubinsztain CEO and co-founder of ChronWell, Inc., a digital therapeutics company that creates efficiencies and extends patient care beyond the walls of the physician’s office. By the time Chronwell launched in 2017, Rubinsztein, a seasoned entrepreneur and leader in healthcare information technology, was already shaking things up. In this episode, he shares how innovative technology drives early patient intervention, ultimately resulting in better clinical outcomes and a lower cost of care for both patients and payors.  One of the key elements in the success of digital therapeutics and continuous care, according to Rubinsztein, is establishing compatible reimbursement schemes and competition among payors. ChronWell has worked with physician practices to develop multi-modality programs in the fatty liver space, including very innovative digital therapeutics, pathways, protocols, and algorithms.

Michael chats with Antoine Robiliard, leader of Withings Health Solutions, the B2B division of Withings. Together, they discuss recent analysis and findings related to body mass index (BMI), how body composition is being used in obesity care today, how obesity care will evolve, the role of connected devices in the obesity care space, and much more.

Michael chats with Dylan Border, Director of Cyber Security at Hyland, leading the company’s Cyber Security Operations and Governance and Risk and Compliance teams. In this episode, Michael and Dylan discuss the prevalence of cyber attacks in healthcare, several types of cyber attacks and how potential resulting shutdowns can be prevented, what to look for when considering cloud app vendors to help protect infrastructure, and much more. This episode is sponsored by Hyland, hyland.com.

Michael chats with Jeremy Huval, Chief Innovation Officer at HITRUST. In this episode, Michael and Jeremy discuss how HITRUST serves the healthcare industry; how the company is expanding into AI through its AI Assurance program; takeaways for buyers, users, and sellers of AI-enabled systems; and much more. This episode is sponsored by HITRUST, hitrustalliance.net.

Visit with HITRUST at booth #1233 and at the Microsoft’s booth #3161 at HIMSS, March 11–15, in Orlando.

Check out Jeremy’s presentation at HIMMS, titled “Streamline Compliance to Accelerate Solution Adoption, Time-to-Value and Global Scale,” Tuesday, March 12, at 4:15 p.m. ET.

Visit the HITRUST AI Hub at info.hitrustalliance.net/hitrust-ai.

The views in this podcast do not necessarily reflect those of our sponsors.

Michael chats with Mark Newman, Co-founder and CEO of Nomi Health. In this episode, Michael and Mark discuss how the idea to start Nomi came to Mark and why the U.S. healthcare system is bloated and inefficient. They explore why direct contracts and data ownership are key to liberating healthcare dollars, and how Nomi is helping rebuild the business of healthcare.

Michael chats with Rich Miller, chief strategy officer at QGenda, leading innovator in provider operations and healthcare workforce management. Rich, who is a career entrepreneur in the health care and software arenas, founded OpenTempo in 2006, which joined QGenda in 2019 to form one of the most comprehensive companies in health care workforce optimization. As CSO, he helps health care companies through effective executive management, workforce analytics, and strategy. Rich discusses QGenda’s ProviderCloud, the first provider operations platform which brings traditionally disparate systems together to serve as the central source of truth for provider operations information. This solution drives greater efficiencies and allows organizations to focus on delivering greater care without the administrative headaches while reducing provider burnout. This episode is sponsored by QGenda, qgenda.com.

Logan chats with John Deutsch from Bridge Patient Portal on trends in patient engagement. They discuss how companies like Bridge Patient Portal are working to improve the patient experience by providing the tools and information they need both before and after their medical appointments. Logan and John also talk about developments in the industry and what we can expect from companies like Bridge to address evolving patient needs.  The following companies, all of whom are exhibiting at HIMSS 2020, sponsored this episode: Bridge Patient Portal (bridgepatientportal.com), a company that revolutionizes the patient experience by giving users access to an unprecedented set of tools and services to manage their care through a “single pane of glass”; Fujitsu Computer Products of America (fcpa.com/us) the leader in document imaging and scanning, offering a full range of technologies and solutions; 2bPrecise, (2bprecisehealth.com), helping healthcare organizations leverage the full value of genetic and genomic testing;  BPM+ Health (bpm-plus.org), a community that brings together CMIOs from hospitals and healthcare systems, industry and physician associations, vendors, and consultants to create machine-readable clinical pathways that can be shared across healthcare systems; and TouchPoint Medical (touchpointmed.com), which designs, manufactures, and sells medical equipment around the world that mobilizes medical technology and manages medication dispensing.

Logan chats with Jeanne Hecht, CEO of Ora, who has been in the CRO industry for two decades, about the innovative projects and research Ora is working on. As an ophthalmic CRO, Ora is primarily focused on drug and device development. Ora partners with pharmaceutical, device, and biotech companies that conduct clinical trials with the goal of supporting patients with ophthalmic indications. Ora has become a major player in this industry, expediting the process of creating and manufacturing new products through facilitating documentation and conversations on patient safety and efficacy, according to Hecht, who became CEO of Ora in August 2019. Hecht discusses her approach as an executive and says that her priorities are “first to her employees, then her customers, and then shareholders.” She is constantly looking at ways that her organization can grow and scale on a global level, including establishing a strong cultural foundation with the right values and leaders, and celebrating the good work of her employees. She also believes strongly in being inclusive and focusing on diversity in the workplace. At this time, Ora is expanding into China and Europe, focusing on R&D innovations to support new models in clinical trials, and focusing on areas with growing needs including dry eye and gene therapy. COVID-19 has presented its own challenges, she says, but the company has done everything it can to make accommodations for employees to be able to work comfortably from home. Hecht closes out the episode by stating her number one goal is to “live in a fully-sighted world.” This episode is sponsored by Software Advice, www.softwareadvice.com, Ora, www.ora.com; and TeleHealth Associates, www.telehealthassociates.com.

Logan chats with Eran Ofir, co-founder and  CEO of Somatix, about how remote patient monitoring has taken on incredible significance during  the COVID-19 pandemic and the current health care environment.  Somatix, which provides a wearable-enabled remote patient monitoring software platform for health care providers and caregivers, uses patented gesture detection technology and machine learning algorithms to analyze patient data in real time. This provides insights and predictive analytics to caretakers and medical providers in a variety of settings, including independent assistant living facilities, drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers. Under the Somatix solution, providers are “able to determine ADL (activites of daily living) that include whether the patient is walking, sleeping, falling, smoking, or eating,” Ofir explains. Based on this data, providers can intervene in real time based on what’s happenign with the patient. The wearable band also can  collect and process five different kinds of events; alerts, reminders, notifications, insights, and predictive analytics, which can then be shared through a dashboard that notifies caregivers. The technology is so detailed, Ofir says,  that providers  are able to determine if the patient is adhering to their medication regimen and if they are staying hydrated, to the point that they can deterine if the patient is drinking a hot or cold beverage. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Somatix became extremely effective in reducing hospital readmissions, ensuring reimbursement from Medicare and insurance companies and providing caregivers importantly with the ability to monitor and treat patients from a distance. “ They don’t have to be near them in order to see what’s happening with them,” Ofir states. The system also helps providers prepare for a possible second surge of  COVID-19 cases in the next 12 months, Somatix will start working with nationwide providers and big-name facilities. This episode is sponsored by GrandPad, www.grandpad.net; Medical Home Network, www.medicalhomenetwork.org; and Orbita, www.orbita.ai. 

Michael chats with Andrew Feldman, co-founder and CEO of Cerebras Systems, about the role of AI in transforming health care. The team at Cerebras includes computer architects, system engineers, software engineers, and ML researchers who design and build systems to accelerate AI in multiple industries, including health care. Feldman is an entrepreneur dedicated to pushing boundaries in the compute space, and his experience in bringing innovative AI solutions to health care is reflected in his work with industry leaders such as GlaxoSmithKline, AstraZeneca, and Argonne National Laboratories. The role of AI in health care and life sciences is becoming more prominent than ever, he asserts, by leading to efficiencies that just years ago would have been unheard of—and thrusting health care into a new age of possibilities. This episode is sponsored by Cerebras Systems, www.cerebras.net.

Robin chats with Jon Pearce, the co-founder and CEO of Zipnosis (from the Greek for “fast notice.”) Zipnosis licenses its virtual technology to providers and clinicians. Some day,  Pearce says, telehealth will just be “health care.” Zipnosis helps enable clinicians to take advantage of “virtual” services and streamline health care and improve the clinical experience, vastly reducing administrative burdens. As an example, clinicians can diagnose female bladder infections through software and computer documentation without the patient having unnecessarily to go to a physician’s office.  It’s a mixed bag these days for entrepreneurs in the health care innovation space because the patient, the provider, and the payer must all be taken into account, Pearce explains. Finally, Pearce adds, through its “ZipTicket,” its digital front door, physician extenders will expand and health care will be altered. Patients who cannot be treated virtually can receive a boarding pass to be seen in a face-to-face encounter with a clinician. This episode is sponsored by Life365, Inc. www.life365inc.com.

Michael chats with Anna Twomey, Senior Director, Healthcare Providers – Americas, at SS&C Blue Prism. In this episode, which was recorded during the 2023 HIMMS conference in Chicago, Michael and Anna discuss the role of automation in healthcare, how healthcare organizations are exploring the use of automation, how automation can help with staffing and other processes, and much more.

The views in this podcast do not necessarily reflect those of our sponsors. 

Robin chats with David Pearce, executive vice president of innovation and research at Sanford Health, about the diagnosis and treatment of rare diseases.  Technology is at the forefront in the treatment of rare disease with the advent of gene therapy, Pearce says. There is tremendous interest from Big Phama in rare diseases, Pearce points out, noting the recent purchase of rare disease technological treatments platforms by both Roche and Novartis. Also, Sanford Research now hosts a central registry/database for all rare diseases, called CoRDS (Coordination of Rare Diseases), which can be accessed by clinicians, advocacy groups, and patients. Sanford Research also provides an annual course for patient advocacy groups, which provides instruction and guidance on a variety of issues, including how to talk to providers about rare diseases. It’s difficult for physicians to be experts on more than 7,000 rare diseases, Pearce notes, so education on the diagnosis, for example, in the neurological area, is essential. Two-thirds of rare diseases have a genetic basis, Pearce notes. However, running genetic panels is more sophisticated today than even a few years ago, but issues with reimbursement still remain.  Should there be a Moonshot for Rare Diseases? “I’d love that,” says Pearce.

Michael chats with Vik Krishnan, President of Televox. In this episode, Michael and Vik discuss how Vik became interested in and involved with healthcare technology, patient relationship management and how it differs from patient engagement, the use of AI in patient relationship management, other areas that TeleVox is helping in the healthcare field, and much more. This episode is sponsored by TeleVox, televox.com.

Michael chats with Becky Trotter, Vice President, Population Health Solutions, at CareAllies, where she leads the implementation, design, and delivery of population health technology that enables CareAllies clinical and value-based care solutions and supports the organization’s provider engagement strategy. In this episode, Michael and Becky discuss the role of data and technology in at-risk populations and value-based care, achieving greater health equity, the tech-driven future of health care, and much more. This episode is sponsored by CareAllies, careallies.com.

The views in this podcast do not necessarily reflect those of our sponsors. 

Michael chats with Krish Ramakrishnan, co-founder, executive chairman, and chief innovator at BlueJeans by Verizon, a video collaboration platform that empowers fast and easy face-to-face communications using high-quality audio and video conferencing technology. Krish, who is considered a video visionary and is widely regarded as the founder of the new class of cloud-based video interoperability, speaks to how innovations in video conferencing are leading to a telehealth revolution and, thus, transforming ideas such as the concept of hospital-at-home quickly into reality. This episode is sponsored by BlueJeans by Verizon, www.bluejeans.com.

Aneel chats with Richard Linder, Chairman and CEO of Xenter. Linder is a serial bioscience entrepreneur and the founder and chairman emeritus of BioUtah, Utah’s independent life science association. He is the inventor of many medical devices in interventional cardiology, interventional radiology, neuro-interventional radiology, and orthopedic surgery. He holds more than 100 patents and patent applications in the U.S., and many more international patents. Based on his personal experience, Linder is building Xenter from the patient’s perspective.  Within a very short period, Linder launched company divisions in three areas: Xenter Hospital Technologies, Xenter Digital Health, and Xenter. For financial backing, Linder secured private investors with a long-term view of health care rather than venture capital. Linder is convinced that data is “everything” and “the future,” especially as physical and artificial intelligence become intertwined. “We have to look at new ways to develop sensors and get things done,” Linder asserts. Linder expects to add legendary health care leaders to his team later this year and to submit a new breed of medical devices for approval in 2022. This episode is sponsored by Xenter, www.xenterMD.com

Michael chats with Christian Boucher, Field CTO and Healthcare Tech Strategist at Island. In this episode, Michael and Christian discuss how the shift toward web applications aligns with security improvements and evolving digital roles, overcoming challenges with healthcare IT modernization due to FDA regulations on biomedical devices, how small productivity gains can lead to thousands of hours of savings per year, and much more.

Learn more at island.io.

Aneel chats with Shannon Larkin Vice President of Marketing and Business Development at Harmony Healthcare IT, a data management firm that migrates and archives patient, employee, and business records for healthcare organizations. Larkin notes that a single patient generates close to 80 megabytes in imaging electronic medical record data, which is increasing exponentially. Most hospitals have about 10 electronic medical record systems in place. Hospitals need to figure out how to integrate their legacy data with this burgeoning additional data, and this involves more than just cold storage, according to Larkin. Health information management teams that are fulfilling release of information requests and need to access that information every day. Clinicians often need to access historical information to treat the patients in real time, adds Larkin She notes that financial information is now being increasingly integrated into a single archival system. It’s very important for hospitals to put a legacy data management strategy system in place to achieve top-level interoperability, Larkin notes. This episode is sponsored by Harmony Healthcare IT, harmonyhit.com

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Aneel chats with Jon D. Morrow, M.D., M.B.A. about the relatively new concept of synthetic data, which involves using information from real patients who in the aggregate mimic the original population. Morrow is Senior VP and Physician Executive at MDClone, where he leads medical affairs activities for the North American market. A medical informaticist and board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist, Morrow has more than 25 years’ experience in academic medicine and healthcare technology. With the information gleaned from synthetic patients, you can  draw conclusions that would you would not be able to reach within HIPPA constrictions, notes Morrow. These synthetics patients and data, which can be shared with other providers without violating patient privacy, can help facilitate research discover patterns relating to health conditions and assist clinicians to better treat patients, according to Morrow. This episode is sponsored by MDClone. https://www.mdclone.com/

This episode is also sponsored by KNB Communications, www.knbcomm.com

Robin chats with Kelly Close, founder and chair of the board of the diaTribe Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to improving the lives of people living with diabetes and prediabetes, and advocating for action and Adam Brown, who serves as senior editor at diaTribe.org and head of diabetes technology & connected care at Close Concerns. There are more than 400 million people globally who have diabetes, about half of whom are undiagnosed, notes Brown. Historically, he says, technology has focused on Type 1 diabetes, but now and, in the future, there will be more of a focus on Type 2 diabetes, with the current capability of using continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) and the burgeoning use of smart phones and apps. Companies are going to have to demonstrate that this transformative technology produces better outcomes, he explains, so expect more studies of what happens when patients get real time glucose readings every five minutes. Technology can be used for more personalized prevention, treatment, and care, adds Close. There are scientific innovations, she says, which provide breakthrough therapies for cardiac issues related to diabetes, resulting in increased attention to access issues.  Having access to vital diabetes information, such as how much insulin is needed, empowers patients to engage in increased self-care, she adds. Pharmaceutical companies are “leaving diabetes,” Close notes, which just magnifies the importance of technology. However, Brown says, pharmaceutical companies, such as Eli Lilly, are investing in technology, including the use of pens, while CGM companies are focusing on software development. In terms of innovators, it’s important that they keep in mind the necessity of patient access and awareness, both Close and Brown assert.  

Michael chats with Dr. Bryan Cline, Chief Research Officer at HITRUST, a co-chair of the Risk Assessment Task Group of the Healthcare and Public Health (HPH) Sector Cybersecurity Working Group, and lead author of joint public-private sector guidance on implementing the NIST Cybersecurity Framework in the healthcare industry.

In this episode, Bryan talks about the history and development of the NIST Cybersecurity Framework, HPH sector implementation guidance, HIPAA compliance, and much more. This episode is sponsored by HITRUST.

To learn more about HITRUST, visit www.hitrustalliance.net. To learn more about how HITRUST supports the implementation of the NIST Cybersecurity Framework, see https://hitrustalliance.net/risk-analysis-control-selection-and-assurance-with-the-cybersecurity-framework-implementation-guide/. 

The views in this podcast do not necessarily reflect those of our sponsors. 

Michael chats with Nir Salomon, Co-founder and Head of R&D at Evinature. Together, they discuss importance of speaking up and educating others about gastrointestinal functions, strategies to managing the stigma and challenging emotions that come with living with gastrointestinal diseases, Evinature’s latest study into the effects and science behind how CurQD is helping patients heal from ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s, and much more.

Read Evinature’s study.

In this episode, Logan talks about the revolution in digital health with two experts Andrew Fish, Chief Strategy Officer and Zach Rothstein, Vice President for Technology & Regulatory Affairs at the Advanced Medical Technology Association.

 AdvaMed (advamed.org) advocates globally on behalf of its 400+ members for the highest ethical standards and patient access to safe, effective and innovative medical technologies that save and improve lives. Andrew, Zach and Logan discuss how the the digitization of health care is no longer confined just to electronic medical records. It’s now omnipresent — part of prevention, diagnosis, and treatment; at the intersection of interoperability; a key component of health system development —affecting every stakeholder in the industry, from start-ups to hospitals, from pharma firms to medical device companies, and from provider, to patients to payers. AdvaMed also introduces their new Center for Digital Health digitalhealth.advamed.org.

Logan chats with Dennis Truong, Telemedicine/Mobility director and an assistant physician-in-chief for Kaiser Permanente’s Mid-Atlantic Region, about innovation in telemedicine and health care delivery. Truong, a trained ER physician, talks about how Kaiser’s Mid-Atlantic telemedicine program started without a budget and was built from the ground-up in 2012. As an integrated, capitated system, Kaiser is committed to providing the greatest value for the money spent, which often results in out-of-the-box thinking, according to Truong. In the telemedicine program, Kaiser learned valuable lessons about the testing process and “soft” go lives, Truong notes. Kaiser, recognized as one of the most innovative large health care companies, deploys roadshows, “innovation engines,” and co-operation among its eight regions and 20,000 physicians to optimize innovation, Truong says. In the end, he explains, it’s Kaiser’s pro-innovation culture that serves as the backdrop for its progressive health care philosophy.

Michael chats with Kate McAfoose, President of Chang Robotics. Together, they discuss how Chang Robotics’ healthcare robotics work fits into the broader automation landscape, how robotics are helping nurses and improving hospital operations, other new innovations in hospital automation, and much more.

Plus, hear a special, can’t-miss announcement from Kate on Chang Robotics’ next great venture.

For more on Chang Robotics and Kate McAfoose, visit:

Chang Robotics’ website  
Curabotics’ website  
Chang Robotics’ LinkedIn 
Kate McAfoose’s LinkedIn

Robins chats with Anita Watkins, Director for Strategic Innovations at Rex Health Ventures, the venture arm for the UNC Health Care system, and with Tom White, the CEO & Co-Founder of Phynd, one of Rex’s portfolio companies. Rex has invested in more than a dozen companies, many of them in the automation and data management space, says Watkins. Rex works with portfolio companies before they’re in a position to be bought out by larger companies, Watkins notes. Phynd is a data management system that enables hospitals to use provider profiles that assist in consumer outreach in a full transaction approach, like Amazon or Open Table, says White. The bottom line is that the real customer for Phynd, in building single provider profiles, is the patient.  Health systems have built large campuses — a brick-and-mortar approach. But just as Amazon did in retail in developing its electronic-based, all-in-one approach, the health care industry is changing to a more accessible and data-driven approach, note Watkins and White. This episode is sponsored by Life365, Inc., www.life365inc.com, and Phynd Technologies, www.phynd.com.  

In this episode, Michael chats with Rick Sherak, CEO of Exokinetics, to discuss the creation of the groundbreaking Zeen mobility device and its impact on the lives of those struggling with mobility challenges. They explore Zeen's innovative functionality—allowing users to transition seamlessly from sitting to standing to walking safely and without the fear of falling. They also highlight the unique market segments the Zeen serves and much more in this insightful conversation.

To learn more about Zeen, visit gozeen.com or call 833-FOR-ZEEN.

Logan chats with Daniel DeFabio and Bo Bigelow, co-founders of Disorder: The Rare Disease Film Festival and fathers of children with rare diseases. DeFabio and Bigelow discuss how they met each other; the importance of finding other patients with rare diseases; and the power of film and storytelling to advocate for and bring rare diseases to light. Disorder started in Boston two years ago, with two full days of film on rare diseases. This year the Rare Disease Film Festival is at Mission Bay Conference Center at UCSF in San Francisco November 9-10. For more information, visit https://www.rarediseasefilmfestival.com/

Did you know that rheumatic diseases cost the U.S. healthcare system an estimated $128 billion annually? That fact forms the basis of a riveting conversation between Aneel and Dr. Andrew Concoff,. Executive Vice President and Chief Value Medical Officer at United Rheumatology.  Concoff describes the unique challenges faced by rheumatologists in private practice,  compared to those working for health systems, and details resources that have been helpful in overcoming these challenges. Concoff notes how the infusion suite has produced substantial revenue for rheumatologists but how those revenue now are being targeted and shrinking. For patients to succeed they need to be provided with robust care, he explains, but we also need ensure that private practices succeed as well. The transformation to value-based care, through evidence-based data and outcomes, can produce innovative treat-to-target strategies, he notes. Concoff also discusses how healthcare systems, payors, and rheumatologists can work together to drive quality care and reduce the cost of treating patients with rheumatologic disease.

Aneel chats with Roger Lam, Director of Engineering, at MBX Systems about how AI is transforming the health care industry. MBX Systems is an OEM/ODM of embedded, edge and data center hardware for medical ISVs and OEMs. Lam leads a team of engineers who develop next-gen hardware platforms for medical devices and AI/machine learning applications, to reduce the time and complexity of bringing inferencing-based solutions to market. AI is revolutionizing the health care industry by both pushing cutting-edge boundaries in various specialties, such as radiology and by augmenting productivity through reduction of staffing costs, for example, by enabling nurses to monitor more patients. This episode was sponsored by MBX Systems, www.mbx.com. 

Robin chats with Dr. Steven Gerst, a scholar at the Wharton School of Business, about the digital health revolution. Gerst, who has an extensive background in several areas of health care, is one of the most knowledgeable experts on health care innovation. Gerst cites a 2015 Goldman Sachs report, which categorized the digital health revolution as comprising three major platforms: remote patient monitoring, telehealth, and behavioral health. Through these three technologically based platforms, the United States can save more than $300 billion a year. In addition, through these innovative platforms, a patient’s behavior, diet, and medication can be adjusted almost instantaneously. Gerst notes that being able to make these adjustments has resulted, for example, in dramatic reductions in readmissions for congestive heart failure. This digital health revolution also is significantly impacting reimbursement. Increasingly, health care is becoming value-based, with incentives, through accounting care organizations, for physicians and other health care providers who find ways to reduce costs and achieve better outcomes.

Robin chats with Suzi Johnson, MPH, RN, Vice President of Sharp HospiceCare in San Diego, who won the 2019 Hearst Health Prize at the 19th Annual Population Health Summit in Philadelphia March 19. Sharp’s program provides expert palliative care directly in the patient’s home—prior to the patient having to go to the hospital for end-of-life care. There are distinct advantages to not going to the hospital, Johnson asserts. The goal of the Sharp program, she explains, is to provide a responsible transition for patients, sometimes called gap care, prior to either formal hospice or hospital care.

Michael chats with Peter Goldstein, Chief Revenue Officer, and Ann Seigler, Strategic Sales Executive, both at Clear Choice Headsets & Technology. In this episode, Michael, Peter, and Ann discuss the intersection of technological evolution and headset development, how headsets affect employee well-being and productivity, the challenges and needs of healthcare organizations regarding headsets, how the modern work environment has impacted how companies view headsets, and much more. This episode is sponsored by Clear Choice Headsets & Technology, LLC; clearchoiceheadsets.com, 847-298-8100.

Visit with Clear Choice Headsets & Technology at booth #6652 at HIMSS, March 11–15, in Orlando.

The views in this podcast do not necessarily reflect those of our sponsors.

Michael chats with Jeff McDaniel, principal security engineer at Airgap Networks. Airgap’s zero-agent, zero-trust approach to universal network segmentation, preventing lateral threat movement, stopping ransomware propagation by ringfencing every endpoint, and protecting high-value assets and mission-critical infrastructure. Jeff is a customer-focused, results-driven technologist with more than 25 years of experience in security and SAN architecture. His leadership and expertise have helped countless clients discover technology solutions in several areas, including health care. Jeff is a leader in solving issues in these environments and has spearheaded numerous successful full system rollouts—from planning all the way through post-production. This episode is sponsored by Airgap Networks, airgap.io.

Michael chats with David Cottingham, President of rf IDEAS. In this episode, Michael and David discuss rf IDEAS’ background and mission, how the company provides efficiencies in data security for healthcare, how healthcare organizations can strengthen their data security practices, some major trends in healthcare data security, and much more. This episode is sponsored by rf IDEAS, rfideas.com.

Visit with rf IDEAS at booth #3313 at HIMSS, March 12–14, in Orlando. Preview their IDEAS stage partners and sessions at rfIDEAS.com/HIMSS24. 

The views in this podcast do not necessarily reflect those of our sponsors.

Michael chats with Tom Liddell, CEO of Harmony Healthcare IT. Together, they discuss the impetus and development of ClearWay, Harmony’s new AI platform designed to streamline clinical abstraction and submission workflows; how ClearWay is making a huge impact in time-savings for clinicians and patients alike; how AI-driven automation in healthcare continues to evolve; and much more.

Aneel chats with Dr. Gregory Vidal, a medical oncologist and clinical research leader for breast oncology at West Cancer Center & Research Institute and Aubrey Kelly, CEO of Rabble Health, a digital patient engagement company in Thousand Oaks, California.  The guests discuss their Cancer Care Pathways Initiative, which recently conducted the first analysis of breast cancer care involving data from the Margaret West Comprehensive Breast Center (MWCBC). Rabble Health collected data and performed an assessment of 81 patients of varying race, age, zip codes and gender receiving care at the Breast Center.

The key findings were:

• MWCBC offers a rare full-service breast health center that addresses the entire spectrum of patient needs, from preventative measures to diagnosis, cancer treatment and survivorship.
• Over 70% of patients needing a biopsy received the procedure within 5 days of their initial mammogram. The national average is 14 days (cited here).
• Over 92% of women needing surgery received the procedure within 40 days of their initial mammogram. The national average is between 39 – 42 days (cited here).

The key recommendations were::

• Increase screening focus into high incidence and mortality zip codes
• Strengthen partnerships with surrounding entities to further promote breast screenings and coordination of access, literacy, and funding
• Implementation of community-based activities and mobile units
• Continue this same analysis moving forward to assess operational success (i.e. outcomes patient experience, cost/risk, and patient education)

This episode is sponsored by the West Cancer Center & Research Institute, the MidSouth’s leader in adult oncology care. As they say at West Cancer Center, “we can and we care.” For more information, visit westcancercenter.org

Robin chats with Ardy Arianpour, CEO & Co-Founder of Seqster, a data-driven healthcare SaaS platform that seamlessly integrates into any payer, provider, or clinical research enterprise. Seqster is at the forefront of the movement to integrate baseline genetic data, including DNA, with patient electronic medical records.  Seqster’s business model is business to business, through SaaS, where businesses license the platform and Seqster delivers the integrated information to their members. Seqster has created a consumer management data exchange in which patients can monitor and correct their own or a loved one’s medical information, through the aggregation of data from different health systems, wearable data, and ancestral data in incredibly short timeframes and in an overall patient centric framework. This episode is sponsored by J & B Medical, www.jandbmedical.com and Life365, Inc., www.life365inc.com

Michael chats with Tracie Wagman, CEO of ColdVest. In this episode, Michael and Tracie discuss ColdVest and how it addresses the growing issue of heat-related deaths, the benefits of ColdVest and its endothermic technology, how Tracie sees ColdVest evolving in the future, and much more. This episode is sponsored by ColdVest, ColdVest.com.

Michael chats with Steven Hajny, Healthcare Technology Evangelist and Principal Solutions Engineer at Zscaler. Together, they explore the critical role of zero trust in reshaping healthcare IT, from mitigating ransomware threats that could impact patient safety to balancing the demands of innovation and strong security. Steven shares insights from the Zero Trust Hospital book series, which includes a guide for clinical teams on breaking down zero trust implementation into actionable steps and another volume tailored for healthcare CXOs, offering strategies to drive organization-wide zero trust adoption. Packed with real-world examples and practical advice, this episode highlights how zero trust fosters secure, personalized patient experiences while staying ahead of cyber threats.

Download the Zero Trust Hospital book series to discover how to safeguard healthcare environments at every level.

Michael chats with Tony Anscombe, Chief Security Evangelist at ESET. In this episode, Michael and Tony discuss the motivation behind and nature of healthcare cyber attacks, the pros and cons of using AI in healthcare, protection in light of the prevalence of telehealth, the importance of threat intelligence and human expertise in preventing cyber attacks, and much more. This episode is sponsored by ESET, eset.com/us.

Visit with ESET at booth #1601 at HIMSS, March 11–15, in Orlando.

The views in this podcast do not necessarily reflect those of our sponsors.

Robin chats with Stephen Shaya, Chief Medical Officer and EVP of Corporate Development at J&B Medical. Shaya describes his riveting immigrant story, which starts with his parents coming from Iraq in 1966. His father worked four jobs while attending the University of Michigan. His father eventually founded J&B Medical Supply in 1966, which has now become a dynamic global leader in health care, whose mission is to increase access to care and to fill gaps of in the health care system by leveraging technology, especially in remote areas of the world. For example, he notes, J&B is in partnership with the UK’s Commonwealth Fund to provide care to hundreds of thousands of patients in remote Pakistan. By using telemedicine to provide health care services, J&B is fulfilling its mission while still achieving a margin, he notes.  His litmus test for these social business projects is whether they are sustainable. As a result, infrastructure and education are paramount to these global health initiatives, according to Shaya. There are three types of capital necessary to achieve these game-changing initiatives: financial, intellectual, and political. The latter is probably the most important, he says, and the way to utilize political capital is to partner with local governments and persons of influence.  This episode was sponsored by J&B Medical Supply Co., Inc., https://www.jandbmedical.com/

Robin chats with David Harshfield, medical director of the Arkansas Institute of Regenerative Medicine, chairman of the International Cellular Medicine Society IRB and member of the AAOM Board of Directors, about innovative regenerative medicine legislation in Arkansas that could potentially save millions of dollars. Harshfield first stressed the importance of a holistic approach toward medicine, noting that before injecting anything into a joint, it’s important to check other systems in the body, especially the endocrine system. Regenerative therapies don’t have the side effects of surgery, Harshfield says, and the Arkansas pilot legislation is designed to produce better patient outcomes and save money. In Arkansas, an interdisciplinary committee was formed to focus on the use of less expensive, more effective therapies, such as regenerative injections, to benefit patients as measures of first response. The importance of the law also lies in the establishment of a registry and new reimbursement criteria. The registry will help physicians learn from their failures as well as successes, Harshfield explains.

Logan chats with Scott Lien, CoFounder and CEO of GrandPad about the Grandpad’s tablet for super seniors and how effective it has been during the COVID -19 crisis. Super seniors, defined as anyone 75 or older, “have the  most life experiences, have lived through so much and are the wisest amongst us as a group,” Lien notes. However, he adds, many of the super seniors suffer from physical, cognitive, and mental health issues, and thus have unique needs when it comes to technology. GrandPad developed its product with the advice of a board that included 10 super seniors. The product includes features to address hearing loss, dry skin, and eyesight issues, for example. Grandpad’s mission is “empowering seniors  by helping them to “connect with caregivers, family and friends.” The technology behind Grandpad was purposely built to bridge the technological divide with seniors and strives to create an environment where seniors will not feel isolated or lonely. The tablet serves to connect its users in a “circle of care. a circle of trust” explains Lien. The grandpad is connected to caregivers’

and families’ free commpanion app or, in some cases, a partner portal, where the user can be connected easily to their doctor or nurse. Grandpad thus helps to lower the cost of health care as a whole. While it began as a Direct to Consumer model, it has a evolved as a B2B model with the product being sold at major stores like Target. The easy-to-use Grandpad is created “by seniors for seniors,” Lien notes,  with integrated 4G data that makes it easier than ever to use for a very affordable price. Lien closes out the podcast by emphasizing the importance of this age group and being attentive to their needs so that they never have to feel stupid trying to adapt to technology that was built for a younger audicence. This episode is sponsored by GrandPad, www.grandpad.net; Medical Home Network, www.medicalhomenetwork.org; and Orbita, www.orbita.ai. 

Logan chats with Dr. Joel Diamond about the value of using genetic and genomic testing to make real-time diagnoses and treatment decisions and how these tests can positively affect the outcomes and treatment paths for a variety of medical conditions.  Logan also talks with Ken Rubin of BPM + Health about how building a community comprised of different levels of patient providers can help deliver a better standard of care.  The following companies, all of whom are exhibiting at  HIMSS 2020 sponsored this episode: Ōmcare (omcare.com), changing the way the world cares with its Ōmcare Home Health Hub™; Fujitsu Computer Products of America (fcpa.com/us) the leader in document imaging and scanning, offering a full range of scanning technologies and solutions; 2bPrecises (2bprecisehealth.com) helping healthcare organizations leverage the full value of genetic and genomic testing;  BPM+ Health (bpm-plus.org), a community that brings together CMIOs from hospitals and healthcare systems, industry and physician associations, vendors, and consultants to create machine-readable clinical pathways that can be shared across healthcare systems; TouchPoint Medical (touchpointmed.com), which designs, manufactures, and sells medical equipment around the world that mobilizes medical technology and manages medication dispensing; and Bridge Patient Portal (bridgepatientportal.com), a company that revolutionizes the patient experience by giving users access to an unprecedented set of tools and services to manage their care through a “single pane of glass.”

Robin talks with Naveen Jain, entrepreneur, philanthropist and founder of an impressive list of innovative companies that includes Moon Express, Intelius and Infospace. His newest company, Viome, provides bacteria analysis of the gut to uncover the source of digestive and other health problems. According to Jain, the gut microbiome is the key to overall health. Most chronic diseases people are living with today are caused by low-grade chronic inflammation, he says, which comes from imbalances in the gut microbiome. We are “walking, talking ecosystems,” Jain says, and for optimum health, we have to find and fight toxins in our ecosystems that make us sick. The bottom line is that our genes are not our destiny, he emphasizes; gene expression, or function, influences our destiny more. Understanding that can lead to a personalized nutrition plan of good foods and foods to avoid. The overall function of the gut microbiome, then, can be fine-tuned to lead to better health.

Logan Plaster chats with Brian Skow, M.D.,  about Avera’s digital hub in Sioux Falls, SD, which has 10 different health care services, including ICU, Pharmacy, Hospitalist, Senior Care, School Nurse, Virtual Consult, Avera Now (direct to consumer), Prison, Specialty Clinic, Indian Health Services, Behavioral Health and Emergency on call 24x7 anywhere in the United States. Skow serves as the Avera eCARE Chief Medical Officer and the Medical Director of Avera eCare Emergency, an affiliation of Avera Health, a 31-hospital integrated medical system based in Sioux Falls.  In addition, he has served as the Medical Director of Avera eCare Emergency and in this role has logged more than 15,000 hours of direct patient telehealth experiences. Now Avera eCARE Emergency program has grown to more than 200 sites across 16 states. Avera’s e-Emergency system enables physicians to be on hand much quicker at rural critical care hospitals, which can literally be life-saving in certain cardiac situations. These critical care hospitals have responded very positively because there is often a significant shortage of physicians in rural areas, notes Skow, especially when it comes to emergency back-up services.  Another service that is particularly well received, he says, is behavioral health.

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Michael chats with Preethi Raju, Product Design Leader, most recently at Amazon One Medical. In this episode, Michael and Preethi discuss Preethi's background and journey toward her role, the importance of holistic design in healthcare, innovation and collaboration in healthcare through design, how thoughful product design creates real impact in healthcare, and much more. 

Michael chats with Oded Kraft, CEO and Co-Founder of GrayMatters Health. Together, they discuss the future of mental health care, how technology has had a positive impact on the mental health industry, the launch of Prism and how its helping post-traumatic stress disorder patients, how Prism is different than other devices in the PTSD space, and much more.

Logan chats with Senior Content Analyst and writer Lisa Hedges from Software Advice on the use of telemedicine to help deal with the pandemic. Many health care workers have had to quickly adapt to new technology that supports telemedicine, which has made it more accessible than ever before, according to Hedges. One major challenge for medical practitioners is how to treat patients with the highly contagious virus while minimizing its spread, she notes. Telemedicine is not a new concept, she points out, but it was not really designed to deal with pandemics, and this has meant enduring and overcoming certain kinks, bugs, and barriers. But with landmark legislative and regulatory revisions, it is now easier than ever for to utilize telemedicine, according to Hedges. Telemedicine providers are offering free trials to engage practitioners not familiar with the technology, she notes. According to a tweet by @doxymeHQ, where 2,000 to 3,000 providers per month were registering, 2400 providers per hour are now registering. It is important, Hedges says, for both the patient and practitioner to know which vendors to use to minimize logistical barriers. Hedges explains in detail the five-step process practitioners can use to assess the effectiveness of telemedicine programs, both in these turbulent times and in the future. This episode is sponsored by Ora, www.oraclinical.com; Bridge Patient Portal, www.bridgepatientportal.com; and Software Advice, www.softwareadvice.com. 

Michael chats with Mike Nelson, Vice President of Digital Trust at DigiCert. In this episode, Michael and Mike discuss the latest cybersecurity regulations surrounding medical devices, how public key infrastructure (PKI) connects compliance and security to help medical device manufacturers meet those regulations, the meaning of “crypto-agility” and how it helps organizations adapt to and defend against cybersecurity threats, and much more. This episode is sponsored by DigiCert, digicert.com.

Visit with DigiCert at booth #1636 in the Cyber Command Center at HIMSS, March 11–15, in Orlando.

The views in this podcast do not necessarily reflect those of our sponsors.

Robin chats with cardiologist Peter Libby, Mallinckrodt Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Chief of Cardiovascular Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, who has researched the role of inflammation as a cause of disease. According to Libby, inflammation consists of two key arms — innate immune response, which is very rapid, blunt, and primitive, and the adaptive immune response, including T and B cells, which requires an “education” to fine tune a response to the body, as in the case with vaccines. Many chronic diseases involve dis- regulation of certain systems that leads to harmful inflammation in the body. The trick in dealing with this inflammation is to activate an inactive precursor in the “supermolecular inflammazone” that recognizes these dangers and produces helpful antibodies, such as occurred in the recent CANTOS trial. The CANTOS trial was a very large-scale study helping to advance the understanding of the importance of antibodies in fighting inflammation. The bottom line is the realization that lifestyle primary prevention can help prevent different kinds of inflammatory changes and reduce the need for drug therapies in a variety of diseases.

Michael chats with David Katz, chief scientific officer and founder of Sparrow Pharmaceuticals. Prior to founding Sparrow, David was a pharmaceutical R&D leader at Abbott and AbbVie, where he led clinical development and drug discovery teams and was a personalized medicine pioneer. He is currently an entrepreneur-in-residence at Oregon Health & Science University.

David held post-doctoral fellowships in immunology at the Universities of Chicago and Michigan and earned a B.A. in Chemistry at Pomona College and a Ph.D. in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale University. In this episode, David discusses the creation of Sparrow, the company’s work in developing new medicines for patients who have experienced the effects of excess steroids, and how, in his view, developing drugs is just as much of an art as it is a science.

This episode is sponsored by Sparrow Pharmaceuticals, sparrowpharma.com.

Logan chats with Dr. Dave Levin, Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer, about his company’s technology in the new normal created by COVID. With an extensive background in health technology followed by medical school and very prominent positions as a practicing physician in family medicine, Medical Director, and as CMO at the Cleveland Clinic. Dr. Levin has been a pioneer in getting practitioners to “put down their pens and use their keyboards,” Dr. Levin believes that computers are transformational agents in health care. Datica’s mission, he says, is to better enable those who are in the business of transforming digital health to succeed. Datica is seen as a catalyst for change, especially in the areas of interoperability, clinical surveillance, support, and real-time deep integration. This technology, which monitors data flow, allows clinicians to examine clues that can inform patient treatment. This data need to be “rich and consistent and fit into the workflow of busy clinicians” Dr. Levin says. When asked about interoperability during COVID-19, he responds that this is a fascinating time, a time when digital health can really “shine.” Telehealth has advanced more in last two weeks than it has in the last two decades, he says. The healthcare world wants to move quickly because this is a crisis and many barriers surrounding licensing and reimbursement have been removed or lessened, he notes. Datica has played an integral part in supporting the scaling up of telehealth and making sure the cloud architecture is secure and stable, while meeting requirements around privacy and security. This episode is sponsored by Ora, www.oraclinical.com; Telehealth Associates, www.telehealthassociates.com; and Software Advice, www.softwareadvice.com. 

Michael chats with Kumar Shwetabh, President and Chief Growth Officer at Access Healthcare. In this episode, Michael and Kumar discuss the U.S. healthcare industry’s reluctance to adopt AI and advanced automation compared with other industries, why hospital operating margins are continuously sliding, how they can remain profitable without increasing the cost of delivery, the future of the medical field and how to incentivize pursuing family practice, and much more. This episode is sponsored by Access Healthcare, accesshealthcare.com.

In this episode, Logan Plaster, Editor of Start Up Health, mixes the personal with business as he interviews Lisa Lavin, CEO of Omcare, a start up health company that turning heads and changing the everyday lives of seniors across America.

Omcare, recently named “One of Nation’s Hottest Healthcare Startups in “Flyover Tech” by the New York Observer, has an innovative and interesting approach to home healthcare. They provide game-changing technology - A Smart Pill Dispenser and VideoPhone - that allows caregivers to extend their reach inside the home through a portal that dispenses and tracks medication adherence.

With 28% of adults living by themselves and a growing senior population, Omcare’s advancements are an example of future home health care happening right now.

This episode was sponsored by AdvaMed and Omcare. AdvaMed's new Center for Digital Health promotes the critical role of data and digital medical technologies in improving patient care and addresses set of regulatory and payment challenges to accelerate digital health innovation and patient access. To learn more,  digitalhealth.advamed.org.

 Ōmcare is changing the way the world cares with its Ōmcare Home Health Hub™.  To learn more, visit Ōmcare’s website at Omcare.com and follow them on social media for the latest updates. Ōmcare. Care. From anywhere.

Robin chats with Kent Dicks, the founder & CEO of Life365, Inc., about the digital health care revolution. Dicks has been in the forefront of the Internet of (Medical) Things, (IoT), and connected care solutions, in integrating the home and telehealth as important components of health care. Now, through mobile phones, advanced technology, and new reimbursement models, the health care revolution is really taking off, according to Dicks. As an example, if a person with congestive health failure gains weight, physicians or nurse practitioners can be automatically notified and treatment can be ordered through phone calls and messages. Life365 has “navigators” who can assist patients through integrated services, and sometimes accompany them to appointments, if necessary. Life365 also works with partners and navigators who use rideshare programs, like Uber and Lyft, to assist patients in need. Life365 just came through a two-week immersion program with the Mayo Clinic, Dicks notes. Now, Dicks points out, large retailers such as WalMart and Amazon, are developing health care units and options, to help patients, especially in rural areas, through, for example, telemedicine. Each of these channels needs to be connected through the home to make sure patients are not heading to the hospitals, and that’s one of the critical roles that Life365 plays in the digital health care revolution. Ten thousand people turn 65 every day, Dicks notes, and integrating health care through a common platform that puts together disparate vendors and deploys AI, that furnishes current data, is the wave of the future. This episode was sponsored by J & B Medical, www.jandbmedical.com  and Life 365, www.life365inc.com.

Michael chats with Yoni Nevo, CEO of Sweetch, a digital therapeutics innovator and creator of a clinically validated, personalized, and adaptive AI platform and companion app for chronic health conditions. Yoni is an entrepreneur and executive with over 20 years of experience in international business development, marketing, strategy, and software engineering management, and he was the CEO and co-founder of Cimagine, a pioneering AR platform for retailers and brands that was bought by Snap Inc. in 2016, among many other impressive ventures. Yoni talks with Michael about how new technologies, such as hyper-personalization and other advancements in remote health, are fostering improved in-home health care, bettering the lives of patients with chronic conditions, and benefiting health care providers and other industry organizations as they move quickly into a new health care landscape. This episode is sponsored by Sweetch, sweetch.com.

Michael chats with Scott Francis, technology evangelist at Fujistu Imaging, about how AI, digitization, and document-imaging technologies are helping to advance health care. Fujitsu recently unveiled a new line of scanners, the fi-8000 series, for health care that offer high-quality, straight-to-cloud document-imaging systems. Francis is a leading expert in digitization’s role in health care, and he shares his insights into how leveraging AI and data is essential in helping to push the field further into a more efficient future. This episode is sponsored by Fujitsu, fujitsuscanners.com.

Aneel chats with Bradley Carlson, TouchPoint Medical’s Point of Care Group Leader. Carlson is an industrial designer by education and an intrapreneur by practice, who has more than three decades of experience designing, developing, marketing, selling, and supporting healthcare-focused products.  “Happy caregivers equal happy patients,” says Carlson. TouchPoint focuses on understanding key workflow issues and software needs, and is committed to intentionally developing practical tools to streamline jobs and enhance patient care. TouchPoint’s Pro Care Series, Carlson says, is more than a storage system, featuring a multi-functional design that includes removable drawers, which enable health care teams to more efficiently treat patients. This episode was sponsored by TouchPoint Medical, www.tochpointmed.com