Digital Health Conference

I'll be starting this week at the NY eHealth Collaborative’s (NYeHC) Digital Health Conference. This conference brings together a diverse group of healthcare professionals to hear insights, ideas, and analysis from leaders in the health IT community. With keynote speakers like David J. Brailer, MD, Ph.D., the Chairman of Health Evolution Partners and Stephen J. Dubner, the bestselling author, Freakonomics and Superfreakonomics, it is sure to be an excellent event. I'll be on a panel "Taking a Healthy Risk: Best Practices and Creative Use of Social Media in Healthcare" with Twitter superstars John Lynn, Amy Dixon RN, and Wen Dombrowski MD. We'll explore best practices, discuss risks and benefits, and share ideas for creative uses of online tools and platforms for providers, administrators, patients, and healthcare organizations. There are going to be some interesting tweets at the hashtag #DHC12 throughout the event.

One thing that will be very cool is the inaugural class of the NY Digital Health Accelerator (NYDHA) to be announced at the conference. The 8 selected companies will be announced by NY State DOH Commissioner Dr. Nirav Shah on Day 1. In addition, they'll be demonstrating their products and solutions in our exhibit hall and during a dedicated conference session on Day 2. The NYDHA is $4.2 million program run by the New York eHealth Collaborative & the New York City Investment Fund for early- and growth-stage digital health companies that are developing cutting edge technology products for some of the largest healthcare providers in NY state.

“The Accelerator provides much-needed, valuable tools for providers in support of New York State's Medicaid Redesign initiative," New York State Health Commissioner Nirav R. Shah, M.D., M.P.H. said. "The initiative, which promotes a shift from the costly fee-for-service model to a more effective and efficient managed care approach, is resulting in better care - at lower cost - for patients across the continuum of care. The Accelerator is an essential first step to stimulate the market and nurture innovation within the entrepreneurial community.”




The NYDHA is a program run by the NYeHC and the Partnership for New York City Fund for early- and growth-stage digital health companies that are developing cutting edge technology products in care coordination, patient engagement, analytics and message alerts for healthcare providers.

The 9 month program will provide up to $300,000 of funding per company from a syndicate of leading venture capital and strategic investors, along with direct mentorship and feedback from senior-level executives at a broad network of provider organizations in New York State.

“We are creating the next generation of healthcare applications that will transform the healthcare delivery system,” said NYeC Executive Director David Whitlinger. “These companies are the first software development vendors to have direct access to the SHIN-NY, a secure platform that embodies all of the federal and state policies for usage of patient data by the community.”

The 8 companies announced include:

AdhereTx: KnowMyMeds web-based, interoperable software supports team-based medication management and reconciliation for high-risk patients at the point of care. KnowMyMeds enables healthcare practitioners to perform clinically validated, cost-effective medication review for high-risk patients, including “dual eligibles” and the chronically ill, to reduce their drug-related hospitalizations and readmissions. (www.adhertx.com)

Aidin: Aidin is a web-based referral platform for hospitals discharging patients to post-acute care.  Aidin collects hard data about how well post-acute providers perform and makes it easy for hospital staff to present that information to patients when they are choosing their post-acute provider - helping patients choose better providers for better outcomes. (www.myaidin.com)

Avado: Avado allows clinicians and patients to securely communicate, track, and manage health information. They centralize data from many EHR’s and make it usable for all stakeholders.  Providers can take comfort knowing that Avado exceeds Meaningful Use requirements for patient engagement while also addressing requirements for medical homes and accountable models. (www.avado.com)

CipherHealth: CipherHealth helps hospitals avoid government penalties by reducing preventable readmissions, improving outcomes, better coordinating care, and creating a positive patient experience.  CipherHealth reaches out over the phone, through tablets, via email, text, or the web, better engaging patients in their care and building stronger relationships between patients and providers. (www.cipherhealth.com)

Cureatr: Cureatr will improve how healthcare providers communicate and coordinate patient care. Their lightweight, user-friendly HIPAA-secure group messaging system integrates with existing directory, scheduling and paging systems, making it easy to use while coordinating care within or between organizations. (www.cureatr.com)

MedCPU: MedCPU delivers accurate real-time clinical care advice through its revolutionary Advisor Button technology. It uniquely captures the complete clinical picture from clinicians’ free-text notes, dictations and structured documentation entered into any EMR, and analyzes it against a growing library of best-practice content, generating real-time precise prompts for best care consideration. (www.medcpu.com

Remedy Systems: Remedy Systems leverages the power of mobile to lower the cost and improve the quality of healthcare via its flexible care coordination platform that enables physicians and nurses to concentrate on delivering the highest quality of care possible while fostering engagement from patients and family/friends. (www.remedysystems.com)

SpectraMD: SpectraMD maximizes the value of data across the continuum of care with business intelligence solutions. Their FOCUS™ Actionable Analytics platform enables stakeholders in hospitals and ambulatory care settings to improve outcomes, increase revenues, succeed in quality-based initiatives including Reducing Preventable Readmissions and leverage analytics for the Health Home initiative. (www.spectramd.com)

Twenty highly influential healthcare provider organizations will participate in the program, including New York Presbyterian, NYU Medical Center, Albany Medical Center, and the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation.

With an initial investment of $4.2 million, the NYDHA will create approximately 1,500 jobs over five years. In addition, it is expected that the companies will attract upwards of $150-200 million in investment from the venture capital community post-program. The NYDHA will stimulate a new marketplace, creating the next generation of healthcare tools while positioning New York a hub for the health IT entrepreneurial sector.