A rapid-fire segment highlighting positive developments in digital health. Janae and Megan share insights on recent innovations, successful implementations, and emerging trends that are driving progress in healthcare technology.
Janae Sharp, Founder, The Sharp Index
Megan Antonelli, Chief Executive Officer, HealthIMPACT Live
00:00:00 Intro: 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, Jenny Sharp, and Shahid Shah for a weekly no BS deep dive on what's really making an impact in healthcare.
00:00:29 Megan Antonelli: Hi. Welcome back to Health Impact Live and Digital Health Talks five Good Things segment. I'm Megan Antonelli, joined as always by Jenny Sharp, founder of the Sharp Index. Each month we pull together the stories that show where digital health is actually moving the needle, not the hype cycle, the real work. And this month, the through line is clear. Digital health is growing up. Patients are already living it. Health systems are getting serious about deployment and the workforce story. Underneath all of it is finally getting the attention it deserves. Five stories, one conversation. Let's get into it. Hi, Janae.
00:01:05 Janae Sharp: Hello. How are you? I'm good. It's okay. I proposed this this month. The good thing could just be my birthday and we'd be done. But we did the work and found other good things for everyone.
00:01:19 Megan Antonelli: Happy birthday.
00:01:20 Janae Sharp: Thank you. I'm old. So, yes.
00:01:23 Megan Antonelli: It was also Mother's Day. You know, you should have picked a better day to be born.
00:01:28 Janae Sharp: I know. I've always had a hard time with Mother's Day, but this year, someone showed up at my house with her kids and did yard work.
00:01:38 Megan Antonelli: That's amazing.
00:01:38 Janae Sharp: And this is the power of friendship. When you have great mom friends, they just remember you. And I love that.
00:01:46 Megan Antonelli: That is amazing. Well, that is wonderful to hear. And I'm sure she took care of you on your birthday, too. Yeah. But, uh, there were some other good things that happened besides your birthday this year.
00:01:58 Janae Sharp: It's true. It's true. There were some other good things this month. Let's talk about them. What do you think is your number one thing?
00:02:07 Megan Antonelli: Well, I did see a study, and I think this speaks to a lot of our, um, you know, just a lot of the things we talk about every day in terms of the, uh, seventy one percent of US adults are using health related apps. I think it came out of where did it come out of here's.
00:02:23 Janae Sharp: Health care shared that.
00:02:25 Megan Antonelli: Yeah. Um, but the study, I think it was reached a reach three study. Okay. That it was and, you know, I think we talk about how that's happening and we see it in terms of, um, who's using what and, and how that's, you know, has the potential to create some, uh, certainly disruption in the health care system, but it gives people more accountability. And I think there was, I think it was seventy one percent using health related apps and then sixty four percent using health related devices. Um, and then even more broadly, eighty eight percent of consumers wanting the same or more technology in their lives. So around healthcare. So I think the the desire is there and it is up to the system to give it more. And then kind of on the flip side of that, or maybe parallel to that, the American Hospital Association and West Health launched a three year program, um, a twelve million dollar accelerator to help hospitals operationalize digital digital tools. So sort of those two things were my first and favorite, uh, sort of good thing in digital health, uh, this month for sure.
00:03:35 Janae Sharp: And I think that's amazing. When I was looking at that accelerator, it looks like health systems can look at their maturity and their adoption and kind of see best practice and see where other people's people are at. You know, when you make it a contest, suddenly these people are all going to have access and we.
00:03:54 Megan Antonelli: Just benchmark in healthcare, don't we? Benchmarking. Benchmarking. But you know, that comparison helps and creates that incentive around deployment and adoption for sure.
00:04:05 Janae Sharp: Yeah. I'm always for more convenience and more coverage, even though ideally we'd all be able to access the healthcare we need really easily in the way we want. That's not totally reality, but I think we're getting there. Like we're really working on expanding access and making the technology infrastructure as good as it can be.
00:04:30 Megan Antonelli: Yeah. No, absolutely.
00:04:33 Janae Sharp: Let's talk about another good thing now. Normally we love to talk about AI, artificial intelligence, specifically about ambient and how it impacts clinicians, how it impacts care. So we did find some information from Becker's. They shared about how ambient AI. Adoption is exceeding our expectations. And there was great news from Boston Children's. That they are cutting neurosurgery wait times for their patients while they saw a sixty percent increase in demand. So I love that.
00:05:10 Megan Antonelli: Yeah, I think that the ambient piece was interesting. I think the way that they framed the conversation was, you know, there's good there's good news about Ambien and it's not what you think it's going to be. And I, and I think the it is all around kind of physician adoption. And, you know, the interest that the Ed docs in particular and that both these stories were from Boston Children's. In fact, I think. And so it was like one hundred and fifty ed clinicians using scribes monthly and how, um, you know, enthusiastic they were about the ambient technology. Um, and it's, you know, it's being driven by those physicians and the reliability and the workflow, um, is really coming, you know, the, the feedback is incredibly positive. And then on that other side, Boston Children's had, uh, you know, sort of different tools, obviously not ambient, uh, around cutting new patient weights and increasing visits, uh, reduced cancellation, uh, patient ease of use scheduling, um, just a number of real workflow optimization and improvements using AI. And I think we've been hearing so much about the money being spent on some of these technologies and the search for the return on investment and where they're seeing it. And I think now we're getting to that place where the value is, is quantifiable, right? It's not just, you know, maybe hours back or, you know, sort of vague discussions about pajama time and, and burnout reduction, but real things that health systems are able to quantify and report. And I certainly, you know, um, had we had a big month in terms of travel and going to the Digital Health Innovation Summit in Boston. We actually saw John Brown's team from Boston Children's and a number of other folks at that event who were talking about just that, which is where, you know, where these technologies are really meeting, uh, you know, starting to deliver. You know, Dan Shields from Ochsner was talking about it. Um, you know, UPMC was there more on their payor side, but talking a lot about revenue cycle.
00:07:17 Speaker 4: And so it's nice to see.
00:07:20 Janae Sharp: Two one of the major metrics that I think people should look at is clinician adoption. And Stanford Health announced that their adoption was higher than what they projected. It's at forty eight percent their adoption and people like it. So right. While you were there in Boston, I used care agility, who is not a sponsor of this podcast, but would be to go to the doctor. And it was fantastic. It was so fast and I didn't have to take everyone in my life there. So it was amazing. We talk about all these things and then when you see them in your real life, you're like, oh, that actually was more invisible than I thought it would be.
00:08:01 Megan Antonelli: Right? Yeah. No it is. I mean, I think the we talk so much. I mean, I think when we started Health Impact, it was about, you know, adoption and struggling with adoption, physician adoption of EHR was, you know, impossible to, to achieve at, you know, years and years and years ago back when we were children. Um.
00:08:23 Speaker 4: And last week.
00:08:25 Megan Antonelli: Yeah. Um, but now to see a technology that people are really adopting, you know, quickly and liking it, you know, is, is refreshing. Right. And so, and then actually being able to measure, you know, real positive outcomes from it is great. And of course, there are a number of tools and platforms. Um, but you mentioned agility, you know, coming out of the American Telemedicine Association ATA Nexus conference in Orlando. They were there. There were a number of those types of companies. They are talking about what they're doing around virtual care. And it's really nice to see that sort of community mature. Right? I've gone to that conference for probably, you know, six years now, and it is a little bit smaller, but just so focused on, you know, the practice of virtual health and virtual care and care everywhere, both in, you know, in specialty hospitals and inside the hospital, outside the hospital, at home, you know, there's, there's so many places that that care is going to be and, and is being provided. Um, so that brings us to good things.
00:09:35 Speaker 4: Good thing. I think that is really important.
00:09:37 Janae Sharp: I mean, a while ago, a lot of things we were talking about are broadband access and health care delivery systems are seeing this as a critical part of their infrastructure, not just having buildings, but also having that ability to deliver virtual care to everyone within multiple states. So our next good thing is about that, because Ascension announced their virtual care layer.
00:10:05 Speaker 4: Mhm.
00:10:08 Megan Antonelli: Yeah. I think, um, they talked about, uh, just launching their virtual care infrastructure across nine states. I, you know, I think one hundred and ten hospitals and two thousand care sites, the, you know, and it's connecting not just clinicians and patients, but and it also is, uh, EHR agnostic, but it supports teleneurology tele psychology, infectious disease, and, you know, same day virtual care. So, you know, I know, you know, we, I mean, certainly I use it quite a bit with my kids and, you know, they've got a sore throat, they've got, you know, an ear infection and kind of the easy things, but they're definitely getting into more more levels of care and more types of care and across those different states. And so that's, um, you know, and to be able to do that seamlessly, you know, not, uh, not dependent on that EHR is huge given the number of hospitals and health systems that they own. And of course, when you get into these specialty care systems, they often, um, don't run on the same platforms and all of that. So.
00:11:12 Speaker 4: Exactly.
00:11:12 Megan Antonelli: Yeah. It improves your, you know, it goes back to which of course is a huge, huge topic of conversation in terms of the rural transformation initiatives. And you know, what the original promise of telemedicine was in the first place, which is getting to rural and underserved communities. Um, you know, the technology is now there. And to some degree, the revenue model is now there for these larger health systems to be able to support that and support it well and make the investments required.
00:11:42 Janae Sharp: Right. So I love the idea too, that telepsychiatry neurologists, they'll be able to help patients across different states and different electronic health systems without a million logins, because not everybody has the same record system. And making it more convenient for everyone is critical, I think.
00:12:06 Megan Antonelli: Yeah. I mean, it was amazing, actually at the American at ATA Nexus, I met Doctor Lyndsey Garbi, who I'll be interviewing on the show in a few few weeks. But she is the founder of Blueberry Pediatrics. And she talked about how she is licensed in fifty states, which like blew my mind. And I also was that's expensive. Yeah, yeah. I was basically told that lots of virtual doctors do this because, you know, it just means that they can work for that for a certain platform. She has a number of doctors on staff at Blueberry Pediatrics that are, um, you know, licensed in fifty states. And the woman we were with, she was also licensed in like forty states. And she has a menopause virtual practice. So, so many, uh, or women's health virtual practice. This is happening. And so another, our fourth good thing is around, uh, UVA actually health. UVA health has launched an on demand virtual primary care. Uh, I know I've heard recently that sunny was just moved over there, uh, which is exciting to see. Um, hopefully we can get him on the show soon to talk about this, but I think the, the program is really to, you know, address these gaps and the shortages, you know, with clinicians. And, you know, UVA is sort of in the middle of Virginia. It's not, you know, so certainly in rural, uh, rural areas. So to connect these, you know, patients with nurse practitioners and physician assistants for, you know, just the common conditions, common things, preventative care, chronic disease management. Um, and I guess they, they launched it like May twentieth or May twelfth, and they're already up to like thirty appointments a day. Um, because the demand is so high for this, particularly again, with the pediatrics and behavioral health. And, you know, it's dependent on a triage system. They route patients to in-person care when they need labs and imaging and procedures. But, you know, I mean, the fact is, is that people, you know, people want this. It just makes life so much easier. I mean, I literally I emailed my physician today and said, can I avoid coming in for Owen? He had already been in, you know, in March and I don't want him to have to miss school. Like it's just simple, right? Um, and, you know, and that was the biggest thing that I walked away from at the Digital Health Innovation Summit. Dan Shields from Ochsner said on the stage, not all health care belongs in the hospital, you know, and the more we can put the level of care that doesn't belong in the hospital. Outside of the hospital. The more we free up beds for critical access, which is what matters and what's important and frankly, a better revenue model for the health system, right? I mean, they're not to be taking care of, uh, you know, fevers and ear infections and, you know, even little, you know, little things.
00:15:00 Janae Sharp: So it's not every not every health question or health issue has to be an in-person visit. I like that they've used virtual visits as a way to improve access for critically ill patients and to do chronic disease management, which I think if you have a chronic condition, you don't necessarily want to go in the hospital all the time for your doctor. So it's a really it's right sizing the platform that people are using.
00:15:35 Megan Antonelli: It's the right care at the right time, in the right place, which you know, more often than than not can be at home or, you know, at a different type of care facility that is not a hospital. Right?
00:15:48 Janae Sharp: Right. And that takes us to we're talking a lot about access and we're talking about shortages. We know we have national shortages. And this brings us to our last good thing, kind of a tongue in cheek good thing we frequently talk about regulatory changes. And right now, I want to say one of my good things is that twenty five states have sued about the graduate health care loan limits, and it was a coalition of states and the District of Columbia that sued the US Department of Education over their new graduate student loan restrictions. And you might have seen seen stuff about that recently. Um, I think at the American Nursing Association, American American Psychiatric Association, a lot of health care organizations came out to speak against some of those changes that had happened, like saying nursing wasn't a professional degree. And, um, some of the important thing that people might not realize is really that designation influences the percentage on your student loan. So instead of getting your federal loan for three percent, you're going to get a private loan for seven to twelve percent. And it's a major cash grab for people who are funding education privately. Now I get so, so I think it's great that they're fighting back and that they're suing about it. Right?
00:17:16 Megan Antonelli: And I mean, I think that that I mean, that is the biggest thing. And it's, you know, this discussion or that change has been in the works for a bit. And it's just now, I think because it's like a July deadline, that that change is going to come into place, which of course is when people are applying to get their loans to go to graduate school next year. And I mean this it impacts nurses, physician assistants, physical therapists, you know, MPH, a ton of healthcare degrees that are, you know, that power the healthcare system and certainly are what we're looking at for, you know, increasing access and improving, you know, primary care practice through, you know, across the continuum. So when the news covered it the first time, you hear that and you think, oh, you know, that's terrible. Um, but I think your point, which I'm going to reiterate just in case anyone doesn't get it, is that it is a cash grab, right? I mean, I don't think I didn't realize that. I just thought they were doing stupid stuff because they sometimes do stupid things.
00:18:25 Janae Sharp: Oh, I assumed it was so that. So they're making some of this move that the government isn't subsidizing the things so that they can make more money, like a lot of the changes that are made in education are being made by people who have a financial interest in privatisation. So it's also interesting that when you look at the new caps, it used to be fifty zero zero zero annually or a total of two hundred thousand. Now it's twenty thousand five hundred and total of one hundred thousand. And they might position it as, oh, we're fighting against the cost. But that's not what's happening. Um when the average amount of.
00:19:04 Megan Antonelli: Education has gone down.
00:19:05 Janae Sharp: Yeah. When the amount of debt is two hundred and sixteen thousand on average for medical school alone, you realise that people are already, if they have to pay for it with loans, which many do not, but many do as well. Um they're going to have to pay it back at a higher rate. It's also a little bit problematic, I think, because that means people who don't have, you know, one hundred thousand dollars laying around, they won't be able to do it. So it's a way to decrease economic mobility. Mhm.
00:19:40 Megan Antonelli: Yeah. And decrease diversity and decrease, you know, the number of people that are able to access these programs. One hundred percent. Um, so the good thing there, just in case you missed how we snuck this in because we just wanted to talk about it, is that states are suing, suing the Department of Education, um, over these, uh, graduate student loan restrictions. So hopefully, and, you know, for whatever we can do to support this case.
00:20:10 Janae Sharp: Hopefully nobody disrespects nurses like this ever again. We love to see people standing up for, for medical professionals.
00:20:21 Megan Antonelli: Yes. But so in that, and I think, you know, I, I love when we tell a story and that there's an arc, you know, the digital digital health is, You know, the transformation is happening. It's here. The our patients want it and physicians want it. Physicians are happy with the technologies. For the most part, we're providing. There's of course, as always, there's some trepidation, some some concerns. And we have to keep those guardrails in place and make sure we are putting more and more guardrails to ensure that this these tools and technologies are providing better care and higher quality care and improving access. And yes, to some degree, the importance of, of increasing the workforce. You know, none of these technologies are meant to reduce, reduce the amount of nurse practitioners, nurses, doctors, clinicians. We're meant to improve the care of those who that exist and, and improve the access and ability of the people who want to, to get to them because there is a crisis in this country. So, um, you know, kudos to those states who have sued the US Department of Education. And you know, I sure hope they win.
00:21:37 Janae Sharp: Yes. So that was our five good things. We have lots of other good things and we're always happy to talk about it. There's there's that thread of digital health from pilots to operating models, from infrastructure to to need. And we love sharing the stories of people who are doing the real work right now and the ones that we want to keep watching. I also want to say we love our audience and we love it when you share our good things. So we want to congratulate John Lynn. His son graduated from college and another one of his sons graduated from middle school. So and his daughter's graduating high school, that is, can you imagine three graduations like that? But he commented that. So we had to give a shout out because we want everyone to share their good news with us. Whenever you see us posted, make sure you're sharing it, tagging it, um, let us know.
00:22:28 Megan Antonelli: That is quite a remarkable and busy May and June. He is going to have after. And I want to thank John Lynn. Uh, we didn't talk about Sway Health this this episode, but it was certainly one of the best things that I attended this month. And, you know, great group of people, unbelievable organization that they've done and just such a community that they've built around the healthcare I.T. marketing folks. So stay tuned. I do have so much, um, you know, kind of, I learned so much that I'm just still processing it to kind of get it out there. Um, but it was a great thing. And John, um, is a great, great friend and supporter of our, of health impact. Um, so it's been so good for him for having.
00:23:11 Janae Sharp: You love that community.
00:23:12 Megan Antonelli: How many graduations to, to attend, which does bring us to the fact that health impact, in case you have not seen, the health impact Forum is not going to be in June because we are avoiding all of those graduations and the FIFA World Cup this year and moving our event to October sixth and seventh in New York at Microsoft, which we are so excited about. If you are interested in being there, there are very few sponsorship spots left over. So, um, get in touch very soon and we will get you there. Uh, we are so excited to be back at Microsoft, uh, this fall. And with that, we are.
00:23:48 Janae Sharp: So make sure to register for that. Make sure to like, share every single video, subscribe to digital health talks on YouTube, on every podcast platform. And you can also find us at Health impact live dot com. Yes.
00:24:05 Megan Antonelli: This is Megan Antonelli, CEO of Health Impact Live and Jenny Sharp of the Sharp Index. And this is digital Health talks. Let's keep fixing health care one conversation at a time.
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