ANDHealth

ANDHealth Winter Digital Health Summit Wrap

August 14, 2020

ANDHealth’s 2020 Winter Summit – The New Normal: Digital Health in a Post-COVID World – has just concluded, with some great insights for Australian digital health companies.

A Summit in quotes

ANDHealth’s 2020 Winter Summit – The New Normal: Digital Health in a Post-COVID World – has just concluded, with some great insights for Australian digital health companies. Here is some of the flavour of the event, in the words of the stellar line-up of speakers who presented.

“Ask yourself, ‘Who needs my technology, and why?’ ‘How am I going to deliver it?’ ‘Who is going to pay?’ Make sure you understand the US system.” – Lisa Suennen of Manatt, on approaching the US market

“It’s a long trip. Australian companies really need to understand the US system – it’s illogical, incentives are not aligned, and the natural markets are not obvious because we’re so confused about who does what.” – Lisa Suennen

“Future generations won’t call it ‘digital health’. They’ll just call it health. It’s inevitable. As custodians, we have to put the guardrails in place and then let them innovate.” – Dr Anand Iyer, Welldoc

“Post-COVID, digital health is like the substitute quarterback who has been asked to get off the sidelines and step into the game — and deliver!” – Dr Anand Iyer

“Telemedicine is more than just a phone call. It’s very clear that when it comes to getting healthcare, the public does not want to go back to how things were before.” – Rob Grenfell, CSIRO

“We need to make sure there’s not a loss of opportunity. Now is the time to substantiate the need for digital care, before a vaccine makes people complacent.” – Kate Merton

“Existing relationships are important in pivoting to digital, but in the post-COVID era we will have to find new ways to make partnerships online. A good pitch deck is no longer enough. Go the extra mile, and make the connections.” – Kate Merton

“COVID has created opportunities for telemedicine, but also for digital therapeutics companies like TALi. Australia has a strong foundation for building a digital future, and ANDHealth is playing a leading role.” – Sue MacLeman, MTPConnect

“We need to leverage this renewed interest. We’re seeing the beginnings of a willingness to concede that digital health is more than just EHRs. The more case studies we have of economic benefits, the better.” – Bronwyn Le Grice, ANDHealth

“Care providers have an expectation that there is some kind of regulatory oversight if they are to use a device.” – Tracey Duffy, TGA

“The impact of not considering regulation early is that patients won’t be able to benefit as quickly. It’s about impacting patients’ lives.” – Dr Dan Grant, MTPConnect

“If we want to see the market creation aspect of reimbursement, we need to be prepared to subject ourselves to regulatory scrutiny and provide quantitative evidence that the product works.” – Bronwyn Le Grice

“Australian companies like Planet Innovation have always supported partners around the world, so we are well positioned to not just support global companies that can’t travel, but actually accelerate the delivery of innovative engineering and manufacturing solutions.” – Sam Lanyon, Planet Innovation

“Due to COVID we’re starting to see retained adoption of digital health by HCPs and patients alike. The challenge with digital health is how to get the different stakeholder groups to align.” – Martin Kelly, HealthXL

“It doesn’t matter if you have the best idea or technology, unless you can convince the customer that it’s going to save them money, typically within a year.” – Martin Kelly

“In order to be successful, remote monitoring programs have to be embedded in clinical workflow, make clinicians more efficient and more effective. The patient needs to also have a seat at the table.” – Drew Schiller, Validic

“COVID-19 is a call to action – it has exposed flaws in the healthcare system and highlighted the importance of virtual care that is powered by data.” – Drew Schiller

“COVID-19 impacts on US healthcare include a surge in adoption of virtual care models, prescription delivery and remote patient monitoring. There is a growing concern about the short and long-term impact of delaying care.” – Bill Lucia, HMS

“Virtual care is here to stay, retail healthcare will emerge as a winner, consumer is king, and providers will leverage patient analytics and increase their role in patient engagement.” – Bill Lucia

“The International Space Station is the model for telemedicine right now. Space health is telemedicine – it includes live remote guidance, live monitoring and store and forward capability. ” – Dr Aenor Sawyer, UCSF

“COVID-19 is a forcing function for remote care, leading to the delivery of ‘distributed, not diluted’ care. It’s not the technology that’s holding us back – we need societal consensus. We need an innovation challenge around business models and health policies.” – Dr Aenor Sawyer

And finally, excellent advice from our closing panel of George Kenley of Seer, Georgie Drury of Springday and Dr Silvia Pfeiffer of Coviu: Believe in yourself, be persistent, find several funding avenues, ask for advice and ensure there’s an avenue by which you can get paid!