The 10 Most Innovative Digital Healthcare Solution Providers 2018

www.insightscare.com July 2018

The

10 Most

I N N O VA T I V E

DIGITAL HEALTHCARE SOLUTION PROVIDERS 2018 Grace Castillo-Soyao

Founder & CEO

Chrissa McFarlane CEO & Founder Patientory, Inc.

SELF CARE

CATALYSTS

Transforming Healthcare through Real World Evidence and Experience

Helping all people live healthy lives

www.bd.com

Healthcare

www.usa.philips.com

From the

Editor D Convergence of Life Sciences and Technology can Revolutionize the Healthcare Vertical

igital healthcare is the buzz word these days. Technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Big Data Analytics, and more have the potential to revolutionize the medical sector. These innovative digital technologies can play a pivotal role in curbing long term healthcare costs, and enabling better health outcomes. Digital healthcare can empower both the patient and healthcare provider with real-time data and assist in far better healthcare outcomes. Mobile phones, smartphone sensors, wearable gadgets, cloud storage, and big data can assist healthcare providers and patients in the early detection of various chronic diseases. With the efficient and precise use of these technologies, behavioral changes could be detected in early stages which prevent, eliminate or reduce the overall healthcare cost.

Patients will also get empowered with the usage of these technologies. Patients will be able to compare the service, quality and affordability of different healthcare providers and thus assist in making an informed decision based on value, which will ultimately improve productivity. Telemedicine and remote monitoring are the other facets of digital healthcare which can improve patient’s health without even directly coming to the hospital premises and ensures the most efficient level of care through long distance.

These benefits are driving the digital healthcare innovations towards the positive trajectory. In 2016, the global digital health market was valued at $179.6 billion and is expected to touch $536.6 billion by the end of 2025. The projected CAGR of 13.4% from 2017 to 2025 itself indicate the growing interest of technology adoption in healthcare. But there are certain areas that need an overhaul. The digital environment comes with an array of implications, and evolving will require a bit of a balancing act. For example, products will need to be “patient differentiated” while delivering both value and best-in-class quality, and solutions.

Digital healthcare solutions will need to cover a broader part of the patient pathway supporting the full range of care. Apps and devices must be secure yet provide seamless interoperability, and the value proposition must be transparent while driving improvements across the value chain. Better usage of big data analytics and machine learning algorithms to draw much more effective insights without any error is the other area which must be looked into on priority basis.

Working on these vital aspects will truly transform healthcare vertical and will provide the optimum level of benefits to all the stakeholders.

Ashwini Deshmukh

Editor-in-Chief Pooja M. Bansal Managing Editor Ashwini Deshmukh Executive Editor Shane Gomez Visualiser David King Art & Design Director Amol Kamble Associate Designer Rahul Kavanekar Co-designer Vanshika, Shweta Art & Picture Editor Paul Belin Jayant Khanna Senior Sales Manager Amy Jones Business Development Manager Mark Williams Sales Executives Kelli Thomas, Bill Thompson, John Smith Technical Head Swapnil Patil Technical Specialist Amar, Vivek, Pratiksha Digital Marketing Manager Marry D’Souza SME-SMO Executives Prashant Chevale, Uma Dhenge Research Analyst Chidiebere Moses Circulation Manager Robert, Tanaji Database Management Stella Andrew Technology Consultant David Stokes

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THE

Most

10 Innovative

DIGITAL H E A L T H C A R E SOLUTION PROVIDERS 2018

The Caretakers of our Health

G

ood healthcare providers are good communicators. They reflect altruism through a strong sense of service for the betterment of healthcare. For such providers, patients always are at the forefront of their every operation.

They understand the agony of underprivileged patients and thus believe in giving back to society in terms of affordable, subsidized or even free of cost healthcare services to the needy. Ace healthcare providers carry the highest degree of professionalism and work with full integrity to treat the patients. For them, earning money is never the main intention; instead, sharing the burden of the distressed patient remains the focal point of their every maneuver.

Such healthcare providers always foster a healthy team environment at their workplace and engage in behaviors that benefit the team and display empathic behaviors when interacting with patients and their family members. To highlight such great healthcare providers, we have come up with an issue of “The 10 Most Innovative Digital Healthcare Solution Providers 2018”.

On the cover we have highlighted Self Care Catalysts. It is a cloud based analytics company powered by real world evidence to impact health decisions and outcomes of patients, physicians, providers, payer and pharmaceutical industry.

Biolumo is growing MedTech Company that aims to provide the doctors with a device which helps them in making accurate antibiotic prescriptions. healthbank is a health-tech firm that provides cutting-edge solutions for managing clinical data. Intelligent Locations is focused on optimizing hospital operations and increasing patient satisfaction by implementing an easy to use Real-Time Location Services (RTLS) platform for the healthcare industry.

Kanteron Systems helps healthcare providers to manage imaging and genomic data effectively, for precision medicine applications at the point of care. Marham is a digital healthcare platform assisting people to find, ask, and consult a doctor. oladoc is a healthcare startup provides a leading-edge health-tech platform that solves all challenges that come across a typical patient life-cycle.

Patientory, Inc. provides an easy way to securely store and manage health information in real time. It is the leading provider of dApp and block-chain solutions for healthcare sector. Sehat Kahani is an all-female healthcare service provider which aims at providing cost-effective healthcare solutions. Sihatech is a digital healthcare company that helps in documenting a patient’s medical journey as well as provides financing services to the non-insured medical treatments.

We have included some intriguing piece of articles written exclusively by industry veterans and our in-house editors which you will find captivating.

So, do flip the pages and enjoy reading!!

The da Vinci Surgical System

da Vinci is powered by robo c technology that allows the surgeon’s hand movements to be scaled, ďŹ ltered and translated into precise movements of the EndoWrist instruments working inside the pa ent’s body.

Contents Cover Story

10 Self Care Catalysts: Transforming Healthcare through Real World Evidence and Experience

Company of the Month

18

Patientory Your Health at Your Fingertips

cxo

Inventive Diagnostic Tool Liquid Biopsy: A Non-Invasive Approach Intended for Personalized Care of Cancer Patients

Insider’s Opinion

30

26

Tech-Health

Smart Inhalers: Tackling Respiratory Maladies with IoT

Molecular Genetic Diagnostics: A Bird's Eye-View

Expert’s Viewpoint

50

From Relevance to Convenience to Value – The Future of Data Analytics in US Healthcare

42

22 24 32

Biolumo: An Ingenious Solution for Precise Antibiotic Selection

healthbank: Transforming the Way Health Data get Exchanged, Stored and Monetized

Intelligent Locations: A Seamless Solution Provider to all Digital Healthcare Problems

34

Kanteron Systems: An Incredible Precision Medicine and Diagnostic Platform

Marham:

38 40 46 48

Sharing the Distress of those Fighting a Disease

oladoc: Engineered a Groundbreaking 'Hub' to Bring Varied Healthcare Services to Consumers

Sehat Kahani: Making Quality Healthcare Facilities Accessible and Aordable to All

Sihatech: Emboldening the Connect between Doctors and Patients

Cover Story

Grace Castillo-Soyao Founder & CEO

self care catal sts Transforming Healthcare through Real World Evidence and Experience

Digital Transformation will play a pivotal role in the future of Healthcare

THE

Most 10 Innovative

DIGITAL H E A L T H C A R E SOLUTION PROVIDERS 2018

P

atients are the most vital part of any healthcare ecosystem. Everything starts and ends with patients.

When a healthcare solution provider keeps patient at the center of their operations, chances of better patient satisfaction augment significantly. Such providers believe when patients are informed, respected, and engaged, they make better choices for maintaining healthier lifestyle. One such trailblazing healthcare solution provider is Self Care Catalysts (SCC), which considers patient’s real world evidences/experiences are necessary for crafting cuttingedge healthcare solution.

This Toronto headquartered organization was founded in 2010 with the mission to promote self-care behaviors among patients, while enabling patients to contribute their behavioral data to support important research across the product lifecycle, such as drug discovery, precision medicine, and development of support services and programs that are specific to the community. Today, after a successful stint of several years in the business, Self Care Catalysts is leveraging its intimate understanding of patients in the market with its many state-ofthe-art solutions. It is a cloud based solutions and analytics company powered by real world evidence to impact health decisions and outcomes of patients, physicians, providers, payer and pharmaceutical industry.

researchers, providers to customize and personalize care for patients to generate real world, real time data.

The company understands the power of technology and thus always aims to be at the forefront of using leading-edge technology to craft better products. The company is aiming to extend personalized medicine to personalized healthcare through the application of AI, Behavior Science and BlockChain. Its endeavor is to build a new healthcare business model where patients, physicians, providers and industry are equal participants in research, care and healthy economic exchange.

Products and Services They have multiple products and services that are widely popular in the healthcare sector and have won many accolades for the same as well. Some of its notable products are:

•

(

Health Storylines Creator is a customized and personalized platform that can be used for clinical research, patient monitoring, patient behavior modification, and patient support. It is a disease-agnostic, customized and personalized self-care and disease management product and tool to generate real world evidence.

Patient Storylines is an enterprise platform that can run various analytics required by Pharmaceutical industry, patients and physicians.

(

“We have built a SaaS that empowers physicians, researchers, and providers to customize and personalize patient care”

The organization’s vision is to contribute towards the improvements of healthcare eco-system that are driven by patient’s willingness to participate, share and own their data through research and behavior interventions. They are working towards the empowerment of patients through personalized and customized self-care tools like digital therapeutics that generate real world experiences and evidence to support better healthcare decision-making.

Journey towards Excellence With the desire to craft an ecosystem that can set a landmark in the health journey of a patient, Self Care Catalysts was established. In a shorter span of time, it moved ahead with full vigor and collaborated among all stakeholders, be it patients, providers, pharmaceutical companies and doctors to seamlessly paint a full patient experience in order to manage better health outcomes.

They have built a SaaS that empowers physicians,

•

Health Storylines has been ranked #1 in motivating behavior change among heart failure patients by many eminent healthcare organizations.

New Product Innovation Award for North America, Frost & Sullivan (2016) award, Springboard Enterprises’ Life Sciences awards among others are few of the top notch accolades that Self Care Catalysts has earned with its sheer commitment towards designing efficient and deep impacting products.

Self Care Catalysts is known for building an eco-system that generates and interprets real world patient experiences outside the traditional clinical labs or genomics data to complete the entire patient journey. And its eco-system is

bringing positive transformational changes towards drug development, clinical research, product commercialization, post marketing, patient monitoring, behavior care and population health management.

Patients are the Most Significant Stakeholders The management has nurtured a robust company culture where the vital traits like resilience and risk taking attitude are always encouraged. For them, bigger the challenge is, more bigger is the opportunity. They never bog down with challenges rather turn them into an opportunity to grow further. Their ability to forecast changes in industry and mitigate risks are deeply rooted on their culture which always assists them to turn out with more shine even after facing a catastrophe like situation.

The company is strengthening its data collection and analytics tools but most importantly, they treat the patients as the most significant stakeholder whose needs to improve outcomes and quality of life are addressed by leveraging continuous collection and interpretation of real world experiences.

Grace considers herself a Citizen Scientist. For years, she had wondered how drugs are approved based on a narrow set of data and evidence and yet when patients experience illness and health in the real world, there are many other variables and factors that need to be factored. According to her, big decisions related to healthcare are shaped mostly by data locked inside clinics and labs, despite the fact that 90% of care happens outside the clinical setting. She believes there are enormous types, format range of patient data that can be gleaned from actual patient experiences when they are not inside the physician clinics. Therefore, to put patients at the forefront of any healthcare development, she established Self Care Catalysts.

In 2014, Grace transformed a patient research company into a digital health and data company, building an eco-system that finally connects various healthcare stakeholders to

‘‘Patients

are the

Epicenter of our Every

Maneuver

‘‘

Judicious Leadership Over the years, Grace Castillo-Soyao has taken various executive business and leadership programs from the Rotman School of Business, University of Toronto, the Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania and has a rich corporate experience of over 20 years in pharmaceutical vertical. She is the Founder and CEO of Self Care Catalysts and is driving this organization towards the path of glory with her astute business mind and adept leadership skills.

‘‘

When patients are informed, respected, and engaged, they make better choices for maintaining healthier lifestyle

‘‘

begin generation of real world patient experiences that will drive innovation in clinical research, drug development, commercialization, patient engagement and behavior change.

Take on Digital Healthcare Industry According to the organization, technology will continue to play a pivotal role in the healthcare industry. Digital healthcare will redefine patient diagnosis, treatment and post-treatment activities. Traditional hospital will become obsolete and digital therapeutics; digital patient care will become the booming trend in up-coming future. This digital transformation will assist medical professionals in generating greater revenues, cost-reduction, enhanced operational efficiency, and better drug regulation. Everyone, from patient, physician to provider will get benefited with the progression of digital revolution.

Future Endeavors Self Care Catalysts has an endeavor to be part of this revolution by catering to varied client needs through its cutting-edge healthcare eco-system. Ultimately, they want to upgrade a business model where physician, patient participation, data ownership and sharing could drive personalized and customized healthcare for all.

Community Care Collaboration (C3) Model

Care Teams Family, friends and Professional community care providers

Mobilize Care Actions Care instructions distributed via mobile devices shared by Care Teams

Lifestyle Support Access to lifestyle products/services to keep people in their homes

Because together, we’re better. Our C3 model – Community Care Collaboration – supports care programs that require high levels of collaboration between interdisciplinary care providers, patients, and family caregivers. Our goal is your goal: to keep patients independent, living comfortably in their homes.

Care3.co

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CORPORATE OFFICE Insights Success Media Tech LLC 555 Metro Place North, Suite 100, Dublin, OH 43017, United States Phone - (614)-602-1754,(302)-319-9947 Email: info@insightscare.com For Subscription : www.insightscare.com

Company Name

Management Olga Grudniak, CEO

Biolumo biolumo.eu

Marcin Pitek, CSO Wojciech Giżowski, CTO & COO Jakub Wysocki, CMO

Brief Biolumo is growing MedTech Company that aims to provide the doctors with a device which helps them in making accurate antibiotic prescriptions.

Reto Schegg CEO

healthbank is a health-tech firm that provides cutting-edge solutions for managing clinical data.

Intelligent Locations intelligentlocations.io

Bogdan Nedelcu Founder & CEO

Intelligent Locations is focused on optimizing hospital operations and increasing patient satisfaction by implementing an easy to use Real-Time Location Services (RTLS) platform for the healthcare industry.

Kanteron Systems kanteron.com

Jorge Cortell CEO & Founder

It helps healthcare providers to manage imaging and genomic data effectively, for precision medicine applications at the point of care.

Marham marham.pk

Ehsan Imam Co-founder

Marham is a digital healthcare platform assisting people to find, ask, and consult a doctor.

oladoc oladoc.com

Abid Zuberi CEO Arif Zuberi CTO

oladoc is a healthcare startup provides a leading-edge health-tech platform that solves all challenges that come across a typical patient life-cycle.

Patientory patientory.com

Chrissa McFarlane Founder & CEO

Patientory, Inc. is the leading provider of dApp and blockchain solutions for healthcare sector providing an easy way to securely store and manage health information in real time.

Sehat Kahani sehatkahani.com

Dr. Sara Saeed Khurram Co-Founder & CEO Dr. Iffat Zafar Aga Co-Founder, Director & CDO

Sehat Kahani is an all-female healthcare service provider which aims at providing cost-effective healthcare solutions.

Self Care Catalysts selfcarecatalysts.com

Grace Castillo-Soyao Founder & CEO

Self Care Catalysts is a cloud based analytics company powered by real world evidence to impact health decisions and outcomes of patients, physicians, providers, payer and pharmaceutical industry.

Sihatech sihatech.com

Ahmed Al-Bader Co-Founder Dr. Mussaad Al-Razouki Co-Founder

Sihatech is a digital healthcare company that helps in documenting a patient’s medical journey as well as provides financing services to the non-insured medical treatments.

healthbank healthbank.coop

‘‘

We empower consumers, clinicians, and healthcare organizations to access, store and transfer information safely, with blockchain technology

‘‘

-Chrissa McFarlane CEO & Founder

18 | July 2018 |

Company of the Month

PATIENTORY Your Health at Your Fingertips

H

ealthcare organizations are working for improvements in patient outcomes and operational efficiency, using technology. The 2018 Accenture Digital Health Technology Vision Report published in May 2018 states that, “91% of health executives believe blockchain and smart contracts will be critical for their organization over the next three years.” This is clearly an exciting time for the healthcare sector as many organizations are adding new technologies, to enhance their operations. This will create better experiences for patients, physicians and healthcare workers. Meanwhile there are rising information security risks, which is why it is vital to begin securing health information in the healthcare blockchain to mitigate health data risk and related financial penalties.

Patientory, Inc. is an industry-leading pioneer of blockchain based solutions for healthcare. Incorporated in 2015, Patientory is recognized as an award-winning innovator in healthcare information technology. Many veteran healthcare organizations are calling upon Patientory to discuss its technology solutions and consulting services. It is the first-mover in distributed App (dApp) and blockchain-based software solutions for healthcare that address the complex challenges faced by today’s healthcare industry. Its mission is to empower consumers to better manage their own health information, thereby improving

their quality of life and health outcomes, while delivering benefits to all healthcare stakeholders.

The Successful Journey of the Company Patientory was incorporated and initiated as part of the inaugural class of the Boomtown Health-Tech Accelerator, in Colorado. This led to a collaborative exchange with the Denver-based Colorado Permanente Medical Group, part of the Kaiser Permanente consortium, based in Oakland, California. Patientory is also part of the Startup Health portfolio, a global organization leading the movement to transform health.

In 2017, The Patientory Stiftung was established to be a global not-for-profit, healthcare member-organization that connects healthcare industry adopters of disruptive technologies, right now with a focus on blockchain adoption. It provides neutrality for its PTOY utility currency that provides users access to the platform to store and secure health information. The PTOY coins are utilized to access the PTOYNetTM, a private permissioned blockchain with data storage. This blockchain is similar to that which cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin currently operate upon.

Passionate and Humble Leadership of Patientory Chrissa McFarlane is the CEO and Founder of Patientory, Inc. She is a passionate entrepreneur, working

towards making a difference in the healthcare sector on a global scale, and has achieved unprecedented success in a highly compressed timeframe.

Chrissa is among the youngest female CEOs in the Healthcare IT industry, and is a highly sought after global speaker. She brings more than ten years’ experience in the healthcare industry conducting research and managing teams. Her passion for healthcare began in high school, where she conducted microbiology research at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and won top honors. Later at Cornell University, she worked with organizations such as the US Department of Agriculture.

Chrissa is named as one of the top women, “leaving their mark on the medtech field in health IT.” As an innovator, she recognized that healthcare provider organizations urgently need secure, scalable, and cost-effective health information management solutions that empower patients and healthcare organizations to use actionable data to make clinical decisions for improved operational efficiency and health outcomes. Thus, Patientory was born.

Distinctive Products and Services The Patientory, Inc. dashboard software for healthcare provider and payer organizations, and the Patientory App for consumers, provide easy, secure means to store and better manage health information. The Mobile App empowers consumers to take better control of their health and

| July 2018 |

19

Company of the Month

to manage their healthcare information both clinically and financially with greater accuracy and efficiency.

Primarily, the app allows easy access and precise sharing of their medical information that is secured within the healthcare blockchain. It provides users better control over their health information, with a more complete picture of their health and goal setting.

It allows customers to receive targeted access to health information, healthcare support, educational resources and community. It also enables them to utilize and manage a broader and more efficient array of payment options.

The Patientory, Inc., Dashboard – is currently testing for large healthcare organizations, with a current EPIC, Cerner, Meditech, or Allscripts installation. This dashboard is a population health management software solution that regulates and safeguards patient data in the blockchain, while providing convenient secure access to actionable health information, and clinical administrative decision support. It enables physician-coordinated care, enhanced by peer-to-peer patient support.

Professional Services are for healthcare organizations that leverage Patientory’s technology. Typical customers are healthcare organizations that require interoperability or custom use case development. Patientory Professional Services provide customization of the blockchain application, integration, faster deployment, as well as ready access to blockchain technical and expert resources.

Patientory’s Unique Selling Proposition Patientory solutions empower patients, clinicians and healthcare organizations to readily harness meaningful data to make more effective and efficient

treatment, and financial decisions, enabling real improvement opportunities as well as the safe access, store and transfer of information, thus improving care coordination while ensuring data security within a secure HIPAA-compliant PTOYNetTM blockchain.

The company offers unique solutions that interconnect with most EHR systems, thereby enabling doctors, care providers and consumers to communicate on a single easy-to-use platform. Also, its solutions will work with almost any healthcare blockchain; bringing together into actionable form many previously inaccessible data sources. These range from EHRs, to patient monitors, wearables, and Apps, connecting this data into a more complete view of a personal health information (PHI). Benefits of the solutions will include the following: Sustainable risk mitigation Patientory takes PHI security to the next level as it uses blockchain technology, ensures end-to-end encryption, and adheres to current regulatory guidelines and compliance requirements. Ÿ Data risk reduced - HIPAA compliant, reduced risk of PHI data breaches and related penalties Ÿ Patient risk reduced - greater consumer engagement, control, and responsibility with their PHI Ÿ Financial risk reduced – reduced readmissions, broader reimbursement options Operational performance improvement and efficiency Ÿ More efficient access to health data for physicians saves time Ÿ Better controlled access to current PHI, from a wider range of current data sources Ÿ More proficient access to sources of payment, and rules of payment for claim resolution

Financial performance improvement Ÿ Enables efficiency for diverse payment methods (including cryptocurrencies and soon electronic claim reimbursement) Ÿ Saves costs by reducing the need for duplicative tests/radiological scans and related measures Recent Accolades Patientory, Inc. has been recognized with accolades including the following: Ÿ Ranked Top 5 digital health solution in the world for empowering patients, alongside multi-milliondollar revenue companies Ÿ Voted Top 10 Amplify Women in Technology Startup Company out of 139 startups Ÿ 2018 Globe Award Winner in International Trade by U.S. State of Georgia Ÿ Top 11 Company Disrupting Healthcare in 2017 Ÿ 2017 Company of the Year by the Metro Atlanta Chamber Future Perspective Healthcare is embracing a wave of technology and cultural changes.

Patientory’s vision is to provide solutions that will enable doctors, care providers and consumers to communicate on a single easy-to-use platform, one that interconnects with most EHR systems, while also enabling a wider array of payment types. Patientory, is continuing to lead advancements in artificial intelligence, blockchain, and is working with the industry’s uptake of the Internet of Things (IoT) to better serve healthcare consumers, providers, payers and BioTech while creating a more accessible, efficient, effective continuum of care throughout a patient’s life, and wherever they may travel.

| July 2018 |

20

Biolumo: An Ingenious Solution for Precise Antibiotic Selection

I

n world of medicines, the most frequently prescribed one is antibiotics. Yet, every solution that might help the general practitioners to prescribe the right antibiotic is beyond their reach. As a result, they have to guess and statistically there are only 50% chances that they guess right. Biolumo is a company which will help the practitioners in prescribing proper antibiotics.

Biolumo is an innovative and growing MedTech company that aims to provide the doctors with a device which helps them in making accurate antibiotic recommendations. The device is fast enough to test every patient as well as affordable for both, doctors and the patients. In a long perspective, it will be developed for the governments or the healthcare providers. They aim to design, test, and mass-produce an inexpensive and rapid point-to-care tool.

Olga Grudniak CEO

The Exemplary Leader for Biolumo

‘‘

We aim to help you in precise antibiotic selection

‘‘

22 | July 2018 |

Olga Grudniak, the CEO, is an adept leader for a MedTech company due to her interest and expertise in economy as well as biotechnology. She has inherited the “business genes” from her father, who established many successful enterprises, and “science genes” from her mother. This has helped her to find the balance between the good of the company and the benefits that their science can bring to the healthcare. The entire team of Biolumo has two very important features- they are persistent and systematic. These qualities have inculcated in them the habit of not giving up in difficult situations and seeking ideas to solve any problem that comes as an obstacle to them.

Biolumo’s Take on Effects of Technological Advancements on Healthcare

Pacing through their Story The idea of Biolumo came to them in 2016, from a phone call. A friend, whose son had a bacterial infection, had called them to ask for a solution to quickly determine the right antibiotic for his son. Their research in-charge, Marcin Pitek, now the CSO of the company, did not find any existing answers to that question, but knew how to do it. From that moment on, with the help of many mentors and experts, the idea of Biolumo turned into a complete concept. Featuring in a prestigious conference, Infoshare2017 was a breakthrough for them. Thereafter, they were invited to the Start-up boot camp in Berlin and started appearing in all the major conferences in Poland, like The Chivas Venture and Impact’18. Recently, they were honoured as one of the biggest innovators in Polish MedTech by receiving Healthcare Leader’s Competition award.

Without easy access to new technologies, like the clouds and servers, fast exchange of data, 3D printing, AI, and IoT, digital healthcare solutions wouldn’t have been possible.

Jakub Wysocki, the CMO, talks about how the most important change the technology can bring in healthcare is to treat every patient individually. Different people with the same infection react differently to the same antibiotic and therefore, moving a step closer to the personalized treatment will be a breakthrough in the healthcare sector.

Strategy against the Challenges Wojciech Giżowski, the CTO & COO, talks about how they keep the check of their competition, but the main strategy is to continuously improve their technology. They are well-informed about the changes in laws, procedures, and so on, which helps them to stay up-to-date with the emerging trends. Improving their solutions according to the market needs helps Biolumo to stay ahead in the competition. To better adapt to the changes, Biolumo is thinking about implementing the TRIZ methodology, which can be used to improve the competitiveness of their technology.

A Word on the Future of Digital Healthcare Solutions

Developing a Radical Product and Future Aims Biolumo is developing a device for quick antibiotic resistance detection for healthcare as its core product. This device is being designed from scratch to be implemented in a mass, which means the hardware will not be that sophisticated and hence, will be made in large quantities at a low price. Along with being affordable for the GPs as well as the patients, the device will be fast and easy to use. In the next six months, they will enter into clinical validation by testing the product on patients’ samples and comparing it with antibiogram, the golden standard. Biolumo’s target is to introduce the product to the market in two years. Next in the pipeline, they have a tool for antibiotic resistance and bacterial infection detection for vets and livestock breeders, for which they have got the EU grant. This is estimated to enter the market in four years.

“With all the enhancements the technology has brought to the world, medicine- the most important for our lives, is still underdeveloped. But slowly the change is coming, with quick diagnostic tools for viruses, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, genetic diseases, and of course bacterial infection, and that is the future,” says Olga. She further talks about how with decrease in the number of doctors and healthcare professionals, the diagnosis in the future will be outsourced to the patients themselves, for which all the new MedTech solutions should be easy to use, affordable and quick.

Biolumo is focused on delivering one such solution with the development of their device.

| July 2018 |

23

healthbank:

Transforming the

Way Health Data get Exchanged, Stored and Monetized

I

T and mobile revolution has changed the landscape of many businesses and healthcare too is not an exception. Whether it is an X-ray report, a MRI report, or just a normal pathological lab report every data can be stored digitally or even on cloud with just a few clicks of a device. All these reports and patient history generate mammoth amount of data every year which often get stored in a closed eco-system and remain dormant. Stakeholders thus cannot process and derive meaningful insights from this valuable data as they don’t have access to the comprehensive record of any individual.

Reto Schegg CEO

‘‘

We are giving back the

control of personal health data into the hands of its rightful owners i.e. the people

‘‘

24 | July 2018 |

To alter this scenario and to revolutionize how personal health data is exchanged, stored and monetized, healthbank got incepted. The firm empowers all the healthcare stakeholders by providing an open ecosystem that enables users to securely store and exchange data with a range of healthcare, pharmaceutical and wellness & lifestyle service providers – at the user’s request. healthbank provides an independent and neutral solution, that only the user has access to yet provides access to a vast amount of health services in the open eco-system.

Incepted in 2013, this Switzerland based health-tech firm is gaining popularity with its leading-edge healthcare solutions. Today, healthbank consists of two symbiotic organizations: • healthbank cooperative is the core solution which stores patient data on a fully secure digital platform governed by people (members). What makes it unique is healthbank cooperative is owned by the people, controlled by the people, and the profit also goes back to the people.

• healthbank innovation AG as the platform manager – responsible for the development of services, apps, integration of partners, and data processing on behalf of the user.

About the Company This Switzerland based firm was founded when an international team of 28 academics, entrepreneurs and experts of the healthcare industry came together with the intent to give back the control of personal health data into the hands of its rightful owners i.e. the people. The company’s vision is to empower people across the globe to exchange their health data, on their uniquely neutral and independent platform.

Uniqueness of healthbank is its policy of ‘one-person-onevote’ which develops a greater sense of trust among all its stakeholders and encourages greater participation. This policy is one of the prime factors behind healthbank’s stupendous success. When it comes to health data, they put people at the center of every maneuver.

Their ultimate aim is to bring together market players and help them to participate in an open eco-system connected to the healthcare market. They believe that open ecosystems are more efficient than closed ones. Therefore, health service providers benefit from joining healthbank and will be able to integrate their service with customer data and other service providers to more comprehensive solutions.

Benefits of its Eco-system Technological Security: Through a full-fledged end-to-end encryption as well as a high-security software architecture concept, healthbank provides the right ecosystem partnership to safely manage health data for ecosystem partners that rather want to focus on their first-class services and products than on data back ends.

Full Independence: healthbank provides a truly open and neutral ecosystem that comes with long-term stability as well as competition on the platform itself.

Real World Patient Information: As soon as the users give their consent, the app service provider can integrate dozens of other data sources to enhance their own services through big data, artificial intelligence or machine learning algorithms.

Full GDPR compliance: Due to its detailed, informed and dynamic consent management, which puts the user in the middle of the decision process to connect, store and share personal data; healthbank helps achieving full GDPR compliance for their application partners from the ecosystem.

Future Endeavors The company will soon follow a much more robust architectural approach and will raise its data security to the utmost level through end-to-end encryption The range of functions for users will also get expanded. The health platforms get refurbished to integrate further partners and applications from the health sector quickly, efficiently and more securely. With the new software architecture and the implemented security mechanisms, healthbank is ready to connect further partners and applications with a healthbank account.

• Their two award-winning apps “CatchMyPain” and “PainCompanion” will soon be integrated into the healthbank. Users suffering from severe or chronic pain can benefit from the long-term pain documentation in the future and continue to share their experiences and thoughts.

• healthbank works closely with the Swiss app developer “Rehaptix”. Rehaptix monitors the rehabilitation of patients with motor disabilities due to a neurological injury such as stroke, multiple sclerosis or Parkinson’s disease. All data generated in the app is securely stored in the healthbank and can also be passed on to other people.

• healthbank plans to integrate fitness trackers into the healthbank in the near future. With this service users can connect their fitness tracker with the healthbank. And if a user changes the tracker, this will no longer be a problem in the future - the data and the connection to the healthbank will remain intact.

The trailblazer behind its Success Reto Schegg, Chief Executive Officer, has proficiency in eHealth projects. He was involved in many of the big eHealth initiatives in Europe in recent years. Holding master’s degrees in Electrical Engineering, Business Administration, and Business Law, he has been responsible for international health tech business lines and sales teams.

Reto drives the idea of encouraging citizens to make better decisions about their own health in order to receive the best possible care.

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26 | July 2018 |

Inventive Diagnostic Tool

Liquid Biopsy: A Non-Invasive Approach Intended for Personalized Care of Cancer Patients

C

ancer has been the talk of the town for many years now. The main obstacle that Cancer patients face is the late detection of the disease that causes sixteen percent of the deaths around the world. A biopsy is a method which is generally used to diagnose cancer. It involves sampling of the tissue or cells from any part of the body that is aected and checks it for cancer, which is a highly invasive and costly technique.

Traditionally, cancer diagnosis has been carried out by pathology and medical imaging. This included tissue biopsies, serological indicators such as CEA and PSA test, molecular pathology test, Ultrasonic testing, X-ray imaging, CT-scan, MRI, PET-CT, and endoscopy. The real-time diagnosis is not possible with these tests, since in imaging there is usually a lag in the tumor progression, while in the serological indicators there is a lack of eective bio-makers for early diagnosis. | July 2018 |

27

Inventive Diagnostic Tool Although tissue biopsy is considered a potent technique, the patient faces severe clinical complications during sampling.

Also in case of terminal cancer patients, it is very difficult to obtain tissue samples. Due to this, it has become the need of the hour to look for new biomarkers that are highly sensitive and specific to tumor diagnosis. This will help in monitoring tumor progression.

biopsy. This will provide new and valuable information regarding the complex mechanism involved in drug resistance and progression. Liquid biopsy has a pleasing future in early diagnosis, cancer drug design, determining the mechanism of drug resistance, assessment of tumor’s grade and stage, arbitrating prognosis and regulating the treatment plan.

Recently, researchers have proposed a new technique which involves only a blood test, known as Liquid Biopsy. It is gaining ground all over the world and has been referred to as the potential game changer. Although, professionals believe it requires a couple of years of development to become a vital screening tool worldwide. Using this technology, doctors will be able to screen cancer using only a small sample of the patients’ blood.

Complications That Need to Be Overcome There are a few characteristics of the test that have yet to be addressed further, like the primary or initial stages of tumor might be small and easily missed. Researchers are trying to solve the problem of small quantities of ctDNA. Even with a medium sized tumor, the ctDNA is very small, making it difficult to detect and diagnose. Also, ctDNA is not the only DNA that is moving around in the bloodstream; pregnant women have placental DNA from the baby’s placenta in their blood which might cause misreading. Patients who have suffered from a heart attack also have DNA fragments in their blood. Accurate identification of the ctDNA from the other DNA is a problem that needs to be addressed to evade false alarms; telling somebody they have cancer when they don’t could be disastrous.

Liquid biopsy would be a huge leap in deterrent cancer treatment. It will help doctors to provide a personalized and targeted treatment (aiming only the cancer cells and killing them). Essentially, liquid biopsy is an analytically sensitive blood test which can detect a single tumor cell loitering among a billion normal cells. This process would be carried out in real time and will transform cancer diagnosis and control.

Mechanism of Action This test examines cancer related proteins and DNA that is available in the blood of the patient before cancer spreads.

It also helps the doctor to narrow down the form of cancer which is present. The cells of a tumor are continuously shed, allowing the tumor’s DNA to be released into the bloodstream; no matter where the tumor is. This tumor DNA that is found in the bloodstream is termed as ctDNA (circulating tumor DNA). Liquid biopsies target the ctDNA, which makes it the most non-invasive technique. This ctDNA has been used by scientists to monitor and check for genetic changes that might impact treatment. The protein markers are used to help determine the site of the tumor, to provide a specific and correct diagnosis.

Why Choose Liquid Biopsy Over Traditional Diagnosis?

Liquid biopsy being non-invasive makes it feasible for the doctors to take frequent samples, without causing discomfort to the patient. It has very few side effects, it is easy to maneuver, has a high testing speed, which helps decrease the bias in diagnosis and helps doctors understand the progression of cancer. This permits it to be done frequently to observe the treatment’s effect. Combining a cell-free DNA marker with a known protein marker (for several common types of cancer) has allowed scientists to throw some light on where cancer may be found.

Cancer’s genetics which plays a major role in the development of the disease can be studied using liquid

28 | July 2018 |

Although liquid biopsies provide valuable insights into the progression of cancer, it does not currently provide any insights into the origin of cancer. Studies are still being conducted to refine the technology to throw some light on the nature of cancer (its mutations), its place of origin and so on. The cells that have metastasized may gain bonus genetic characteristics over time and grow individually away from the primary tumor. Direct analysis of the metastasized cells is required so that the patient is provided with specific therapy and side effects can be avoided.

This method would provide the diagnosis of cancer before the symptoms start showing. Although this is an advantage, pre-symptom testing could cause a scare, since cancer cells are produced by the body continuously and they get killed internally. The tests are expensive. Not all cancers are aggressive and lethal, some are slowly progressing, and are not fatal, thus do not require any treatment. The method should be further developed to differentiate which tumor can be left alone and which require treatment.

As scientific information advances, researchers are unveiling various potential aspects of liquid biopsies; to detect mutations, determining the position of the tumor.

This suggests that the technology promises a powerful diagnostic technology that could be game-changing. More substantiation, development and clinical trials are required to completely understand the value of liquid biopsies in a medical setting.

r a l u c Mole c i t e n e G : s c i t s o n g a i D w e i V e y E s ’ d r i AB

G

enetic testing, especially molecular genetic diagnostics, has evolved rapidly since the advent of the twenty-first century, thereby prompting a corresponding evolution in patient management and the healthcare industry. Recent advances in molecular biology research have opened a portal to plenty of phenomenon that were previously heard of only in science fiction, such as gene editing, personalized medicine, and even designer babies. A literal interpretation of the term ‘genetic testing’ would refer to the analysis of changes (known as mutations) in the hereditary material or DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) of an individual or group of individuals to confirm or predict health-related outcomes. A genome refers to the complete set of genes that an individual possesses and the study of this is referred to as genomics. The concepts of genetic and genomic testing are relatively novel for the larger population and present multiple challenges for everyone involved, including the clinician, patient, and even the scientists developing the tests.

Genetic testing is available in a plethora of flavors, so to speak, ranging from the genuine, actionable and relevant to poorly regulated, ambiguous fluff. Accurate molecular diagnosis can impact patient treatment by comprehensively identifying the disease condition and providing the clinician with treatment modalities. In addition, one can also ascertain if a family member carries a risk of developing the

30 | July 2018 |

same condition. Therefore, it is of primary importance to uphold impeccable laboratory quality standards to minimize the scope of error.

In an effort to remedy this, a comprehensive team that includes diverse specialists such as molecular biologists, medical geneticists, clinicians, bioinformaticians, histopathologists, and genetic and psychological counsellors is required to overcome the scientific, technical, social, and psychological implications of a molecular genetic test. Their expertise extends to choosing the right technique and avoiding unnecessary testing with the aim of minimizing the financial and psychological burden on the patients.

Countless applications of molecular and cellular biology have permeated across various fields ranging from agriculture to healthcare. For example, modern oncology relies heavily on molecular testing for disease management decisions. Successive testing for mutations in family members of the patient has proven to be cost-effective with long-term benefits. Disease predisposition and prophylactic measures are based on such genetic evaluations.

The prevalence of conditions such as muscular dystrophy, dysmorphism, intellectual disability, and disorders of sexual differentiation are commonly observed in young children.

Insider’s Opinion

Ms. Kavita Khatod

MBBS, MS (Molecular and Cell Biology), Certified Medical Geneticist Head, Technical Marketing & Genetic Counselor GenePath Dx

This has prompted pediatricians to use molecular tests to augment their clinical acumen. Reproductive and maternal health too has been revolutionized owing to developments in molecular biology. This is critical for family planning and its possible implications in cases of hereditary disease and consanguineous marriage as most reproductive decisions are seriously impacted with this knowledge.

Genetic testing is proving to be invaluable in the diagnosis of critical infections such as sepsis and transplantassociated infections as timely intervention is of paramount importance in such cases and genetic tests have a very short turnaround time compared to classical microbiological tests such as urine or blood cultures.

Pharmacogenomics, better known as personalized medicine, enables doctors to utilize the genetic profile of an individual to tailor a therapy, and its dosage, that would elicit the maximum response with minimal adverse effects.

This helps improve the prognosis in cases of cancers, single gene disorders, neurometabolic disorders, and hematological disorders. To maximize on this wealth of information, it is essential to establish certain parameters that include correct interpretation and communication, right bioinformatic support, non-directive genetic counseling and open access to population databases for comparison.

population databases. In addition, the ethical complexities of access to such information need to be reviewed as lifealtering decisions may be based on the findings of the test.

It is imperative to maintain patient confidentiality and results must always be conveyed by authorized and trained personnel owing to the social stigma attached to such tests as discrimination by employers, family members and societal pressure lead to disfavoring outcomes. Establishing and following guidelines to avoid unnecessary screening and testing should be mandatory.

The impact of genomics is far-reaching and tapping into new horizons. Data for the first human genome was assimilated over a span of thirteen years through cumbersome research. Since then, however, exponential leaps in technology have shortened the time and monetary investment required for whole genome sequencing (WGS), thereby making personalized medicine a reality. Artificial Intelligence (AI) will bridge the gap in accessing global databases for data analysis and reduce human dependency to a large extent. Awareness and education, however, are required for the population and the clinicians to benefit from the recent breakthroughs of modern molecular science. Genomics is at a nascent stage and caution through good governance is required to ensure that it evolves rapidly to make concepts like gene editing a reality in our lifetime.

Every developing technology, however, has its own caveats and pitfalls, some of which are unnecessary testing, improper validation of tests and limited access to

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Intelligent Locations: A Seamless Solution Provider to all Digital Healthcare Problems

T

he healthcare industry is under constant pressure to do more with less. As technology advances the future of digital healthcare continues to get more and more congested. Every time one turns around, there is a new digital health solution that has popped up.

The key feature that hospitals and healthcare centers seek is that the solution should be easy to use, adapt and most importantly it should work efficiently. Digital solutions must build sustainable trust with its users by helping them in doing their job efficiently, and not hinder them.

One such platform that helps the hospitals ease their workload effectively is Intelligent Locations. Founded

by Bogdan Nedelcu, in 2015, the company is a cloudbased, end to end Real-Time Location Services (RLTS) provider, working exclusively for the healthcare industry. What started as an idea on a single piece of paper, is now a leading digital healthcare service provider. Intelligent Locations started with a proof of concept pilot with its first hospital partner; once it proved successful the company scaled up and launched out its RTLS Platform.

Bogdan Nedelcu Founder and CEO

‘‘

We help Hospitals and

Healthcare centers achieve smart operations, in a seamless, costeffective and timeless manner

‘‘

32 | July 2018 |

The platform allows hospitals to achieve smart operations and is a one-stop shop for its users, including everything from hardware installation to end-user analytics. The speedy installation of its system is the key feature of Intelligent Locations. It leverages the RTLS network to track everything from equipment, people, and environmental conditions. Using this platform, its clients can easily add new functionality or use cases as problems are identified.

Intelligent Locations is acknowledged as a top innovative digital health company. Listening to its

clients biggest (and smallest) problems has allowed the company to stay ahead of its competition and constantly evolve its IoT platform to solve them. It is focused on adding value to its clients, every chance it gets and the company believes that will keep it at the forefront of digital health innovation.

The Consummate Leader Currently, Bogdan Nedelcu is the CEO of Intelligent Locations. He has received a Degree in Physics, while studying in France after which he started his career working with various companies. Upon graduation, he began his career with Motorola in their Networks division, developing cellular networks working in seven countries. His journey with the company lasted over a period of fifteen years, during which his role grew from an engineer to the management of the product life cycle and business development of the entire product platform. After his successful stint with Motorola, Bogdan started working at a Silicon Valley startup to manage a product realization for a big data analytics platform; and then spent a few years working for major technology companies in both mobility and embedded electronics. He founded Intelligent Locations to disrupt the current status quo in the Real-Time Location Services space by using newly available technology like cloud computing and Bluetooth low energy. He uses his valuable experience to achieve outstanding tasks and operation for Intelligent Locations.

Providing Intelligent Solutions through RTLS platform Intelligent Locations offers the most cost-efficient, a healthcare-focused, Real-Time Location Services (RTLS) platform in the market. The robust RTLS platform is at the core, that the hospitals can use to track the location and status of any moveable piece of equipment or person.

Unlike legacy RTLS technologies, Intelligent Locations does not require an upfront installation fee; this allows their clients to immediately realize their return on investment.

Intelligent Locations’ cloud-based solution can easily be deployed throughout the entire healthcare systems and used

by many departments including nursing, hospital administration, clinical engineering and others. Once its solution is installed the company can easily layer on services like asset tracking, patient tracking, staff tracking, special equipment monitoring, way-finding and bed management. This helps identify bottlenecks and streamline process and procedure. There are many other use cases it can accomplish and always puts a present and future plan together with their clients. This allows it to add an unmet value to its customers.

Testing new and exciting technologies is vital and helps Intelligent Locations grow and innovate. The large chunks of data that is generated by the platform can further be leveraged to make better and informed decisions. The company has always paid a lot of attention towards analytics and machine learning so that the data generated can be put to good use by its business intelligence software.

Intelligent Locations helps hospitals and surgical centers, to make informed decisions and standardize healthcare, ultimately driving down the total healthcare cost.

Outlook into the Future of Intelligent Locations The company is persistently looking forward towards leveraging its technology, to provide an added use. A huge differentiator of Intelligent Locations’ technology, that sets it above the rest, is being able to easily facilitate additional use cases within the initial hardware installation. The consultative approach of the company is a key aspect that its clients like. Intelligent Locations works alongside its clients to seek and solve problems and bring additional value to its client’s investment.

Currently, its platform uses BLE technology, but Intelligent Locations platform can use any radio frequency for location services, such as ultra-wideband, LoRa and other radio frequency technologies. This helps it to make the hospitals investment in the technology future proof. Also, the company is opening a new Center of Excellence in Paris to enhance their capabilities on predictive analytics and machine learning.

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Kanteron Systems: An Incredible Precision Medicine and Diagnostic Platform

T

he ultimate aim of any healthcare solution is to identify and treat a disease before it shows any symptoms and determine the right medication for a particular person. Humans have a long way to reach there yet. Kanteron Systems is a leading biotech company, who brings us closer to this goal.

It is a privately held Healthcare IT-Biomedical Informatics Company that was founded in 2005. It helps healthcare providers to manage imaging and genomic data effectively, for precision medicine applications at the point of care. With offices and subsidiaries in London (UK), Madrid (Spain), and European HQ in Valencia (Spain), Kanteron System’s solution has already been deployed successfully over 500 times in 12 countries, even at some of the world’s largest healthcare networks.

Jorge Cortell

Innovative Services that Revolutionized Healthcare Industry

CEO and Founder

‘‘We

bring precision medicine to the point of care, today

‘‘

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To identify the source and type of disease in a human body, it requires a side-by-side study of various reports from many standalone systems like, PACS, VNA, digital pathology, analysis tools, and so on. Kanteron System allows integrating all these test results to facilitate precise diagnosis. Kanteron’s solution stores, integrates, analyzes, and visualizes medical imaging (radiology and pathology), biosensors, clinical genomics, and pharmacogenomics data.

It provides the healthcare professionals a technological platform to share test reports and images, check the patient’s medical history, and analyse which medications work effectively.

It has put forth a digital health solution that drives continuity of care, reduces gaps in care, and ensures early initiation of preventative care.

Kanteron helps to improve health outcomes by enabling a seamless connection between disparate technologies.

It All Started with a Love Story It sounds like a movie storyline, but Kanteron Systems actually did start with a love story. Jorge Cortell, the CEO and Founder of Kanteron, fell in love with a girl, who was a breast cancer patient. Going for the treatments along with her, Jorge saw the loopholes in the system and in the pursuit of saving the love of his life, he risked everything he had; he set to find a better solution for diagnosis and treatment for her and for many others like her. During this journey, he realized not just the potential, but the absolute necessity to integrate medical imaging with clinical genomics both in the patient’s medical record as well as for the doctor’s workflow. More importantly, he knew what was needed to be done in order to make it happen. Thinking way ahead of his competitors, Jorge built a phenomenal Precision Medicine Platform, Kanteron Systems.

A ‘No Investors’, Self-Sustaining Company Kanteron Systems is self-funded company that has grown organically to the point where its bleeding-edge technology has, today, reached five continents. Although, being selffunded means bootstrapping: slow start and progressive growth, it also means mature. This has made the company experienced, self-reliant, always-improving product, and absolutely independent, something that their customers have really admired.

Outlining Current Digital Healthcare Solutions With too many start-ups focused on problems that are too narrow to make a real difference and several large players reluctant to change the existing systems, Kanteron believes that it is necessary to destroy the barriers in healthcare solutions that many companies have been setting up for decades and there is a need to put the doctors and the patients first and foremost. Being a part of the healthcare industry, it realizes the need to make interoperability, innovation, and agility a priority. Jorge says, “The end goal should be to treat a disease before it shows any symptoms.

We should aim for prevention, not cure. And the right

technology can help us get there. But it will take much more than just technology: it will take will, education, political support, a generational change, and overcoming narrowminded corporate greed.”

Triumphing over their Challenges The biggest challenge for Kanteron, as it is for all healthcare solutions, is to stay abreast of all new developments and technologies. Amusingly, that’s the favourite part of their job. Kanteron’s partnership with tech giants, like Google, Microsoft, Amazon, IBM, and Hitachi, gives it a unique perspective of new possibilities and latest as well as future technologies. At Kanteron, they dedicate a lot of time and resources in trying new ideas, implementing new technologies, and learning about everything and anything new. They are focused on their vision and their customers’ needs, and not on what others are doing or selling.

Dreaming Big about the Future Jorge envisions a near future where ubiquitous sensors produce data that gets integrated, via the Kanteron’s platform, into a system that detects anomalies before they become a problem, a future that allows patients and doctors the freedom to use any cloud, program, and algorithm and having a best-of-breed arsenal of tools at their disposal, perfectly integrated into their workflow. He talks about a future where data is as transparent as algorithms. Open source and interoperability are a requirement in any enterprise purchase, so that all stakeholders can have the peace of mind by knowing that their data will never be taken hostage by any large Healthcare IT vendor. “It will feel like magic.” Jorge says. “That’s what our customers tell us. Because that near future is the present for some of us, and we want to make sure everyone participates in that future,” the CEO concludes.

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When you deliver superior service, rely on

superior equipment.

Ensure a comfortable birth day, every day.

www.gehealthcare.com

At Horizon, we’re driven by a clear purpose; to improve

Patients’ Lives.

www.horizonpharma.com

Marham Sharing the Distress of those Fighting a Disease

W

ith the rapid advancements taking place in the field of technology, digitalization of healthcare is ought to be an inevitable outcome. In the last decade, healthcare has completely transformed the way it was perceived as a solution with technology being the core part now, however, in a country like Pakistan, the deliverance ratio of healthcare system remains a question but since the rise digital healthcare solutions, it has considerably changed. The disparities of healthcare industry can only be fulfilled by the digital healthcare solutions.

One such innovative healthcare service provider is Marham. It is currently the largest digital healthcare platform in Pakistan helping people to find, ask, and consult a doctor. An online tech based solution provider, Marham is providing services regarding the search of an authentic doctor, booking appointments online, online consultations, and medical tourism in Pakistan. They also provide practice and hospital management soft wares and other services to hospitals and doctors. The organization has helped more than 5 million people in Pakistan through its services.

Ehsan Imam Co-founder

‘‘We are 38 | July 2018 |

‘‘

always open to connect

Distinct Healthcare Services Marham is a digital go-to platform for the ones in need of healthcare assistance providing a 360 degree healthcare solution to the people of Pakistan. They provide a wide array of services for hospitals, patients, and doctors. A variety of services that Marham offers include the following: Marham for Patients: • Website/ Apps: Doctor’s Information Portal • Call Center/ Apps Appointment Booking

• • • •

Platform through which they can book doctor for any disease Online Consultation from anywhere: Telemedicine Platform to get an expert opinion Forum: Easily get an answer about their medical conditions International Patients: Medical Tourism, complete solution for booking hospital, hotel, and transportation Social Platform: Online community to ask for suggestions

Marham for Hospital & Doctors: • Patient Growth: Create awareness in masses about the services in a broader & authentic perspective and get new patient referrals • Telemedicine: Increase patient reach beyond the boundaries • Appointment Booking System: Manage daily schedule and effectively communicate with patients. Real-time reporting for administration • Medical Tourism: Generate International patients • EMR: Paperless practice, creates patient’s health records, generates prescriptions and reduces per patient time with the help of technology • Organizational Medical Partner: Give a better healthcare experience to the employees An Arduous Journey to Glory Choosing a doctor without much information is difficult in Pakistan. The healthcare platform started with a small community on Facebook where people could help each other with information about health facilities, doctors, and their reviews. Thousands of people started joining the community and began sharing the information with each other. Understanding the need, Marham thus extended its services to an active website and mobile apps, where patients could find complete doctors’ information, read reviews, and book appointments online every month. Not only this, but through telemedicine, now patients are consulting authentic doctors from their home.

Two years down the lane, today Marham has 15,000+ doctors on board, catering to 18 specialties and helping almost 10,000 people every day to book an appointment and answering their queries with authentic information from relevant doctors and surgeons. Adding value to user experience are services like online consultation, teleconsultation, second opinion, subsidized cosmetic deals, and services for international patients.

Insightful Leadership Ehsan Imam is the Co-Founder of Marham. Being a software engineer and an IT industry veteran, Mr. Imam carries experience of working with fortune 50 companies.

Ehsan believes in working for a healthcare system which is patient-centralized and designed to help and serve people.

He envisions a dignified, graceful and respectful life for patients and thus has committed himself to transforming healthcare in Pakistan by bringing in innovation and technology.

“Together we can share the burden of those fighting a disease,” says Ehsan. He wants compassion and care for others to be the core values among his team as he believes in making Marham a product which serves people and the healthcare industry.

Embracing Innovation and Continuous Up-gradation For any company which believes in serving humans, it is must to innovate and keep making new advancements and products for the well-being of people. Marham began with recognizing the need that there must be a platform which guides people to authentic doctors. Today, Marham is booking appointments online, online consultations and the team is working on the launches of video consultation software’s, online clinics prenatal health and child immunization.

In Pakistan, healthcare startups have started to come up the ranks; so Marham not only believes in changing the stereotypical tired trends but is also setting new trends for upcoming market players to follow. Marham wants transformation of healthcare system with an improved healthcare experience for patients. They are always keen towards a continuous up-gradation of their product, not only in terms of new technologies and innovation, but also in making it more and more servable.

Future Perspective The company states that one should understand that it is the human beings, who orchestrate the future outcomes. They further add that if it comes to future of digital healthcare solution industry, they foresee it fulfilling the healthcare needs with conventional industry being cut off. Marham considers themselves as the key players in making this possible and thus will continue to strive for it.

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oladoc:

Engineered a Groundbreaking ‘Hub’ to Bring Varied Healthcare Services to Consumers

T

echnology continues to save numerous lives in multiple ways. Everyone understands the impact of higher quality healthcare equipment that are improving diagnosis while advanced medical treatments supported by technology are assisting patients defeat deadly diseases effectively. However, technology such as mobile data that has only now become pervasive in emerging markets is making even bigger contribution towards saving lives as it helps democratize information.

Patients are now able to read about symptoms, treatment options, and have a more informed discussion with their doctors.

Abid Zuberi CEO

‘‘Touch

of a Finger is

enough to trigger revolution, and we have proved it right with our cutting-edge oladoc app

‘‘

40 | July 2018 |

One such trailblazing company which is democratizing healthcare solutions in one of the emerging markets i.e.

Pakistan is oladoc.com. Founded in 2016, this Lahore based healthcare startup provides a leading-edge healthtech platform that solves all challenges that come across a typical patient life-cycle. It connects patients with the right doctors, delivers medicines to patient’s doorstep, offers a host of lab tests from the convenience of patient’s home, and provides high-quality health content and much more. For doctors, oladoc offers innovative practice management software that allows doctors to fully digitize their practices. Their practice management software is linked to oladoc’s appointment booking system and helps doctors to augment their practices as well.

Ingenious Leaders of oladoc With the noble vision to improve the quality of healthcare in Pakistan, oladoc was incepted by two young and budding entrepreneurs Abid Zuberi (CEO) and Arif Zuberi (CTO). The duo believes in democratization of healthcare access and making the

overall system efficient to improve the diagnoses, quality of care and ultimately save lives that are currently being lost due to lack of information and inefficient industry practices.

“My aim is to leverage the mobile data (digital) revolution in Pakistan and enable every Pakistani the ability to access top doctors, maintain electronic records, obtain authentic medicines etc. right from their mobile phone,” asserts Abid.

Under the mentorship of this duo, oladoc has gained immense trust amongst the patients and doctors that too in a very shorter period of time. In 2017, oladoc assisted over 1 million Pakistanis to find doctors and specialists for their needs near them. The company has a robust network of more than 14,000 listed doctors across the top cities in Pakistan spanning over 50 specialties that allow patients to find the right doctor for their needs. There are over 1,000 doctors with whom patients can book a confirmed appointment from oladoc website and mobile apps. What started in 2016 as a band of 2 brothers has now transformed into an eminent institution with over 40 full time employees.

Extending Great Benefits to Patients oladoc.com (web and app) is a one stop solution for all consumer healthcare requirements. At oladoc, patients can: Ÿ Search required doctor through the gigantic database of qualified doctors for their medical need. Also, they can review feedback given by other patients, compare consultation fees, know more about the different services provided by the doctor and even schedule a confirmed appointment with them in a few clicks. Ÿ Order authentic medicines that are delivered at their door-step by simply uploading their prescription. Ÿ Order lab tests with free sample collection from their home or office. The patients are notified once the test reports are ready and can be accessed online. Ÿ Read a host of health content with pragmatic tips to improve quality of life and get smart about various health topics. Ÿ Store medical records at free of cost for lifetime, and share them with a doctor at the time of need. This is a one of its kind of service available in Pakistan.

Medical Practitioners too are getting Benefits To empower doctors, oladoc offers myPractice app that makes it easier for them to keep their practice in their pockets 24x7 and access any patient record and details at the click of a button. oladoc’s myPractice app allows doctors to Ÿ Update their online profile conveniently so patients can be kept up to date about the latest procedures and treatments offered by the doctor. Ÿ Manage their schedule/calendar effectively to maximize time with patients and avoid over-booked /under-booked slots. Ÿ Store their patients’ medical records to improve quality of care on an ongoing basis irrespective of the location of the clinic/hospital where a patient meets the doctor as most doctors in Pakistan work across 2 to 3 different clinics/hospitals.

In addition, oladoc also offers Hospital & OPD Management Solutions that can digitize entire Hospital/Clinic with services such as In-Patient Management, Out-Patient Management, Pharmacy, Labs, Billing, and Accounts along with Online Appointment Booking & Online Profile Management for Doctors and Hospitals.

Future Endeavors The mentors have plans to expand its services across the entire country and want expand its offerings to include services such as e-consultations to help the rural population of Pakistan who otherwise need to travel long distances to find a quality healthcare practitioner. “We are also upgrading our Electronic Medical Records functionality to make way for even better quality and more precise records.

Also, entering new geographies in Asia and Africa is in our wish list,” concludes Abid.

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41

Smart Inhalers:

Tackling Respiratory Maladies with IoT

42 | July 2018 |

Tech-Health

N

umerous devices and appliances are getting connected to the Internet day-by-day. Internet of Things is the new technology that has triggered a revolution all around the world. It has changed our day to day life to a great extent, from cell phones to washing machines and fitness bands and monitors. This new paradigm has wide ranging applications in various sectors, including healthcare. It has given hope to the healthcare sector, by allowing medical centers to function more efficiently and patients to obtain better treatments.

IoT in the healthcare market is growing progressively, and has various applications extending from remote monitoring to adhering to medication. With the increased use of IoT based systems in medical centers, it has shown a promising prospect to improve the quality and effectiveness of treatments and further improve the overall health of patients.

Technology has made healthcare easier on the pocket and also made it more accessible, for the patients. It has been observed over the years that medical diagnostics take up a large part of hospital bills. Technology has made routine medical checkups more home-centric for the patients, and accurate diagnosis has helped lessen the necessity of hospitalization.

One such IoT based solution that has recently caught the eye is the Smart Inhaler. Asthma is a chronic illness that has no cure and is thus prevalent lifelong. The World Health Organization testified that 250,000 people die annually due to asthma. The control medication and treatment of asthma consists of either completely avoiding triggers or regulation via control medication, that avert airway inflammation; or to stop spasms via rescue medicines, to reduce emergency room visits and deaths. An inhaler is a device that provides a measured and aerosolized dose of a wide assortment of medication that is administered to the lungs and air pathways.

Framework of a Smart Inhaler Device Almost all the IoT based smart inhalers are sensors that act as a clip on to existing inhalers. It has a GPS extension which allows it to track when and where the puffs are taken by the patients. These sensors are linked with an app that the patient needs to install on their smartphone. This information is readily conversed to the app by the sensors via Bluetooth on the smartphone or a plug-in hub. These are often used as a part of the asthma management program, under a physician’s regulation. It is a digital platform consisting of a custom sensor which records and transmits the treatment acquiescence data.

The Smart Inhaler platform enables the physicians to effectively monitor the inhalation technique and frequency, capturing factors such as inhalation flow rate, flow speeding, inhalation volume, stimulus time, as well as the patient’s usage of the inhaler. The data that is generated by the app is an important tool which offers the user simple metrics and tailored advice for a more real supervision of their condition.

Benefits that the IoT based Smart Inhaler Platform Offers Adherence to the medicine routine is a major issue that patients and physicians face. The patients often neglect the medications that are given to them to control their condition and end up using the rescue inhalers very often, putting themselves at a severe health risk, which can lead to loss of effectiveness. This trend has been observed for many years now. The key feature of the IoT based Smart inhaler is that it helps the patients adhere to their medication routine, and also allows the physicians to monitor their patients remotely.

The smart asthma inhaler precisely archives usage- when each dose is taken, it transfers this status to doctors, and helps keep the illnesses at check. This technology also gives automatically generated reminders, through the app, informing the patient to use the inhaler whenever necessary. Identification of the pattern, in the usage of the inhaler by the patients can aid the doctors in better understanding and controlling the respiratory disease. This makes the patient aware of the triggers, like pollen or temperature and helps keep them well-informed which helps to avoid Asthma attacks, preventing hospitalization.

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The GPS sensor of the inhaler is a unique feature which actively records where and when the puff was taken, with this data over a period of time, it comes up with a pattern, without any necessity of personal diaries or other conscious entry of information. The time and location data for each use is linked with a wide range of factors from environmental, geographic, traffic, to numerous neighborhood data, thus creating a map of asthma attack incidences.

With the help of this understanding of when and where the prophylactic puff of rescue medication was taken, the trigger of the attack can be altogether eliminated.

How the IoT helps Doctors and Patients Communicate The amalgamation of technology in healthcare sector is beneficial only when it reinforces the relationship between the patients and doctors; it is not intended to substitute the bond. Currently, there is a suite of profession-oriented applications available to the healthcare professionals and physicians, which provide them tools to monitor various aspects of AI-based therapy suggestions and data analytics. This allows them to be up-to-date instantly, to help them make an informed, smart and personalized treatment for their patients. A sensor on an inhaler can be a boon as it would provide a wealth of data, which can in-turn be used to improve adherence to medication. This data at the hands of physicians will allow them to understand the actual usage of the medication, by focusing on behavior changes, possible triggers, and hindrances to adherence. However, the major issue that needs to be addressed is privacy and security concerns, with such close monitoring of the patients.

The Players and the Market There are various companies that are currently looking into this technology. One of the prominent smart inhaler manufacturers has partnered with the Weather Channel to observe air quality in Louisville, Kentucky. As a part of a program, some companies have been giving out free sensors for rescue inhalers, and the other for maintenance inhalers to city residents with asthma. The market of smart inhalers is estimated to reach $191 million globally by 2022, which is approximately projecting an annual growth rate of 60%, according to a popular market research.

Big pharmaceutical companies, who have a significant portfolio in the Asthma and COPD, are forming alliances with the top technology giants, to develop smart inhalers. This shows how quickly generic competition can catch up with a potentially lucrative smart inhaler market. Development and launch of this sensor based smart inhaler offers the user simple metrics and custom-made advice for a more active control of their ailment. At the expense of smart inhalers, healthcare professionals are armed with a suite of specialized applications, providing remote monitoring tools, which can precisely and rapidly inform them. This enabled them to make smarter, informed and personalize decisions catering to the needs of the patients.

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Sehat Kahani: Making Quality Healthcare Facilities Accessible and Affordable to All

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igital healthcare solutions are utilizing software or internet connected devices for detection and treatment of many prevalent but easily treatable medical conditions. They are likely to advance regulatory processes and bring more clarity to mankind on wellness tools and medical devices. Additionally, there has been a shift to value based reimbursement, creating a productive platform for adopting new business models and clinical approaches. More importantly, they are empowering consumers to selfmanage their health. They also reduce the chances of human error by employing intelligent data analytics so that information is processed more efficiently.

One such innovative digital healthcare solution provider is Sehat Kahani (Story of Health). It is an all-female health provider network in Pakistan that connects home based female doctors, currently not working due to socio-cultural taboos, to provide accessible, effective, and affordable health care solutions to patients in need using ICT enabled health solutions.

Dr. Sara Saeed Khurram Co-founder and CEO

‘‘At

Sehat Kahani we aim to democratize healthcare for everyone

‘‘

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In the low income communities of the country where majority of the population is uneducated with limited exposure to technology, the company upgrades existing basic health centers within the community to Sehat Kahani E - Health Hubs. They are also a market leader in Pakistan in preventive health care messaging in low to middle income communities using easy and engaging digital and non-digital health education tools to influence and improve community health patterns.

Insightful Leadership Dr. Sara Saeed Khurram and Dr. Iffat Zafar Aga are the Co-Founders of the company. After one year of her

marriage, while doing her residency in Radiology, Dr. Khurram conceived her daughter and unfortunately could not continue her education as her institute did not have a policy to have an expecting mother in the program.

Through another work opportunity, she landed into community health, recognizing her passion and interest to create basic primary health care accessible to people especially in the underserved areas. Having recently finished her master’s in Public Health; her key strengths include raising investments, strategy development and implementation, vigilance, passion and a strong business sense which has enabled her to develop the company from scratch. Dr. Sara is also the Regional Acumen Fellow for 2016.

Dr. Zafar has extensive experience in the field of E-Health and Tele-health. She is currently doing her masters in EHealth from University of Edinburgh through a commonwealth scholarship. Her key strengths include strategic development, business opportunities exploration, and synergies development with external stakeholders. She is also a Global Good Fund Fellow for 2018-19.

Noteworthy Services The company connects all female health provider networks to underserved beneficiaries providing access, outreach and efficiency of healthcare. They have three distinct health verticals:

•

•

•

Access: By using trusted intermediaries (female front line workers) in the communities and dormant health infrastructure, they create Sehat Kahani E- Health Hubs where a front line worker is trained by five step training on medical knowledge, leadership and soft skills to connect patients in these Hubs to qualified home based female physicians and skills.

Prevention: Sehat Kahani, through its preventive health care portfolio creates innovative preventive healthcare messaging and social marketing activities in target communities to bring out a long term change in behaviors and health patterns.

Efficiency: Using their expertise in tele-health, they have created their unique and specialized tele-health platform - “Concierge Model”, which is accessible through desktop and from mobile as well.

Facing Challenges Head-On Currently, many competing tele-health companies are trying to create similar solutions in Pakistan. Sehat Kahani is led by two female doctors who have not only been through the

agony of not being able to practice but also know what it takes to come back to the workforce. They recognize the pool of knowledge their country is, that is being wasted by not being able to reach where it should. They also have the first mover’s advantage of being in the field for more than 3 years, piloting and iterating revenue streams, treating actual paying customers. They are the data aggregators striving to streamline true health data that has been under reported or misreported in Pakistan. They have made revenue of over net, created key collaborations and partnerships across all service lines, and won national and international recognition for their work showing that they are in it for the long haul.

Marching Ahead Confidently towards the Future Sehat Kahani works in multiple domains which encompass a multitude of health outcomes ranging from treatment options to preventive healthcare. Alongside using technology-enabled treatment methods they have a special focus and interest in preventive health care solutions that can help create long term impact on the quality of life of a patient. In a country like Pakistan where health care indicators project a very grim picture, enabling doctors and patients with first line health care support can be answer to many complicated disease conditions. The company aims to become a household name in Pakistan where by every Pakistani can avail quality health care services from the comfort of their communities, mobiles, and laptops at a cost they can afford and with a health care provider they can trust.

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Sihatech:

Emboldening the Connect between Doctors and Patients

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s we all know, health of a nation is the wealth of a nation. Just as technology has transformed our everyday lives, it has played a pivotal role in transforming the diagnosis, treatment and especially management in the healthcare industry. Digitization has come bearing greater advantage for the doctors as well as patients. Various companies are looking at this as an opportunity and contributing to improve the healthcare domain for people.

One such leading digital healthcare company is Sihatech. It provides the first full-fledged smart app and website that specializes in documenting a patient’s thorough medical journey. It allows the patients to document their entire medical experience and medications as well as provides continuous controlled communication between the doctors and patients.

Sihatech has combined the concepts of managing the medical journey and financing it. They provide first ever healthcare financing service to finance the non-insured medical treatments.

Ahmed Al-Bader Founder

‘‘We put care 48 | July 2018 |

‘‘

back into the healthcare

The History of Ideas and Developments Initially started as a doctor-booking app, Sihatech soon realised that the journey of the patient is what matters and it is not given sufficient attention. Therefore, they have developed the idea of managing a patient’s journey and financial support into a complete concept. Guided by their vision of putting care back into healthcare, they developed an app focusing on the patient’s journey, documenting the patient’s data and brief history, post consultation, treatment, and medical knowledge. The app was designed to also provide the reminder of each medication’s time and type to the patient and allow

interaction between the doctor and the patients for simple questions and appointment management.

Luminary Leaders of the Extraordinary Company Ahmed Al-Bader, the Founder, and Dr. Mussaad AlRazouki, the Co-Founder, each having 15 years of experience in the healthcare industry, have guided Sihatech to its glorious success. They have established and led Sihatech to be the third fastest growing Saudi Insurance and Technology Company. They are the significant brains behind the concept of grouping enhanced care delivery with technology. Under these two prominent and dynamic leaders, Sihatech has set various milestones, such as- it was selected by the WEF and IFC as one of the top 100 ventures shaping the 4th Industrial Revolution in MENA. Sihatech is also the proud winner of the ArabNet 2017 Startup Championship as the top venture from the MENA region.

Prime Products and Services Sihatech provides a fully-developed smart app and website for patients’ journey management, finding the doctor, and communication. Jamalek, a finance service for patients, is provided by Sihatech which focuses on arranging finance for non-insured medical procedures.

Sihatech’s Role in Improving the Healthcare Industry In the prevailing scenario of the digital healthcare management, numerous solutions are less interactive and some of them have limited the growth of some healthcare organizations. Amongst this, Sihatech’s services have radically changed the way of how the doctors and their patients view the healthcare sphere due to their nonintrusive interactive nature and provision of better understanding about the treatments to the patients. Due to the rating feature provided in the app, accountability at both the ends is improved as well as calendar-integration in the phones have increased the adherence. Sihatech has made financing attainable without coverage, which has helped in severe situations where payment-cycle was an obstacle.

Sihatech is a standalone digital healthcare management app in the GCC that allows instant healthcare insurance eligibility check.

Sihatech’s Insight on Recent Technological Developments in Healthcare Acknowledging the advancements brought by the new age of digital health, like online consulting, genetics and

advanced diagnosis like IBM’s Watson, Sihatech talks about someday having a universal medical record with blockchain technology where the data will be most secured, but still be most shared and utilized to help the humanity. They are confident that the world of digital healthcare will change dramatically once the government in the GCC will change their approach towards class.

New Revolutionary Product Launches Sihatech has invested in Sihatech V2.0, which is a completely redesigned app, incorporating new services, Jamalek and Salemtek, as well. Salemtek will be the first standalone portal in the GCC that is geared to deliver ondemand homecare and home-nursing services. By launching this service, Sihatech wants to mobilize the currently unemployed Saudi health-care workers as well.

Many healthcare providers have already agreed with Sihatech to widen the scope of their home care services using the Salemtek portal. They believe that by introducing Salemtek, they will change the healthcare model from hospital centric to point-of-service centric, allowing healthcare facilities to save costs and serve a wider range of patients. They have also introduced their own ERP and sales team for 2018.

Optimistic About the Bright Future Sihatech is positive about the advantages the new generation of tech-savvy healthcare workers, will bring to the company. They are very optimistic about the market trends in terms of digital healthcare. Sihatech promises a few major surprises to the healthcare market in the coming future.

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Expert’s Viewpoint

From Relevance to Convenience to ValueThe Future of Data Analytics in US Healthcare

About the Author Jonathan M. Prince, CEO of DataSmart Solutions, brings 35 years of business administration experience to the U.S. healthcare industry. As CEO for DataSmart Solutions, he is responsible for seeing that DSS fulfills its mission to help raise the quality and significantly lower the cost of U.S. healthcare through predictive analytics. Taking a population-based, big-data approach, DSS evaluates and identifies members who are at the greatest risk of health deterioration (and toward whom early intervention resources should be directed); DSS also assists in optimizing benefit program design and in provider evaluation and benchmarking. Prior to joining DSS, Jon worked 30+ years in financial markets with experience in sales, trading, management, business redesign, and client relations.

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et’s explore the power of data. Transforming raw data into real value begins with the concept of relevance. Merriam-Webster defines “relevance” as having ‘relation to the matter at hand’, ‘practical … applicability’, or ‘the ability to retrieve material that satisfies the needs of the user.’ In a world that is increasingly flooded with data, relevance is in high demand.

The last thing management in any industry needs for more irrelevant data. The burning need always has been, and continues to be, actionable information that is conciselypresented and relevant to the ‘matter at hand.’

Consider US healthcare. While congress deliberates on revisions to Obamacare, the cost of specialty medications, secondary care and tertiary care continues to rise. The percentage of the US economy accounted for by healthcare now approaches 20%. The matter at hand is to eliminate waste and find the best care at the lowest price and place it within reach of those who need it most urgently. The answers to these issues are relevant.

In an effort to help those bearing the financial risk (e.g. selfinsured employer plans) to gain control over these costs, analytics companies obtain and process mountains of data – medical claims, pharmacy claims, biometric information, blood screen results, vision tests, questionnaires, and even consumer data. Then, running this data through algorithms, regression analyses, and predictive models, these same companies return computational results to their users in an often bewildering array of tables, charts, graphs, diagrams and narrations. Regrettably, not all of the information is relevant.

Pareto’s Law (also known as the ‘80/20 Rule’) applies in dramatic fashion in healthcare. In general, a small percentage of any population accounts for a disproportionately large share of the plan’s expenses. Most wellness programs focus efforts upon the masses (i.e. the 80%). However, in actuality, most of a plan’s expenses originate with a small number of plan participants (i.e. the 20%). In fact, as few as 3-5% of plan participants often account for one-half of a health plan’s expenses, somewhat regardless of the plan, the geography, or the demographics of the population. Imagine the impact on health and on cost that could be realized if the 3-5% could prevent their condition from deteriorating. Diabetes, cardiac conditions, and even some cancers can be readily identified in early states by the pro-active use of predictive analytics. Such a list of future high-cost claimants, the 3-5%, would be relevant information.

Beyond relevance rests ‘simplicity’ – solutions that go a step further and automatically act upon relevant information. The financial investments industry mastered this idea years ago by creating mutual funds. Mutual funds

are investment pools managed by skilled asset managers.

Previously, analysts had to convert macro-economic statistics into a list of promising stocks that stock brokers could give to clients to provide relevant investment advice.

Then, someone realized that the investment process could be simplified by forming a diversified portfolio into which investors could directly invest. Mutual funds represent a hands-free way to combine both relevance and simplicity into an investment vehicle that eliminates the need for individuals to study, and take action on, investment reports.

Mutual fund investors don’t read reports or pick stocks.

They leave that with their portfolio managers.

Healthcare is responding with similar, coordinated solutions. Programs are emerging which integrate all digitally-available medical information and translate the data into actionable and relevant information. Then, like a portfolio manager who synthesizes disparate economic reports into an investment strategy, clinical care coordinators integrate disparate data sets and provide guidance to plan participants who can take action to increase the likelihood that they receive the best care, at the best facilities, at the lowest price.

The final responsibility for human health rests with the individual (or parent or guardian) but the technology to give relevant, simple guidance exists. Consumers need to demand and take advantage of price transparency, just like they do when shopping for other goods and services.

Today, the race is on to transform raw data into useful information that will result in weeding out ineffective providers, sub-par facilities, and overpriced medications.

Transparency is improving and analytics are revealing opportunities to save. To conclude, consider how this true story sheds light on the value of relevant information.

Several months ago, while visiting the US Northwest on a business trip, I stopped at an independent drugstore to pick up two prescription medications. The drugstore did not participate in my health plan, and the cashier stated that the price for the two (common) medications would be $450. I was stunned. While traveling in South America the prior year, I had paid $52 for the same supply of the same two medications. I’ve since ordered the same quantity of these drugs for $163. Imagine how an investor would feel after paying $450 per share of the same common stock that could be ordered online for $163 a share. The inefficiencies in US healthcare are still excessive and are responsible in part for the size of this sector of the US economy. But the better analytics companies are transforming raw data into relevant information. Astute self-insured plan managers must partner only with analytics companies that offer relevant information in simplified solutions.

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