If you ever want to go to a healthcare innovation conference that doesn’t shy away from potentially controversive topics, HLTH is your place to go. In June 2024, the conference, which attracts 12,000 people in the US, came to Europe. At the center of the exhibition hall stood the Heart Stage focused on topics related to women’s health. Around it we…

Debates around equity and equality, especially concerning men and women and female representation, can become heated and divisive quickly. For a long time, female bodies have been perceived merely as male bodies with different reproductive organs. However, the differences go beyond that: 80% of people with autoimmune conditions are women, 66% of Al…

Rome was buzzing with digital health at the end of May as the HIMSS Europe conference took place at La Nuova Congress Center. Delegates from 80 countries and representatives of health ministries of 20 countries marked the event with discussions about the implementation of EHDS, the EU AI Act, and more. In this episode, a few participants share thei…

According to WHO, the global cost associated with medication errors is 42 billion US dollars. Errors can happen at the point of prescribing, transcribing from one system to the other, or administration, when the wrong patient is given either the wrong drug or the wrong dose. Medication administration errors can be prevented with the introduction of…

The European Health Data Space is around the corner. The legislation is confirmed. How do we get to the next steps? Today you will hear a discussion with Eric Sutherland, Senior Health Economist and Digital Health Lead at OECD, who worked on the pan-Canadian health data strategy before his current role. We discussed the upcoming implementation of t…

AI and predictive modeling to understand an individual’s immune system function and predict treatment response are still in very early stages. We dream about precision medicine and getting every answer we can for ourselves when we get sick. However, if we look at genomics, only about 20 percent of human coding genes are well-studied. The remaining …

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) brings together six Arab countries – Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates When one reads about the GCC countries, there’s nothing but the impression of prosperity: high investments, determination, and enthusiasm in tech-supported healthcare. The spending on healthcare by the GCC…

In the last few years, we've witnessed a whirlwind of developments in the world of Digital Therapeutics (DTx) - from FDA approvals sparking optimism for the industry, to the establishment of regulatory frameworks in countries like Germany, France, and Belgium. However, in 2023, the industry faced a stark reality check, marked by the fall of some ke…

Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) have become increasingly integral in healthcare for assessing the effectiveness of treatments from the patient's perspective. It sounds like a reasonable step in improving clinical research and care provision, but gathering data can be more difficult then you may think. It isn't easy to get to marginalized communiti…

Did you know that Belgium has had an idea for classifying and validating digital therapeutics since 2018? A clear framework was formed with all main stakeholders involved - from health insurance to the industry. So why are we not hearing more about DTx in Belgium? In this discussion you will hear from Dr. Steven Vandeput - he is the Advisor for Dig…

The field of oncology treatments is advancing very fast with innovative therapies and approaches on the market every day. It can get very tricky to support these therapies from an IT perspective, which is what you will hear more about in this discussion. I spoke with Anish Patankar, SVP and GM of Elekta’s Oncology Software Solutions, and we discuss…

In 2023, Insilico Medicine—a biotech company developing medications with a heavy reliance on AI—used AI to develop an experimental drug for the incurable lung disease idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. The treatment is in mid-stage trials in the US and China, with some results expected in early 2025. Biotech is one of the fields that has been using gen…

HLTH (https://hlth.com/) is an event where you will see a literal forest on one of the stages, be able to take a selfie with a unicorn mascot, and get perks like hlth branded pink nail polist on your entrance. In the last few years, HLTH has become the most flashy, visible and must-go digital health event in the US. In this episode, Richard Scarfo,…

Migraine is 3 times more common in women than in men. 2/3 of patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Gender differences are real and they matter. The Women's Brain Project (WBP) is a Swiss-based international non-profit organization founded in 2016. It comprises a diverse team of academic and social scientists, medical doctors, engineers, patients, care…

Laboratory tests provide doctors with crucial information for diagnosis, monitoring disease progression, evaluating organ function, assessing risk factors for diseases and more. Laboratory testing can be reassuring, however, it is often deemed unnecessary. In this short episode recorded at HLTH, we’re going to talk about laboratory test optimizatio…

In this episode, you’re going hear about the German market for digital health startups, the innovation approach at Charite, one of Europe's largest university hospitals, the challenges with digital therapeutics in Germany and beyond. I spoke with Dorothée Marie-Louise Döpfer, Deputy Head of Digital Labs and program Manager of the Digital Health Acc…

ePrescribing has become a norm in the US healthcare system. Now, the expanded role of pharmacists and the integration of non-physician prescribers into the healthcare system signifies a move towards a more accessible healthcare model, potentially alleviating some of the clinicians' burdens. Surescripts is the national provider of the ePrescribing i…

Digital health funding has fallen significantly since 2020. However, funding for Femtech went from 7,6% inside the digital health investments in 2020 to 13,26% in 2022, according to TechCrunch. The awareness about female-specific health-related characteristic has been on the rise for the last several years, which is evident in the growing healthcar…

Technically, we've never been more connected or had relationships with as many people as we do today, thanks to social networks on the internet. Yet, while these platforms bring convenience, they are also increasing loneliness and reducing face-to-face interactions. However, technology isn't solely a problem; it can facilitate the easier pairing of…

HLTH is recognized as the United States' number one health innovation event. Its unique and vibrant approach sets it apart from typical industry conferences. Each stage at HLTH is distinctively themed and designed, featuring motifs like the moon, sky, and earth, creating an awe-inspiring experience reminding of of a child's first visit to an amusem…

In patient included or patient centred healthcare approach, patient feedback is key for improved care, and healthcare experience. Pep Health uses a digital platform to collect and analyze patient feedback from various online sources, moving away from traditional, less effective survey methods. The platform provides detailed scores and insights, all…

Generative AI is making waves in healthcare, with an already visible impact in documentation and potential in drug development, medicine, care, and more. With 2023 nearing its end, it's time to reflect on the impact of AI in 2023. This episode offers: 🔍 A recap of AI innovation in healthcare in the past year, 🔎 What has realistically changed in cli…

Women's health refers to a broad range of medical and wellness services specifically tailored to address the unique health concerns of women. Particular focus is on reproductive health, fertility, and menopause. Technology supporting women’s health can go from EHR records, telemedicine services, medical imaging, diagnostic and IVF technology, weara…

If you’re still trying to wrap your head around the use of AI in healthcare, this episode will give you an idea about the use of generative AI to create clinical notes during an interaction between a doctor and a patient. Augmedix, a healthcare technology company that delivers ambient medical documentation and data solutions. Their clinician-contro…

In the United States, individuals' healthcare information is dispersed among various healthcare providers. But many companies have been working on creating consolidated patient views, Reveleer being one of them. Data fragmentation often occurs because people tend to switch healthcare providers when they change jobs and, as a result, their health in…

VR is becoming a well-established tool in healthcare and medicine to help treat pain management, anxiety, mental wellness, and more. Thousands of studies have shown the efficacy of VR approaches for health because of the impact of the immersive experience offered by this technology. We covered VR in medicine in several episodes in the past, and I’m…

Generative AI - a subset of AI technologies that employ advanced machine learning algorithms to generate content, solutions, or outcomes that weren't explicitly programmed into the algorithms has many potential applications in healthcare. But at the moment, the digital health space is filled with noise. This discussion was recorded at HLTH 2023 in …

Alex Merwin is Head of Growth, Healthcare & Life Sciences Startups at Amazon Web Services (AWS). In this episode, he presents the AWS Health Innovation Podcast, which showcases startups that are advancing healthcare & life science by leveraging cloud computing technology. In this episode, Alex Merwin and Tjasa Zajc, Host of Faces of Digital Health,…

Scarsity of resources can be difficult to image: it encompasses the adaptation of clinical guidelines, palliative care instead of treatment, and clinicians accepting that they can’t help everyone, but need to choose who to save and who to palliate. Khalida Soki is a consultant physician and kidney specialist working in Nairobi. She moved back to Ke…

Kenya has a lot of talent and opportunities for innovation. Access to care is not a problem because plenty of community nurses are present nationwide. However, they have a limited problem and mostly focus on main infectious diseases, leaving serious conditions undiagnosed, says Emilian Popa, Founder and CEO of Ilara Health. Ilara health equips a ne…

One of the biggest challenges for healthcare startups in Nigeria is access to market. “In Nigeria, healthcare is fragmented, making it difficult to find distribution channels. We have to be creative and may need to look outside healthcare for distribution channels.” , says Jennie Nwokoye is the founder and CEO of Clafiya - a digital primary healthc…

One of the speakers at the Nextmed Health Conference 2023 said: “In the past, people didn’t age; they just died.” This is still a daily reality in many low-income countries, which face a lack of workforce, poor healthcare system structure, and lack of resources. In this episode, we will learn about Nigeria. Nigeria has 220 million people which is r…

Africa is a huge continent with 1.2 billion people and a diverse set of countries. Healthcare systems are generally poor, with workforce and supply chain struggles, and infrastructure challenges such as power outages. In this episode you will hear about how drones are used in Malawi for healthcare delivery. Herbert Weirather is the CEO of Jedsy - a…

In June 2021, France announced a €7.5 billion Health Innovation Plan, as part of a broader financial investment to boost the French industry. This funding goes beyond digital health, it’s aimed at supporting biotech development, startups, medtech, and more. In 2021, The eHealth Acceleration Strategy was launched, a large part of which includes upsk…

The first efforts to establish ePrescribing in the US started in 2001. However, by 2014 only 4% of clinicians had adopted it. Electronic prescribing became legal in all 50 states by 2007. Eight years later, electronic prescribing of controlled substances and prior authorization were well established on the singular ePrescribing network. In 2022, a …

A systemic approach to care for non-communicable diseases like hypertension and diabetes is Africa is in its early stages, with the biggest challenge for patients being the price of medications, says Anne Stake, Chief Strategy and Product Officer at Medtronic Labs. Medtronic Labs is a nonprofit organization that works with governments and local com…

Drug development is undeniably expensive. For years, the pharmaceutical industry cited an estimate of 3 billion US dollars. However, a recent study published in 2020 discovered that the median cost actually falls between 985 million and 1.3 billion US dollars. Even within this range, it remains a substantial amount. The high cost primarily stems fr…

Chronic diseases are the result of a combination of genetic, physiological, environmental and behavioral factors. They require long-term management and often behavioral changes. Achieving long-lasting effects can be extremely difficult, and digital health solutions have since the beginning been seen as an important factor in assuring success, by pr…

The field of generative AI companies is evolving fast and many companies, that have been exploring the field for years, are gaining in visibility. However, new companies are popping up as well. One of them is Hippocratic AI, founded in 2023. Hippocratic AI building a safety-focused large language model (LLM) for the healthcare industry. The company…

Generative AI is definitely the word we will remember 2023 by. Knowing that administrative burden is among the key reason for physician burnout, the idea that AI could tackle this challenge, became a little bit more tangible with the raised awareness and public understanding of generative AI. But where are we exactly, and how is generative AI utili…

Nurses play a key role in patient care, but their contribution to patient outcomes is often undervalued and underappreciated. It took a pandemic to create a major shift in their job opportunities and power to negotiate. Many nurses left the profession entirely, others switched to better-paid travel or agency jobs. The pandemic is settling down so t…

Healthcare is one of the rare industries, in which often times, by requesting a service, the work hardly begins for the patient. Especially in complex cases, care is rarely seamless: test are done, drugs are presribed and if all goes well the problem is resolved. But oftentimes months can pass before the right drug and dose is found. Antidepressant…

Telemedicine is becoming an archaic term in 2023. It is also too broad. We now have at-home hospitals, virtual wards, remote monitoring, and more. Video consultations and online patient portals saw a spike during the pandemic. While many encounters have returned to the in-person setting, a lot of development is happening in workforce optimization. …

Mexico has 126 million people which is a bit more than half as much as Brazil in South America, or three times as much as Argentina, which we discussed in one of our previous episodes as well. Mexico has a predominantly public healthcare system, with workforce shortages - only 2.4 doctors per 1000 people, which is heavily below the OECD average. Fo…

In the last few episodes, you’ve been able to hear two episodes about digital health in South America. We talked about Peru with Jhonathan Bringas, MD and innovator, CEO of Lapsi Health, we dove into Argentina with Santiago Troncar, CEO and Founder or FutureDocs Latin America, and in this episode, we are looking into Chile and cancer Care in Latin …

In this episode, we’re diving in the Finish ecosysyem. What makes Finland repeatedly achieve the rank of the happiest country globally? In this episode, you will hear from Päivi Sillanaukee, Special Envoy for Health and Wellbeing at the Ministry for Social Affairs and Health. Until recently, Paivi was Ambassador for Health at the Ministry of Foreig…

If it seems that the world is moving faster and faster with the rapid evolution of AI and other technologies, the digitalization of healthcare infrastructure is not changing with that speed. However, countries across Europe are ambitiously pursuing digitalization efforts. On top of that, under the European Health Data Space legal framework, countri…

South America is a large market, with great potential from the language perspective, since Spanish is the official language in most countries, except for Brazil. But what are the specifics of the region? In this episode Santiago Troncar, the founder of Future Docs Latin America, shares his insights on healthcare digitalization in Argentina. He disc…

Access to mental health services wasn’t great before the pandemic. Then two things happened: the need for mental health services increased. But so has access to telemedicine providers of mental health support. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) enabled flexibilities regarding the prescription of controlled medications. In 2020, the Food and …

After a series about digital health in the APAC region, this is the first episode about healthcare and digital health in South America. Speaker: Peruvian clinician and innovator Jhonatan Bringas Dimitriades, MD. Jhonatan is based in the Netherlands, and worked across continents as an MD and executive at various tech companies. Discussed topics: The…