In this episode of Talking HealthTech, Peter Birch speaks with Bettina McMahon, CEO of Healthdirect, clinical governance and digital health safety expert Chris Boyd Skinner, and Leon Young, founder of Cogniss and Ripple Scale, about the ongoing challenges and potential solutions in scaling the adoption of digital health tools beyond pilots and siloed deployments.

The conversation explores why so many effective tools in women's health, mental health, children's health, and long-term care struggle to reach the people who need them most.

The group discusses portfolio-based adoption models, the limitations of one-app-at-a-time procurement, and the growing case for a digital health publisher model that can validate, distribute, and maintain tools at scale.

The episode also covers clinical trust and regulatory frameworks, the risks of shadow IT, the barriers facing direct-to-consumer digital health, and how innovations such as Ripple Scale are working to address the gaps in app distribution and uptake.

Together, the guests make a compelling case for why collaboration, shared infrastructure, and smarter funding models are the next step forward for digital health.

Key Takeaways

🌐 Many digital health tools struggle to scale beyond pilots due to barriers in adoption by health providers.

🤝 Clinicians and researchers are often required to become startup founders to drive adoption, even if their expertise is in care, not business.

🏥 Health systems face challenges in assessing, procuring, and managing hundreds of separate digital health apps.

🔒 Clinical safety, regulation, and building trust are essential for the widespread uptake of digital health technology.

🚀 Portfolio-based models and digital publishers like Ripple Scale offer alternatives to fragmented app distribution, making it easier for providers to offer trusted digital solutions across key health areas.

Timestamps

00:00 - Introductions & background

03:21 - Cogniss mission and innovation

04:52 - The need for a digital health publisher

05:28 - Barriers to adoption: system and innovator challenges

12:37 - The perspective of Health Direct and large organisations

17:57 - Consumer vs. provider-facing digital products

19:00 - Clinical safety, trust, and governance

26:30 - "Shadow IT" and its impact

33:52 - Advice for digital health tool creators

36:15 - Next steps for Ripple Scale

Check out the episode and full show notes on the Talking HealthTech website.

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THT+ Company Partnership

Learn more about THT+ Company Partnership options for start-ups, scale-ups and enterprise digital health companies looking for visibility, content, community access and industry connection: talkinghealthtech.com/partners.

THT+ Company Partnership

Learn more about THT+ Company Partnership options for start-ups, scale-ups and enterprise digital health companies looking for visibility, content, community access and industry connection: talkinghealthtech.com/partners.