Primary care continuity allows physicians to develop a longitudinal awareness that no episodic encounter or health tech tool can replicate. Over time, physicians learn what is normal for each patient and what represents meaningful clinical change. Subtle physiological shifts, early symptoms or emerging risk factors appear not as isolated data points from a blood exam, but as part of a social narrative unfolding across time. Early recognition allows earlier intervention, often before disease takes its profound toll.

Clinical evidence confirms the protective effect of continuity. It’s not a matter of opinion. A systematic review published in BMJ Open found that patients with sustained continuity of care had significantly lower mortality than those with fragmented care. Continuity did not just improve satisfaction; it altered survival. The physician who knows the patient can detect disease earlier and guide care more effectively.

Listening allows physicians to detect patterns that laboratory values alone cannot explain. Patients share information differently when they believe that their physician understands them and remembers their history. This sustained awareness allows physicians to identify emerging illnesses without relying solely on reactive diagnostics. Continuity transforms listening into clinical intelligence and a deeper care partnership.

In Healing the Sick Care System: Why People Matter, which has become a surprise Amazon bestseller, one insight repeatedly emerges: patients do not seek care only for treatment; they seek reassurance that someone who knows them is guiding their journey. Physicians who listen across time accumulate knowledge that cannot be captured in a chart alone. That memory allows earlier recognition, more accurate interpretation, and wiser intervention. Healing begins in that continuity of understanding.

Transactional Care Solves Symptoms but Sacrifices Understanding

Health has, for some time, been undergoing a structural shift toward transactional encounters. Walk-in clinics, urgent care centers, and virtual platforms provide speed and accessibility that patients value. These models address immediate symptoms efficiently and fill important gaps in care delivery. Accessibility has improved, yet continuity has weakened.

Transactional medicine treats episodes rather than trajectories. Each encounter begins without the benefit of longitudinal understanding. Clinical decisions are made with time-stamp specific knowledge of how symptoms emerged or how physiology has changed over time. Care becomes reactive rather than interpretive.

Research demonstrates the consequences of this fragmentation. Studies published in the Annals of Family Medicine show that sustained primary care continuity reduces hospitalizations and lowers healthcare expenditures. Early recognition prevents complications that require more invasive, costly interventions. Fragmentation delays recognition and increases clinical risk.

In fact, physicians in the vanguard of building relationships encourage their patients to ask questions.  In their co-authored book Let Patients Help! A “Patient Engagement” handbook – how doctors, nurses, patients and caregivers can partner for better care by “e-Patient Dave” deBronkart with Daniel Z. Sands, MD, MPH, the founder of the Society for Participatory Medicine, offer 10 suggestions that clinicians say to encourage patient engagement.

This shift also alters how patients engage with care. Connections that develop over time can be lost quickly when continuity disappears. Patients become consumers navigating isolated services rather than partners guided across time. The clinical relationship weakens, and with it the interpretive depth that makes prevention possible.

Health systems globally recognize the value of continuity. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), a Paris-based international organization that promotes policies to improve economic and social well-being globally, reports that hospital admissions for chronic diseases, often preventable through effective primary care, account for a substantial share of healthcare utilization. Systems that preserve physician-led primary care continuity achieve better outcomes and greater efficiency. Relationship stabilizes care.

Innovation Requires Connection to Fulfill Its Potential

This shift toward transactional care carries life-threatening implications that extend far beyond the patient experience. It also directly affects whether health innovation fulfills its promise or becomes a compensatory tool addressing fragmentation. Innovation depends on context to generate meaningful insight. Context emerges through continuity. That context can devalue life-saving innovations.

Artificial intelligence, predictive analytics, and remote monitoring technologies are designed to detect patterns across time. These tools require longitudinal clinical awareness to distinguish meaningful change from statistical variation. Physicians who know their patients can interpret innovation correctly and act earlier. Innovation becomes transformative when anchored in relationship.

Fragmented care weakens this interpretive capacity. Data collected across disconnected encounters lacks coherence. Predictive tools lose precision when longitudinal context is absent. Innovation becomes reactive, identifying disease after symptoms emerge rather than predicting disease before it develops.

Technology achieves its highest value when it extends the physician’s ability to listen and observe. Remote monitoring allows earlier recognition of physiological change. Predictive analytics strengthens preventive intervention. Innovation amplifies continuity when guided by sustained physician leadership.

Team-based primary care models reflect this principle. Nurse practitioners and physician assistants expand access while physician leadership preserves interpretive continuity. Research published in Medical Care Research and Review confirms that coordinated team-based care maintains strong clinical outcomes. Physician oversight ensures that innovation remains integrated within longitudinal care. It also improves health professional job satisfaction and reduces burn-out.

Innovation cannot replace the relationship at the center of medicine. Algorithms detect patterns but do not understand meaning, and they do not strengthen physician/patient ties. Devices collect data, but do not know the patient behind the data. Physicians translate information into guidance by integrating technology with human understanding.

The future of health innovation depends on preserving continuity between patient and physician. Technology deployed within sustained relationships strengthens prevention and improves outcomes. Technology deployed within fragmented systems often compensates for structural weakness rather than transforming care. Continuity determines whether innovation fulfills its promise.

Health systems now face a defining moment. Transactional care offers speed and convenience. Relational care offers understanding and prevention. Innovation will achieve its full potential only when it strengthens the continuity that allows physicians to listen, learn, and guide patients across time.

Healing begins with being heard. Health technology succeeds when it helps physicians listen more deeply and act more wisely in the service of the people who entrust them with their care.

The post How Transactional Medicine Threatens the Future of Your Health appeared first on Medika Life.

The country’s trajectory has been building for years. A fast-growing middle-income population, rising chronic disease burden, and expanding health infrastructure have created both demand and urgency. What is changing now is the environment in which innovation can move, driving faster approvals, a culture of collaboration, digital infrastructure and a government signaling policy readiness to engage global partners in shaping the next era of medicine.

The economic momentum is significant. The Indian health ecosystem has expanded from roughly $372 billion in 2023 to $638 billion in 2025, making it one of the fastest-growing major health markets in the world. The broader industry is expected to exceed $610 billion by 2026, fueled by rising insurance coverage, expanding hospital infrastructure, and growing demand for chronic disease management. Health growth in India continues at approximately 10–12 percent annually, well above the growth rates typical of mature markets, reflecting both rising access and structural transformation.

BIOAsia 2026 reflects this inflection point. The global gathering in Hyderabad, themed “TechBio Unleashed: AI, Automation & the Biology Revolution,” highlights the (bio)convergence of biology, data, and intelligent systems reshaping health worldwide. Organizers emphasize that the meeting aims to drive health transformation and reinforce India’s position as a leading global life sciences force. For multinational innovators, the message is increasingly clear: India is not only where innovation is deployed; it is also where it is developed. It is where innovation is increasingly defined. India has become a go-to market for multinational enterprises.

Policy Signals and Market Scale: From Opportunity to Strategic Partnership

India’s regulatory and policy environment is evolving in ways that matter deeply to multinational innovators. One pivotal shift came with the country’s decision to allow certain medicines approved in specified developed markets to launch without local clinical trials, a move designed to accelerate patient access while aligning more closely with global regulatory science. This policy shift reflected confidence in international data, a commitment to innovation, and recognition that faster access must remain central to national health strategy.

The scale of India’s pharmaceutical and life sciences market reinforces this transformation. The pharmaceutical sector reached approximately $68 billion in 2025 and is projected to grow to more than $170 billion during the next decade, driven by expanding middle-income demand and strong domestic manufacturing. India already supplies roughly one-fifth of the world’s generic medicines. It produces the majority of global vaccines by volume, positioning the country as a central player in global health supply chains.

As Aman Gupta of SPAG/FINN wrote in Medika Life, “India’s health sector is undergoing a profound transformation, bolstered by government-led reforms and a favorable FDI regime. The allowance of 100% foreign direct investment through automatic routes in health and related sectors has already attracted global giants.” His observation reinforces a central reality for multinational innovators: India’s policy environment is increasingly designed not only to welcome global participation, but to encourage long-term strategic partnership in building the future of healthcare.

Investment trends tell the same story. Health and pharmaceutical private equity and venture investments have reached multi-billion-dollar levels annually. At the same time, India’s contract drug development and manufacturing sector is projected to exceed $22 billion within the next decade. These dynamics position India as a growth market and as a strategic partner across the innovation lifecycle from discovery and clinical development to manufacturing and global distribution.

Shakthi Nagappan, CEO of Telangana Life Sciences Foundation, captured this moment clearly, noting that BIOAsia arrives at a time when technology and biology are redefining healthcare and creating “unprecedented opportunities for innovation, investment, and impact.” The language reflects partnership rather than transaction, a signal that India is moving from market opportunity to strategic collaboration.

Digital Infrastructure, BIOAsia and the Multinational Innovation Imperative

India’s digital transformation may be its most potent catalyst for long-term health innovation. Unlike many mature systems, the country is building a national-scale digital health infrastructure designed to connect patients, providers, and health systems across a population of more than 1.4 billion people, with a rising middle class of 400 million.

The Global Digital Health Market is projected to grow from USD 288.55 billion in 2024 to USD 2,688 billion by 2035, expanding at a CAGR of 22.55% during 2025–2035. This surge is driven by the rapid adoption of AI-powered diagnostics, telemedicine, wearable devices, and data analytics solutions that are revolutionizing patient care and operational efficiency worldwide.

Hundreds of millions of citizens are already using digital health services, including telemedicine, electronic prescriptions, and remote care. The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission is creating an interoperable national health ecosystem, enabling secure health records, improved care coordination, and population-scale data infrastructure that supports research, real-world evidence, and precision health.

For multinational companies, this digital backbone creates a uniquely strategic environment, enabling large-scale clinical research, faster pharmacovigilance, AI-supported health insights, and rapid deployment of innovation across diverse populations. India’s digital infrastructure is not simply modernizing health delivery. It is enabling national-scale transformation.

BIOAsia sits at the center of this conversation and convergence. The gathering reflects India’s ambition to lead at the intersection of biology, artificial intelligence, and scalable innovation. Leaders from industry, government, and science convene not only to discuss growth but to shape the next phase of global life sciences, where biology, data, and digital systems converge to influence global health.

One conference panel, among the many high-powered sessions, brings together global leaders in advanced therapeutics to explore how next-generation modalities are moving from discovery to scalable care. Panelists across biopharma, translational science, and hospital systems are examining progress in cell and gene therapies, mRNA, and radiopharmaceuticals, underscoring that innovation now depends as much on manufacturable scale and delivery as on scientific breakthrough. India’s expanding capabilities in clinical research and bioprocessing strengthen its role as a key partner in advancing next-generation therapies.

For multinational innovators, the implications are clear. Engagement in India now extends beyond commercialization. It calls for collaboration in research, investment in digital and scientific ecosystems, alignment with national health priorities and partnership in strengthening health delivery.

India’s Strategic Role in Global Health Innovation

India’s rise in global health innovation reflects the alignment of policy, market growth, digital infrastructure, and scientific capability forces that together are reshaping where and how healthcare innovation occurs.

For multinational companies, India now represents a full-spectrum innovation environment. It is a place to conduct clinical research across diverse populations, scale manufacturing and supply chains, deploy digital health at a national scale, and co-develop solutions addressing both local and global health challenges. Increasingly, India is not simply a recipient of innovation developed elsewhere. It is becoming a co-creator of next-generation health.

This shift changes the strategic equation. Market entry alone is no longer sufficient. Meaningful engagement requires partnership with policymakers, regulators, scientists, health providers, and digital health ecosystems. Organizations that invest in collaboration, align with national health priorities, and contribute to strengthening healthcare systems are most likely to succeed in India’s evolving landscape.

BIOAsia sets the stage for this transformation. It is more than a conference. It is a convergence of global health ambition, scientific capability, and policy momentum. The conversations taking place in Hyderabad mirror a broader reality: the geography of health innovation is expanding, and India is now central to its future.

For global health innovators, the question is no longer whether India matters. The question is how deeply they choose to engage in shaping what comes next.

The post India: The Growing Focal Point for Health Innovation appeared first on Medika Life.

CNS Summit: A Community, Not a Conference

The CNS Summit is less an event and more a movement, the roughly 900-person ecosystem of leaders, scientists, entrepreneurs, and communicators is bound by purpose. Through the years, it has become an “industry reunion” for those working at the intersection of science and humanity. Attendees don’t simply show up for “unscripted” presentations or networking; they come to commune, share ideas, listen and support each other’s journey.

Founded and carefully curated by Amir Kalali, MD, a former Quintiles executive, who focuses on the intersection of life science and technology, believes collaboration unleashes humanity’s greatest potential, Summit operates on the belief that innovation in clinical research and drug development depends on curiosity and connection.  Summit cultivates an atmosphere where hierarchy dissolves. CEOs engage with early-career professionals. Startups find champions among seasoned executives. Conversations flow freely, often long after formal sessions end. As the website declares, “The Summit brings together a curated group of top decision makers from pharma, biotech, CROs, investigator sites, patient advocacy groups, investors and other stakeholders.”

The site also notes a key differentiator for the 2025 gathering: “Networking tables throughout the day. A dedicated space for connection and conversation throughout Summit.” The Summit agenda reinforces that the gathering isn’t just about sessions; it’s about forging connections.

This is the kind of conference where attendees return year after year, sometimes at personal expense, because they recognize that the ROI is more than professional – it’s personal. You leave Boston with new insights, renewed energy and, often, lifelong friends.  What makes CNS Summit unique is that the “price of admission” includes year-long networking gatherings sponsored by Summit community leaders.

“When people introduce themselves at Summit, I want to hear about them — their backstory motivation first, and only then about the problem they are looking to solve,” shares long-time Summit attendee Craig Lipset, DTRA.org Co-Chair, and an advisor to global health innovation enterprises. “This is an event that cherishes long-term relationships between people, which is why this space has become so critical during such a volatile time in the industry,” he adds.

Communication Tip: At CNS Summit, authenticity amplifies influence. Don’t arrive with a set corporate pitch; come ready to share experiences and learn from others. This is a platform for vulnerability, curiosity and conversation, not self-promotion. In a community built on trust, the most powerful communication skill is listening.

The JP Morgan Healthcare Conference: The Ecosystem’s Main Stage

If the CNS Summit is a retreat for reflection, the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference is the watering hole of the life science world, crowded, noisy and absolutely vital. JP Morgan frames it as the “largest and most informative healthcare investment symposium in the industry, which connects global industry leaders, emerging fast-growth companies, innovative technology creators, and members of the investment community. For one week in January, from January 12^th to 15^th 2026, the health innovation universe converges in San Francisco.

In contrast to the CNS Summit’s intimacy, JPMorgan thrives on scale. It is where biotech, pharma and health system hopefuls present their value proposition to investors, and where global biopharma companies reaffirm strategic direction. From hotel lobbies to sidewalk cafés, every table and hallway becomes a “pitch” space. Deals are initiated, relationships rekindled, and reputations built, rebuilt or crushed. Mega consulting groups such as McKinsey emphasize that this gathering unites “global health and life sciences industry leaders, emerging fast-growth companies, innovative technology creators, and members of the investment community.”

You might attend JPMorgan for 72 hours and never set foot in an official session. Yet those unscripted encounters, coffee chats, quick handshakes, five-minute updates, often shape company trajectories and careers alike for the coming year.

Fern Lazar, Managing Partner and Global Health Practice Lead at FINN Partners, has attended the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference since its early days as the original Hambrecht & Quist Healthcare Conference—later acquired by J.P. Morgan. Her advice is straightforward: “Preparation is power. The companies that arrive with clarity, confidence, and proof of momentum leave with stronger reputations, investor trust, and new alliances. Those that don’t are quickly forgotten.”

Communication Tip: At JPMorgan, clarity is currency. In a sea of sound bites, those who communicate with precision rise above the noise. Be concise, compelling, and credible. Articulate what your company does, and why it matters to patients, to systems, and to investors. Every sentence should connect back to the vision and value with plenty of proof points to show you’re on the right track.

Why Both Matter to the Future of Health

Both conferences reveal something fundamental about the health industry’s DNA: innovation depends on both connection and coopetition. CNS Summit reminds us that science is human, built on relationships of trust. JP Morgan reminds us that sustainability requires strategy, clarity and capital.

For communication leaders, the lesson is clear: health innovation demands head, heart and gut.  You must speak to investors in the language of returns and to peers and partners in the language of purpose. The best communicators, like the best leaders, bridge both worlds seamlessly.

The life sciences sector is undergoing constant ebbs and flows: AI, digital biomarkers, decentralized trials and real-world data are reshaping how therapies are discovered, developed and delivered amid this race to raise the bar on all aspects of health access, affordability and delivery, leadership visibility and stakeholder trust matter more than ever.

At the CNS Summit, you cultivate the credibility that comes from empathy and engagement. The Summit community underscores that year-round social element: “Your event registration also provides access to our year-round programming and community activities.”  At JP Morgan, you demonstrate the confidence and messaging that attracts capital and partnership.

One builds influence, the other builds momentum. Taken together, they form a powerful narrative arc for any organization serious about advancing science and health innovation. The leaders who succeed in the next decade won’t just be the ones with great science, they will be those who can translate that science into stories that move payers, policymakers and patients alike. It’s the combination of IQ and EQ that will rally companies toward success.

Final Words: Show Up, Listen, Learn and Lead

Conferences are catalysts for connection.  Their value lies in what happens after the panels end and the flights home begin. Do you follow up? Do you stay in touch? Do you turn introductions into impact?

Whether you’re heading to Boston or San Francisco or both remember: your presence is an investment in the future of your career, company and community. Be intentional. Be visible. Most importantly, be human. In this ecosystem of change, as in medicine itself, the most significant advances begin when people listen, learn and lead together.

The post Two Gatherings, One Mission: Elevating Life Science Leadership and Communication appeared first on Medika Life.

Government-sponsored, taxpayer-funded research ensures the health of our people and drives the health of our economy. The current policy of cuts and freezes puts both at risk.

For decades, Congress has provided strong, bipartisan support to research programs, not simply to help Americans stay healthy and live longer but to give American researchers, businesses, and other institutions a leg-up. This has meant that costly, labor-intensive scientific research doesn’t have to be completely shouldered through private funding.

It would seem that American businesses and institutions — in particular patient advocacy groups, the ambassadors of communities that benefit most from science that leads to innovations that can sustain and save lives – should want to vigorously defend government-backed research. But in today’s political climate, leaders are taking a “wait and see” approach. While this may appear prudent, now is not the time for complacency.

The old saying, “fail to prepare and you prepare to fail,” couldn’t be more timely. Patient advocates and other leaders need to act now to marshal facts about the essential benefits of government-funded science. They need to develop a strategy to express their expert points of view, identifying which topics they will speak out about and to whom, in order to be ready to assert their influence when the timing is right.

As new policies unfold, voices calling us back to this shared national interest are essential. Patient advocates and business leaders hold tremendous power – and responsibility – to help rally support for essential programs and remind decision makers of what’s really at stake. Here are three considerations, based on many years of guiding clients through successful thought leadership campaigns, that can help leaders plan their words and actions for maximum impact, even as they operate in a “watch and wait” environment.

1. Define What Is at Stake

Publicly funded research has saved many millions of American lives. Since 1969, the U.S. stroke mortality rate has decreased by 70%, largely due to NIH-funded research on treatments and prevention. The American Cancer Society estimates that 3.5 million lives were saved from 1991 to 2019 because of publicly funded advances. These are only two of many examples.

But if these very real impacts – which touch all of us – do not carry enough weight, consider that government subsidized research has also been a powerful driver for American businesses. Every dollar spent by the NIH in research funding in the fiscal year 2024 (FY24) generated $2.56 of economic activity, according to a new report, “NIH’s Role in Sustaining the U.S. Economy.” And those dollars enabled the development and production of penicillin and other life-saving antibiotics, antiretrovirals, Ozempic and other GLP-1s, polio and measles vaccines, and discoveries such as deciphering the human genetic code.

This taxpayer-funded investment has made American drug companies, med-tech, hospitals and biotech global powerhouses. In this way, the U.S. has led the world, both in innovation and economically.

2. Determine the Audience(s) You Want to Reach

If the last few weeks have proven anything, it is that local conversations can have national impact. And, it’s local economies that stand to benefit the most from publicly funded science. These communities and states will also suffer most acutely should funding continue to be withheld from research programs located in their communities.

A new study from the Association of American Universities found that in FY24, the NIH alone awarded $36.94 billion in extramural research funding to researchers in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, funding that supported 407,782 jobs and produced $94.58 billion in new economic activity nationwide.

That is all balanced on a knife edge at the moment. These figures demonstrate that local communities and their lawmakers – state and federal congresspeople and senators – are the natural allies of research programs that depend on federal dollars. Such programs put businesses and people to work in fields ranging from construction and maintenance to food services and research and development.

By acting hyper-locally, targeting the vulnerable communities and representatives who are impacted most by current policy, thought leaders can start to move the country away from self-harm towards a restoration of prosperity and health.

3. Actively Monitor for Opportunity to Assert Leadership

While it’s clear what’s at stake and who stands to benefit or lose the most, evaluating the right time to act is more challenging. What’s becoming more apparent is that, as the impact of cuts and freezes begins to be felt more broadly by patients, employees of local businesses and local communities – then leaders’ words will have more resonance and impact. Thought leadership will have an increasing ability to rally support and change minds.

In many places, this is already beginning to happen. Conducting outreach in those communities at the moment when the administration’s cuts are affecting people’s income and businesses’ bottom lines most acutely, leadership voices can begin to have an impact. Drawing attention to the struggles our neighbors are facing, and calling for action based on people’s experiences, the evident economic impacts, and real public health needs will resonate. Determining the right moment to act will take careful monitoring of economic and health impacts within key communities across America and seizing the right moment.

If advocacy groups want to continue to protect and promote the rights of patients, they must prepare to speak out. If the organizations, health systems and companies of the American health ecosystem that have been blessed with the fruits of publicly funded research want to continue to stay competitive, their leaders must speak out. If the small businesses that rely on their employees’ health and customers’ wallets wish to stay competitive, they, too, must raise their voices. What’s at stake is the health of all Americans and our nation’s world-leading position as the “arsenal of health.”

The time is now for leaders to make their plans. Those who are ready to speak will be thought leaders—and those who do not will not be. American thought leaders must prepare to speak up, loudly and often, to guarantee the future of U.S. leadership and to help America remain healthy—physically and financially.

The post For Leaders, When Is it Time to Speak Out for Science? appeared first on Medika Life.

Medika Life will be on-hand and covering this gathering – meeting with attendees and sharing highlights from the conversations. Hear from Amir why this gathering – with more than 100 speakers – should be on your calendar of 2024 meetings to attend.

The post Digital Health AI and Innovation Summit to Gather in Boston this Fall appeared first on Medika Life.

But let’s not forget that three years ago – just as then-President Trump was announced as the HIMSS keynote – COVID ripped across the world.  In 2020, at the 12^th hour, HIMSS decided to cancel the Davos of health information and digital health for the first time in more than half a century.  In the days preceding the decision, many of us were on pins and needles waiting for the shoe to drop finally – and it did after mega exhibitors pulled out to protect their staff and Florida shut down to the outside world.

How Three Years Changed Mindsets or Not?

Much has changed in those three years. The former president has been indicted; COVID has supposedly been tamed; big exhibitors with 40 by 40 space return to the rightful places at Chicago’s McCormick Convention Center; 30,000 people will be running to educational and continuing education sessions and networking events and, most importantly, conversations on how the health ecosystem will address the unfulfilled potential of digital health and aggregated intelligence (AI) and protect our precious, personal health data with cybersecurity technologies will be the talk of the hallways.

Salute to HIMSS Staff – The Backbone of a Great Conference

Behind the scenes, HIMSS staff work diligently to address the needs of this ever-growing professional community.  While most people rightfully run from speaker sessions throughout the day, far fewer realize that the program is mainly built through membership participation. HIMSS is more like a peer-review medical conference than a for-profit entity.  Countless abstracts are submitted for review by volunteer working groups, graded and debated and those accepted to make it into the program. 

Mentors are assigned to the speakers to check in on their progress and content development.  Little is left to chance and “winged on stage.”  The HIMSS staff are considering all the little details, including assigning program committee members to introduce speaker sessions – highlighting the 300+ speakers and their content.  If the Jackson Browne hit song “Stay” salutes the roadies that put together and pull down his road-tour stage, HIMSS staff deserve a song commemorating their exceptional work.

HIMSS differs from the many key conferences around health innovation – it’s geared to the grass tops, chief information, strategy and technology officers, and the grassroots experts in digital health information where the rubber meets the road in operations and transformation.  You will find folks from the Federal government who can advance policies that improve access to information and its security, along with hard-working staff from agencies tasked with getting the job done.

Embrace the Good – Put Aside Your Darts

People love throwing darts at industry gatherings that have made it, and HIMSS takes its fair share of pundit swipes.  That said, in August 2021 in Las Vegas, HIMSS pioneered the way back to industry conferences by putting in place protocols requiring a COVID inoculation confirmation, a negative COVID task and masks.  If it came late to the public health shut-down party in 2020, it more than made amends one year later, courageously paving the way for the community to reunite!  Other groups, such as CNS Summit, built on that model and added even more confidence-generating approaches to unite the community.

If, in 2019, HIMSS added patient engagement and experience to its conference theme, this year’s theme hints at something that can make our innovations workable and meaningful – collaboration.  We don’t lack good ideas – we lack encouragement and incentives to work well together and operationalize!  As much as we invent new ways to apply information, we fear change and prefer to stick with the known – even if it’s suboptimal patient care. 

Physicians claim that the time spent on “managing information systems” or depending on those systems for answers is burning them out and keeping them from their primary mission – caring for people seeking solutions.  If so, then information technology is not meeting its mission –fixing one thing and breaking the ties between physician and patient. 

Conversation Can Lead to Solutions

While the hundreds of sessions at HIMSS will offer new knowledge, don’t forget to spend time in the hallways – meeting people, sharing ideas (and problems) and “keeping it real.”  The magic of technology isn’t the organization of massive amounts of data – it’s making more time to be us and fulfill our life missions. In health, that is connecting healers with those people seeking to be healed.

See you in the Windy City of Chicago.  I will be masked!  My COVID shots – inoculations and booster are up-to-date, and I’ll test each day.  When it comes to people’s health – public health – we can all make an extra effort. I come for the people, conversations and belief that in speaking with each other, we will continually piece together puzzle pieces of the divided health information ecosystem.

The post #HIMSS23 on the Health-Sector Digital and Information Mainstage With Wind in its Sails appeared first on Medika Life.

Researchers find that combining novel gene-editing CRISPR technology with CAR T therapy could simplify and improve CAR T therapy in one fell swoop.

Traditional CAR T Therapy 

A remarkable feat in cancer care, today people with difficult-to-treat blood cancers can receive CAR T therapy, a personalized “drug” made from their own immune cells. Chimeric Antigen Receptor T cell (CAR T) therapy relies on extracting a patient’s immune cells and modifying them in the lab with a new, synthetic receptor.

The new receptor allows the white blood cell to target and destroy cancer cells once re-infused back in the bloodstream. Evoking the patched image of a mythical chimera, these receptors merge signaling machinery typical of a T cell with an antibody-derived detection region to create a powerful “living drug” which continually expands inside the body. Figure 1 highlights the basic design of a CAR T cell, while Figure 2 illustrates the step-by-step process in more depth.

Gene Editing with Viral Vectors 

To craft CAR T cells, the very genes of the T cells must be altered to express the chimeric antigen receptor. Gene editing, therefore, provides the foundation for the therapy.

Integrating CAR genes normally requires the use of a viral vector. Retroviruses in particular have the unique ability to insert and meld their own foreign genetic material into human cells permanently. This allows viruses to use host machinery to produce viral proteins.

Scientists have repurposed this strength to deliver CAR genes into T cells. An inactivated form of the virus is filled with genetic material which encodes for CAR. The desired genes are then transferred from the virus into the T cells through a process called transduction (see Figure 3). As if reading biological instructions, the T cell uses the genetic information to construct the receptor before expressing it onto the cell surface.

MORGAN AND BOYERINAS

The industry standard may depend on viral vectors, but the procedure lacks in some aspects. This stage of the CAR T process is the most time-consuming and expensive; it can take a year or longer to produce a batch of viral vectors, and can cost up to $50,000 per dose. For these reasons researchers now hope to turn to CRISPR technology, a recent scientific breakthrough in gene editing, to resolve these issues.

Enter CRISPR/Cas9 Gene Editing 

CRISPR originates from organisms such as bacteria and plays a major role in their defense. The acronym CRISPR stands for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats—in essence, they are short, repeating DNA sequences which read the same forwards or backwards, similarly to words such as “MADAM” or “DEED.” Sandwiched between these repeats are protospacers, a genetic history of viruses the bacteria encounters (see Figure 5).

When a virus tries to insert its genetic information into the bacteria, the bacteria can recognize the sequence from its protospacer catalog. The bacteria transcribes the protospacer DNA into RNA; this RNA guides enzymes such as Cas9 to the viral DNA to cut and deactivate it.

The same CRISPR/Cas9 interface can also snip human DNA. As seen in Figure 6, an RNA guide can be made to cut DNA at a specific site. The broken DNA, eager to repair itself, can easily adopt a new DNA sequence in that location.

Translating this concept to CAR T therapy, researchers could modify T cell DNA directly to express a new receptor. Synthesizing an RNA guide is cheaper and more efficient than cultivating retroviral vectors. If successful, CRISPR could simply solve two major drawbacks associated with CAR T therapy: price and time-to-delivery.

LABIOTECH

Conclusion 

CAR T therapy, although a triumph of human engineering in its own regard, still has room for improvement. There is potential to propel CAR T design forward by integrating contemporary innovations such as CRISPR/Cas9 technology. Although this method still requires T cell manipulation outside the body, this change could streamline the process while becoming more accessible. The most critical step now is to test the feasibility of this concept. The next installment in the series will explore the latest clinical results from PACT Pharma and the University of California, Los Angeles on their CRISPR/CAR T dual interface.

The post CRISPR Technology To Simplify And Enhance CAR T Cancer Treatment appeared first on Medika Life.

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“It seems that the stars are aligned.  These glimmers of facts, figures, innovation and needs are converging on the year 2013. And the result promises to be an inflection point for digital health. The curve of innovation will shift and place us all on a new course for managing disease and wellness.”

#1—2013.  Explosive new technology

Think about the smart phone and how far it’s come in just a few short years.  Today, technology is the new intellectual playground that connects vision with application.  And the players are both big, well-funded companies as well as smart, adroit and nimble startups.

#2—2013. The pressing need to advance healthcare and the Affordable Care Act

There’s almost no scientific, political or sociological discussion that doesn’t find its way to health and healthcare.  The costs, access and resources are a key driver to seeking solutions to the health dilemma that exists right now and is projected to only get worse.  Technology has always been part of the answer in other areas.  Today, innovation and technology are poised to advance care in new directions that can drive new efficiencies and lead a course to self-care and wellness.

#3—2013. The caldron of connectivity

Ideas are promiscuous.  The profound interconnectedness of thinkers and ideas create a “neural-network” that powers our imaginations. Another important driver to the digital health revolution is the  increasing level of patient / caregiver connectivity.  The role of telemedicine will foster new connections for care and become essential, proving ground for new “tricorder-type” technology that makes the interaction more clinically robust.

#4—2013.  The power of cool

The advantage of the digital health movement is that carries “the stamp of cool” and takes clinical / social utility to a place beyond the practical—the emotional.  It’s not about taking a pill but living the life of innovation that is validated by science and medicine.

#5—2013. The empowerment of the “quantified self” in health

Our lives are quantified in many ways…tools to measure key clinical parameters (serum glucose, blood oxygen, etc.) will combine with mainstream devices used by joggers and athletes.  The result will become “full circle” data that will proactively inform us of issues and concerns. And all this data and knowledge will become less of burden and more of reassurance that all systems are go!

 #6—2013.  Pharma’s search for new meaning

The evolution of pharmaceutical science will move therapy to include preventative care, gene therapy and other innovations.  The pill, as it conventionally exists today, will have a role, but innovation (and digital health) will make conventional therapies a bit harder to swallow.

#7—2013. Big Data and the electronic medical record

New technology and the vast amounts of generated data come a rich source of information.  Research protocols, family history, medical records and large-scale epidemiological studies are a significant aspect of digital health.  These data may become the single biggest aspect of this new area.

#8—2013.  Money

Money is a key driver to innovation.  The increasing role of venture capital in digital health sends a clarion call of validation that this initiative is here to stay.  

#9—2013. The voices of brilliance

Science, medicine, genomics, electronics, analytics, etc.  The list of contributors to digital health is vast and smart as heck.  And the very nature of the mixed and varied voices coming together will result in a “critical mass” of brilliance rarely seen in the conventional business model.

#10—2013.  The moral imperative

There’s another simple, yet powerful driver at work here.  It’s the right thing to do.  The application of digital health to global health issues and the practice of medicine in developing countries can play a tremendous role in changing the very nature and quality of care that directly translates into life-changing and life-saving treatments.

So, there you have it.  Ten powerful reasons why 2013 was the “year of digital health” and it would reach its proverbial inflection point.  It didn’t.  But the interesting thing here is that we can just change the date from 2013 to 2022 and these predictions feel about right for this year.  Maybe I’m too good of a futurist.  But my sense is that there’s something more fundamental about this “failure” and why technological innovation have been stuck at the starting line.

The reason is both simple and complex: innovation is tough.  But the diffusion of innovation can be even more difficult.  The idea of just building a great solution that will simply be embraced and adopted is false. “Build it and they will come” isn’t a market-driven strategy, but a wish.

Prominent tech, consumer goods and pharmaceutical companies have failed to drive adoption of  new products hailed as big ideas and game changers. The same may be true for technology and digital health and how 2013 offers up many of the  same opportunities and challenges as 2022.

In many ways, medical innovation is part technology and part humanity. And driving adoption along one path can get many heads nodding, but few feet moving in the right direction. The healthcare system is driven by complex vectors of inertia.  From financial gain (companies and providers) to cognitive rigidity to the essential cautions that must be applied to clinical care, advances are often defined as “that same, but better” with concern for the status quo and even self-preservation.

Perhaps an essential fix to this dilemma is to take a page from the “patient centricity” play book that has captured the minds of many in 2022. Innovation, startups, accelerators, and incubators need to think past the big idea and consider the process of adoption as integral to success. Otherwise, we’re stuck in the quagmire of complacency.

My look back to almost a decade ago to the advances of technology and medicine was an eye-opener. Interestingly, it seems like the future is here now and has been for a while. And a key path, in many instances, is to focus on implementation of the brilliant ideas at hand today. Innovation is disruptive, but adoption is gradual. And recognizing this simple truth might just get things moving!

The post Tech Marches On, While Humanity Drags Its Feet appeared first on Medika Life.

In virtual reality, we’re placing the viewer inside a moment or a story… made possible by sound and visual technology that’s actually tricking the brain into believing it’s somewhere else. — Chris Milk

A walk in a forest (forest bathing therapy), a park, or an open field are all good for your physical and mental health. It is sometimes referred to as the “awe boost” and is related to decreasing the stress hormone cortisol levels.

The forest bathing walks have become so popular not because of their ability to free us from our current environment, but the medical community recommends them. In fact, it is now possible to schedule yourself for a Zoom virtual walk.

These virtual walks increase access to this health benefit to those with disabilities, inability to access a forest, or want to realize the advantages from the comfort of their home or office. You can walk a forest, a seashore or a mountain range and your body will thank you for it.

Instead of watching your computer screen or TV, you may view some walks on a VR platform. One definite new advantage in one manufacturer’s VR sets, not intended for the health-market segment, is adding touch in addition to the sounds and visual effects. This addition is provided by sensors that will mimic the crunch of sand underfoot. For now, the company appears to be sticking with gaming, but new markets await their entry.

The benefits of nature in any format has been shown in pain management, too. In fact, “…a large body of research is documenting the positive impacts of nature on human flourishing — our social, psychological, and emotional life. Over 100 studies have shown that being in nature, living near nature, or even viewing nature in paintings and videos can have positive impacts on our brains, bodies, feelings, thought processes, and social interactions. In particular, viewing nature seems to be inherently rewarding, producing a cascade of position emotions and calming our nervous systems. These, in turn, help us to cultivate greater openness, creativity, connection, generosity, and resilience.”

What You Need to Save the Walks

Once you find a walk you enjoy and want to repeat the experience, you’ll want to save it. A virtual reality headset would be a great piece of computer equipment to have, but the prices are not what I would call reasonable.

Plus, the software is primarily for gaming or selling travel packages. For your use, a small expenditure on a thumb drive (aka flash drive) or any small external drive will do fine.

Not all walks will offer a free download, so check to see if that’s possible. They may have posted it elsewhere for download.

My advice? Buy as much storage space as you can afford because some walks (in terms of MBs) will require a lot of memory. The more MBs, the easier it is to keep all your walks on one drive.

Although the major players in computer accessories make these drives, no-name varieties are available, as well. Cost is a factor here. But there is a caveat. Well-known companies will provide a guarantee, and they will remain in business. The cheaper no-name brands may not ensure a replacement if the drive fails. Yes, these drives can fail.

The external, small drives can be bought in various configurations up to terabytes and, depending on what you want to save, can give you more than gigabytes of space. Never underestimate your need for more storage.

Remember, not all walks may offer the ability to download them from their site. But, if they are on Youtube, there is software to copy it for fair use on your drive.

Free programs are available but watch how they describe them. Another handy program, Snagit, will copy any video (they offer a free trial program) that comes up on your computer, but you don’t need it.

“Download” doesn’t mean free; it only means you can download it. Using any software after a download is another question. They may require that you buy the software you’ve downloaded to keep using it. Most versions of the programs are for either a PC or a Mac. I suggest a Google search for “free Youtube download software.”

A Listing of Walks

Entrepreneurs have noted that the travel business is down, and they have provided an attractive alternative — zoom walks. Whether used with an in-home bike or as you sit or stand, these walks take you to far-flung places you might never visit otherwise. Some use footage shot as a drone scanned the area, but it’s just as relaxing as a video of a walk on terra firma.

I did a quick search on Youtube.com, and it provided several virtual walks in nature, but you can select others.

These are not listed in any specific order, so don’t think the first are the ones I recommend over others.

The 21 Best Free Virtual Field Trips of 2021

12 Virtual Walking Trails Around the World That You Can Experience Right Now

Norway 4K — Scenic Relaxation Film with Calming Music (includes others)

Virtual Walk On The Beach — Sounds Of Sea Waves Breaking Onto Pebble Shore | Treadmill Scenery

Virtual Walk Through a Tropical Forest — 4K Virtual Hike with Nature Sounds

Walking In The Woods — 1 Hour Virtual Walk For Treadmill Workout Scenery — Peaceful Forest Hike

ALL Anguilla Beaches: Best Beaches in The World (4K Drone)

A Quick Review of the Science on Virtual Reality Walks

Virtual reality can be absorbing and relieve stress, but it can also help those with neurologic disorders such as multiple sclerosis. “Despite…limitations, the strengths of this trial include its novelty, its relatively large number of subjects, and its putative promise of providing important information on the effects of
VR training for cognitive-motor rehabilitation in pwMS (people with MS).”

Creating virtual environments provided the individual’s brain and musculature with an opportunity for practice. These benefits from the virtual environment are retained
in the real world, according to this research.

Hospitals, nursing homes, and other support facilities may not provide access to health-promoting natural environments. Studies are now concluding that “…while contact with real-world nature is preferred, VR use can be an alternative in cases when in vivo contact with nature is not possible. There are many possibilities for the use of VR technology in psychiatric and medical care…” Therefore, VR may prove a wise “prescription.”

A large self-report study of 3,000 individuals in Tokyo had impressive results. “Our findings suggest that a regular dose of nature can contribute to the improvement of a wide range of mental health outcomes. With the recent escalation in the prevalence of mental health disorders and the possible negative impacts of the COVID‐19 pandemic on public mental health, our findings have major implications for policy, suggesting that urban nature has great potential to be used as a ‘nature‐based solution’ for improved public health.” The subjects in the study either visited green spaces or viewed them out a window.

Everyone can utilize the benefits of these virtual visits or walks, especially in times of increased stress. A health pick-me-up is as close as the click of a computer “on” button or our TV remote control.

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