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Will Apple Track Your Mind, Not Just Your Heart?

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By MICHAEL MILLENSON

If your heart throbs with desire for the new Apple Watch, the Series 4 itself can track that pitter-pat through its much-publicized ability to provide continuous heart rate readings.

On the other hand, if you’re depressed that you didn’t buy Apple stock years ago, your iPhone’s Face ID might be able to discover your dismay and connect you to a therapist.

In its recent rollout of the Apple Watch, company chief operating officer Jeff Williams enthused that the device could become “an intelligent guardian for your health.” Apple watching over your health, however, might involve much more than a watch.

The iPhone models introduced at the same time as the Series 4 all deploy facial analysis software. The feature works in part by projecting a grid of more than 30,000 infrared dots on the user’s face in order to create a three-dimensional map for user recognition. Continue reading…

THCB Spotlights: MIRA Fertility Tracker

By ZOYA KHAN

A couple weeks back, Matthew met with MIRA Fertility Tracker at TechCrunch Disrupt 2018. Sylvia Kang, CEO & Co-founder of MIRA, spoke to Matthew about her new fertility tester for women trying to track their cycles. It also has an AI component built into its system, in order to inform women the days they are most likely to get pregnant. MIRA also took center stage at #Health2con’s Venture Connect, placing 1st among a series of talented health tech startups. 

Zoya Khan is the Editor-in-Chief of THCB as well as an Associate at SMACK.health, a health-tech advisory services for early-stage startups.

Health in 2 Point 00 Episode 51

In this Episode of #healthin2pt00 Jess & I do a real recap of the Health 2.0 Conference. I mention some of the startups that I thought were great, including Supportiv, Tag.bio, Nebula Genomics, Bluestream Health, Medically Home, b.well, and Medsafe. I also want to highlight Krista from Project HEAL that started an organization to raise awareness about mental health & eating disorders. We also discuss #CMS and Ro receiving $88 million in its funding round- Matthew Holt

“Remember that Oath?”: EPCS and the Fight Against Opioid Abuse

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By SEAN KELLY, MD

As doctors, we all took an oath when we graduated from medical school to “do no harm” to patients. It is, therefore, our duty to speak up and take action when there is an opportunity to prevent harm and improve patient care, safety and well-being. On average, the opioid crisis is killing more Americans on a monthly basis than traumatic injuries. It is time for the medical community to raise its voice even more loudly in support of proven technology that helps curb this crisis.

This month, California Governor Jerry Brown became the latest state lawmaker to embrace electronic prescribing for controlled substances (EPCS) — joining nearly a dozen other states that have passed legislation mandating that health care providers and pharmacies use the technology. The Golden State law was signed at the same time the U.S. Senate passed a bill requiring e-prescriptions for any reimbursement under Medicare Part D.

Clearly, EPCS is emerging as a key tool in the fight against opioid abuse. And legislators aren’t alone in driving the trend — corporations are playing a key role as well. Walmart, one of the nation’s largest pharmacy chains, is requiring EPCS by January 1, 2020. In their press release, it was noted that “E-prescriptions are proven to be less prone to errors, they cannot be altered or copied and are electronically trackable.”

Continue reading…

Limitations of Randomized Controlled Trials

By SAURABH JHA

In the hierarchy of evidence-based medicine (EBM), randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are like Brahmins. But do Brahmins have flaws? I discuss these flaws with Dr. Anish Koka, a cardiologist, and essayist who has written extensively about RCTs in THCB.

Listen to our conversation at Radiology Firing Line Podcast.

About the author:

Saurabh Jha is a contributing editor to THCB and host of Radiology Firing Line Podcast of the Journal of American College of Radiology, sponsored by Healthcare Administrative Partners

Health in 2 Point 00 Episode 50

Wow, today is the 50th Episode of Health in 2 Point 00. On today’s episode, we have something special for you: an Epic Guest Takeover at the Health 2.0 Conference from the “intellectual capital” (as Jessica puts it) that exists today in health care & health tech. Guest Starring Rasu Shrestha, UPMC; Daniel Kraft, Singularity University; Kyra Bobinet, engagedIN; Eugene Borukhovich, Bayer. I may or may not have given my two cents in the 2 minutes–Matthew Holt

A Guide to Making Machine Learning Work in Health Care

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Apologies on the hiatus for posting on THCB. As many of you know, I was running around getting Health 2.0 in order this past weekend. Today we are featuring a piece on understanding how machine learning can actually work in health care today-Matthew Holt

 

 
 
By LEONARD D’ AVOLIO, PhD

 

There’s plenty of coverage on what machine learning may do for healthcare and when. Painfully little has been written for non-technical healthcare leaders whose job it is to successfully execute in the real world with real returns. It’s time to address that gap for two reasons.

First, if you are responsible for improving care, operations, and/or the bottom line in a value-based environment, you will soon be forced to make decisions related to machine learning. Second, the way this stuff actually works is incredibly inconsistent with the way it’s being sold and the way we’re used to using data/information technology in healthcare.

I’ve been fortunate to have spent the past dozen years designing machine learning-powered solutions for healthcare across hundreds of academic medical centers, international public health projects, and health plans as a researcher, consultant, director, and CEO. Here’s a list of what I wish I had known years ago.

Continue reading…

A Rosa Parks Moment is Coming in Phase 1 Cancer Trials

By DAVID C. NORRIS, MD

I want to tell you about the most exciting discovery I’ve made in 2+ years of research on dose individualization methods for phase 1 cancer trials. This discovery has nothing to do with any of the technical problems I’ve confronted and solved along the way. It involves no gigantic equation, no table of simulations results, and no colorful plot. Rather, it’s a discovery about sources of power to innovate in drug development.

In general, how would you describe the balance of power between Big Pharma and the individual patient? The question seems ludicrous—maybe even offensive—in light of ongoing scandals with price-hikes and shortages for critical drugs. But in the special area of trial methodology, I’ve got a real surprise for you…

One result from my DTAT research has been a clear demonstration that 1-size-fits-all dose finding in phase 1 cancer trials can cut the value of a drug in half, or even drop it to zero by setting the drug up for failure in phase 2 or 3. Although this economic argument has never been made quite so explicit and rigorous, I am certain the underlying principle comes as no surprise to anyone. (I note hardly anyone bats an eye when I detail the math.) Continue reading…

The White House chooses Paxlovid over science

BY ANISH KOKA

Yesterday, the White house COVID czar surprisingly doubled down on Paxlovid as the silver bullet for COVID.

I was curious because most impartial observers don’t believe the totality of evidence supports Paxlovid as some type of COVID-slayer. The problem is that Paxlovid showed great benefit in unvaccinated patients in preventing progression to severe disease, but much less benefit in vaccinated/prior infected individuals.

Dr. Jha cites a study in the New England Journal of Medicine to note Paxlovid is a home run for those over 65, and despite negative results for the under 65 group in this study, cites 3 other studies that support its use in the 50-64 age group. He goes onto thread together some other studies to support his views.

It’s a really interesting thread that says a lot more about the politics of COVID than the science of COVID because it rests heavily on flawed retrospective studies of Paxlovid that show benefit, and ignores the much stronger randomized controlled trials that suggest otherwise.

Health in 2 Point 00, Episode 49

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Jessica DaMassa asks me about what I saw at Techcrunch Distrupt, Clarify Health Solutions’s $57m round, what Wellth will do with its $5m & a whole lot about next weeks Health 2.0 Conference–Matthew Holt

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