HIMSS Accelerate Health Podcast

In this episode, members of the HIMSS Nursing Informatics Committee discuss the effects of open information sharing on clinical workflows and on nurses in particular. Although of great benefit to patients, our panel points out that the immediate sharing of notes and other information with patient families is leading to an influx of queries and requests that some staffing models aren't yet prepared for. It may also introduce the possibility that some clinicians may self-censor the notes they enter, which used to serve as a form of intra-team communication. HIMSS member experts from a variety of institutions weigh in on this important topic which will remain challenging as the industry adapts to the new 21st Century Cures Act rules roll out.

As part of the HIMSS 22 Startup Spotlight series, we speak with Eric Olsen, Founder, COO and Chairman of Babson Diagnostics. Babson is revolutionizing the testing experience for customers, bringing clinical, laboratory grade testing to more locations and using smaller samples than traditional diagnostic testing. In this conversation we explore a bit of Babson's history, what they are changing about the customer experience, and what the diagnostics industry is feeling in the fallout from Theranos. Be sure to visit Babson at HIMSS 22 in Orlando.

As part of the HIMSS 22 Startup Spotlight series, we speak with Anshu Sharma, Co-Founder and CEO of Skyflow. Skyflow provides an API for secure information exchange, protecting user information while still allowing for effective authentication and data use. Please join us as we hear how Skyflow was founded and the problem they have set out to solve for the healthcare industry. And be sure to visit Skyflow at HIMSS 22 in Orlando.

The 21st Century Cures Act (Cures Act) was signed into law on Dec. 13, 2016. The bipartisan legislation has provisions for the development and delivery of drugs and medical devices, acceleration of research into serious illnesses, addressing the opioid crisis, and improving mental health services. High impact provisions relevant to healthcare providers, health IT developers, and patients focus on improving health information access and exchange.In this episode, guest host Melanie Turner, Associate Vice President of Application Services at UAB Health speaks with John Travis, the Vice President for Regulatory Research and Strategy with Cerner Corporation. This episode features perspectives from a Health IT vendor and health care provider regarding the changes that the law requires, focused in particular on the Information Blocking rules recently promulgated by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT to support the Cures Act.

In the first episode of 2022, the Accelerate Health team again turns the microphone over to a guest host for the second installment of our three-part series on Nursing Informatics. In this episode, Regina Wysocki, Senior Clinical Informatics Specialist at Texas Children's Hospital and member of the HIMSS Nursing Informatics Committee interviews her colleague Kaitlin Perera, a Clinical Informatics Specialist at Texas Children's.Kaitlin tells us about her journey from nursing into the informatics specialty, and tells a tale relatable to many IT professionals: an interest and knack for using technology helped her become a super-user of a new system, and that first step opened up a whole new career path.Kaitlin talks about her first-hand experience with some of the core issues facing clinicians, including moving between hospitals that use different EHRs and losing accumulated super-user experience and the efficiency that it brings. Later in the interview, Regina and Kaitlin discuss continuing education and how there comes a level in one's career where some advanced training or an advanced degree in informatics becomes a requirement.Finally, the interview explores a bit about how individuals can help drive change within an organization and how technology is becoming pervasive in healthcare and is increasingly at the center of the care experience.

In this episode, we begin a three-part exploration of Nursing Informatics as a career and a profession. The series begins with Dr. Angela Ross interviewing Dr. Nelita Iuppa about her career path and trajectory in nursing informatics. Health and medical informatics is the science of how to use data, information, and knowledge to improve human health and the delivery of health care services. Both Dr. Ross and Dr. Iuppa are members of the HIMSS Nursing Informatics Community Steering Committee.This series is intended to highlight the roles of informaticists in clinical care and highlight the critical need for informaticists as healthcare continues its digital transformation. Nurse informaticists play a critical role in healthcare's digital transformation, continuing their traditional role as the primary human interface between patients and the rest of the healthcare system. No other career offers an opportunity to so directly apply technology in a compassionate and patient-centered way.Dr. Iuppa begins by reminding us that, while technology can be learned, nurse informaticists bring their clinical skills and compassion to their roles in ways that other informaticists can't. Dr. Iuppa describes her education and the path she took to her current role, including early formal education that laid a foundation for building her career. She discusses the role of mentors and mentoring, and how important it is to care for the colleagues around you.The episode concludes with a discussion of some of the challenges that nurses can face in an informatics career and also the joys of having a dual role in the exciting frontier of technology alongside the traditional caring role that nurses everywhere fill.

In this episode, host Rob Havasy speaks with Israel Krush, the co-founder and CEO of Hyro.ai, a company producing AI-based conversation agent technology. Hyro was a featured company in the HIMSS 21 startup showcase, but came to Rob's attention when he saw a large sign at the Hyro booth that said, "Chatbots Suck!" Intrigued, he struck up a conversation and this interview is the ultimate result.The interview begins with a founder's lesson in managing complexity as Israel discusses standardizing their model around one single EHR system with the right integration points, rather than struggling to manage complex integrations while also trying to perfect conversation AI technology.The conversation then turns to the evolution of conversation agent tech - from its early research in the first part of the 2000s to its growing deployment in call centers today. Part of this is understanding the role of emotions in guiding the outcome of human-to-human conversations versus human-to-machine conversations, including the understanding that chatbots, by and large, are focused on a task and aren't distracted or swayed by emotional connections to the callers they interact with.The conversation winds up by taking a look at how COVID not only changed the demand for tools like conversation agents among hospitals but whether or not changing workforce pressures have made permanent changes to the market dynamics. Then about how hospitals can use effective and efficient agents to demonstrate to patients that they have competent IT systems. And it ends with an anecdote about what voice styles might prove to be more effective in real lif use.

In this episode, Jonathan Kumar, the CEO of Samaritan joins host Kerry Amato and gives us a view of Samaritan's work to help homeless individuals access services.Jonathan begins with a description of the platform that Samaritan has created to match individuals in need with services and the support of giving individual samaritans who pledge their direct help, including a description of the organizations they partner with to reach the most vulnerable individuals. He continues with a success story from the first user of the Samaritan platform and what the definition of success really is when working with populations living on society's margins.The conversation then turns to Samaritan as a company and discusses a bit about their recent deal with United Healthcare and a bit about the economics that make Samaritan's business model possible. It then turns to leadership and some challenges and lessons from navigating Samaritan through the pandemic.The interview closes with a bit of advice from Jonathan about how to pursue an idea and the unique blending of not-for-profit and for-profit interests that make the Samaritan platform unique.

On a special edition of the Accelerate Health podcast,  we continue our series of spotlights on unique digital health startups that are changing the face of healthcare.This week, Masry Sheridan speaks to Indrajit Choudhuri , Founder of Medicardia Health.  Medicardia is building the health platform of the future to enable "high-performance cardiology." Medicardia HealthChart provides a platform for more closely connecting cardiologists and patients and delivering virtual care more easily.Indrajit shares how their technology grew out of a personal experience and a realization that so many other people would face the kinds of uncertainties and roadblocks that he faced.  Learn more about Medicardia, click here.

On this week's episode of the Accelerate Health podcast, Kerry Amato speaks with Paul Riser Jr., the Managing Director of Technology-Based Entrepreneurship at TechTown Detroit. TechTown Detroit  Detroit's entrepreneurship hub that is a non-profit business service organization that provides programs, education and resources for early- to -growth-stage small businesses and tech entrepreneurs. Paul discusses the reasons why healthcare innovation is a huge economic producer and  the importance of reinvesting back into your community resources to grow a more connected and inclusive world. 

On this week's episode of the Accelerate Health podcast, Rob Havasy invites Alex Gao, Founder and Head of the Digital Health Lab for Samsung Research America to talk with him about how consumer device companies are forging a path of true and effective innovation in the healthcare space. Alex discussed the advances Samsung has made branching into the healthcare industry and focusing on technology that champions for consumer empowered health. 

On this week's episode, Mary Sheridan, Senior Manager of Accelerate Health fills in for our own Kerry Amato. She speaks with Dr. Nikhil Wagle, Medical Oncologist at Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and the Director of Count Me In, a nonprofit organization aimed at making it possible for cancer patients anywhere in the United States and Canada to be partners, rather than just statistics,  in cancer research. Dr. Wagle explains how this novel approach of going straight to the patients has broken down traditional barriers within cancer research and allowed for faster analysis of patient data and therapies. When patients stand together with researchers, they can unlock new discoveries and treatments. To learn more about the Count Me In Project or sign up yourself if you are a patient, click here.

On a special edition of the Accelerate Health podcast,  we continue our series of spotlights on unique digital health startups that are changing the face of healthcare.This week, we speak to Anshu Sharma, Co-Founder and CEO of Skyflow. Inspired by the data vaults built internally by companies like Apple, Google and Netflix that spend tens of millions of dollars on privacy, Skyflow has built a zero trust data vault that any health IT company can put into production in a few hours or days. The new vault is delivered as a cloud API, allowing healthcare software teams to innovate more rapidly without worrying about patient privacy, data security, or HIPAA and other regulatory concerns. In the wake of COVID-19, Anshu shares with us how this type of security is needed now more than ever as we develop more virtual care technologies and patients' information is being shared on digital platforms in exchange for services and goods.  Learn more about Skyflow, click here.

On this week's episode, Indu Subaiya speaks with caregiver champion Alexandra Drane, CEO and Co-Founder of ARCHAngels, ARCHANGELS is a national movement and a platform that is reframing how caregivers are seen, honored, and supported using a combination of data and stories. They discuss the need for more vulnerable conversations around unpaid caregivers and the support that they need, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Alex delves into the positive effects on the bottom line if companies start to "operationalize  kindness" and hire more caregivers for there resiliency and strength.  She also speaks to a national study released recently in partnership with the CDC to examine the major influx of caregivers in the world due to COVID-19 and how mental health symptoms and suicidal thoughts among unpaid caregivers have skyrocketed.  ARCHANGELS utilizes their ARCHANGELS Caregiver Intensity IndexTM as a revolutionary tool to evaluate the drivers of mental health symptoms in caregivers.To learn more about ARCHAngels and their incredible work, click here

On a special edition of the Accelerate Health podcast,  we continue our series of spotlights on unique digital health startups that are changing the face of healthcare.This week, we speak to Eli Harris, Co-Founder and President of R-Zero.  R-Zero  is the first biosafety technology company dedicated to making the indoor spaces we share safer, healthier and more productive. Their technologies help reduce the spread of all infectious diseases while simplifying the processes and reporting that goes with it. Eli shares how their technology grew out of a need to modernize the sanitizing practices of businesses when COVID-19 first emerged and how the need for easy and efficient sanitizing has become the norm now for all industries moving forward.   Learn more about R-Zero, click here.

On a special edition of the Accelerate Health podcast,  we continue our series of spotlights on unique digital health startups that are changing the face of healthcare. This week, we speak to Aaron Bours, Vice President of Marketing for Hyro.AI.  Founded by former Google employees, Hyro is a Conversational AI company that uses natural language and computational linguistics to turn complex content into simple dialogue. Developed as a plug & play solution, Hyro automatically stands up voice assistants, chatbots and virtual agents that help can help providers streamline their conversations with patients. Aaron walks us through how the platform uses AI to evolve its dialogue over time with its users, their timely and effective approach to addressing their clients needs during the pandemic, and how adaptive communications are the future of replacing  intent-based chatbots and IVRs in healthcare. To learn more about Hyro.AI, click here

On this week's episode, Executive Director for Healthcare Innovation, Kerry Amato interviews Dr. Keri Althoff, Associate Professor of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and featured contributor on CNN and Bloomberg. Dr. Althoff and Kerry discuss the impact COVID-19 has had on the healthcare industry and the current measures taken to collect data to fight the variants.  They talk about how the integration of vaccine and testing data needs to be streamlined to foster research advancements and how essential  and fast-acting the use of contact-tracing is to truly end the pandemic and to stop further outbreaks. The development of tech to help support these efforts extends beyond COVID but to future infectious diseases that have yet been revealed.They close out their conversation by discussing Dr. Althoff's appreciation for AI applications within healthcare such as reducing the burden on provider and healthcare system resources and monitoring the long-term effects on COVID patients.

On a special edition of the Accelerate Health podcast,  we continue our series of spotlights on unique digital health startups that are changing the face of healthcare.This week, we speak to Dr. Sandeep Jain, Founder and CEO of ListenMD.  ListenMD is a  Distraction-Free communications platform that  gives doctors the power to control their time, reduce interruptions to put patient care first. ListenMD breaks down the walls between doctors across practices, hospitals and specialty clinics while maintaining full HIPAA compliance. Dr. Jain explains as a practicing physician himself, how this platform truly breaks down barriers between providers to advance the quality of patient care. He discusses how his platform pivoted to help the exchange of information travel quicker and reach doctors globally during the onset of COVID and how he hopes the integration of EHRs and distraction-free messaging is on the horizon to get one step closer to achieve interoperability for all. To learn more about ListenMD, click here

On a special edition of the Accelerate Health podcast,  we continue our series of spotlights on unique digital health startups that are changing the face of healthcare. This week, we speak to Dr. Marc Gruner, Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer for Limber Health.  Developed by doctors in sports medicine & physical therapy, Limber is a digital health solution designed for employers, health plans, and providers. The platform provides at-home exercise therapy programs for musculoskeletal health (e.g. low back, shoulder, hip, neck, knee joints) & clinically validated outcomes tracking. Marc discusses how Limber Health was created to fill a gap in between surgery and post-surgery care to empower patients with their rehab activities without sacrificing the quality. He also announces the groundbreaking news of CPT codes finally being cleared to use with this technology so providers can get reimbursed. To learn more about Limber Health, click here

On a special edition of the Accelerate Health podcast,  we continue our series of spotlights on unique digital health startups that are changing the face of healthcare. This week, we speak to Katie Delgado, CEO for OnCallX.  OnCallX is a secure, automated, and HIPAA-compliant on-call messaging solution for patients and providers. Patients and referring providers can send messages through a webform or automated voice system by cutting out the use of a third party messaging service.  Katie discusses the uptick in physician burnout and the need to streamline provider/patient interactions to benefit both parties. Also, in the changing healthcare landscape post-COVID, she highlights the importance of virtual care options that focus on convenience for patients without sacrificing security and quality of care. To learn more about OnCallX, click here

In this episode, Accelerate Health's Mary Sheridan speaks with Rami Elsabeh, the Chief Product Officer of DTX Med. DTX Med is a Patient Reported Outcomes (PRO) platform that is expanding to include additional messaging and communications functions. DTX allows clinicians to automate and digitize the capture of patient-generated information, both pre and post-visit, that is often collected via paper forms today. In use for research and clinical care, DTX allows users to customize questions, presentations, and logic to accommodate a variety of clinical scenarios and includes analytics tools to help triage and report collected information to streamline workflows.Rami offers several use cases where current users have deployed DTX including diabetes care and a spinal surgery clinic. The conversation then takes a look ahead at the growth of PRO and other patent-generated health data likely to continue in the post-COVID care world. Platforms like DTX are positioned to help practices whose digitization has been driven by COVID streamline these new workflows as care settles into a new normal.

On this week's episode, Rob Havasy speaks with Brian Kalis, Managing Director of Accenture Health Strategy and Alicia Graham, Managing Director of Accenture Interactive. They delve into the importance of valuing the Patient Experience and the design challenges facing those developing solutions in Healthcare IT today. They expand upon Accenture Interactive's human-centric approach to strategy that  blends both human and health industry insights into new services for their clients. And they discuss how healthcare design should focus on building complex adaptive ecosystems and finding your shared purpose with your audience  and how to be relevant to them, both in the moment and throughout the entire user journey. 

On a special edition of the Accelerate Health podcast,  we continue our series of spotlights on unique digital health startups that are changing the face of healthcare. Each of these companies will also be featured at the hybrid event for HIMSS Global Conference and Exhibition in Las Vegas this August.This week, we speak to Jayanthi Narasimhan, Founder & CEO for WatchRx.  WatchRx provides a simple smartwatch with a dedicated reminder solution, GPS, emergency alert, fall detection and predictive analytics. Jayanthi founded the company to fill a gap in the market after caring for her senior mother and realizing there was no comprehensive, yet simple wearable focused on remote-patient monitoring. She wanted to help older adults with chronic health conditions manage their medications while giving caregivers and healthcare providers the ability to monitor remotely. To learn more about WatchRx, click here

On a special edition of the Accelerate Health podcast,  we continue our series of spotlights on unique digital health startups that are changing the face of healthcare. Each of these companies will also be featured at the hybrid event for HIMSS Global Conference and Exhibition in Las Vegas this August.This week, we speak to Adam Younger, Chief Strategy Officer for Payground.  Payground is a web-based platform that's revolutionizing the way patients pay their medical bills. It lets users have one login to access multiple profiles and providers for their entire family to make easy payments.  No more juggling numerous accounts with various providers, making payments by mail or paying by phone.  Adam talks about the deeply personal and passionate story of how this idea originated and how their founder decided to affect change in the midst of his own personal health struggles and how their patient-centric approach reduces burden on both the patients and providers.To learn more about Payground, click here

On a special edition of the Accelerate Health podcast,  we continue our series of spotlights on unique digital health startups that are changing the face of healthcare. Each of these companies will also be featured at the hybrid event for HIMSS Global Conference and Exhibition in Las Vegas this August.This week, we speak to Siva Nagalingam, CEO of Mediguru. MediGuru is a telehealth software platform that enables a healthcare system, provider network or payer network to setup a customized & branded telemedicine solution as part of their virtual care practice. Siva  talks about how a focus on patient empathy sets it apart from other platforms and how they are addressing the entire continuum of care to address physician burnout and sustainability in telehealth. To learn more about Mediguru, click here

On this week's episode, Kerry Amato speaks with Emma Cartmell, Founding Partner of Cartmell Ventures on the current landscape of digital health investing. They discuss how COVID has impacted not only digital health but investing in it as well. Emma talks about what she looks for in a startup when she is ready to invest and the value in investing in underrepresented geographies, specifically non-coastal companies. She also gives her unique perspecive on  women in leadership roles within the investment space. 

On a special edition of the Accelerate Health podcast,  we continue our series of spotlights on unique digital health startups that are changing the face of healthcare. Each of these companies will also be featured at the hybrid event for HIMSS Global Conference and Exhibition in Las Vegas this August.This week, we speak to the Founder of Strive Medtech, Dr. Padraic Obma. Strive is a total care platform redefining the delivery of musculoskeletal care by empowering the patients through mobile software and wearable technology. An end-to-end solution from initial assessment and conservative care through surgery, and postop care. Dr. Obma talks about what sets Strive apart from other platforms with their patient-focused approach and how they are addressing health equity with their initiative to provide proper hardware to underserved communities. To learn more about Strive MedTech, click here

On this week's episode, Kerry Amato speaks with Gwen Darien, executive vice president for patient advocacy and engagement for the National Patient Advocacy Foundation (NPAF). They discuss what it means to amplify the patient voice to reform healthcare delivery system and make it more patient-centered. Gwen expands upon the important role tech plays in addressing cost concerns for patients; specifically in addressing healthcare inequities.  She also speaks to where the trust premium between patients and providers comes into play with SDOH and how do we get patients to be more part of the conversation.

This week, Kerry Amato speaks with Naomi Fried, the founder and CEO of PharmStarsTM , the first and only pharma-focused accelerator for digital health startups, dedicated to driving digital health adoption to improve patient outcomes. PharmStars understands and addresses the challenges that pharma and startups face when seeking to collaborate. Their PharmaUTM program supports the digital health startups and pharma members seeking to “bridge the gap,” leading to greater success and faster adoption of “beyond the molecule” solutions for patients. Kerry and Naomi discuss the importance of a pharma-specific accelerator in the digital health space while highlighting the groundbreaking work PharmUTM members are doing to advance the field.  Applications for participation in the first cohort are due July 21, 2021. 

On this week's episode, Rob Havasy will be chatting with Dr. Melynda Barnes, Chief Medical Officer for Ro. Ro is the healthcare technology company building a patient-centric healthcare system.  With a nationwide provider network, in-home care API, and proprietary pharmacy distribution centers, Ro seamlessly connects telehealth, diagnostics, and pharmacy services to provide high-quality, affordable healthcare without the need for insurance.  Rob and Dr. Barnes discuss the effects COVID-19 had on the telehealth industry, specifically Ro. Dr. Barnes elaborates on how patients' data being accessible for all empowers BOTH the patient and physician. Finally, the future of point-of-care (POC) diagnostics is reimagined while focusing on the successes and patterns seen with Ro users. 

On this week's episode, Kerry Amato speaks with empathy amplifier, Grace Cordovano who is the CEO of Enlighted Results. They discuss what it takes to be a patient advocate, why these type of services need to be in every doctor's office and what true empathetic design really means? Grace highlights the importance of distinguishing between patients vs. consumers and how long term use of these labels in healthcare only hurt the advancement of patient empowerment. 

On this week's episode, Rob Havasy speaks with our own Jody Hoffman, Manager for Policy of the Personal Connected Health Alliance and David Gray, Director of Government Relations for HIMSS about the future of telehealth now that the pandemic restrictions are starting to be lifted. 

Amongst all of the amazing uses for social media, one area that has not been fully explored is using it to better serve our health. In these changing times post-COVID, meeting patients where they are has become more important than ever before.  On this week's episode, Kerry Amato speaks with  4th year doctors, Amanda d'Almeida and Dan Villavecer who decided to take matters into their own hands and create Medicine Explained on TikTok.  They explain everyday issues such a “What type of headache do I have? How do menstrual cups work? What does alcohol do to my body? etc.  Dan and Amanda started creating content as a way to fight medical misinformation on the internet. Medicine Explained was started to decentralize medical information by making it understandable to everyone, acting as preventative health education to people around the world who may never have access to proper healthcare, but have access to social media. With fake news and misinformation spreading on social media, they wished to create a reliable channel people could turn to for medical knowledge.In less than 6 months, Medicine Explained has amassed over 1.1 million followers and over 100 million views worldwide. The hashtag #MedicineExplained has over 100 Million views on the platform. 

Indu Subaiya speaks with Maven's  Chief Commercial Officer, Sonia Millsom. Maven is the largest virtual clinic dedicated to women and family health. Indu and Sonia discus what sets Maven apart from other telehealth networks and moving beyond the classification of Femtech as verticals and towards making them core to the health of families and communities. 

On this week's episode, Rob Havasy speaks with Brent Lamm, Deputy Chief Information Officer for UNC Health, recognized as one of America's most connected hospitals. UNC Health is also a Davies Award winning healthcare system and has achieved an astounding Stage 7 for three  of  HIMSS Analytics models: inpatient, outpatient, and analytics. They discuss what digital transformation means for health systems today, the difference between being 'data-informed vs data-driven" and the importance of flexible governance that allows teams to create innovative technologies for the patient rather than for technology's sake. 

On this week's episode, Indu Subaiya speaks with Alice Rathjen, Founder and CEO of DNA Compass. DNA Compass leverages maps to provide entities their own infrastructure for working with genetic data. Maps are a great way to promote genomic literacy, automate diagnostics, and enable people to meet up at locations on the genome to accelerate treatment and cures. Indu and Alice discuss everything from genomics, tracing COVID-19 variants using the Human Genome map, and the tech platforms needed to defining what a digital human being truly is. 

On a special edition of the Accelerate Health podcast,  we launch the 1st in a series of spotlights on unique digital health startups that are changing the face of healthcare. Each of these companies will also be featured at the hybrid event for HIMSS Global Conference and Exhibition in Las Vegas this August. Our first startup spotlight focuses on Chooch.AI,  a computer visualization company that can rapidly ingest and process visual data from any spectrum, generating AI models in hours that can detect objects, actions, processes, coordinates, states, and more. We speak with CEO, Emrah Gultekin, who discusses that Chooch.AI hopes to copy human visual intelligence in machines by broadening the approach of AI, instead of just focusing on vertical applications. So the same technology that what would work on a construction site or retail setting could translate easily to hospitals in smart ORs.  Come listen to how they are evolving in the healthcare industry and changing the face of AI. To learn more about Chooch.AI, click here

This past year has been a tremendous shift for the healthcare industry.  One of the most important changes that has come out of  COVID  has been the acceleration of digital health. Not only has this been beneficial for use during the pandemic, but it has also demonstrated viability for people living in remote or rural areas where traditional care is not as easily accessible to them.  Pharmaceutical companies were no exception in having to strengthen their use of digital health products and services to reach their clients directly. On this week's episode, Rob Havasy speaks with Jim Parshall, Director of Connected Health External Innovation at Eli Lilly and Company on the ways pharma has shifted focus to digital health in this post-COVID world. He speaks to the important work Eli Lilly and Company is doing to  amplify partnerships with pharma and startups and how to improve the patient experience with telehealth. The ever-evolving future of pharma looks bright but what is next?Thank you to Change Healthcare for sponsoring this episode. For more information, visit changehealthcare.com 

Today, we launch a 10-month series amplifying the Patient Voice while focusing on  designing and using new  technology. Each month, we will be interviewing a new patient advocate who personally and professionally knows the importance of developing technology to manage their health but the struggle to find a company who truly innovates for their end-user: the patient.  On this week's episode, Kerry Amato will speak to Brook McCall, Director of the Tech Access Initiative, for the United Spinal Association about the importance of involving the patient from the start in designing technology. Brooke will discuss her own personal journey as a patient, beginning with advocating for herself and how that evolved into a professional calling where she advocates for millions more each day. For more information on the United Spinal Association, Tech Access Council, view here.To reach out to Brook McCall directly, email bmccall@unitedspinal.org

Maternal health is a critical issue around the globe facing millions of women every day. According to the CDC, more than 60% of pregnancy-related deaths in America are preventable. And this is not just a women's issue, it's a human issue. On this week’s episode, we'll be speaking with Dr. Ellen Seely, Director of Clinical Research for Brigham and Women's Hospital, and research lead for Heart Health 4 Moms, where she's directing research of women who have experienced pregnancies complicated by preeclampsia, and the important work that they're doing through data and education to change those statistics.  If you have any questions, ideas, or comments for Dr. Seely, please send them to acceleratehealth@himss.org. Make sure to visit www.hh4m.org for more information about the groundbreaking study mentioned in today’s episode. 

On this week's episode, Rob Havasy speaks with Troy Keyser, Director of Carilion Innovation for Carilion Health about adapting innovation on a smaller but just as important scale. In the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, hospitals across the world were struggling to adapt to the ever-changing protocol, PPE shortages and fear of an unknown virus and its implications on their resources, staff and personally, their families. At Carilion Health, a smaller health system than the larger ones talked about on the nightly news, Troy had to find new and innovative ways to solve the same challenges that faced those health giants but with fewer resources than them. Havasy opens the discussion with a stroll down memory lane for Troy and what led him to Carilion Health and creating their innovation program. While Carilion Innovation had focused on commercializable inventions up until the pandemic, once COVID-19 finally reached their doors, they had to pivot considerably the trajectory and types of innovations they were working on. It greatly accelerated the innovation roadmap Keyser had planned for several years down the line to just a matter of months. Keyser gives an example of N95 mask shortages across their hospitals, but without the means to acquire more they looked to unusual places on the Internet for inspiration and in the community around them to find a way to make the masks they did have reusable but still safe. Although large scale resources were lacking, Keyser speaks to the importance of the local community near Carilion and utilizing the partners they did have in the right ways. Virginia Tech was only a few miles away with eager and willing students and a state-of-the-art DREAMS lab with industrial 3D printers. The Carilion human factors team also played an instrumental part in testing the prototypes with actual staff and making sure the acclimation process was at the forefront of design. Havasy leads this example into a discussion on the status of American manufacturing and is it really dead or just dormant? The conversation ends with a deeper look into the importance of involving lawyers from the start of an innovation project and the big difference between coming up with an idea and bringing it over the finish line vs. one that inspires confidence in its users, and makes people happy to accept it.

In this episode, host Indu Subaiya discusses the evolution of modern technology challenges and successes over the past 5 years with Dr. Bob Wachter, Professor and Chair of the Department of Medicine at UCSF and Author of New York Times Bestseller, The Digital Doctor: Hope, Hype and Harm at the Dawn of Medicine’s Computer Age.The conversation begins with a look back for Dr. Wachter during the time that became his inspiration for writing, The Digital Doctor. A time where advances in technology for other industries were thriving yet the rollout of new technologies within healthcare was frustrating and slow. He speaks to the level of difficulty in the transition from analog to digital medicine; that although originally gave him a negative point of view, his outlook shifted. After over 100 interviews with healthcare stakeholders over the course of a year, that it wasn’t a matter of IF technology would help advance healthcare, it was only a matter of WHEN and BY WHOM. Dr. Wachter talks about how the healthcare industry should demand the same expectations and level of ease/service of big EHR providers and tech companies that they would of Netflix or Fidelity. Doctors and nurses are just beginning to reap the benefits of machines as they begin to finally display their value.Wachter emphasizes that the first wave of healthcare digitization was getting electronic health records and cohesive systems into doctor offices and hospitals to create a digital scaffolding for all of healthcare. However, the next wave is going to be far more interesting, far more diverse. It will focus on the weaving together of those electronic health records, with all sorts of tools that are developed by third party vendors or digital giant. The need to qualify this technology will be instrumental to engaging the patient. He reflects on the effectiveness of public health systems in relation to the current COVID-19 crisis and the importance of cross-collecting data from multiple sources The conversation closes with a look at the difference in responses to the COVID crisis through the lens of different geographic areas (San Francisco vs. Los Angeles) and occupations (i.e. athletes) and how they navigated success and challenges differently.

In this episode, host John Sharp is joined by Jody Hoffman, Senior Partner at Republic Consulting, LLC and Connected Health Policy Advisor for the Personal Connected Health Alliance. Jody is an expert in health policy and has advised Personal Connected Health Alliance members for a decade through her role in our US Policy Workgroup. Jody addresses many questions about the future of telehealth policy, remote patient monitoring, and other healthcare topics under the new administration.The discussion begins with a consideration of the waivers passed by Congress allowing for expanded telehealth use during the National Health Emergency. These waivers allowed Medicare beneficiaries to access telehealth services in ways that were formerly restricted by CMS rules, as well as allowing hospitals to expand telehealth use with reduced privacy and security requirements. This expansion proved to be a lifeline for many hospitals and healthcare practices early in the pandemic. The question on everyone’s mind is what happens as the COVID emergency winds down? John and Jody explore the future of the telehealth waivers and some of the changes that also enabled remote monitoring for Medicare patients.The discussion moves to broader health IT priorities and some insight into the potential priorities of the incoming administration and new congress. There remains broad agreement that public health infrastructure will take center stage in the coming years and the focus of HIT modernization will begin to shift from EHRs and patient record access to more public health-focused data sharing.Looking towards other regulatory agencies, the conversation ranges from the FDA Digital Health Center of Excellence to other recent rules including interoperability and privacy rules issued by ONC and CMS. John and Jody also take a quick look ahead at a possible introduction of Cures 2.0, an update to the 21st Century Cures Act.

In this episode, host Kerry Amato, Executive Director, Health Innovation at HIMSS speaks with Dr. Bora Chang, CEO, and Founder of KēlaHealth. During this spirited conversation, Dr. Chang and Kerry discuss the idea behind KēlaHealthand how this innovative company is improving surgical care outcomes across the country. She answers the question of if they are an AI/machine learning company or something totally different as well as explores how the market needs and interest for this type of innovation come from diverse corners all across the healthcare industry. The podcast highlights an amazing example of not only physician-led innovation but also an amazing story of how an innovative product that was developed in academic medical institutions was able to successfully translate outside into the healthcare ecosystem and the steps that led them to the success they have seen today. Dr. Chang explores how being a physician and having the deep domain expertise in surgery to inform the design and ultimate solution is not only an important part of ongoing product development but is really at the heart of KēlaHealth. Kerry and Dr. Chang also discuss the backlog of surgical procedures facing healthcare organization as the result of COVID and how CEOs are facing tough questions about how to prioritize and stratify patients in a way that ensures they gain the best outcome in what is still a risky time in healthcare with the continuation of the global pandemic. How do we know what patients are right for surgery now? At what timeframes? What risk factors do we need to consider? Etc.Finally, hear about how Dr. Chang believes the resiliency women build starting at a young age has not only helped her achieve the success she continues to see but allows women in general too often better lead in trying times such as a global pandemic as seen in different countries across the globe with female leadership. Dr. Chang also shares how she finds her room to breathe while balancing all that life can throw at you. Please join us for this dynamic and thoughtful interview with Dr. Bora Chang!

In this episode, host Indu Subaiya discusses a wide range of global health challenges with Andrew Trister of the Gates Foundation. The conversation begins with an emphasis of the role mobile technologies play as the foundation for so many health interactions. As a main conduit for health information, expansion and better use of mobile is a critical driver of better health outcomes. With the power of the smartphone, new workers can man the front lines of healthcare. From shopkeepers to midwives, to other members of the community, access to information and training enable them to help many people on their individual health journeys. One important advancement that smartphones can bring is enabling population health to reach the neighborhood level. Interoperability and data analysis allow individual health workers to access information about the people in their community most in need of services. By linking all these levels of the health system together, powerful results can be driven very efficiently. Andrew Trister talks about new surveillance tools used for recording infant birthweight that smartphones enable, trading traditional sensors like scales for video technologies that can provide more accurate, more actionable information about patients. Often easier to use in difficult environments, these advancements have the potential to power the next leap forward in public health. An integrated system that allows doctors to respond in real time to data that health workers in the field input creates incredible efficiencies, allowing field workers to effectively help thousands of people receive basic care. Trister emphasizes that the technology and data are not the goal, however. Health is advanced when informed actions are taken based on data, and this discussion pertains directly to the world's COVID response. This emphasis on turning information into action is the call to action for public health around the globe. The conversation closes with a look at the upcoming vaccination effort for COVID, with the potential for great success driven by data and for the amplification of misinformation by the same kinds of smartphone-enabled communication systems that power health innovation. It will be a great challenge to vaccinate much of the planet without letting a few adverse events morph and explode into an avalanche of misinformation and resistance to the vaccine. The coming years will be an interesting case for the promise and peril of integrated mobile systems.

This episode explores the changes that a large health system made to adapt their virtual care programs to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as some speculation about what the future of virtual care and telemedicine look like post-pandemic. Mike Carter of Mass General Brigham in Boston, MA joins the podcast to share some of his decade-plus of experience leading telehealth platform development for a large integrated delivery network.Like other healthcare providers everywhere, the pandemic Mass General Brigham to rapidly expand their telemedicine offerings, growing in the span of a few months from tens of thousands of telehealth visits annually to over 1.4 million visits for 2020 by the end of October. The program supports over 30,000 physicians spread across eastern Massachusetts. Like many providers, Mass General Brigham had incumbent vendors when the pandemic began. Some scaled to meet the new demand, and some saw their systems buckle under the crush. Coping with the demand required some compromises to make something work in time, but eventually, all organizations will need to turn their attention to the future of virtual care.HIMSS recently released research on consumer preferences for telehealth and drawing from this data we discuss the market pressure posed by direct-to-consumer telehealth companies and the clear future preferences of younger patients for virtual care visits. While there may be some immediate impact on primary care and other revenues, Mike Carter believes that traditional providers will be able to leverage the eventual need for in-person services to retain market-share. We explore how the rapid changes required by COVID might lead to a re-sorting of the telehealth market as some vendors see their business exploding while others lose market-share for one reason or another. Finally, we explore a bit of the decision-making that goes into selecting a telehealth-specific platform versus building a system that layers video capabilities onto existing platform investments such as electronic health record systems. The episode closes with some advice for organizations beginning to build their own telehealth capabilities with a few practical bits of advice.

In this week’s episode, host Kerry Amato speaks with health economist Jane Sarasohn-Kahn about her new book Health Citizenship: How a Virus Opened Hearts and Minds. Jane shares what it was like to write a book during the COVID-19 pandemic, and what inspired her to apply the concepts of health citizenship to the current healthcare struggle. The pandemic forced us all to change our daily lives in pursuit of health goals and thrust the pursuit of public health goals to the forefront of everyone’s minds, truly making us all health citizens.Jane and Kerry discuss how the virus forced rapid digitization of daily activities, including health-related activities, and how individuals and organizations became primarily digital almost overnight. Reflected in the rapid growth in telehealth, the enterprise of healthcare has been deeply impacted by this transformation. But everyone didn’t have the same ability to participate in this transformation, and the pandemic highlighted cracks in our social fabric and exacerbated existing societal inequities. Those with the means to quickly adapt and transform were able to thrive in this new environment, while many may find themselves left behind.Jane expands on the concept of health citizenship by reminding us that health and the other activities we pursue as citizens are deeply intertwined, reminding us that economic circumstances and other social determinants have major impacts on health outcomes for individuals. Our health is directly tied to the society we create as citizens governing ourselves. Finally, Jane discusses the four pillars of health citizenship: access to healthcare for everyone, the ability to control your own data, trust in how systems will use your data, and love, driving a new social contract for health and wellbeing.The intersection of the pandemic and the US election highlighted how the choices we make together as citizens can have profound effects on our health. Beginning to think like health citizens may be the best path forward as we put the pandemic behind us.

In this episode, John Sharp speaks to the HIMSS Government Relations team about the health policy environment post-election. Senior Manager of Connected Health Policy David Gray sets the stage for the discussion, clarifying where the Congress really stands right now, what we are likely to see during the lame-duck session, and what the future may hold for the next Congress. Senior Vice President of Government Relations Tom Leary discusses HIMSS' priorities for the coming year, including supporting the equitable distribution of COVID vaccines and the continuing challenges of distributing personal protective equipment (PPE). Director of State and Local Affairs Valerie Rogers adds some insight into the struggles the states are facing as the damage COVID has done to their budgets grows more acute, and also touches on how states are embracing telehealth and other technologies. Finally, Senior Director of Government Relations Jeff Coughlin talks about possible priorities for the incoming Biden administration.The COVID-19 pandemic impacted healthcare in many ways, and federal, state, and local policy changes have created a chaotic environment for healthcare leaders planning for the near and long-term future. HIMSS’ policy experts help cut through the clutter and offer some predictions for what we can expect from federal and state leaders, whether action or inaction. With a COVID surge happening now and a vaccine on the horizon, keeping track of the decisions that government leaders make is more important than ever. This discussion can serve as a primer as you dip your toes into the water the of government’s impact on healthcare delivery.The team will also take a look towards the future, and touch on some of HIMSS’ ongoing initiatives including health equity, cybersecurity, and the changing role of the consumer in healthcare. And, of course, the new focus on public health and pandemic response that is certain to grow from our assessment of the current pandemic. COVID-19 has highlighted many areas in our healthcare system that will require focus and coordinated effort to shore-up in the coming years, and the HIMSS’ Government Relations team remains an important resource for members and for federal and state leaders as they seek advice on the important decisions before them.

In this episode, host Kerry Amato speaks with Jay Newton-Small, CEO of MemoryWell. Jay and Kerry discuss the idea behind MemoryWell, Jay's personal experience caring for a parent with Alzheimer's disease, and how MemoryWell can help patients and caregivers uncover unexplored social determinants of health and behavioral health issues. Like many healthcare innovations, MemoryWell began as a passion-project borne from a poor healthcare experience, specifically recording a lifetime history as her father entered a care home. Rather than reducing a lifetime to a series of short answers to generic questions on a form, MemoryWell connects people with professional writers to help them construct full, rich stories of their loved ones' lives to guide people interacting with them, whether professional caregivers or distant relatives.The podcast highlights the story of transforming an idea into a business, from deciding who your customers are to scaling processes to move beyond a boutique service. But more than providing a needed service, we discuss how the process for helping create rich stories can also produce output with enough consistency and structure to be mined for information relevant to ongoing care. For MemoryWell, that includes discerning social determinants of health (SDOH) data from the life stories they create, even for more traditional patients and not just those entering long-term care. We also discuss how stories can help people and families recall when behavioral changes may have begun leading to richer histories, and often, a better understanding of the progression of health conditions. Families often find that by working closely with a professional questioner, they can recall and identify patterns that might be indicative of undiagnosed behavioral health issues, leading not just to better understanding but possibly spurring better care for problems that might have otherwise gone unnoticed in the confines of a care setting.One of the most interesting angles of this story for Accelerate Health is how it highlights the contribution to care that non-healthcare professionals can make. Often, one of the blind-spots for healthcare innovators is all the important things that influence a patient when they are outside of the walls of a hospital or a doctor’s office. And perhaps more importantly, that many people have skills that can contribute to a patient’s overall care, even if they aren’t part of the medical staff. Appropriately leveraging non-medical experts where possible is a frequently overlooked accelerator of innovation.

Host Dr. Indu Subaiya and her guest Karen M. Dale, R.N., M.S.N., Market President AmeriHealth Caraitas District of Columbia, explore supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion within health systems, and how all three reinforce each other in helping organizations achieve equitable health outcomes. As the United States undergoes demographic shifts towards a nation where a majority of citizens will be from minority races, we explore what that means for the healthcare workforce and how leaders can build a workforce that celebrates this diversity so that it can reflect and better serve its community.We explore the journey that individuals and organizations must be on to identify behaviors and biases, and the constant learning and recalibrating necessary to make individuals and organizations better and more responsive to what is occurring in the workplace and the marketplace. We also discuss the role that the broader education system and other parts of society must play to help people begin this journey earlier in life so they are ready to work in and serve a more diverse market. Many of the actions that healthcare organizations can take, whether health plans or delivery organizations, may have little to do with healthcare on their face, but can help overcome the challenges that create inequities in access. We discuss how healthcare organizations must address social determinants of health as much as clinical outcomes as part of a holistic program of health promotion, and how COVID has exasperated economic concerns and is creating challenges in housing and hunger, which impact health directly.For healthcare organizations, the importance of leading diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives from the top is highlighted, along with the need to understand the impacts of legacy issues in society that can and are manifesting as the inequality in COVID impacts and outcomes. For health leaders working to promote health equity, the outsized impacts we are seeing in communities of color comes as no surprise. The challenge for healthcare leaders is not only what to do about the problems in front of us today, but how to build organizations that actively combat these problems when a pandemic isn’t raging.

Within healthcare, virtual reality (VR) applications are currently being used to control pain, decrease anxiety, and reduce stress. New research has demonstrated a strong case for VR use in care both at home and in the hospital. How can this new, effective therapy be scaled to a broader population of patients? John Sharp will answer just that question as he speaks with Dr. Brennan Spiegel, Director of Health Services Research at Cedars-Sinai & Author of the upcoming book: How Virtual Therapeutics Will Revolutionize Medicine.