Clinical Conversations in Continuous Monitoring

In the myriad discussions around healthcare and technology use, one of the most often overlooked voices in the conversation is that of the patient. And yet, as this episode explores, they have plenty to say. Jennifer Kent, the vice president of research for Parks Associates, joins Vital Insights again to talk about how healthcare is changing – and how patients (as consumers of healthcare) are driving that change.

At this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2022), the digital health sector was abuzz with new virtual care solutions, translated through the vantage point of a healthcare industry that has spent almost two years grappling with a global pandemic. And so perhaps ironically, we recorded this episode from a series of remote locations, due to COVID precautions. This podcast is also unusual in that we were able to include three guests from the healthcare vertical at AT&T: Joe Drygas, Clara Hustad and Clint Cetti. Together we discussed how the future of healthcare delivery will need to leverage the benefits of new information highways. 

EarlySense recently announced a major new research venture with market research firm Parks Associates, which led to the development of a comprehensive new whitepaper titled, Health at Home: New Era of Healthcare. The whitepaper examines the state of the virtual care market, with particular emphasis on the factors driving the shift from facility-centric care to healthcare at home. As author of the whitepaper, Jennifer Kent joined Vital Insights to talk about the confluence of factors driving the expansion of healthcare into the home.

According to a new report from Presidents Lane Consulting, in partnership with three think tanks Reason Foundation, Pioneer Institute, and Cicero Institute, millions of Americans tried telehealth for the first time during the COVID-19 pandemic. To support that use during the public health crisis, federal officials made changes to Medicare and governors advanced health access with flexible waivers. But… what happens when the public health crisis is over? The new report and accompanying toolkit, titled Rating the States on Telehealth Best Practices: A Toolkit for a Pro-Patient and Provider Landscape, aim to help state policymakers implement best practices for ensuring that providers and patients can fully realize the benefits of using telehealth services in perpetuity.  Josh Archambault, Founder of Presidents Lane Consulting, joined Vital Insights to talk about the new report.

With the passing of the Affordable Care Act years ago, one of biggest changes was the shift from fee-for-service care to value-based care. And underpinning that shift was a concept called the Quadruple Aim, or the drive to 1) improve the patient care experience, 2) improve the health of a population, 3) reduce per capita health care costs and 4) improve the clinical experience. Mike Braham joins this episode of Vital Insights to delve into the often-discussed Quadruple Aim and how technology is helping to turn "sick care" into "healthy care" for patients. 

Join us for our second conversation with Bob Holly, editor of Home Health Care News, as we revisit the legislative progress of the Choose Home Care Act of 2021 – and what the path forward looks like.  

The essential idea behind remote patient monitoring seems easy: the patient takes their vital signs at home and in some cases answers a health questionnaire, the data is provided to their doctor, possibly with special alerts when vitals are out of range, and the doctor can then assess their health on a daily basis and provide better care. But deriving value out of such patient generated data is not always straightforward, especially when you have hundreds, or even thousands of patients. How do you address issues of different care protocols between different providers or health systems to ensure a solution can seamlessly merge with existing workflows? Our next guest focused on those issues to bring their solution to market. David Yavin joins Vital Insights to walk us through how Datos Health has worked with healthcare providers to ensure its full-stack software platform seamlessly merges with existing workflows to equip care teams with the tools they need to remotely manage complex clinical protocols and automate personalized remote care.

As the founder of EarlySense, our guest for this episode of Vital Insights, Avner Halperin, has a deep history in the pursuit of technology use in the healthcare space to address gaps in care. He is the current CEO of EyeControl, a company established by individuals who share personal connections to loved ones with locked-in conditions. The communication barriers they experience initialized product development, and are also used with ventilated patients, including those in COVID-19 isolation. Join us as we explore how technology, AI and remote patient monitoring can revolutionize the way we connect in care for one another.

The American Telemedicine Association (ATA) has been at the forefront of the advancement of telemedicine, telehealth and other virtual care technologies since its inception nearly three decades ago. Our guest for this podcast had the unique opportunity to step into the lead role of the organization just before the pandemic hit – and has expertly balanced the joint tasks of ensuring its members were supported through the uncertainty of 2020 and 2021, while advocating for the enhanced utilization of telehealth to address healthcare challenges. Ann Mond Johnson, CEO of the ATA, joined us to talk about the issues that remain – and three core initiatives the Association plans to focus on to address them. With a long history of experience working across the healthcare spectrum with providers, payers and innovative technology firms, Ann Mond Johnson joined ATA in early 2018. Johnson has been a pioneer in healthcare for more than two decades, spending most of her career raising Chicago's profile as a major hub for healthcare technology firms. With extensive experience as both an entrepreneur and executive leader, she has launched and built innovative companies that leverage data to make the healthcare experience better for Americans nationwide. Before joining ATA, Johnson was CEO of Zest Health. Prior to that, she served as Board Chair and advisor to Chicago start-up ConnectedHealth (now part of Connecture). Johnson sold her first start-up company Subimo to WebMD in 2006. She began her career in healthcare data and information with The Sachs Group (now part of Truven/IBM Watson). Now at the helm of ATA, the leading, global member-based group focused on telemedicine, Johnson will lead efforts to build ATA's strategic partnerships to ensure that consumers – patients, employees, members and others – can reap the full benefits of advanced healthcare technology to gain access to top-quality care, delivered cost-effectively.

In a previous episode of Vital InSights, we had the pleasure of speaking with AT&T's Joe Drygas, focusing on how AT&T is enabling the care of the future. Our guest for this episode – Clint Cetti – is also one of AT&T's healthcare technology warriors, and we were able to take an even deeper dive into how that future is going to be enabled through 5G, edge processing and the internet of medical things, or IoMT. As the Global Director of Strategy & Innovation, Clint is currently dedicated to AT&T's Healthcare vertical for national and global accounts. Clint provides industry insights, futures advisory, strategic development and innovation facilitation for AT&T's top clients in pharmaceutical, provider, payer and medical life science manufacturing areas.  Clint founded and manages the AT&T Innovation Partnership (IP) Program that formalizes how AT&T and clients innovate together. Clint works closely with both AT&T and client leadership to sponsor DesignThink Workshops, Experience Mapping Events and IoT hack-a-thons to identify areas of the business that would most benefit from AT&T's innovation solution development resources. Clint has developed strategies and key innovations with Coca-Cola, Home Depot, Delta Airline, Humana and more of AT&T's largest clients for end-to-end platform approaches of wired, wireless, cloud and mixed reality environments expressing the true value of AT&T in the marketplace. Clint has over 29 years of global professional technical experience as well as a Masters in Business Administration.  Clint currently participates in technical advisory roles for the the Medical Device Innovation Consortium group and members such as the FDA and USDA.  Clients have repeatedly recognized Clint for his transformative business innovation, futures vision, and strategic leadership insights. Clint is now a publicly recognized industry leader in the areas of business strategy, global network design innovation and the emerging fields of IoMT, 5G and edge compute. Clint continues to provide his thought leadership in industry trade media and conferences such as HIMMS, HLTH, CES, Samsung/EMC's Mobile Cloud Conference, CHIME and other Corporate and Public Venues.

As Chief Operating Officer of EarlySense, Mike has been pivotal in the company's move to take proven technology solutions and create opportunities in the acute and virtual care spaces. His professional passion for the marrying of technology and healthcare has helped the company improve the health of individuals, and the ability for healthcare providers to better manage their population of patients.  On this episode of Vital InSights, we delve into how more proactive healthcare solutions can take the biggest piece of cost out of the equation by moving care further upstream. In other words, catch issues that represent patient deterioration before they can exacerbate. Mike Tiffany is Chief Operating Officer of EarlySense. He is a dynamic and driven Operations Executive, with extensive industry expertise in building and scaling healthcare IT client operations organizations. He is a facilitator and builder of world-class customer success focused operations teams, with specialty in leading organizations from start-up through scaled growth stages. He has proven relationship management skills, building key executive partnerships with strategic clients and delivering business critical results for the client base.

The actualization of patient-centric care requires a deep understanding of patient pain points – sometimes literal and sometimes figurative. Our guest for this episode has spent the past two decades with the oldest among us, earning a wealth of knowledge on how to care for older adults and enable better aging in place solutions. Dr. Zachary J. Palace is a geriatrician in Bronx, New York and is affiliated with multiple hospitals and care facilities in the area, including Riverspring Living, New York-Presbyterian Hospital-Columbia and Cornell and Montefiore Medical Center. He received his medical degree from State University of New York Downstate Medical Center College of Medicine and has been in practice for more than 20 years.

The implementation of remote patient monitoring solutions has consistently had a prominent sticking point impeding success: and that was in the translation of patient data that were collected by the patient and providing them to their care provider. Making that process seamless was core to our next guest's solution. Sid Kandan joins us today, as co-founder and CEO and Stel Life Inc., to walk us through how his company has been able to partner with healthcare providers to ensure the data they receive from patients is complete, reliable and accurate. Sid Kandan is Co-Founder and CEO of Stel, inc. The Stel Vitals Hub seamlessly and securely connects bluetooth vitals devices to health records without complex setup, WiFi, or mobile applications. Patients simply plug in the Hub and use their vitals device. Care teams can better monitor patient trends and alerts within their preferred workflow.

Though remote patient monitoring, telemedicine and telehealth have been with us for more than two decades, the healthcare industry hasn't been able to embrace it – despite the almost ubiquitous understanding that it's a pretty good idea. One of the primary reasons for the slow movement forward? Reimbursement. Our next guest is an industry journalist who – by his own definition – likes to geek out on the complex evolution around the legislative components involved with reimbursement. Today we're welcoming Bob Holly to Vital Insights. Bob is the editor for Home Healthcare News with a passion for digging into the details when it comes to interpreting new legislation in the healthcare space. Bob (Robert) Holly is Editor of Home Healthcare News, where he covers all things related to aging in place and senior care.

The development and implementation of remote patient monitoring solutions into healthcare spaces has been a long and winding road. Today's guest has been in the front seat for most of that historical journey – and can probably attest to more than her fair share of the bumps along the way. But with a bevy of new support over the last decade and a half for virtual care solutions – from new reimbursement structures to technology advancements – a future grounded in remote care feels solidly on track. Today we welcome Karen Thomas to Vital Insights, who is president of Cardeum, a HealthCare Consulting company focused on reducing hospital readmissions, improving patient outcomes, and reducing health care costs through the use of transformative technologies and best clinical practices. Karen R. Thomas is President of Cardeum, a HealthCare Consulting company focused on reducing hospital readmissions, improving patient outcomes, and reducing health care costs through the use of transformative technologies and best clinical practices. Previously, Karen served as President of Advanced TeleHealth Solutions, a telemonitoring company, and Oxford HealthCare, a home care agency for more than 20 years.

The Vital Insights podcast crew regularly sits down with internal experts at EarlySense for what we call “Fast Takes” – quick conversations with people who are in the know. From clinical architects to technology engineers to industry analysts – they have their finger on the pulse of everything that's happening at the very busy intersection of healthcare and technology.   Today's episode features Terry discussing the issue of health data standardization, and why it is critical we prioritize that goal if we wish to make strides towards a truly efficient and effective health system.

The Vital Insights podcast crew regularly sits down with internal experts at EarlySense for what we call “Fast Takes” – quick conversations with people who are in the know. From clinical architects to technology engineers to industry analysts – they have their finger on the pulse of everything that's happening at the very busy intersection of healthcare and technology.   Today's Fast Take is a perspective from Matt Johnson, Chief Executive Officer at EarlySense, on how the Hospital at Home movement will be a lasting one in the world of virtual care.

The Vital Insights podcast crew regularly sits down with internal experts at EarlySense for what we call “Fast Takes” – quick conversations with people who are in the know. From clinical architects to technology engineers to industry analysts – they have their finger on the pulse of everything that's happening at the very busy intersection of healthcare and technology.   Today's Fast Take is a perspective from Matt Johnson, Chief Executive Officer at EarlySense, on why patient compliance is a make-or-break factor for virtual care.

The Vital Insights podcast crew regularly sits down with internal experts at EarlySense for what we call “Fast Takes” – quick conversations with people who are in the know. From clinical architects to technology engineers to industry analysts – they have their finger on the pulse of everything that's happening at the very busy intersection of healthcare and technology.   Today's Fast Take is a perspective from Matt Johnson, Chief Executive Officer at EarlySense, on the top three phenomena impeding the success of virtual care today.

The Vital Insights podcast crew regularly sits down with internal experts at EarlySense for what we call “Fast Takes” – quick conversations with people who are in the know. From clinical architects to technology engineers to industry analysts – they have their finger on the pulse of everything that's happening at the very busy intersection of healthcare and technology.   Today's Fast Take is a perspective from Matt Johnson, Chief Executive Officer at EarlySense, on how we take the next step in virtual care in the wake of COVID-19.

The Vital Insights podcast crew regularly sits down with internal experts at EarlySense for what we call “Fast Takes” – quick conversations with people who are in the know. From clinical architects to technology engineers to industry analysts – they have their finger on the pulse of everything that's happening at the very busy intersection of healthcare and technology.   Today's Fast Take is a perspective from Terry Duesterhoeft, Chief Product Officer at EarlySense, on why sleep presents an interesting and innovative opportunity when used as a clinical marker.

The name AT&T has been synonymous with telephone communications, with the company's history going all the way back to Alexander Graham Bell. But after more than a century of business evolution, the company now provides the infrastructure for some of the largest business industries around the world. Including healthcare. Our guest today is Joe Drygas, who is responsible for leading the global healthcare solutions team for AT&T, and we've asked him to join us to share a little more about how AT&T is enabling the care of the future. Joe Drygas leads the Healthcare Solutions team globally for AT&T Business. His organization is comprised of highly experienced sales and technical professionals serving a multi-billion dollar segment of AT&T's largest healthcare clients. A charismatic visionary, Joe is a seasoned sales leader with a focus on customer experience, talent development, teamwork, and growth. Under Joe's leadership, AT&T Healthcare designs integrated products, services, and solutions customized for the healthcare ecosystem, including the largest healthcare providers, pharmaceutical companies, and life sciences companies worldwide. Joe's passion for building relationships combined with his technical background are evident in the progress AT&T has made in the evolution from a communications provider to a strategic healthcare partner.

Our two guests on this episode of Vital Insights join us from HealtheMed, an organization dedicated to improving the lives of the Medicaid participants living isolated at home in the community. HealtheMed's Clinic@Home telemedicine platform drives improved care outcomes, and we welcome our two guests today – Ron Mendelbaum and Shannon Holly-Smith – to tell us more about how their focus on the most vulnerable patients led to the demonstrated results they've been able to achieve. Ron Mandelbaum, CRO at HealtheMed, has 30+ years strategic business development and management. He's spent the last 12 years focused on development of long-term care and aging in place communities, and on the vanguard of driving the healthcare system in USA towards the eventual recognition of the home as the lowest cost center of care and a corresponding base rate payment for the setting. Shannon Holley-Smith, BSN, RN, is Nurse Director at HealtheMed. She obtained her RN/ASN as a working adult from Inver Hill's college and BSN/RN at St. Mary's University of Minnesota. Shannon has nursing experience level home care with patients requiring 24 hours nursing duties as private nursing management and performing nursing staff program development and implementation, along with several years of community mental health nursing, and clinic nursing at a specialty day procedure center.

In the world of remote, or virtual, care, there's one thing that's of huge importance, and that's the ability of healthcare providers to rely on the data they're receiving as being accurate. If the data is inaccurate, the whole foundation falls apart. Today's episode talks about how manufacturers can ensure their data represents an accurate picture of patient health – and the top three things providers can ask a potential RPM vendor to determine the validity of data generated. Terry Duesterhoeft has more than 20 years of experience as a thought leader, executive, and strategic marketing leader in MedTech and digital health. He has consistently focused on developing new product strategies and execution, and on growing innovative new businesses; scaling up or pivoting existing ones; and building and mentoring global teams to accomplish it.

The Vital Insights podcast crew regularly sits down with internal experts at EarlySense for what we call “Fast Takes” – quick conversations with people who are in the know. From clinical architects to technology engineers to industry analysts – they have their finger on the pulse of everything that's happening at the very busy intersection of healthcare and technology. Today's Fast Take is a perspective from Terry Duesterhoeft, Chief Product Officer at EarlySense, on why gold standards are critical in the evaluation of monitoring devices.

How is medical technology like contact-free patient monitoring changing the way that hospitals approach patient care and staff management, and how are those trends likely to continue evolving in the years to come? That was the topic of a recent conversation between Elaine Bridge — a seasoned clinician and nurse leader who’s pioneered the adoption of medical tech at Massachusetts’ Newton-Wellesley Hospital, among other achievements — and Tim O’Malley, President and Chief Growth Officer at EarlySense, Inc.

Rapid response emergency systems have become a critical tool in the fight to prevent patient fatalities in hospitals via the early detection and management of cardiac events and other critical events. But although the importance of rapid response is now widely acknowledged throughout the global medical community, this wasn’t always the case. In this podcast from EarlySense, Dr. Michael DeVita and Dr. Ken Hillman, two pioneers in the development of rapid response systems (RRS), discuss the revelations that led to their individual efforts to develop RRS, and the challenges they faced implementing rapid response in hospitals that were less than receptive to their calls for change.

Michael DeVita, former president of the Society for Simulation in Healthcare and Chief Medical Officer of EarlySense, joins Dan Raemer & Janice Palaganas of the Center for Medical Simulation on their podcast, DJ Simulationistas, to talk about his development of the "rapid response" team with the goal of preventing cardiac arrest rather than just responding to it, as well as surprising results from virtual gaming that can improve code response performance.

In part two of this discussion on sepsis, Dr. Michael DeVita, Sue and Jay Stull, and Thomas Heymann, discuss  the importance of protocols and strong leadership, their thoughts on what can improve outcomes, research currently being conducted on the treatment of sepsis, and end with what gives each of them hope for the future of sepsis.  

In part one of a two part episode on sepsis, Dr. Michael DeVita, a critical care physician and Chief Medical Officer of EarlySense, will be joined by Sue and Jay Stull, (Team Sue) sepsis advocates,  and Thomas Heymann, President and Executive Director of the Sepsis Alliance.  Sue is a quad amputee as a result of an undiagnosed bacterial infection. Thomas has been part of Sepsis Alliance since 2007, serving as a consultant, board member, and now as President and Executive Director. In part of this two part episode, Jay and Sue share their story, Jay and Thomas share statistics surrounding sepsis, Dr. DeVita dives deeper into what sepsis is, and the group discusses what needs to be done in the future. 

In the second episode of Clinical Conversations in Continuous Monitoring, Dr. Michael DeVita, a critical care physician and Chief Medical Officer of EarlySense, is joined by Dr. Frank Overdyk, an anesthesiologist affiliated with multiple hospitals in South Carolina and sits on the board of advisors for the Physcian-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety, discuss Failure to Rescue and why continuous monitoring has not yet become a standard of care.  

In the first episode of a new series, Dr. Michael DeVita, Chief Medical Officer of EarlySense, is joined by Ms. Helen Haskell, founder of Mothers Against Medical Error, for a one-on-one conversation about the the importance of continuous monitoring. In their wide-ranging discussion, Dr. DeVita and Ms. Haskell talk about what brought them into their current roles as continuous monitoring advocates, how far they think the movement has progressed, failure to recognize patient deterioration, and the growing role of continuous monitoring within the organization of medicine.