THE DOCTOR WEIGHS IN

It is so much easier to see how digital health things can work, interact, and provide value when you can see them in the context of life. Pat Salber MD interviews Harry Pappas, Founder and CEO of the IntelligentHealth Association and the IntelligentHealth Pavilion that creates full-on iHomes and iHospitals so prospective purchasers can see digital health devices in context.

What’s “new in asthma?” It’s important first to point out what is not new. Although there is not yet a cure for asthma, very effective therapies exist—and have existed for some time. Yet asthma continues to consume increasingly scarce health care resources, and to limit the lives of some 25 million Americans, including more than 7 million children. Is this changing? It is. While biomedical and clinical research continue to extend our understanding of the pathophysiology of the disease, and how to mitigate that through new therapies, what I see as most exciting are changes on other fronts: changes which have the potential to make the therapies that we have more impactful. At AAFA, we know that improving control of asthma leads to fewer emergency room visits and hospital admissions, so that payment models that transfer risk create strong incentives is to improve clinical outcomes. While asthma has not been the central focus of payment reform, it will often be in scope as payers and providers pilot new models to address common and costly chronic illness. This excerpt was taken from Dr. Cary Sennett's, CEO and President of AAFA, blog post. Click here to read more.

Are You Dense, Inc. is dedicated to informing the public about dense breast tissue and its significance for the early detection of breast cancer. Their Goals Are To: EDUCATE THE PUBLIC about dense breast tissue and the early detection of breast cancer by raising awareness through a web site, media, speaking engagements, social media, informational materials, and resources; IMPROVE THE CONDITION of women diagnosed with breast cancer by raising awareness about the physical, mental, and spiritual aspects of living with the disease; ADVOCATE CHANGES TO PUBLIC POLICY and breast cancer detection guidelines; and SUPPORT NEW AND EXISTING RESEARCH for the early detection of breast cancer for women with dense breast tissue.

Today, we will be talking to William Rosenzweig, Dean and Executive Director of The Food Business School, about what The Food Business School (FBS) is and what aspirations and goals they envision FBS to be. William B. Rosenzweig has spent more than twenty-five years integrating the practices and perspectives of an entrepreneur, venture investor, and educator. He is regarded internationally as an expert in cultivating and transforming impactful ideas into thriving enterprises. Will was founding CEO (and Minister of Progress) of The Republic of Tea, an award-winning specialty tea company that is credited with creating the premium tea category in the United States. As an entrepreneur and investor, he has been involved in Odwalla, Stonyfield Farms, Trinity Springs, Winetasting.com and Brand New Brands, a functional food incubator he founded in 2003. In November 2014, Will joined forces with The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) to launch The Food Business School (FBS), the CIA’s new center for executive and graduate education. As dean and executive director of The Food Business School, Will is working with industry experts to create specialized programs that enable and empower entrepreneurs to design, deliver, and lead transformative innovations that address the world’s most pressing food challenges—and its greatest business opportunities. A little about FBS's mission The Food Business School enables and empowers entrepreneurial leaders to design, deliver and lead transformative innovations that address the world’s most pressing food challenges—and its greatest business opportunities

Today, we will be speaking to Rebecca Lord, VP of UX at Medullan, a Boston-based digital health consultancy. In this episode, Rebecca will be focusing on the role of patient advocacy in healthcare: partnering with patient organizations to offer the support, context, and guidance that individuals need after receiving their test results for specific diseases and partnering with well-known organizations (like Susan G. Komen for breast cancer-related diagnoses, for example), which could provide the credibility and specificity needed to deal with these kinds of results.