Faces of Digital Health

In 2017, 57.7 million people were living with limb amputation due to traumatic causes worldwide.Apart from accidents, a person might need an amputation due to vascular diseases and diabetes. You might have come across increasingly sophisticated prosthetic limbs, which mimic human movements. The problem is, these are extremely expensive. Simple cosmetic prosthetic costs around $5,000, a functional prosthetic with a hook up to $10,000, and the latest myoelectric tech-enhanced ones cost up to $100,000.In this episode, Dima Gazda, CEO, and founder of Esper Bionics speaks about the development of the market, and how Esper Bionics operates, given that it has facilities in Ukraine.Subscribe to the newsletter: https://fodh.substack.com/ Website: www.facesofdigitalhealth.com  

This episode was first published in summer 2021, and is one of the most listened-to episodes from 2021. Taiwan spends only 6.4% of it’s GDP for healthcare, but has high satisfaction rates with healthcare, and is also very digitalized. In this episode, a closer look into healthcare in Taiwan is provided by Prof. Yu-Chuan Jack Li - a pioneer of artificial intelligence in medicine and translational biomedical informatics. Professor Li is Editor-in-Chief for BMJ Health & Care Informatics journal, the elected president of the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA) and has devoted himself to evolving the next generation of Al in patient safety and prevention ("Earlier Medicine"). He has been deeply involved in biomedical informatics development in Taiwan and international cooperation on various continents, including Asia, America, Europe, and Africa. We spoke about the state of healthcare digitalization and AI in Taiwan.Subscribe to the newsletter: https://fodh.substack.com/www.facesofdigitalhealth.comLeave a rating or a review: lovethepodcast.com/facesofdigitalhealth

One of the more prominent news in July was that according to Sifted, healthcare seed investments in Europe surpassed Fintech investments in June, making the health tech industry the industry that’s attracting the most investments. At the same time, in the US, Rock Health reported that digital health startups in the US raised 10.3 billion USD in the first half year of 2022, and StartupHealth reported a lower amount of investments compared to 2021. As StartupHealth noted, the 16B raised globally in Q1 and Q2, is still much more than in the first half of the year 2020. You can tune into a reflection on the current state of digital health globally by listening to the interview with the Startup Health president Unity Stoakes in April: https://www.facesofdigitalhealth.com/blog/startup-health-unity-stoakes This episode takes a look at the European market and how aescuvest invests in digital health startups. We also talk about the rising problem of digital visual stress. Speakers:  Simon Molitor, Associate Project Manager at Aescuvest,  Michael Mrochern, Member of Investment Committee aescuvest and the CEO of Vivior which offers a novel wearable device – the Vivior Monitor – to objectively measure visual behavior prior to vision correction interventions. www.facesofdigitalhealth.com Monthly newsletter: https://fodh.substack.com/p/a-glimpse-in-digital-health-and-healthcare https://www.aescuvest.eu/ https://vivior.com/ https://eithealth.eu/in-your-region/germany/ This episode is supported by EIT Health Germany, which is one of eight Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) currently funded by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). Find out more about startup opportunities in 2022.

This is a short documentary about medication-related patient safety. The documentary explores and offers an overview of the current challenges and technical solutions related to medication safety to raise awareness about the need to further improve medication-related patient safety.Unsafe medication practices and medication errors are a leading cause of injury and avoidable harm in health care systems across the world. Globally, the cost associated with medication errors has been estimated at $42 billion USD annually. Errors can occur at different stages of the medication use process.More than 237 million medication errors are made every year in England, the avoidable consequences of which cost the NHS upwards of £98 million and more than 1700 lives every year, indicate national estimates, published online in the journal BMJ Quality & Safety.The documentary premiered on 29 June 2021.Watch the documentary and full interviews with the speakers: https://www.facesofdigitalhealth.com/overdose-documentaryLearn more about Better Meds: https://meds.better.care/Speakers in the movie and this episode: David W. Bates, Medical Director of Clinical and Quality Analysis, Information Systems, Patient Safety Expert and Harvard MD (Clinical & Research Perspective) Professor John Horn, PharmD, University of Washington School of Pharmacy, coauthor of “The Top 100 Drug Interactions”; A Guide to Patient Management” Martina Viduka, Practicing Nurse, Co-Founder of Advosense David Kliff, author and publisher of the Diabetic Investor eNewsletter, former investment advisor, and as a person living with diabetes (Patient Perspective) Duncan Cripps, Electronic Prescribing and Medication Management Lead at University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust (Pharmacist Perspective) Roni Shiloh, CEO of Seegnal, MD degree, specialized in Psychiatry (CDS provider and doctor perspective) Hicham Naim, Global Head Integrated & Personalized Patient Care Program, Digital Advisory Board at Takeda (Pharma Perspective) Marinka Žitnik, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Informatics, Harvard Medical School (Research perspective Lea Dias, Clinical Pharmacist, Founder and CEO of Quaefacta Abdulelah Alhawsawi, Ex - founding Director-General of the Saudi Patient Safety Center (SPSC) Roi Shternin, Founder of the patient-led Israeli society for Dysautonomia (Patient perspective).

Brazil had over 200 million people; how many of them sleep well? I hope you’re enjoying summer and resting enough. Many people have issues with sleeping: either not sleeping enough or sleeping poorly. Oftentimes, due to poor sleep hygiene, such as drinking coffee too late in the day, being exposed to blue light from phones, tablets, or computers right before getting to bed, etc. As listed by the Cleveland clinic, poor sleep results in a lack of alertness during the day, excessive daytime sleepiness, impaired memory, poor quality of life, and relationship stress. And more serious problems ​​associated with chronic sleep deprivation are high blood pressure, diabetes, heart attack, heart failure or stroke. Other potential problems include obesity, depression, reduced immune system function, and lower sex drive. The Brazilian startup Sleepup is trying to help people with sleep issues with an over-the-counter digital therapeutic. The DTx works on a behavioral change approach determined for each user. The first step is an individual assessment of the causes of poor sleep. You will hear from Renata Redondo Bonaldi, Co-Founder and CEO of Sleepup. We talked about various aspects of sleep issues and the role of wearables and digital health in improving sleep. If Renata had one piece of advice for sleep improvement, this is what she’d say to you:More at: www.facesofdigitalhealth.comLeave a rating or a review: lovethepodcast.com/facesofdigitalhealth

How many times in the last year or two have you heard that patients should own their data or have control over their data? These statements sound simple but are much more complex once you start to look at the implications they might have in practice. In June,  the European Patients’ Forum Congress took place in Brussels. The topic was the digital transformation of healthcare, data sharing, and the role of patient organizations in this story.  This episode recaps some of the patient opinions at the EPF Congress. Watch the panel sessions: epfcongress.euRead the recap: www.facesofdigitalhealth.com/blog/what-do-patients-really-think-about-data-recap-of-the-epf-congress

After several discussions about digital health in the APAC region, we are finishing the exploration in the region with a debate about healthcare digitalization in Pakistan. Pakistan has 242 million people. It’s the 5th largest population in the world. If you look at the website of the US state department, you will see advice to reconsider traveling to Pakistan. Life expectancy is low; the country attributes only 1.1 % of its GDP to healthcare. Yet, as mentioned by Zahid Ali, HIMSS Future50 Health IT Leader 2021, A digital health and innovation thought-leader and Consultant, the strategy Pakistan took in the fight against COVID was recognized by WHO as exemplary. So what is the state of healthcare digitalization in the country, and what can other countries learn from Pakistan? That’s the topic of today’s discussion.Do check out other episodes about the APAC region: https://www.facesofdigitalhealth.com/blog/digital-health-in-apac-an-overview-keren-priyadashini-microsoft-asia facesofdigitalhealth.com 

Dr. Keren Priyadashini is Regional Business Lead of Worldwide Health for Microsoft Asia. She leads the company’s healthcare business segment across 17 markets in Asia Pacific. Looking at digital health investments in the APAC region, according to Galen Growth Asia, last year China took the highest amount of funding (58.6%) for digital health, followed by India (22.3%), Australia (5.6%), Soth Korea (4.3%), and Singapore (3.8%). Healthcare expenditure differs a lot among countries: According to the World Bank, China attributed 5,3% of its GDP to healthcare, India 3%, Australia 9.91 %, Singapore 4%. How do these healthcare systems differ and does healthcare expenditure relate to investment in digitalization?More content at: www.facesofdigitalhealth.com Leave a rating or a review: www.lovethepodcast.com/facesofdigitalhealth.com

Many cancer survivors in long-term remission are faced with restricted access to financial services because of their medical history. Some EU countries have already implemented the right to be forgotten - a right for patients to not disclose their medical history. In most countries, the requirement is for the patient to be cancer-free for 10 years, France has changed this time limit to 5 years. Changes across Europe are happening very slowly. The understanding of the problem is poor and needs a lot more awareness. The incidence of cancer is increasing, however, at the same time, treatments are becoming more successful, returning long-lasting health to patients. Due to this scientific advancement, social care and policies should be changed as well. Dr. Françoise Meunier is Member of the Belgian Royal Academy of Medicine, she was Director General of European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer for 24 years from 1991 to 2015. She is also a Scientific Member of the European Cancer Patient Coalition. She has been advocating for the right to be forgotten for almost 10 years. This is just an excerpt of a broader episode published in autumn 2022.

In the previous episode we explored healthcare and the position of doctors in Malaysia. Today and in the next few episodes, we will stay in the Asia Pacific region, by peeking into Australia, Pakistan Singapore, and more. My guest today is Peter Birch, creator, and host of Talking HealthTech; an Australian podcast and membership community about technology in healthcare. In the past, Pete has been running clinics, and software companies, he is still company Director at MetaOptima, creating intelligent technology to help doctors detect and treat skin cancer. He is also the company Director of the Medical Software Industry Association (MSIA), representing the software vendors of the healthcare industry in Australia. Clearly, Pete has a good understanding of tech challenges in healthcare which he shared in this discussion. We talked about the current state of My Health Record, why is Australia not a leader in exemplary telehealth solutions, what it means that the government plans to dedicate 107 million Australian dollars to invest in digital healthcare infrastructure, and more.Other episodes about Australia:Australia, AI and co-design of digital health solutions (Marie Johnson): https://www.facesofdigitalhealth.com/blog/australia-ai-and-co-creation-of-digital-health-solutions-marie-johnson?rq=australiaF105 The state of healthcare digitalization in Australia (Louise Schaper, AIDH): https://www.facesofdigitalhealth.com/blog/f105-the-state-of-healthcare-digitalization-in-australia-louise-schaper-aidh?rq=australiaF115 Primary healthcare digitalisation in New Zealand, Australia, UK and US (Dimitri Varsamis): https://www.facesofdigitalhealth.com/blog/us-new-zealand-australia-uk-primary-care-digitisation?rq=australiaREFLECTIONS: A transocean podcast session (Joy Rios, Bianca Rose Phillips, Tjasa Zajc): https://www.facesofdigitalhealth.com/blog/reflections-a-transocean-podcast-session-joy-rios-bianca-rose-phillips-tjasa-zajc?rq=australia