Tag: Health Tech

Now 30M Comcast Members Can Sync their Care Plan with their TV | Carina Edwards, CEO Quil Health

Nov 27, 2019

By JESSICA DAMASSA, WTF HEALTH

Quil Health CEO, Carina Edwards, tells us what’s happening at the digital health startup born from the partnership between Comcast NBCUniversal and Independence Blue Cross. The new “baby” is just about a year old. How’s it faring? And how involved are the “parents”? Carina talks about the company’s patient engagement platform that connects via phone, web, and cable TV. That means 30 million Comcast subscribers can sync their TV with their Quil app and literally ‘watch’ their care plan along with their Nightly News. Will Al Roker be making another appearance on Quil soon? This, and all the important questions about their business model and client base are answered here!

Filmed at the HIMSS Health 2.0 Conference in Santa Clara, CA in September 2019.

Jessica DaMassa is the host of the WTF Health show & stars in Health in 2 Point 00 with Matthew Holt. Get a glimpse of the future of healthcare by meeting the people who are going to change it. Find more WTF Health interviews here or check out www.wtf.health.

THCB Spotlights: Jeremy Orr, CEO of Medial EarlySign

Nov 26, 2019

Today on THCB Spotlights, Matthew speaks with Jeremy Orr, CEO of Medial EarlySign. Medial EarlySign does complex algorithmic detection of elevated risk trajectories for high-burden serious diseases, and the progression towards chronic diseases such as diabetes. Tune in to hear more about this AI/ML company that has been working on their algorithms since before many had even heard about machine learning, what they’ve been doing with Kaiser Permanente and Geisinger, and where they are going next.

Filmed at the HLTH Conference in Las Vegas, October 2019.

From Health Consumers To Health Citizens | Jane Sarasohn-Kahn, THINK Health & Health Populi Blog

Nov 25, 2019

By JESSICA DAMASSA, WTF HEALTH

Jane Sarasohn-Kahn, health economist, advisor and author of “HealthConsuming: From Health Consumer to Health Citizen” explains how consumers are getting screwed by the American health system because of the industry’s lack of transparency and lack of privacy laws that protect patient data. Jane weighs in on the consumerization of healthcare, which she believes has put the patient into the position of the “payer” — but without any of the information, buying power, or right to manage their money like a true consumer. How do we, as patients, move from healthcare consumers to “health citizens”? Jane’s done the research, and she’s sharing it here!

Filmed at the HIMSS Health 2.0 Conference in Santa Clara, CA in September 2019.

6 Core Patient Portal Features to Get More Patients on Board

Nov 21, 2019• 10

By SANDRA LUPANOVA

Healthcare providers are moving forward with their digital initiatives, pursuing intranet development, implementing e-prescribing software, and deploying EHR systems and patient portals to enhance patient care, maximize staff efficiency, and improve the bottom line.

However, while medical professionals are largely enthusiastic about digital healthcare solutions, the disparity between the rate of clinical support and patient utilization of some of this software, patient portals in particular, is enormous. Even though patient self-service solutions have become ubiquitous in medical facilities nation-wide, over 62% of US hospitals report that their patient portal systems are used by less than a quarter of all patients.

Patients still don’t see enough value in patient portals, voicing concerns over the steep learning curve, lack of training, anxiety regarding data security and confidentiality, and other issues. Addressing these challenges is critical to encouraging patient buy-in and getting more patients involved in their health.

Since most medical facilities in the country already have patient portals in place, the next step to overcome barriers to their adoption is to expand these systems to deliver features that will get more patients involved.

THCB Spotlight: Dr. Pascal Zuta, CEO of Gyant

Nov 14, 2019

Today on THCB Spotlight, Matthew catches up with Dr. Pascal Zuta, the Co-Founder and CEO of Gyant at HLTH. Gyant is a digital “front door” for hospitals which helps patients find the right care. In their vision, health care software should not smell like a hospital—they’ve worked to infuse their system with fun and empathy, with the goal of building a system that can follow someone all the way along their patient journey in an empathetic way in which AI and humans work together seamlessly.

Why Former FDA Commissioner, Scott Gottlieb, Joined the Aetion Board | Carolyn Magil, CEO Aetion

Nov 13, 2019

By JESSICA DAMASSA, WTF HEALTH

Big news from Aetion CEO, Carolyn Magil, as she talks about the addition of former FDA Commissioner, Scott Gottlieb, to her Board. WHOA. What a HUGE endorsement of support for what Aetion is building…which is what, exactly? Carolyn explains how the company is using real world data (any data outside of clinical trial data) to figure out how different people will react to the same drug. That means they’re using data from health insurance claims, EMRs, wearables, pharma registries, etc. to ultimately save the time, money, and headache of finding out which medicines will work best for which patients. What’s more? A priority for Aetion is helping bring to light how populations usually under-represented in clinical trials (women, seniors, kids) will react to certain treatments. Backed by $77M in funding, and now the former FDA head, tune in to find out what’s next for Aetion.

Filmed at the HIMSS Health 2.0 Conference in Santa Clara, CA in September 2019.

Announcing GuideWell’s 2020 Scale Up Accelerator: Aging in Place

Nov 11, 2019

More Disruption from Jonathan Bush…This Time It’s Primary Care | Jonathan Bush, Firefly Health

Nov 8, 2019• 1

By JESSICA DaMASSA, WTF HEALTH

Health tech rabble-rouser, Jonathan Bush, marked his return to digital health with an appearance on the Health 2.0 stage, and quick chat with WTF Health about his new role as Executive Chairman at Firefly Health. As if conquering EMRs wasn’t enough, JB’s planning on disrupting primary care for his second act. With $10.8M series A funding and a huge addressable market, this may not be such a crazy idea after all. So, what made us miss this guy so much during his year-long hiatus from health tech? Just watch. This interview goes from the “Kabuki theater of the doctor’s office visit” to “Marie Kondo-ing” healthcare to Machiavelli and universal healthcare’s impact on the health tech market. Welcome back, JB.

Filmed at the Health 2.0 Conference in Santa Clara, CA in September 2019.

YTH Live 2020

Oct 30, 2019

By ERIN MCKELLE

There are many public health conferences that focus on young people, or that center around youth issues, but very few that actually include the young people’s voices that we are claiming to uplift as public health professionals.

There are also very few conferences that emphasize innovation in healthcare, that are pointed towards solutions rather than discussing problems at length without clear ways of solving them.

These core issues are at the heart of the annual YTH Live conference. Each year (we’re on our twelfth!), we showcase the boldest technologies in health and cutting-edge research in all facets of youth health and wellness. We also have attendees that range from IT professionals to high school students, with over 25% of last year’s attendees and speakers being young people themselves.

YTH’s Communications Coordinator Erin McKelle has first-hand experience of this. “I first attended YTH Live when I was a senior in high school. It was the first conference I ever spoke at and all of my fears about being the only young person in the room were quickly put to rest, once I saw that YTH plans a youth conference that actually centers around youth voices,” she says. “I’m proud to now be working for the organization years later, after serving on the Youth Advisory Board, paying the mission of youth empowerment forward to the next generation of youth leaders.”

Aussie Series: My Health Record Update

Oct 15, 2019

By JESSICA DaMASSA, WTF HEALTH

A few weeks ago, WTF Health took the show on the road to Australia’s digital health conference, HIC 2019. We captured more than 30 interviews (!) from the conference, which is run by the Health Informatics Society of Australia (hence the HISA Studio branding) and I had the opportunity to chat with most of the Australian Digital Health Agency’s leadership, many administrators from the country’s largest health systems, and a number of health informaticians, clinicians, and patients. I’ll be spotlighting a few of my favorites here in a four-part series to give you a flavor of what’s happening in health innovation ‘Down Under.’ For much more, check out all the videos on the playlist here.

What trip Down Under would be complete without an update on the Australian government’s My Health Record program? The “opt out” period is over and now 22M Aussies (90% of the population) have electronic records managed by the gov’t. Bottom line: They’ve built it, no one’s really opted out, but no one’s really come yet either…especially on the provider side to populate the record with info.

Here are four different takes on what’s going on and what’s next.

For the ‘general gist’ of what’s happening:

Elizabeth Deveny, Chair of the Australian Digital Health Agency