Empowered Patient Podcast

KimberLee Heidmann is the Executive VP of Patient Experience and Customer Success at Scout Clinical, a third-party provider of patient services for clinical trial participants and their families. As a global partner of sponsors of trials, Scout oversees travel, visas, housing and accommodations, and patient payments. Working with underserved communities and patients with rare diseases, Scout removes barriers to participation in clinical trials and supports researchers in their care of patients and trial protocols. KimberLee elaborates, "Right now, the focus in clinical research is very much on diversity and inclusion and health equity. We're excited about that because we're passionate about that here at Scout. We're uniquely positioned to help the sponsors and the sites with those hard-to-reach patient populations. You're seeing a lot more in clinical research, especially in the rare disease space, where we're even looking at cross-border enrollment and bringing patients from underserved populations to areas where there are centers of excellence for treatment and clinical research." "Another thing that's burdensome that we've received a lot of feedback from clinical trial sites is the requirement to use a lot of different vendors and have access to different technology. Technology has been such a wonderful thing for the clinical trial industry, and we've brought so many wonderful things to the forefront in terms of wearable devices and diaries and the DCT model, where we're trying to relieve the burden of the patients to have to go to the clinical trial site. All of these things are wonderful, and they're excellent tools for clinical research." "But in some respects, they do add a burden to the researchers to have to, either as a sponsor or a CRO, manage all of those different aspects or for the clinical trial site to engage with all of these different tools. Then, if you carry that down into the patient, the patients and their families, participants and their families, a lot of times they are being introduced to this technology as well. Managing the full trial ecosystem can be very difficult for researchers and patients." #ScoutClinical #ClinicalTrials #RareDiseases #PatientTravel #TrialRetention #TrialRecruitment scoutclinical.com Download the transcript here

Zach Markin, Co-Founder and CEO of HTD Health, is focused on working with clients to develop technology solutions to improve workflow, reduce the time spent on data entry, and provide patient information at the appropriate level of detail on demand. While digital infrastructure supports the integration of health records and related patient information, human interaction is critical to improving patient care and the ability of clinicians to care for a broader audience. Zach explains, "Generally, I wouldn't try to persuade someone who thinks technology is not useful. I would not try to persuade someone to use technology. That's not a compelling way to engage with someone of that mindset. Instead, I would work to establish a more compelling value-based connection based on what that person cares about. If that's a doctor or a nurse, a health system administrator, or someone else who is likely skeptical or rightfully skeptical of yet another technology initiative, I would work to understand what the priorities that person has in the language of whatever is compelling and meaningful to them." "It makes sense that if you're caring for a sicker population, a provider should receive more money to do that work more effectively because you need more resources. Unfortunately, what that means in practice is these provider organizations end up having competencies both in care delivery and treatment of a condition, as well as a competency and documentation of their activities and the underlying needs of the populations they're taking care of. So, everyone's in this challenge and trying to create care experiences that prioritize patients, that are centered on patients, that create a human-centered experience for the patient." #HTDHealth #Healthcare #SaMD #SoftwareDevelopment #DigitalHealth #PatientCentric htdhealth.com Download the transcript here

Kathy Ford is the Chief Product and Strategy Officer at Ronin, applying AI and deep data mining to determine relevant cohorts to develop better cancer treatment plans. Looking at patient-specific data, including genetics, comorbidities, and risk factors, allows medical oncologists and patients to predict results and more accurately anticipate and prevent adverse events. The Ronin AI-based solution also educates patients in real-time as they go through their treatment. Kathy explains, "At Ronin, we are determined to leverage the power of all of the underutilized data in healthcare to better inform clinicians to make a more patient-specific decision faster, essentially, at the point of care. And we're starting in oncology to do so, the most complex disease. We are leveraging all the unclean and uncorrelated data, delivering it to the clinician, adding insights and intelligence, and speeding up decisions. We collaborated with MD Anderson to build the solution. So built with clinicians for clinicians. And we're also partnered with Providence Health System as well today." "What Ronin is doing is taking hundreds and hundreds of data elements about all sorts of patients and the patient specifically that's being treated. We're looking at cohorting information, to say, patients like me, with similar data elements, so lab values, comorbidities, social determinants, and so forth, have responded best with this treatment approach. So, delivering more patient-specific information at the point of care takes the guessing out of patient treatment planning." "Cancer is one of those diseases where we have to make the patient sicker to, ideally, make them better. And when a patient is initially diagnosed with cancer, they're often showered or hammered with a tremendous amount of information, instructions, and education. It's incredibly overwhelming. And then, once they begin their treatment, when they start to experience those adverse events, it can be very confusing and scary. Patients are often not sure what to do and are left with, is this expected? Should I be feeling this way?" "And, what exists today, without a solution like Ronin, is the EHR portal or the phone. Neither one of those is an effective way to stay connected with your clinical team, manage your expectations, and report your outcomes and adverse events." #AIinHealth #FutureofHealthcare #AI #PhysicianBurnout #PatientEngagement #Cancer #CancerTreatment #PrecisionOncology projectronin.com Download the transcript here

Maria Pereira Co-Founder and Chief Innovation Officer at TISSIUM, discusses her journey to develop a biocompatible, biodegradable polymer to enable atraumatic surgical procedures for tissue repair. This new polymer technology can be used as a sealant and adhesive to replace the use of tacks and sutures to repair blood vessels, nerve damage, and meshes without the use of any penetrating or traumatic fixation. Maria explains, "At TISSIUM, we are developing a new core technology, a new material that can be used for a traumatic tissue repair. We are leveraging a material that has been originally developed at MIT. One of the features of this material is that it can be used as a sealant or an adhesive, or even as a resin for 3D printing and drug delivery. And we can apply this material in surgery to enable surgical procedures in an atraumatic way." "Currently, we're developing products across three main domains, including cardiovascular, where we use the material as a sealant to stop blood leaks during cardiovascular surgery. We're also operating in the space of peripheral nerve repair, where we are developing an atraumatic solution where we can basically bring nerves together without the use of any sutures or other traumatic technologies. The third space where we are currently operating is in hernia repair, where we are using our materials as an adhesive to fix meshes to the abdominal wall, and therefore avoiding the use of tacks that can induce trauma and pain." #TISSIUM #Medtech #MedicalInnovation #TissueRepair #Sealant #Adhesive TISSIUM.com Download the transcript here

David Esposito, President and CEO of ONL Therapeutics, is focused on back-of-the-eye diseases such as open-angle glaucoma, dry age-related macular degeneration, and retinal detachment. Their drug ONL1204 targets retina cells to block the Fas receptor to reduce damage to the eye. This small peptide is delivered via an injection in the eye to slow the progression of retinal diseases. David elaborates, "The Fas receptor is a common pathophysiology in a number of cells of the body. Your audience may be familiar with oncology treatments, so therapies to treat cancer often try to develop a drug that activates the Fas receptor to trigger the death of those cancer cells. Those have been around for several decades, looking at fas receptors in other disease states. We have been the only ones focused in ophthalmology and eye diseases focused on the Fas receptor to protect retina cells." "I think certainly with fas receptors in the eye, what's very interesting is that it is a common pathophysiology across a variety of diseases of the eye. In drug discovery, you typically think of a particular receptor for a specific disease state. I mentioned cancer cells before with Fas. What's interesting about the discovery work that our founder, Dr. David Zacks, did at the University of Michigan is that the Fas receptor is involved in a variety of different diseases of the eye." "You wouldn't necessarily think the receptor could be implicated in a disease like dry age-related macular degeneration and in a different pathophysiology in glaucoma. But what's really unique about the Fas receptor and why we see the potential of blocking the Fas receptor is that it could have a significant impact across several disease states, whether it be glaucoma, AMD, or an acute condition of retinal detachment. That's what's been most exciting and certainly garnered a lot of interest in ONL on that approach." #ONLTherapeutics #EyeDisease #RetinalDisease #AMD #MacularDegeneration onltherapeutics.com Download the transcript here

Nima Ahmadi, CEO of The Wound Company, highlights the need for qualified and certified wound care experts to work with patients on a continuous basis. This kind of relationship allows the care provider to proactively manage the wound to ensure efficient healing as quickly as possible. Personalized plans are created using AI and data analysis, considering the patient's risk factors and specific details about the wound and their general health condition. Nima explains, "We think about being in a continuous relationship with everybody who has a wound, ensuring its healing. Then, we continue to be proactive as we manage patients who are at risk of new wounds or repeat wounds so that we're doing everything we can preventatively to prevent that from happening. This is completely different than how we've approached wound care for the last few decades." "We have certified experts, and our vision is that in ten years, every single American with a wound will have a certified wound care expert from The Wound Company assigned to their care. The expert is quarterbacking their wound care and ensuring they will heal as quickly and cost-effectively as possible. As part of that vision of assigning that coordination, we're also doing virtual and in-person, in some cases, wound care so that it's a one-stop shop experience for the patient to help them heal effectively and efficiently. And we have a tremendous amount of technology and other assets to help our clinicians do that multichannel wound care." #WoundCare #OstomyCare #Healthcare #Telehealth #NursingShortage thewound. co Download the transcript here

Dr. Monique Nugent is a practicing hospitalist and an associate director for the Division of Hospital Medicine at South Shore Hospital in Weymouth, Massachusetts. She's also the author of Prescription for Admission: A Doctor's Guide for Navigating the Hospital, Advocating for Yourself, and Having a Better Hospitalization. Post-COVID, hospitals are dealing with workflow and getting patients in and out of the hospital as soon as possible. One big obstacle is the lack of places patients can go for rehabilitation and skilled nursing care, which is leading to more consideration of the hospital-at-home model. While this is a patient-facing book, there are insights about what healthcare providers need to understand about the patient hospital experience. Monique explains, "Hospital-at-home is not a new concept. It's somewhat of a new concept here in the United States, but hospital-at-home has been successful around the world, and I think there's a lot of really good benefits." "Number one, it cuts down on costs, and that's always a big issue in this country. A day in the hospital comes with costs, not just for the care, there's the cost of the building that goes into your hospitalization. There's the cost of the electricity for that building that is built into your hospitalization. So, it does drive down costs just by moving the care to a different facility, which is your home." "I also think hospital-at-home is a big boon for the comfort of patients. Particularly our elderly patients. When they come into the hospital, often you'll see that people who struggle a little bit with their memory, who have a touch of dementia, or who have significant dementia can get very confused in the hospital. A, they're sick, B, these are new people, C, their routine is thrown off, and so that can worsen confusion and delirium." #HospitalManagement #HospitalatHome #HospitalMedicine #Hospitalization #HospitalBasedPhysician drmoniquenugent.com Download the transcript here

Ryan McQuaid, Co-Founder of PlushCare, has expanded their collaborative virtual care model to provide whole-person care, including mental health and weight management. Working with partners, PlushCare offers primary care and referrals to specialists, second opinions, and therapists in all 50 states. Their top priority is to provide personalized care in a seamless fashion to all patients, especially those in underserved and rural communities. Ryan elaborates, "Everybody's familiar with virtual care now. And so, given it's become a much more mature market, just like anything, as the market matures, consumers' expectations increase. And so, rewind five years ago, people were okay with maybe not the greatest experience when it came to a virtual visit, but now the bar has been raised substantially. And so, just making sure that patients get a wow experience has been one of our focuses." "I think another area is being the one-stop shop. I talked about us joining forces with Accolade and 2nd MD to be the one place that people go for their health benefits, connecting with their primary care doctor, their therapist, even a weight management expert. And so, that's an area that we're leaning into substantially to be that one-stop shop. We believe that when you look at other markets and other ecosystems, whether it's Apple's ecosystem or Google's ecosystem, that's a trend you see in other industries in verticals." @PlushCare #PlushCare #VirtualCare #Telehealth #PreventativeCare #MentalHealth #WeightManagement PlushCare.com Download the transcript here

Eli Ben-Joseph, Co-Founder and CEO of Regard, works with health systems to integrate AI into their medical record systems to help doctors by highlighting issues, aiding in the diagnosis, and writing medical notes after a patient visit. With increasing doctor burnout, an emphasis on more efficient workflow supported by technology is a path to giving providers more time with patients and less time on administrative issues and on their computers. Eli explains, "We say that it's essentially an AI co-pilot for doctors. The way that works is we have a deep integration with leading medical records, both Epic and Cerner. And when a health system partners with us they will link our software to their system. When a doctor opens up Regard, the moment they click the Regard button, our technology goes into the medical record and fetches the entire medical record data for that patient. All the labs, all the history, all the vitals." "What we recognized when we started this company is that doctors are spending way more time today than ever before having to make sure they document in a way that they can bill for it, that it doesn't get denied by insurance. They spend a lot of time dealing with prior authorizations or requirements that they have in terms of how they write their notes, and that's where that toil exists in healthcare. So we saw an opportunity to help automate a lot of those tasks, and that's where we step in." "So, a quick story: one of my favorite stories is one of our physicians, long time user, was working on a patient who had a stroke and she opened up Regard. And our technology went through years of data in a matter of seconds and found a note from an outpatient doctor that said that this patient has an atrial fibrillation, which is a fluttering of the heart, which it's very important to know that if you're dealing with a stroke. Because of our technology, she was able to see something that she would not have seen otherwise, that this patient had an AFib. She would've totally missed it because it was years back in piles of data. And because of that, she was able to adjust the care that she gave this patient. And that had a really positive impact on that patient's care as well." #RegardApp #ClinicianBurnout #AI #Workflow #Doctors #Physicians #Hospitals #NoteBloat withregard.com Download the transcript here

Mark McDonough, the CEO of ChromaCode, is leveraging high-definition PCR testing to overcome the limitations of conventional PCR to identify biomarkers of infectious diseases and cancer. While gene sequencing can provide valuable information, it requires more tissue, is expensive, and requires at least a week for analysis. Using HDPCR, ChromaCode has developed a lung cancer assay that looks at nine genes and 15 biomarkers, requiring less tissue, performed at a lower cost, and provides results quickly. This approach, built on a cloud-supported multiplexing platform, provides flexibility to explore other areas in oncology and transplants, looking at multiple targets per sample. Mark explains, "With PCR today, assays look at particular biomarkers on a gene-by-gene basis. So those can be effective in lung cancer, for example, if you know you're just looking for EGFR as a biomarker or if you're looking at KRAS or ALK, a different mutation. But the problem is it's not very comprehensive, and you need a lot of tissue. So, PCR falls short because it's limited in scalability and requires a lot of tissue." "Why this is important for the patient in terms of patient empowerment and lung cancer is when a patient gets their result back from ChromaCode and their provider using ChromaCode technology, they also are more than likely having an immunochemistry test called PD-L1 run. They're trying to determine if there is a targeted therapy, or is it best to put a patient on immunotherapy, or is there a combination of immunotherapy and chemo?" "Having all that answer back in one to two days, as opposed to knowing what you'll get back from immunochemistry in a day and then waiting two weeks for sequencing, can be very problematic. So, we feel like we're meeting that open opportunity where sequencing is too slow and too expensive, requiring too much tissue, and PCR just isn't comprehensive enough and is very much trial and error on a one-by-one basis with our technology." #ChromaCode #HDPCR #Diagnostics #ChromaCodeCloud #Genomics #LungCancer #GeneSequencing chromacode.com Download the transcript here