Digital Health
A group for those interested in the intersection of healthcare and technology.
Organizer:
- Organized by
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Getting Started in Healthcare Technology
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Getting Started in Healthcare Technology
One of the most common questions I get asked is how to gain exposure to digital health. While there is no set playbook for how to gain experience in healthcare technology, there are a few avenues one can pursue.
Become a Mentor
There are various incubators, accelerators, venture capital groups that offer opportunities for clinicians to share their real world clinical experience with health tech startups. Many of these companies and individuals come from a non-clinical background and can greatly benefit from the insights provided by frontline healthcare workers. Mentoring can involve holding regular “clinics” or volunteering to mentor teams during a health tech event (hack-a-thon).
Organizations that offer mentorship opportunities include:
- MATTER Chicago | Healthcare Incubator | Startup Resources for Entrepreneurs
- MassChallenge
- Techstars
- Plug and Play Tech Center – Plug and Play Tech Center
- MIT Hacking Medicine – Democratizing Healthcare Innovation
Join an Organization
Digital health continues to grow exponentially. In response, several organizations have formed to bring together innovators from all aspect of healthcare technology. Joining one of these organizations is a great way to network, connect, and form relationships with a diverse group of individuals who share a common interest.
Some prominent health tech organizations include:
- Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society | HIMSS
- Home – Digital Medicine Society (DiMe) (dimesociety.org)
- Society of Physician Entrepreneurs: Overview | LinkedIn
- Physician Innovation Network (PIN) | Welcome (ama-assn.org)
- InnovatorMD
Subscribe to a Newsletter
Given the rapidly evolving world of healthcare technology, it can be difficult to keep up-to-date on all of the happenings within the world of healthcare technology. Subscribing to a health tech newsletter is a great way to get daily digests of the most important topics influencing the world of medical innovation.
Some top newsletters include:
- Rock Weekly | Rock Health
- Digital & Innovation Report E-Newsletter (beckershospitalreview.com)
- Healthcare News, Trends, and Insights – RamaOnHealthcare
- Connect With Us | Center for Digital Health | Stanford Medicine
- News · Bessemer Venture Partners (bvp.com)
Read a Book (even an E-book!)
Figuring out exactly what digital health is and wading through the alphabet soup of abbreviations including AI, ML, CNN, FHIR, HL-7, and others can be daunting. Courses on healthcare technology for practicing clinicians are surprisingly sparse. However, there are several books on the topic of healthcare technology that can serve as a primer to gain familiarity with the concepts of digital health.
Some of the must reads include:
- Deep Medicine: How Artificial Intelligence Can Make Healthcare Human Again
- AI in Health: A Leader’s Guide to Winning in the New Age of Intelligent Health Systems
- Healthcare Digital Transformation: How Consumerism, Technology and Pandemic are Accelerating the Future
- The Digital Health Revolution
Follow the Top Voices in Healthcare Technology
One of the best ways to stay educated on digital health and learn what the top minds in health tech are working on is to connect with or follow them on social media. LinkedIn is a great place to find some of the prominent voices in medical innovation.
Some of my favorites (by no means an exhaustive list):
- Eric Topol, MD
- Bertalan Meskó, MD, PhD
- Robert L. Longyear III
- Uli K. Chettipally, MD., MPH.
- Christina Farr
- Top 50 in Digital Health
Sharing your thoughts, ideas, innovations, and interests on social media is a great way to let connect with others and open doors to collaboration. While it can be daunting at first, focus on quality over quantity, write about things that you are passionate about, and comment on the posts of others.
Feel free to add any additional thoughts or resources to this thread. I look forward to hearing feedback and getting the conversation going. As always, I am open to connections and happy to provide my own perspective on the ever growing and exciting field that is Digital Health
Ben
PS – Fun fact: some in the world of healthcare technology dislike the term “digital health” and prefer “digital medicine” or “health tech.” While I personally have no problem with the phrase, it is true that we are not trying to make our cellphones and iPads feel better!
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1 Reply
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Ben – thanks for this great advice and awesome list.
I would add to the list:
DIGITAL NEWSLETTERS:
and
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