Healthcare

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 28 may 2016

Technology continues to transform healthcare in a substantial way. Digital health expansion is visible and growing as technology infrastructure is getting better. Ryan Beckland, Founder and CEO of Validic, explains that optimizing the full potential of digital health will be the key to real progress, and building strong infrastructure to support patient engagement and data exchange capabilities will help make sustainable changes to care delivery and to achieving the full transition to value-based care. He predicts four major trends for 2016 - (1) Patients' expectations for care and care delivery are changing, and will force the industry to change: Patient expect accessability, affordability and better experience; Seek digital services. (2) We are going to see the evolution and increased sophistication of remote clinical technology: Advancements in wearables as sensors detect new data points; Digital therapies in the form of ingestibles and implantables; Platforms and applications are becoming smarter tools for consumers; Consumer empowerment through analytics and valuable health information. (3) Providers are going to begin seriously tackling long-standing interoperability and data access challenges: More investments in infrastructure for better connected systems. (4) There is going to be a shift in payment models to drive an outcome-based healthcare economy: Prevalent fee-for-service will transition to reimbursement for value instead of volume. Read on...

HealthcareITNews: Healthcare Innovation and the Four Key Digital Health Trends Expected for 2016
Author: Ryan Beckland

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 14 may 2016

As more innovation shifts towards entrepreneurial startups in the pharmaceutical industry, a number of executives are changing their stable big pharma tracks and joining the riskier, but more dynamic and rewarding world of small biotechs. They are somewhat championing the title of the book, 'Small is Beautiful' by E. F. Schumacher, in the pharma context. The shift also seems like a typical case of siding with David and abandoning Goliath in the race for developing breakthrough innovative drugs. Victoria Richon, as vice president of oncology drug development at Sanofi, experienced constant reorganization - teams shuffled, priorities shifted and processes changed - a usual situation at big corporations. After joining as president of a startup, Ribon Therapeutics, she says, 'At a small company, it's so much more about the science, and that's so much more satisfying to me.' The number of such career jumps are on the rise. According to pharma experts, startups have cash and they generate more innovative drugs (64% of drugs approved in 2015 originated from startups - HBM Partners). Graham Galloway of Spencer Stuart says, 'The shift is further fueled by rapid consolidation among the giants, shake-ups inside R&D departments, and succession planning inside big companies.' Some of the other prominent executives who made this big to small move include - Doug Williams, from Biogen to Codiak BioSciences; Don Nicholson, from Merck to Nimbus Therapeutics; Jeremy Levin, from Teva Pharmaceuticals to Ovid Therapeutics. Jackie Bandish, a biotech recruiter, puts it correctly, 'For many of these guys, a small company can be a breath of fresh air.' To compete in such an environment, giants are also modifying their strategies. Some are trying to become more entrepreneurial, others are enhancing their R&D. Moreover, they are also deliberately leaving early scientific research for startups, so that they can make deals later, licencing the drug (Small firms received US$ 5.6 billion in upfront licensing payments in 2014 - BIO.org) or outrightly acquiring the startup. High-risk and high-reward is the mantra for startups. Tony Coles, formerly with Bristol-Myers Squibb and Merck, got a US$ 62 million payout as CEO of Onyx Pharmaceuticals, when it was acquired by Amgen. While former Amgen executive, Terry Rosen, sold his startup Flexus Biosciences within 17 months of its inception for US$ 1.3 billion. According to PwC MoneyTree report, venture capitalists invested a huge US$ 7.4 billion in biotechs last year. But Greg Vlahos, parter at PwC, says that the pace has slowed a bit and expects a funding to top US$ 5 billion this year. Prof. Erik Gordon of Ross School of Business at University of Michigan, being positive on executive moves says, 'If anything, the flow of people to biotech startups may accelerate. because that's where they can make big stuff happen.' Jeff Jonas's motivation to move from Shire to a startup Sage, echoes with the trend. According to him, 'It's the chance to work unfettered - where everyone is rolling in the same direction - and the chance to do something big and unexpected. Who wouldn't want that kind of privilege?' Read on...

Fortune: Big Pharma Innovation in Small Places
Author: Jennifer Alsever

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 04 may 2016

Shifts in healthcare systems, driven by policy, regulations, rising costs, technologies etc, signal towards a complex and uncertain future to deliver better and affordable health solutions to people. Stephen K. Klasko, President and CEO of Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Health in Philadelphia and Jack Welch, Executive Chairman of the Jack Welch Management Institute and former CEO of General Electric, explain the challenges that healthcare leaders face in coming years and how they can prepare themselves with knowledge and skills, and take actionable steps to successfully navigate the evolving healthcare landscape. According to them, 'Historically, physicians have pursued MBA programs to learn leadership, management and other critical business skills not gained in medical school. But shaping individuals who can make a difference in the changing health care field requires even more specialized training that will foster critical, game-changing thinking.' They believe that understanding and managing 'transformation' is the single most important concept that will guide healthcare leaders to ensure the survival and success of healthcare systems of tomorrow. They further suggest that physician leaders should assume the role of 'Chief Meaning Officers' as they guide their organizations through change and transformation. To achieve this they have to first develop clarity in their vision and then develop a comprehensive roadmap that they should communicate to their team. Mr. Klasko and Mr. Welch explain about creating a mind map through a three step process and bringing the right people in the team. They say, 'An environment of trust allows everyone around you to join in building the future of your rapidly changing business. Add speed and flexibility to this mind map, and you've imagined the kinds of skills needed to create a new generation of physicians prepared to lead in the new age of health care.' Read on...

Hospital & Health Networks: Transforming Today's MBA for Tomorrow's Doctors
Authors: Stephen K. Klasko, Jack Welch

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 07 apr 2016

This year's World Health Day, that falls today (07 April 2016), has the theme 'Beat Diabetes!'. The World Health Organization has singled out tackling diabetes as one of the most critical healthcare challenge but at the same time tried to give a strong message that it is not too hard to manage if people can put their thoughts and actions in the right direction. Alex Jones, health economist at the social enterprise Oxford Policy Management and researcher at University of the West Indies, provides historial perspective on how international health organizations and governments over time have developed and implemented different types of policies in tackling global health issues. Sometimes they have utilized a single disease approach and at others they have been more holistic and tried to improve health systems around the world. He further explores two approaches and provides opinion on their long-term benefits. According to him, 'A quick look back through history reveals a disturbingly cyclical pattern: As an international community we've been flip-flopping between the two approaches - vertical and horizontal - for at least the last century.' He explains, 'As far back as the 1920s, the sector saw the growth of what was known as the 'Social Medicine Movement' - based on the consideration that ill health could actually be a consequence of poor social conditions...Throughout the first half of the 20th century the Rockefeller Foundation became one of the most influential organisations in global health, implementing programmes in over 80 countries...it always kept the aim of combating specific diseases through targeted campaigns. Post-war politics saw the creation of a number of international agencies that pursued similar vertical programmes...The failure of the GMEP (WHO's Global Malaria Eradication Project) and the relative success of Mao Zedong's community-led 'Barefoot Doctors' programme in China both helped to swing the global health pendulum towards a more horizontal 'systems' approach. In 1975, the WHO launched its Primary Health Care strategy and in 1978 (after sustained advocacy from the Soviet Union) the famous Alma-Ata conference was held...this was a pledge to build up basic health systems around the world...and heralded the birth of the 'Health for All'...The beginning of the 80's, however, saw the pendulum swing firmly back towards vertical interventions...the last ten years have seen a swing back to the ideals of Alma-Ata and the mantra of putting people - rather than pathogens - front and centre of health initiatives...In 2012, the United Nations General Assembly formally recognised and unanimously endorsed the idea of Universal Health Coverage (UHC).' While explaining the current state of health policy focus and interventions, he comments, 'Given the benefit of hindsight, there's a strong risk that today's current focus on UHC might not survive the constant push towards seemingly more feasible, targeted interventions. This apparently inevitable swing to the vertical, however, misses the point on two key fronts: First, history shows us that morbidities are integrated, both with each other and with our ways of life. Second, when something new comes along, a health sector built around a few target pathogens simply cannot deal with it.' Finally, he suggests, 'Let's continue to focus resources where significant advances in disease eradication are possible, partnering with those who can make this happen - but let's take care not to do this at the expense of overall systems strengthening.' Read on...

The Financial Times: Healthcare for all: A zero-sum game?
Author: Alex Jones

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 20 mar 2016

According to the latest study 'The State of Consumer Healthcare: A Study of Patient Experience from Prophet and GE Healthcare Camden Group', that incorporates responses from 3000 consumers and 300 senior leaders (Vice President or higher) at healthcare provider systems that employ at least 20 physicians, patient experience is one of the main concern as 81% of consumers surveyed indicate that they are unsatisfied with their healthcare experience. Moreover, the study also points towards a large gap between consumer expectations and what providers believe regarding their service offerings. Jeff Gourdji of Prophet says, 'There is a misperception among providers about how well they are truly meeting consumer expectations.' CEO's surveyed in the study also said that patient satisfaction is not currently among their top five priorities. According to Helen Stewart of GE Healthcare, 'The common misperception is that focusing on the patient experience means spending less time on other cost and revenue initiatives...Investments to improve the patient experience can drive both growth and cost reduction.' Paul Schrimpf of Prophet says, 'Providers are struggling to adapt to the rising culture of 'consumerism', which has heightened people's expectations. The power has shifted to the consumer in nearly every industry, and now it's healthcare's turn.' Laura Jacobs, President of GE Healthcare Camden Group, explains, 'Creating better and more holistic experiences doesn't just mean happier patients. It translates to increased capacity, lower operating costs, improved financial performance, and higher employee satisfaction and retention. For healthcare providers, the key to profitability and longevity lies in their ability to deliver a superior consumer experience.' Read on...

BusinessWire: 81% of Consumers are Unsatisfied with their Healthcare Experience, According to a New Study by Prophet and GE Healthcare Camden Group
Author: Saige Smith, Katie Lamkin

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 29 feb 2016

According to World Health Organization (WHO), air pollution has become the world's biggest environmental risk, linked to over 7 million deaths a year. A global team of scientists (Farid Touati, Claudio Legena, Alessio Galli, Damiano Crescini, Paolo Crescini, Adel Ben Mnaouer) from Canadian University Dubai, Qatar University, and the University of Brescia (Italy), have developed a technology, known as SENNO (Sensor Node), that enables high-efficiency air quality monitoring, to help promote a cleaner environment and reduce the health risks associated with poor atmospheric quality. The technology promises to make air quality monitoring cost-effective. The research paper, 'Environmentally Powered Multiparametric Wireless Sensor Node for Air Quality Diagnostic', was published in Sensors and Materials journal. Prof. Adel Ben Mnaouer of Canadian University Dubai (CUD), says, 'Sensor networks dedicated to atmospheric monitoring can provide an early warning of environmental hazards. However, remote systems need robust and reliable sensor nodes, which require high levels of power efficiency for autonomous, continuous and long-term use...Our technology harvests environmental energy...it optimises energy use by the sensory equipment, so as to function only for the time needed to achieve the operations of sensor warm-up, sampling, data processing and wireless data transmission, thereby creating an air quality monitoring system that measures pollutants in a sustainable and efficient way.' Read on...

The Gulf Today: Dubai professor develops innovation to combat increasing air pollution
Author: NA

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 17 feb 2016

There is an established relationship between built environment and human health. It is important to understand how architectural design, interior design, building technologies and materials etc, interact with external natural environment. Health-centric design approaches are now being utilized for built environments like hospitals, schools, office spaces, homes etc. Urbanization is another aspect that has public health related consequences. According to the study, 'Walls talk: Microbial biogeography of homes spanning urbanization' (by Jean F. Ruiz-Calderon, Humberto Cavallin, Se Jin Song, Atila Novoselac, Luis R. Pericchi, Jean N. Hernandez, Rafael Rios, Oralee H. Branch, Henrique Pereira, Luciana C. Paulino, Martin J. Blaser, Rob Knight, and Maria G. Dominguez-Bello) published in journal Science, certain aspects of a house's design could have an influence on the types of microbes found inside, with more urban homes separating humans from the outdoors and keeping out the environmental microbes we once evolved to coexist with. Researchers speculate that these changes may be having impact on public health. The study focused on four communities of Amazon Basin with similar climates and outside environment, but with different levels of urbanization. Prof. Maria Gloria Dominguez-Bello of NYU School of Medicine, 'We humans build the environments we live in and spend most of our time (in), and these may be very different to the natural environments. Very little is known about microbes of the built environment.' According to Prof. Graham Rook of University College London, who was not part of the study, 'There is increasing evidence that exposure to microbial biodiversity from the natural environment is important for health.' Prof. Humberto Cavallin of University of Puerto Rico's School of Architecture, comments, 'As we move from rural to urban...houses become more isolated from the outside environment and also become more internally compartmentalized according to the function of the spaces.' Prof. Jean Ruiz-Calderon, a biologist at University of Puerto Rico and lead author of the study, says, 'The results of the study reveal that microbes from house walls and floors differ across habitations. With increasing urbanization, houses contain a higher proportion of human-associated bacteria...and decreasing proportions of environmental bacteria...walls become reservoirs of bacteria that come from different sources depending on the use of the spaces.' Prof. Dominguez-Bello adds, 'We are in environments that are highly humanized, and therefore a lack of ventilation and high concentrations of human bacteria may...facilitate human-to-human transmission of microbes.' Prof. Ruiz-Calderon warns, 'As we alter our built environments in ways that diverge from the natural exposures we evolve with, we need to be aware of the possible consequences.' Read on...

The Washington Post: The hidden health consequences of how we design our homes
Author: Chelsea Harvey

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 07 feb 2016

Team of researchers from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Prof. Dipanjan Pan (Bioengineering), postdoctoral researchers Manas Gartia and Santosh Misra, along with Dr. Leanne Labriola, an ophthalmologist at Carle Foundation Hospital, are collaborating to develop a portable sensor that can quickly and inexpensively detect whether the eye injury is mild or severe. The device measures the levels of vitamin C in the fluids that coat or leak from the eye. According to Prof. Pan, 'The sensor takes advantage of the fact that the ocular tear film - the viscous fluid that coats the eyeball - contains low levels of ascorbic acid, which is just vitamin C, while the interior of the eye contains much higher levels. So the concept is, if there is severe damage to the eye that penetrates deeply, the ascorbic acid will leak out in high concentration.' Dr. Labriola says, 'The new device will change the standard of care for evaluating eye traumas. This technology has the ability to impact a large number of patients, particularly in rural settings, where access to an ophthalmologist can be limited.' Researchers suggest accident sites and battlefields as other places where the device will be of great use as chances of eye injury are high there. Prof. Pan comments on the new engineering-based medical college coming up at UIUC, 'This is a perfect example of physicians and engineers working together to find solutions to current problems in healthcare.' The team is further collaborating with a U of I industrial design professor to build a housing for the sensor that will be portable and easy to use and have founded a startup to bring the device to market. Read on...

Illinois News Bureau: Portable device can quickly determine the extent of an eye injury
Author: Diana Yates

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 31 jan 2016

Good designers often seek a balance between comfort and fashion while designing their clothes. They design to improve human lives. For most people jeans provide comfort and also fulfil their fashion quotient. Professor Elazer Edelman, a cardiologist and director of Harvard-MIT Biomedical Engineering Center, is going a step further and utilizing scientific approach to create 'FYT Jeans', that are designed for health and comfort. These jeans, developed in collaboration with designers from Portugal, are particularly suited for people who sit for long hours, like office workers. Initially the project was targeted for wheelchair dependent people, to provide them safe clothes. According to Prof. Edelman, 'There are a variety of modifications to the design around the knee...The zipper on the back is a very important and innovative design.' FYT Jeans don't bunch up behind the knee. He further adds, 'It's extra material, extra pressure. It's uncomfortable and it can actually be unsafe. It's everything from a little irritation to when people have diabetes or poor circulation, developing sores that never heal.' While explaining the future of healthy clothings, he says, 'You could certainly embed all kinds of sensors in them, and you could even give something, or embed something that was itself therapeutic.' Read on...

CBS Local: MIT Professor Designing Jeans Made For Sitting
Author: Kathryn Hauser

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 28 jan 2016

According to a study, pharmaceutical promotional and marketing expenditures, that include direct-to-consumer advertising (like TV ads), promotions to physicians, journal advertising, distributing free samples etc, increased from US$ 11.4 billion in 1995 to US$ 28.9 billion in 2005. But a recent research study titled 'Does Increased Spending on Pharmaceutical Marketing Inhibit Pioneering Innovation?' by professors Denis Arnold and Jennifer Troyer from University of North Carolina at Charlotte, found that the more pharmaceutical firms spend on marketing drugs, the less likely it is that the firm will produce breakthrough drugs that offer major advances in treatment. Conversely, the more pharmaceutical companies spend on research and development, the more innovative are the results in terms of the development of pioneering drugs according to FDA classifications, i.e. drugs that will improve public health. Authors of the study comment that the research has important policy and ethics outcomes. Prof. Arnold says, 'This article is the first using empirical data to demonstrate that aggressive marketing of pharmaceutical drugs and truly innovative new drug development are at odds. The current patent regime, that provides equal patent protection for drugs regardless of their innovativeness, can be manipulated by firms to increase sales and drive up costs for society without improving public health.' According to Prof. Troyer, 'The effects of increased spending on R&D are large for pioneering drugs. For firms producing at least one pioneering drug over the period (1999-2009), increasing permanent R&D spending by 1% results in an almost one pioneering drug approval per firm.' Read on...

UNC Charlotte News: For Pharmaceutical Companies, More Marketing Equals Less Innovation
Authors: Kirsten Khire, Buffie Stephens

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