These 20 people are not just theorizing about the whizzbang of hot technology but rolling up their sleeves and demonstrating its value in real-world settings—to improve diagnostic care, access information that can inform treatment, address health inequities, and ensure the financial sustainability of health provider systems that operate on razor-thin margins. Their collective work offers a blueprint for leveraging AI responsibly and (hopefully) ethically, from streamlining hospital operations and enhancing clinical decision-making to revolutionizing drug discovery.

The current AI evolution presents both opportunities and challenges. Health systems face increasing demands, including rising patient expectations and staffing shortages. Implementing AI and large language models (LLMs) can address these concerns by enabling faster and more accurate treatment plans, automating administrative burdens, and personalizing patient care. However, realizing AI’s full potential requires thoughtful application, ethical considerations, and a commitment to addressing disparities.

These 20 champion AI’s practical application, guiding health systems toward innovation without losing sight of humankind’s well-being. They exemplify how AI can enhance rather than replace human expertise—an essential message as we continue to adapt to this rapidly evolving landscape. By following their work, health-sector leaders and innovators can gain invaluable insights into deploying AI for meaningful impact.

Trailblazers Redefining Health Innovation

While many thinkers will wow you with the future possibilities of these technologies, the 20 on this roster demonstrate transformative influence on the future of diagnostics, operational efficiency, and personalized care while emphasizing responsible, ethical implementation. From academia to industry, they provide vital insights and direction into leveraging AI for better health outcomes. Their work underscores AI’s ability to augment human expertise, providing a roadmap for health systems to innovate without losing sight of patient-centric care. Thanks to them and the others appearing on our Medika Life 2023 and 2024 list, we define AI as “augmented implementation” and not artificial intelligence.

How were they selected? They are public-facing, sharing their thoughts in articles, books, keynotes, classroom talks, research papers, and conferences. They willingly share their knowledge with others on their social media platforms. They spark ideas and challenge our current thinking, and these behaviors make them invaluable to the future application of information and its human health impact. Each person appears in hyperlinks so that readers can explore the depth of their contributions and, whenever possible, follow them on their social media platforms.

20 Voices of Influence Shaping AI in Health

Regina Barzilay, PhD

Dr. Barzilay, an MIT professor and MacArthur Fellow, is revolutionizing oncology and drug discovery through AI. Her pioneering work in machine learning has led to breakthroughs in early cancer detection, particularly in breast cancer screening. As co-founder and AI faculty lead of the MIT Jameel Clinic and the AI Cures initiative, she’s spearheading efforts to deploy AI models for cancer risk prediction in hospitals around the globe and accelerate drug development for infectious diseases. Dr. Barzilay’s work in oncology and drug discovery is paving the way for screening policies and new treatments.

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Anthony Chang, MD, MBA, MPH, MS

Dr. Anthony Chang, a pediatric cardiologist and founder of AIMed, is a driving force in AI education for health professionals. His book Intelligence-Based Medicine has become a cornerstone text. Dr. Chang’s recent work focuses on developing AI-powered predictive models for pediatric cardiac care and implementing AI solutions to enhance hospital operational efficiency. His annual AIMed conference has become a global platform for sharing cutting-edge AI health innovation.

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Karen DeSalvo, MD, MPH

Google Chief Health Officer DeSalvo leads initiatives that leverage AI and big data to address critical public health challenges and promote health equity. Her work includes developing AI-driven tools for early disease detection in underserved communities and creating platforms that provide real-time health data analytics for policymakers. Dr. DeSalvo’s leadership in responsible AI use ensures that Google’s health technologies prioritize patient privacy and ethical considerations.

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Pamela Davis, MD, PhD

Dr. Davis is a distinguished researcher at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine specializing in AI-driven diagnostics and clinical applications. After 13 years as the Dean of the School of Medicine, she returned to the faculty. Her work centers on predictive algorithms for early disease detection and improved treatment planning. But Dr. Davis is an anomaly to this roster. She has no social media handles and her many published works are not curated carefully. Yet, tracking her contributions shows her depth and national influence on the future of AI in practice. With numerous published studies on AI’s transformative role in health, Dr. Davis continues to shape the future of diagnostic pathways.

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David Feinberg, MD, MBA

As Chair of Oracle Health, Feinberg champions using AI and cloud-based technologies to improve health outcomes. He focuses on predictive analytics and data-driven tools that enhance clinical decision-making and streamline hospital operations. His leadership drives innovation in health technology integration. Dr. Feinberg is widely recognized for his transformative leadership as CEO of Geisinger Health, where he pioneered initiatives in population health, precision medicine, and value-based care. His expertise in integrating technology with health-care delivery continues to drive innovation, making digital tools more accessible and impactful for providers and patients.

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John Halamka, MD, MS

John Halamka, President of the Mayo Clinic Platform, is a trailblazer in AI-driven health solutions, leveraging data and technology to transform patient care. Co-author of The Digital Reconstruction of Healthcare, Halamka is a leading voice on digital transformation, interoperability, and the ethical use of AI in medicine. His work at the Mayo Clinic focuses on developing scalable digital platforms and AI models to advance diagnostics, remote monitoring, and personalized medicine. With a background spanning emergency medicine, informatics, and policy, Halamka’s insights continue to guide health systems toward a more connected, efficient, and data-driven future.

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Taha Kass-Hout, MD, MS

Dr. Taha Kass-Hout, General Manager of Amazon Health AI, is a pioneer in leveraging artificial intelligence to drive advancements in healthcare delivery. With a background in clinical practice, public health, and digital innovation, he leads initiatives that harness AI for improved diagnostics, care management, and population health outcomes. Previously, as the first FDA Chief Health Informatics Officer, he championed data-driven approaches to public health. His leadership at Amazon drives scalable, data-driven health models that integrate machine learning with real-world applications, positioning him as a key influencer in the future of AI in health.

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Isaac Kohane, MD, PhD

Dr. Kohane, Chair of the Department of Biomedical Informatics at Harvard Medical School and co-author of The AI Revolution in Medicine: GPT-4 and Beyond, is a leading authority on the intersection of AI and clinical care. His research focuses on using machine learning for precision medicine and improving electronic health records. Dr. Kohane has been instrumental in developing AI models that enhance diagnostic accuracy and patient outcomes. His recent work explores the potential of LLMs, such as ChatGPT, in clinical decision-making and patient engagement.

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Daniel Kraft, MD

Dr. Daniel Kraft is the founder of Exponential Medicine and a visionary in personalized medicine approaches. He’s an inventor, a former F-16 flight surgeon, and always ready to champion others’ bold ideas. Dr. Kraft explores how AI can transform health delivery and disease prevention. Dr. Kraft’s recent initiatives focus on AI-powered tools for early diagnosis and patient engagement. His next chapter includes the very successful NextMed Health and the evolution of Exponential Medicine. NextMed Health 2025 will be held in San Diego on March 30 and April 2, 2025.

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Tom Lawry

Tom Lawry, soon to be the author of his highly anticipated new book Health Care Nation: The Future Is Calling, and It’s Better Than You Think, may redefine the intersection of technology and patient care. Already renowned as the author of Hacking Healthcare, Lawry has built a reputation as a leading AI strategist who advises organizations on integrating cutting-edge AI solutions to boost operational efficiency. His former role at Microsoft as Director for AI for Health and Life Sciences, Director of Worldwide Health, and Director of Organizational Performance for the company’s first health incubator cements his standing as a trailblazer in health innovation. He’s almost always a keynote favorite at conferences such as HLTH and HIMSS.

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Fei-Fei Li, PhD

Dr. Fei-Fei Li is a strong advocate for diversity and inclusion in AI, emphasizing ethical considerations and societal impact. She co-founded AI4ALL, a nonprofit dedicated to increasing diversity in artificial intelligence, and has played a pivotal role in shaping policies for responsible AI development. Her leadership continues to influence the global AI landscape, bridging technology with human values.

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Vivian Lee, MD, PhD, MBA

Dr. Lee, author of The Long Fix, is a pioneering health tech executive driving data-driven health transformation. Her recent work includes developing AI-powered platforms for value-based care models and implementing predictive analytics to reduce hospital readmissions. Dr. Lee’s initiatives as former president at Verily Life Sciences focused on leveraging AI to optimize care delivery across diverse populations.

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Peter Lee, PhD

As Corporate Vice President of Microsoft Health, Dr. Peter Lee spearheads initiatives that apply AI to solve complex health-sector challenges. His recent projects include developing AI models for precision medicine and creating cloud-based solutions for health data interoperability. In his role, Dr. Lee seeks to solve complex health-sector challenges by integrating cutting-edge technology with practical healthcare applications.

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John Nosta

John Nosta has earned his place as a top influence in the AI landscape—particularly in discussions surrounding ChatGPT and large language models—due to his visionary insights and ability to demystify complex technological innovations. His thought leadership bridges the gap between cutting-edge AI research and practical, real-world applications, making the transformative potential of these tools accessible to a broad audience. By articulating AI’s promise and ethical challenges, Nosta fosters a balanced dialogue that drives the industry forward. His forward-thinking perspective and engaging commentary not only illuminate the evolving impact of AI on various sectors but also inspire both startups and established companies to reimagine the future of technology. Nosta has an upcoming book that is expected to drop sometime in fall 2025.

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Ziad Obermeyer, MD

Ziad Obermeyer, MD, is the Blue Cross of California Distinguished Associate Professor of Health Policy and Management at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health, researching the intersection of machine learning, medicine and health policy. His work has exposed biases in clinical algorithms and highlighted disparities in care delivery. As a co-founder of Nightingale Open Science, he promotes data transparency and collaboration to advance medical AI. His contributions are reshaping predictive analytics and decision-making in healthcare. Before his full-time career in emergency medicine, he consulted pharmaceutical and global health clients at McKinsey & Co. in New Jersey, Geneva, and Tokyo.

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Neal Patel, MD, MPH

As the Chief Information Officer for Health IT at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), Dr. Patel leads the integration of advanced technologies into health delivery. With more than two decades of experience in HIT, Patel has been instrumental in computerized physician order entry systems and electronic health records to enhance clinical and quality processes. He focuses on translating VUMC goals into informatics strategies, optimizing patient care, and improving safety and services across the care continuum. Dr. Patel’s work underscores the transformative potential of AI and LLMs in the provider system.

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Kyu Rhee, MD, MPP

As Senior Vice President at CVS Health, Rhee leads initiatives that leverage AI for health equity and personalized care. His recent projects include implementing AI-driven health risk assessments in underserved communities and developing machine learning models to predict medication adherence. Through his leadership, CVS has deployed AI-powered virtual care solutions expanding access to preventive services and helping to close care gaps while improving outcomes for diverse patient populations.

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Nigam Shah, MBBS, PhD

Dr. Shah, a professor at Stanford University, specializes in applying AI to clinical workflows and electronic health records. His recent work includes developing AI models for real-time clinical decision support and creating algorithms to identify patients for clinical trials. He has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals on machine learning applications in healthcare and co-authored chapters in Artificial Intelligence in Medicine. Shah also leads Stanford’s Center for Biomedical Informatics Research, advancing research on AI’s role in population health and precision medicine.

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Eric Topol, MD

Dr. Eric Topol is not just “a” trailblazer in digital medicine. He will likely be among those acknowledged singular voices bridging the possible with the practical. His groundbreaking work has consistently pushed the boundaries of health innovation. Dr. Topol redefined patient empowerment with his seminal book The Patient Will See You Now. He transformed the traditional healthcare model, advocating for a future where technology facilitates personalized, proactive care. As the author of Deep Medicine, he continues to champion the integration of AI in health, exploring its potential to revolutionize patient care. Dr. Topol’s visionary contributions and commitment to merging clinical expertise with cutting-edge technology have established him as a guiding voice at the intersection of care and innovation, making him a standout influencer in AI applications.

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Hal Wolf, III, FHIMSS

Harold (Hal) Wolf is the president and CEO of HIMSS, a global advisor and thought leader supporting the transformation of the health ecosystem through information and technology. If health-related smart technologies such as AI, ChatGPT, GenAI, and LLMs have a central home to discuss policies and implementation, it is HIMSS. Hal shepherds the world’s health information management community. While his staff advance science and policy, championing implementation throughout the ecosystem. Wolf and HIMSS are where theory meets action. Wolf is far more than a leader of a global society of import; he is the community’s ambassador to NGOs, governments, and industry.

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The Rise of Generative AI in Digital Health: Key Insights from Galen Growth

Beyond tracking the 20 listed in the year’s people to watch and the previous two years, following the Galen Growth executive briefing Generative AI in Digital Health – Hype or Reality? The report is a must-read for AI, ChatGPT, and LLM professionals. It reveals how nearly 4,000 digital health ventures leverage AI, with 2% focused on generative AI. Notably, 27% of these applications enhance health management, and over 330 AI-driven ventures have partnered with health systems in the past five years. This report offers critical insights into AI’s growing impact on digital health innovation.

Acknowledgments

I thank my Medika Life colleagues, including Drs. Robert Turner, Jeff Livingston, Hesham A. Hassaballa, Patricia Farrell, and Michael Hunter, whose commitment to public health information inspire. I am also grateful to the many sector professionals I engage at events such as CNS Summit, DHAI, HIMSS, HITLAB, HLTH, and ViVE—people who generously share perspectives and contribute invaluable recommendations. A shout-out to Christina Raish, our new associate editor at Medika Life, for her support in making this feature possible.

Special recognition goes to those who have appeared on past Medika Life lists and remain engaged in advancing health and well-being. Their commitment to meaningful change is commendable to individuals and the planet. These trailblazers continue to push boundaries, demonstrating an unwavering dedication to improving lives.

Since the dawn of civilization, humanity has been awed and challenged by technological progress—from the mastery of fire to artificial intelligence. Each era, from the Stone Age to the Iron Age and now the Information and Cognitive Age, has demanded careful consideration of how best to harness innovation. Today, as we navigate the era of “thinking” technologies, one truth remains unchanged: the power of human insight, courage, and empathy must guide progress.

—Gil Bashe, Editor-in-Chief, Medika.Life

Remember to Follow the Voices of Influence from our 2023 and 2024 Rosters:

Spot a broken link, typo, forgotten degree, or name misspelled?

Oops! Apologies! While care has been taken in compiling this list and adding social media links, things go wrong: a name is misspelled, a link is broken, or an incorrect social media handle is listed. Please do get in touch to address typos, amendments, or omissions by reaching gil.bashe@medika.life.

Thanks in advance and be healthy!

The post 20 People Who are Transforming the Health Ecosystem Through Practical Paths to Apply AI – 2025 Roster appeared first on Medika Life.

ViVE wisely returns to Nashville and marks the third time “Music City” hosts this conversational community.  The city can rightly declare itself the nation’s capital of health provider service innovation.  Home to more than 900 health-related companies, including giants like Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Meharry Medical College, and LifePoint Health, and investment firms such as Cressey & Company, Nashville is a beacon of digital health and provider transformation, and ViVE, making the “Health Hub” home base is an added proof point.  

Rich Scarfo, president of HLTH, spoke about ViVE 2025 and Nashville: “We’re excited that ViVE is back in Nashville because I think it’s sort of a testament not only to our city’s ability to host conferences of that scale but really our status as a healthcare hub and our growing concentration of healthcare technology companies.”

Nashville: The Nation’s Health Powerhouse

These statistics underscore the pivotal role of Nashville in the US health eco-sector:

• Economic Impact: The health industry contributes nearly $68 billion annually to the local economy, reflecting its significance as a primary economic driver.
• Employment: Healthcare is the region’s largest employer, supporting more than 332,000 jobs and 167,916 direct positions annually.
• Global Reach: Nashville-based health companies operate facilities across all 50 states and 20 countries, managing more than 500,000 healthcare beds worldwide, an estimated 34 percent of investor-owned hospitals in the US.
• Investment Magnet: In the past decade, more than $1.6 billion in venture capital has been invested in Nashville health-sector enterprises, fueling continuous innovation and growth.

The Genesis of Nashville Health Provider System Leadership

The city’s ascent as a national health-sector hub is rooted in its commitment to medical innovation and role-model leadership:

Founding of HCA Healthcare: In 1968, Dr. Thomas F. Frist Sr. and his son Dr. Thomas F. Frist Jr., both physicians and visionaries, together with businessman Jack C. Massey, co-founded the Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) in Nashville. This pioneering venture introduced a new model of hospital management, leading to the establishment of the world’s largest private operator of health facilities. Their philosophy has also fueled countless other enterprises in Nashville that support the national health system.

Early Medical Institutions: The city’s commitment to healthcare dates back to the early 20th century. In 1916, Dr. John Henry Hale and his wife, Millie E. Hale, established the Millie E. Hale Hospital, providing essential medical services to the Black-American community during segregation. The hospital closed in 1938 when Dr. John Henry Hale was appointed the chief of surgery at Meharry Medical College.

Educational Foundations: Institutions like Meharry Medical College have been instrumental in training Black American physicians and dentists since the 19th Century. While Nashville is its home, it contributes to the well-being of all Americans. It is built on the foundation of training exceptional physician leaders, advocating for continued health access, and tirelessly addressing health disparities.

National Health-Sector Leaders: The Frist family has impacted national health beyond creating HCA and spin-off entrepreneurial enterprises.  Frist Sr., son Willian (Bill) Frist, MD, trained as a cardiothoracic transplant surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital and Stanford University School of Medicine and later founded the Vanderbilt Transplant Center. From Nashville, he went on to champion the Medicare Modernization Act as a Senate Majority Leader.   

Today, Former Senator Frist is a Special Partner with Cressey & Company and Chairman of the firm’s Distinguished Executives Council, where he continues to influence Nashville’s reputation as a health innovation hub.

Nashville’s concentration of national health leaders includes Meharry Medical College President James E. K. Hildreth, MD, a global infectious disease expert. Dr. Hildreth is renowned for his HIV/AIDS research and leadership in public health. He was the first African American to become a full-tenured professor in basic research at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

Jeffrey R. Balser, MD, PhD, is among the significant Nashville leaders whose vision and voice steer US health. As the President and CEO of Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) and the Dean of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, VUMC has expanded its role as one of the nation’s top academic medical centers, excelling in clinical care, research, and education. Dr. Balser is recognized for his transformational influence on digital transformation and community health initiatives.

ViVE 2025: Innovation and Collaboration

ViVE comes to Nashville at a critical time in public health and health innovation.  The new Administration is going through a significant DOGE-driven cost-cutting initiative.  Billions are being slashed from the nation’s National Institutes of Health research budget – sometimes without fully considering what is at stake for the nation’s health and well-being.

There are sweeping suggestions that indirect institutional support costs are unneeded or that funds are being used inappropriately. Can this be determined as quickly as one month into the new White House administration? Research requires laboratories, equipment, and staff. Claiming that these institutions are fat cats fleecing the system and disregarding taxpayer dollars likely sends the wrong message that knowledge and innovation – the fabric of US global competitiveness – are overrated. Will this challenge to US health innovation be part of the ViVE conversational vibe?

Attending ViVE – Look for These Discussions

• Will science and medical advancements grind to a painful halt, and if research programs are cut, what is lost that translates into better access and care? 
• Can the US lose its global leadership in biomedicine?
• When high-paying science jobs are cut, economic strength is compromised in places like Nashville, which is among the region’s largest health employers; what trickle-down impact does it have on jobs?

In the shadow of research budget cuts, a system that spends $4 trillion on health and is sorely needed to address information fragmentation, ViVE and Nashville are at the right time and place. Building upon the success of previous years, ViVE 2025 is poised to be a transformative event that fosters collaboration and conversation among health leaders, investors, and digital health pioneers when needed most.

The post Nashville: Health Innovation Hits the Right Notes at ViVE 2025 appeared first on Medika Life.

Technological advances, including AI, are like fire—destructive and essential. Our mastery of fire has been vital to industrial and technological progress, from smelting iron to the steam engine to sterilizing food and medical instruments.  But, unchecked, fire is a destructive, societal danger. Similarly, AI can be a force for positive change, but it requires a positive perspective and responsible use to avoid potential dangers and greater socio-economic disparities.

By tapping into AI’s potential, we can create a future where human ingenuity and machine learning work together to improve the well-being of people and the planet. For instance, AI can assist in medical diagnoses, climate change predictions, and disaster response, among other areas. But to make that possible, we will need the courage and curiosity to see AI as humanity’s partner rather than an unwelcomed competitor – to leverage its strengths to complement our own.

Language matters, so we might be better off and more equipped to apply smart technologies by thinking about AI not merely as “artificial intelligence but, at the same time, “augmented implementation.”  

AI is not theoretical. It’s already transforming drug research and discovery and patient care delivery. From the research bench to the patient bedside, augmented implementation accelerates the discovery of new drugs and optimizes clinical trials, assigning the right patients to the right protocol. In hospitals, AI enhances resource allocation, accelerates clinical decision-making, personalizes patient care, automates administrative tasks such as billing and scheduling follow-up appointments, and tracks supply-chain necessities to avoid drug shortages. These implementation advancements result in better patient outcomes, reduced health costs, and a more effective care delivery system.

So, what is the problem? It seems evident that embracing these information technologies can make us smarter and faster – even fail smarter and faster. We don’t even need to know coding.  Large language models (LLMs) with the proper prompts can generate code based on a natural language description of the desired functionality.  

Perhaps the problem isn’t the technology; it’s humanity.  While most believe that humanity will triumph over tech, people’s fears translate into “pump the breaks” reflexes. But go slow quickly also ensures guardrails are in place for its appropriate use.  These transformative informational technologies are happening; now it’s a question of protecting people’s privacy and well-being, using these platforms ethically and responsibly, and keeping our eye on the prize – people’s healthy lives and the planet’s sustainable future.

20 AI/ChatGPT/LLM Champions to Follow

Once again, selecting only 20 thoughtful pathfinders for this listing was a challenge. There are thousands of people writing, speaking, and commenting about AI. It remains a hot topic and is always trendy. This list is not an exclusive roster of people speaking about or explaining AI possibilities. Those that do appear are key voices of influence at the frontlines of AI, GenAI, ChatGPT and LLMs and are boldly guiding the health sector and other related industries to adapt to these technologies ethically and practically. There is no turning back! For that reason, it is important to follow their social posts, speeches, and writings. They are consultants, physicians, policymakers, teachers and theorists. What they say and write should inform opinions and directions. Follow them and get smarter faster or fail slowly.

On this list, you will notice several differences from our last roster. First, we begin with including an LLM model we have been tracking and recommend following closely. Dave AI was the topic of a previous Medika Life article and is a role model for those interested in the potential of LLM technology to augment the patient-care team’s abilities and desire to help and heal. Dave AI offers patients WAZE-AI-like information support.

We have also included an organizational policy leader to close the list—Hal Wolf, President and CEO of HIMSS. We have interviewed Hal before, and his global community, nearing 40,000 members, comprises health leaders and government representatives who are setting the parameters for how these smart technologies can be used wisely.

Acknowledgments

Special appreciation to Medika Life colleagues such as Drs. Robert Turner, Patricia Farrell, and Michael Hunter, who inspire and the many others from numerous circles I meet at meetings CNS Summit, DHAI, HIMSS, HITLAB, HLTH, and ViVE and who share their thoughts and contribute recommendations. Many who appeared on the initial list of global voices keep in touch and share news of sector colleagues who are in the thick of the conversation. Special acknowledgment to people who appeared on previous Medika Life lists and continue along the path to improve the well-being of people and the planet. These exemplary people are dedicated to improving people’s health and we applaud their efforts to make a difference.

Since the dawn of time, people have been in awe and fear about advances made in times marked by technologies—from fire to AI: the Stone Age, Iron Age, and now, today’s Information and Sustainability Age. Humanity must decide how best to deploy these transformative “thinking” technologies. The emphasis on objective and expansive (courageous) “thinking”—the human touch—remains constant.

Gil Bashe, Editor–in-Chief, Medika.Life

AI and ChatGPT Global Voices of Influence

Here is our Medika Life roster of 20 people to follow in alphabetical order—all-important voices to track and learn from in the coming years. We have included links to the social media platforms and bios wherever available.

Follow these Voices of Influence—they are accessible leaders who write and speak on the future of how AI, ChatGPT, GenAI, and LLMs will be essential to health system transformation and the future of care delivery.

Dave AI

Dave is the world’s first LLM conversational AI oncology mentor for cancer patients, bringing a new level of support for cancer patients and their families and trained on billions of unique data points and anonymized real-world patient journey information accumulated during eight years on the Belong Life platform. Learn how LLMs make a difference for patients and the care team, “Meet Dave” and see the practical possibilities and potential of LLMs.

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Anima Anandkumar, PhD

Anima Anandkumar is a Bren Professor at Caltech. Her work developing novel artificial intelligence algorithms enables and accelerates scientific applications of AI, including scientific simulations, weather forecasting, autonomous drone flights, and drug design. Anandkumar is a fellow of the ACM, IEEE, Schmidt Science, Guggenheim and Alfred. P. Sloan Foundations. 

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Brian Anderson, MD

Dr. Brian Anderson is the Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of the Coalition for Health AI (CHAI). He leads a national coalition developing technical standards and best practices for MLOps, including governance, testing, evaluation, and monitoring in Health AI Assurance Labs. Dr. Anderson led the Informatics and Network Medicine Division at Athenahealth, where he launched a new approach to clinical decision support leveraging machine learning models.

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Pascal Bornet

Pascal Bornet is an award-winning expert, author, keynote speaker, influencer, and thought leader in artificial intelligence. He has received multiple technology and artificial intelligence awards. Various research and consultancy firms rank him as one of the top 10 global experts in AI and Automation, and he was awarded Global Top Voice in Tech in 2019. He is the author of the best-seller and first reference book on Intelligent Automation.

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Lex Fridman, PhD

Lex Fridman, PhD, is a Russian-American computer scientist, podcaster, and artificial intelligence research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on computer vision and autonomous vehicle systems, among other areas of specialty. Fridman also hosts the “Lex Fridman Podcast,” a popular podcast and YouTube series.

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Mo Gawdat, MBA

Mohammad “Mo” Gawdat is an Egyptian entrepreneur and writer. He is the former chief business officer for Google X and the author of the bestselling business books covering life and technology: Solve for Happy and Scary Smart – The Future of Artificial Intelligence and How You Can Save Our World. His premise is critical – “Humans design the algorithms that define the way that AI works, and the processed information reflects an imperfect world.”

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Aneesh Chopra, MPP

Aneesh Chopra is the Chief Strategy Officer of Arcadia, a health data platform that acquired CareJourney, the company he co-founded in 2014. Aneesh served as the first United States White House Chief Technology Officer during the Obama Administration and authored “Innovative State: How New Technologies Can Transform Government.‘ When it comes to policy and smart tech applications, he’s at the forefront of the conversation.

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Eric Horvitz, MD

Microsoft’s Chief Scientific Officer and an early AI champion for health and medicine going back many years, Dr. Eric Horvitz is among the founders and funders of Stanford’s 100-year longitudinal study of the impact of AI on Society. Dr. Horvitz is known for his contributions to AI theory and practice, with a focus on principles and applications of AI amidst the complexities of the open world.

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Andrej Karpathy, PhD

Andrej Karpathy was the senior director of AI at Tesla, where he led its computer vision team in the development of the Tesla Autopilot. He championed its neural network training, the science of “making it work, ” and deployment. His PhD focused on convolutional/recurrent neural networks and their applications in computer vision, natural language processing, and their intersection – his adviser was Fei-Fei Li at the Stanford Vision Lab, who also makes this list of 20 people to follow. He also did a stint at OpenAI.

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Tom Lawry

Tom Lawry is a leading AI transformation advisor to health and medical leaders globally, a top keynote speaker, and best-selling author of Hacking Healthcare – How AI and the Intelligent Health Revolution Will Reboot an Ailing System. Now the managing director of Second Century Tech, he is a former Microsoft leader who served as National Director for AI for Health and Life Sciences, Director of Worldwide Health, and Director of Organizational Performance for the company’s first health incubator. Prior to Microsoft, he was Senior Director at GE Healthcare, the founder of two venture-backed healthcare software companies, and a health-system executive.

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Fei-Fei Li, PhD

Dr. Fei-Fei Li is the inaugural Sequoia Professor in the Computer Science Department at Stanford University and Co-Director of Stanford’s Human-Centered AI Institute. She was the Director of Stanford’s AI Lab from 2013 to 2018 and mentored others appearing on this Medika Life Top 20 list of AI voices to follow.

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Berci Mesko, MD, PhD

Bertalan Meskó, PhD, is known as “The Medical Futurist” and the Director of The Medical Futurist Institute. He analyzes how science fiction technologies can become a reality in medicine and healthcare. Dr. Mesko’s writings are must-reads—he provides incredible practical knowledge on how AI will transform the health sector. He holds a PhD in genomics and is an Amazon Top 100 author. His book, “The Future of Medicine,” outlines his journey as a medical futurist.

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Allie K. Miller

Allie K. Miller was the Global Head of Machine Learning Business Development for Startups and Venture Capital at Amazon (AWS), advising the world’s top machine learning researchers, founders, and investors. She was the youngest-ever woman to build an artificial intelligence product at IBM, spearheading product development across computer vision, conversation, data, and regulation for thousands of companies. Allie continues to explore how this technology will impact workflow.

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Andrew Ng, PhD

Dr. Andrew Ng is a globally recognized leader in AI. He is the Founder of DeepLearning.AI, the Founder and CEO of Landing AI, the General Partner at AI Fund, the Chairman and Co-Founder of Coursera, and an Adjunct Professor at Stanford University’s Computer Science Department.

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John Nosta

John Nosta is a cutting-edge thinker and speaker in the world of technology, science, medicine, and innovation. He is globally recognized among the foremost voices constantly pushing the envelope on how AI and ChatGPT will transform health settings and workflow. Nosta is a nonstop power thinker (and contrarian) and has more than 500 articles published on innovation topics. His writings on Psychology Today chronicle “The Cognitive Age.” John is someone who challenges the status quo. As a creative thinker; he’s also been the spark behind several multi-billion health products improving and saving lives.

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Tam C. Nguyen

Tam Nguyen holds multiple appointments, including Associate Professor at Melbourne Medical School and Deputy Director of Research at St. Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne. He has more than 20 years of experience in clinical trials, health and medical research, and research management, including tertiary teaching hospitals, medical research institutes, and universities across Australia. He is applying smart technologies to learn and engage faster. He is the co-editor of the recent book Artificial Intelligence in Medicine (Springer).

• LinkedIn

Ziad Obermeyer, MD

Ziad Obermeyer, MD, is the Blue Cross of California Distinguished Associate Professor of Health Policy and Management at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health, researching the intersection of machine learning, medicine and health policy. Before his full-time career in emergency medicine, he consulted pharmaceutical and global health clients at McKinsey & Co. in New Jersey, Geneva, and Tokyo.

• X

Brian Roemmele

Brian Roemmele is an author, scientist, researcher, analyst, connector, thinker, and doer. Brian became an early adopter of AI and neural networks and pioneered Prompt Engineering technologies and techniques to understand and extract information from AI platforms. He’s also a bit of a pop icon, and his works range from smart tech to how to apply Pokémon for customer acquisition.

• LinkedIn
• Medium
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Stela Solar

Stela Solar is the Inaugural Director of Australia’s National AI Centre, hosted by CSIRO. The Centre’s mission is to accelerate positive AI adoption and innovation that benefits businesses and the community. Currently, Stela also serves as Co-chair of the Commonwealth AI Consortium.

• LinkedIn
• X

Harold (Hal) Wolf III

Harold (Hal) Wolf is the president and CEO of HIMSS, a global advisor and thought leader supporting the transformation of the health ecosystem through information and technology. If health-related smart technologies such as AI, ChatGPT, GenAI, and LLMs have a central home to discuss policies and implementation, it is HIMSS. Hal shepherds the world’s health information expert community, and his staff advances the science and policy championing implementation throughout the health ecosystem. Wolf and HIMSS are where theory meets action.

• LinkedIn
• X

Spot a broken link, typo, forgotten degree, or name misspelled?

Oops! Apologies! While care has been taken in compiling this list and adding social media links, things go wrong: a name is misspelled, a link is broken, or an incorrect social media handle is listed. Please do get in touch to address typos, amendments, or omissions by reaching gil.bashe@medika.life.

Thanks in advance and be healthy!

The post As AI and LLMs Supercharge Digital Health Possibilities – Here Are Medika’s Top 20 ’24 Influential Voices to Follow appeared first on Medika Life.

But what would I do if I could only attend one and not the other?  Sorry, you’ll have to crystal ball that answer. 

I’m dedicated to health innovation that can improve people’s health.  I recognize that the fragmented health ecosystem creates a self-inflicted system-wide chaos that diminishes the provider’s ability to help people seeking healing. It results in patients having to re-tell their medical narrative again and again to each health provider they engage.  It leads people needing preventive or follow-on care to fall through system cracks.  It means that people most at risk due to enduring and unjust health disparities are left to wither.  That injustice pains and angers me.

The Business of Industry Conferences

Who doesn’t have FOMO – the fear of missing out – as we see the explosion of selfies on LinkedIn, X, Thread and Instagram of industry friends and colleagues and realize we’re not among Nick Adkins’ #Pinksocks or Swaay Health group photo glam? It’s like being invited to a hot party, not showing up, only to hear later that it was “incredible” and how we missed out. That’s life. Even Bruce Wayne and Batman can’t be in the same place simultaneously.

Industry gatherings – conferences, summits, and meet-ups – are revenue-generating businesses, from selling lanyards to exhibit costs to sponsoring satellite sessions.  To accommodate attendees, the companies that organize these mammoth events need to drive efficiency to reach profitability.  They need to inform and entertain. Don’t begrudge them the right to make money – sustainable gatherings lead to enduring communities.  We all benefit from the consistent, collaborative exchange.

Logistics are Often Planned Years in Advance

These meetings are geo-positioned corresponding to audience size, and space is secured many years and years in advance.  HIMSS is a 36,000-person gathering.  In the United States, only three venues can likely accommodate that meeting size: Orlando, Chicago, and Las Vegas.  ViVE has almost 8,000 attendees, more location flexibility, and wisely, it is heading back to Nashville – the nation’s capital of health provider services.  As businesses, their timing depends on the competitive strategy to attract sponsors, speakers and attendees. Retaining attendees annually creates a powerful magnet to draw in others – friends of friends.

ViVE, only three years old, is a hit. The blend of major sessions held within the exhibit hall, evening social events, and size speak to people’s need to connect with thought leaders and find a place within the CHIME/ViVE community.

Competitive or Different Missions 

Our mindsets are too often structured to pit one against the other.  Don’t go there. These two health industry gatherings are very different in rationale, structure, duration of time, and desired outcome. I don’t favor one over the other and schedule for both.  Imagine if we started to choose among ATA, HIMSS, SXSW, and ViVE.  

It’s an interesting polemic – especially if you only have the budget to attend one or two of these gatherings.  If budget and time demand, I recommend picking two to three and investing your time in cementing a network of advisors, mentors, and community.  [NOTE: I tend to center my meeting schedule around CNS Summit, HIMSS, HITLAB, HLTH, and ViVE – though I attend others such as the Digital Health & AI Innovation Summit.]

Keep in mind the top speakers rotate among all these gatherings. It is their responsibility as institutional thought leaders to share their wisdom.  So, we must listen to and learn from leaders such as Rasu Shrestha, MD, Walter Greenleaf, Ph.D., or Tom Lawry, who are likely to attend or speak at many of these gatherings.  However, the attendees and the call-to-action required determine their message flow and should set your scheduling priorities.  

ViVE draws me in due to its intimacy and community.  Like CNS Summit (Collaborate for Novel Solutions), ViVe is “right-sized” to rub shoulders with key colleagues, move swiftly from session to session, and have an exhibit floor that doesn’t require cutting through the jungle.  It is a magnet for like-minded digital health grass-tops leaders who want to check in and connect about how the system can better align workflow processes.  Clear process results in better (health-system) performance.

Digital health in itself is misunderstood.  Apps and wearables are the tip of the information iceberg.  It is about digitizing the health system overall and connecting the provider system to the consumer – seamless care.  That remains an enormous undertaking for an industry sector that still clings to the old ways, like a three-year-old to a beloved teddy bear, despite being told to abandon its treasured fax machines.  Digital encompasses how we will deploy AI, ChatGPT and GenAI to improve workflow.  It demands that we position health equity as the core priority of these efforts.  It considers how we can connect consumers to their providers confidently and well within HIPAA parameters.

I like ViVE for many reasons – mainly because I can enter into conversations with people seasoned enough to influence corporate strategy or at least inspire each other and are eager to learn and hear from others who care equally about the patient experience.  I think ViVE enables attendees to revisit critical elements of the health system that determine business success. Don’t ever underestimate reflection. The CHIME/ViVE connection offers added value and brings a strong community mindset.

HIMSS is the Davos of Health Information

HIMSS is a 70-year-old society with 125,000 members worldwide.  Since 1962, it has held an annual global meeting, part of a bigger effort to serve patients by democratizing information with best-practice standards.

“HIMSS is where big ideas are discussed, innovation is created, and professionals make the connections that will change the future of healthcare. From the engineers and developers building new solutions to the technology leaders guiding health systems through major challenges like the ethical use of AI and cybersecurity, HIMSS conferences are a meeting of the minds that will create tomorrow’s health,” said Christine Buck, HIMSS chief marketing officer.

Yet, the HIMSS conference is much more than scale – 36,000 people focused on health information. It’s about where these attendees come from and their determination to shape health access and delivery standards.  They hail from 70 countries, and their titles range from Health Minister of Korea to call center manager from South Dakota.  They’re wearing US Armed Forces non-commissioned officer to bird colonel military ranks or t-shirts and jeans from the top dogs at global giants like CISCO, EPIC and Microsoft to health tech start-ups.

“My favorite part? The authentic, genuine, and casual nature of interactions with other humans in the health industry who are navigating the mutual hallways of mixed indifference and passion — the marketing formality gives way to our better nature of connection and collaboration,” says Matt Cybulsky Ph.D., host of edgy The Digital Health Roundtable.

HIMSS is a moving city, and expect to cover your step goal during its five-day 8 AM to 6 PM schedule, including hundreds of sessions curated, tracked, and peer-reviewed by HIMSS-member volunteers.  Along with a bolus of professional development, there are key NGO moments where government leaders announce new international health information management agreements. HIMSS is a society that encompasses best-practice solutions, professional development and public policy.

For example, during the meeting, Hal Wolf, president and CEO of HIMSS, and Geun Chan Lim, CEO of Korea Health Information Service, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) cementing a three-year relationship between HIMSS and the Republic of Korea for Electronic Medical Record adoption in hospitals throughout the country.  HIMSS transcends the definition of a meeting; it’s a professional society that works across industries and countries.

“HIMSS conferences and events provide our membership – and all our attendees – with unrivaled access to best-in-class thought leaders, educational programming, and groundbreaking speakers. HIMSS24 helped drive awareness of pressing health equity issues and social determinants of health while also creating a space for everyone from CIOs to nurses to build connections and collaborate,” adds Buck.

Apples or Oranges?

The idiom comparing two dissimilar objects was originally apples to oysters.  Things change over time. Originator John Ray penned his thoughts in a collection of sayings in 1670.  It wasn’t a competition between two fruits but a reminder that they’re different, so don’t compare. 

I was at ViVE.  I was at HIMSS. I value lessons learned – albeit different – from both.  Apples and oranges.  I like them both.

The post ViVE and HIMSS – Apples to Apples? Apples to Oranges? appeared first on Medika Life.

No Wild Expectations – A Will to Try Something New

The collaboration between Amazon Medical Services and the 220-site One Medical may signal a near-term business model shift in patient care. In a brief conversation with the companies’ four-person strong chief medical officer team at HLTH 2023, it was evident that senior staff at both companies have been rolling up their sleeves to think through how to leverage their combined strengths to improve people’s access to care. It’s happening.  There were no promises or predictions of what’s ahead.  Yet, the combined leadership team was frank in acknowledging the possibility of making a difference in people’s health.

Amazon and One Medical objective is to team up and make it easier for customers to access its wide range of primary care and pharmacy services. One Medical offers in-office and 24/7 virtual care services, on-site labs, and programs for preventive care, chronic care management, common illnesses, and mental health concerns. Through its app, members can access on-demand video chats, receive “Treat Me Now” assessments for common health concerns, book same- or next-day appointments, direct messages with providers, renew prescriptions, and access their care plans.

Amazon has invested in varied clinical, pharmacy and telehealth services.  Amazon Pharmacy is a digital-first, full-service pharmacy on Amazon.com—essentially, a pharmacy in your pocket. As expected, the warehouse giant carries most prescription medications with the ability to deliver right to customers’ doors – even providing free delivery for Prime. Their pharmacy team is available 24/7 to answer patient questions.

Composite Wisdom with IQ + TQ = EQ Health Offer

Combining Amazon technological and supply chain savvy with the One Medical patient-centric approach, the healthcare industry could witness a business model transformation prioritizing personalized, efficient, and proactive healthcare services. While industry leaders often talk about “patient centricity,” the Amazon Medical Services lead exec made it clear that is where they are heading – a  healthier and better patient experience.

In an exclusive comment to Medika Life, Neil Lindsay, senior vice president Amazon Health Services, said:

“Much of the current health care experience is simply too hard. At Amazon, we believe we can make health care easier by relentlessly applying customer obsession to experiences that deliver  choice, convenience, and continuity of care for people in their pursuit to get and stay healthy.”

Lindsay was integral in building the Amazon consumer brand, shaping branding for the Kindle e-reader and Fire and Echo devices.  He knows the strengths of Amazon consumer marketing and technology strengths.

Leading economist and authority on integrated delivery systems, Dr. Alain C. Enthoven wrote more than a decade ago that the “healthcare system is fragmented, with a misalignment of incentives, or lack of coordination, that spawns inefficient allocation of resources. Fragmentation adversely impacts quality, cost, and outcomes.”

Not much has changed since Dr. Enthoven penned those words; fragmentation complicates every aspect of care. Amazon and One Medical executives know that and are looking at how their combined strengths and readiness to invest in building a better medical mouse trap will make their vision valuable to payers, patients, product innovators and providers.  The two companies sit at the nexus of the ecosystem.

Among the possible advantages lies in integrating Amazon’s innovative technologies into One Medical’s patient-care model, such as augmented intelligence, data analytics, and home automation. Patients could benefit from personalized health recommendations from their medical history, lifestyle, and physician’s advice.

“We believe technology, threaded across health care, can improve the entire experience—reducing the time customers spend seeking care, saving customers money, and supporting clinicians so they can focus on patient care,” adds Amazon’s Lindsey.

Amazon’s voice assistant devices like Alexa could finally find a practical purpose and accelerate communication between patients and their health providers, enabling remote consultations and medication reminders. Amazon supply chain expertise has yet to be fully realized, tapping into the consumer giant’s logistics network potential to streamline the medication and medical supply delivery, ensuring timely access for patients, especially those with chronic conditions. The ability to handle prescription refills and follow-up on diabetes monitoring and therapeutic supplies can reduce urgent hospitalizations.

It’s long been suggested that “the patient is at the center of care.”  That is a distant dream.  Consumerism is at the center – prescribing products that patients may never fill at pharmacies.  No doubt, Amazon knows consumer patterns and markets.  When the partnership moves into high gear, it might enhance the overall patient experience through convenient and comprehensive healthcare services.

“Improving how primary care providers can access the information they need to understand a patient’s full health picture while reducing administrative burden has long been a priority for One Medical. For example, One Medical has already forged relationships with leading health systems across the country to digitally integrate to provide for the seamless and secure flow of information between primary care and specialty care settings to improve the experience of both patients and providers,” shared primary care physician Andrew Diamond, MD, Ph.D., chief medical officer, One Medical.

Making the Consumer Matter

The One Medical patient-focused approach, characterized by longer appointment times and same-day scheduling, could be augmented by Amazon user-friendly interfaces so that patients could easily manage appointments, access test results, and communicate with health providers. A business model centered around patient design and technologies could reduce administrative hassles and waiting times, leading to higher patient satisfaction and better health outcomes. That in itself would be a high bar set for others to follow.

Amazon is savvy about integrating technology into its business platforms. If One Medical can find its way to advance proactive healthcare management through wearable devices and remote monitoring tools, patients could actively track health metrics and invite health professionals to around shifts in their well-being. An approach to real-time data exchange would be a shift from sick care to preventive care, potentially reducing patterns around chronic disease management and unplanned hospitalizations. This might well be the (healthy) version of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups when it comes to personalized care combined with a tech-based touch.

HLTH Showed its Sector Commitment

“As part of Amazon, we look forward to continuing to innovate on using tech to improve the organization, filtering, and presentation of patient health information for care teams while prioritizing security and privacy. We’d love to reach the point where providers can see a comprehensive summary of a patient’s health history as easily as Amazon customers can see their past purchases on Prime,” added One Medical’s Diamond.

The United States health ecosystem is a modern-day version of the mythological Labyrinth. Like the Cretan maze, it is almost impossible for patients and providers to navigate. Still, Amazon Health Services, now with One Medical as a big piece of its supply chain and tech puzzle, certainly has the resources, patience and self-interest to explore and try to get it right. HLTH was the perfect forum for Amazon Health Services to let the sector know it’s in the game!

While success will take time and effort, expect this e-commerce giant and its significant investment in One Medical to continue to press forward learning until it gets it right.

Amazon Introduces New Health Benefit for Prime Members

Read their news release here: https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/retail/one-medical-amazon-prime-benefit

The post The Amazon and One Medical Combo May Not Disrupt the Health System Now – They Will Champion its Transformation appeared first on Medika Life.

The sessions (and meals) – positioned around the exhibit floor were meaty – and welcomely unscripted, offering plenty of time for real-world reflections on the state of health delivery.  Afterward, speakers would mingle on the exhibit floor to answer questions and continue the conversation.  Whether an intended benefit for attendees or not, the meeting structure was a great hit and strengthened ViVE as a go-to community where people can interact and discuss challenges and possibilities. 

The number of attendees was right-sized, where meeting and exchanging thoughts is a priority and at a time when the economy and health system are under a magnifying glass.  The system is broken. That’s a collective given. However, where we go next remains a mystery.

Some 6,000 people were in Nashville for this four-day CHIME intensive, and the schedule of events – official and unofficial – offered plenty of opportunity – need – to catch up.  There were specialty Start-Up, Interop Now, and Cybersecurity Pavilions for the ever-curious and Speed-Connection Forum for deal makers and plenty of action on the exhibit floor.

Some of the add-on gatherings included: the Start-Up Health Transformers Session, UC Davis and FINN Partners Summit on Innovation and the timed release of the Galen Growth Digital Health Report on US Health Provider Systems, the Nashville Entrepreneur Center Evening Meet-Up, and the always fun and welcome Pinksocks Get-Together at the famed Springwater.

MAGIC AROUND THE EXHIBIT HALL

The everyday magic centered around the exhibit hall – home to the mainstage presentations, provided meals, pop-up post-5 PM receptions, and varied entrepreneurial hubs.  That offered plenty of opportunities to connect with innovators who reserved exhibitor space. 

The themed location of exhibits also supported a deep dive for conversation with people looking to improve the flow of information within health systems, better utilize information for preventive care or harness the power of smart tech and wearables.  Most importantly, there was a general acknowledgment from the speakers and vibe that our health system doesn’t lack innovation – it is sorely in need of structural healing. 

ADDRESSING HEALTH ECOSYSTEM PAIN POINTS

In this way, the range of companies appearing on and wandering the exhibit floor made the meeting well worth the time investment.  Many of the companies present at ViVE are worth following (those here are in alphabetical order).  These are among the enterprises that are addressing pain points of the health ecosystem and rallying to pressing patient needs:

• AssureCare, a population-health company connecting payers, providers, pharmacies, and government-sponsored healthcare programs across the US, is taking the long-awaited patient-centric approach using technology to generate better insight through health information. This company is working to converge pharmacists’ and pharmacy data into a bigger population health picture. AssureCare hopes to break down silos in healthcare data sharing from specialty pharmacies to national chains.

• Babson Diagnostics is doing what over-promoted Theranos failed to deliver. Babson is reimagining the diagnostic blood testing experience making routine blood testing less invasive, more convenient, affordable, and empowering people to take charge of their health. The holy grail of patient testing has been to bring it into the retail pharmacy setting using technologies that require one-tenth the sample blood volume of traditional venipuncture methods without sacrificing quality, accuracy, or menu breadth and pushing these diagnostic tests into a well-known setting where convenience corresponds to patients’ upcoming physician visit is in itself a big step in the right direction.

• CereCore® is elevating hospital operational effectiveness.  Its systems are already based in top-performing US hospitals, enabling this health IT enterprise to improve processes, data security and clinical applications. Hospitals remain the most expensive points of care within the US health ecosystem.  Generating insights and learning to mine and apply data earlier in the patient engagement process is key to improving care and reducing costs.  Hospitals cannot go it alone; tapping into a well-proven system is a smart starting point.

• CPSI has combined several companies under its corporate umbrella focusing on health solutions and services for community hospitals, clinics, and post-acute care facilities. These are the health systems that are known to struggle as more and more systems look to align with other, larger entities. The path to system-wide health has been to ensure a better patient care experience, improve financial operations and offer community hospitals and affiliated clinics EHR solutions that can accurately code assignments for reimbursement. While many companies in the field are looking to “innovate,” sometimes the greatest care advances are in strengthening the care system’s capacity to be economically viable.

• eVideon uses smart-room technology to streamline clinical workflow and transform the patient room into an immersive environment. This company enables hospitals and long-term care clinics to integrate EMR and other installed technologies to display real-time information through the in-room Smart TV, digital whiteboard, digital door sign and bedside tablet. The platform is streamlining clinical workflow and reducing the technology burden on clinicians. This system even features in-room surveys and video chat so the patient has a greater real-time voice.

• Harmony Healthcare IT is the data management firm that moves and stores health organizations’ patient, employee and business records. Among the category of veteran players, it continues to pioneer health IT tech in many ways.  Founded in 2006, this company works with more than 550 clinical, financial, and administrative software in the US and Canada.

• HCTec provides services to more than 1,500 academic medical centers, health systems, community hospitals, critical access hospitals, and healthcare provider organizations. While patients are supposedly the health system’s priority, it’s vital to remember that if the care locations are poorly staffed and lack infrastructure, their mission will be severely hampered.  At a time when hospital systems are integrating, getting their staff and EMR systems connected is a mega – even life-saving priority. 

• Interwell Health is a kidney-care management platform in a field that has become one of the most pressing health sector needs.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 37 million Americans are affected by kidney disease, and most are unaware of their progressive condition.  With kidney disease reaching near-epidemic levels, how physicians care for patients and help them navigate a fragmented reimbursement environment is a monumental task. The cascade of care – from diagnosis to dialysis – requires access to practice knowledge and reimbursement.  Learning about an illness is the start of a process and getting the care essential to keeping people on track to prevent additional medical risks is where medical outcomes are judged.

• ixlayer is partnering with payors, retail pharmacies, direct-to-consumer brands, biopharma, health systems, and telehealth providers to create quick and easy diagnostics for common conditions where reducing cost is possible – before an illness is much more severe. This platform “white labels” its tests for major customers with direct patient access and enables numerous testing options and seamless integration with its customers and lab partners. Like many innovation leaders, its goal is to shift engagement to earlier stages when a disease presents and its management has far more cost-effective treatment options.

• Juli was front-and-center at the American Telemedicine Association meeting in San Antonio earlier this year. The consumer-direct platform – available through a convenient app – supports people with chronic health conditions such as asthma, migraine, depression, bipolar disorder, hypertension or chronic pain through several evidence-based approaches. This consumer health empowerment tool integrates information that impacts health and awareness by tracking health responses to environmental data (e.g., weather, air pollution, pollen) through smartphones or popular wearables and aligning health.  The information can help shift the sick-care reactive system to a self-care preventive care approach.

• Lifepoint Health, the Nashville-headquartered provider, has, since its founding, become a national health system serving patients, clinicians, communities and partner organizations across the healthcare continuum.  A spin-out of the pioneering HCA, this system now includes more than 50,000 employees, 62 community hospital campuses, 50 rehabilitation and behavioral health hospitals – plus 200 additional care sites, including managed acute rehabilitation units, outpatient centers, and post-acute care facilities.  It was no surprise that Lifepoint Health was present at ViVE.

• Loyal is among the first companies to offer end-to-end digital and AI-powered solutions tracking the patient journey; its software solutions for improved care utilization can be found within the nation’s top health systems and hospitals. From selecting a provider best suited for treating a specific condition to closing a feedback loop on patient experience, they have demonstrated that feedback is desired and that people who engage their health networks tend to show greater loyalty.

• Sheba Medical Center was part of the expert conversation at ViVE – a surprise for some as Newsweek World’s Best Hospitals five years straight – this medical system sent representatives from more than 6,000 miles away to share insights on how it maximizes technology across its care systems.  Its acute-care hospital, rehabilitation center, research and training programs, medical simulation center, center for disaster response, and the ARC Innovation Center for redesigning global healthcare all tap into the full range of digital and health technologies. At ViVE, its head of innovation spoke about the importance of looking for innovation from within its walls and the benefits of sharing best practices around the globe.  

• Teladoc Health appears to be about accessing care from many locations, but the pandemic demonstrated that the platform could provide much more to improve people’s well-being.  Now, telemedicine has become a given and has shown its value in patient adherence, management of chronic conditions such as diabetes, checking in with people enrolled in clinical trials and dealing with senior care needs.  In post-acute hospital care, telemedicine can support the outpatient process and keep people healing at home.  This global leader in delivering whole-person virtual care – including primary care, mental health, chronic condition management, and more – is the category must-watch innovator.

WHAT’S UP NEXT FOR HEALTH INNOVATORS?

The success of ViVE had many looking forward to April and HIMSS in Chicago, and CNS Summit in Boston this November.  For health innovators planning for 2024, mark your calendars for ViVE February 25 – 28, 2024, in Los Angeles.  If you have already marked your calendar for those dates, it’s a sure sign that #ViVE2023 was a hit!

The post ViVE Was an Out-of-the-Box Hit Among the Digital Health and Health Innovation Tribe appeared first on Medika Life.

The report will be available at HLTH and is available for download via this link.  This is the first in a series of reports to be released every quarter, the second of which will be released in January 2023 at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco, CA.

Experts from the Galen Growth data and research team have been working side-by-side with the FINN Global Digital Health Group to chart the complex and often fragmented digital health landscape, emerging market trends, areas of growth, and innovation. This novel report goes beyond market ups and downs. It defines what therapeutic sectors are high priority, what digital health geographic hubs benefit most from the capital infusion, and at what stages of development equity funds prefer to engage and invest.

Report Provides Category Leaders with a Roadmap

“This first-of-its-kind ‘Global State of Digital Health Report’ does more than examine monies invested in the broad digital health category,” said Julien de Salaberry, CEO and co-founder of Galen Growth. “It offers the corporate, accelerator, and private equity decision-maker a roadmap for how multiple data points translate into market shifts and how to pinpoint trends that provide predictive insight and best practices in investment strategies, across regions, digital health categories, therapeutic areas, and technologies.”

While 2022 digital health venture capital has not matched the skyrocketing value of 2021, the closer look provided in the report reveals that capital infusion in 2022 exceeds 2021 values for the Early Stage and Series A funding rounds. It increasingly lagged in 2021 values across later funding stages.

HIGHLIGHTS:

• Early-stage venture funding remains strong and promises a healthy innovation pipeline, while the IPO market has stagnated, with 6 IPOs and 4 SPACs globally. M&A activity has maintained strength, with a dip of only 7% YOY.
• With only 27% of ventures having raised venture capital in the last 18 months, the remainder of the ecosystem could be facing a bumpy ride, pushing their C-Suite and investors to cut costs, focus on profitability before growth or rethink business models.
• A global analysis of 12,000+ digital health ventures reveals that just 17% have significant clinical strength. Though some therapeutic areas saw funding shrink by more than 30%, oncology maintained the position of the most invested therapeutic areas in Q1 – Q3 2022, and mental health held the second position.
• Among the top 5 most invested therapeutic areas, gastroenterology was the only one that saw an increase in funding (2%) from 2021 to 2022.
• More than 60% of the total venture funding value comes from North America. But on a regional level, the Middle East (Israel and the United Arab Emirates) set record highs of venture funding in Q2 2022. Europe maintains momentum throughout 2022 and has not experienced the quarter-on-quarter decrease in venture funding seen in North America. Regions with increased investment correspond to established regulatory, public health and payer systems that prioritize digital health use.

Not Simple “News Grabbers”

“In the ‘Global State of Digital Health Report, data are shared not as simple ‘news grabbers’ but as a whole dynamic picture of an evolving digital innovation sector that continues to offer transformative power to find effective detours around health ecosystem fragmentation and use the information to improve care and reduce overall system costs,” said Ritesh Patel, Senior Partner and Global Digital Health Lead at FINN Partners. “This first report lays the groundwork for future releases recapping the year-to-date in digital health and focus on global investment insights, categories, and therapeutics to accelerate long-needed change.”

“Suddenly cut off from ‘in-the-room’ contact, digital was the connective tissue between physicians with their ailing patients and pharma brands with consumers and payers,” notes Gil Bashe, Chair Global Health and Purpose, FINN Partners. “But enthusiasm – the rush to enter the digital health category – cannot triumph over strategy and long-term business planning. This report will help C-Suite decision-makers determine where the health innovation is headed and why.  Any road will do when you don’t know where you want to go.  But the system needs to know where it’s headed when it comes to sustaining people’s health.”

About Galen Growth

Founded in 2016, Galen Growth partners leading companies for their digital health market intel and insights needs. With comprehensive data, empirical research and expert insights, the company help global organizations reach the optimal solution for their business transformation, discover the latest trends in digital health and strengthen their innovative know-how. HealthTech Alpha, Galen Growth’s proprietary platform, is the world’s leading digital health private market platform, powering how leaders and corporations make digital health decisions.

Headquartered in Singapore, Galen Growth has offices in Basel (Switzerland), Boston and Chicago.

Please find us at galengrowth.com and follow us on Twitter at @galengrowth and https://www.linkedin.com/company/galen-growth/.

About FINN Partners, Inc.  

Founded in 2011 on the core principles of innovation and collaborative partnership, FINN Partners has grown from about $24 million in fees to almost $170 million in fees over ten years, becoming one of the fastest growing independent public relations agencies in the world. The full-service marketing and communications company’s record setting pace is a result of organic growth and integrating new companies and new people into the FINN world through a common philosophy. With more than 1,400 professionals across 33 offices, FINN provides clients with global access and capabilities in the Americas, Europe and Asia. FINN Partners clients are also supported through longstanding partner agencies and its membership in the PROI network of leading agencies around the world. Headquartered in New York, FINN has offices in: Atlanta, Bangalore, Beijing, Boston, Chicago, Delhi, Denver, Detroit, Dublin, Fort Lauderdale, Frankfurt, Guam, Hong Kong, Honolulu, Jerusalem, Kuala Lumpur, London, Los Angeles, Manila, Mumbai, Munich, Nashville, Orange County, Paris, Portland, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Shanghai, Singapore, Vancouver and Washington D.C. Find us at finnpartners.com and follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @finnpartners.

Contacts:

FOR GALEN GROWTH:

Lawrence Wurtz, General Manager, North America
lawrence.wurtz@galengrowth.com  or info-usa@galengrowth

FOR FINN PARTNERS:

Celia Jones, Global Director, Marketing Communications
celia.jones@finnpartners.com 
+1 773 885 9781

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