Healthcare

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 09 jul 2015

Technology-enabled innovative models in healthcare hold promise to bring digital doctors, diagnostics, health monitoring etc in the hands of patients. According to Bob Wachter, author of 'The Digital Doctor' and professor at University of California at San Francisco, 'There are many things that patients can do to help themselves...if armed with good algorithms and good backup plans.' But he cautions that there is a limit to such interactions and patients need to know when to visit a doctor. Digital healthcare space is in the boom phase with US$ 2 billion invested in 2014, says Ahmed Albaiti, founder and CEO of Medullan. Moreover well entrenched healthcare organizations have also inclined their strategies towards a digital health future. To pursue their goals they are opening labs, practices and divisions exclusively focused on digital technologies and innovations. They are also partnering with entrepreneurs and innovators. All these transformations are contributing towards a new digital healthcare ecosystem. Brian Tilzer, Chief Digital Officer of CVS Health, says 'The recently opened Digital Innovation Lab at CVS is a warehouse-size space where innovators and entrepreneurs can come together, test new products and hash out ideas with each other.' The lab's current work includes - Connected otoscope; Connected blood pressure monitor; Apple Watch integration. According to StartUp Health's 2015 mid-year report, 'More than 7,500 startups around the world are developing solutions in digital health.' Read on...

USA TODAY: The digital doctor is in - Next wave in health care
Author: Trisha Thadani

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 02 jul 2015

Technology impacts and improves various aspects of healthcare delivery. Companies and organizations are embracing technological innovations to provide better healthcare services. According to Valter Adão of Deloitte Digital Africa, 'One of the most damaging myths surrounding digitisation is that it is an "all or nothing" process...Healthcare providers do not need to massively overhaul their practices to meet the oncoming wave of new technologies when they can integrate certain technologies within traditional healthcare structures, or adopt technological solutions in a gradual and modularised process.' While mentioning pace of technology adoption, he says that it is going to be sooner. Data management and analytics are two areas that will bring most transformations in healthcare. Patient records on cloud, wearables and monitoring devices and analytics to customize treatment to patients are some of the changes that will happen soon. Concerns of data security and privacy have to be resolved. Technology will also bring efficiencies in medical care processes through mobile devices and apps. Moreover improvements in printing technologies and 3D printing will also make a significant impact in healthcare. Heinrich Pretorius, OKI printing products specialist at DCC, says 'Printing technology is advancing to allow medical practitioners and facilities to use one printer for all their printing needs, as opposed to maintaining several different printers for different types of scans and imaging processes. Printing technology is also evolving to allow users to print directly from medical equipment without the need for time-consuming conversion software or external hardware.' Read on...

ITWeb: Healthcare tech adoption 'not far off'
Author: Michelle Avenant

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 23 jun 2015

Technology-driven transformation of healthcare is happening in multiple ways. Shomit Ghose of ONSET Ventures explains how medical care is shifting from physician-focused dynamic to patient-focused dynamic through collection and assessment of individual data directly, independent of the physician encounters. According to him, 'Going forward, our cell phones and wearables will be by far our biggest source of health-related data, providing a continuous stream of information that promises, for the first time, to enable the practice of "continuous healthcare". This data is collected non-invasively and will specifically help us understand how patient behaviors affect patient outcomes.' He further explains, 'Continuous healthcare brings a brand new class of fine-grained behavioral data into the clinical assessment process. Further, the provision of this type of real-time data at population scale allows strong correlations to be made between best practices in health and best outcomes. Continuous data, when supplemented with other data sources, promises to revolutionize the current methods of population health, including the monitoring of disease and disease vectors in real time.' This data-driven continuous digital healthcare, with its ubiquitous nature and low-cost, has potential to serve communities and regions that are deprived of basic healthcare infrastructure and facilities of the present medical systems. But providers also have to overcome the concerns of privacy and security to realize the full benefits of digital healthcare. Read on...

VentureBeat: Continuous healthcare - Big data and the future of medicine
Author: Shomit Ghose

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 25 may 2015

The value of big data lies in extracting insights and its meaningful use in solving business problems. In recent times organizations have made big investments in technologies associated with it to store, analyze, report and visualize data. Stuart Frankel, CEO and co-founder of Narrative Science, provide his perspective on why these investments haven't got expected returns, limitations of human-powered data science as it is not a scalable solution, unaffordable data scientists and, opportunities and prospects of scalable automated solutions to analyze and interpret data, and obtain hidden insights for business value. According to him, 'Artificial intelligence (AI) is beginning to transform data and analysis into relevant plain English communication. AI is shortening employees' data comprehension-to-action time through comprehensive, intuitive narratives.' Following are some examples which he shares regarding use of AI in data analysis - Some mutual funds are using advanced natural language generation (Advanced NLG) platforms, powered by AI, to automatically write fund performance reports in mere seconds; In medical billing, AI scours thousands of billing records across hundreds of hospitals and generates narrative reports that immediately provide the desired analysis; AI solutions are improving customer experience. AI is the first technology to make personalized, "audience of one" communication a reality; Wealth management is beginning to use "Robo-advisors", the automated financial advisor that can offer a low-cost alternative to expensive, human advisor. Moreover AI is being embedded into existing advisory platforms, delivering personalized portfolio reviews and recommendations in natural language to customers. He further explains, 'The commonality across all of these new technologies is that they offer something additional humans cannot provide: the power of scale...In the near-term, the adoption of AI within business intelligence platforms and customer-facing applications will accelerate...The key to all of this is the intersection of AI and advanced natural language generation. We're at the beginning of the next phase of big data, a phase that will have very little to do with data capture and storage and everything to do with making data more useful, more understandable and more impactful.' Read on...

Harvard Business Review: Data Scientists Don't Scale
Author: Stuart Frankel

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 25 may 2015

Maintaining healthier and longer lives of human beings require efforts at global scale. There is need for cooperation and collaboration among young scientists from around the world. Basic scientific research is one of the critical component that leads to advances and innovations in healthcare. According to Dr. Francis S. Collins, Director of National Institutes of Health (NIH), 'Rigorous, well-designed research is essential not only for the discovery of new ways to detect, treat, and prevent disease, but also for the most efficient development and cost-effective dissemination of such advances to the world's poorest peoples.' He cites examples of research-based technologies that are transforming the healthcare landscape - Point-of-Care diagnostics that include a DNA-amplification test which makes it possible to diagnose tuberculosis and detect drug resistance within 90 minutes; Mobile health technologies are already influencing healthcare in remote and poor regions. For example a quarter-sized, lensless microscope that, when connected to a mobile phone, can beam high-quality images of cells and microbes halfway around the globe to computers that can automatically interpret the images; Bioengineers has designed a 'paper microscope', a low cost use-and-throw device that doesn't need a power supply, to quickly and accurately diagnose malaria and other parasitic diseases in low-resource settings; Disease prevention through next generation of vaccines will only be possible through science-based technology and research; Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are fastest growing cause of deaths and would require creative scientific research to identify and implement the right tools to overcome them in resource poor regions. He further explains, 'Indeed, scientific knowledge does not travel only from developed countries to low-income countries - it is a two-way street from which the entire world stands to benefit. Recently, some of the most innovative and cost-effective advances have arisen from research reflecting the needs and ideas of people in poorer countries.' Read on...

Vox: Why the world needs more scientists
Author: Francis S. Collins

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 06 may 2015

According to Modern Healthcare Magazine, although healthcare workforce in US is dominated by women, but they don't hold top leadership positions - 78% of all healthcare and social assistance workers are women, and 77% of hospital employees are women. In 2014, of the 5767 hospitals and health systems in the United States, only 1508 (26%) are led by women CEOs. Modern Healthcare Magazine recently compiled a list of top 25 women in US healthcare selected from about 200 who were nominated - (1) Leah Binder, President of Leapfrog Group (2) Maureen Bisognano, President and CEO of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (3) Marna Borgstrom, CEO of the Yale New Haven Health System (4) Deborah Bowen, President and CEO of the American College of Healthcare Executives (5) Mary Brainerd, President and CEO of HealthPartners (6) Ruth Brinkley, CEO of KentuckyOne Health (7) Sylvia Mathews Burwell, Health and Human Services Secretary (8) Debra Cafaro, CEO of Ventas (9) Christine Cassel, MD, President and CEO of the National Quality Forum (10) Pamela Cipriano, President of the American Nurses AssociationRead (11) Karen DeSalvo, MD, MPH, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (12) Susan Desmond-Hellmann, MD, MPH, CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (13) Susan DeVore, president and CEO of Premier (14) Tejal Gandhi, MD, MPH, President and CEO of the National Patient Safety Foundation (15) Patricia Hemingway Hall, President and CEO of Health Care Service Corp (16) Karen Ignagni, president and CEO of America's Health Insurance Plans (17) Sister Carol Keehan, President and CEO of the Catholic Health Association (18) Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, MD, MBA, President and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (19) Donna Lynne, responsible for Kaiser Permanente's Pacific Northwest and Hawaii regions (20) Patricia Maryland, President of healthcare operations and COO at Ascension Health (21) Elizabeth Nabel, MD, President of Brigham and Women's Hospital (22) Debra Osteen, Senior Vice President at Universal Health Services (23) Nancy Schlichting, CEO of the Henry Ford Health System (24) Lynn Simon, MD, MBA, President of Clinical Services and Chief Quality Officer at Community Health Systems (25) Penny Wheeler, MD, CEO of Allina Health. Read on...

Medscape: America's Top 25 Women in Healthcare
Author: Megan Brooks

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 05 may 2015

Big data has potential to transform how healthcare is delivered. But considering the huge volume and complexity of data, it is difficult to analyze with the usual data processing tools. In healthcare, big data is multi-structured and multi-sourced (Claims data; Clinical data; Status data). Specialized tools and softwares have to be used to make this big data actionable. Actionable data is standardized, predictive, preventive, timely, and comprehensive. Actionable data, which is ready for advanced analytics, can provide an organization with insights that improve patient care, reduce risk and strengthen the bottom line. Optum infographic shows how to make big data actionable and get value. Read on...

Forbes: Infographic - How To Make Big Data Actionable For Better Health Care Insight And Value
Author: NA

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 26 apr 2015

According to CDC estimates, about 30 million of US population had diabetes in 2014, and more than 1/4th of them were undiagnosed. Moreover another 80 million were classified as 'pre-diabetic', meaning they have greater chance of getting diabetic in the next decade if they don't change their lifestyle. Diabetes costed US$ 176 billion in direct medical bills and US$ 69 billion in indirect costs, including disability, work loss and premature death, in 2012. Considering data-intensive nature of diabetes, patients have to continuously monitor, calculate and control their blood sugar levels within a healthy range. As there are numerous and complex factors that affect blood sugar - including food, physical activity, and sleep patterns - it's not always clear what exactly occurs between a good blood sugar reading and a bad one. According to Jeff Dachis, co-founder of digital marketing firm Razorfish and now founder of diabetes managing app called One Drop, 'It's math all day long...if I stay in range, I can stay considerably healthy and unimpacted by diabetes.' Adoption of wearable health devices is somewhat trying to solve the mathematical aspects of diabetes. Moreover the coming wave of wearable technology and social media and mobile apps show prospects to transform how people live with and manage diabetes. Companies are also developing innovative devices like continuous glucose monitors, which constantly measure blood sugar levels through a small sensor that is inserted under the skin, providing a lot more insight into how a good reading turns into a bad one. Another technological advancement is an 'artificial pancreas', an implantable device which would monitor blood sugar as well as automatically deliver insulin. Researchers are developing small implants that can do both, eliminating the need for daily finger pricks and injections. Google and Novartis AG are partnering to develop less invasive way to measure blood sugar, a contact lens that monitors glucose contained in tears and transmits the data through a tiny antenna. These technology devices although hold a considerable promise to overcome challenges regarding the management of diabetes but they will be expensive and will take time to be commercially available. Read on...

The Washington Post: How the data revolution could transform the way people live with diabetes
Author: Ana Swanson

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 20 apr 2015

The expansion and transformation of healthcare ecosystem with new models of healthcare delivery is creating rapid growth of required human resources. The industry now have new types of insurance companies, novel provider organizations and new health information technology companies. Physicians and nurses are having shifts in roles and responsibilities in order to effectively and successfully lead these organizations. They need different set of skills from the ones they acquired during their clinical training. Sachin H. Jain, chief medical officer of CareMore Health System and lecturer in healthcare policy at Harvard Medical School, suggests three skills that are critical for doctors and nurses as they transition to management and assume higher level of influence in the business of health - (1) Operations Management and Execution (2) People Leadership (3) Setting and Defining Strategy. Dr. Jain quotes one CEO's remark, 'Physicians and nurses run the risk of losing their clinical identities as they develop into executives.' On this, he comments, 'It would be a shame if they did. As they transition to careers in the business of health care, clinicians must hold on to the heart and practice of medicine as they continuously develop the core executive skills required to effectively lead and shape their organizations.' Read on...

Harvard Business Review: The Skills Doctors and Nurses Need to Be Effective Executives
Author: Sachin H. Jain

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 23 mar 2015

'Synthetic Biology' is an interdisciplinary and emerging area of research in biology. SyntheticBiology.org defines it as - (a) the design and construction of new biological parts, devices and systems and (b) the re-design of existing natural biological systems for useful purposes. 'Synbio' as it is often termed as, involves writing genetic code and inserting it into simple organisms to change their function. Boston-based Ginkgo Bioworks sells custom-crafted organisms - mostly yeasts, baceteria and algae and they make synthetic scents that might be used in sprays and perfumes in future. Ginkgo was mostly funded initially by US government agencies. Jason Kelly, co-founder of Ginkgo, says 'Their belief was that the United States should be on the leading edge of creating tools to program cells - sort of like creating the base elements of the early Internet.' According to Professor Pamela Silver of Harvard Medical School, 'Synbio industry is going to grow quickly, especially in Boston.' Tom Knight, another founder of Ginkgo, explains 'Engineering biology has been an artisanal craft. You did things at a small scale, manually. We're moving into an age when we can start automating a lot of the processes and take advantage of economies of scale.' Read on...

The Boston Globe: Manufacturing's cutting edge - custom organisms
Author: Scott Kirsner

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