Healthcare Weekly: At the Forefront of Healthcare Innovation

Darren Schulte, CEO of Apixio, joins Codrin Arsene to talk about the present and future of artificial intelligence in healthcare in this episode of the Healthcare Weekly Podcast.

Founded in 2009, Apixio is a data science and advanced analytics company dedicated to unlocking actionable, relevant and timely insights for health providers all over the US.

Apixio uses a patented computing platform that analyzes health records and gives a deep insight into patient health.

A big problem in the healthcare industry is getting a complete picture of a patient’s overall health from available data sources (electronic medical records, surveys, questionnaires and more). This is the crux of why interoperability in the healthcare system remains more of a myth, so far, than a tangible reality. Apixio is trying to fix this issue.

Listen to this episode to hear more on:

• Why the current healthcare system is broken when it comes to interoperability

• Information gap between physicians and specialists and how this affects diagnostics and ongoing care regimen for patients.

• How artificial intelligence can completely redefine the healthcare industry - and indeed it’s doing so as we speak.

• Why have we not made more progress when it comes to AI adoption in the healthcare space?

• Do we have the infrastructure in place to make AI work for the healthcare industry?

• Industry changes required to further support the adoption of artificial intelligence at scale.

Today’s guest is Tracy Warren, CEO and Co-Founder of Astarte Medical. Astarte Medical is a precision medicine company using software and predictive analytics to improve preterm infant outcomes.

Astarte utilizes data collected during treatment of preterm infants to help caregivers create treatment protocols based on optimizing the health of the microbiome within the first 1000 days of life. They offer the NICUtrition platform that allows professionals to streamline their process and have easy access to patient data.

Tracy is here to discuss the impact nutrition has on the first 1000 days of life for preterm babies, how their platform utilizes data to create predictions and how much the cost of preterm care can be alleviated by using their software.

Listen to the podcast to learn about:

• What Astarte Medical aims to do

• How they hope to impact long-term healthcare by focusing on the microbiome

• What happens in terms of care after a baby is born prematurely

• Understanding the specific needs of preterm babies

• Challenges involved with preterm health

• What causes growth rate failure in preterm infants

• How hospitals deal with the issues surrounding preterm healthcare today

• How staff interact with the NICUtrition platform

• The benefits of having consolidated data

• The process of setting protocols based on collected data sets

• The cost of preterm care and how utilizing NICUtrition can alleviate some of it

• Re-admittance rates of preterm infants

• The importance of early pregnancy education regarding nutrition

• The most important technology that could improve healthcare delivery

• Addressing healthcare inequality

On today’s episode of Healthcare Weekly, we are talking to Rachel Jones, Vice President of Cotiviti, a software company that leverages unparalleled clinical and financial datasets to deliver deep insight into the performance of the healthcare system.

Cotiviti’s main focus is on payments, risk and quality. Understanding health plans is increasingly difficult for self insured employers, insurance brokers and even third party administrators. Cotiviti helps all these agents ensure they are getting the best quality of care at the most affordable cost, both as a healthcare payer and member.

Listen to this episode to hear more about:

• An in-depth look at how Cotiviti works.

• How Insights and Analytics Can Provide Better Health Plan Options to Patients and Employers

• How COVID-19 is affecting healthcare practices and services.

• The increase in telehealth utilization and the cost shift from in-person services - and what it means for doctors and employers.

• How back-to-school typically affects healthcare and what employers can do about it.

• How Cotiviti can spotlight to predict future healthcare risks.

• Cotiviti’s COVID-19 tracker and how it can uncover patterns and actionable insights.

• How Cotiviti provides an online tool for everyone to uncover COVID-19 concentrations by state and county level and find out the next hotspots.

• What Rachel thinks the main trends in healthtech are and how they’re helping shape the “new normal”.

On today’s episode of the Healthcare Weekly Podcast, we are joined by Ron Chiarello from Alveo Technologies. Listen to Ron and learn about his exciting company which is closing the loop on at-home testing kits allowing patients to get near-instant test results.

In the current at-home testing market, the usual process requires customers to take a blood sample and send it back to a lab for testing. Results are often available online within 3-5 business days after the lab receives the sample.

Alveo Technologies plan to turn the market on its head with their proprietary test analyzer which can provide test results and actionable recommendations in approximately 30 minutes or less.

Ron also talks about the first at-home coronavirus test his company is working on. Ease of use and low costs are the main considerations in creating the at-home COVID-19 test, which is currently in clinical trials.

Listen to the podcast to learn about:

• How being able to have affordable, easy access to at-home testing kits would impact the healthcare industry.

• Why antibody testing, the most common at-home is not always the most reliable one

• What to do with test results once you have them and the various options Alveo Technologies will provide to customers (telemedicine integration is one of them!).

• Ron’s timeline for having the COVID test readily available to consumers

• How America may return to a sense of normalcy and how effective testing could help with that goal.

Today’s guest is Dr. Loubna Bouarfa, CEO of Cambridge-based AI productization company OKRA Technologies.

Founded in 2015, OKRA Technologies aims to create easily explainable and actionable data sets for healthcare workers. Utilizing the Okra Explainability Engine, the company empowers users by explaining the outputs behind AI systems. They offer solutions to existing teams in the Life Sciences industry to enable quick and decisive action to be taken by employees.

Loubna joins us today to discuss how OKRA Technologies works to provide suggestions and awareness of emerging treatments, how they utilize historical data to prioritize needs and overcoming opposition to AI adoption.

Listen to the podcast to learn about:

• OKRA’S mission statement

• How they select and serve their demographic

• The process of articulating the correct treatments regardless of user location

• Forecasting outcomes

• How their engine provides suggestions and creates awareness of emerging treatments

• Building trust and overcoming fear in the Life Sciences industry

• Providing equal opportunities for everyone to have access to treatments

• Drawing on historical data to prioritize needs for treatment

• How OKRA provides insights

• The effects of COVID-19 on the adoption of artificial intelligence

• Creating explainable and accessible AI

• The process of algorithm validation

• Creating scalable solutions

• What types and amount of data are needed to create operable algorithms?

• The main challenges of adopting AI in the Life Sciences field

• The build vs buy mentality and how it can be detrimental

• Where Loubna sees the industry heading over the next decade

Today’s guest is Matt Michela, CEO of Life Image. Life Image is the world’s largest medical evidence and image exchange network, providing access to points of care and curated imaging data.

Life Image was founded in 2008 and provides medical organizations and patients with centralized access to data via the use of their Interoperability Suite. The platform allows for seamless integration into existing EMR systems and offers a way to democratize data via a vendor-agnostic tool.

Matt joins us today to discuss how their Interoperability Suite is utilized, the benefits of centralized data and the importance of contactless data collection during the pandemic.

Listen to the podcast to learn about:

• The type of data Life Image allows access to

• Creating a data exchange for providers

• How health systems access Life Image

• Tailoring the platform to provider preference

• Accelerating data access and decreasing stress

• Creating seamless integrations into multiple health workflows

• Utilizing embedded information in DICOM images

• How Life Image helps outside partners with algorithm creation

• Increasing the adoption rate of third-party partner tech

• How Life Image is being utilized during COVID-19

• Trends emerging with providers during the pandemic

• The importance of seamless data sharing with treatment centers

• Decreasing infection chances by eliminating the need for physical data exchange

Today’s guest is Dr. Jud Brewer, Director of Research and Innovation, Mindfulness Center at Brown University and senior scientific and medical advisor for behavioral health at Sharecare and the creator of MindSciences.

Reminiscing on how MindSciences began at Yale, Dr. Brewer takes us back to 2012 when smartphones started becoming more prevalent. The good doctor tells us about how he aspired to develop digital-based therapeutics and how he spent almost one decade achieving this mission.

MindSciences is currently the leading evidence-based behavior change app and it has recently been acquired by Sharecare.

Dr. Brewer explains what neurofeedback is and how Anderson Cooper became involved with it for a story on 60 Minutes. Focusing on smoking habits, Dr. Brewer breaks down the two main components of cravings, both physiological and psychological, and the roles those play in our habits - and how digital-enabled platforms can help smokers quit.

Listen to the podcast further to learn about:

• How your habit can be influenced by algorithms & daily regiments

• How mental awareness can help you

• How COVID-19 and quarantine are affecting habits in general

• How an app can make sure you achieve your health goals and alter behavior

• Discover what mindfulness training is and how it can benefit you

• The importance and significance of digital outreach

• The future plans for MindSciences after being acquired by Sharecare

Today’s guest is Dan Brillman, co-founder and CEO of Unite Us. Dan is a Yale graduate who, after starting a career in finance, joined the Air Force Reserves as a pilot. After several combat deployments, Dan realized the transition for veterans back into the civilian life was not as seamless as it should be. This inspired him to create a solution.

Unite Us is a platform that acts as a unifying infrastructure between health care entities and community-based organizations. By utilizing electronic referral services, Unite Us aims to improve access to services for groups that need it most.

Dan joins us today to discuss the functionality of the Unite Us platform, who benefits most from its resources and how the data collected can be analyzed for systemic improvements.

Listen to the podcast to learn about:

• The health care access problems for veterans

• How Unite Us improves coordination of supply chains and service navigation

• Why the initial model of the company didn’t work for the business or users

• How Unite Us presented a solution for statewide coordinative care in North Carolina

• The impact of COVID-19: Accelerating the launch of the platform

• Providing insight to government by utilizing data regarding efficiency, demand and supply

• What other vulnerable groups can benefit from the platform

• The extent of accessible services on Unite Us

• Predicting social needs and risk factors using aggregate data

• Creating actionable data to move the industry forward

• Legislative barriers to expansion

• The necessity to focus on what is right for the patient across the industry

• Emerging tech trends that could propel the business

Today’s guest is Dr. Anand Srivastava. He is the Co-founder, Chairman and Chief Scientific Officer of GIOSTAR. GIOSTAR is the Global Institute of Stem Cell Therapy and Research.

Under Dr. Anand’s leadership, scientists and clinicians have developed and established stem cell therapies for various types of autoimmune diseases and blood disorders.

Dr. Anand joins us today to discuss his experience in the field of stem cell research, the uses for stem cells and how they could be employed to battle COVID-19.

Listen to the podcast to learn about:

Public vs. government perspectives on stem cell research

The history of stem cell research

The modern approach to stem cell therapy: regenerative medicine

Understanding the spectrum of diseases humans are prone to

How stem cells can be applied to help with metabolic malfunction

Regenerative medicine to battle degenerative disease

How the connotations of ‘embryonic’ impacted perceptions

The multi-national effort to research stem cell applications to battle COVID-19

The importance of understanding the physiology of the COVID-19 virus

Why people with underlying conditions and the elderly are more affected by COVID-19

How the coronavirus could impact perceptions of stem cell research

The continuing necessity of a vaccine

Why we need a multiple approach strategy to tackle COVID-19

Potential issues meeting supply and demand of stem cells in the future

What the future of the industry holds

Today’s guest is Ashish Shah, Co-Founder and CEO of Dina. Dina is an AI-powered care coordination platform aimed to help the elderly population that live at home independently on their own terms. Dina organizes different ways to access care options in the community, such as nutrition and medical equipment needs, allowing for greater individual autonomy.

With Dina, Ashish hopes to be able to educate home caregivers and individuals about what is available in their community while reducing the need for institutionalized care.

Ashish joins us to discuss how Dina works, who can benefit from this innovative solution and how the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced the priorities his team is working on

Listen to the podcast to learn about:

• The kind of decisions the elderly population face

• How Dina platform works & what it’s designed to do

• What gaps exist currently in the at-home service industry for the 65+ population

• How Dina can be used to track an individual’s health status

• Technology trends of the future impacting the healthcare industry

• The type of AI services Dina employs

• How the COVID-19 outbreak is accelerating innovation in the healthcare space

• Large companies vs. small companies’ approach to innovation in healthcare

• COVID-19 and the positive impact on long-term healthcare solutions