The Beat

How does access to healthcare data save lives? 

Consider the story of a 28-year-old patient who died from an opioid addiction. After the fact, his healthcare team realized that the young man had visited seven different emergency departments in the two months prior to his death. But without access to that information, none of the EDs realized the full extent of the problem. With the right data, they would have intervened differently, and the patient might still be alive today.

Don Woodlock is Head of the Healthcare Business Unit at InterSystems, the leading provider of creative data technology solutions for the healthcare, finance and logistics industries. Don has 30 years of experience in healthcare IT, and he is dedicated to empowering care providers and connecting care communities through easy-to-use health information.

On this episode of The Beat, Don joins host Jody Tropeano, Content Director at HLTH, to discuss the difference between healthy and unhealthy data, offering examples of how healthy data makes a powerful difference in patient care. Don explains the benefits of data interoperability and shares his take on machine learning as the future of healthcare. Listen in to understand why predictive models have yet to make a difference in patient care and learn how clinical data can be used to empower research and improve public health.

Topics Covered

• InterSystems’ work in building creative data solutions for healthcare
• The difference between healthy and unhealthy data
• Examples of how healthy data makes a powerful difference in patient care
• How data interoperability benefits health systems, vendors and patients
• Why analytics projects are not ‘done’ when the dashboard goes live
• Don’s take on machine learning as the future of healthcare
• Why predictive models have yet to make an impact in the healthcare space
• Using clinical data to improve public health, research and patient care

Connect with Don Woodlock

InterSystems

Don on LinkedIn

Don on Twitter

Connect with Jody Tropeano

HLTH

Jody on LinkedIn

Jody on Twitter

Resources

Coordinate My Care

Introductory Quote

“We really believe data is this key asset that we can all leverage to make healthcare better.”

For the last decade, telemedicine has been dominated by urgent care—and it’s delivered a great deal of value for patients in need of quick access to a doctor for something like the stomach flu. But for the technology to reach its full potential, the experience needs to expand beyond ‘blind date’ telehealth. What if we used telecare to enable established clinician-patient relationships? How might follow-up care improve if medical professionals could, for example, check in on cancer patients every day?

Roy Schoenberg is the President and CEO of American Well, the United States’ leading telehealth platform. Since its rollout in 2008, the American Well ecosystem has onboarded more than 200 of the nation’s largest payers, health systems, employers and retailers. Roy is a thought leader in the realm of healthcare technology and IT policy, and he was the 2014 recipient of the American Telemedicine Association Industry award for leadership in the field of telehealth.

On this episode of The Beat, Roy joins Dr. Kuku to discuss how seeing a relative wait too long to seek care informs his work in telehealth. He shares his vision of the future of telemedicine, explaining how its applications will evolve from facilitating urgent care to enabling existing, trusted relationships between clinicians and patients. Listen in for Roy’s insight around the art of making good decisions in healthcare and learn how technology might reinvent the way we follow up with patients in need of ongoing care.

Topics Covered

• How seeing a relative wait too long to seek care informs Roy’s work
• Why we delay or interact with the health system as little as we can
• Roy’s insight on telehealth as the consumer revolution of healthcare
• Roy’s vision of leveraging telehealth to enable existing relationships
• Holding physicians accountable for the level of quality in telehealth
• How tech is likely to reinvent the way we follow up with patients
• Using tech to raise the level of quality for every person in the US
• Making tech disappear so the healthcare experience is more human
• The challenge of innovating in a skeptical industry that says NO first
• Roy’s take around why making good decision in healthcare is an art

Connect with Roy Schoenberg

American Well

Roy on LinkedIn

Connect with HLTH & Dr. Kuku

HLTH Conference

Dr. Kuku on LinkedIn

Dr. Kuku on Twitter

Resources

KRY

Babylon Health

FSMB Model Policy for the Appropriate Use of Telemedicine Technologies

Most of us would define longevity in terms of the length of our lives. But what if there’s more to it than that? What if quality matters as much as quantity? What if we could extend our healthiest, most productive years?

Alex Zhavoronkov is the Founder and CEO of Insilico Medicine, a venture-backed company that seeks to extend healthy longevity through innovative AI solutions for drug discovery and aging research. Insilico has R&D labs in Belgium, the UK, Korea, Russia, Hong Kong, the US and Taiwan, and in 2017, the company was named one of NVIDIA’s Top 5 AI companies in its potential for social impact.   

On the inaugural episode of The Beat, Alex joins Dr. Kuku and Dr. Shlain to discuss his work in the field of longevity biotechnology, describing his particular focus on extending our most productive years as opposed to the end of life. He introduces us to the new science around aging clocks and weighs in on the possibilities of using their data to reverse age-associated pathologies. Listen in for Alex’s insight around the potential for AI to influence our political systems and learn how a sole focus on rejuvenation rate would support global economic growth.

Topics Covered

• Alex’s transition from information technology to biopharma
• The intersection of technology and the human element
• The concept of quality-adjusted life years or QALYs
• Alex’s focus on extending productive years vs. end of life
• How Alex sees longevity as more than just living longer
• The science around aging clocks and their notable accuracy
• Developing actionable interventions from aging clock data
• How economic forces influence which diseases we research
• Embracing MMA principles as an approach to drug discovery
• Alex’s work with triple-negative breast cancer molecules
• Alex’s insight into how AI might influence political systems
• The parallels between gain of function and economic growth
• How Peter Diamandis’ work gives Alex cause for optimism

Connect with Alex Zhavoronkov

Insilico Medicine

Alex on LinkedIn

Connect with Dr. Gulati, Dr. Shlain & Dr. Kuku

HLTH Conference

Dr. Shlain on LinkedIn

Dr. Shlain on Twitter

Dr. Kuku on LinkedIn

Dr. Kuku on Twitter

Resources

Deep Medicine: How Artificial Intelligence Can Make Healthcare Human Again by Eric Topol

The Ageless Generation: How Advances in Biomedicine Will Transform the Global Economy by Alex Zhavoronkov

Steven Horvath’s Aging Clock Research

Insilico’s Partnership with CTFH

Abundance: The Future is Better Than You Think by Peter H. Diamandis and Steven Kotler

Exponential Medicine

A lot of people are hesitant to reach out to a doctor for help. And when the issue they face is a stigmatized one like hair loss, birth control or erectile dysfunction, they’re even less likely to engage. So, how can we normalize conversations around care for these very common health concerns?

Melissa Waters is the Chief Marketing Officer at Hims & Hers, a health and wellness startup out of San Francisco that seeks to eliminate stigmas and make it easier for people to access care and treatment for the conditions that impact their daily lives. Melissa brings 15-plus years of experience building top brands to her role in leading all marketing and communications for the company. Prior to Hims & Hers, Melissa served as Lyft’s VP of Marketing and Pandora’s VP of Brand and Product Marketing.  

On this episode of The Beat, Melissa joins Dr. Kuku to explain how Hims & Hers provides care in stigmatized categories like erectile dysfunction and sexual wellness. She shares Hims & Hers’ ambitions around normalizing these stigmatized issues, democratizing access to care, providing price transparency and delivering a high-quality experience. Listen in for insight on Hims & Hers’ stand on access to contraception as a human right and learn how the platform is building trust and credibility with consumers.

Topics Covered

• How Hims & Hers empowers consumers to be part of a solution
• How Hims & Hers provides care in stigmatized categories
• How Melissa thinks about digital as strictly a delivery system
• Democratizing access to care + normalizing stigmatized issues
• Hims & Hers’ aim to provide price transparency + quality experience
• The number of Hims & Hers clients seeing a doctor for the first time
• Hims & Hers’ formidable Chief Medical Officer and his team
• Hims & Hers’ stand on access to contraception as a human right
• The need for more research dollars devoted to women’s health
• How Hims & Hers is moving slowly to ensure safety + build trust

Connect with Melissa Waters

Hims & Hers

Melissa on LinkedIn

Connect with HLTH & Dr. Kuku

HLTH Conference

Dr. Kuku on LinkedIn

Dr. Kuku on Twitter

Resources

The Innovator’s Dilemma: The Revolutionary Book That Will Change the Way You Do Business by Clayton M. Christensen

The Innovator’s Prescription: A Disruptive Solution for Health Care 

by Clayton M. Christensen, Jerome H. Grossman and Jason Hwang

Dr. Roy Smythe likens our current healthcare system to medieval warfare. We address only the most acutely ill individuals, the flaming objects flying over the castle walls, rather than finding a way to stave off the endless supply of catapults. But what if we had a better method for assessing health and predicting disease? With innovations in AI and machine learning, his team is leveraging proteomics to develop breakthrough technologies in diagnostic testing with the potential to avoid the endless attacks.

Dr. Smythe is the CEO of SomaLogic, the healthcare information company leveraging proteomics to develop breakthrough clinical diagnostic products that will transform healthcare. Trained as a thoracic surgeon and physician-scientist, he spent two decades practicing medicine before transitioning to the corporate side of healthcare in 2013. Dr. Smythe has served as Chief Medical Officer at both Valence Health and AVIA, a healthcare technology accelerator out of Chicago.

On this episode of The Beat, recorded live onsite at HLTH 2020, Dr. Smythe joins Dr. Shlain to explain what inspired his shift from practicing medicine to the corporate side of healthcare. He discusses his work helping health providers discern from among emerging technologies at AVIA, sharing the lessons he learned there around the many impediments to adoption. Listen in to understand how SomaLogic is using proteomics to predict health, wellness and disease and learn how the SomaScan Platform is a game-changer in terms of risk assessment and preventative care.

Topics Covered

• What inspired Dr. Smythe’s shift to the corporate side of healthcare
• AVIA’s work in helping providers discern among new tech
• Dr. Smythe’s medieval warfare metaphor for the healthcare system
• Why we’re only addressing the top of the ‘triangle of disease’
• The lessons Dr. Smythe learned from his experience with AVIA
• The distinction between human genomics and proteomics
• How the SomaScan Platform uses AI to measure 5K proteins
• SomaLogic’s ability to predict health, wellness and disease
• SomaScan’s benefits in terms of convenience + affordability
• How SomaScan might impact the medically developing world
• How Dr. Smythe’s mom’s cancer informs his career in healthcare

Connect with Dr. Roy Smythe
SomaLogic

Dr. Smythe on LinkedIn

Connect with Dr. Shlain

HLTH Conference

Dr. Shlain on LinkedIn

Dr. Shlain on Twitter

Resources

AVIA

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari

Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work by Matthew B. Crawford

The academic environment is ideal for innovation, while tech companies excel at scaling solutions. But somewhere in the handoff between academia and industry, things seem to break down. How can we learn to collaborate in a seamless way? A way that allows us to apply the best technology and translate biomedical discoveries into new diagnostics or therapeutics?

Dr. Lloyd Minor is the scientist, surgeon and academic leader who serves as Dean at Stanford Medicine. Under his leadership, Stanford has established a strategic vision to lead the biomedical revolution in Precision Health, with a focus on keeping people healthy and providing care that is tailored to the individual. Before coming to Stanford in 2012, Dean Minor served as provost and SVP for academic affairs at The Johns Hopkins University, where he launched a number of university-wide initiatives to support pedagogical innovation. His book, “Discovering Precision Health: Predict, Prevent, and Cure to Advance Health and Well-Being” is available this March.

On this episode of The Beat, Dean Minor joins Dr. Kuku to discuss how technology can be an enabler rather than a barrier to doctor-patient interaction and share Stanford’s work around restoring joy to the practice of medicine. He weighs in on precision medicine, explaining how we can use genomics and data science to improve diagnostic accuracy and why data interoperability is crucial in democratizing health. Listen in for Dean Minor’s insight around the opportunity we have to address the social, behavioral and environmental determinants of health and learn how academia and industry can collaborate to translate biomedical discoveries to new diagnostics or therapeutics—and deliver at scale.

Topics Covered

• Tech as an enabler (not a barrier) between patients and physicians
• Restoring the joy and meaningfulness to the practice of medicine
• The three components of resilience for medical professionals
• Using genomics + data science to predict, prevent and cure disease
• The goal of precision health to improve accuracy in diagnosis
• Translating biomedical discoveries to diagnostics + therapeutics
• Why data interoperability is crucial in democratizing health
• How academia is ideal for innovation but not for scaling solutions
• The inefficiency of the handoff from academia to industry
• The social, behavioral and environmental determinants of health
• Dean Minor’s commitment to apply the best of tech to healthcare
   

Connect with Dean Minor

Dean Minor at Stanford

Dean Minor on LinkedIn

Connect with Dr. Kuku

HLTH Conference

Dr. Kuku on LinkedIn

Dr. Kuku on Twitter

Resources

Stanford’s WellMD Program

National Health Service

Nature Article on Skin Lesion Diagnoses

The Code: Silicon Valley and the Remaking of America by Margaret O’Mara

Discovering Precision Health: Predict, Prevent, and Cure to Advance Health and Well-Being by Lloyd B. Minor and Matthew Rees

The Beat - Episode 3

Partnerships + Prevention = Value-Driven Care—featuring Katie Adamson of YMCA of the USA

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. And as we make the shift from volume-based to value-driven care, the formal healthcare system needs to partner with community organizations like the YMCA to implement the prevention programs that will both save money and improve patient outcomes.

Katie Adamson is the Vice President of Health Partnerships and Policy at the YMCA of the USA, the national resource office for the nation’s 2,700 YMCAs. She is responsible for advancing healthy living legislative and advocacy strategies on the national, state and local levels as well as assisting with congressional, government and health partnerships. Before joining the Y, Katie spent several years as a managing director of public law and policy strategies at law firms in DC, drafting legislation and lobbying for a number of chronic disease and disability nonprofits.

On this episode of The Beat, recorded live at HLTH 2020, Katie joins Dr. Gulati to share her background in government and nonprofit fundraising, explaining how it informs her work at the Y around partnerships and health policy.

She weighs in on the Y’s partnerships with the CDC, UnitedHealth and the IHI to execute their childhood obesity and diabetes prevention initiatives, discussing why it’s a challenge for the Y to connect with the formal healthcare system. Listen in for Katie’s insight on the relationship between social connectedness and health and learn how the Y is working to sell prevention to the medical community.
 

Topics Covered

• How Katie’s experience with childhood arthritis informs her work
• Katie’s background in government + raising money for nonprofits
• The YMCA’s 2,700 locations in 10K communities around the world
• What the Y understands about the power of relationships
• The Y’s potential role in the shift to value-driven care
• The Y’s partnerships to tackle childhood obesity and prediabetes
• Why it’s a challenge for the Y to connect with the healthcare system
• The concept of health detailing to sell prevention to doctors
• The potential for health innovators to test products at a local Y
• How Katie is inspired by Malcolm Gladwell and Rishi Manchanda

Connect with Katie Adamson

YMCA of the USA

Katie on LinkedIn

Connect with Dr. Gulati, Dr. Shlain & Dr. Kuku

HLTH Conference

Dr. Gulati’s Website

Dr. Gulati on LinkedIn

Dr. Gulati on Twitter

Dr. Shlain on LinkedIn

Dr. Shlain on Twitter

Dr. Kuku on LinkedIn

Dr. Kuku on Twitter

Resources

Pat Schroeder

National Program of Cancer Registries

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation

YMCA’s Childhood Obesity Initiative

Institute for Healthcare Improvement

YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention Program

IDEO

The NIH Diabetes Prevention Clinical Trial

YMCA’s Collaboration with UnitedHealth

Health Begins

Malcolm Gladwell

The Upstream Doctors: Medical Innovators Track Sickness to Its Source by Rishi Manchanda

Rishi Manchanda’s TED Talk

HLTH Matters EP02

Integrated Care Built Around the Human Being—featuring Mark Ganz of Cambia Health Solutions

In every other area of our lives, service providers are accountable to their customers. If they fail to provide both quality and value, people vote with their feet. But in healthcare, we’ve traded away that control to the insurance company, and the result is an increasingly dehumanizing system that looks at people as vessels of disease to be fixed rather than people in need of healing. How can we bring that critical patient-caregiver relationship back and design an integrated approach to care that builds around the human being?

Mark Ganz is the CEO of Cambia Health Solutions, a family of companies working to create a person-focused and economically-sustainable healthcare system. Cambia’s health plans, innovative technology and strategic investments deliver consumer-centric solutions that make care more affordable and accessible. Mark has dedicated his career to designing a seamless, end-to-end healthcare experience around the needs of people and their families, and he was named 2014 Healthcare CEO of the Year by Portland Business Journal.

On this episode of The Beat, Mark joins Dr. Gulati to explain how his father (a physician himself) was treated by the healthcare system at the end of his life and how that inspires Cambia’s human-first approach. He describes how we lost the humanity in healthcare, weighing in on how technology and the economic model have severed the relationship between the patient and caregiver. Listen in for Mark’s insight on pricing technology to the market, not the insurance payment model, and learn how Cambia is taking an integrated approach to care that centers on the human experience.

Topics Covered

• How Mark’s dad was a family doctor in the full sense of the word
• How Mark’s dad was treated by the system at the end of his life
• Cambia’s commitment to start with a deep respect for families
• Physicians as administers of technology vs. healers of people
• The dehumanizing impact of the economic model in healthcare
• How we traded away control to insurance companies for convenience
• Cambia’s work around palliative care as part of an integrated approach
• Pricing tech to the market rather than the insurance payment model
• How Mark is inspired by the Porter & Teisberg article in HBR

Connect with Mark Ganz

Cambia Health Solutions

Mark on LinkedIn

Connect with Dr. Gulati, Dr. Shlain & Dr. Kuku

HLTH Conference

Dr. Gulati’s Website

Dr. Gulati on LinkedIn

Dr. Gulati on Twitter

Dr. Shlain on LinkedIn

Dr. Shlain on Twitter

Dr. Kuku on LinkedIn

Dr. Kuku on Twitter

Resources

HealthSparq

Echo Health Ventures

GNS Healthcare

Redefining Healthcare: Creating Value-Based Competition on Results by Michael E. Porter and Elizabeth Olmsted Teisberg

‘Redefining Competition in Healthcare’ in Harvard Business Review

HLTH Matters EP01

Advancing NEMT with Ride Sharing—featuring Megan Callahan of Lyft Business

When we think about access to healthcare, insurance tends to be top-of-mind. But coverage won’t do you much good if you don’t have a way to get to and from the services you need. Transportation is one of the social determinants of health that keeps inequity alive in our broken healthcare system. So, what can we do to ensure that people have access to non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT)? 

Megan Callahan is the Vice President of Healthcare at Lyft Business, a B2B platform that works with thousands of organizations to move employees, customers, travelers and patients. In her role, Megan oversees the strategy and operations of Lyft’s thriving healthcare business. Megan has 25 years of experience as a healthcare executive, most recently serving as Chief Strategy Officer at Change Healthcare before joining Lyft in 2017. She earned a master’s degree in public health from UCLA.

On this episode of HLTH Matters, Megan joins Dr. Gulati to explain how her own recent experience with breast cancer drew her to the role at Lyft. She discusses how Lyft partners with transportation managers for health plans and health systems to deliver rides at scale, explaining how the process worked in the past and what differentiates Lyft in terms of cost, reach and transparency. Listen in to understand how Lyft offers patients a humanizing, on-demand experience and learn how the company is working to address other social determinants of health.

Topics Covered

• How Megan’s own recent health crisis informs her work at Lyft
• Lyft’s partnerships with health plan transportation management
• How Lyft can deliver rides at scale in 96% of the United States
• How non-emergency medical transportation worked in the past
• The advantage of Lyft in terms of consistency and transparency
• Health plan execs’ concerns around cost + member satisfaction
• How Lyft reduces missed appointments and lowers wait times
• Megan’s insight on Lyft’s work with six state Medicaid programs
• How Lyft navigates regulatory concerns and HIPAA rules
• Lyft’s work to address other social determinants of health

Connect with Megan Callahan

Lyft Business

Megan on LinkedIn

Connect with Dr. Gulati, Dr. Shlain & Dr. Kuku

HLTH Conference

Dr. Gulati’s Website

Dr. Gulati on LinkedIn

Dr. Gulati on Twitter

Dr. Shlain on LinkedIn

Dr. Shlain on Twitter

Dr. Kuku on LinkedIn

Dr. Kuku on Twitter

Resources

Megan’s Medium Article ‘Getting There Matters’

Allscripts

Jami Snyder at AHCCCS

Andy Slavitt

The Daily Podcast