Digital Health Today 360 with Dan Kendall

Latest Episodes:

S6: #058: Brennan Spiegel Gets Real About Virtual Reality Apr 03, 2018

Show notes

If you follow the work being done in Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) - you probably have already seen the work being done by today's guest: Dr. Brennan Spiegel. In this episode, Brennan gets real about the applications for virtual reality in healthcare, and what is needed to drive adoption throughout the healthcare system and around the world. Brennan Spiegel is the Director of Health Services Research at Cedars-Sinai Health System. He’s also a Professor of Medicine and Public Health at UCLA, and Co-Chair of the VR/AR Association Digital Health Committee. He has published numerous best-selling medical textbooks and has more than 170 articles in peer-reviewed journals. His work has been featured in Bloomberg, Forbes, Huffington Post, LA Times, NBC News, NPR, PBS, Reuters, and the Wall Street Journal and now we’re adding Digital Health Today to that esteemed list of media outlets!

You can often find Brennan at major conferences around the world including HIMSS, Connected Health, Exponential Med, Health 2.0 and CES - actually it was CES where I heard him speak for the first time. And now, he’s founded a new conference call Virtual Medicine which was held last week at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. It was the first international symposium dedicated to medical virtual reality. Tickets were sold out for this debut event, and if you weren't there, fear not, because in true pioneering fashion, Brennan worked with the team over at Samsung to get the event filmed and streamed live in 360 - the recordings aren't up yet, but you can grab your goggles and transport yourself back in time and over to Los Angeles and watch the event as if you were there. Find the videos when they go live at virtualmedicine.health.

Today's Topics:

What patients experience in biopsychosocial jail cells
How immersive technologies can nudge users in interesting ways
How VR can liberate patients from the confines of the hospital
Whether, when and how to use VR
How users' response varies based on the user's age
The response of payors and providers to the use of VR in therapy
Insight into the inaugural VirtualMedicine.Health Conference
Brennan's talent and accomplishments as a beat boxer and vocal percussionist

Links and Resources Mentioned:

Brennan Spiegel on Twitter
Brennan Spiegel on LinkedIn
Cedars-Sinai on Twitter
Virtual Medicine on Twitter
Virtual Medicine on the Web
MindMaze
Keith Grimes on Twitter
Digital Health Events
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S6: #057: Rasu Shrestha on How to Build the Future of Healthcare Mar 21, 2018

Show notes

We are joined by Dr Rasu Shrestha, an incredibly gifted individual in the health and technology space. He was recognized by Becker’s Hospital Review as one of the 26 “Smartest People in Health IT” and InformationWeek said he was one of the “Top 20 Health IT Leaders Driving Change”. He holds two roles at UPMC in Pittsburgh. He's both the chief innovation officer for UPMC and he's also the executive vice president of UPMC Enterprises, which is the innovation and commercialization arm of UPMC - we’re going to dive into that group, what they do and how they do it.

And, the latest news, this was just announced on March 19, Rasu has been named by the US Department of Veterans Affairs to lead the work mapping the electronic medical record to the FHIR APIs, and to create common data standards through industry partnerships. This could bring about the end of the interoperability problem that’s been the bane of EMRs since they came into existence.

Rasu is also the co-chair of the Health Datapalooza meeting which is being held on April 26 and 27 at the Washington Hilton in Washington DC. He shares why this meeting is important and what you can expect if you head out there too.

Today's Topics:

Why the integrated healthcare model of UPMC drives and supports change
The role of UPMC Enterprises in fostering innovation throughout the 80,000+ person organization
The move from volume to value and how that gets measured
The importance of partnerships in solving healthcare and data challenges
How Health Datapalooza helps drive best practice across policy, public and private organizations

Links and Resources Mentioned:

Rasu Shrestha on Twitter
Rasu Shrestha on LinkedIn
UPMC Enterprises
UPMC
UPMC Enterprises on Twitter
Health Datapalooza – Washington Hilton in Washington DC, April 26-27, 2018
Digital Health Events
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S6: #056: Building the World's Largest Connected Care Network, Bit by Bit Feb 23, 2018

Show notes

Eren Bali is the CEO and Cofounder of Carbon Health a San Francisco-based company that has its sites set on building the world's largest connected care network. If Eren was just any aspiring entrepreneur entering the healthcare space, then the chances of reaching that goal might be very small. But Eren isn't just any entrepreneur - he's also the founder of what will soon become the world's largest school. He founded Udemy, an online learning platform, in Turkey and relaunched it in the US a few years later. He's here to tell us about his experience and how he's started from scratch in connecting patients with care in the Carbon Health healthcare network.

Today's Topics:

How the experience of building Udemy led to Eren's ambition in tackling some of the biggest challenges in healthcare
How Eren's personal experience in caring for his mother led to his discovery of ways to improve healthcare
What users should expect in their patient journey
How the development of leading software led to building their own clinic, and how Carbon Health plans to expand to serve patients across the US

Links and Resources Mentioned:

Video:

Carbon Health App: Reimagining How We Experience Healthcare.

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S6: #055: The One About Fertility Jan 29, 2018

Show notes

In this episode, we dive into a topic that is changing rapidly and that is the topic of reproductive health. I invited the founders of two companies that have developed technologies to help women and men to measure and improve their reproductive health, and they made a terrific duo on this topic. Lea von Bidder is the co-founder and president of Ava Science, which is the company behind the women’s wearable called Ava Women. Also on the call is Greg Sommer, he’s the founder & chief science officer at Sandstone Diagnostics, that’s the company behind the men’s health product Trak. Between the two of them we cover both sides of the reproductive health equation. They share some great insights on the topic, and the new solutions available to help women and men with easy-to-use, discrete, home-based products that you’ll find interesting.

I always learn something from our guests, and one of the things I learned on this episode is that for men, our overall health is so closed tied to reproductive health that sperm count is actually being called by some the sixth vital sign. Even if you’re not trying to conceive and those days are ahead of or behind you, I’m sure you’ll also learn something from our guests.

Today's Topics:

What are the typical challenges faced by men and women in regards to their fertility
How lifestyle (weight, smoking, exercise) affects fertility and how it can be managed to improve fertility
The clinical definition of infertility and how many couples are affected by it
The huge human and financial cost of infertility, and the inaccessibility of
How to address fertility challenges by involving both men and women
How conceiving a child is a ‘team sport' and what can be done do to address both sides of the fertility equation
The role of sperm as the ‘sixth vital sign'

Links and Resources Mentioned:

Greg Sommer, Founder & CSO at Sandstone Diagnostics, Inc. on LinkedIn
Greg Sommer on Twitter
Lea von Bidder, Co-founder and President Ava Science, Inc. on LinkedIn
Lea von Bidder on Twitter
Don't Cook Your Balls – A light-hearted guide to men's sexual and reproductive health
Trak Fertility (website) – At home sperm test
Trak on Twitter
Ava Women (website) – A cycle tracker that detects five fertile days per cycle or provides insight about sleep, stress, and resting heart rate.
Ava Women on Twitter
Don't Cook Your Balls on Twitter
Digital Health Events
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Video:

The First Ava Baby!

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S6: #054: Christian Seale of Startupbootcamp Miami Jan 25, 2018

Show notes

What does it take to become a world leader in the health tech space? Cities around the world, and even entire countries, are battling for the chance to be the digital health capital of the world. In addition to Silicon Valley, there are the usual suspects of Boston and San Diego, and we also have some up-and-comers such as Denver with people like Mike Biselli and many others leading the charge. There's Chicago with organizations like Matter, and cities in the south like Atlanta leveraging their strong corporate base. In Europe you have London, Barcelona, Naples, Helsinki. And even entire countries like Israel and Estonia are working to make themselves the premier destination for investors, startups and health tech innovation. And that’s without going further east to China, Japan and other Asia-pac countries.

My guest today is Christian Seale, he’s the founder and general partner of Startupbootcamp in Miami. He’s also the Founding Partner of NextGen Venture Partners, he’s a Global Shaper at the World Economic Forum, and a mentor at Mass Challenge. Christian is working to make Miami the top destination for companies working to access the Americas - North, South and Latin America. You may be asking, why Miami? The home of Crockett and Tubbs? The playground of the rich and famous? The scene of a terrible but popular song by Vanilla Ice? And now, the destination for digital companies? Seem impossible? Christian tells us exactly why this city is so popular for innovators with big ideas, and it isn’t about the beaches. There’s plenty of success to point to, and some companies you probably didn’t realize that are based right there.

Christian and I recorded this interview in person, which is something I don’t do very often (we normally do interviews over Skype) - which gave me an opportunity to see the area and its thriving innovation community. We also had the chance to hear about a program that he’s working on to help promote prenatal health for pregnant women. The program is called Square Roots and Christian explains how they are working to make cities, countries and companies better and healthier places to be carrying a child.

Today's Topics:

What sets Miami apart and make it a great destination for health startups and investors
The experiences that inspired Christian to focus on health care
How Startupbootcamp Miami is helping digital health startups
The importance of perseverance and tenacity in startups and their founders
How the Square Roots program is helping cities, countries and corporations create healthy environments for pregnant women

Links and Resources Mentioned:

Christian Seale on Twitter
Christian Seale on LinkedIn
Learn more about Startupbootcamp for Digital Health in Miami
StartupBootcamp on Twitter
StartupBootcamp on Facebook
Square Roots Birthmark Program
Digital Health Events
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S6: #053: Fred Toney of Launchpad Digital Health in San Francisco Jan 17, 2018

Show notes

2017 was a banner year in digital health on multiple levels, and one key metric is investment in digital health companies. Startup Health reported $11.5 billion in investments in digital health startups in 2017, topping 2016’s record of $8 billion. Series A funding grew it’s share of overall funding for the third year in a row; it is now 36 percent of the total funding in digital health. While seed funding has grown in terms of real dollars, it’s share of the funding pie has continued to decline since 2015, but it still makes up 29 percent of the total funding. See the full report from Startup Health below.

Seed funding plays a key role in developing the companies, leaders and innovations that are needed to transform health and wellness. We spoke with Fred Toney to learn more about how his company is leading and succeeding in this challenging and dynamic market. Fred is the CEO & Co-Founder of Launchpad Digital Health, which is the most active institutional lead investor in digital health at the seed stage in the U.S. He has more than 20 years of financial and executive management in the digital health, medical, life sciences and financial sectors. He’s served in executive and Board capacities for 30 public and private companies, and he’s founded, funded, managed and sold numerous companies. Fred is currently a board member or board observer for over 20 digital health companies.

Fred and I recorded this interview over the holidays so we didn’t have the full 2017 numbers to discuss, but we covered some of the tips for companies looking for seed funding, some of the areas they focus on at Launchpad Digital Health, and the success they’ve had in identifying and supporting female-led startups. He’s also shared some information about their Ground Zero program – which you can access below. Enjoy!

Episode Download:

Information about LDH's "Ground Zero" Program

Today's Topics:

What companies should achieve before raising a seed round
How the Ground Zero program can help startup companies succeed
Why Launchpad Digital Health is investing in female-led startups
How children and young adults are being affected by technology, and how they can help preserve and restore mental health

About Launchpad Digital Health:

2014 – 2017, 3+ year journey thus far
1,000+ companies screened, fifth cohort, one every 9-12 most
28 funded startups (including current group underway), led seed round, highly selective, + follow-ons
Most active seed investor in the U.S. in digital health deals
80-90% already received outside follow on funding, avg. 3x step-up
Many are already strong M&A candidates (~50%)
50 Advisory Board members

Launchpad Digital Health Portfolio Companies:

* Indicates companies with female CEO's

Links and Resources Mentioned:

Fred Toney on Twitter
Fred Toney on LinkedIn
Apply to Launchpad Digital Health at info@launchpdh.com
Launchpad Digital Health on the Web
Launchpad Digital Health on Twitter
Launchpad Digital Health on LinkedIn
Parity.org – It's time for gender parity at the highest levels of business.
Stanford Center for Biodesign
Box Line Box – Telesurgery and Clinical Video Company
Digital Health Events
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S6: #052: Roberto Ascione on Digital Therapeutics, Data Driven Nutrition, and More Jan 09, 2018

Show notes

Roberto Ascione is the CEO of Healthware International, a next-generation healthcare consultancy, combining a unique blend of marketing and creative services with innovation and technology capabilities. Under Roberto’s leadership, Healthware International has evolved into a cutting-edge, innovation-driven company working with some of the leading players in health, and many smaller ones too. Roberto is very active in the digital health start-up ecosystem and is an advisor to several companies both in Europe and in USA. He’s also the Chairman of Frontiers Health – one of the leading global conferences on digital health innovation that I was able to attend last year. It’s being held on November 15-16, 2018 in Berlin so put that on your calendar.

Roberto shares his insights on some of the exciting changes happening in health innovation, and what he thinks we will see in 2018 and beyond. So sit back and tune into the discussion with Roberto Ascione.

Today's Topics:

What companies should achieve before raising a seed round
How the Ground Zero program can help startup companies succeed
Why Launchpad Digital Health is investing in female-led startups
How children and young adults are being affected by technology, and how they can help preserve and restore mental health

Links and Resources Mentioned:

Fred Toney on Twitter
Fred Toney on LinkedIn
Apply to Launchpad Digital Health at info@launchpdh.com
Launchpad Digital Health on the Web
Launchpad Digital Health on Twitter
Launchpad Digital Health on LinkedIn
Parity.org – It's time for gender parity at the highest levels of business.
Stanford Center for Biodesign
Box Line Box – Telesurgery and Clinical Video Company
Digital Health Events
Join Digital Health Today

Video:

Pioppi Protocol

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S6: #051: Bayer Launches New G4A Generator Program Jan 08, 2018

Show notes

Bayer is launching the G4A Generator program and opening for applications the week of January 8th, 2018. Tune in to hear how Bayer is creating commercial opportunities for early stage businesses - and they are delivering! To get the scoop on this new program, and also give an update on some of the programs that ran in 2017, I spoke to three people at Bayer that are bringing the G4A Generator program to life. My guests on this program are Eugene Borukhovich, Global Head, Digital Health Incubation & Innovation, Barton Warner, Vice President of Strategy and Portfolio Management, and Anna-Lena Lorenz, the Global Innovation Manager and Ecosystem Coordinator.

Today's Topics:

Results of 2017 G4A Accelerator Program
Success of the 2017 G4A Dealmaker Program
The Newest G4A Program: The G4A Generator
What startups should look for in a corporate partner
Four challenge areas of the G4A Generator
Nutrition Support
Managing Self-care
External Pain Management
Skin and Sun Protection
Bayer's plans for continued innovation

Links and Resources Mentioned:

Bayer G4A Generator Program
Stem4Health Berlin Meetup Group
Stem4Health Cologne Meetup Group
Stem4Health New York City Meetup Group
Episode 22 featuring Eugene Borukhovich about Bayer's Innovation Programs
2017 Bayer G4A Accelerator Program winners
aparito – combines wearable technology, an app and a dashboard for professionals to transform data capture during clinical trials.
Oratel Diagnostics – selected for its non-invasive test to detect endometriosis – a debilitating disease causing severe pelvic pain and infertility in girls and women of a reproductive age.
Sky Labs – selected for its device that diagnoses atrial fibrillation (AF) called CART (Cardio Tracker).
ThinkSono – uses software to diagnose deep vein thrombosis (DVT).
Eugene Borukhovich on LinkedIn
Barton Warner on LinkedIn
Anna-Lena Lorenz on LinkedIn
Eugene Borukhovich on Twitter
Anna-Lena Lorenz on Twitter
Winners of the 2017 G4A Accelerator Program
Digital Health Events
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S5: #050: The Growth and Success of VR/AR/MxR in Health Jan 03, 2018

Show notes

In this episode, we discuss five innovators and the virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and Mixed Reality solutions they are implementing in healthcare. These types of deployments are succeeding clinically and commercially, which is a promising sign for continued and accelerated growth. Tune in to hear how these VR/AR/MxR technologies are solving real challenges and laying the foundation for what's coming next.

Today's Topics (See each section below):

Dr Justin Barad of OSSO VR and his work in developing VR surgical training simulators
Dr. Brennan Spiegel of Cedars-Sinai and the use of VR to reduce pain in a clinical setting
Dr. Rafael Grossmann and the ability to accelerate development on Apple's ARKit and Microsoft's Hololens platform
Dr. Ned Sahin of Brain-Power and the use of Google Glass to train children with Autism to understand emotions, transition to new places and more
Prof. Shafi Ahmed of Medical Realities and the world's first Mixed Reality live telesurgery in 2017

Dr. Justin Barad and Osso VR:

Justin Barad's Podcast on Digital Health Today (Episode 45)
Osso VR Website
“Operative experience of residents in US general surgery programs: a gap between expectation and experience“
Justin Barad on Twitter @JBHungry
Justin Barad on LinkedIn

Dr. Brennan Spiegel of Cedars-Sinai

Read more about Brennan Spiegel's work at Cedars Sinai Center for Outcomes Research and Education
Connect with Brennan Spiegel on Linkedin and Twitter
Brennan's research profile
VR Development company Applied VR – an easy-to-use VR content platform specifically designed for the clinical environment.
Wired Article on VR as an alternative for opioids

Dr. Ned Sahin and Brain-Power

Brain Power's Indiegogo Campaign for World’s First Augmented Reality Glasses to empower children & adults on the spectrum to teach themselves life skills for happy self-sufficiency.
Ned Sahin on LinkedIn and Brain-Power on Twitter
Brain Power's website
Podcast with Brain Power's Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Arshya Vahabzadeh, discussing complex mental health and development disorders

Dr. Rafael Grossmann

Rafael Grossmann on LinkedIn and Twitter
Rafael Grossmann's Website
Anima Res – specialist in 3D medical animations and interactive Augmented Reality, Mixed Reality and Virtual Reality applications with a particular focus on the pharmaceutical, medical and biotechnological sectors.
Insight-Heart on the Web
Download Insight-Heart on iTunes and for Microsoft Hololens
Medivis – an augmented reality medical company with the mission to transform medical visualization through proprietary holographic rendering.

Professor Shafi Ahmed

Read more about Prof. Shafi Ahmed's first mixed reality (MxR) telesurgery (October, 2017) using Microsoft Hololens
Podcast with Prof. Ahmed
Connect with Prof. Ahmed on LinkedIn and Twitter
Learn surgery from virtual reality at Medical Realities
Wired Article on VR Surgery

Video:

Connecting a billion minds | Shafi Ahmed | TEDxGoodenoughCollege

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S5: #049: Rafael Grossmann on Using AR/VR to Take Education to the Next Level Dec 16, 2017

Show notes

In this episode we talk about healthcare solutions using augmented reality and virtual reality. It wasn’t that long ago that holograms and immersive environments were only found in Hollywood science fiction, but the technology is now finding its way into everything from video games and movie theaters to operating rooms and in-patient wards.

As the cost of hardware and software drops and handset capabilities increase, many companies are developing creative solutions to address problems in healthcare. Products like Oculus Rift and Microsoft Hololens have set a high standard, and the industry just got a further push by Apple’s recently launched ARKit.

Here to tell us about it is Dr Rafael Grossmann, he is a general, trauma, advanced laparoscopic and robotic surgeon practicing in Maine, USA. Rafael has been working to advance the use of AR/VR/Mixed R technology and advises companies in this space. In addition to his full time role as a practicing surgeon, Rafael is also an alumnus of Singularity university and faculty of Exponential Medicine. He tells us about some of the great work being done to develop solutions using tools like ARKit and the Hololens platform.

Today's Topics:

How Rafael's career was transformed through exponential thinking
How the first surgery was performed using Google Glass in 2013
How AR Kit is creating new opportunities in patient education
Two interesting companies and their solutions leveraging AR and VR

Links and Resources Mentioned:

Rafael Grossmann on Twitter
Rafael Grossmann on LinkedIn
Rafael Grossmann's Website
John Nosta of Nosta Labs
Anima Res – specialist in 3D medical animations and interactive Augmented Reality, Mixed Reality and Virtual Reality applications with a particular focus on the pharmaceutical, medical and biotechnological sectors.
Insight-Heart on the Web
Download Insight-Heart on iTunes
Download Insight-Heart for Microsoft Hololens
Medivis – an augmented reality medical company with the mission to transform medical visualization through proprietary holographic rendering.
Oculus Rift Website
Check out Oculus Rift on Amazon*
Apple's ARKit Developer Resources
Microsoft's Hololens Developer Resources
Digital Health Events
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