2018 was a pivotal year for digital health technologies with major headlines of industry disruption dominating the news agenda.
As we enter 2019, we’ve asked the leaders and innovators of the industry to look forward, and share their new year’s resolutions for 2019. They reveal the technologies they’re most excited about, the biggest challenges currently facing health tech, and those they see having the biggest impact on the industry.
Intro
Today we hear from Tamir Strauss, Head of Tech & Product at Medopad. Their technology takes a modular approach, covering a wide variety of disease areas to deliver better and more personalised care by transforming the way patients and data interact with clinicians. Its Artificial Intelligence division uses data collected through Medopad’s platform to generate predictive insights which will be able to detect life threatening medical conditions.
They partner closely with the world’s largest healthcare systems, pharma companies, research institutes, insurers and technology companies like Apple and Tencent to solve some of the biggest problems in rare, chronic and complex disease monitoring, and were recently named a $1 billion health tech company in the making by KPMG.
Here’s what Tamir Strauss had to say…
Patient data and interoperability should be the industry’s focus for 2019
“By facilitating transparent and consensual sharing of data, we can create the foundation for accelerating innovation. The reality is, we can’t see the big picture whilst operating within silos.”
“Medopad is on a mission to help one billion people around the world. In order to do this, we must encourage interoperability and combine the power of AI, connected devices, relevant datasets, intelligent bots, predictive algorithms and more.”
The future is connected
“Last year we saw a huge shift in how consumers are using wearables, and it’s an area we can expect to see thrive in 2019. With the capabilities of devices being continuously experimented with and adapted, it isn’t hard to imagine a scenario in which users can measure numerous vital health metrics from one source.”
“Instead of having one cuff for blood pressure and a separate device to measure oxygen saturation, we can expect to see these come together in the future.”
Legacy technologies and services
“These challenges are making it very hard to paint a holistic picture of patients and analyse data. In addition, the regulators, which are a vital aspect of the industry, are, to a large extent, unable to keep up with the pace of technological changes. “
“The challenge is to try to evolve the regulatory landscape rapidly enough for it to become a facilitator, rather than inhibitor of change, without putting patients at risk.”
Breakthroughs and looking ahead
“Gene therapy and immunotherapy breakthroughs are two things I am excited to see evolve this year. We’re seeing digitisation continue to accelerate analysis and insights, driving these technologies, and thus having a significant impact on the world today.”
“Machine Learning is a third area, and something that is receiving a significant amount of focus and attention. ML will still face regulatory challenges however, so I’ll be keeping a keen eye on these developments in 2019.”
“Last but not least, we may see virtual reality, rather than augmented reality, gain traction for training and simulation purposes, whilst CRISPR CAS9 will continue revolutionising the entire industry.”