Sarah Harmon’s Post

🔎 Why is evidence becoming so important in digital health? Crucially, what do innovators need to know about generating clinical and economic evidence for their solutions? Last week, our Chief Medical Officer and co-founder, Dr Saira Ghafur, joined Dr. Zhong Wei Khor for the LinkedIn Live event Clinical Evidence Generation: A guide for health tech companies. During the discussion, Saira outlined how health tech companies should approach evidence generation, the key differences between generating evidence for HealthTech (including AI) and traditional pharmaceuticals, as well as new, innovative methods for generating evidence for these products in safe and effective ways. This conversation should serve as an excellent intro to the world of digital health evidence generation for founders and innovators. You can access a recording of the event at the link below. If you'd like to learn more about how Prova Health can support you with your evidence needs, get in touch with us at hello@provahealth.com.

Transformative ideas have the power to transcend boundaries - drawing the most brilliant minds to engage, debate, and mold the future. As a co-founder of AI-MD, I am excited to be in New York City this week to witness the discourse on AI in healthcare among an impressive lineup of thought leaders, including Chelsea Clinton, Daisy Wolf, Ian Chiang, and Julian Harris, MD, MBA. During the recent HLTH conference, I introduced the concept of AI-MD, which immediately resonated with a16z Bio + Health's Daisy Wolf (original a16z article in comments), among others. Since then, it has sparked significant interest and engagement, propelling our concept and aspects of our patented technology and brand identity into the limelight at HealthNext Summit (post link in comments). It’s validating to see our vision for integrating AI with medical diagnostics capture the attention and imagination of such esteemed individuals in the health tech community. This panel is not just a discussion - it’s a testament to the compelling nature of the AI-MD’s patented technology and our potential to influence the future of healthcare and humanity as a whole. Thank you to all our investors and supporters thus far who believe in our potential. I look forward to attending the HealthNext Summit over the next few days! If you’ll be at the summit or in NYC this week and want to talk about the future of health tech, let’s connect! 🚀🚀🚀 #HealthNextSummit #FutureOfHealthcare #FounderJourney #HealthTech

As the summer session comes to a close, I’d like to thank all the guest speakers who shared their insights and experiences with my students:   Matthew Laskowski, founder and CEO of Toby, discussed AI in cancer diagnostics and his startup journey. Suzy Engwall, healthtech strategy consultant, talked about innovative use cases for AR/VR in healthcare. JC Ruffalo, a trusted colleague and friend, spoke about digital therapeutics and decision-making as a VC. Amir M. Rahmani, director of UCI’s Institute for Future Health, delved into remote patient monitoring. Rachel Tornheim, digital health veteran, presented a framework on the problems AI is best suited to solve. Charla Triplett, med device expert and investor, shared about several innovative partnerships she's seen. Ahmed A. Mirza from Techstars LA offered his perspective and predictions on the future of digital health. The class wouldn’t have been the same without their views. They were gracious with their time, and I heard some students reached out to them afterward. Great opportunity to build those relationships! I also want to thank my students who provided feedback on the class. It was my first time facilitating this course, and there are certainly things I could improve next time. I appreciated hearing their thoughts and expectations. We're all learning here. If there were one takeaway from the class, it is this: The focus of digital health is not - or should not be - the technology. In fact, I think we've over-indexed on the “digital” part without corresponding regard for the “health” part. Many products introduce a technical capability but fail to show how it'd actually improve patient health. They rely on assumptions that efficiency leads to efficacy, that availability of information results in accessibility of care. We must not lose sight of the purpose: the patient. Ultimately, digital health products must tie back to services and care management - solving real problems for clinicians, fitting into their workflows, and improving outcomes for patients. Anything less than that falls short of digital health’s promise. #digitalhealth #healthcareinnovation #highered #ucla

Should be a fascinating session…

🙌 "My Health, My Right!" 🙌 Today, the world commemorates World Health Day under this impactful theme. We at Innoccu stand in solidarity with the World Health Organization's commitment to ensuring everyone, everywhere, has access to health services that are available, accessible, acceptable, and of high quality. The World Health Organization Council on the Economics of Health for All highlights a stark reality: although over 140 countries have enshrined the right to health within their constitutions, there's a considerable lag in implementing laws and policies to operationalize this right effectively. Consequently, more than half of the world's population, approximately 4.5 billion people, were not fully covered by essential health services in 2021. In the face of such challenges, the importance of embracing AI solutions and promoting digital health becomes ever more critical. AI in healthcare promises to transform our approach to medical care, making it more personalized, of higher quality, and accessible to all. AI medicine offers a beacon of hope, with the potential to bring about significant improvements in healthcare worldwide. Through earlier and more accurate diagnoses, informed treatment choices, and the advent of digital therapeutics, AI systems are at the forefront of pioneering a new era in medicine. As we commemorate World Health Day, let us recommit to making health for all a reality. The right to health is not just a goal but a necessity, paving the way for a healthier, brighter future for all. At Innoccu, we are proud to contribute to this global effort, embodying the principle that my health, and the health of every child we aim to serve, is an undeniable right. #WorldHealthDay #HealthForAll #AIinHealthcare #Innoccu #HealthcareInnovation #GlobalHealth #HealthcareAccess

🧪 Clinical trials are getting a tech glow-up! From AI-powered recruitment to virtual visits, inclusivity is finally in style 🎉. No more "one-size-fits-all" research – it's time to represent EVERYONE! 🌍💡 Let’s make sure the future of medicine looks like all of us. 🚀 #InclusiveResearch #ClinicalTrials #TechSavesTheDay

Here are some of my key takeaways from the MIT Sloan Healthcare & BioInnovations Conference at the MIT Media Lab. It was a great learning experience, particularly for someone with a background in the life sciences. The conference commenced with an insightful presentation by Dr. Robert Fields from Beth Israel Lahey Health, who shed light on the evolving landscape of U.S. healthcare and highlighted key areas where AI can be integrated. His talk underscored the importance of scaling AI-based healthcare solutions, a critical bottleneck currently hindering the rapid adoption of innovative technologies. The panel discussions were equally engaging, covering a wide range of topics, from the transformative impact of AI in healthcare to strategies aimed at enhancing financial accessibility to care. A moment that particularly resonated with me was the fireside chat with Deborah Di Sanzo of Best Buy Health, offering a compelling vision for the future of healthcare at home. The dialogue underscored the need for increased collaboration between AI experts and clinicians to ensure that technological advancements benefit patient care. Moreover, the discussions around patient data protection highlighted the ethical considerations paramount to the adoption of emerging technologies. A recurring theme from the panelists and keynote speakers was the potential of AI to significantly improve healthcare access and efficiency. Specifically, AI's role in streamlining administrative tasks for healthcare professionals presents an immediate opportunity for impact. The advice that resonated most with me was that solutions need not be complex to be effective; simplicity can often lead to significant breakthroughs. Another standout feature of the conference was the Sloan Healthcare Innovations Pitch Competition, showcasing the winners - MabLab, BridgeHealthAI (Bridge: The Health Equity Innovation Lab), and Third Coast Dynamics - and their pioneering solutions poised to shape the future of healthcare. The concluding keynote by Dr. Lisa Neff from Eli Lilly and Company, focusing on the challenges of obesity, emphasized the complexity of addressing conditions that necessitate a shift in societal perceptions. The need to increase awareness and eradicate stigma through educational campaigns was also underscored in the earlier panel discussion on 'Transitions to Over the Counter (OTC) Products.' For those at the intersection of technology and healthcare, the conference was a powerful reminder of the opportunities and responsibilities in the field. Innovation, collaboration, and ethical consideration, all geared towards improving patient care, stand out as key principles guiding the path forward. #HealthcareInnovation #MITMediaLab #AIHealthcare

Moments like #MyelomaActionMonth remind us that while there have been recent scientific advances, patients still face delays to access the treatments they urgently need. We must continue to work together to find new solutions to address this unmet need.    I am excited to share my recent article in @ThePharmaLetter focusing on the importance of real-world evidence in supporting patient access to innovation.    You can read the article here – let me know your thoughts in the comments: https://lnkd.in/dcmG7w_W

We are at a pivotal moment where the convergence of large health and biomedical data sets, artificial intelligence and advances in biotechnology is set to revolutionise health care, drive economic growth and improve the lives of citizens. And the UK has strengths in all three areas. The immense potential of the UK's health-data assets, from the NHS to biobanks and genomics initiatives, can unlock new diagnostics and treatments, deliver better and more personalised care, prevent disease and ultimately help people live longer, healthier lives. However, realising this potential is not without its challenges. The complex and fragmented nature of the current health-data landscape, coupled with legitimate concerns around privacy and public trust, has made for slow progress. The UK has had a tendency to provide short-term funding across multiple initiatives, which has led to an array of individual projects – many of which have struggled to achieve long-term sustainability and deliver tangible benefits to patients. To overcome these challenges, it will be necessary to be bold and imaginative. We must look for ways to leverage the unique strengths of the NHS, such as its nationwide reach and cradle-to-grave data coverage, to create a health-data ecosystem that is much more than the sum of its many parts. This will require us to think differently about how we collect, manage and utilise health data, and to create new partnerships and models of collaboration that break down traditional silos and barriers. It will mean treating data as a key health resource and managing it accordingly. One model to do this is the proposed sovereign National Data Trust (NDT) – an endeavour to streamline access to and curation of the UK's valuable health-data assets. It would ensure a return on investment through access fees, quicker and more affordable access to innovative treatments, and value-added services such as data discovery, clinical trials and the analysis and facilitation of research. This would all be while maintaining public ownership and protection of the data, and never selling or transferring them to private interests. The NDT represents a fundamental shift in the approach to the governance and utilisation of health data, acknowledging its potential to improve lives and being clear about the necessity for a robust, transparent and sustainable framework to realise its benefits. #nhs #powerofdata #health #data #innovation #technology #ai #healthoutcomes #patientbenefit #genomics #clinicaltrial #earlydiagosis #personalisedcare #personalisedmedicine Tony Blair Institute for Global Change

Even though Clinical Trials Day has passed, its essence resonates as we collectively acknowledge the indispensable contributions of research in crafting novel, efficacious treatments that drive healthcare forward and profoundly impact patient lives. The dynamic evolution of clinical trials underscores the necessity to overcome patient access challenges, underscore the importance of diverse research participation, and steadfastly advocate for health equity across the healthcare continuum. In this transformative age, the synergistic integration of AI and real-world data is revolutionizing this domain, creating groundbreaking opportunities to redefine trial patient populations, remove barriers to participation, and transcend traditional boundaries. As we continue to foster collaboration within the diverse healthcare ecosystem, we embark on a journey replete with boundless possibilities. Let us perpetuate the spirit of Clinical Trials Day, embracing innovation, empathy, and the relentless pursuit of enhanced healthcare outcomes every single day. #ClinicalTrialsDay #TrailblazersAmongUs #HealthEquity #PatientCenteredResearch #AIinClinicalTrials #CTD2024