We live in an era where it is increasingly difficult to find the signal in all the noise about healthcare technology. Last week had a lot going on, so there’s a little more information than usual in this week’s installment. See for yourself as we once again take on the news from the Last Week in Health Tech.
- To start things off with some (very) local news, Microsoft announced their partnership with the Green Bay packers in an effort to create a new technology accelerator. According to the article, the corporation and football team will “work together on healthcare tech projects” through what they call “TitletownTech.” Both of the organizations have made matching $5 million dollar commitments to the project over the next five years and “have pledged to donate all profits and capital returns….to philanthropy and economic development.”
- More nationally, we saw a lot of reporting on the American Medical Association’s platform (that they hope will) connect physicians and developers. Any one of the links above can provide you with more information on any of the aspects of their expanded efforts, which include (but are not limited to) the “Physician Innovation Network,” which according to AMA President David O. Barbe, MD, will “help ensure that physicians play a greater role in leading digital health innovations.”
- The complex problem of change management, and its impedance to what the article calls “needed innovation,” was called out early in the week. There are things that most people can agree on as “necessary” innovations, and hopefully in the coming years, we will see the old adage about necessity being the mother of invention become well-proved. Whether you agree or not with what their idea of “needed” innovation is, the problem of change management persists and is worth consideration.
- The Silicon Prairie News published an article titled “Value-Based Care: The Future of the Medical Technology Industry,” a headline they justify based on three things: first, an analysis of the current state of the art; second, those things which might act as stimulus for real change; and finally, how technology in this arena can be best advanced. Especially of interest is the discussion of another bit of (older) news, specifically the “Nebraska-based tech startup, Together Clinic, [who are] even able to analyze patient-reported vitals and symptoms in real-time, notifying care teams of early warning signs and keeping patients informed throughout the process” which while a little vague but still augers well.This is all to say that even though it can sometimes feel like the only thing that gets discussed is patients’ “data” and how patients can give ever more of it, perhaps the future of healthcare still actually involves the patient. If the authors are correct in their assessment, then it seems the industry might—just might—be beginning to understand that if a particular healthcare system is truly designed for the patients it treats, then the relevant facts to a medical diagnosis cannot be separated from the patient as a person.
- According to an article in Business Wire, some people will literally breathe more easily with Invacare’s expansion into to the oxygen technology industry which promises to afford those who need it with technology to “help [build] patient confidence, [offer] a lightweight portable oxygen solution, and [allow] the end user and provider to share product data easily and help improve usability.”
- Sites Medical, an orthopedics innovation outfit, announced on Tuesday that they have entered into a licensing agreement with Integrity Implants “to incorporate its proprietary OsteoSync™ Ti technology into Integrity’s novel multi-dimensional expandable interbody devices.” While they have not yet produced anything, this partnership could spark some very worthwhile healthcare technology. Although the article is somewhat dense with jargon, it also points to a brighter future for orthopedic patients in the coming years due to the technology’s ability to “impact clinical outcomes” for the better. Along similar lines, we also learned that “SonoSpine [has] partnered with Misonix to introduce the next generation of ultrasonic technology.”
- And, yet again, even more news about blockchain-related technology surfaced, including a short Q & A about it. However, some of the goals reported differ pretty radically from what we’ve already heard: in particular, Microsoft’s effort aims to use the tool as a means of uniquely identifying people, and although this would be very useful in healthcare and has drastic implications for those unfortunate enough not to have the paperwork society demands, it is also very important that these companies are exploring cryptographically secure methods (like the blockchain) of securing that data (think of how easily such a unique identification could be abused by a malicious intelligence service or other such high-level nation-state outfits if that data ends up being insecure). Such a situation is already fast-approaching, as this article about how the “Health-Care {sic} Industry Increasingly Faces Cybersecurity Breaches” points out with a number of very disturbing (yet entirely possible) scenarios on the subject. It is also one of the reasons that the healthcare sector has lagged behind other industries, as this article about the lack of Cloud-based service adoption in healthcare points out.
- A new partnership between Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, the Commission on State Emergency Communications and swyMed (a telemedicine company) will reportedly allow trauma surgeons to cover a dizzying 131,459 square miles via telemedicine. In another telemedicine report, hcanews.com offers us some information on just how promising it is for treating hypertension, and out of Singapore came news of how robots might be the future of (at least some aspects of) eldercare.
- As far as awards go this week, a nod to SeniorLink for winning the TripleTree iAward for Innovation in Healthcare Technology, an award acknowledging, among other things, “the efforts of healthcare…innovators in delivering new capabilities that advance and accelerate transformations that improve outcomes.” Applause should also be given to “Neurotrack” for winning “The Challenge” at the Medical Innovation Summit in Cleveland with their technology that helps treat Alzheimer’s. We should also recognize PriceMD, as they were the top winner of innovations in the Healthcare™ ABBY Award, while over at the illustrious Prix Galien Awards, INSIGHTEC’s “Exablate Neuro” was named the “Best Medical Technology.”
- Healthcare continued to dominate market news on Monday, especially the Philips corporation, though others would vie for business-related headlines in the coming days. Another business acquisition, that of Rotation Medical by Smith & Nephew for their tissue regeneration technology, was also in numerous headlines. Rocking the market a bit was news about a corporation with old ties to the industry—startup Devoted Health, whose old connections result from the fact that they are led by former Athena executives Ed and Todd Park, nabbed $62 million to be spent on senior care.
- Biosimilar drugs made headlines last week due to their potential to help cut healthcare costs here in the United States, which comes as good news against the background of the National Review’s alarming claim that “Half of All Health Spending is Wasted,” something absolutely worth noting (and that Forbes also reported upon this week).
- GE’s exploration of divesting themselves of their healthcare IT businesses was also major news that will impact the future should it come to pass, but exactly how still remains unclear.
- Additionally, we heard more about a startup whose goal is using limited AI to fight cancer, while Microsoft moved further into the healthcare technology market with the Healthcare NeXT program.
That’s it for this week. ‘Til next time, happy reading!