Faces of Digital Health
005 Online Health Communities: A Secret Treasury of Information on Patients (Gregor Petric, Faculty of Social Sciences Ljubljana)
Internet forums have been here before smartphones and somehow, despite all the apps, they are still very much alive, especially for health information. They give patients information, support, psychological empowerment, and self-confidence. They offer doctors and developers an insight into behavior and thinking of patients. One big advantage of online forums is anonymity which gives users a certain level of confidence about the safety of their shared information. The perception, retention, and dynamics of interaction in online health communities differ from health apps and other digital health solutions. Do you know what useful data can be extracted from conversations on forums? Comments and suggestions: tjasa.zajc@gmail.com, Twitter: @zajctjasa
004 Where and How Can Doctors Prescribe Apps? (Ashish Atreja, Mount Sinai)
In 2012 Cleveland Clinic experts designed the Medical Innovation Playbook – a detailed report on the diverse and rapidly evolving technology commercialization programs of the USA’s top medical centers. It includes an overview of nearly 10,000 invention disclosures, 6,400 patent applications and almost 2,000 issued patents. Many saw the opportunity in this technological revolution, by establishing incubators and accelerators inside institutions, to give their doctors a supportive environment for innovation. Not only did they get new reliable solutions, they also generated a new revenue stream. In this episode, Ashish Atreja, the Director of Sinai AppLab – a sort of incubator/accelerator inside Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York explains how they are designing and testing apps. Through clinical trials and thorough evaluation. Your feedback is valuable. Questions, comments, suggestions can be sent to tjasa.zajc@gmail.com or on Twitter @zajctjasa
003 How Did a Digital Health Vision End Up in The Oval Office? (Unity Stoakes, Startup Health)
In 2010 an idea was born: to build an army of entrepreneurs to improve health care worldwide. Only a year later the founders of StartUp Health pitched their vision to former U.S. president Barack Obama. On their January festival this year, former vice president in the Obama administration Joe Biden was one of their main speakers. According to their data, in five years, StartUp Health grew to an allegiance of more than 30.000 investors, entrepreneurs, customers from all over the globe. They are backed by Google, Amazon, Keiser Permanente, Cleveland Clinic, Allianz, SAP and other prominent institutions. 4000 startups tried to get in Startup Health so far, only 180 made it. Are you curious about their mindset and interests? Co-founder Unity Stoakes explains. Your feedback is valuable. Send questions, comments, suggestions to tjasa.zajc@gmail.com or on Twitter @zajctjasa
002 Why Is It So Hard To Integrate IT Into Healthcare? (Tomaz Gornik, Marand)
Remember how if you go from central Europe to the UK or US, you can’t plug your charger into a socket, because they are different? They are not compatible. This is how a lot of medical data looks like. Data from devices in hospitals or from sensors and trackers cannot be transferred to your medical record automatically unless they are in a proper format. This can be done if systems are interoperable or compatible. In this episode, Tomaž Gornik, the CEO of an IT company Marand explains, how they managed to make the Slovenian University Children’s Hospital the first paperless hospital in the country and why digitisation of healthcare is happening so slowly. Your feedback is valuable. Send questions, comments, suggestions to: tjasa.zajc@gmail.com or on Twitter @zajctjasa
001 How Useful Are Digital Health Solutions in Reality?
Healthcare and medicine are overwhelmed by innovation. There is a lot of excitement around digitization: convenience of telemedicine, electronic health records, apps, new devices. However, don’t be overly excited. As Esther Dyson, a U.S. investor and opinion leader says, doctors, have values. Nurses have values. Digital solutions will not solve all the problems. But a lot of potential is there. A good example is Babylon – one of the top digital health startups enabling reliable medical advice with the help of artificial intelligence. Your feedback is valuable. Send questions, comments, suggestions to tjasa.zajc@gmail.com or on Twitter @zajctjasa
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