What you’ll get out of this episode
Listen in as host Tim Fitzpatrick chats with Jess Ackerman, VP of Strategic Partnerships and Impact at Responsum Health, about her experiences across healthcare and technology, including her path from Speech Language Pathology to patient-facing roles at health tech startups. Today, Jess leads partnerships for Responsum Health, a mission-driven digital health tech company that has built empowered, informed communities of patients with chronic health conditions to drive better outcomes and to strategically align them with resources, clinical trials and best options for their health. Responsum Health knows how to build communities, and fast.
In this episode you’ll discover:
Final Frontier - 5 Questions in 50 Seconds
Quotables
“ Our Medicare community is quick to jump on the mobile apps and platforms. Our parent's generation between ages 70 - 80 – My mom is on her phone constantly researching and doing this and that – so I think people are judging a little bit quickly that the older population is not going to adopt the technology. I think it’s a huge opportunity because everyone has a smartphone. “
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“ This is my mom TODAY...She is 2 years, 3 months since her Stage IV Lung Cancer diagnosis; an "incidental finding" with NO symptoms, non-smoker, EGFR+ mutation. She was on the golf course when she received the call with the dreaded "c-word" diagnosis. Her story is both unique and like so many others with a stage IV, no symptom dx. #lungcancerawarenessmonth There has been considerable progress in reducing the burden of #lungcancer through effective #earlydetection and #precisiononcology ... and we need more! More #patientvoice. More #patientadvocacy. More integrated solutions. More focus on #patientexperience. More #access to #clinicaltrials #decentralizedclinicaltrials. My mom is strong and vibrant, in a #clinicaltrial at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute ... but DFCI cannot do it alone- in need of an ongoing holistic, personalized, integrated approach through #medtech #digitalhealth solutions.... Let's keep the momentum... Jasper Health Circuit Clinical
Episode 38: Using AI, Data, and Telepharmacy To Drive Medication Optimization with Jason Rose, CEO of AdhereHealth
What you’ll get out of this episode
Join host Tim Fitzpatrick as he chats with Jason Rose, CEO of AdhereHealth. In this voyage we learn more about AdhereHealth’s mission to deliver data-driven technology that improves medication optimization and quality measures to achieve value-based outcomes. We also hear how Jason’s 30 years of experience in this space shaped the company’s rebrand and transformation since he took over its helm in 2018. Today, AdhereHealth is the market leader using telepharmacy to overcome social determinants of health (SDOH) and improve the patient experience.
Disclaimer: In this video Jason incorrectly states Dr. John Halamka left Beth Israel and is now at Johns Hopkins but he is actually at Mayo Clinic.
In this episode you’ll discover:
Final Frontier - 5 Questions in 50 Seconds
Quotables
“The pandemic was a…wasted opportunity to tackle [medication adherence] in a really big way. Who were those most hurt in the pandemic? It was not about the genetic code, it was about the zip code. It was the same patients before we still see today who are not getting their drugs for the chronic conditions.”
“We’re using the data of yesterday to inform our decisions today, and artificial intelligence to drive our actions tomorrow.”
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““It’s a long-standing belief that star ratings are Darwinism in healthcare. If you don’t get the four stars, you’ve lost a percentage of your premium and lost funding to put into the product, and now because you’ve lost that, you’ve also lost membership enrollment,” says Rose. “And because you’ve lost the ability to compete with your peers, it’s going to take two years to come back with a higher star rating.”
Great article Patient Safety & Quality Healthcare and Matt Phillion!
#healthcare #sdoh #pharmacy #quality #starratings#medicationadherence” @Jason Rose on LinkedIn
About Your Host
Tim Fitzpatrick is the CEO of IKONA Health, a company using neurobiology and immersive technology to improve how patients learn about their care and treatment options. Tim co-founded IKONA based on his own patient experiences while serving in the US Navy and now in the VA health system. He has served as Principal Investigator on multiple federal research grants, has co-authored papers on learning science, VR, and mental health in the age of COVID-19, and has partnered with top healthcare investors and institutions including the National Science Foundation, Department of Defense, National Artificial Intelligence Institute, StartUp Health, On Deck, FundRx, MATTER and NVIDIA.
What you’ll get out of this episode
Listen in as host Tim Fitzpatrick chats with Hillary Lin about Hillary’s journey from launching Curio at the start of the pandemic to navigating their latest pivot into cancer care. Hillary’s training and clinical experience led her to founding a holistic wellness startup that evolved into psychedelic-assisted therapy to where it is now as a comprehensive care delivery and navigation company. While Curio’s vision has not wavered, the team’s resilience and continued focus on patients has guided the evolution and expansion of their care infrastructure platform.
In this episode you’ll discover:
Final Frontier - 5 Questions in 50 Seconds
Quotables
“In the beginning, I was so burnt out and frustrated with healthcare that I very much wanted to start a wellness company. What I mean by that, is we were coaching people to explore their emotions. From the basics of even labeling emotions and understanding mindfulness around your emotions to regulating them and to much more sophisticated ways of interacting using emotional language and expression. We even used to host improv classes to help people explore.” @HillaryLin #joinCurio on Ep37 @T-Minus10 w/ @trfitzpatrick.
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“I am a physician and founder of a mental healthtech startup (Curio). So what are my thoughts on emotional chatbots? At the time of writing, I'm undecided because this realm is still developing as we speak. I think early versions of emotional support chatbots will not feel incredibly fulfilling or validating to most users. However, there is a world where people may be so socialized to AI entities that they will feel at home interacting with them. For now, I'm more interested in how AI can help us think and stay accountable to our own goals. More of a coach, perhaps, than a therapist. The New York Times published an article on Inflection AI's Pi companion, which seems to validate this feeling. "With a level of enthusiasm only a robot could muster before coffee, Pi pushed me to break down my to-do list to create a realistic plan. Like much of the bot’s advice, it was obvious and simple, the kind of thing you would read in a self-help article by a productivity guru. But it was tailored specifically to me — and it worked.
I'm curious to hear from people who have tried interacting with the latest emotional chatbots - what did you think about your experience?” (LinkedIn)
“ 🎉 Breaking News for Digital Health Companies 🌐💊 The DEA has decided to extend the current COVID-19 telemedicine flexibilities for the prescription of controlled medications while they continue to consider the 38,000 comments received on their proposed telemedicine rules. This decision reflects a recognition of the essential role that telemedicine plays in providing Americans with access to necessary medications, and it is a significant milestone for companies like Curio. Our services, which include care navigation, coaching, therapy, medication management, and ketamine-assisted therapy, will continue to be available for those struggling with mental health challenges. We await further details on the draft Temporary Rule and its implications for digital health. This extension will enable us to continue offering transformative ketamine treatments virtually to those who need it most, bridging the gap between patients and quality care. 🙌💡” (LinkedIn)
About Your Host
Tim Fitzpatrick is the CEO of IKONA Health, a company using neurobiology and immersive technology to improve how patients learn about their care and treatment options. Tim co-founded IKONA based on his own patient experiences while serving in the US Navy and now in the VA health system. He has served as Principal Investigator on multiple federal research grants, has co-authored papers on learning science, VR, and mental health in the age of COVID-19, and has partnered with top healthcare investors and institutions including the National Science Foundation, Department of Defense, National Artificial Intelligence Institute, StartUp Health, On Deck, FundRx, MATTER and NVIDIA.
Tim explores the future of learning and technology in healthcare on T-Minus 10 (biweekly podcast) and in Signals From [Space] (monthly newsletter).
What you’ll get out of this episode
Listen in as host Tim Fitzpatrick chats with Kanishka Rao about the unexpected loss of his grandfather, who passed away from kidney disease, and how he was not aware he had kidney disease until his kidneys had already failed. Because of this, Kanishka and his father, Bharat, co-founded Carenostics with the goal of tackling the underdiagnosis, undertreatment, and health inequities of chronic disease. Carenostics’ vision is to transform healthcare into a data-driven paradigm where readily-available patient data is leveraged to make personalized patient recommendations for diagnostic and therapy decisions.
In this episode you’ll discover:
Final Frontier - 5 Questions in 50 Seconds
Quotables
“When I reflect back to that first conversation with my dad, one of the first questions I asked was ‘You built these models 2 decades ago – the first FDA-approved way of diagnosing lung cancer from CT scans, it’s one of Baret’s patents – you know why isn’t AI used every day at the point of care. AI is not a new thing.’ The biggest reason was provider friction, and all these different models of charging providers morbid amounts of money for these operating systems, diverting them to a different workflow, providing black box recommendations or, fundamentally even trying to change the way they deliver care.” @KanishkaRao #Carenostics on Ep26 @t-minus10 w/ @trfitzpatrick
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“Thrilled to have our partnership with Hackensack Meridian Health awarded the Bio-IT World Innovative Practices Award! Excited to have our work using AI for CKD recognized alongside other innovative recipients, including AbbVie, City of Hope, & Regeneron!
Thank you to Bayer G4A for the nomination - and looking forward to presenting with Bharat Rao & Kash Patel at the conference on May 18th! “ @Kanisha Rao on LinkedIn
About Your Host
Tim Fitzpatrick is the CEO of IKONA Health, a company using neurobiology and immersive technology to improve how patients learn about their care and treatment options. Tim co-founded IKONA based on his own patient experiences while serving in the US Navy and now in the VA health system. He has served as Principal Investigator on multiple federal research grants, has co-authored papers on learning science, VR, and mental health in the age of COVID-19, and has partnered with top healthcare investors and institutions including the National Science Foundation, Department of Defense, National Artificial Intelligence Institute, StartUp Health, On Deck, FundRx, MATTER and NVIDIA.
Episode 35: Harnessing The Power of Play For Adolescent Health with Dr. Lynn Fiellin, Founder of Playbl, Inc.
What you’ll get out of this episode
Listen in as host Tim Fitzpatrick chats with Dr. Lynn Fiellin about her path to founding Playbl, the Yale spin-out company harnessing the power of play to enable healthier and better lives for adolescents. We learn what tools, principles, and earned wisdom Dr. Fiellin and her teams have developed over the past 13 years building serious games. From 30-page playbooks to randomized controlled trial designs for hundreds of teens, this is a must-listen for anyone interested in the use of video games for health education and behavior change at scale.
In this episode you’ll discover:
Final Frontier - 5 Questions in 50 Seconds
Quotables
“Finding Kids where they are, and where they wanna be is really the ticket.” @LFiellen #PlayBl on Ep 35 @T-Minus10 w/ @trfitzpatrick
“We design our efficacy trials in the way that we would design any other efficacy trials. The only difference is that the delivery vehicle is a video game. So, our current study is enrolling 532 kids ages 16 - 19, at 10 schools around Connecticut. We will follow them for 12 months, and they are essentially assigned to play our Play Smart game, which again focuses on Mental Health and opioid misuse, or a set of control games. We then collect data from all of them and baseline them 6 weeks at the end of gameplay, and 3, 6, and 12 months. This allows us to really say that we have accomplished something and that we accomplished what we set out to accomplish.” @LFiellen #PlayBl on Ep 35 @T-Minus10 w/ @trfitzpatrick
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“What an amazing celebration! Congratulations to the brilliant Bernice Pescosolido and the Indianapolis Colts
for this ground-breaking work by launching The Irsay Institute to address stigma related to mental health. The play2PREVENT Lab at Yale is thrilled to be partnering w you and Bring Change to Mind (BC2M)!
Yale University School of Medicine Yale School of Public Health Yale Child Study Center” @Lynn Fiellen on LinkedIn
“ “We do not stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing.”
My honor to give my Professorial Medical Grand Rounds last week, sharing the past 20 years of my career: down the research road and the other roads I have had the opportunity to travel.
Thank you to my teams and partners at the play2PREVENT Lab at Yale, Yale University School of Medicine, Yale University, Yale Department of Internal Medicine, Yale New Haven Hospital, and others.
I am so proud of this career and the work we have done together.” @Lynn Fiellen on LinkedIn
About Your Host
Tim Fitzpatrick is the CEO of IKONA Health, a company using neurobiology and immersive technology to improve how patients learn about their care and t...
What you’ll get out of this episode:
Listen in as host Tim Fitzpatrick chats with Dr. Osman Khawar about the impact and benefits of home dialysis, and the potential of building a hemodialysis machine versatile enough for any care setting. Dr. Khawar describes feeling frustrated by not being able to offer flexible dialysis prescriptions to his patients. In today’s health system, nephrologists are often dialysis-centric and trying to get dialysis to fit into the patient's life, versus the other way around. Osman and his team want to change that. Today, he's leading Diality, a medical device company that aims to develop a hemodialysis system that will enable physicians to prioritize patients while also helping their practice thrive and grow. Their mission is to develop solutions that improve lives impacted by kidney disease.
In this episode you’ll discover:
Final Frontier - 5 Questions in 50 Seconds
Dr. Khawar’s mentors from medicine, technology and entrepreneurship
Quotables
“As Diality thinks about education – of course, as a device company we think about it in 2 ways – how do we ensure patients and care providers are comfortable using the device, but also as we move up the funnel, how do we make both patients, payers, and physicians understand the flexibility that they have in the choice of dialysis: modality, choice of machinery, choice of dialysis prescription, all of these pieces and I think we need to continue to leverage technology to do that.”
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‘This weekend, Diality organized a kidney walk to raise proceeds for the National Kidney Foundation. It was a beautiful day in Laguna Niguel spent walking for a great cause to raise awareness and improve education for those impacted by kidney disease. #diality #kidneymonth #kidneydisease #patientsfirst”
“In medical startups, particularly in the early days, a CEO should be accustomed to wearing many hats and making many decisions daily. As your company matures, as Diality has, you must consider how to target your time and effort to the essential things in today's distraction-filled world.
I recently read Greg McKeown's "Essentialism." This book teaches the systematic discipline of getting the right things done by asking what is essential and eliminating what is not to support more deliberate decision-making. Essentialism is more than a principle. It's a way of life and thinking that helps us operate at our highest point of contribution.
Becoming a true essentialist won't happen overnight, but I'm excited to take an active approach to view life through the essentialist lens. In so doing, I will become more intentional.
Have you read this book? If so, what do you think? Do you have a suggestion on what I should read next? Looking forward to your comments! #ceo #reading#productive #business #essentialism”
About Your Host
Tim Fitzpatrick is the CEO of IKONA Health, a company using neurobiology and immersive technology to improve how patients learn about their care and treatment options. Tim co-founded IKONA based on his own patient experiences while serving in the US Navy and now in the VA health system. He has served as Principal Investigator on multiple federal research grants, has co-authored papers on learning science, VR, and mental health in the age of COVID-19, and has partnered with top healthcare investors and institutions including the National Science Foundation, Department of Defense, Na...
What you’ll get out of this episode
Tim sat down with Carla Bond, Founder and CEO of UpSkill VR, to discuss the transformative role that virtual reality is playing in emergency training. Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) kills 1 person every 2 minutes in the United States, and 70% of SCAs happen at home. But did you know your chance of survival increases 45% when CPR is administered promptly?! UpSkill VR uses VR to help students, EMTs, and communities prepare for emergency situations, rooted in Carla’s own personal experience. She shares her personal experience as an EMT, including a story where she arrived at a call and found an infant in need of help and the surprising realization that led Carla to founding the company. We dive into the details of her journey as an entrepreneur, her target market, ideal partners and end users, and what's next for UpSkill beyond CPR. Here are some of the key takeaways from the episode:
In this episode you’ll discover:
Final Frontier - 5 Questions in 50 Seconds
Quotables
“When you think about a traditional CPR class, you’re in a controlled environment and you’re playing essentially with a doll, of course they are manikins, but it's a torso. So the first thing you’re not going to encounter out in the real world is a torso and a head that needs CPR, and there is nothing else going on. So me showing up to calls; to summarize, I showed up to a call that really was a catalyst for me, I showed up to a call where according to the mother who had been a nurse for 20 years; so that’s at least 10 CPR classes that she sat through, but when we got there, he was still wedged between the tub and the toilet. It was not that she did not have the education to do it, she did not have that emotional tie to be able to take what she used in the class room and bring it to real life, and that’s where VR came in. “
“Our perfect candidate is people who are professionals in the healthcare space, who are typically 1. Required to have it, since they are doing it anyway, and 2. Students who are going into the healthcare field, whether they are in highschool or college. We want to be there before you hit the clinic or hospital, so by the time that you get your first job, you’ve had endless amounts of practice on the most realialistic scenarios possible so we don’t have doctors passing out at the first sign of arterial blood or EMTs having those difficult calls. We can out them in there ahead of time and expirence it. This weeds out a lot of darkness, because you don’t really know how you’re going to respond, but if I out you in VR, I can pretty much tell you how you are going to respond. With our experiences, we track your heart rate, so I can tell you when you got scared, and I can tell you when you got out of breath. It’s like flight simulation, we want you to screw it up with us, not with anyone else.”
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“Upskill VR is excited to be pitching this year at the annual DC Startup Week Early-Stage Pitch Competition next week on Friday, September 16th at Convene sponsored by Sands Capital!! DC Startup Week is the largest event in the DC area for entrepreneurs and startups! 🎉.” Carla Bond on LinkedIn
“Meet the winners of DC Startup Week’s annual pitch competition! Ten finalists competed at DC Startup Week's closing event, split between early- and growth-stage groups. Here are the winners.” Read the full article on Technical.ly (September, 2022)
About Your Host
Tim Fitzpatrick is the CEO of IKONA Health, a company using neurobiology and immersive technology to improve how patients learn about their care and treatment options. Tim co-founded IKONA based on his own patient experiences while serving in the US Navy and now in the VA health system. He has served as Principal Investigator on multiple federal research grants, has co-authored papers on learning science, VR, and mental health in the age of COVID-19, and has partnered with top healthcare investors and institutions including the National Science Foundation, Department of Defense, National Artificial Intelligence Institute, StartUp Health, On Deck, FundRx, MATTER and NVIDIA.
T-Minus 10 is a part of the Slice of Healthcare podcast network.
What you’ll get out of this episode
Listen in as host Tim Fitzpatrick chats with Eric Gantwerker about how Level Ex brings together the best minds across healthcare and interactive entertainment to accelerate the adoption of new skills and treatments in medicine. Eric shares how he and his team think about designing new games, entering new markets, and finding ways to make medical education available anytime, anywhere. Since joining the team nearly 8 years ago, Level Ex has seen more than 1 million users and partnered with 30 out of the top 40 life sciences and medical device companies, including Medtronic, Johnson & Johnson and Boston Scientific.
In this episode you’ll discover:
Final Frontier - 5 Questions in 50 Seconds
Quotables
“We’ve relied on outside PI’s to run studies, and we have studies on a bunch of what we call our core games. You know AirwayX there was a study looking at inhibition times and confidence and skill. We looked at PulX and the interest in anatomy and pulmonary function and interest going into pulmonary interventional specialties. We just had a study come back about our dermatology game which is one of our first knowledge-based mechanics and it actually showed that practicing clinicians did better in clinical scenarios” @DrEricGant on #T-Minus 10 w/ @trfitzpatrick
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Love that play has found it's rightful place per Sam Glassenberg's vision! - Eric Gantwerker on LinkedIn
About Your Host
Tim Fitzpatrick is the CEO of IKONA Health, a company using neurobiology and immersive technology to improve how patients learn about their care and treatment options. Tim co-founded IKONA based on his own patient experiences while serving in the US Navy and now in the VA health system. He has served as Principal Investigator on multiple federal research grants, has co-authored papers on learning science, VR, and mental health in the age of COVID-19, and has partnered with top healthcare investors and institutions including the National Science Foundation, Department of Defense, National Artificial Intelligence Institute, StartUp Health, On Deck, FundRx, MATTER and NVIDIA.
T-Minus 10 is a part of the Slice of Healthcare podcast network.
What you’ll get out of this episode
Listen in as host Tim Fitzpatrick chats with Smit Patel about how the Digital Medicine Society, better known as “DiMe”, is building the professional home for digital medicine. Smit shares how DiMe and its partners are tackling the toughest digital medicine challenges, developing clinical-quality resources on a tech timeline, and delivering actionable resources to the field via open-source channels and educational programs. DiMe serves professionals at the intersection of the global healthcare and technology communities. BONUS: Smit is our very first T10 Alum to go through the Final Frontier, Tim’s 50-second gauntlet to finish all future Voyages. Enjoy!
In this episode you’ll discover:
Final Frontier - 5 Questions in 50 Seconds
Quotables
“ Digital health is a team sport, at the end of the day we are driving towards that one common goal. I call it in Hindi, seva, which means serving patients or serving individuals who are in need. “ @smitpats #DiMe on Ep31 @T-Minus10 w/ @trfitzpatrick
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“DTA partnered with the Digital Medicine Society (DiMe) community and Smit Patel to develop resources that will help any company looking to engage with the FDA. This page is a great place to start on that journey.” @Smit Patel on LinkedIn
“Excited to share: Answering the call of The White House, DiMe and Moffitt Cancer Center will co-host #CancerX, a new public-private partnership effort to rapidly accelerate the pace of cancer innovation in the U.S., alongside the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) and Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health.” @Smit Patel on Linkedin
About Your Host
Tim Fitzpatrick is the CEO of IKONA Health, a company using neurobiology and immersive technology to improve how patients learn about their care and treatment options. Tim co-founded IKONA based on his own patient experiences while serving in the US Navy and now in the VA health system. He has served as Principal Investigator on multiple federal research grants, has co-authored papers on learning science, VR, and mental health in the age of COVID-19, and has partnered with top healthcare investors and institutions including the National Science Foundation, Department of Defense, National Artificial Intelligence Institute, StartUp Health, On Deck, FundRx, MATTER and NVIDIA.
T-Minus 10 is a part of the Slice of Healthcare podcast network.
What you’ll get out of this episode
Listen in as host Tim Fitzpatrick chats with Adeline Dorough about the importance of patient reported outcomes (PROs) including the Patient Activation Measure (PAM). The “PAM” has been highlighted as a key variable in more than 750 peer-reviewed studies to date. Adeline teaches us that while high-quality medical care is an important determinant of health outcomes, patients’ health behaviors play a large role, too. By leveraging patient activation to gauge an individual’s ability to manage their own health and take an active role in their care, care teams can be better equipped to provide high-quality care that meets a patient’s individual needs.
In this episode you’ll discover:
Quotables
“By leveraging PROs and our work at Phreesia, we are able to better understand how to help patients and meet them where they are in their individual healthcare journey; and beyond that, we are able to help clinicians and staff as well, because we are electronically administering these PRO measures before they even step foot into the office. That means providers can spend time understanding that information and then using the appointment time to really get into the meat of it. “@AgileAdeline #Phreesia on Ep30 @T-Minus10 w/ @trfitzpatrick
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“This is a beautiful infographic and the content is often underappreciated.
Dr. Murdoch’s quote is insightful and true, “Often, the ‘oh by the way’ comments are the biggest thing.”
Thanks for sharing Dr. Maida Affan!” Adeline on LinkedIn
About Your Host
Tim Fitzpatrick is the CEO of IKONA Health, a company using neurobiology and immersive technology to improve how patients learn about their care and treatment options. Tim co-founded IKONA based on his own patient experiences while serving in the US Navy and now in the VA health system. He has served as Principal Investigator on multiple federal research grants, has co-authored papers on learning science, VR, and mental health in the age of COVID-19, and has partnered with top healthcare investors and institutions including the National Science Foundation, Department of Defense, National Artificial Intelligence Institute, StartUp Health, On Deck, FundRx, MATTER and NVIDIA.
T-Minus 10 is a part of the Slice of Healthcare podcast network.
What you’ll get out of this episode
Listen in as host Tim Fitzpatrick chats with Caroline Webb about her journey over the past decade working in kidney care settings. From dialysis centers to home dialysis, and case management to pursuing professional development, Caroline shares lessons from a winding and accelerating career path. Caroline also talks about her excitement for new and innovative solutions in a traditionally complex, challenging care setting and patient population. Finally, we chat about her role leading IKONA’s Clinical Education efforts, where Caroline gets to share her insights with a virtual group of patients, care partners, and health professionals on a monthly basis.
In this episode you’ll discover:
Quotables
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Email: Caroline@IKONA.health
About Your Host
Tim Fitzpatrick is the CEO of IKONA Health, a company using neurobiology and immersive technology to improve how patients learn about their care and treatment options. Tim co-founded IKONA based on his own patient experiences while serving in the US Navy and now in the VA health system. He has served as Principal Investigator on multiple federal research grants, has co-authored papers on learning science, VR, and mental health in the age of COVID-19, and has partnered with top healthcare investors and institutions including the National Science Foundation, Department of Defense, National Artificial Intelligence Institute, StartUp Health, On Deck, FundRx, MATTER and NVIDIA.
T-Minus 10 is a part of the Slice of Healthcare podcast network.
What you’ll get out of this episode
Tim Fitzpatrick chats with Steve Winfree about the struggles he and so many other patients face when it comes to living with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and end stage kidney disease (ESKD). Steve takes us through his journey, from his surprise diagnosis while playing college basketball to eventually needing dialysis to survive, and finally to his transplant story that went viral and has logged more than 700 MILLION views to date. Since receiving his transplant from his wife, Heather, Steve has embarked on a personal mission to help other patients and care partners to share their stories and better understand their care.
In this episode you’ll discover:
Quotables
“The only thing I learned about dialysis through Google and looking through all these sites, was that it was very scary sounding. There was definitely a negative connotation over dialysis. It was something you wanted to avoid and should try your hardest to avoid and stay away from. Because of that, it scared me and it scared a lot of patients.” @Steve_Winfree #IKONAhealth on Ep28 @t-minus10
“Patients need to remember, I saw this all the time, doctor’s work for you in a sense, right? Like they are on your team. So, utilize their expertise, utilize their knowledge. Go into these meeting’s knowing you’re the expert on you” @Steve_Winfree #IKONAhealth on Ep28 @t-minus10
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Steve & Heather Winfree on Facebook
“The most powerful thing you can do as a kidney patient is to turn pain into purpose.
I stand by my saying that, "if you can take the worst thing happening in your life and find a way to use it to help others going through the same thing", you can answer the question 'why me?' at the end of the day.
It took time for me to fall into that mindset after dealing with self pity and feeling sorry for myself. Your journey as a kidney patient, and any other disease, makes you very unique. People want to hear stories from others just like them. They yearn for that familiarity.
This is a photo from my very first dialysis session and my first time speaking to congress on Capitol Hill. The world needs your story, so please do not be afraid to share it!” @Steve Winfree on Linkedin
About Your Host
Tim Fitzpatrick is the CEO of IKONA Health, a company using neurobiology and immersive technology to improve how patients learn about their care and treatment options. Tim co-founded IKONA based on his own patient experiences while serving in the US Navy and now in the VA health system. He has served as Principal Investigator on multiple federal research grants, has co-authored papers on learning science, VR, and mental health in the age of COVID-19, and has partnered with top healthcare investors and institutions including the National Science Foundation, Department of Defense, National Artificial Intelligence Institute, StartUp Health, On Deck, FundRx, MATTER and NVIDIA.
T-Minus 10 is a part of the Slice of Healthcare podcast network.
What you’ll get out of this episode
Listen in as host Tim Fitzpatrick chats with Linta Mustafa about the impact Vitract is making on chronic illnesses with strong ties to gut health, and the future of personalized nutrition thanks to advances in at-home testing and diagnostics. Vitract's mission is to reverse chronic illnesses that are strongly tied to the gut, including digestive, metabolic and mental illnesses. Learn how Vitract is accomplishing its mission by building the most advanced and comprehensive at-home gut test that decodes the gut microbiome.
In this episode you’ll discover:
Quotables
“I think this is a pain point not only for providers but patients too; how siloed we treat each condition patients are experiencing. So, it’s really interesting that nearly 70% of children diagnosed with Autism have a diagnosis of IBD as well. But, what that looks like is a whole different set of doctors and different care teams that don’t talk to each other, and that pain is deeply felt in the consumer journey and that’s one of the reasons why I started Vitract.”
@linta_mm #Vitract on Ep27 @T-minus10 w/ @trfitzpatrick
“When you look at the spectrum of alternative care providers, you have naturopaths, functional medicine doctors, dietitians, and they are all kind of playing detective. They are trying to look at the body as a whole and trying to figure out how they can best treat their patients. So the more information you can equip them with, the easier you make their job. If you make their job easier, the more likely they are to use your product. “ @linta_mm #Vitract on Ep27 @T-minus10 w/ @trfitzpatrick
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“Provider burnout is real. When your compensation is tied directly to billable hours, you are inching close to burnout by default.
Everything from medical compensation, insurance reimbursement models, licensing restrictions, lack of interoperability, siloed patient information, and lack of communication between care providers is causing frustration that's DRIVING the wellness market.
Often investors and founders struggle to grasp the breadth of solutions/their impact and place in the medical system if they're straddling the line between medical care and wellness. The at-home testing market is a great example of that.
Industry trends show us that we are headed towards a convergence and interconnectivity between what is now viewed as separate fields. In my opinion, if you're building in health tech, its worthwhile to consider how your solution leverages this industry transformation. “ @Linta Mustafa on LinkedIn
About Your Host
Tim Fitzpatrick is the CEO of IKONA Health, a company using neurobiology and immersive technology to improve how patients learn about their care and treatment options. Tim co-founded IKONA based on his own patient experiences while serving in the US Navy and now in the VA health system. He has served as Principal Investigator on multiple federal research grants, has co-authored papers on learning science, VR, and mental health in the age of COVID-19, and has partnered with top healthcare investors and institutions including the National Science Foundation, Department of Defense, National Artificial Intelligence Institute, StartUp Health, On Deck, FundRx, MATTER and NVIDIA.
T-Minus 10 is a part of the Slice of Healthcare podcast network.