By ZOYA KHAN
Today on THCB Spotlight, Chris Gervais, Chief Technology Officer of Kyruus, tells us about what Kyruus is doing to improve patient access and help health systems match patients to the right providers. Health systems often don’t know enough about their providers, and Kyruus is working to empower health systems to use that data in a computable way in order to coordinate patient demand with physician supply.
By JESSICA DAMASSA, WTF HEALTH
While overseeing new technology development at Intouch Solutions, an industry leading pharmaceutical marketing agency, Abidur Rahman spends his time identifying which healthcare innovations are actually relevant. An important job, considering the insane proliferation of AR/VR/AI technologies in the pharmaceutical industry. Get his take on the most viable health tech applications for AR/VR/AI now and what areas startups should be innovating towards in the future.
Filmed at the Frontiers Health Conference in Berlin, Germany, November 2018.
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.
By DAVE LEVIN, MD and NIKKI KENT
The Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) have proposed final rules on interoperability, data blocking, and other activities as part of implementing the 21st Century Cures Act. In this series, we will explore ideas behind the rules, why they are necessary and the expected impact. Given that these are complex and controversial topics are open to interpretation, we invite readers to respond with their own ideas, corrections and opinions.
Interventions to Address Market Failures
Many of the rules proposed by CMS and ONC are evidence-based interventions aimed at critical problems that market forces have failed to address. One example of market failure is the long-standing inability for health care providers and insurance companies to find a way to exchange patient data. Each has critical data the other needs and would benefit from sharing. And, as CMS noted, health plans are in a “unique position to provide enrollees a complete picture of their clams and encounter data.” Despite that, technical and financial issues, as well as a general air of distrust from decades of haggling over reimbursement, have prevented robust data exchange. Remarkably, this happens in integrated delivery systems which, in theory, provide tight alignment between payers and providers in a unified organization.
With so much attention focused on requirements for health IT companies like EHR vendors and providers, it is easy to miss the huge impact that the new rules is likely to have for payers. But make no mistake, if implemented as proposed, these rules will have a profound impact on the patient’s ability to gather and direct the use of their personal health information (PHI). They will also lead to reduced fragmentation and more complete data sets for payers and providers alike.
Overview of Proposed CMS Rules on Information Sharing and Interoperability
The proposed CMS rules affect payers, providers, and patients stating that they:
By JESSICA DAMASSA, WTF HEALTH
Looking for money to bring your health tech solution to underserved markets in Africa or Asia? PATH is a 41-year-old global health non-profit with a big mission, to ensure that innovations reach underserved populations across the world. Their new initiative, Digital Square has earmarked funds for startups who are able to bring their software solutions to emerging markets as quickly as possible. Startup companies with digital solutions can come in through PATH’s Digital Square to get capital and on-the-ground support to deploy in sub Saharan Africa or Southeast Asia, as well as recognition by the development community for doing a digital global good.
Filmed at the Frontiers Health Conference in Berlin, Germany, November 2018.
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.
By HANS DUVEFELT, MD
You’re running late and many things didn’t go right today. You knock on the door and enter the exam room with an apology. If you’re like me, you have a few papers and an iPad or a laptop in your hand. You sit down and open the patient’s chart in your device or perhaps on the big desktop, eyes not exactly locked on the patient.
Only after getting to where you need to be in the computer do you really look the patient in the eyes. Your body language has been one of hurry and distraction. Now you try to repair the damage of that, so you try to show you’re settling down now, at least for a few moments. You might sigh, move your arms in a gesture of relaxation and say something to get the history taking underway.
So far, you’re failing. I do that often, too.
Here’s what we all know we need to do, but often don’t; we should follow these ABCs:
Clear your mind. It doesn’t matter what happened in the other room with the other patient, or on the phone with the insurance company or the smug specialist or ER doc who pointed out the diagnosis you missed. Open the door (I always knock first) and immediately look at the patient. Make eye contact and observe them. Pay attention to how they look, what they are signaling. The computer can wait; a few moments of focused attention will usually save you time in the end. After all, red or teary eyes, a leg cast, a big bruise or change in grooming can make the visit go in a direction you wouldn’t have expected from he listed chief complaint. How many times have we heard a patient comment about another doctor: He didn’t pay attention to me. Do we always do that ourselves if we’re rushed or preoccupied?
By JESSICA DAMASSA, WTF HEALTH
For over 15 years, first from Paris and now from their headquarters in Boston, MA, Voluntis has supported over 600K users needing diabetes and oncology care. As one of the first companies in digital therapeutics to go IPO on Euronext Paris ($30M), they have seen the health tech industry explode in recent years. Hear from CEO Pierre Leurent on the radical changes he’s witnessed in digital therapeutics to date, and where Voluntis is headed next.
Filmed at the Frontiers Health Conference in Berlin, Germany, November 2018.
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.
By JESSICA DAMASSA, WTF HEALTH
The future of clinical trials no longer requires testing on humans or animals for R&D and regulatory approval. Startup InSilio Trials has created an environment where pharmaceutical and medical device companies can run clinical trials in a simulated environment. Their first project was with the FDA, and they’ve since signed a five year cooperation agreement. Yes, this is for real! Find out more about this truly revolutionary new technology.
Filmed at the Frontiers Health Conference in Berlin, Germany, November 2018.
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.
By JESSICA DAMASSA, WTF HEALTH
European health startups and health tech investors are turning their attention to a new market: Europe. Where the US healthcare system once seemed the only path to mass adoption, now the European healthcare market, with its proliferation of Big Pharma and med device companies, has opened itself up to the digital health community — offering EU startups the chance to grow and mature closer to home. Watching the space closely is on of Europe’s first, loudest, and most ardent supporters of digital health, Roberto Ascione, CEO of Healthware International. How does he see the market taking shape? What’s next for European healthcare companies in terms of scaling and integrating new revenue streams based on the digital transformation of healthcare? Listen in to find out.
Filmed at the Frontiers Health Conference in Berlin, Germany, November 2018.
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.
Today on Health in 2 Point 00, I’m back (despite Jess’s attempt to replace me). In Episode 82, Jess asks me about Talkspace’s $50 million raise, Heal getting flack for adding telehealth to their house call service, and Apple acquiring Tueo Health last year—and we’re just now hearing about it. Jess also gets riled up by Pokemon Sleep and Pillo’s $11 million raise. —Matthew Holt
By SAURABH JHA, MD
What does it take to create a decision rule? In this episode of Radiology Firing Line podcast Saurabh Jha (@RogueRad) has a discussion with Robert W. Yeh MD MBA about the deep thought and complex statistics involved in creating a decision rule to guide therapy which have narrow risk-benefit calculus, specifically a rule for how long patients should continue dual anti-platelet therapy after percutaneous coronary intervention. They also discuss the motivation behind the legendary, and satirical, parachute RCT published in the recent Christmas edition of the BMJ, which delighted satirists all over the world.
Listen to their conversation here.
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