DigitalHealth InvestorTalk Show

Pharmacy was based on pills, and PBMs were based on margins. GenAI challenges both.The practice and business of pharmacy is one of the most, if not the most, data intense medical professions and therefore is more susceptible to disruptive AI than any other healthcare profession.In this show we'll cover:How AI is freeing pharmacy operation teams from the tyranny of the screens.There are dozens of early-stage companies powered by AI tools that are working to automate or optimize every step in the process of filling a prescription and determining the appropriate insurance coverage.Over $1 billion dollars in capital has been invested in this space over the past three years.Drug companies are launching Direct to Consumer websites for their patented medicines. How do these work and will they provide better access for patients?Will Most Favored Nations pricing have an effect on drug pricesAnd we'll answer your questions.Harry Travis is the President of The Travis Group. He provides strategic consulting and executive coaching services to both US-based and international clients in the pharmacy, digital medicine, and medical technology markets. He is also the founder of TheRxRoundtable.com, which is a network of expert advisors to the pharmacy and pharmacy technology space. Prior to founding The Travis Group, he was Senior Vice President, Member Services Operations at CVS Caremark. Harry also held senior leadership positions with Baxter Healthcare, Cardinal Health, Accredo/Medco, and Aetna, where he served as the VP of Aetna’s Specialty and Home-Delivery Pharmacy business.Steven Wardell is the Managing Partner of Wardell Advisors, a consulting firm focused on growth, fundraising, and strategic alternatives for digital health companies. He is the host of DigitalHealth InvestorTalk and the author of The Future of Digital Health. Follow for digital health insights at X.com/StevenWardell.

What's the line for being classified as a medical device? Is it worth it today to be a medical device? What is going on in medtech?What's the line for being classified as a Medical Device? Is it worth it today to be a medical device? What is going on in medtech? The promise of Medical Devices used to be that it wasn't that hard to provide great clinical value for an unmet medical need with a new device and with an straightforward FDA process you could have a high-growth, high-margin product. But what is the real opportunity today?In this show we'll cover:What are the challenges facing Medical Devices today?What are the tradeoffs to avoiding or choosing the medical device pathway?What is the real cost difference?How does AI come into play?And we'll answer your questions.Joe Schwendt is the Founder and CEO of Runway Hero, a boutique consultancy that helps MedTech and Pharma teams build modern medical device software fast, compliant, and inspection-ready. With three decades in regulated digital products, he turns concepts into validated releases with clean documentation, disciplined engineering, and clear business outcomes.Steven Wardell is the Managing Partner of Wardell Advisors, a consulting firm focused on growth, fundraising, and strategic alternatives for digital health companies. He is the host of DigitalHealth InvestorTalk and the author of The Future of Digital Health. Follow for digital health insights at X.com/StevenWardell.

From Crisis to Catalyst - the Silver Tsunami poses a resource crisis for society. But can tech help us meet the challenge?The Silver Tsunami will strain the healthcare system and be taxing for workers. But could new tech help seniors remain active and productive while reducing the strain on the system?In this show we'll cover:- How to think about approaching seniors as a market with new solutions- New enabling technologies- Novel ways that tech keeps seniors active- Ways tech can cut retirement costsAnd we'll answer your questions.Meredith Oppenheim is an expert on aging and the founder of the Vitality Society. You can follow her on LinkedIn. With over three decades serving seniors and asset managing multi-billion-dollar senior housing portfolios for leading owners and operators, Meredith Oppenheim is a nationally recognized thought leader whose work has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and ABC News. She is a frequent guest speaker for universities, hospitals, and companies, helping to shape the future of aging with vitality.Steven Wardell is the Managing Partner of Wardell Advisors, a consulting firm focused on growth, fundraising, and strategic alternatives for digital health companies. He is the host of DigitalHealth InvestorTalk and the author of The Future of Digital Health. Follow for digital health insights at X.com/StevenWardell.

Longevity care is making advances and growing more popular among consumers. What is a framework to start extending your healthspan?Longevity isn’t just about adding years to life, it’s about adding life to those years. What steps can you take today to extend your healthspan and enhance your quality of life? What framework can help you identify major risks and set yourself up for long-term vitality?In this show we'll cover:- A practical framework for extending your healthspan- The major health risks and how to prevent problems starting early- The latest advances in longevity scienceAnd we'll answer your questions.Dr. Soheil Saadat is the founder and CEO of GenieMD, a San Francisco Bay Area–based telemedicine and digital health company that has treated millions of patients worldwide. GenieMD focuses on virtual care that promotes vitality and longevity, AI-driven chronic disease management, and advanced healthcare communication technologies. Elora Health, a part of GenieMD, is dedicated to longevity, prevention, and healthspan optimization.Steven Wardell is the Managing Partner of Wardell Advisors, a consulting firm focused on growth, fundraising, and strategic alternatives for digital health companies. He is the host of DigitalHealth InvestorTalk and the author of The Future of Digital Health. Follow for digital health insights at X.com/StevenWardell.

Payers and Providers are looking for greater efficiency using GenAI. But what happens when they unleash the latest AI tools on each other?There are many opportunities in the healthcare system for GenAI to make contributions in billing, coding, medical records, and administrative. But what happens when providers use the latest in AI to supercharge billing to payers and payers arm up to manage and mitigate and deny?In this show we'll cover:- The problems of inefficienty in administrative processes in healthcare- Opportunities for GenAI at payers and providers in administrative and clinical- The new arms race over billing between payers and providersAnd we'll answer your questions.Fawad Butt is the co-founder and CEO of Penguin Ai, a GenAI product company that is optimizing the healthcare back office for payers and providers. He is the former Chief Data Officer of Kaiser Permanente. Follow him on LinkedIn.Steven Wardell is the Managing Partner of Wardell Advisors, a consulting firm focused on growth, fundraising, and strategic alternatives for digital health companies. He is the host of DigitalHealth InvestorTalk and the author of The Future of Digital Health. Follow for digital health insights at X.com/StevenWardell.

You need more than GenAI. Entrepreneurs need to keep the focus on solving the buyers' biggest pain points.GenAI is the hottest buzzword in healthcare, and it seems almost necessary to be a "GenAI Native" company in order to win VC funding today.As founders debate whether to have a proprietary LLM and where how to have a moat in the age of GenAI, it's important not to lose sight of the most basic ingredient for an innovative product: to solve a major pain point for the buyer using whichever technology approach you use.In this show we'll cover:- While GenAI is all the rage, you need more than just AI- How to know you're solving the buyer's biggest problems and how to build a moat- Are services companies dead? Where do medical devices and disgnostics fit in?- What to do when clinical buyers don't even want GenAIAnd we'll answer your questions.Lisa Suennen is a partner at AHA Ventures, the fund of the American Heart Association, and she's the Venture Valkyrie. Follow her at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisasuennen/Steven Wardell is the Managing Partner of Wardell Advisors, a consulting firm focused on growth, fundraising, and strategic alternatives for digital health companies. He is the host of DigitalHealth InvestorTalk and the author of The Future of Digital Health. Follow for digital health insights at X.com/StevenWardell.

As digital health retrenches and AI explodes, what are creative ways for entrepreneurs to raise money?Digital health fundraising is tough as business uncertainty grows and VCs retrench. But buoyed by positive regulatory shifts and new technologies, crowdfunding and competitions are emerging as a new way for innovators to win visibility, validation, and funding for their companies.In this show we'll cover:1. What's the state of the fundraising environment for young digital health companies2. How has the environment for crowdfunding and competitions evolved?3. What are some differences and benefits of crowdfundingAnd we'll answer your questions.Alex Fair is the Managing Partner of MedStartr VenturesSteven Wardell is the Managing Partner of Wardell Advisors, a consulting firm focused on growth, fundraising, and strategic alternatives for digital health companies. He is the host of DigitalHealth InvestorTalk and the author of The Future of Digital Health. Follow for digital health insights at X.com/StevenWardell.

New capabilites in the consumertech we buy is bringing to our fingertips new sensors, new data, better data, and new forms of careTherapeutic videogames for kids with ADHD, giving voice to people who have lost the ability to speak, preventing nightmares, predicting heart attacks. . .Modern consumertech has new sensors and capabilities giving us better data, analysis, prediction, diagnosis, monitoring, and therapeutic options.In this show we'll cover:The new tech in consumer devicesWhere it is working in careThe regulatory environmentCreative applications of new tech to careAnd we'll answer your questions.Maheen Adamson is a clinical professor at Stanford Neurosurgery and the CEO of Soof Solutions, a neurosolution provider that restores voice to the speechless.Steven Wardell is the Managing Director of Wardell Advisors, a digital health business development consulting firm and the author of The Future of Digital Health.

New therapies are shaking up the super-category of obssity and diabetes care but it's not enough to just take a drug

GenAI business models in healthcare look different than the digital health revolution of 2009, which was about SaaS and workflow automation.GenAI business models are about intelligently converting free data into structured fields, making decisions, and taking action, which puts them ahead of older digital health models of simple workflow automation powered by software licensing and SaaS business models. Will that be enough to create winner GenAI companies where the last generation failed?In this show we'll cover:Looking at reasons old digital health business models failedHow GenAI is different and why Gen AI companies have advantages compared to incumbents nowWhere does Agentic AI fit in?How AI regulation will shape what's possible in healthcareHow do digital health companies succeed in this challenging environment?And we'll answer your questions.Marco Smit is the head of business development at Gesund.ai, which helps AI teams become ready for the FDA. You can follow him on LinkedIn.Steven Wardell is the Managing Director of Wardell Advisors, a digital health business development consulting firm and the author of The Future of Digital Health. You can follow him at X.com/StevenWardell