Here’s the second recap from Jenny Ng, Schwartz Communications, on Health Tech 2011 with a link to her full post below.
In part two of our extended conference recap, we explore some of the panel themes that were up for discussion at the First Annual Health Tech 2011 conference in Boston last Friday, May 13. The emerging and converging sectors of technology, mobile, and social have begun to transform how healthcare is defined
Innovation in Wellness: Applying Game Dynamics to Healthcare
Throughout the entrepreneur panel sessions, an overarching theme emerged around the gamification of healthcare. Maintaining good health requires daily commitment and action over time but most consumers tend to have short attention spans. To combat this challenge, companies like Earndit and Shape Up are applying game dynamics to make the platform more engaging and easy to use, while adding tangible incentives and peer-to-peer support systems to encourage sustained adoption.
Innovation in Healthcare Delivery: Virtual Consults to Become Commonplace
Many of the “buzz” startups are B2C, but there is a tremendous need and opportunity for start-ups designing tools and products for healthcare providers as well. To that end, Ron Dixon director of the Virtual Practice Project at Massachusetts General Hospital is developing a kiosk-based system for automating aspects of the care delivery process to improve efficiency and better manage patient populations. In addition, we have yet to fully realize the promise of telemedicine. According to new data released by Manhattan Research, 7 percent of physicians are using video-conferencing tools to consult and follow-up with patients. American Well (Schwartz client) CEO Roy Schoenberg was represented on the panel discussing innovation in healthcare delivery and he spoke eloquently about how we can now democratize access to healthcare with a “live telehealth consult” facilitated with nothing more than your standard web browser.
For more on Innovation in Mobile Health and Early Stage Investment, check out Jenny’s full post below. Thanks, Jenny!
