Empowered Patient Podcast

JJ Mosolf, Founder and President of Academy Medtech Ventures, develops digital health solutions for use in clinical environments and at home to drive more effective rehabilitation. Addressing the brain and body by combining cognitive training with physical rehabilitation demonstrates better health outcomes and pain management. Their operating system, Cog PT, includes user-friendly tools for in-clinic assessment, AI human motion capture, and training, with a companion app for patients.  JJ explains, "We see the body and the brain as intricately connected. A lot of the literature over the past decade or so points to the brain as a vehicle for the upside, as the driving force behind what goes on from a neuromuscular standpoint. We see this less as, "Let's introduce cognition and neurocognitive training to uncover some deficiency or impairment," and more as a vehicle for training upside purposes. This connection point is typically where people struggle."   "The operating system term references every component within a clinical care instance. We recognize that it isn't just the delivery of a modality that a clinician cares about but the time that it takes to document said intervention and the ability to introduce connectivity to the home environment. We've tried to build a suite of tools to touch on each of those elements and provide the most easy-to-use and valuable service for clinicians, not just at the point of care." "A tangible example would be the in-clinic modality side of what can be delivered as a software implementation on an iPad. It can be set up whether it's on a stand or in a patient's hands, and it fits within the workflow space. Then we've got some patient education tools and data tools to help on the workflow side, and the home remote monitoring side also rounds out the operating system. That's a core tenet of how we think about technological interventions in the rehab space." #CognitiveTraining #AI #ComputerVision #Rehabilitation #PhysicalTherapy #Clinicians #DigitalHealth academymedtechventures.com Download the transcript here

Adam Kautzner, President of Express Scripts, highlights the role pharmacy benefit management companies play in negotiating prices with drug companies and pharmacies. They also perform health safety checks to ensure patients get the correct medications and updates, and those with multi-morbidities are checked for possible drug interactions. Overcoming the supply chain challenges during the pandemic, Express Scripts continues to develop more effective solutions to lower the cost of drugs and improve access.   Adam explains, "Unfortunately, prescription drugs are becoming even more expensive. So our role in that space is to work for employers, or potentially for health plans, that hire us to help improve, for patients, medication affordability, to improve patient outcomes, and ensure that for patients there is predictability at the pharmacy counter to navigate their pharmacy benefit."   "We're able to do that because, as the most utilized benefit, we have a bird's eye view of all the different patients' needs that they may have. We're able to look over, if you're going to multiple doctors, getting prescribed multiple drugs from multiple doctors. We can actually perform safety checks across all of that to ensure that when you're refilling a prescription or getting a new prescription everything is safe, and there aren't going to be drug interactions. We're able to ensure that you have predictability and affordability for your pharmacy benefits." "So yes, comorbidities continue to become a broader and broader issue. I would say there are also more drugs now to treat many of those comorbidities, and some products can even treat multiple types of conditions where they've been approved for things like cardiovascular and diabetes. Those drugs that treat multiple conditions can also be helpful as well because you can actually eliminate some drugs and minimize the number of different products that you have to take." #ExpressScripts #Evernorth #PharmacyBenefitManagement #PBM #DrugCosts evernorth.com ExpressScripts.com The facts about home delivery Download the transcript here

Wayne Picker, Head of Operations at Prenuvo, discusses the use of whole-body MRI as an early detection tool to change the paradigm of healthcare from reactive to proactive. Using an optimized MRI machine, these 3D scans allow clinicians and patients to identify early signs of disease and gain insights into actionable information that can influence lifestyle changes and future testing. Prenuvo is focused on reducing the cost of whole-body MRI scans and making them affordable and accessible to reduce late-stage diagnoses dramatically. Wayne explains, "MRI is still quite a young tool. It's only been around for the last 40 years. Traditionally, MRI has always been a slow scan technique. And so, because of that, it's usually the last test people are ever getting done. Usually, imaging starts with an X-ray. If they can't find the solution from that, they'll often go for a CT scan or an ultrasound, and usually, MRIs are the last test that people get sent for." "This is a real shame because MRI is the most sensitive and specific scan for lots of different health conditions. So, part of forming Prenuvo was looking to change that paradigm. We were looking to use MRI as the first test. And if we image the body sooner before somebody has symptoms, then health outcomes have to be better. The direction has been using MRI, a safe imaging test to scan head to toe, looking for as many different health conditions as possible." "One was to screen for the most conditions possible. The next one was to do it in a time-savvy way, doing the scan in less than an hour. Then the third one was to make it as reproducible as possible. We could compare the scan from one year to the next so we could come in and follow the progression or the consistency of their health conditions year-on-year, as well as with our different clinics, making sure that those scans are reproducible." #Prenuvo #ProactiveHealthcare #WholeBodyMRI #Healthtech Prenuvo.com Download the transcript here

Cynthia Pussinen, CEO of Sernova, describes their innovative cell therapy platform, the Cell Pouch System, which can deliver functional cures for chronic diseases using therapeutic cells, tissues, proteins, and other molecules. This implantable device is made of mesh that allows for vascularization, forming a pseudo-organ that can function in the body and fulfill unmet needs. The current focus is on type one diabetes, where the Cell Pouch has shown promising results, allowing patients to become insulin-independent. Other potential applications include treating hypothyroidism and hemophilia A.   Cynthia explains, "The Cell Pouch is a very flexible implantable device. It's made of two polypropylene mesh sheets, and in those mesh sheets, it has perfectly sized pores. So, the Cell Pouch is a couple of millimeters thick and about the size of a credit card."   "We take the Cell Pouch and, place it in the abdominal region of the patient and let it sit for a couple of weeks. And that is to allow vascularization. So vessels and tissues grow through those pores I mentioned a moment ago of the Cell Pouch. It creates a very healthy environment for us to put those therapeutic cells or tissues or blood factors, hormones, or proteins into that Cell Pouch a couple of weeks later after that full vascularization has happened. If we put the cells in without the vascularization happening first, the cells would die."   "After we place those therapeutic cells into the Cell Pouch, the cells in the Cell Pouch essentially form a pseudo-organ of sorts. They begin to function, fulfilling what the body was not capable of previously performing. And so in the case of our type one diabetes study, what happens is, after the Cell Pouch and cells are implanted into the patient's body, we then begin to titrate them off of insulin over the course of a couple of weeks. Then the body with the Cell Pouch and cells goes on to essentially form that pseudo-organ of sorts. We have patients now who have been insulin-independent for a number of years." #Sernova #FunctionalCure #TypeOneDiabetes #CellTherapy #ChronicDiseases #PrecisionMedicine #Medtech Sernova.com Download the transcript here

Dr. Ben Barlow, Chief Medical Officer of Experity, has identified opportunities to leverage the power of technology in the complex urgent care environment, which requires a wide range of services. To overcome the challenges of long wait times and staffing shortages, Experity is streamlining workflows and making urgent care more efficient and patient-centered. Online scheduling, pre-visit information gathering, and access to existing electronic health records aid clinicians in treatment decisions and post-visit follow-up, resulting in improved delivery of on-demand healthcare services. Ben explains, "We do a lot of different things. I don't think people know what we do in urgent care. We started being an alternative for patients to the emergency department, but now we've evolved into being patient-centered to where the doctor waits on the patient. And so, that's what we do in urgent care. We take care of a lot of different needs of the patients, really dictated on what the patients want us to help them with." "I think that urgent care's strength is that we continue to think about the challenges the patients are experiencing and try to adapt to those challenges. An example is recently, when COVID hit, no one wanted to wait in lobbies. They didn't want to interact with other sick people. So urgent care ramped up its online scheduling, allowing patients to get on a waitlist online and then get texted when it was their time to come in. And so it's those kinds of things that, as challenges arise, the urgent care community is looking to address. Our major challenge right now is looking at the payer system, challenges with reimbursement, labor shortages, and things like that." "We want to think of the patient as not just the interaction that occurs inside the clinic but also before and after because the medical community and the healthcare environment are very complicated to navigate. We feel like urgent care is the front door into the system, so we're continuing to make products and services that help our clients help patients navigate the complexities of the healthcare environment." #Experity #UrgentCare #PatientExperience #Healthcare experityhealth.com Download the transcript here

Meg Boehme, living with multiple sclerosis and a friend, discusses her reaction to receiving the diagnosis of MS, which she had suspected for many years due to little-understood symptoms. Meg highlights the importance of doctors being aware of the early indications of MS and helping patients see this as a chronic condition that can, in part, be treated with lifestyle changes and staying active. She also emphasizes the need for more affordable access to the latest treatments.  Meg explains, "Oh, yes. It is a chronic condition. What annoys me is that in the media, it's often treated as a fatal condition. And for most of us, for those who don't have the progressive form, it fortunately is not. It doesn't have to be. The diagnosis is not necessarily the end of the world." "There are good treatments coming down the road. The key to it is keeping yourself active and keeping your own body as healthy as you can. Eating well, staying active, keeping your weight manageable, keeping your diet manageable. Don't do stupid things. That being responsible for your own body, being responsible for your own life. When you get a diagnosis of anything like this, you need to take a look and know that you need to take care of yourself." "It's a lifesaver, quite literally. I'll go into the chorus in pain, and the pain disappears. Singing is, in all ways, the lifeblood of me. And yes, the singing, the breathing, the posture, the fact that I stand on the risers for three hours a week, that it keeps my brain active, that I have to learn the music. We sing completely acapella. We have about three weeks to learn a piece of music and then sing without looking at the music. And that my director has MS and is not sympathetic towards me. If I'm dizzy or have a problem, I can sit, but I mostly don't. I gut it out. But if I come in pain, most of the time, I don't leave in pain. It's just the thing that keeps me going, and I think the big thing is that it keeps my brain active." #MS #MultipleSclerosis #ChronicDiseases Download the transcript here

Kinsey Fabrizio, now President of the Consumer Technology Association,  highlights many digital health innovations in the women's health arena showcased in the recent CES 2024 event.  A recent CTA study found that 45% of women currently use digital health solutions, and 75% of women in the survey face challenges obtaining healthcare services. With oversight from the FDA, medical devices and wearables are becoming increasingly accurate. With the addition of AI, they are expected to play a role in improving healthcare outcomes and access.   Kinsey explains, "CTA is a nonprofit trade association, and we represent the entire consumer technology industry. And a big part of that is digital health. We have members who are digital health companies, and we strive to help advance the industry for them. We do that through policy, research, and standards development. We're an ANSI-Accredited Standards organization, and through different events, we convene the industry together." "We saw a lot of really exciting innovations in women's health at the CES 2024 show. Digital health is always a really big category for CES. We have hundreds of exhibitors in this category, and we do two full days of conference programming called our Digital Health Summit. And it's an opportunity for the industry to come together and talk about the exciting transformation of healthcare led by technology. But some really exciting products that we saw in the women's health space were just unique and stood out." "That is just an example of how tech is starting to be tailored to address specific women's health issues. This isn't something I would've seen at CES 10 years ago, so it shows the evolution and advancement there. Another product that I thought was just game-changing is Cerviray, a cancer screening device by AIDOT, which utilizes a very specific technique called visual inspection with acetic acid. And it's faster, simpler, and less invasive than traditional tests like the pap smear." #CTA #ConsumerTechnologyAssociation #EmpowerHerHealth #AIforHerHealth #EmpowHERHealth #FutureofFeminineHealth cta.tech Download the transcript here

Dahlia Attia-King, CEO of Panacea, is bringing whole exome sequencing to a broader audience and promoting the value of this data for disease prevention and making smarter lifestyle choices. She highlights the differences between whole exome sequencing and whole genome sequencing, noting that whole exome sequencing can be conducted more cost-effectively and provide information about the genes most likely to impact health.   Dahlia explains, "These two barriers, the physicians and the insurers, are sometimes big barriers to accessing clinical genetic testing for people, even those who need it and those who fit the current guidelines. We aim to bypass those barriers and partner with very skilled CLIA/CAP certified laboratories. We partner with trained clinical genetic counselors. We partner with physicians who understand how to utilize genetic testing, and we bring those services collectively in one very simple, user-friendly experience so that no one who wants genetic testing will struggle to get it." "We do that and focus on whole exome because, number one, it's more cost-effective. It's actually quite a lot more expensive to sequence the entire genome. So when you focus on just the genes, you focus on the 20,000 plus genes in the genome and nothing else. But that's so valuable because the vast majority of changes or mutations in your genome that affect your susceptibility for disease happen in the exome." "But to your point, there is also a large amount of data that can come off the exome that is interpretable. And in a lot of cases, just like you said, it's actionable, which means that information can be used to make certain targeted decisions in your healthcare so that you can essentially, in a way, get ahead of your genes or outsmart your genes because you're prepared. You know the instructions that your genes are holding and where your risks might be. That way, you can certainly better target your healthcare and take a more preventative approach as opposed to a reactionary approach, which happens in most cases in today's healthcare." #SeekPanacea #WholeExomeSequencing #WholeGenomeSequencing #Genome #PreventativeMedicine seekpanacea.com Download the transcript here  

Steven Lee, Co-Founder and CEO of Ianacare, is in the business of supporting caregivers by working with employers, health plans, and providers to offer services that patients and their families need. Effective hospital-at-home and home non-clinical care models show a reduction in hospital readmission and cost of care. This care navigator approach allows caregivers to keep patients in their homes and reduces employee absenteeism. Working with partners, Ianacare has applied to be an approved provider in the new CMS program GUIDE, the Guiding and Improved Dementia Experience program, to expand the application of this model. Steven explains, "This has become really critical. For one reason, good caregiving in the home keeps patients in the home and out of institutions. And that's a win-win-win for everybody. Patients prefer being in the familiar surroundings of their home. We all would prefer to age in our own homes. It's cheaper for the healthcare system. Every inpatient admission or ER visit prevented by a family care member is thousands of dollars saved in the healthcare system."   "So it's really a win-win-win. The numbers and the research out there clearly prove these caregivers' critical role. I'll cite a couple of studies. There's a UPMC study that shows when family caregivers are involved and engaged in care plans, hospital readmissions decrease by 25%. Conversely, there's a study from the Journal of American Geriatric Society when patients have caregivers who are depressed, burnt out, or tired, they experienced a 73% increase in ED utilization and $2,000 higher medical costs over six months. So, to summarize, good caregiving keeps patients in the home, and that's why this is important."   "What we've done is bring together all the layers of resources you might need at some point in the care journey into one easy-to-use experience. We have a platform accessible through a browser or smartphone, and it starts by matching you up with unlimited access to a care navigator who's your right-hand expert to not only guide you through decisions and planning but also ensure things get done." #Ianacare #Caregivers #HospitalatHome #HospitalReadmission #CareNavigators #CMSGUIDE #AlzheimersDisease Ianacare.com Download the transcript here

Stella Vnook, the Founder and President, and Bill Breitenbach, CEO of Oral Bio Life, talk about the prevalence and causes of periodontal disease and the limitations of current treatments. The Oral Bio Life PiezoGEL technology has shown effective removal of plaque and treatment of bacteria on teeth and regenerating bone for a long-term solution. Periodontal disease contributes to inflammation and infection and is showing links to other health conditions like cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and Alzheimer's disease. In addition to human trials, success is seen in trials with veterinarians to regenerate bone in dogs.  Stella Vnook elaborates, "Dentists can identify the early warning signs, but in addition to oral hygiene, we also found, and it's supported by data, there are some people who are predisposed to just having issues with their gums and/or periodontal disease. There are genetic implications, and there are people that have comorbidities. The goal is to remove the plaque and the bacteria film. But the process is rather painful. One of the reasons why I founded this technology and this company is because of the scaling and root planing, which is quite painful." Bill explains, "I'd like to add there's a real recognition lately from scientists around the world that inflammation is the root cause of a lot of major diseases - cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and even Alzheimer's. What they're finding is that the fibrous bacteria travel from the mouth throughout the body, contributing to heart disease, diabetes, pregnancy complications, cancer, and Alzheimer's. Just recently, there's some NIH data that shows that P. gingivitis, the main pathogen for chronic gum disease, has been identified in the brain of Alzheimer's disease patients. So, it's not just about gum disease, it's about total body health, and there is a need to be taking care of that and being mindful of the downstream effects of not taking care of periodontal disease." #OralBioLife #GumDisease #PeriodontalDisease #Inflammation #Veterinarians #BoneRegeneration oralbiolife.com Download the transcript here