How Microsoft Picks Winning Health Startups with Sally Ann Frank   What do successful health founders consistently do differently? Sally Ann Frank, Global Lead for Health and Life Sciences at Microsoft for Startups and the author of The Startup Protocol, has mentored startups for decades and noticed patterns. She has the playbook for the repeatable moves that separate billion-dollar health tech companies from the rest. In this episode, Sally breaks down the patterns behind health founders who win based on her 25 years of experience.    From AI-powered diagnostic tools to augmented reality neuro rehab, Sally has mentored founders who are solving healthcare's biggest challenges while building enterprise-ready commercially viable businesses that integrate seamlessly into existing healthcare systems.   In this episode, we dive into:   How Microsoft picks startups for its health tech accelerator  Hidden traits of successful health tech founders  The "proxy customer" strategy for validating ideas and other actionable tips you can start implementing today   What we discussed   (00:00) The strategist behind Microsoft’s health tech pipeline (02:50) The mission-driven founder pattern (05:34) The Startup Protocol  (06:36) The playbook that 10 unicorn founders used (07:35) 5+ rules for health startup success (09:08) Why to get proxy customers ASAP  (10:54) Explore Microsoft’s health tech accelerator (Microsoft Pegasus Program)  (13:12) Join the Charm Health Innovation Challenge  (13:24) How to use Canva & Powerpoint to begin your health startup (15:47) 4 signs you’re ready to scale your health startup (17:02) Getting customers before regulatory approvals (+2 success stories)  (19:21) How Microsoft picks winning health startups  (22:35) Copy the success habits of healthcare's biggest winners (25:40) Do clinician-led health startups do well? (27:44) The Charm Health + Microsoft partnership opportunity (29:02) Biggest trends in health tech in 2025  (31:00) 10-for-1 regulation cuts (32:40) Rapid fire session  3 Key Lessons For Digital Health Entrepreneurs From Microsoft's Startup Ecosystem:   1. Use "Proxy Customers" to De-Risk Your Idea   Don't build in isolation. Find 10-15 clinicians who look like your target customer and pitch them your mockup. Use Figma, Canva, or even PowerPoint to create interactive prototypes. If they won't commit to testing it or paying for a pilot, you don't have product-market fit. These proxy customers become your advisors, first users, and often your angel investors.   2. Integration is Everything    The moment you make a clinician leave their EHR to use your tool, adoption dies. Plan your EHR integration strategy from day one, not as an afterthought. Your product roadmap, regulatory roadmap, and go-to-market roadmap must be aligned. Clinicians will test your MVP for a few weeks, but long-term success requires seamless integration into existing workflows.   3. Servant Leadership + Coachability = Unicorn Potential   The most successful health tech founders share two traits: they're driven by mission (often personal experience with the problem) and they're coachable. Servant leadership beats impressive tech. Be willing to pivot, hire experts instead of friends, and listen to feedback from people you don't know well.    Links   Charm Health Innovation Challenge: CharmHealthChallenge.com   More about Microsoft for Startups: startups.microsoft.com   Some startups mentioned in the episode:    myolaris.com  - in vitro diagnostics niramai.com  - Breast cancer detection  Healthy.io  - At home urinalysis  strolll.co  - AR neurorehab concertai.com  - AI for clinical research artisight.com  - Smart hospital/patient room technology  activsurgical.com - Surgical camera technology with AI  careco.ai/  - AI phone-based agents for care coordination outbound.ai/  - AI revenue cycle management company    Connect with Sally Ann Frank: LinkedIn | Get The Startup Protocol Connect with Ranjani (Varadarajan) Rangan:

  Every 20 seconds in America, someone develops diabetes. But, what if a subtle wearable device that can read your brain can help? That’s what neurosurgeon and entrepreneur Dr. Casey Halpern is building at SynchNeuro. He discovered that your brain is already tracking your blood sugar 24/7, and he's built a device that decodes these signals.   CGMs are exceptional, but they’re always 15 minutes behind. SynchNeuro monitors your glucose using AI & EEG technology in real time, is non-invasive, and sits hidden behind your ear.    With 100 million Americans facing prediabetes, could this become the new must-have wearable?    How does it work? When will it launch? What can it help with? And how did he build this business?    That’s what host Rangani Rangan and Dr. Halpern discuss in this episode.   In this episode, we dive into:   How he discovered that the brain can monitor glucose  The business and science of wearable technology  The devices potential in chronic disease management, metabolism, sleep, and exercise    What we discussed    (00:00) Diabetes every 20 seconds  (00:47) Who is Dr. Casey Halpern?  (02:21) Deep brain stimulation (for quality of life improvements) (04:11) Why our brains make us overeat (05:58) Prediabetes = brain problem?  (07:32) Problem with CGMs (Continuous Glucose Monitors)  (09:21) Brain wearables = CGM alternative? (12:32) Can brains predict glucose levels? (Stanford study) (15:14) How the SynchNeuro wearable works (17:44) 0 grants received   (18:18) Protecting his IP (dozens of patents)  (20:09) How to grow your healthtech (20:37) When will they launch & FDA clearance (23:19) Reducing bias in their data  (24:05) Criticism from neuroscientists  (27:05) Why they're not afraid of competitors (29:50) Wearable adoption & potential (32:21) SynchNeuro market penetration strategy  (33:49) Chronic disease management with wearables (35:55) Clinicians’ unfair advantage in business  (37:43) Book recommendations    4 Key Lessons For Digital Health Entrepreneurs From SynchNeuro’s Journey: Health tech doesn’t have to route through hospitals   Many health founders build with doctors in mind. But doctors are maxed out, and insurance is a slog. Sync Neuro is bypassing all that. They’re seeking FDA-cleared but they’re building to be consumer-loved and designed for consumers. They want their device to be intuitive, cool to wear, and easy to buy without insurance.    If it’s not habit-forming, it won’t scale.   People abandon wearables because they’re annoying, ugly, or unhelpful. SynchNeuro is focused on making it’s wearable desirable and insightful, not just functional. Not just “not ugly.” People should feel cool wearing it.    Your IP strategy is your go-to-market moat   It’s not enough to have a great idea when you’re playing in a category that Apple, Dexcom, or Google might sniff around. You need to have exclusive licenses, deep IP protection, and a tight legal framework before you even raise real money.   Don’t compete with big players. Redefine the category so they can’t follow.   Dexcom is the gold standard in CGMs. Sync Neuro isn’t trying to out-CGM them—it’s building a whole new surface-level data stream they can’t touch without rewriting their roadmap. That’s the play: don't go head-to-head. Make their whole model look outdated. Links    More about SynchNeuro   Connect with Dr. Casey Halpern: LinkedIn Connect with Ranjani (Varadarajan) Rangan: LinkedIn   Book recommendations: Hamilton | Untangled    Tune in to Digital Health Disruptors: YouTube | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Podbean  Test, iterate, and grow your healthtech ideas:  marketplace@charmhealth.com 

When no hospital would hire her, Dr. Shyamali Singhal didn’t wait for permission—she built a $240 million oncology center from scratch with just a 6-page business plan and an unstoppable commitment to patient care.In this episode, we uncover:  The 6-page pitch that unlocked $10M in funding  How she forced institutions to change—by doing it herself  The hidden patient struggles no one talks about (but she solved)Dr. Singhal proves that real innovation doesn’t always need a startup—sometimes, it just needs a leader willing to roll up their sleeves.

When vascular surgeon Dr. Paula Muto read about a woman who couldn't access an orthopedist for a simple ankle injury, she knew healthcare's complex referral system needed disruption. Her solution? UberDoc - a platform connecting patients directly to board-certified specialists for transparent, flat-rate fees.   ut what started as a direct-to-consumer healthcare marketplace evolved into something unexpected. Facing prohibitive patient acquisition costs, Dr. Muto had to pivot to save her startup.    This is the UberDoc story.   In this episode, we dive into:   Why Dr. Muto let doctors join for free (and still made money) The pivot that saved the company How being underfunded turned out to be a blessing What happens when you strip away healthcare's red tape Why specialists are actually eager to see cash-pay patients   What we discussed    (00:00) US healthcare is plummeting  (01:05) Who is Dr. Paula Muto?  (02:29) Why can’t patients and doctors get directly connected? (03:31) Birth of UberDoc (03:46) Healthcare = $23K/yr for families  (04:32) Why are health prices a secret? (06:26) UberDoc business model OR How UberDoc works  (07:21) Uber doc vs. direct primary care (10:09) How they expanded fast  (11:10) Revenue & CAC (12:20) Reducing costs  (13:21) Female founders need a beard? (14:52) How UberDoc makes money (16:39) Becoming a govt marketplace and the Real price of $0 CAC  (19:43) Why it’s free for doctors (20:41) What does the money come with? OR The ONLY investment you want (23:47) Quality, access, price OR No reason for bad healthcare?  (27:22) Squash!    3 Key Lessons For Digital Health Entrepreneurs From UberDoc’s Journey:   You could just need 1 big customer    Many healthtech startups fail by burning money on direct-to-consumer marketing UberDoc found that even with good unit economics, the customer acquisition costs were unsustainable When B2C marketing costs were killing them, they discovered government contracts Look for places where large volumes of patients are already aggregated and funded (VA, Medicare, large employers) rather than trying to acquire them one by one   Never forget the simplicity rule    UberDoc built their platform "at a fourth-grade level" intentionally Making it "idiot proof" was key to doctor adoption Complex features actually reduced platform value   Data doesn’t have to be your edge    Unlike most healthtech companies collecting massive data, UberDoc only takes name and chief complaint No medical records, no complex integrations Used third-party payment processor This reduced complexity and increased adoption Shows you don't always need big data to create value in healthcare Instead, you could focus on solving one of the 2 biggest problems in healthcare: cost & access.  You can create value in healthcare without building complex clinical infrastructure   Links    More about UberDoc   Connect with Dr. Paula Muto: LinkedIn Connect with Ranjani (Varadarajan) Rangan: LinkedIn

Delirium is a deadly, costly, and underdiagnosed syndrome affecting millions of elderly patients, but Dr. Divya Chander, co-founder of Lucidify, is determined to change that. Delirium affects 70-80% of ICU patients over 65, killing 3x as many and accelerating dementia by up to 20 years.    With a background as a physician, neuroscientist, and futurist, Dr. Chander is tackling one of the most critical areas in neuroscience—continuous brain monitoring to detect delirium early and prevent the accelerated onset of dementia.   With her team at Lucidify, she’s on a mission to save lives, reduce healthcare costs, and prevent dementia from hitting patients 20 years too soon   In this episode, we dive into:   How Lucidify is reducing ICU stays by 6 days using continuous brain monitoring. Why untreated delirium costs the U.S. healthcare system $245B annually. The key to getting AI-powered health tech through the FDA.   What we discussed    (00:32) Who is Dr. Divya Chander? (02:58) What is consciousness in neuroscience ? (06:06) Can the ICU accelerate dementia? (10:30) Why early detection changes everything (13:54) Most precise delirium detection algorithm (clinical trial) (14:58) Why they’re involving the FDA (16:09) How they detect delirium  (19:49) The future of brain longevity tech (22:12) Lucidify’s competitive edge (24:11) How a Stanford mentor changed the course of Dr. Chander's life.  (28:18) Not selling data to big pharma, losing money (previous startup) (29:42) Why you shouldn’t collect too much data (31:34) Why being a generalist has made Lucidify what it is.  (34:22) Connect with Divya Chandar Divya Chander's Book recommendation: Goddesses in Every Woman by Jean Shinoda Bolen.  Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/divyachander Website: https://www.divyachander.com/

Digital Health Disruptors is back – and with health tech advancing, Season 2 is set to deliver even bigger stories from the healthcare disruptors shaping the future. If you’re new here, catch up on Season 1 where we brought you raw, unfiltered insights from healthcare’s most forward-thinking leaders.   What we discussed    (00:00) Thank you to our listeners! (01:10) CharmHealth's Fourth Innovation Challenge  (01:38) Gain exposure to 50,000+ clinicians  (02:06) Season 1 recap  (02:21) Getting a license to leave residency behind - Dr. Kyra Bobinet (CEO of FreshTri) (03:48) Find a $20B market - Professor Shahram Yousefi (CEO of Mesh.ai)  (05:09) Find a frustration - Dr. Joshua Tamayo Sarver (VP at Vituity and Inflect Health) (05:56) Know the fund -  Neil Littman (CEO of BioVerge) (06:51) Keep decision loops short - Alex Lebrun (CEO of Nabla) (07:47) Season 2 sneak peek (07:51) Longevity technologies - Dr. Divya Chander (CEO of Lucidify)  (08:51) Treating obesity ethically - Dr. Paula Muto (CEO of UBERDOC)   Links   If you’re a health tech startup, reach out to marketplace@charmhealth.com to explore opportunities with CharmHealth. Missed our first season? Check out previous episodes on all major podcast platforms and YouTube.     🔔 Subscribe 🔔 to our channel for more videos on a wide range of issues facing healthproviders – from day to day medicalpractice management to improving patientcare and health outcomes through innovative solutions and tools.CharmHealth is a cloud-based #ElectronicHealthRecords​, #Telehealth​, #PracticeManagement​ and Medical Billing solution that helps healthcare organizations ranging from large multi-speciality groups to small independent medical offices function efficiently.👉 To that effect, CharmHealth’s pricing is simple, unique and helps practices budget and manage the cost of software acquisition.👉 Charm's award-winning API platform integrates with a range of third party healthcare solutions, offering additional functionality to our users.CharmHealth website: https://www.charmhealth.com/​ 💽 CharmHealth Innovation Challenge is a recurring competition and a platform for innovators, entrepreneurs and philanthropists in the digital health space to present their ideas, research and innovative health solutions.https://charmhealthchallenge.com/ 

Serial entrepreneur Alexander Lebrun, CEO of NABLA, is disrupting healthcare with an AI co-pilot for doctors - and he's never worked a day in medicine. This is the story of how a fascination with chatbots led to a mission to free clinicians from administrative nightmares. Doctors are drowning in paperwork, spending half their time on low-value tasks instead of patient care. NABLA's AI co-pilot aims to change that, freeing physicians to focus on what matters most.  In this episode, we dive into: How NABLA went from idea to 46 employees in just three years Why running their own clinic was a "very expensive decision" that paid off The bottom-up approach that's making doctors champions of their product We'll explore key questions like: Can an outsider really solve healthcare's biggest challenges? How is NABLA navigating the ethical minefield of AI in medicine? What lessons from Facebook are shaping their growth strategy? What we discussed  (00:00) The focus dilemma (00:32) Meet Alexander Lebrun (CEO of NABLA) (02:54) Did he fall in love with a chatbot? (04:10) Solving doctors’ nightmares   (07:04) Big mistake?  (11:12) Starting from the tech (big mistake)  (14:26) Don’t be Sun Microsystems. (18:14) The 2 minute test (bottom-up approach)   (22:01) The golden question that he asks (weekly) (24:00) Medical transcribers (25:42) No 2 doctors do this the same  (28:13) Private data sets  (29:32) How AI works (and what’s wrong with it)  (34:27) Should we trust AI in healthcare? (35:01) Racing to stay relevant (38:34) Don’t judge AI 3 Key Lessons For Digital Health Entrepreneurs From Nabla’s Journey: Start with distribution idea, then find problem & tech. That's the ultimate way to build. While conventional wisdom often suggests starting with a problem, Alex argues that distribution should be the starting point. This approach ensures that you're not just creating a solution, but that you have a clear path to get it to your customers.  Ask weekly: Are we doing things we shouldn't? Entropy problem = loss of focus. It's easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of opportunities and lose sight of your core mission. Alex's weekly self-check is a powerful tool for maintaining focus and avoiding the "entropy problem" that plagues many growing companies. By regularly questioning their activities and ruthlessly cutting unnecessary projects, NABLA stays agile and focused on what truly matters.  Sometimes, the key to success is not what you do, but what you choose not to do. When no one trusts you, get your hands dirty.  When Alex started, he didn’t know anything about healthcare and had no connections in the healthcare space. When he approached doctors, they didn’t trust him. So, he had to do something extraordinary: NABLA didn't just build tech ; they ran their own clinic to understand healthcare from the inside out. It was expensive. It was risky. It wasn’t the easiest way. But, at the end of the day, it paid off big time. They just secured a $24M series B round.  Links  Try Nabla Connect with Alex LeBrun: LinkedIn Connect with Ranjani (Varadarajan) Rangan: LinkedIn Innovating in digital health? Here's an opportunity: Charm Health is organizing an innovation challenge from August 23-25 in Washington DC. The event provides a platform to present your ideas and network with healthcare providers and companies. For more information or to participate, CharmHealth Challenge. Location: Grand Hyatt, Washington DC Entries close: August 1st

If you're an investor looking to make a significant impact while generating returns, biotech venture capital offers a unique opportunity. By investing in healthcare innovations, you contribute to groundbreaking advancements in medicine and address universal health challenges that affect us all. In this episode with Neil Littman, CEO of Bioverge, we explore the world of biotech venture capital, highlighting how impact investing in healthcare generates returns and drives transformative innovations. Join us and uncover the strategies, opportunities, and unique perspectives that make biotech investing a compelling and rewarding venture for you. In Today’s Episode with Neil Littman, We Discuss: The world of finance and social impact                    [02:45] What is Neil's unique perspective on impact investing and investing for returns? [04:17] What is Bioverge’s investment strategy, and how does it work to impact the patient? [07:29] How does Bioverge invest in digital health and digital therapeutics to help combat chronic diseases?   Health Tech Investor returns timeline [09:59] What strategies does Bioverge use to grow its LP base and secure high-quality deals? [10:47] How has Bioverge built a top-notch deal flow and filter for investing in new deals? [12:18] What is the timeline for generating returns in health tech investing based on data?   Transparency and fund performance in the VC World [13:41] What is Bioverge's approach to enhancing transparency within its portfolio companies? [17:05] How do quarterly reports force function, and why is this valuable for investors?    [18:08] What are Bioverge's typical investor profile minimum requirements? [20:51] What are the 3 main benefits investors gain by partnering with Bioverge instead of investing independently? [22:43] What funds does Bioverge raise annually, and how does it deploy the capital?  [25:02] How does Bioverge help investors build a diversified portfolio to reduce volatility and enhance return potential?    Collaboration between Bioverge and CharmHealth  [27:54] What is the goal of the Digital Health Transmission Fund model and collaboration?   [30:06] What are CharmHealth innovations and initiatives behind the Digital Health Transformation Fund?  [33:19] Why is the Digital Health Transmission Fund model very unique? [33:49] What is Bioverge building, and where does Neil see it head in the next five years? [35:47] How is Bioverge changing its marketing strategy to adapt and maximize its returns in the evolving market?  RELEVANT LINKS/FURTHER RESOURCES: Learn more about Bioverge Learn more about Neil LIttman, Founder/CEO of Bioverge Learn more about Dr. Venky Chellappa, VP of CharmHealth Learn more about CharmHealth Innovation Challenge Learn more about Charmalot Conference If you haven't tuned into part 1 yet, you're missing out on a treasure trove of insights that could redefine your approach to biotech investing.

Neil Littman is the CEO of Bioverge and one of the driving forces behind its mission to democratize healthcare venture capital, making it more accessible, transparent, and affordable to a wider audience. His journey began with a personal quest to diversify his investment portfolio beyond the public markets, leading to the founding of Bioverge. However, the seeds of his passion for healthcare innovation were planted years earlier when he witnessed the groundbreaking cure of a young girl named Evie from a previously incurable genetic disease. Prior to Bioverge, Neil played pivotal roles at the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), managing multimillion-dollar funds and spearheading investments in revolutionary clinical trials spanning cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, and rare genetic disorders.  In Today’s Episode with Neil Littman, We Discuss: Neil's formative years and how they served as a blueprint for his career path [2:41] What did the young Neil Littman's ambitions look like? [3:30] What was Neil’s pivotal moment that changed his career trajectory to biotech?       2. What it is like to work for a philanthropy organization in Biotech   [6:52] How did Neil come across CIRM and secure impressive business development opportunities  [7:53] What did Neil take away from his encounter with Evie, a girl born with SCID? What impact did they have with the technology they were funding? [9:44] How did Evie's story inspire Neil to start Bioverge? What is Neil's vision for biotech?   How to overcome the entrepreneurial startup hinges [11:17] What was Neil's biggest challenge in the early stages of building Bioverge? How did Neil overcome them?   What holds promise in Biotech investments for 2024 [14:11] What does Neil perceive as the game changer in seed investing? What investors cannot afford to overlook? [18:53] How did Neil identify start-up investment opportunities for significant return? [20:32] Why does Neil believe the key to finding top-tier investment opportunities is Founder Market Fit? [21:42] Why Neil emphasizes that start-ups should view things from the perspective and expectations of their investors?    What Lessons can be drawn from startup setbacks and success [25:53] What are Neil’s biggest lessons on transparency and communication from a failed start-up? [28:08] What advice does Neil give to start-ups and aspiring entrepreneurs before approaching investors? [29:05] How does Neil support the success of the companies they invest in at Bioverge? Learn more about Bioverge Learn more about Neil LIttman, Founder/CEO of Bioverge Learn more about CharmHealth Innovation Challenge Learn more about Charmalot Conference Stay tuned for part 2 and get more insights into the promising trends shaping the biotech industry and the opportunities it presents for the industry and entrepreneurs alike.

We delve into the dynamic world of Dr. Kyra Bobinet, an international expert in healthcare innovation and best-selling author of "Well Designed Life." The episode takes a deep dive into Dr. Bobinet's AI digital health app, Fresh Tri, reshaping the behavior change landscape. Join us as we explore cutting-edge neuroscience insights, spotlighting the Habenula's role in behavior control and its impact on health tech. Dr. Bobinet's unconventional startup journey with Walmart offers a fresh perspective for entrepreneurs, steering away from traditional venture capital models. Unravel the roots of her success, deeply tied to her Ojibwe, Lakota, and Czech heritage. Discover the transformative power of personal experiences and compassion in fueling entrepreneurial drive.  Engage in a candid conversation about resilience, determination, and the exciting release of her upcoming book, "Unstoppable Brain."    Key Takeaways: [00:52] Introducing today’s guest and topic. [03:03] The crucial role of the Habenula & How Fresh Tri prevents failure. [05:57] How Fresh Tri helps people overcome obesity and weight loss struggles. [10:38] Dr. Bobinet’s experience overcoming fast food addiction, binging, and failure. [12:50] How childhood trauma impacts social identity, health outcomes, & resilience. [16:57] How Dr. Bobinet’s childhood trauma shaped her mission and vision. [18:08] The moment that sparked her to transition from medical school to public health entrepreneurship. [22:07] Dr. Bobinet’s startup journey with Walmart & How this collaboration enhances her app’s visibility/credibility. [25:32] The Iterative Mindset Method: Fresh Tri’s strategies for behavior change. [28:21] GLP-1 drugs for weight loss: Dr. Bobinet’s candid thoughts on Ozempic. [29:46] What Dr. Bobinet looks for in prospective collaborations + Advice for digital health innovators. [32:05] Top tips for designing apps for better health, life, and mindset. [33:24] About Dr. Bobinet’s books + How to connect with her.   -------------------------------------- Resources Mentioned: Learn more about Fresh Tri “Well Designed Life”  by Dr. Kyra Bobinet “Unstoppable Brain” by Dr. Kyra Bobinet Connect with our Host:Ranjani Rangan Follow Digital Health Disruptors on your favourite platform:SpotifyApple Podcasts     🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸 📣 Attention clinician entrepreneurs and technologists! Are you ready to revolutionize healthcare at the point of care? Discover the CharmHealth platform, a perfect ecosystem where technologists and clinician entrepreneurs connect, ideate, and thrive. Our CharmHealth Innovation Challenge is a recurring competition and a platform for innovators, entrepreneurs and philanthropists in the digital health space to present their ideas, research and innovative health solutions. 🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸   ABOUT CHARMHEALTH 🔸 A cloud-based Electronic Health Records​, Telehealth, Practice Management and Medical Billing solution that helps healthcare organizations ranging from large multi-speciality groups to small independent medical offices function efficiently. 🔸 To that effect, CharmHealth’s pricing is simple, unique and helps practices budget and manage the cost of software acquisition. 🔸 Charm's award-winning API platform integrates with a range of third party healthcare solutions, offering additional functionality to our users. CharmHealth website

A Startup's Journey to Fixing a Broken System through Smarter Scheduling Many parts of our healthcare system are broken. Can disrupting scheduling fix them?   Clinicians are leaving the profession faster than ever, wards are poorly staffed, and burnout is rampant. Smarter scheduling, or rather anti-scheduling, is MeshAI’s antidote to many of those problems. This is the story of how they’re building their company and how they’re contributing to fixing the healthcare system in doing so. We touch on many topics including:  Why did they decide to disrupt scheduling?  How do they know they’re building an effective solution? How do they keep their company lean?  MeshAI was founded by Professor Shahram Yousefi, PhD, PEng, an engineer turned healthcare innovator. With a unique background of fleeing war and a career spanning telecommunications to academia, Yousefi brings a distinctive perspective to tackling healthcare challenges.   What we discussed  [00:00] Fact: clinicians are overworked  [01:30] How do we solve clinician understaffing?  [03:53] The mind behind MeshAI [07:06] Shocking statistics: Why 900K nurses will QUIT ! [08:13] Stop calling healthcare professionals heroes. [09:10] Overlooked method to solve clinician burnout  [10:32] Why are clinicians overbooked?  [12:24] To patent or not to patent  [13:18] Scheduling and equity  [14:29] Building MeshAI as a lean startup (and how their product evolved)  [19:05] How MeshAI achieved product-market fit  [21:43] Why your startup needs a clinician success team [23:02] Disrupting medical scheduling  OR Building an anti-scheduler  [25:09] Pricing strategy  [26:50] Not integrating with EMRs (here’s why)  [27:31] Are they building a feature or a product? [29:37] Advice for digital health entrepreneurs + book recommendations  4 Key Lessons For Digital Health Entrepreneurs From MeshAI’s Journey: Involve healthcare professionals in your health-tech startup; position yourself as a partner, not a vendor. Mesh AI is not just built for healthcare professionals; it's built with them. The company is funded by doctors who believe in the solution's impact, and these professionals also serve on advisory boards and are integral to the product team. This direct involvement ensures the product meets the nuanced needs of its users. You’ll know you have product-market-fit when your product is imperfect, but clients still come and stay. To achieve product-market-fit you must get comfortable with making mistakes, acknowledging them, and addressing them. To do that, you must actively seek and genuinely listen to feedback. You don’t have to prioritize EMR integration. By building a product that is able to stand-alone from EMRs if necessary, you can iterate faster and more frequently. You’ll have to deal with less people, less processes, and less overall inefficiencies.  Wear a 20 million market lens as you build your product. Find a solution that really makes a difference for 20 million THEN expand towards a 20 billion dollar market. To get traction early on, reach people, get them to support you, talk about you and become your ambassadors. Only then, will you be well positioned to capture a larger market share. -------------------------------------- Resources Mentioned: Discover MeshAI Mirror, Mirror 2021 Report  Charm Health Challenge  ----more---- Book Recommendation: Four Agreements by Miguel Ruiz Book Recommendation: The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz   Connect with Professor Shahram Yousefi: LinkedInConnect with Ranjani (Varadarajan) Rangan: LinkedIn   Follow Digital Health Disruptors on your favourite platform:SpotifyApple Podcasts     🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸 📣 Attention clinician entrepreneurs and technologists! Are you ready to revolutionize healthcare at the point of care? Discover the CharmHealth platform, a perfect ecosystem where technologists and clinician entrepreneurs connect, ideate, and thrive. Our CharmHealth Innovation Challenge is a recurring competition and a platform

In this mid-season reflection, Ranjani warmly welcomes listeners to the Digital Health Disruptors Podcast by CharmHealth.  The episode highlights key innovators featured thus far, such as Dr. Art Wallace, whose personal experiences led to the development of a remote monitoring system leveraging AI to mitigate respiratory and cardiac emergencies. Additionally, insights from clinician entrepreneur Dr. Rachel Kuperman and Dr. Joshua Tamayo Sarver, VP of Innovation at Vituity & Inflect Health, enrich the discourse on innovation at the point of care and entrepreneurial journeys within healthcare. Teasing the forthcoming episodes in 2024, Ranjani previews discussions with guests like Dr. Kyra Bobinet, CEO of Fresh Tri, diving into neuroscience-based health behavior change and embracing the Iterative mindset. Prof. Shahram Yousefi, co-founder of Mesh AI, shares his insights on transforming healthcare through seamless shift scheduling and the intersection of values and entrepreneurship in academia.The episode concludes by hinting at the upcoming interview with Dr. Divya Chander, exploring the future of medicine and neurotechnology, discussing devices capable of reading and writing the brain for diagnostic and therapeutic applications. Credits:  Dr. Kyra Bobinet - source: The Trauma Therapist Podcast source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2sNlhCe78o Spoken Segment: [SOUNDBITE: @ 9:31 “I was always curious about learned helplessness…powerful controller that has ever been found” 10:41] Prof. Shahram Yousefi - source Delta: HealthTech Innovators Podcast https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1gWijtyLzg&t=1319s Spoken Segment: [SOUNDBITE - @ 23:15 “ We are academics... they cannot be perfect 23:42] Dr. Divya Chander : Source:  Digital Health and Biometrics: Hacking Humans at IEEE ISDPSM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LX6r-t6KwU4&t=4696s Spoken Segment: [SOUNDBITE: @- “26:37...27:07 “This idea that mind reading might take off is actually a real thing... predict dreaming during sleep”] Get ready for an insightful journey ahead in the Digital Health Disruptors Podcast!     🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸 📣 Attention clinician entrepreneurs and technologists! Are you ready to revolutionize healthcare at the point of care? Discover the CharmHealth platform, a perfect ecosystem where technologists and clinician entrepreneurs connect, ideate, and thrive. Our CharmHealth Innovation Challenge is a recurring competition and a platform for innovators, entrepreneurs and philanthropists in the digital health space to present their ideas, research and innovative health solutions. 🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸   ABOUT CHARMHEALTH 🔸 A cloud-based Electronic Health Records​, Telehealth, Practice Management and Medical Billing solution that helps healthcare organizations ranging from large multi-speciality groups to small independent medical offices function efficiently. 🔸 To that effect, CharmHealth’s pricing is simple, unique and helps practices budget and manage the cost of software acquisition. 🔸 Charm's award-winning API platform integrates with a range of third party healthcare solutions, offering additional functionality to our users. CharmHealth website  

Our guest on the third episode of DHD is Dr. Tamayo-Sarver MD PhD, VP of Innovation at Inflect Health and Vituity. In this capacity he wears many hats – from strategic health tech partnerships, investments, and internal incubation, to spearheading the development of ground-breaking health and wellness products Dr. Tamayo-Sarver's incredible insights into healthcare problem-solving are informed by his diverse experiences. He's not just an executive in a national physician staffing company that provides technology solutions to over 400 hospitals; he's also a practicing emergency physician. Our podcast host, Ranjani Rangan, and Dr. Tamayo Sarver discuss Vituity's 50 year long journey to becoming a leading national healthcare partnership network, encompassing 5,000 clinicians across specialties, as well as Inflect Health, Vituity healthcare hub that collaborates with multiple tech companies to drive innovation. We highlight common challenges in healthcare innovation, such as barriers to development due to lack of common language and understanding between clinicians and engineers, or innovators not utilizing the human-centric approach before integrating technology, leading to in lack of flexibility and scalability. [00:46] Introducing today’s guest and topic. [02:11] The origin stories and missions of Vituity and Inflect Health. [04:48] 3 ways Vituity is different from other healthcare innovation organizations. [06:29] How does Vituity improve healthcare delivery? [09:22] A major reason why health tech companies fail at innovating digital health solutions. [11:52] How can tech developers find solutions that benefit stakeholders, patients, and healthcare professionals without adding stress? [14:02] Decoded Health: How healthcare startups can balance patient wants with the physician’s moral, ethical, legal obligations. [16:47] How to strengthen collaborations and bridge the gap between healthcare providers and technologists. [19:56] Reflect & Engage: Where has miscommunication or differing perspectives hindered your progress? [22:53] Inflect Health’s investment strategies & evaluation criteria for portfolio partners. [25:54] Rely Health: Example of a successful healthcare startup investment. [29:31] Emerging trends in digital healthcare & potential investment opportunities. [31:32] Advice for clinician entrepreneurs.   -------------------------------------- Resources Mentioned:Inflect HealthVituityDecoded HealthMark Hanson, CEO of Decoded HealthRely Healthcare Connect with Dr. Tamayo-Sarver on LinkedIn Connect with our Host:Ranjani Rangan Follow Digital Health Disruptors on your favourite platform:SpotifyApple Podcasts     🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸 📣 Attention clinician entrepreneurs and technologists! Are you ready to revolutionize healthcare at the point of care? Discover the CharmHealth platform, a perfect ecosystem where technologists and clinician entrepreneurs connect, ideate, and thrive. Our CharmHealth Innovation Challenge is a recurring competition and a platform for innovators, entrepreneurs and philanthropists in the digital health space to present their ideas, research and innovative health solutions. 🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸   ABOUT CHARMHEALTH 🔸 A cloud-based Electronic Health Records​, Telehealth, Practice Management and Medical Billing solution that helps healthcare organizations ranging from large multi-speciality groups to small independent medical offices function efficiently. 🔸 To that effect, CharmHealth’s pricing is simple, unique and helps practices budget and manage the cost of software acquisition. 🔸 Charm's award-winning API platform integrates with a range of third party healthcare solutions, offering additional functionality to our users. CharmHealth website

The podcast episode is a goldmine of knowledge and thoughtful advice. Our guest on this show is Dr. Rachel Kuperman MD, the CEO and Founder of Eysz, a medtech/AI startup that is transforming neurological care. Eysz has developed innovative software that analyzes eye movements and uses those movements as biomarkers to assess brain health across a range of neurological conditions, with an initial focus on epilepsy. We get to hear from Rachel how the combination of her experiences caring for children with epilepsy combined with her understanding of technology and medicine as well as sheer persistence, resilience and willingness to adapt has led to her current business success. We discuss topics such as: Epilepsy and AI innovation - measuring and managing neurological diseases Building a Team/Networking for your startup Entrepreneurship, funding, and confidence as a woman in tech. Creating an MVP or Minimum Viable Product and adopting the Lean Startup methodology The power of storytelling and igniting emotion in the health tech world Combining persistence and resilience with openness and adaptability Host Ranjani Rangan provides important context and draws out Dr. Kuperman’s very personal narrative – from her love of treating patients to her frustration with the limits she encountered when it came to effectively improving their quality of life.  Interested in learning more? Visit this link to read her blog, including “Journey of a Burnt Out Neurologist,” and contact Eysz for more information about progress in the treatment of epilepsy. Visit this link to listen to, rate and review Digital Health Disruptors on your preferred streaming platform. You can also click here to schedule a demo of Charm Health’s innovative suite of healthcare products.

We speak with Dr. Art Wallace MD, PhD, a cardiac anesthesiologist, Chief of Anesthesia at the San Francisco VA, and a distinguished professor and vice chairman at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Wallace's vision is poised to revolutionize healthcare with a non-contact, remote monitor that promises to reduce the risk of respiratory and cardiac emergencies in hospitalized and nursing home patients. Visit this link on Apple Podcasts to listen to, rate and review Digital Health Disruptors on your preferred streaming platform. You can also click here to schedule a demo of CharmHealth’s innovative suite of healthcare products. Find out more of what we do here at CharmHealth Innovation Challenge! KEY TAKEAWAYS: ∙ (01:20) Introducing Our Guest: About Dr. Wallace’s background and his most  recent innovation, the Atapir non-contact hospital patient monitoring platform. ∙ (04:50) The Power of AI: How the Atapir platform harnesses machine vision and learning to track crucial vital signs through the use of advanced camera and sound technologies. ∙ (06:51) State of the Art: About Atapir’s groundbreaking SaaS (software as a service) tools – the first significant advance in patient monitoring equipment in decades. ∙ (07:56) Removing the Mystery: What Atapir technology can do to mitigate the sense of powerless, isolation and anxiety many hospitalized patients experience. ∙ (09:15) HIPAA Concerns: Why creating “smart” hospital rooms need not raise red flags with regard to privacy, personal security or confidentiality. ∙ (11:20) Real-Time Tracking: How “smart” technologies can interrupt the slow (sometimes subtle) deterioration of patient health with constant monitoring of vital signs. ∙ (13:06) Vigilance Through AI: About the costs associated with providing machine-driven monitoring 24/7 in-hospital. It’s a subscription-based and affordable technology. ∙ (14:05) Considering Atapir’s Market Challenges:   o Raising capital to support development. o Bootstrapping expensive, complicated trials. o Shouldering all the development and go-to-market risk. o Penetrating with investors who want to hang back until success is assured. ∙ (18:44) About Events that Shaped Dr. Wallace’s Life Journey and Mission: o His mother’s deadly brain tumor diagnosis when he was just 11 years old inspired Dr. Wallace to pursue medicine and biomedical engineering. o The callous disregard with which a girlfriend was treated following a cancer diagnosis further propelled Dr. Wallace to change the practice of medicine. ∙ (24:35) About His Work at the VA: How the vast history and epidemiological database offer a potential goldmine of information to support improvements in patient care. ∙ (25:40) Making a Mark: About the structured protocol, education and monitoring Dr. Wallace evolved to enable progress within a medical establishment resistant to change. ∙ (27:50) Next-Gen Mentoring: Why Dr. Wallace is so committed to sharing his passion for medicine and innovation with students who might not otherwise be exposed.   NOTABLE QUOTES: ∙ “Hospitals have all these sensors in the room for property control, but they don’t know that the patient is doing okay. That’s a problem.” (Dr. Wallace)   ∙ “People want to give really good care and try to give really good care. But if you don’t give somebody a way to see the data, they don’t get it. They don’t see the problem.” (Dr. Wallace)   ∙ “(Investors) want other people to take all the risk in device development, so we’re doing it. It’s painful, but we’re doing it.” (Dr. Wallace)   ∙ “Of course I was a Boy Scout … (and) we try to teach people to think about the future, plan about stuff, be prepared!” (Dr. Wallace)    RELEVANT LINKS/FURTHER RESOURCES   ∙ More about the American Society of Anesthesiology and their work available at this link. ∙ Click here for a “Nurse’s Eye” video tour of Atapir’s ground-breaking AI-driven monitoring technology.   ABOUT OUR GUEST:Art Wallace, M.D., Ph.D., Chief of Anesthesia Servi

Get ready to dive into the future of healthcare with the Digital Health Disruptors Podcast by CharmHealth. Join your host, Ranjani Rangan, as we explore  innovations, inspiring stories, and the latest trends that are reshaping the world of digital health. Discover the  visionaries who are changing the way we think about healthcare Visit this link on Apple Podcasts to listen to, rate and review Digital Health Disruptors on your preferred streaming platform. You can also click here to schedule a demo of CharmHealth’s innovative suite of healthcare products. Find out more of what we do here at CharmHealth Innovation Challenge!     🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸 📣 Attention clinician entrepreneurs and technologists! Are you ready to revolutionize healthcare at the point of care? Discover the CharmHealth platform, a perfect ecosystem where technologists and clinician entrepreneurs connect, ideate, and thrive. Our CharmHealth Innovation Challenge is a recurring competition and a platform for innovators, entrepreneurs and philanthropists in the digital health space to present their ideas, research and innovative health solutions. 🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸   ABOUT CHARMHEALTH 🔸 A cloud-based Electronic Health Records​, Telehealth, Practice Management and Medical Billing solution that helps healthcare organizations ranging from large multi-speciality groups to small independent medical offices function efficiently. 🔸 To that effect, CharmHealth’s pricing is simple, unique and helps practices budget and manage the cost of software acquisition. 🔸 Charm's award-winning API platform integrates with a range of third party healthcare solutions, offering additional functionality to our users. CharmHealth website