Health:Further

From August 22-25, 2017, we will all gather in Nashville, Tennessee to build - and celebrate - the future of health. This is the annual Health:Further Festival, and event for people who are committed to building a more affordable, sustainable health system. We will have healthcare entrepreneurs, payers, providers, health IT, policymakers, students, healthcare industry executives, artists, and more, all talking about the most innovative ideas in health. In this Festival preview, we hear from 12 of the speakers at this year's festival, covering everything from blockchain in healthcare to art in medicine.

What’s the difference between a car and a physician? It’s not a matter of importance. It’s a matter of information, or a lack-thereof. EZDoctor seeks to close the void in physician data by providing “car facts” for doctors. The company gathers quantitative and qualitative information like malpractice history, pricing, prescribing habits, and ratings and reviews from across the web to generate a comprehensive report on individual physicians. According to CEO David Marsidi and CIO Howard Khan, the goal of EZDoctor is to bring consumers the “whole picture of a doctor.” These reports empower consumers to take more ownership of their health care. As startup founders and healthcare entrepreneurs, Marsidi and Khan and taking an existing approach and applying it to healthcare. That counts as innovation in patient engagement and healthcare data analytics.

Litesprite is bringing gamification to mental health. It's an innovation in healthcare that allows patients dealing with mental health issues to obtain therapy outside of sessions with mental health providers, while giving feedback and data to those same providers. In other words, Litesprite is providing a stronger connection between patients and providers in the mental health space, where empathy and personalized treatment are crucial. Creative Director Sean Watson describes how Sinesprite the company's primary game, allows patients to do things like journal, reflect, and decompress with evidence-based relaxation techniques when they have a mental episode. The platform then provides clinicians with data through an interactive dashboard, allowing them to understand what’s going on with the patient in between appointments. Clinicians can even push questions that are particularly relevant to the patient at hand. The game becomes a conversation where the patient can relate to the avatar that pulls them through the game. It's patient engagement in the most literal sense.

Jennifer Sclar, Co-Founder and CEO of Clear Health Analytics, knows what it's like to shop for health insurance. Trying to get a plan that will cover all healthcare needs at the right price is a painful process. the feeling. That’s why she became a healthcare entrepreneur and founded a company dedicated to healthcare consumers trying to navigate the labyrinth that is health insurance. Clear Health Analytics works to combat the tendency to over-insure by providing healthcare technology that assists people in finding a plan that best meets their individual needs and budgets. It produces customized estimates of total costs and can tell people if certain doctors are in their network or if certain prescriptions will be covered.

Armand Lauzon founded Belle, a health, wellness and beauty, to bring personal care services to people. It's in-home care for anyone. What he found early on was that one of his strongest markets was in elder care. Being able to provide in-home services to seniors meant they could look and feel great, without having to struggle to get to appointments. Like any good healthcare entrepreneur, Armand began shifting his company's focus to the elder care market. In addition, he built a platform that helps providers offer their services while still making a good living. Belle is a health and wellness company that is designed to serve both it's clients and it's service providers, bringing a simple yet innovative approach to in-home care.

Part 2. Chad Blackburn - and his company eDoc4U - is working to change the fact that only about 1 in 9 Medicare patients have ever had a wellness visit. The consequences of that, in terms of health and financial burden, is huge. By combining technology and human interaction - in the form of physician extenders who can offer wellness visits - eDoc4U is increasing patient engagement and interaction, as well as making the process easier for individual patients put together a health plan in the context of those visits. It’s a great example of a healthcare company that is offering a service that helps with value based care and reducing the burden on our healthcare system while also improving outcomes and patient engagement.

Chad Blackburn - and his company eDoc4U - is working to change the fact that only about 1 in 9 Medicare patients have ever had a wellness visit. The consequences of that, in terms of health and financial burden, is huge. By combining technology and human interaction - in the form of physician extenders who can offer wellness visits - eDoc4U is increasing patient engagement and interaction, as well as making the process easier for individual patients put together a health plan in the context of those visits. It’s a great example of a healthcare company that is offering a service that helps with value based care and reducing the burden on our healthcare system while also improving outcomes and patient engagement.

Part 2. Founded in 2013, Music Health Alliance’s mission is to “Heal the Music.” MHA seeks to improve music professionals’ access to care by providing a range of healthcare and financial services. When medical bills constitute the leading cause of bankruptcy in the United States and 76% of music professionals lack insurance coverage, being a patient can be a frightening and debilitating experience for musicians. From writing grants on behalf of patients to negotiating medical bills to providing premium assistance to connecting music professionals to community resources, MHA stops at nothing to secure solutions for its clients. Here, Tatum Allsep, MHA Founder and CEO, talks about the personal experience she had that led to building a healthcare advocacy organization to ensure musicians can obtain and afford medical care. She also talks about a new partnership with Health:Further for the annual Health:Further Festival in Nashville.

Founded in 2013, Music Health Alliance’s mission is to “Heal the Music.” MHA seeks to improve music professionals’ access to care by providing a range of healthcare and financial services. When medical bills constitute the leading cause of bankruptcy in the United States and 76% of music professionals lack insurance coverage, being a patient can be a frightening and debilitating experience for musicians. From writing grants on behalf of patients to negotiating medical bills to providing premium assistance to connecting music professionals to community resources, MHA stops at nothing to secure solutions for its clients. Here, Tatum Allsep, MHA Founder and CEO, talks about the personal experience she had that led to building a healthcare advocacy organization to ensure musicians can obtain and afford medical care.

Part 2. Blockchain in healthcare is a rapidly growing niche, with companies like Hashed Health, Patientory and PokitDok leading innovation in the use of distributed ledger technology for electronic medical records and other applications. Blockchain, though not necessarily the right solution for every problem, is helping with issues in healthcare technology surrounding patient privacy, control of patient data, and health data security. Kristen Johns is a patent attorney at Waller Law, who works with clients on patent and trademark protection, data privacy and security matters, cybersecurity and cloud-related issues. In the past couple of years, she’s been digging into blockchain as an emerging technology, looking at its applications and trajectory across industries including healthcare.