Empowered Patient Podcast

Dr. Petri Bono, Chief Medical Officer at Faron Pharmaceuticals, describes the development of bexmarilimad, a novel first-in-class immunotherapy that, unlike existing checkpoint inhibitors targeting T cells, targets the Clever 1 receptor on macrophages. This treatment is designed to reprogram the tumor microenvironment by switching marcophages from suppressive to active, enabling the patient's immune system to recognize and attack cancer cells. The primary disease target is higher-risk Myelodysplastic syndromes because the cancer cells in virtually all MDS patients express the Clever 1 target.

Petri explains, "We are developing a completely new type of treatment. Currently, cancer patients are treated with immunotherapies called checkpoint inhibitors that target immune checkpoints. But our approach is targeting completely different cells, not T cells, but rather macrophages. And that's why we are first in class with a novel mode of action. And that's why it's important that these macrophages are shown to, for example, contribute to treatment resistance in many tumors."

"Clever 1 actually is a receptor that was identified about 20 years ago. It found a certain macrophage as well as myeloid cells. And Clever 1 keeps the immune system in a tolerant and suppressive state. In cancer, for example, these Clever 1-positive macrophages essentially help the malignancy grow instead of helping to fight against it. And then our approach is that we want to block Clever 1 with our monoclonal antibody, bexmarilimab. So those macrophages switch the phenotype into an active antigen, preventing a pro-inflammatory state, and this reawakens immune surveillance. It allows T cells in the system to actually recognize the malignant cells themselves as dangerous and mount a proper antitumor response. So, a completely new mode of action by targeting Clever 1, we are not just adding another cytotoxic mechanism. We are removing the immune break and enabling the patient's own immune system to do the job that it was originally designed to do."

#FaronPharmaceuticals #BloodCancer #MDS #MyelodysplasticSyndrome #HR-MDS #CancerResearch #novelimmunotherapy #Bexmarilimab #Clever1

faron.com

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Dr. Petri Bono, Chief Medical Officer at Faron Pharmaceuticals, describes the development of bexmarilimad, a novel first-in-class immunotherapy that, unlike existing checkpoint inhibitors targeting T cells, targets the Clever 1 receptor on macrophages. This treatment is designed to reprogram the tumor microenvironment by switching marcophages from suppressive to active, enabling the patient's immune system to recognize and attack cancer cells. The primary disease target is higher-risk Myelodysplastic syndromes because the cancer cells in virtually all MDS patients express the Clever 1 target.

Petri explains, "We are developing a completely new type of treatment. Currently, cancer patients are treated with immunotherapies called checkpoint inhibitors that target immune checkpoints. But our approach is targeting completely different cells, not T cells, but rather macrophages. And that's why we are first in class with a novel mode of action. And that's why it's important that these macrophages are shown to, for example, contribute to treatment resistance in many tumors."

"Clever 1 actually is a receptor that was identified about 20 years ago. It found a certain macrophage as well as myeloid cells. And Clever 1 keeps the immune system in a tolerant and suppressive state. In cancer, for example, these Clever 1-positive macrophages essentially help the malignancy grow instead of helping to fight against it. And then our approach is that we want to block Clever 1 with our monoclonal antibody, bexmarilimab. So those macrophages switch the phenotype into an active antigen, preventing a pro-inflammatory state, and this reawakens immune surveillance. It allows T cells in the system to actually recognize the malignant cells themselves as dangerous and mount a proper antitumor response. So, a completely new mode of action by targeting Clever 1, we are not just adding another cytotoxic mechanism. We are removing the immune break and enabling the patient's own immune system to do the job that it was originally designed to do."

#FaronPharmaceuticals #BloodCancer #MDS #MyelodysplasticSyndrome #HR-MDS #CancerResearch #novelimmunotherapy #Bexmarilimab #Clever1

faron.com

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Todd Doze, CEO of Janus Health, specializes in bringing AI to hospitals to connect the hospital revenue cycle management with the overall patient experience. Automating some manual RCM tasks, such as prior authorizations and referrals, has led to significant reductions in claim denials, faster processing times, fewer errors, and better compliance with recent legislation. Challenges remain to ensure the AI model's accuracy and to demonstrate clear ROI and a direct impact on the hospital's revenue.

Todd explains, "Today at Janus, we focus on helping providers improve their operational and financial efficiency. We work with about 250 acute care hospitals across the country, servicing some of the largest health systems in the nation by providing automations and AI-driven operational intelligence. This gives management insight into what their revenue cycle folks are doing to ensure they're taking the optimal paths to adjudicate claims and also automating as much of the laborious, tedious work that goes into treating patients in the most optimal manner."

"There are a lot of very manual pain points within the rev cycle experience. For example, many of us have been referred by our primary care physician to a specialty provider. A very common example is referring to an imaging center for an MRI or X-ray. And many times, to access an appointment with that specialty provider, the provider may need to submit a prior authorization request to the patient's insurance. And then there's also the communication loop process focused on the referral. And so there are many areas for error, and there are a lot of ways the patient experience can go south very quickly."

#JanusHealth #AIinHealthcare #HealthcareAI #HealthTech #HealthcareOperations #RCM

janus-ai.com

Listen to the podcast here

Todd Doze, CEO of Janus Health, specializes in bringing AI to hospitals to connect the hospital revenue cycle management with the overall patient experience. Automating some manual RCM tasks, such as prior authorizations and referrals, has led to significant reductions in claim denials, faster processing times, fewer errors, and better compliance with recent legislation. Challenges remain to ensure the AI model's accuracy and to demonstrate clear ROI and a direct impact on the hospital's revenue.

Todd explains, "Today at Janus, we focus on helping providers improve their operational and financial efficiency. We work with about 250 acute care hospitals across the country, servicing some of the largest health systems in the nation by providing automations and AI-driven operational intelligence. This gives management insight into what their revenue cycle folks are doing to ensure they're taking the optimal paths to adjudicate claims and also automating as much of the laborious, tedious work that goes into treating patients in the most optimal manner."

"There are a lot of very manual pain points within the rev cycle experience. For example, many of us have been referred by our primary care physician to a specialty provider. A very common example is referring to an imaging center for an MRI or X-ray. And many times, to access an appointment with that specialty provider, the provider may need to submit a prior authorization request to the patient's insurance. And then there's also the communication loop process focused on the referral. And so there are many areas for error, and there are a lot of ways the patient experience can go south very quickly."

#JanusHealth #AIinHealthcare #HealthcareAI #HealthTech #HealthcareOperations #RCM

janus-ai.com

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Susan Grant, Chief Clinical Officer at symplr, reviews findings from their annual Compass Survey, which revealed the significant challenges hospitals face, driven by financial pressures, clinician burnout, and operational inefficiencies. Fragmented technology systems create significant administrative burdens, and there is growing recognition that unifying healthcare operations and strategically implementing AI are crucial to streamlining workflows. Clinicians' involvement in the design and implementation of new processes and procedures is essential to ensure that patients' real-world needs are properly addressed.

Susan explains, "The annual Compass Survey, is actually our fourth survey that we've done here at symplr, and the goal of the survey is to drive awareness around the need for and benefits of streamlining healthcare operations software. So it's a way to get feedback from our customers, clients, and leaders out in the healthcare world."

"I've been a Chief Nurse for the last 30 years in different health systems around the country, and we do tend to be a very reactive industry. However, I think it's built and intensified over the last few years because of issues we're seeing that have also intensified, including finances, workplace violence, clinician burnout, and cybersecurity. Those are some of the top issues our healthcare systems are dealing with. So I think that the reactivity of trying to really deal with those various issues has intensified and created this reactivity."

#symplr #CompassSurvey #HealthcareIT #HealthcareOperations #symplrOperationsPlatform #HealthcareAI

symplr.com

Listen to the podcast here

Susan Grant, Chief Clinical Officer at symplr, reviews findings from their annual Compass Survey, which revealed the significant challenges hospitals face, driven by financial pressures, clinician burnout, and operational inefficiencies. Fragmented technology systems create significant administrative burdens, and there is growing recognition that unifying healthcare operations and strategically implementing AI are crucial to streamlining workflows. Clinicians' involvement in the design and implementation of new processes and procedures is essential to ensure that patients' real-world needs are properly addressed.

Susan explains, "The annual Compass Survey, is actually our fourth survey that we've done here at symplr, and the goal of the survey is to drive awareness around the need for and benefits of streamlining healthcare operations software. So it's a way to get feedback from our customers, clients, and leaders out in the healthcare world."

"I've been a Chief Nurse for the last 30 years in different health systems around the country, and we do tend to be a very reactive industry. However, I think it's built and intensified over the last few years because of issues we're seeing that have also intensified, including finances, workplace violence, clinician burnout, and cybersecurity. Those are some of the top issues our healthcare systems are dealing with. So I think that the reactivity of trying to really deal with those various issues has intensified and created this reactivity."

#symplr #CompassSurvey #HealthcareIT #HealthcareOperations #symplrOperationsPlatform #HealthcareAI

symplr.com

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Fawad Butt, Co-Founder and CEO of Penguin AI, is addressing the workflow challenges faced by healthcare payers and providers, particularly in prior authorizations and claims adjudications. These processes are inefficient and often yield inconsistent results because human reviewers interpret rules differently, and patients are denied care due to minor administrative errors. Penguin AI is bringing consistency and speed to adjudication, breaking down data silos and handling non-clinical administrative work, enabling agents to address patient-specific problems and ensure accuracy and safety.

Fawad explains, "When you look at the healthcare ecosystem, there are obviously the pharma side, the payer side, the provider side, and the PBN side. So there are lots of areas where opportunities exist. We think payers and providers are especially challenged, and I think the area where they struggle is in the administrative workflow. And these are things like prior authorization and risk adjustment, claims adjudication, and payment integrity on the payer side."

"There are things like scheduling and patient 360, or onboarding and referrals, as well as some risk adjustment for entities that are risk-bearing, and ultimately, all the functions around revenue cycle management for providers. I think the payers and providers have a tremendous amount of technology and resourcing support, but these functions have not really been what I would say reimagined in over a decade. And I think with AI, there is a real opportunity to come back and try to optimize."

#PenguinAI #HealthAI #HealthcareAdministration

penguinai.co

Listen to the podcast here

Fawad Butt, Co-Founder and CEO of Penguin AI, is addressing the workflow challenges faced by healthcare payers and providers, particularly in prior authorizations and claims adjudications. These processes are inefficient and often yield inconsistent results because human reviewers interpret rules differently, and patients are denied care due to minor administrative errors. Penguin AI is bringing consistency and speed to adjudication, breaking down data silos and handling non-clinical administrative work, enabling agents to address patient-specific problems and ensure accuracy and safety.

Fawad explains, "When you look at the healthcare ecosystem, there are obviously the pharma side, the payer side, the provider side, and the PBN side. So there are lots of areas where opportunities exist. We think payers and providers are especially challenged, and I think the area where they struggle is in the administrative workflow. And these are things like prior authorization and risk adjustment, claims adjudication, and payment integrity on the payer side."

"There are things like scheduling and patient 360, or onboarding and referrals, as well as some risk adjustment for entities that are risk-bearing, and ultimately, all the functions around revenue cycle management for providers. I think the payers and providers have a tremendous amount of technology and resourcing support, but these functions have not really been what I would say reimagined in over a decade. And I think with AI, there is a real opportunity to come back and try to optimize."

#PenguinAI #HealthAI #HealthcareAdministration

penguinai.co

Download the transcript here

Alexander Tsiaras, CEO and Founder of StoryMD, is addressing the critical problem of the fragmented health information landscape. The StoryMD platform unifies a patient's health history, including clinical records, wearable data, and personal diary entries, along with relevant data from a vast validated medical library of text and strong visualizations. This provides a coherent narrative about the patient that informs the patient, their healthcare providers, and caregivers, enabling more informed decisions and better outcomes.

Alexander explains, "So one of the huge problems that we have in healthcare is that when people go through a health journey, they have to cobble information together from so many disparate sources. You get a PDF here, you get a URL there, you get a screenshot somewhere else. And fundamentally, what happens is that you're trying to cobble the story of your journey together, and it's totally fragmented. You get fragmented medical records, you get fragmented information, and you share fragmented information with other sources. So really the story is constantly evolving, and you're trying to figure it out, and it's problematic."

"What we have now built is the largest coded medical library in the world, where we can take all of the information using HL7 codes. Now, HL7 is Health Level Seven International, which basically is the way that your medical records are coded. And we have mapped a piece of information using AI to your medical records. So when we see a lab report, we tell you a beautiful story about what your labs mean, and this way, we can actually keep longitudinal stories going, giving you insights into what's going on in your biomarkers."

#StoryMD #HealthTech #DigitalHealth #HealthAI #HealthJourney

storymd.com

Listen to the podcast here

Alexander Tsiaras, CEO and Founder of StoryMD, is addressing the critical problem of the fragmented health information landscape. The StoryMD platform unifies a patient's health history, including clinical records, wearable data, and personal diary entries, along with relevant data from a vast validated medical library of text and strong visualizations. This provides a coherent narrative about the patient that informs the patient, their healthcare providers, and caregivers, enabling more informed decisions and better outcomes.

Alexander explains, "So one of the huge problems that we have in healthcare is that when people go through a health journey, they have to cobble information together from so many disparate sources. You get a PDF here, you get a URL there, you get a screenshot somewhere else. And fundamentally, what happens is that you're trying to cobble the story of your journey together, and it's totally fragmented. You get fragmented medical records, you get fragmented information, and you share fragmented information with other sources. So really the story is constantly evolving, and you're trying to figure it out, and it's problematic."

"What we have now built is the largest coded medical library in the world, where we can take all of the information using HL7 codes. Now, HL7 is Health Level Seven International, which basically is the way that your medical records are coded. And we have mapped a piece of information using AI to your medical records. So when we see a lab report, we tell you a beautiful story about what your labs mean, and this way, we can actually keep longitudinal stories going, giving you insights into what's going on in your biomarkers."

#StoryMD #HealthTech #DigitalHealth #HealthAI #HealthJourney

storymd.com

Download the transcript here