Join us for this episode of Digital Health Talks' "Five Good Things" where hosts Megan Antonelli and Janae Sharp discuss Samsung's acquisition of Xealth, Hartford Healthcare's first-in-US airport telehealth kiosk at Bradley International, and Rock Health's report showing $6.4 billion in healthcare investments with 62% going to AI startups. They also highlight nursing innovation awards, recognize Microsoft's Chief Nursing Officer Kathy McGrath, and announce their partnership with Emerge Americas for a major healthcare trade show in Miami, showcasing the continued momentum in digital health innovation and consumer-focused healthcare solutions.
Janae Sharp, Founder & CEO, The Sharp Index
Megan Antonelli, Founder & CEO, HealthIMPACT Live
0:01 Welcome to Digital Health Talks. Each week we meet with healthcare leaders making an immeasurable difference in equity, access, and quality. Hear about what tech is worth investing in and what isn't as we focus on the innovations that deliver. Join Megan Antonelli, Janae Sharp, and Shahid Shaw for a weekly no BS deep dive on what's really making an impact in healthcare.
0:30 Megan Antonelli: Hi, everyone. Welcome to Digital Health Talks. This is Megan Antonelli, and I am here with my friend and colleague and co-conspirator, Janae Sharp.
0:42 Janae Sharp: Thrilled to be here today, and we get to talk about good things. We are, we're gonna do another segment of our 5 good things. And this week, we're gonna have an inaugural 5 Good Things kind of celebration because of a couple of reasons. One, I just had COVID. So it reminds me of how we came up with 5 Good Things, which was after the pandemic, we were looking for something to ask people other than, what's your pandemic silver lining, when we went to them. And we came up with, let's talk about 5 good things and give us your good thing in healthcare. And that was such a fun segment that we turned it into a podcast show.
1:22 Megan: Yes. And I think, I think it really is nice because there's lots of news out there that's sensational or negative. And hearing what people are excited about, what they look forward to, that's something we need. And I like it. I like hearing good news. So if you're listening to this, send us your good news, tag us, share 5 good things.
1:46 Janae: Yeah, it does. I mean, being a New Yorker, being a cynic, somewhat of a curmudgeon, I consider myself part of the healthcare curmudgeon crowd. It is always, it's a nice way to think about healthcare. It's a nice way to end the month, to see what good things happened and, what can we, what can we put a spin on and make it good, even if it wasn't necessarily the best thing. So it is, it is, it's a healthy exercise, I think, particularly at the end of the month, as we lead into a 3 day weekend. So, but we, we were reminded of all of this because I had Lisa Soonan on the show, this, this week, this month, and, Lisa is the head of AHA American Heart Association Ventures, but well known VC investor, you know, expert, and, certainly women's health mentor and that she started C Sweetener, and just all around amazing person in healthcare with incredible advice, and we Actually inspired her with this question. So this is good. I feel like you should, you should say like, this is a good thing.
2:56 Megan: Megan was featured in Lisa's blog, which, you know, we all have a little bit of a crush on Lisa, like a work crush. She's a badass. She would say that on the radio. She's a they can bleep it out. She is a Female Forbes female over 50, recent winner of that title. So, it was, it is quite an honor to be on Vener Valkyrie blog. It is a well, well read, well established blog. So to have a is definitely a good thing. Megan, Megan was shouted out for asking her what her five good things are.
3:35 Janae: Indeed, and she and she then went on probably because I didn't give her enough prep time for the actual no it was it was because it was inspired, it was inspired. But she went on to really dig in and give her 5 good things, which I, she mentioned, there's a new Mattel Barbie that has, type 1 diabetes. So that's a good thing, good to have that recognition. Reminds me of Gary Forbes, our, our friend from Health Impact who has his, You know, healthcare hero stories coming out where, you know, it gives kids this ability to identify and see themselves in these, you know, sort of iconic, heroic, Toys. So that's fun. Good on hotel for doing that. And she mentioned a few others, are certainly around heart health and stroke health and innovations there, which is exciting. But to our 5 good things, other than being featured on Lisa's blog, which was, of course, an honor, that counts.
4:41 Megan: Yeah. , there were, what did we have? We had, oh, in, in that vein of sort of developments, out of Stanford, there was the, recent, study around or The diagnostic, around breast cancer and cardiovascular disease. So, a highly sensitive, mammogram and study that does, that actually test both. So that one's a good thing because it checks our American Heart, association boxes, and we love them and we're working on their competition, that's coming up and, that company reply. I think it's great too, because some of the stuff can be used for. Artificial intelligence to learn more about risk factors and to help people understand, like, your risk for coronary artery disease. The earlier you can find out about it, the earlier you can change, change your life, you know, get, get help, the better. So, since they're developing these better tools and they'll have better data to be able to look at mammograms and identify at-risk patients, it's really gonna help us be able to Give people better health.
5:55 Janae: You know, this is one of the leading causes of mortality in the US and for women, right? So yeah, coronary artery disease is a leading cause of mortality, as well as, of course, breast cancer. And so, to be able to, you know, and what I love about it is, of course, you know, the problem with healthcare is everything is so siloed. So if I got to go look at my pinky toe, I've got to also go look at my big toe at a different hospital. So, you know, being able to do two things.
6:21 Megan: What's wrong with your toes, Megan? What are you sharing here?
6:28 Janae: They're just, they're far apart. but if, you know, and so your heart and your breasts, they're not that far apart. We should be able to assess those, the health of both in a, in a one, study, or one test. So it is a good, it's a good thing, that's for sure. And hopefully it is something that, continues to, You know, get used and stuff. I think the the behind it at Stanford Health is Dr. Elizabeth Rose. So we'll try to get her on the show and and talk to her and tell us more about her work. So you're invited. Also, I think we should talk about Grace Cordovano shared something that I thought was amazing and great news. About how patients can correct their patient records.
7:17 Megan: And as someone who's moved across the country, like, had to, had to move my records from one place to another, like for me and my kids, like, there were some things that got confused, you know, and, and some things that I wish that it would have been easier to correct things, you know, like, while you're waiting for records, or, you know, whatever your, whatever your circumstances, people talk about this a lot, but HL7, Introduced a process, a fire-based process for For correcting your records. Whereas now it might be a call, it might be an email, you know, you don't know how to correct your records and you certainly don't know how to do it online. Maybe you do if you do. But HL7 HL7. Introduced a guide or guidelines about how, how records could be corrected and how to communicate your request, you know, how to track it, how to say what the outcome was, and I was thrilled about that.
8:19 Janae: Mhm. Yeah, I know that's an important, an important development as we all take ownership and it's, you know, of our own healthcare records, which of course is something that Grace focuses on. All the time. Exactly.
8:32 Megan: Speaking of people who take ownership of healthcare records, I feel like we should talk about Amy and what she, Amy Gleeson's, recent, I invited her to be on our podcast too as well, Amy, if you're listening. That, you know, I do, I do read the LA Times. I am, I am an actor and I still read newspapers. and it was so cool to see an article, so relevant to kind of what I do. it's generally, you know, entertainment is in there. Yes. And she's someone I know in real life. Like I met her, when I met her, she was speaking about bringing a binder around with her daughter's healthcare records and that frustration about Not being able to own those things and even knowing more about your history and your health and all these specialists that you're going to. So it's kind of it's, I feel like it's surreal sometimes to see someone you know in real life, in the LA LA Times.
9:28 Janae: I think that while some of us have our, you know, have a touch of skepticism or perhaps curmudgeonism about the Current administration, Amy has a big role in that and I think is, you know, remains and is and is a respected part of the health IT community. And her article, I mean, I think it was sort of an op ed, stop waiting, start building and it was a national call to modernize healthcare, which had a, has a lot to do with data sharing and medical records and all of the frustrations. That, we go through as as patients, as parents, as, as kids of of our our parents who might be sick, that we can't get access to that information, let alone correct it too much, too much what Grace had mentioned.
10:15 Megan: So, and I think discussions about healthcare interoperability, like with this much visibility at the national level, I love that. Like I love that it's happening. I don't love politics. I don't. You know, bless their hearts. It's a lot. But, you know what I love is a good story about healthcare interoperability, and I love people being involved in modernizing healthcare. Think about it. Every time you talk to tech people, you talk about healthcare, everybody says it's 20 years behind, and they aren't wrong. They aren't wrong about the delays in development that have being in a regulated industry create. Like we have a lot of regulations. Some of those are for safety, you know, but We're a little slow. We're, no offense to all you healthcare leaders who listen, but y'all aren't quick adopters. You aren't taking a ton of risks, could be good, but I liked that they had a focus on How we should catch up, how we should have data move back and forth, and how we should make things simpler for individuals who are navigating all that complexity, right?
11:28 Janae: They certainly were talking about the right things. The question is if they're, if we're gonna be able to do all of them, but the objective is, is a positive one, and I think it's a shared goal that we all have. And, and I think the response, you know, both on, you know, the socials and everything. But also in the in to Amy's article, MPs were all quite positive and supportive, because people also do know her, you know, she, her personal journey and her her part of this is very tied to all of this. So, good on her, and good things. And yes, Another good thing, I think, and you know, another woman and kind of tied to the administration. Let's talk about one of our favorite topics, GLP ones.
12:16 Megan: Topic, not favorite topic, Twitter, but Linda Iacario, who was, you know, COO, they call it X now, but we will still call it Twitter. I will until the day I die, I will name Twitter. Like I cannot even, no offense, like, bless everyone's heart, but like, it is Twitter. OK. It is. We all make mistakes and sometimes it's a name. , but Linda Acarino was a Twitter a couple years, sort of a sudden departure, and she has recently landed and a new role at Emed, a population health company, EMed Population Health at, based out of Miami, which is exciting because of all our. New friends in Miami and are as being part of Emerge Americas, we're hoping we can work with them and discussion, but Linda is, of course, you know, incredibly experienced and will bring a lot to the new, you know, to the telehealth, company down there.
13:21 Janae: and they are, yeah, that's what Emed does. They're a telehealth company with. With a focus on weight loss, and, you know, that then leads you to GOP ones, which by the way, was one of Lisa's students good things as well, and it's, it's our every, every, every month good thing is. Yeah. For whatever reason. But yeah, so congratulations to Linda, and congratulations to Emed for being able to bring her over into that leadership role. It's exciting to see and can't wait to see kind of what they've been, what they'll still do beyond that.
14:02 Megan: Yeah, so, as always, if you have good things that you want us to share, let us know. Tag us about your good things, share them with us via email, LinkedIn, Twitter. Whatever, whatever works for you. We want to hear your good things and we want to share good things that are happening.
14:20 Janae: Yeah, it's our favorite thing to do. And that's it for today. Do we have any more good things? I feel like we always have more good things. We do. But I think that was it. My kids are back in school, that's a good thing.
14:32 Megan: I do. It is a good thing. Summer is over, sometimes a sad thing, but when you have children, it's really bad. So, we hope you all like, share, subscribe, invite all of your coolest friends to be part of this, and We hope you have a great day. Thanks, Janae, and thank you, everybody. This is Megan Antonelli signing off of Digital Health Talks. Until next time.
15:01 Thank you for joining us on Digital Health Talks, where we explore the intersection of healthcare and technology with leaders who are transforming patient care. This episode was brought to you by our valued program partners Automation Anywhere, revolutionizing healthcare work flows through intelligent automation. Nara, advancing contactless vital signs monitoring. Elite groups delivering strategic healthcare IT solutions. Cello, securing healthcare identity management and access governance. Your engagement helps drive the future of healthcare innovation. Subscribe to digital Health Talks on your preferred podcast platform. Share these insights with your network and follow us on LinkedIn for exclusive content and updates. Ready to connect with healthcare technology leaders in person? Join us at the next health impact event. Visit Heimpactforum.com for date and registration. Until next time, this is digital Health Talks, where change makers come together to fix healthcare.