It’s that time of year again… I’m not sure about you, but the summer Festive season does seem to come around at an alarming speed every year, and so I find myself sitting here reflecting upon another year at the fast-moving non-profit that is ANDHealth.

2019 has been a massive year for the team as we rolled out three new programs, our B.R.I.G.H.T Programs, developed and delivered alongside Planet Innovation with support from LaunchVic and New Industries WA, and our unique Masterclass offering, the only industry-led digital health commercialisation deep dive delivering a ratio of >1 speaker for every participant. We also wrapped up our FY 2019 ANDHealth+ cohort, and we’ve been delighted to observe the success of those companies both throughout and beyond the program’s duration.

It has also been a year of evolution as we wrap up our original project with MTPConnect, which allowed for the creation of ANDHealth, and as the uniqueness of the ANDHealth non-profit model for amplifying the impact of industry-led acceleration has started to generate attention on the global stage.

We thank Sue MacLeman, Dan Grant  and the rest of the MTPConnect team  for their support for the past 2.5 years and look forward to continuing to build on our relationship with the team in the coming year. A special thanks also to Elizabeth Stares who has been our ever constant and supportive Project Manager within the MTPConnect team.

The ANDHealth approach has always been deeply rooted in a belief that we need to demonstrate our novel approach and programs are actually effective, before we seek wide ranging support from the public sector, and we believe we now have outcomes which justify Government attention and funding into our proven programs and team. This will remain a core focus of myself and the team moving into 2020, as we look to seek the necessary public support to grow our sector, and continue to provide access to our globally competitive ANDHealth+ Program.

The fact remains that digital health- and we’re talking digital health beyond health IT/ e-health / health data analytics here – at ANDHealth it’s all about actual  clinical interventions enabled and delivered via technology which change both the outlook and outcomes for patients across the world – is one of the fastest growing sectors in healthcare, and one of the fastest growing and most active sectors of innovation across the country.

We know there are amazing digital health entrepreneurs and technologies across Australia, as we’ve met with or reviewed information from, and provided feedback to, over 225 digital health companies in less than 2 years via our programs and free office hours consultations. This deep industry engagement and knowledge provides us with a window into the sector’s composition and growth potential via Australia’s largest and deepest database of digital health innovation.

I’d like to applaud to significant achievements of our ANDHealth+ Cohort companies, who have impacted over 44,500 patients in the past two years alongside their many commercial outcomes and significant job creation.  Their success creates a pathway to global markets for those that follow them. We’ve also seen remarkable success across the industry as other companies go on to achieve global milestones and raise significant funding rounds. (You can see some of those achievements in our June Infographic here).

Core to ANDHealth’s success has been our focus on “harnessing the power of the collective.” Our business model, our programs and our success are all due to the amazing organisations and people we work with across each year. This list is long, distinguished and inspiring, and we are endlessly grateful to those people who have made their time and expertise available to us.

Specifically, I would like to pass on our sincerest thanks to our members:
Novartis Pharmaceuticals, RMIT University, Planet Innovation, the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Curve Tomorrow, Potential(x), HPM Executive, HealthXL and AusBiotech;
and our program partners:
Amazon Web Services, Planet Innovation, LaunchVic, New Industries WA and the Telethon Kids Institute.

Finally, it wouldn’t be an end of year wrap up without acknowledging some change. This year we farewelled our Founding Chair, Dr Anna Lavelle.  It’s fair to say that getting ANDHealth off the ground would have been a lot more difficult without Anna’s endless support, encouragement and contribution, and I am sincerely grateful for her input since inception. In Anna’s place we welcomed Gavin Fox-Smith as Independent, Non-Executive Chair.  Gavin’s leadership across the Australian medical technology landscape and his endless efforts in supporting diversity through Male Champions of Change and other mechanisms have inspired me greatly over the past several years and I am delighted to have this opportunity to work with him directly.

To Kelly Constable and Andrew Hall, our independent non-executive Directors who give so generously of their time and expertise, my personal thanks alongside those of the members and team, for your ongoing contribution.

Finally, to the team of people who make it all happen. To Grace Lethlean, who has been instrumental as a co-founder in bringing the ANDHealth vision to reality, and to the broader team who support us: Deena Metz, Marcelle Malka, Rita Morgenstern, Paul Davies, Servet Koçak and Iain Scott and to those that have left us throughout the year, Jonny Lo & Joseph Hardy, my personal thanks to each of you for your contribution.

I’ll be taking some extended leave this summer, as Tom and I prepare to welcome our second child this Christmas, but look forward to connecting with you all in 2020. In the interim, the team of amazing individuals that comprise ANDHealth will be back on deck in mid-January, as we look to make 2020 our biggest year yet.

Wishing you all a joyful and relaxing festive season,

‍

Bronwyn Le Grice
Founder | CEO | Managing Director
ANDHealth

ANDHealth's Year In Review

Click below to see some of the things the ANDHealth team delivered this year:

- Trade Mission to SxSW (US)

- Austrade collaboration with inbound ASEAN delegation

- AWS Global Healthcare Roundtable and Events

- Trade Mission to HLTH (US)

- Delegation to Australian British Health Catalyst (UK)

- Delivery of events impacting 1500 people, including:

   • AND Health Summer Summit
   • ANDHealth Winter Summit
   • Women in Digital Health Lunch
   • VicGov Digital Innovation Festival
   • An exclusive event with Mick Farrell from Resmed
   • Facilitation of international digital health expert, Lisa Suennen, for a week of industry events
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- Policy support with ADHA, CSIRO, TGA, Boosting Female Founders Initiative

- Partnering to Launch the WA Digital Health Accelerator

- Programs Including:
   • Office Hours
   • Multiple B.R.I.G.H.T programs with Planet Innovation in both Victoria and Western Australia
   • Inaugural digital health commercialisation Masterclass
   • ANDHealth FY2019 cohort