The number of Americans living with Alzheimer’s is growing — and growing fast. More than six million Americans of all ages have Alzheimer’s. As the size of the U.S. population age 65 and older continues to grow, so too will the number and proportion of Americans with Alzheimer’s or other dementias. By 2050, the number of people aged 65 and older with Alzheimer’s may grow to a projected 12.7 million, barring the development of medical breakthroughs to prevent or cure Alzheimer’s disease. Yet, people often face barriers to accessing quality care because of factors such as geography, language, insurance coverage and high costs of care and lack of transportation, to name a few.Toward this goal, the Alzheimer’s Association and MATTER are calling on innovators to submit their solutions to the second annual Alzheimer’s Association Pitch Competition. These solutions should address the need for increasing access to quality, person-centered care for people living with Alzheimer’s disease in all communities, especially historically underserved communities.Join MATTER and the Alzheimer’s Association for a panel discussion on this topic with panelists Katie Evans, chief mission engagement officer of the Alzheimer's Association, Jay Bhatt, practicing physician and managing director of the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions and the Deloitte Health Equity Institute, and Ashley Alexander, president and CEO of the Kelsey Research Foundation. The panel was moderated by Morgan Daven, vice president of health systems of the Alzheimer’s Association.For more information, visit matter.health and follow us on social: LinkedIn @MATTERTwitter @MATTERhealthInstagram @matterhealth

Join MATTER and AVIA for the fourth and final event in the Health System Innovations series, focusing on stories of successful startup and health system collaborations.In this session, you’ll hear insights from startups and health systems that have collaborated on implementing a solution and the journey from first contact to execution and what makes a good implementation. Both parties will discuss their perspectives on what made the relationship successful, how success was measured, anticipated outcomes versus reality and tips for healthcare startups on their journey to partner with health systems.Dr. Chris Fore, chief quality officer of Concord Hospital, and Craig Limoli, CEO and founder of Wellsheet, discussed the implementation of Wellsheet’s predictive clinical workflow platform to support clinicians during the COVID-19 pandemic. Then, Crystal Broj, MUSC enterprise chief digital transformation officer at Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC Health), and Neal Vachhani, head of client services at Notable, talked about the implementation Notable’s platform to create a “digital front door” to improve the patient journey at MUSC Health. The event was moderated by Zain Ismail, senior director, digital health and transformation at AVIA.For more information, visit matter.health and follow us on social: LinkedIn @MATTERTwitter @MATTERhealthInstagram @matterhealth

Join MATTER and AVIA for the first event in the Health System Innovations series, focused on how startups and innovation advocates can move from concepting through implementation to advance new approaches in our health systems.The first session focuses on how chief innovation officers can work across their health system to develop alignment and, ultimately, champions for change. Join our distinguished panelists: chief digital officer of Presbyterian Healthcare, Brian Beardmore, chief information officer of Henry Ford Health, Paul Browne, chief consumer officer of Ballad Health, Taylor Hamilton, and chief information and digital officer of LifeBridge, Tressa Springmann, in a conversation led by Senior Vice President of AVIA Amanda DeMano.The conversation will provide an overview of key stakeholders and strategies for both teams tasked with innovation deployments in collaboration with startups alongside startups to help create successful implementationsFor more information, visit matter.health and follow us on social: LinkedIn @MATTERTwitter @MATTERhealthInstagram @matterhealth

Join MATTER and AVIA for the third event in the Health System Innovations series, focused on how health systems are measuring the impact of new technologies and digital initiatives.Measuring the impact of digital health solutions has long been one of the toughest challenges health system leaders face. Often, health systems have a difficult time finding and tracking the data they need to prove ROI for a new solution, parsing out the value of the technology compared to the value of alternative initiatives that are solving the same problem — and knowing what’s at stake if no action is taken. It’s essential to be able to accurately forecast and report on the outcomes of digital deployments. Health systems are laser-focused on showing the effect of their digital initiatives, so as an entrepreneur, it's essential to be able to accurately forecast and report on the outcomes.In this session, you’ll hear insights on how digital health leaders are measuring the impact of their work, what matters to health systems as they assess the potential value of digital initiatives and tried and true lessons from health systems.For more information, visit matter.health and follow us on social: LinkedIn @MATTERTwitter @MATTERhealthInstagram @matterhealth

According to the American Indian Policy Institute, 18 percent of reservation residents lack internet access, 33 percent rely on cell phone service only, 49 percent utilize a land-based internet provider and 31 percent have spotty internet connection. The limited access to services presents major barriers to access to innovative healthcare solutions to improve health disparities such as diabetes, chronic liver diseases and more.With native american and indigenous territories spanning across the nation, the data depicts the breadth of the impact that the digital divide plays in exacerbating existing disparities. During this conversation, Rafael Tapia, Director of Tribal Community Connections at Local First Arizona, will speak with John Achoukian, healthcare management consultant with CWH Advisors, to discuss the role of the digital divide in Native American and indigenous communities, how to increase access to innovative solutions to improve health outcomes and share strategies for innovators who are developing solutions to support Native American and indigenous communities while respecting and preserving their rich cultural heritage.For more information, visit matter.health and follow us on social: LinkedIn @MATTERTwitter @MATTERhealthInstagram @matterhealth

Anyone who works in healthcare knows that our current system can often seem overly complex and burdened by a never-ending maze of policies and regulations that can slow down change. That's where ARDX comes in.Join MATTER as we welcome Angela D. Reddix, founder, CEO and president of ARDX, a leading government health management and technology consulting firm, for a fireside chat on federal policy, health equity and insights gleaned from data collection and analysis. Angela brings in-depth knowledge to working with federal, state and local governments on translating regulatory policy and guidance into digestible information and insights to ensure businesses are able to navigate complex regulatory landscapes to increase access to quality and equitable healthcare.Angela will sit down with moderator Dima Elissa, founder and CEO of VisMed-3D, for a conversation on ARDX's insights into improving the quality, efficiency and effectiveness of our healthcare system and their commitment to advancing health equity, expanding access and improving health outcomes.For more information, visit matter.health and follow us on social: LinkedIn @MATTERTwitter @MATTERhealthInstagram @matterhealth

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, breast cancer is the second leading cause of death from cancer among women, with an estimated 42,000 women — and 500 men — in the U.S. dying each year from breast cancer. To reduce the effect of breast cancer on women and men, we must improve early detection, access to quality care and patient education.Join us during National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, for a panel discussion on the role of technology and innovative solutions in breast cancer care. Christopher Kunney, Christopher Kunney, FACHDM, CPHIM, MSMOT, Managing Partner & Healthcare Technology Strategist, American Cancer Society - Men Wear Pink Ambassador and IOTECH Consulting, LLC., Ricki Fairley, CEO and co-founder at Touch, The Black Breast Cancer Alliance, and survivor of breast cancer, and Ryland Gore, MD, board-certified general surgeon and breast surgical oncologist, will discuss perspectives that will provide insights into prevention, diagnosis and treatment and help individuals make informed decisions about their breast health. The panel will be moderated by Melvin Gaskins, MD, senior medical director of medical oncology at eviCore Healthcare.For more information, visit matter.health and follow us on social: LinkedIn @MATTERTwitter @MATTERhealthInstagram @matterhealth

The racial wealth gap between Black and white Americans has remained persistently steady since 1970, with Black Households owning just one-eighth of the wealth of white households. This disparity directly affects access to care, affordable housing, healthy food, education and other factors, leading to lower life expectancies and worse health outcomes for people of color.In this episode, Crystal Tyler, PhD, MPH, chief health officer of Rhia Ventures, and Pamela Johnson, vice president of health equity and partnerships at the American Heart Association, discuss how the racial wealth gap and other historical factors have led to significant differences in access to healthcare, education, nutrition and other social determinants of health. They also emphasize the need for cross-industry collaboration and sustainable investment in community-centered solutions, as well as the role of innovation in improving health outcomes for people of color. Learn more about Rhia Ventures.Learn more about the American Heart Association's health equity efforts.About Advancing Health EquityMATTER’s Advancing Health Equity podcast series focuses on unpacking the complexities of health inequities impacting the healthcare system and the health and well-being of individuals and their communities. These 20-30 minute interview-style sessions are meant to take quick dives into critical areas of health equity and answer questions like:What does health equity mean today?Where do current gaps exist in the various areas of healthcare?Where do we see intersections in care?How can technology and innovation be leveraged strategically to positively make a change?For more information, visit matter.health and follow us on social: LinkedIn @MATTERTwitter @MATTERhealthInstagram @matterhealth

For years, data analytics has been used in healthcare to fuel faster and more accurate diagnoses, inform decision-making, personalize treatment, improve patient care and outcomes, lower costs and more. With recent advances in the use of big data and generative artificial intelligence, more organizations are exploring new ways to apply these modern data science tools to address persistent healthcare challenges.One of the key challenges in advancing care for the growing population living with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias is the aggregation of meaningful insights from a wide range of disparate sources of raw data, including electronic health records (EHRs), personal health records, patient portals and health-related smart phone apps, in addition to large amounts of unstructured data, strict data privacy and security regulations and a variety of data formats.To drive innovation forward in this space, MATTER recently launched the Restoring Brain Health Innovation Challenge with support from the Lundbeck US Charitable Fund to identify and accelerate the development of data science technologies that can generate novel insights from disparate sources to advance care in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.On September 18, join Mary Furlong, leader in the longevity market, Elizabeth Powers, Vice President and General Manager, US Regulatory Science & Study Innovation at IQVIA and Ryan Urbanowicz, Research Scientist, Computational Biomedicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and Co-Lead, Tech ID and Training Core, PennAITech/a2Collective.ai for a conversation exploring this topic.For more information, visit matter.health and follow us on social: LinkedIn @MATTERTwitter @MATTERhealthInstagram @matterhealth

This event is a continuation from Accenture and MATTER’s previous event, Digital Health x Health Equity Panel: Reinvent a More Equitable Future.While we know that social determinants of health account for 80 percent of an individual’s health, actually addressing these factors can be challenging in practice. Accenture’s recent report, U.S. Health Inequity: Beyond the Statistics, identified bias in data and algorithms, inclusive product and service design and sustainable structural change as the three core areas to focus on when developing med tech solutions to improve health and healthcare delivery.Join panelists Oliver Richards, managing director for medical device and life sciences strategy at Accenture, Fido Willybiro, senior marketing director at Becton Dickinson, Jacqueline Roche, head of payment and delivery and global policy institute at Johnson & Johnson, and Nick Wilson, business lead for remote patient monitoring at Philips, for a discussion moderated by Laura Westercamp, managing director of Accenture’s life sciences and med tech practice. They'll take a deep dive into how we can leverage med tech to improve health outcomes, reduce inequities and create a more equitable world.For more information, visit matter.health and follow us on social: LinkedIn @MATTERTwitter @MATTERhealthInstagram @matterhealth