Talking HealthTech

In this episode of Talking HealthTech, host Peter Birch explore funding for health technology in the realm of dementia and cognitive decline. 

Pete is joined by Dr Kaele Stokes - Executive Director Services, Advocacy and Research at Dementia Australia; Dr Amanda Vrselja - Program Head of CUREator at Brandon Capital; and Kim Smyth - GM Investment at ANDHealth. 

In this episode they unpack the new CUREator+ program, which offers up to $50 million in funding to accelerate research translation and commercialisation in dementia care. They touch on the importance of this funding, the key challenges facing dementia care, and the innovative solutions that are being developed to address these issues.

Key Takeaways:

• Funding Opportunities: The CUREator+ program offers up to $50 million, with individual grants of up to $5 million, aimed at SMEs and researchers who can provide innovative solutions in areas such as digital health, therapeutics, diagnostics, assistive technology, or medical devices.
• Dementia's Impact: Over 421,000 Australians currently live with dementia, and this number is expected to double in the next 20-30 years. The far-reaching effects of dementia on patients, carers, and healthcare systems highlight the urgent need for innovative solutions.
• Comprehensive Care Needs: Effective dementia care requires a broad range of support, from early diagnosis and family communication to technologically advanced solutions that alleviate symptoms and improve patients' quality of life.
• Broad Research Focus: Dementia encompasses more than just memory loss; it affects various cognitive and physical abilities. Solutions should consider all aspects of the condition to be most effective.
• Innovative Potential: The program is open to all Australian SMEs or innovators willing to form companies, emphasising that groundbreaking ideas can come from diverse backgrounds and areas.

Loving the show?  Leave us a review, and share it with someone who might get some value from it. 

Keen to take your healthtech to the next level? Become a THT+ Member for access to our online community forum, meet ups, special offers and more exclusive content.  For more information visit talkinghealthtech.com/thtplus.

Mentioned in this episode:

Use the free Talking HealthTech Glossary for plain-English explanations of digital health terms, acronyms and concepts across the industry: talkinghealthtech.com/glossary.

In this episode of Talking HealthTech, Peter Birch speaks with Hanya Oversby and Jason Borody, the Co-Founders of Doceo Health, recorded live from the Digital Health Festival 2024. They discuss Doceo Health's innovative membership platform, which is designed to streamline and support business activities for healthcare practices. Hanya and Jason discuss their backgrounds, share their insights on the current challenges within the healthcare industry, and explore how their platform bridges the gap between clinical practice and effective business management.

Key Takeaways

• Business Support for Clinicians: Doceo Health offers a platform that provides healthcare professionals access to essential business services, educational resources, and vetted advisors, helping them navigate the complexities of running a practice.
• Holistic Approach: The platform covers a range of needs from marketing and patient acquisition to compliance and financial planning, ensuring practitioners can focus on providing care without worrying about the business side.
• Community and Collaboration: A significant aspect of Doceo Health is its collaborative environment, allowing healthcare providers to learn from each other and gain insights through forums and Q&A with specialists.
• Global Perspective: The global nature of healthcare challenges is emphasised, noting that many issues Australian healthcare businesses face are also present in other countries, such as those in the Middle East and South Africa.
• Future of Healthcare: Advancements in digital health and AI tools are highlighted, underscoring the importance of staying updated and compliant in an evolving landscape.

Loving the show? Leave us a review, and share it with someone who might get some value from it.

Keen to take your healthtech to the next level? Become a THT+ Member for access to our online community forum, meet ups, special offers, and more exclusive content. For more information visit talkinghealthtech.com/thtplus

Mentioned in this episode:

Use the free Talking HealthTech Glossary for plain-English explanations of digital health terms, acronyms and concepts across the industry: talkinghealthtech.com/glossary.

This episode of Talking HealthTech features a conversation taken during a recent live webinar with Chris Royle and Stephen Burmester from Dedalus.  

We explore interoperability and cybersecurity in healthcare, reflecting on the balance between open standards and security, the implications of recent data breaches, and the future of healthcare technology.

Key Takeaways

• Importance of Open Standards: Leveraging open standards like HL7 FHIR can foster innovation and reduce costs in healthcare systems.
• Cybersecurity Challenges: The cybersecurity risks associated with more open system brings the need for robust security measures to protect sensitive health data.
• National Health Interoperability Plan: How the 2023-2028 plan addresses interoperability alongside cybersecurity concerns, aiming to enhance patient care while securing data.
• Role of Technology in Healthcare: The potential of technology in healthcare, especially regarding data integration and patient access.

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

Loving the show? Leave us a review, and share it with someone who might get some value from it.

Keen to take your healthtech to the next level? Become a THT+ Member for access to our online community forum, meet ups, special offers and more exclusive content. For more information visit talkinghealthtech.com/thtplus.

Mentioned in this episode:

Use the free Talking HealthTech Glossary for plain-English explanations of digital health terms, acronyms and concepts across the industry: talkinghealthtech.com/glossary.

In this episode of Talking HealthTech, host Peter Birch speaks with Melvin Chen, Co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer of KeyReply.

Melvin shares his global perspective and in-depth insights into how KeyReply transforms the healthcare industry with AI-powered solutions. They discuss KeyReply's journey, the rapidly evolving role of AI in healthcare, particularly in productivity and efficiency improvements, and the exciting expansion plans of KeyReply into the Australian market.

Key Takeaways:

- AI Evolution: The shift from intent-based, machine learning AI to generative AI emphasises how technologies like GPT-3 and GPT-4 have revolutionised capabilities and applications in healthcare.

- Productivity and Efficiency: KeyReply focuses on improving operational productivity for both patients and clinicians, addressing bottlenecks like appointment booking, patient follow-up, and incident management.

- Global Insights: Comparative insights between the healthcare systems in Singapore and Australia were shared, highlighting similar challenges around workforce shortages and high labour costs.

- Voice and Future Tech: The introduction of voice capability and the anticipated advancement to video interactions with technologies like GPT-5 are poised to transform the healthcare landscape further.

- Entry Strategy in Australia: KeyReply aims to demystify AI for the Australian healthcare market and showcase the technology's impact through practical, real-world applications.

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

Loving the show? Leave us a review, and share it with someone who might get some value from it.

Keen to take your healthtech to the next level? Become a THT+ Member for access to our online community forum, meet-ups, special offers, and more exclusive content. For more information, visit https://www.talkinghealthtech.com/thtplus

Mentioned in this episode:

Use the free Talking HealthTech Glossary for plain-English explanations of digital health terms, acronyms and concepts across the industry: talkinghealthtech.com/glossary.

In this episode of Talking HealthTech, host Sophie Turner sits down with Pia Clinton-Tarestad, CEO & Co-Founder of Clean Slate Clinic, a virtual care addiction treatment service provider. 

Pia shares insights into the barriers individuals face when accessing addiction treatment, the journey that led to the creation of Clean Slate Clinic, the innovative approaches they use, and their plans to expand accessibility to addiction treatment services.

Key Takeaways:

• Barriers to Access: Explore the significant hurdles individuals encounter when seeking addiction treatment, from stigma and financial constraints to long waiting lists in the public sector.
• Social Enterprise Impact: Understand the unique advantages and challenges of operating as a social enterprise in the addiction treatment space, fostering mission-driven work and financial sustainability.
• Tech-enabled Care: Discover how Clean Slate Clinic leverages technology to deliver a 12-month virtual care program for alcohol dependence, bridging geographical gaps and overcoming traditional treatment limitations.
• Success & Expansion: Learn about Clean Slate's outstanding outcomes in addiction treatment, surpassing traditional inpatient programs with lower relapse rates and their ambitious plans for future growth and global expansion.

Loving the show? Leave us a review, and share it with someone who might get some value from it.

Keen to take your healthtech to the next level? Become a THT+ Member for access to our online community forum, meet ups, special offers and more exclusive content. For more information visit talkinghealthtech.com/thtplus.

Mentioned in this episode:

Use the free Talking HealthTech Glossary for plain-English explanations of digital health terms, acronyms and concepts across the industry: talkinghealthtech.com/glossary.

In this episode of Talking HealthTech, host Sophie Turner sits down with Rebecca Barnden, Project Manager at the National Centre for Healthy Ageing and PhD Candidate at Monash University. They explore deep into Rebecca's exciting work on developing and testing digitally supported methods to capture consumer needs and preferences within healthcare. Rebecca discusses her transition from physiotherapist to an innovator in healthcare solutions, co-designing with consumers, including those living with disabilities. This episode uncovers the intricacies of integrating consumer data with electronic hospital systems and emphasises the collaborative process to ensure these digital models are inclusive and beneficial for everyone.

Key Takeaways:

- Person-Centred Care: Consumers want to be active partners in their healthcare. It's crucial to involve them in decisions, as this aligns with their need for choice and control like other sectors.

- Seamless Healthcare Journey: Consumers often face frustrations like repeating their stories across different care settings. This project aims to create a continuous healthcare journey through a single digital gateway that captures and carries consumer information seamlessly.

- Co-design and Collaboration: Successful solutions come from co-designing with both consumers and clinicians. The experience-based co-design process ensures solutions are practical and beneficial for all parties involved.

- Digital Inclusivity: There's a significant risk that digital healthcare solutions, often designed for majority populations, could further marginalize disadvantaged groups. Partnering with people living with disabilities in the co-design process helps create more inclusive healthcare solutions.

- Implementation Challenges: One of the considerable hurdles in implementing new digital models of care is clinician awareness and integration into existing workflows. Ongoing iterative testing and refinements are essential for overcoming these challenges.

- Future Insights: Looking ahead, scaling the implementation across more health services and integrating consumer data with diverse clinical systems is the focus. It's important to ensure that digital health interventions are inclusive of all populations to reduce health disparities.

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

Loving the show? Leave us a review and share it with someone who might get some value from it.

Keen to take your healthtech to the next level? Become a THT+ Member for access to our online community forum, meet-ups, special offers, and more exclusive content. For more information, visit talkinghealthtech.com/thtplus.

Mentioned in this episode:

Use the free Talking HealthTech Glossary for plain-English explanations of digital health terms, acronyms and concepts across the industry: talkinghealthtech.com/glossary.

In this feature episode of Talking HealthTech, recorded at Australian Healthcare Week 2024, a number of industry experts uncover insights and practices transforming the healthcare landscape. 

Check out conversations with Voni Leighton, Co-Founder and Clinical Director of Vitalis Healthcare at Home; Gareth Sherlock, Former Chief Information Officer at Cleveland Clinic London; Dr Emily Kirkpatrick, Executive Medical Director at Calvary-Medibank Joint Venture (CMJV); Nirvana Luckraj, Chief Medical Officer at Healthdirect Australia; Dr John F. Lambert, Chief Clinical Information Officer at NT Health; Tim Deveson, Account Director for Healthcare Industry at Genesys; and Ken Saman, CEO of Personify Care. 

From digital transformation to patient-centric care and innovative technologies, this episode covers diverse themes pivotal to the future of healthcare in Australia and beyond.

Key Takeaways

• Collaboration and Patient-Centric Care: Voni Leighton highlights the success of at-home services for high-acuity patients through Vitalis Healthcare at Home, stressing the importance of collaboration among healthcare providers to deliver patient-centric care.
• Global Market Experiences and Success Factors: Gareth Sherlock discusses essential lessons from large-scale healthcare transformations across global markets, emphasising the significance of organisational culture, stakeholder engagement, reliable partnerships, governance, and financial stewardship.
• Digital Transformation in Healthcare: Tim Deveson provides insights into improving patient and employee experiences through digital health solutions, including self-service bots and omnichannel engagement.
• AI and Decision Support: Nirvana Luckraj explains the challenges and triumphs of implementing an AI clinical decision-support system tailored to Australian healthcare needs, which has improved accuracy and usability.
• Executive Insights and Funding Models: Dr Emily Kirkpatrick addresses the need for funding reform and the potential of virtual and digital technologies in delivering care, particularly for multicultural communities and individuals with disabilities.
• Human-Centred Design and Inclusivity: Dr John F. Lambert shares the principles of designing healthcare solutions for diverse populations, moving from a hospital-centric approach to a more inclusive model.
• Innovative Consent Pathways: Ken Saman discusses a new digital consent pathway developed for genetic testing, which enhances patient understanding and improves the overall care experience.

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

Loving the show? Leave us a review, and share it with someone who might get some value from it.

Keen to take your healthtech to the next level? Become a THT+ Member for access to our online community forum, meetups, special offers, and more exclusive content. For more information, visit talkinghealthtech.com/thtplus.

Mentioned in this episode:

Use the free Talking HealthTech Glossary for plain-English explanations of digital health terms, acronyms and concepts across the industry: talkinghealthtech.com/glossary.

In this episode of Talking HealthTech, host Peter Birch engages with three participants from Cohort 2 of AUSCEP, Whitney Luxford, Amy Wallis, and Fiona Brownfoot. These guests share their own entrepreneurial journeys within the Australian healthtech landscape. Whitney discusses her "Fit 2 Fly" project, Amy delves into her telehealth solution "Selsus" for cancer survivors, and Fiona talks about "Kali Healthcare," a new foetal monitoring technology. Together, they explore the importance of medical technology in improving patient care, discuss challenges in their ventures, and highlight the significant role of digital innovation in today's healthcare sector.

Key Takeaways:

✈️ Streamlining Airline Medical Approval: Whitney Luxford identified the need for a more time-efficient and logical system for airline medical clearances, which are currently cumbersome and paper-based.

🎗️ Challenges in Cancer Survivorship Care: Amy Wallis highlighted the lack of tailored care for cancer survivors and the urgent need for services geared specifically towards post-treatment life.

🤰 Wearable Technology in Pregnancy: Fiona Brownfoot discussed the development of wearable tech that allows for more accessible monitoring of foetal health, aiming to enhance the labour and delivery experience.

🏥 Impact of Technology on Rural Healthcare: The episode highlighted the potential of tech solutions in bridging care disparities in remote areas of Australia.

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

Loving the show? Leave us a review, and share it with someone who might get some value from it.

Keen to take your healthtech to the next level? Become a THT+ Member for access to our online community forum, meet-ups, special offers and more exclusive content. For more information, visit talkinghealthtech.com/thtplus.

Mentioned in this episode:

Use the free Talking HealthTech Glossary for plain-English explanations of digital health terms, acronyms and concepts across the industry: talkinghealthtech.com/glossary.

In this episode of Talking HealthTech recorded at Australian Healthcare Week 2024 in Sydney, host Peter Birch sits down with two guests from MTX APAC: Sudeep Acharya, the CEO, and Cate Hilliard, the Director of Health and Human Services.

They discuss the nuances of building technology solutions that serve the healthcare industry, the importance of engagement with subject matter experts, and the role of change management in successful technology implementation. They also discuss future trends in health tech, such as AI, predictive analytics, and the drive towards patient-centric care.

Key Takeaways:

- MTX focuses on delivering technology solutions, not just software, to underserved industries like public and healthcare sectors with an emphasis on regulatory compliance.

- Engaging with domain experts and clinicians ensures that the developed solutions are tailored to their needs, fostering system trust and adoption.

- Iterative development and feedback loops are critical to building relevant and effective healthcare technology.

- Change management is essential to align people, processes, and technology in any new system implementation.

- Getting clinician buy-in is more than convincing; it's about creating genuine value for their practice through the technology.

- AI and data analytics are key future trends, focusing on providing a 360-patient view to improve efficiency and patient outcomes.

- The healthcare industry is shifting from a sick care model to one emphasising preventative health, leveraging technology to manage health proactively.

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

Loving the show? Leave us a review, and share it with someone who might get some value from it.

Keen to take your healthtech to the next level? Become a THT+ Member for access to our online community forum, meetups, special offers, and more exclusive content. For more information visit talkinghealthtech.com/thtplus

Mentioned in this episode:

Use the free Talking HealthTech Glossary for plain-English explanations of digital health terms, acronyms and concepts across the industry: talkinghealthtech.com/glossary.

In this episode of Talking HealthTech, host Nathan Moore speaks with Peter Rady, the Acting Director at Medicity. In this deep dive, we discuss the practical applications of technology in health care, looking specifically at the inner workings and innovative strides of Medicity.

Peter shares how successful solutions are crafted with clinician input to simplify patient care and improve clinical outcomes. He shares his journey through the healthcare and tech industries and gives detailed insights into Medicity’s successful digital platforms, Eve and eCaptis.

Key Takeaways:

- Clinician-Driven Technology: One key aspect highlighted is Medicity’s unique approach to involving clinicians directly in the development of technology, ensuring relevance and utility in clinical settings.

- Digital Maternity Platform - Eve: Eve caters to both clinical needs and patient engagement. It has been significantly embraced, showing high user satisfaction and clinical relevance.

- Patient Journey Platform - eCaptis: The platform is designed to keep track of patients beyond their hospital visits, integrating seamlessly with existing health systems to provide continual care and monitoring.

- Integrating Technology: Integrating new digital solutions into hospital systems is often challenging, highlighting the importance of understanding clinical workflow to ensure successful tech integration.

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

Loving the show? Leave us a review, and share it with someone who might get some value from it.

Keen to take your health tech to the next level? Become a THT+ Member for access to our online community forum, meetups, special offers and more exclusive content. For more information visit talkinghealthtech.com/thtplus.

Mentioned in this episode:

Use the free Talking HealthTech Glossary for plain-English explanations of digital health terms, acronyms and concepts across the industry: talkinghealthtech.com/glossary.