Empowered Patient Podcast

KimberLee Heidmann is the Executive VP of Patient Experience and Customer Success at Scout Clinical, a third-party provider of patient services for clinical trial participants and their families. As a global partner of sponsors of trials, Scout oversees travel, visas, housing and accommodations, and patient payments. Working with underserved communities and patients with rare diseases, Scout removes barriers to participation in clinical trials and supports researchers in their care of patients and trial protocols.

KimberLee elaborates, "Right now, the focus in clinical research is very much on diversity and inclusion and health equity. We're excited about that because we're passionate about that here at Scout. We're uniquely positioned to help the sponsors and the sites with those hard-to-reach patient populations. You're seeing a lot more in clinical research, especially in the rare disease space, where we're even looking at cross-border enrollment and bringing patients from underserved populations to areas where there are centers of excellence for treatment and clinical research."

"Another thing that's burdensome that we've received a lot of feedback from clinical trial sites is the requirement to use a lot of different vendors and have access to different technology. Technology has been such a wonderful thing for the clinical trial industry, and we've brought so many wonderful things to the forefront in terms of wearable devices and diaries and the DCT model, where we're trying to relieve the burden of the patients to have to go to the clinical trial site. All of these things are wonderful, and they're excellent tools for clinical research."

"But in some respects, they do add a burden to the researchers to have to, either as a sponsor or a CRO, manage all of those different aspects or for the clinical trial site to engage with all of these different tools. Then, if you carry that down into the patient, the patients and their families, participants and their families, a lot of times they are being introduced to this technology as well. Managing the full trial ecosystem can be very difficult for researchers and patients."

#ScoutClinical #ClinicalTrials #RareDiseases #PatientTravel #TrialRetention #TrialRecruitment

scoutclinical.com

Listen to the podcast here

KimberLee Heidmann is the Executive VP of Patient Experience and Customer Success at Scout Clinical, a third-party provider of patient services for clinical trial participants and their families. As a global partner of sponsors of trials, Scout oversees travel, visas, housing and accommodations, and patient payments. Working with underserved communities and patients with rare diseases, Scout removes barriers to participation in clinical trials and supports researchers in their care of patients and trial protocols.

KimberLee elaborates, "Right now, the focus in clinical research is very much on diversity and inclusion and health equity. We're excited about that because we're passionate about that here at Scout. We're uniquely positioned to help the sponsors and the sites with those hard-to-reach patient populations. You're seeing a lot more in clinical research, especially in the rare disease space, where we're even looking at cross-border enrollment and bringing patients from underserved populations to areas where there are centers of excellence for treatment and clinical research."

"Another thing that's burdensome that we've received a lot of feedback from clinical trial sites is the requirement to use a lot of different vendors and have access to different technology. Technology has been such a wonderful thing for the clinical trial industry, and we've brought so many wonderful things to the forefront in terms of wearable devices and diaries and the DCT model, where we're trying to relieve the burden of the patients to have to go to the clinical trial site. All of these things are wonderful, and they're excellent tools for clinical research."

"But in some respects, they do add a burden to the researchers to have to, either as a sponsor or a CRO, manage all of those different aspects or for the clinical trial site to engage with all of these different tools. Then, if you carry that down into the patient, the patients and their families, participants and their families, a lot of times they are being introduced to this technology as well. Managing the full trial ecosystem can be very difficult for researchers and patients."

#ScoutClinical #ClinicalTrials #RareDiseases #PatientTravel #TrialRetention #TrialRecruitment

scoutclinical.com

Download the transcript here

Zach Markin, Co-Founder and CEO of HTD Health, is focused on working with clients to develop technology solutions to improve workflow, reduce the time spent on data entry, and provide patient information at the appropriate level of detail on demand. While digital infrastructure supports the integration of health records and related patient information, human interaction is critical to improving patient care and the ability of clinicians to care for a broader audience.

Zach explains, "Generally, I wouldn't try to persuade someone who thinks technology is not useful. I would not try to persuade someone to use technology. That's not a compelling way to engage with someone of that mindset. Instead, I would work to establish a more compelling value-based connection based on what that person cares about. If that's a doctor or a nurse, a health system administrator, or someone else who is likely skeptical or rightfully skeptical of yet another technology initiative, I would work to understand what the priorities that person has in the language of whatever is compelling and meaningful to them."

"It makes sense that if you're caring for a sicker population, a provider should receive more money to do that work more effectively because you need more resources. Unfortunately, what that means in practice is these provider organizations end up having competencies both in care delivery and treatment of a condition, as well as a competency and documentation of their activities and the underlying needs of the populations they're taking care of. So, everyone's in this challenge and trying to create care experiences that prioritize patients, that are centered on patients, that create a human-centered experience for the patient."

#HTDHealth #Healthcare #SaMD #SoftwareDevelopment #DigitalHealth #PatientCentric

htdhealth.com

Listen to the podcast here

Zach Markin, Co-Founder and CEO of HTD Health, is focused on working with clients to develop technology solutions to improve workflow, reduce the time spent on data entry, and provide patient information at the appropriate level of detail on demand. While digital infrastructure supports the integration of health records and related patient information, human interaction is critical to improving patient care and the ability of clinicians to care for a broader audience.

Zach explains, "Generally, I wouldn't try to persuade someone who thinks technology is not useful. I would not try to persuade someone to use technology. That's not a compelling way to engage with someone of that mindset. Instead, I would work to establish a more compelling value-based connection based on what that person cares about. If that's a doctor or a nurse, a health system administrator, or someone else who is likely skeptical or rightfully skeptical of yet another technology initiative, I would work to understand what the priorities that person has in the language of whatever is compelling and meaningful to them."

"It makes sense that if you're caring for a sicker population, a provider should receive more money to do that work more effectively because you need more resources. Unfortunately, what that means in practice is these provider organizations end up having competencies both in care delivery and treatment of a condition, as well as a competency and documentation of their activities and the underlying needs of the populations they're taking care of. So, everyone's in this challenge and trying to create care experiences that prioritize patients, that are centered on patients, that create a human-centered experience for the patient."

#HTDHealth #Healthcare #SaMD #SoftwareDevelopment #DigitalHealth #PatientCentric

htdhealth.com

Download the transcript here

Kathy Ford is the Chief Product and Strategy Officer at Ronin, applying AI and deep data mining to determine relevant cohorts to develop better cancer treatment plans. Looking at patient-specific data, including genetics, comorbidities, and risk factors, allows medical oncologists and patients to predict results and more accurately anticipate and prevent adverse events. The Ronin AI-based solution also educates patients in real-time as they go through their treatment.

Kathy explains, "At Ronin, we are determined to leverage the power of all of the underutilized data in healthcare to better inform clinicians to make a more patient-specific decision faster, essentially, at the point of care. And we're starting in oncology to do so, the most complex disease. We are leveraging all the unclean and uncorrelated data, delivering it to the clinician, adding insights and intelligence, and speeding up decisions. We collaborated with MD Anderson to build the solution. So built with clinicians for clinicians. And we're also partnered with Providence Health System as well today."

"What Ronin is doing is taking hundreds and hundreds of data elements about all sorts of patients and the patient specifically that's being treated. We're looking at cohorting information, to say, patients like me, with similar data elements, so lab values, comorbidities, social determinants, and so forth, have responded best with this treatment approach. So, delivering more patient-specific information at the point of care takes the guessing out of patient treatment planning."

"Cancer is one of those diseases where we have to make the patient sicker to, ideally, make them better. And when a patient is initially diagnosed with cancer, they're often showered or hammered with a tremendous amount of information, instructions, and education. It's incredibly overwhelming. And then, once they begin their treatment, when they start to experience those adverse events, it can be very confusing and scary. Patients are often not sure what to do and are left with, is this expected? Should I be feeling this way?"

"And, what exists today, without a solution like Ronin, is the EHR portal or the phone. Neither one of those is an effective way to stay connected with your clinical team, manage your expectations, and report your outcomes and adverse events."

#AIinHealth #FutureofHealthcare #AI #PhysicianBurnout #PatientEngagement #Cancer #CancerTreatment #PrecisionOncology

projectronin.com

Listen to the podcast here

Kathy Ford is the Chief Product and Strategy Officer at Ronin, applying AI and deep data mining to determine relevant cohorts to develop better cancer treatment plans. Looking at patient-specific data, including genetics, comorbidities, and risk factors, allows medical oncologists and patients to predict results and more accurately anticipate and prevent adverse events. The Ronin AI-based solution also educates patients in real-time as they go through their treatment.

Kathy explains, "At Ronin, we are determined to leverage the power of all of the underutilized data in healthcare to better inform clinicians to make a more patient-specific decision faster, essentially, at the point of care. And we're starting in oncology to do so, the most complex disease. We are leveraging all the unclean and uncorrelated data, delivering it to the clinician, adding insights and intelligence, and speeding up decisions. We collaborated with MD Anderson to build the solution. So built with clinicians for clinicians. And we're also partnered with Providence Health System as well today."

"What Ronin is doing is taking hundreds and hundreds of data elements about all sorts of patients and the patient specifically that's being treated. We're looking at cohorting information, to say, patients like me, with similar data elements, so lab values, comorbidities, social determinants, and so forth, have responded best with this treatment approach. So, delivering more patient-specific information at the point of care takes the guessing out of patient treatment planning."

"Cancer is one of those diseases where we have to make the patient sicker to, ideally, make them better. And when a patient is initially diagnosed with cancer, they're often showered or hammered with a tremendous amount of information, instructions, and education. It's incredibly overwhelming. And then, once they begin their treatment, when they start to experience those adverse events, it can be very confusing and scary. Patients are often not sure what to do and are left with, is this expected? Should I be feeling this way?"

"And, what exists today, without a solution like Ronin, is the EHR portal or the phone. Neither one of those is an effective way to stay connected with your clinical team, manage your expectations, and report your outcomes and adverse events."

#AIinHealth #FutureofHealthcare #AI #PhysicianBurnout #PatientEngagement #Cancer #CancerTreatment #PrecisionOncology

projectronin.com

Download the transcript here

Maria Pereira Co-Founder and Chief Innovation Officer at TISSIUM, discusses her journey to develop a biocompatible, biodegradable polymer to enable atraumatic surgical procedures for tissue repair. This new polymer technology can be used as a sealant and adhesive to replace the use of tacks and sutures to repair blood vessels, nerve damage, and meshes without the use of any penetrating or traumatic fixation.

Maria explains, "At TISSIUM, we are developing a new core technology, a new material that can be used for a traumatic tissue repair. We are leveraging a material that has been originally developed at MIT. One of the features of this material is that it can be used as a sealant or an adhesive, or even as a resin for 3D printing and drug delivery. And we can apply this material in surgery to enable surgical procedures in an atraumatic way."

"Currently, we're developing products across three main domains, including cardiovascular, where we use the material as a sealant to stop blood leaks during cardiovascular surgery. We're also operating in the space of peripheral nerve repair, where we are developing an atraumatic solution where we can basically bring nerves together without the use of any sutures or other traumatic technologies. The third space where we are currently operating is in hernia repair, where we are using our materials as an adhesive to fix meshes to the abdominal wall, and therefore avoiding the use of tacks that can induce trauma and pain."

#TISSIUM #Medtech #MedicalInnovation #TissueRepair #Sealant #Adhesive

TISSIUM.com

Listen to the podcast here

Maria Pereira Co-Founder and Chief Innovation Officer at TISSIUM, discusses her journey to develop a biocompatible, biodegradable polymer to enable atraumatic surgical procedures for tissue repair. This new polymer technology can be used as a sealant and adhesive to replace the use of tacks and sutures to repair blood vessels, nerve damage, and meshes without the use of any penetrating or traumatic fixation.

Maria explains, "At TISSIUM, we are developing a new core technology, a new material that can be used for a traumatic tissue repair. We are leveraging a material that has been originally developed at MIT. One of the features of this material is that it can be used as a sealant or an adhesive, or even as a resin for 3D printing and drug delivery. And we can apply this material in surgery to enable surgical procedures in an atraumatic way."

"Currently, we're developing products across three main domains, including cardiovascular, where we use the material as a sealant to stop blood leaks during cardiovascular surgery. We're also operating in the space of peripheral nerve repair, where we are developing an atraumatic solution where we can basically bring nerves together without the use of any sutures or other traumatic technologies. The third space where we are currently operating is in hernia repair, where we are using our materials as an adhesive to fix meshes to the abdominal wall, and therefore avoiding the use of tacks that can induce trauma and pain."

#TISSIUM #Medtech #MedicalInnovation #TissueRepair #Sealant #Adhesive

TISSIUM.com

Download the transcript here

David Esposito, President and CEO of ONL Therapeutics, is focused on back-of-the-eye diseases such as open-angle glaucoma, dry age-related macular degeneration, and retinal detachment. Their drug ONL1204 targets retina cells to block the Fas receptor to reduce damage to the eye. This small peptide is delivered via an injection in the eye to slow the progression of retinal diseases.

David elaborates, "The Fas receptor is a common pathophysiology in a number of cells of the body. Your audience may be familiar with oncology treatments, so therapies to treat cancer often try to develop a drug that activates the Fas receptor to trigger the death of those cancer cells. Those have been around for several decades, looking at fas receptors in other disease states. We have been the only ones focused in ophthalmology and eye diseases focused on the Fas receptor to protect retina cells."

"I think certainly with fas receptors in the eye, what's very interesting is that it is a common pathophysiology across a variety of diseases of the eye. In drug discovery, you typically think of a particular receptor for a specific disease state. I mentioned cancer cells before with Fas. What's interesting about the discovery work that our founder, Dr. David Zacks, did at the University of Michigan is that the Fas receptor is involved in a variety of different diseases of the eye."

"You wouldn't necessarily think the receptor could be implicated in a disease like dry age-related macular degeneration and in a different pathophysiology in glaucoma. But what's really unique about the Fas receptor and why we see the potential of blocking the Fas receptor is that it could have a significant impact across several disease states, whether it be glaucoma, AMD, or an acute condition of retinal detachment. That's what's been most exciting and certainly garnered a lot of interest in ONL on that approach."

#ONLTherapeutics #EyeDisease #RetinalDisease #AMD #MacularDegeneration

onltherapeutics.com

Listen to the podcast here

David Esposito, President and CEO of ONL Therapeutics, is focused on back-of-the-eye diseases such as open-angle glaucoma, dry age-related macular degeneration, and retinal detachment. Their drug ONL1204 targets retina cells to block the Fas receptor to reduce damage to the eye. This small peptide is delivered via an injection in the eye to slow the progression of retinal diseases.

David elaborates, "The Fas receptor is a common pathophysiology in a number of cells of the body. Your audience may be familiar with oncology treatments, so therapies to treat cancer often try to develop a drug that activates the Fas receptor to trigger the death of those cancer cells. Those have been around for several decades, looking at fas receptors in other disease states. We have been the only ones focused in ophthalmology and eye diseases focused on the Fas receptor to protect retina cells."

"I think certainly with fas receptors in the eye, what's very interesting is that it is a common pathophysiology across a variety of diseases of the eye. In drug discovery, you typically think of a particular receptor for a specific disease state. I mentioned cancer cells before with Fas. What's interesting about the discovery work that our founder, Dr. David Zacks, did at the University of Michigan is that the Fas receptor is involved in a variety of different diseases of the eye."

"You wouldn't necessarily think the receptor could be implicated in a disease like dry age-related macular degeneration and in a different pathophysiology in glaucoma. But what's really unique about the Fas receptor and why we see the potential of blocking the Fas receptor is that it could have a significant impact across several disease states, whether it be glaucoma, AMD, or an acute condition of retinal detachment. That's what's been most exciting and certainly garnered a lot of interest in ONL on that approach."

#ONLTherapeutics #EyeDisease #RetinalDisease #AMD #MacularDegeneration

onltherapeutics.com

Download the transcript here