The Beat

Latest Episodes:

Live at HLTH: Microsoft's Collaboration with Healthcare Leaders for Trustworthy AI- featuring David C. Rhew Jan 26, 2024

Show notes

About David Rhew:

Since August 2019, David has served as Chief Medical Officer & VP of Healthcare for Microsoft's Worldwide Commercial Business (WCB). David and his team's main goal is to demonstrate how a large-scale data-driven approach can lead to smarter decision-making, more proactive care, and improved health outcomes, as well as lower costs for patients and populations.

Additionally, David is an adjunct professor at the Department of Medicine, Division of Primary Care and Population Health at Stanford University.

About Marcella Dalrymple:

Marcella is the Associate Director of Strategic Development and Business Partnerships at Duke AI Health. Her goal is to operationalize novel ideas by using big data to achieve the most meaningful results, leading to improved clinical practices.

Prior to that role, she was the Commercial Leadership Associate in the marketing sector for AstraZeneca and a project manager for Duke Clinical Research Institute.

About Michael Pencina:

Michael Pencina, PhD, is Duke Health's Chief Data Scientist and serves as Vice Dean for Data Science, Director of Duke AI Health, and Professor of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics at the Duke University School of Medicine. He develops and implements quantitative science strategies for the School of Medicine, co-chairs Duke Health’s Algorithm-Based Clinical Decision Support (ABCDS) Oversight Committee, and co-directs Duke’s Collaborative to Advance Clinical Health Equity (CACHE).

Things You’ll Learn:

AI's potential to revolutionize healthcare requires a focus on responsible and trustworthy implementation.
The collaboration between Microsoft and Duke Health aims to create a Center of Excellence for trustworthy AI.
The four principles for trustworthy AI are: prioritize the human person, define use cases, anticipate consequences, and establish governance.
Public mistrust of AI in healthcare highlights the need for community engagement and bidirectional communication.
Automation in governance processes can streamline AI integration and reduce friction in workflows.

Resources:

Connect with and follow David Rhew on LinkedIn.
Follow Microsoft on LinkedIn and visit their website.
Connect with and follow Marcella Dalrymple on LinkedIn.
Connect with and follow Michael Pencina on LinkedIn.
Follow Duke Health AI on LinkedIn and visit their website.

Live at HLTH: There’s Still Untapped Potential of AI in Healthcare Innovation - featuring Seema Kumar Jan 24, 2024

Show notes

About Seema Kumar:

Seema Kumar is the Chief Executive Officer of Cure, a 300,000-square-foot facility aiming to advance healthcare through the development of cutting-edge solutions across medical devices, digital technologies, healthcare services, and bio-therapeutics. As the Global Head of Office of Innovation, Global Health, and Scientific Engagement, Seema leads global efforts to enhance public engagement with science and public health policy.

Prior to that role, Seema was responsible for Johnson & Johnson's overall innovation reputation, positioning the R&D pipeline, and leading COVID vaccine communications and external affairs efforts. Overall, she is a passionate advocate for science and women's empowerment, and serves on several boards and advisory committees.

Things You’ll Learn:

No individual or specific organization can drive substantive change alone; it takes collaboration across the entire healthcare ecosystem.
AI holds promise for healthcare, and leveraging its power requires large, representative, and complete datasets.
Entrepreneurs are restless with the status quo; they want to take risks and represent the leading edge of future healthcare.
The future of healthcare lies in sustained collaboration, AI-driven insights, and innovative solutions that address real-world challenges.
Storytelling, science, and technology combined can engage individuals in their own health and the health of the ecosystem.

Resources:

Connect with and follow Seema Kumar on LinkedIn.
Follow Cure on LinkedIn and visit their website.
Learn more about Cure’s challenge here!*

*The submissions closed on October of 2023.

Executives Series: Navigating Recession, Inflation, and Workforce Challenges In Healthcare with Warner Thomas Jan 22, 2024

Show notes

About Warner Thomas:

Warner Thomas serves as the president and CEO of Sutter Health, a non-profit health system based in Northern California. Leading a team of over 50,000 employees, 12,000 physicians, and 2,000 advanced practice clinicians, Thomas oversees an integrated delivery system covering hospitals, outpatient care centers, home health, hospice care, labs, pharmacies, and research facilities. Before joining Sutter Health, he spent a decade as the president and CEO of Ochsner Health in Louisiana, where he focused on population health and initiated innovationOchsner, a lab for healthcare advancements

Thomas is a member of the American Hospital Association (AHA) Board of Trustees, a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, and has contributed to healthcare policy by advising Congress. Recognized as one of the 100 Most Influential People in Healthcare by Modern Healthcare in 2022 and 2023, he also earned distinctions such as being named to Becker's Healthcare's list of Top Hospital and Health System CEOs to Know in 2023. Beyond his professional achievements, Thomas has received honors like the Distinguished Citizen Award from the Boy Scouts of America and the A.I. Botnick Torch of Liberty Award from the Anti-Defamation League.

Things You’ll Learn:

You have to be willing to take calculated risks.
If you sit back and wait for things to be perfect, it's never going to happen, and you'll miss opportunities.
You must be willing to take on a new challenge and move outside your comfort zone.
You can't shrink your way to greatness.
When you do a great job taking care of patients daily, why wouldn't you want to expand and serve even more people?

Resources:

Connect with and follow Warner Thomas on LinkedIn.
Follow Sutter Health on LinkedIn and visit their website.
Check out the Sutter Health app here.

Live at HLTH: Lifestyle Changes for Longevity & Disease Prevention—featuring Dugal Bain Jan 22, 2024

Show notes

Even those of us who are motivated to improve our health have a hard time getting answers from the traditional healthcare system.

Clinicians are trained to diagnose and treat disease but have little experience in preventative medicine.

So, where do we go to assess our current level of health and start making choices that will improve both quality and length of life?

Dugal Bain is Cofounder and CEO of Lifeforce, a proactive health and longevity platform that empowers people to think clearer, feel stronger and live longer.

Dugal has built a career around using technology to open access to better quality health care, holding leadership positions in finance, management consulting and health tech across three continents.

On this episode of The Beat, Dugal joins hosts Dr. Gautam Gulati and Dr. Jessica Shepherdto discuss the future of longevity and disease prevention.

Dugal describes the connection between lifestyle and health span and explains how the Lifeforce team identifies appropriate behavior changes and keeps members motivated for the long term.

Listen in for insight on training clinicians in longevity medicine and learn Dugal’s top three not-so-obvious strategies for improving your health.

Topics Covered

How becoming a parent inspired Dugal to build Lifeforce
How identifying a deeper purpose behind your health goals drives behavior change
Understanding the connection between lifestyle and health span
How Dugal thinks about educating clinicians on the benefits of functional medicine
What to expect when you become a member of Lifeforce
How the Lifeforce team keeps members motivated for the long term
How Dugal’s team differentiates among longevity therapies that are hype, hope or reality
Dugal’s top 3 not-so-obvious strategies for improving your health
How we might get unmotivated people to engage with services like Lifeforce
Lifeforce’s efforts to train practitioners on proactive care and longevity medicine
Dugal’s insight around stem cells and contrast therapy

Connect with Dugal Bain

Lifeforce

Connect with Dr. Jessica Shepherd & Dr. Gautam Gulati

Live at HLTH: From Reactive to Proactive: Revolutionizing Patient-Centric Healthcare—featuring Murray Brozinsky Jan 18, 2024

Show notes

About Murray Brozinsky:

Murray Brozinsky is Chief Strategy Officer of Amwell, a leader in hybrid care enablement. He was formerly the CEO of Conversa Health, which Amwell acquired in 2021. Murray is a creative entrepreneur who has started, run, and served as a senior executive at numerous companies. He has broad experience in leadership and strategy, bringing new products to market, generating revenue, building strategic relationships, and M&A. Murray is also a Board member and advisor to other promising technology start-ups in various industries. His main goal in healthcare is to put patients at the center of their care.

Things You’ll Learn:

By leveraging technology, healthcare can enhance patient experiences, reduce provider burnout, and bend the cost curve.
Transforming healthcare begins by putting the patient at the center, focusing on prevention and wellness.
Proactive care relies on early patient data collection, using technology to predict and intervene before health issues escalate.
Implementing AI requires caution to avoid eroding trust
Optimizing care delivery involves leveraging technology to identify patients needing immediate attention, and prevent unnecessary visits and calls.

Resources:

Connect with and follow Murray Brozinsky on LinkedIn.
Follow Amwell on LinkedIn and visit their website.

Live at HLTH: Perspectives on Leveraging Data and AI in Payer and Provider Space—featuring Amir Azarbad & Frank Webster Jan 17, 2024

Show notes

About Amir Azarbad:

Amir Azarbad is the Managing Director of 10Pearls Healthcare Practice, focusing on strategic and technology solutions. He has over 20 years of healthcare experience and has helped organizations transform their legacy solutions to reduce administrative costs while increasing automation and enabling business configurable solutions.

Prior to his current role, he was the founder of Inspirant Group, which was acquired by 10Pearls in March of 2023. Amir was also executive director of Strategy and Technology Innovation for Health Care Services Corporation (Blue Cross Blue Shield of IL, TX, NM, OK, and MT) and was responsible for transforming care and utilization management for more than 15 million members through innovative data-centered process management platforms that resulted in significant operational savings.

About Frank Webster:

Frank Webster is the ChiefMedicalOfficerof Health Care Service Corporation(BlueCross Blue Shield of IL, TX, NM, OK, and MT), focusing on clinical data management, improving access to behavioral health services, and the overall measurement, improvement, and integration of behavioral with medical services. He has over 25 years of invaluable clinical and leadership experience, dedicated to improving and implementing large-scale system-wide reorganizations.

Prior to joining HCSC, Dr. Webster was responsible for Dallas area Psychiatric Emergency Services. He has extensive background in Managed Behavioral Healthcare, including commercial and government contracts and ASOs. Dr. Webster holds an MD from The University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, andisanAdjunctProfessor for Health InformaticsattheUniversity of Texas at Tyler

Things You’ll Learn:

The importance of understanding the limitations of your data and its implications.
There is a critical need for critical thinking and not blindly accepting AI recommendations without understanding what the data can and cannot reveal.
The a need to start with the end in mind and work backward when navigating healthcare transformation.
It is important to challenge questions upfront to ensure that the focus is on thoughtful, practical solutions rather than simply being swayed by flashy but impractical ideas.
The need to reach out and engage in discussions about practical solutions for healthcare, encouraging listeners to take proactive steps toward change.

Resources:

Connect with and follow Amir Azarbad on LinkedIn.
Connect with and follow Frank Webster on LinkedIn.
Follow 10Pearls on LinkedIn.
Visit the 10Pearls website here.
Follow HCSC on LinkedIn.
Visit the HCSC website here.

Live at HLTH: Building an Apple-Like Healthcare Experience—featuring Diogo Rau Jan 15, 2024

Show notes

There’s a lot of fear around applying artificial intelligence to the life sciences.

And while Diogo Rau concedes that there are risks associated with using AI, the biggest risk is that we won’t use it.

Diogo Rau is EVP and Chief Information and Digital Officer of Eli Lilly & Company, where he leads their information technology, cybersecurity, digital health, advanced analytics and data science functions.

Prior to joining Lilly, Diogo served as Head of Engineering for Apple Retail and Partner at McKinsey & Company.

On this episode of The Beat, Diogo joins host Dr. Gautam Gulati to discuss the use of AI to facilitate clinical trials and drug discovery in a patient-first world.

Diogo explains how he is bringing Apple’s focus on the end user to life sciences, sharing his vision of what an Apple-like healthcare experience looks like and how to create a culture of innovation at Lilly.

Listen in for Diogo’s insight on using tech to inspire behavior change in patients and learn how we might leverage AI to generate new medicines, improve clinical trials and facilitate personalized medicine.

Topics Covered

How Diogo is bringing Apple’s focus on the end user to life sciences
Diogo’s take on what differentiates customers from patients
What inspired Diogo’s transition from Apple to his current role at Lilly
Leveraging artificial intelligence to facilitate personalized medicine
Why Lilly is prioritizing AI-designed and generated medicines
How to discern when we can innovate fast in the life sciences space
Building a culture of innovation in a large company like Lilly
How Diogo thinks about Lilly’s role in the healthcare ecosystem
Diogo’s vision of what an Apple-like healthcare experience looks like
Using technology to facilitate prevention through behavior change
Why Lilly is working on both insulin drugs and diabetes prevention
Diogo’s mission to impact the way medicine gets to patients

Connect with Diogo Rau

Eli Lilly & Company

Diogo on LinkedIn

Connect with Dr. Jessica Shepherd & Dr. Gautam Gulati

HLTH

Dr. Shepherd on X

Dr. Shepherd on LinkedIn

Dr. Gulati on X

Dr. Gulati on LinkedIn

Resources

Clay Christensen’s Model of Disruptive Innovation

Atomic Habits by James Clear

Wait But Why Blog

Executive Series: The Mystery of Obesity with Dr. Rekha Kumar Jan 15, 2024

Show notes

About Rekha Kumar:

Dr. Rekha Kumar is a globally recognized leader in the field of Obesity Medicine, currently holding the position of Chief Medical Officer at Found, a weight care platform. With a past role as the medical director of the American Board of Obesity Medicine, Dr. Kumar has shared her insights on the international stage regarding the medical evaluation and treatment of obesity.

Contributing significantly to her field, she has authored various papers and textbook chapters and serves as an Associate Editor for the Obesity Journal. Her expertise extends to diverse topics, including the clinical assessment of patients with obesity and metabolic syndrome, the impact of obesity on reproductive health and fertility, and thyroid disease.

Beyond her clinical work, Dr. Kumar has actively participated in global health initiatives, exploring the landscape of metabolic diseases in countries like India, China, and Tanzania. She is a valued member of the board of advisors for the Duke Global Health Institute and holds Board Certifications in Internal Medicine, Endocrinology, Diabetes, & Metabolism, and Obesity Medicine.

Things You’ll Learn:

Obesity is a heterogeneous disease. What works for one person may not work for another.
Found's outcomes boast a 90% success rate, with patients achieving a 10% body weight loss in one year.
Research says 40% of adults and 20% of children have obesity. The US obesity treatment market is about $15 billion. The US weight loss market is about 160 billion.
There’s a biological component to obesity; it’s not just willpower, diet, and exercise.
The root cause of each person’s weight gain can be vastly different.

Resources:

Connect with and follow Rekha Kumar on LinkedIn.
Follow Found on LinkedIn and visit their website.

Live at HLTH: Understanding the Lifelong Benefits of Vision Health—featuring Kate Renwick-Espinosa Jan 12, 2024

Show notes

About Kate Renwick-Espinosa:

Kate Renwick-Espinosa is the dedicated President of VSP Vision Care, the nation's largest healthcare organization by membership, offering vision benefits to 1-in-4 people in the U.S. With over 85 million members globally, 63,000 clients, and a vast network of 41,000 providers, Kate passionately wakes up every day with the mission of helping people see their best vision. Specifically, she oversees operations and strategic direction for various channels, including employer-based benefits, health plan alliances, benefits brokers, and direct-to-consumer.

With a Bachelor's degree in Economics from the University of California, Davis, and an MBA from California State University-Sacramento, Kate's journey reflects a commitment to transforming healthcare accessibility and experience for individuals and communities alike.

Things You’ll Learn:

Vision care is a healthcare secret weapon, offering a gateway to detecting over 270 health conditions through eye exams.
The eyes provide a unique perspective into the body, allowing for early detection of conditions like pre-diabetes and markers for heart attacks or strokes.
Healthy eyesight is life-changing at every stage of life, impacting academic success, detecting underlying health issues, and ensuring a fulfilling life.
Employers can enhance productivity and save costs by encouraging employees to manage their healthcare through comprehensive benefits, including vision care.
Annual eye exams are a crucial aspect of self-care, ensuring individuals stay proactive about their eye health and overall well-being.

Resources:

Connect with and follow Kate Renwick-Espinosa on LinkedIn.
Follow SVP Vision Care on LinkedIn and visit their website.

Live at HLTH: A Practical Guide to Incorporating AI in Pharma - featuring Anne Heatherington Jan 10, 2024

Show notes

About Anne Heatherington:

Anne Heatherington is the R&D Chief Data and Technology Officer at Takeda, a top biopharmaceutical leader in Cambridge, Massachusetts. With over four years at Takeda, Anne leads the Data Sciences Institute team, steering the data, digital, and technology strategy for Research & Development.

Her diverse career includes key roles such as Senior Vice President at Summit Therapeutics plc and Vice President at Pfizer. After 12 years at Pfizer, Anne chaired the Technical Review Committee, showcasing her leadership. Anne holds a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy from Queen's University Belfast, a Ph.D. in Pharmacokinetics from the University of Manchester, and is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Washington.

Things You’ll Learn:

Drug development is at a critical point where marrying traditional approaches with new innovations is crucial to avoid obsolescence, emphasizing the need for adaptability in the industry.
Takeda aims to become the most trusted digital biopharmaceutical company, driving innovation in the healthcare sector.
Achieving success in digitalizing drug development involves combining knowledge of regulations, a strong foundation in science, and a dedication to innovation.
It’s more impactful to solve real-world problems with AI rather than just following the hype.
Takeda collaborates with MIT, leveraging AI to address business problems and develop solutions, such as using speech as a biomarker for diseases.

Resources:

Connect with and follow Anne Heatherington on LinkedIn.
Follow Takeda on LinkedIn and visit their website.

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