December 08-11, 2023

MedTech Impact 2023

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Category: Medical Devices

This Week: Telehealth Innovation Bill Returns to Capitol Hill

CMS Launches New Physician Focused Claims Data Project

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has announced the launch of a new pilot program aimed at providing healthcare providers with direct access to patient claims data. Using application programming interfaces through the Medicare Blue Button program, the program is designed to allow practitioners with deeper insight into patients’ history, providing data access to previous diagnoses, medication lists, and more to provide a more full picture of a patient’s medical history. The pilot has launched on the program website, where clinicians may request access to the pilot. CMS will begin the program with a select group in August, and then expand to a growing number of providers. In a statement, CMS Administrator Seema Verma noted: “Technology, coupled with open data sharing, is how we will improve value, control costs and keep patients healthy while ensuring a solvent Medicare program for generations to come.

 

Kaiser Permanente Appoints First Chief Digital Officer

Kaiser Permanente has appointed Prat Vemana as its first Chief Digital Officer for Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Hospitals. Vemana will be responsible for the strategy, development, and execution of the company’s digital vision in partnership with the internal health plan, hospital, and medical group teams. As the former Chief of Product for Home Depot, the move marks the continued trend of medical organizations looking outside of healthcare for technology expertise. In a released statement, Kaiser Permanente Chairman and CEO Bernard J. Tyson shared: “We’ve made tremendous investments in building our digital platforms and creating greater access for our members. Now we are taking it to the next level by focusing on digital experiences that change the way transactions and services are delivered.”

 

Researchers develop wearable device that could administer medication to prevent overdoes deaths

Researchers from Purdue University are developing a wearable sensor capable of detecting when a user’s heart rate decreases to trigger the administration of Narcan–an antidote used for opioid overdoses. Still in the proof-of-concept stage, the wearable sensor is made up of a battery, RF control, and induction device. In a video describing the developing technology, Hyowon Lee, an Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Purdue, explained: “A lot of time patients who overdoes are found alone and are incapacitated to inject the life-saving drug themselves. We are trying to come up with a closed loop solution that can automatically deliver an antidote.” The opioid crisis remains as a major public health crisis within the U.S., with over 70,237 overdose deaths in 2017 alone.

 

Telehealth Innovation Bill Returns to Capitol Hill for Third Attempt

The Telehealth Innovation and Improvement Act  is headed back to congress after failed attempts in 2015 and 2017. The bill seeks to provide incentive for more healthcare providers to launch telehealth programs through reimbursements via the Department of Health and Human Services’ Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMI). Additionally, the bill would have the CMI evaluate telehealth models for cost, effectiveness, and improvement in quality of care “without increasing the costs of delivery.” In a press release, U.S. Representative John Curtis (R-UT) who introduced the bill with co-sponsor Joe Neguse (D-CO) stated: “Telehealth innovation is critical to expanding cost-effective healthcare access in a state like Utah, where care is often unavailable or difficult to access for rural communities. […] Technology provides great potential to enhance connectivity between healthcare professionals and their patients and I’m pleased to work with willing partners on both sides of the aisle to find healthcare solutions for rural communities across Utah and around the country.”

This Week: Telehealth Innovation Bill Returns to Capitol Hill
MedTech Insider: Digital Health Market On Track for Its Best Year Ever

MedTech Insider: Digital Health Market On Track for Its Best Year Ever

 

Digital Health Market On Track for Its Best Year Ever

A new funding report compiled by Mercom Capital Group has shown that the first half of 2019 has drawn in the largest funding numbers within digital health than any year prior, setting the market to reach unprecedented numbers come the year’s end. In line with previous reports completed by Rock Health and MobiHealthNews, the findings show a to-date funding of $5.1 billion raised by 318 deals (2018 drew $4.9 billion from 383 deals). The report further broke down the market funding through highlighting the highest funding market segments. Analytic startups currently lead the market with $1.1 billion, followed by telemedicine with $896 million and mobile health apps with $627 million. The findings have led many industry experts and stakeholders to express hesitant concern on a possible market bubble, such as Cercom Capital Group CEO, Raj Prabhu who shared: “We are in an ‘invest first and ask questions later’ environment where investors are more worried about missing out in this hot space. After a long hiatus, we are seeing several digital health companies entering the IPO market in the US. Successful IPOs could open the floodgates, whereas if IPOs fizzle out, it could shut the IPO exit path for many digital health companies.”

 

Mount Sinai Collaborates With LabCorp on AI Pathology Center

LabCorp and The Mount Sinai Health System have announced an additional aspect of their ongoing partnership: the two organizations will work together to develop the Mount Sinai Digital and Artificial Intelligence-Enabled Pathology Center of Excellence. LabCorp, which has previously implemented the Philips IntelliSite Pathology Solution into four of its laboratories will introduce the technology to all remaining location. In utilizing its expertise in digital pathology, LabCorp will help lead the integration into clinical practices throughout Mount Sinai’s hospitals. In a statement, Dr. Carlos Cordon-Cardo, chairman of the Department of Pathology, Molecular and Cell-Based Medicine at the Mount Sinai Health System shared: “Digital pathology gives us the unprecedented opportunity to expand our services to the community at large, and engage members of our department, considered key opinion leaders in their field, to provide expert diagnostic opinions in complex cases.” As one of the largest academic departments of its kind nationwide, the department processes over 80 million diagnostic tests each year.

 

First AI Pathology Tech With “Clinical Grade Accuracy”

Researchers associated with medical tech startup, Paige and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center have published a new article which details its artificial intelligence based detection system for identifying prostate cancer, skin cancer, and breast cancer. Published within the peer-reviewed medical journal, Nature Medicine, the company claims to have achieved “near-perfect accuracy.” In the article, the researchers describe the tech as having employed deep learning train on a data set of almost 45,000 slide images taken from more than 15,000 patients across 44 countries. In a statement, Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Paige, Dr. Thomas Fuchs shared: “After years of in-depth, comprehensive modeling, training, and testing, we are thrilled that Nature Medicine has published our paper, which demonstrates our ability to train accurate classification models at unprecedented scale, and validates our mission to create the world’s first clinical-grade, artificial intelligence in pathology.” The next step for the company is to begin the commercialization of the tech.

 

Physician Interest In Telemedicine Doubles

A new analysis completed by professional medical network, Doximity, has demonstrated a significant increase in physician interest in telemedicine. The analysis found that the number of physicians who self-reported telemedicine as a skill double between 2015 and 2018 and continues to trend upwards by 20%.  According to a recent JAMA study, the trend correlates with the growing number of telemedicine patient visits which has increased by 261% annually between 2015 and 2017. The Doximity report noted: “In 2018, the global telemedicine market was valued at over $38.3 billion. By 2025, it’s projected that this market will exceed $130.5 billion.”

 

 

What’s Next in MedTech: A Conversation with BioTech Investor, Robin Farmanfarmaian

What’s Next in MedTech: A Conversation with BioTech Investor, Robin Farmanfarmaian

Robin Farmanfarmaian is a professional speaker, entrepreneur and angel investor actively involved in investing and advancing digital health companies poised to impact large populations. MedTech sat down with Ms. Farmanfarmaian to discuss the future of digital health.

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