Healthcare Magazine – November 2023

November 2023 | healthcare-digital.com

HEALTHCARE LEADERS TECHNOLOGY Proximie CEO Nadine Hachach-Haram explores data-driven surgery

3D PRINTING Nuance, a Microsoft company on AI regulation & healthcare transformation

THERMO FISHER SCIENTIFIC:

POST-PANDEMIC SEXUAL HEALTHCARE

NEW TECH & IMPROVED LGBT+

HOSPITAL HEALTHCARE SUPPORT

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The Healthcare Team EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

HELEN ADAMS CHIEF CONTENT OFFICER

SCOTT BIRCH

HEAD OF MULTIMEDIA

NEIL PERRY

CHIEF DESIGN OFFICER

MATT JOHNSON HEAD OF DESIGN

ANDY WOOLLACOTT

FEATURE DESIGNERS

MIMI GUNN SOPHIE-ANN PINNELL SAM HUBBARD REBEKAH BIRLESON JULIA WAINWRIGHT VICTORIA CASEY ADVERT DESIGNERS

DANILO CARDOSO CALLUM HOOD ADRIAN SERBAN

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KIERAN WAITE

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ERNEST DE NEVE THOMAS EASTERFORD DREW HARDMAN SALLY MOUSTAFA PRODUCTION DIRECTORS

MARKETING MANAGER

INDIA BERRY

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TOM VENTURO

MEDIA SALES DIRECTOR

MATT ANSELL

GEORGIA ALLEN DANIELA KIANICKOVÁ

MANAGING DIRECTOR

PRODUCTION MANAGERS

PRESIDENT & CEO

JANE ARNETA MARIA GONZALEZ YEVHENIIA SUBBOTINA KENDRA LAU

LEWIS VAUGHAN GLEN WHITE

FOREWORD

We discuss sexual health, biomarkers and data-driven surgery innovation all Welcome back to Healthcare Digital! This month we speak with Thermo Fisher Scientific, Epicore Biosystems, LifeOmic, Proximie and Nuance, a Microsoft company

“ S ee our Top 10 Healthcare leaders on page 24.

Are we missing someone?

Let us know”

We have a few new features this month – check out People Moves on page 18 and The Month That Was on page 20.

COVID-19 caused a great deal of social change, including in our sexual healthcare.

Jelena Feenstra from Thermo Fisher Scientific discusses this and how hospitals can better support LGBT+ healthcare.

Meanwhile, Roozbeh Ghaffari, CEO of Epicore Biosystems & Matt Lavin of LifeOmic, explore the merits of biomarkers, how they are advancing healthcare and better supporting patients.

Nadine Hachach-Haram, Founder and CEO of Proximie, explores transforming healthcare with datadriven surgery innovation and how this can reduce inequality. Finally, Nuance's Chief Clinical Information Officer, Dr Simon Wallace, shares his thoughts on the role of AI in shaping healthcare and the responsible regulation of AI. Finally, see our Top 10 Healthcare leaders on page 24. Are we missing someone? Let us know on LinkedIn at Healthcare Digital and Twitter @HealthcareDig Keep looking up,

HEALTHCARE-DIGITAL MAGAZINE IS PUBLISHED BY

HELEN ADAMS

helen.adams@bizclikmedia.com

© 2023 | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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CONTENTS UP FRONT 10 THE HEALTHCARE INTERVIEW

10

Jennifer Jones-McMeans, Divisional VP of Global Clinical Affairs at Abbott

14

14 LIFETIME OF ACHIEVEMENT

Geoff Martha, CEO & Chairman Of The Board Of Directors at Medtronic

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18 PEOPLE MOVES IN GLOBAL HEALTHCARE 20 THE MONTH THAT WAS

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26 6

November 2023

NOVEMBER 2023

36

FEATURES

46

26 TOP 10

Healthcare leaders

36 HOSPITALS

Sexual health & biotechnology at Thermo Fisher Scientific

46 CLAROTY

Noga Sharabani, Director of Global Procurement at Claroty, discusses putting procurement at the forefront of business strategy

66 DIGITAL HEALTH

BiomarKer Innovations in digital health solutions

66 healthcare-digital.com

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In Association with:

CSO s THE TOP 100

OUT NOW

Championing CSOs from global organisations, celebrate those who elevate the industry day in, day out.

Read now

NOVEMBER 2023 FEATURES 76 DPV HEALTH

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DPV Health in Victoria, Australia, undertook a digital transformation set against the backdrop of COVID-19

92 TECHNOLOGY

Transforming healthcare with data-driven surgery innovation

102 3D PRINTING

Nuance’s vision of healthcare transformation & AI regulation

92

102

000 healthcare-digital.com

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THE HEALTHCARE INTERVIEW

INTERVIEW WITH ABBOT’S

JENNIFER JONES-MCMEANS Jennifer Jones-McMeans, Divisional VP of Global Clinical Affairs at Abbott, discusses the importance of diversity in clinical trials

INTRODUCE YOURSELF AND YOUR ROLE AT ABBOTT.

» I’m Jennifer Jones-McMeans and

I serve as the Divisional Vice President of Global Clinical Affairs for Abbott’s vascular business. For the past 14 years, I’ve worked on gaining approval for numerous medical devices. I also lead the new Diversity in Research Office at Abbott, where we focus on driving diversity in the company’s clinical trials and improving access to care among underrepresented populations.

PLEASE PROVIDE A BIT OF BACKGROUND ON ABBOTT’S CURRENT FOOTPRINT.

» At Abbott, we’re committed to creating and changing the future of healthcare through life-changing technologies and products that drive breakthroughs in prevention, diagnosis and treatment.

“ In my new role co-leading the Diversity in Research office, Abbott has identified a need to change the status quo of clinical trials”

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November 2023

“ IT’S CRITICALLY IMPORTANT CLINICAL TRIALS ARE AS DIVERSE AS THE PEOPLE A PRODUCT IS INTENDED TO SERVE” Abbott began 135 years ago with one physician developing medicine by hand to treat his patients and today, we’ve grown to more than 115,000 people. Our breakthrough medical technologies help restore people’s health, returning them back to living their best lives.

While nearly 40% of the USA’s population consists of people of diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds, due to a long history of mistrust and societal barriers, Hispanics and Blacks are vastly underrepresented in clinical trials, representing only 5% of enrollees.

The mission of Abbott’s Diversity in Research Office is to create a more inclusive clinical trial ecosystem and address the systemic barriers that exist today, ultimately leading to a more equitable healthcare system.

WHAT IS ABBOTT’S USP

» Given that we treat several conditions,

including heart health, diabetes and postnatal care, Abbott is invested in creating a more equitable clinical trial ecosystem to better support people in every stage of life.

Clinical trials drive new, innovative tools to fight diseases, and overcoming barriers to

access clinical trials for under-represented communities is critical to improving health equity.

Abbott is focused on breaking down barriers and implementing new, sustainable partnerships and programmes that drive more diversity in our clinical trials.

HOW DO YOU INCREASE DIVERSITY IN CLINICAL TRIALS?

» Abbott’s Diversity in Clinical Trials

initiative aligns with the company’s continued focus for greater health equity, expanded access, affordability and removing barriers to life-saving technology and innovation.

In the programme’s first year, we established a Diversity in Clinical Trials Medical Advisory Board composed of external experts and an internal steering committee that is focused on increasing diversity enrollment in the company’s clinical trials. Through US$5m in grants, we sponsored more than 300 scholarships at four HBCU medical schools and the National Black Nurses Association and National Association of Hispanic Nurses to support future clinical research leaders. healthcare-digital.com

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THE HEALTHCARE INTERVIEW

“ WE’VE IMPLEMENTED PROGRAMMES THAT INCREASE THE DIVERSITY OF TRIALS” These programmes provide a roadmap of best practices to help community-based clinics create clinical trial research centres of excellence. The initiative also provides grants to support the hiring and training of research coordinators and data managers and help guide the launch of research programmes.

Our first project is centred in Louisville, Kentucky, and is focused on helping patients in historically redlined areas of Louisville access clinical trial opportunities. ‘Redlining’ is a discriminatory practice that has resulted

JENNIFER JONESMCMEANS TITLE: DIVISIONAL VP OF GLOBAL CLINICAL AFFAIRS COMPANY: ABBOTT LOCATION: US For the past 14 years, JonesMcMeans has worked on gaining approval for numerous medical devices, and also leads Abbot’s Diversity in Research Office, which is focused on driving diversity in the company’s clinical trials and improving access to care among underrepresented populations.

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November 2023

in equities in diverse populations. We’re excited to launch this project and make an impact in the community.

HOW WILL THIS IMPROVE CARE AMONG UNDERREPRESENTED POPULATIONS?

» As a global healthcare company, it is

necessary that we focus and analyse the patient life span across all backgrounds. By diversifying clinical trials, we are confident that we will produce more effective medical devices and therapies, resulting in widespread improvements of healthcare outcomes.

By addressing the four key barriers to clinical trials enrollment: lack of access to trials, lack of trust, lack of understanding and lack of common language, Abbott’s Diversity in Research Office will drive continued progress with these programmes. Our goal is to create a blueprint for others to follow, resulting in a more equitable clinical trial ecosystem.

WHAT IS ABBOTT’S DIVERSITY IN RESEARCH OFFICE (DIRO)?

» Along with our partner programmes,

Abbott established the new Diversity in Research Office to focus on driving diversity in the company’s clinical trials and improving access to care among under-represented populations.

The role of the new office is to ensure research efforts include diverse plans and key

WATCH NOW

performance goals. Through this initiative, we aim to foster collaboration across the company, the industry and regulatory bodies. I have the honour of leading the office along with Aparna Ahuja, M.D., Divisional Vice President for medical, clinical and scientific affairs, Infectious Disease, for Abbott’s rapid diagnostics business. By 2030, Abbott’s goal is to build a strong model through our diversity in research efforts to eventually help 3bn people annually.

WHY IS ABBOTT COMMITTED TO DIVERSITY?

Ensuring that clinical trials are as diverse as the people a product intends to serve is critically important in providing the best healthcare, so we’re developing programmes to address as many barriers as possible.

At Abbott, we’ve implemented programmes that will increase the diversity

of trials, including assessing how we conduct our trials to ensure that we’re doing all we can to increase participation from underserved and under-represented populations.

PLANS FOR DIRO OVER NEXT 12-MONTHS?

» Our goal is to ensure that clinical trials are as diverse as the people a product intends to serve – this is critically important in providing the best care. We’re developing educational materials for communities and partnering with organisations to expand access to new patient populations and creating resources on disease state awareness.

At Abbott, we’re excited to grow the initiative over the next year, especially with our first project in Louisville, Kentucky, and educate the healthcare industry on the importance of diversity in clinical trials and collaborate on ways to overcome barriers. healthcare-digital.com

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GEOFF

MARTHA 14

November 2023

LIFETIME OF ACHIEVEMENT

Geoff Martha, CEO & Chairman Of The Board Of Directors at Medtronic, has pioneered healthcare solutions and sustainability for the medical manufacturer

M

edical equipment manufacturing company Medtronic has a goal to ‘contribute to human welfare by application of biomedical engineering’.

The company conducts its own research, designing, manufacturing and sales to ‘alleviate pain and restore health’. Medtronic was founded in 1949 and is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. The US$32bn company now has 95,000 employees and works across neuroscience, in surgical robotics and patient monitoring solutions to provide the best healthcare solutions. Geoff Martha is Chairman of the Board Of Directors and CEO. “I feel truly honoured to be part of a long legacy of strong and inspiring leaders at Medtronic,” said Martha after his appointment to Chairman of the Board. He praised Omar Ishrak who had announced his retirement from Chairman of its Board of Directors.

“For the last nine years, Omar has guided us, championed and operationalised our Mission, and re-established our leadership role in medical technology around the world.”

Putting patients first with bold leadership Martha studied Finance, 1989 - 1992, at Penn State University, where he led the Penn State Ice Hockey team as its Captain and learned a lot about leadership.

“It was a part of my identity,” Martha said. “I didn’t feel fulfilled unless I was playing hockey.”

Later in 2016, the University awarded him the Penn State Hockey Distinguished Alumni Award. Martha then went onto work at GE Healthcare as Managing Director 2007-2011, where he was active in sales management roles. He joined Medtronic in 2011 as Senior Vice President, Strategy and Business Development. Three years later Martha was promoted to Executive Vice President & Vice President, Restorative Therapies Group, then President in 2019 and CEO the

“ If you’re doing something because you want to make money then you don’t have a sense of purpose. Sense of purpose is about impact. If you have a sense of purpose, then work is not work” healthcare-digital.com

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“ Being included in this year’s list is a special honour given the breadth of action we’ve seen companies take this year to tackle societal needs”

following year. By the end of 2020, Martha was Medtronic’s CEO and Chairman Of The Board Of Directors.

In his role, Geoff guides the company in its partnerships, collaborations and acquisitions.

Martha also advises across the latest advances in healthcare technology from manufacturing processes to robotics, AI to data and more.

Matha is a member of the Medtronic Foundation Board of Directors and works as Medtronic’s Executive Sponsor to FIRST Robotics. He has led Medtronic’s African Descent Network, a group which aims to recruit and retain employees of African descent, as well as develop their skills.

Under his leadership, Medtronic has made sustainable strides and has been celebrated

Geoff Martha, chairman and chief executive officer of Medtronic WATCH NOW

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November 2023

LIFETIME OF ACHIEVEMENT

for its diversity. The company has made it into the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index and was named as one of Fortune’s Most Admired Companies in 2021, 2022 and 2023. Medtronic was featured in the Top 10 for Diversity Inc’s 2022 Top 50 Companies for Diversity, as well as the Human Rights Campaign’s Best Places to Work for LGBTQ Equality. Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index hailed Medtronic as a leader in sustainability. In 2020, Medtronic was honoured for its work during the pandemic and named on Fortune’s ‘Change the World’ list.

“We are humbled to be selected by Fortune for this prominent recognition,” said Martha. “Being included in this year’s list is a special honour given the breadth of action we’ve seen companies take this year to tackle societal needs. Our efforts to increase the time-sensitive demand for ventilators in response to COVID-19 demonstrates the Mission-driven action that Medtronic employees continue to take every day to put patients first with bold leadership, inspiring innovation, and inventive partnerships.”

Making at impact at Medtronic Martha is President of the Executive Committee of the board of directors for the Minnesota Business Partnership and has served as Co-Chair for a G20 engagement group, the Taskforce on Health and Life Sciences for B20. He works on the Board of Directors for the Northside Achievement Zone (NAZ) and the YMCA of the North, which encourages the potential of children from every background. Martha is also part of OneTen, a group of industry leaders

dedicated to supporting Black Americans.

“If you’re doing something because you want to make money then you don’t have a sense of purpose,” Martha said. “Sense of purpose is about impact. If you have a sense of purpose, then work is not work.”

From leading in ice hockey to the Board of Directors, Martha aims to make an impact.

Under Martha’s leadership, Medtronic was featured in the Top 10 for Diversity Inc’s 2022 Top 50 Companies for Diversity In 2020, Medtronic was honoured for its work during the pandemic and named on Fortune’s ‘Change the World’ list

GEOFF MARTHA TITLE: CEO & CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS COMPANY: MEDTRONIC LOCATION: UNITED STATES Geoff Martha is the CEO & Chairman Of The Board Of Directors at Medtronic, a medical equipment manufacturer. Martha studied Finance at Penn State University and went onto work at GE Healthcare. He joined Medtronic in 2011 as Senior Vice President, Strategy and Business Development and by 2020, was Medtronic’s CEO.

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PEOPLE MOVES

PEOPLE MOVES IN GLOBAL HEALTHCARE

Jeff Taylor takes CEO role at HCA and Edifecs appoints Rod O’Reilly as Chairman of the Board – here’s the latest of our healthcare people moves

JEFF TAYLOR JOB FROM: S UMMERVILLE MEDICAL CENTER, CEO JOB TO: H CA FLORIDA ORANGE PARK HOSPITAL, CEO

“ I am humbled by the opportunity to lead this organisation into the future.

I am impressed with our dedicated staff” 18

November 2023

Jeff Taylor has been appointed as HCA Florida Orange Park Hospital’s new CEO. “Jeff is a compassionate leader who excels at building relationships with his colleagues, community leaders and physicians,” said Hugh C. Tappan, President of HCA Healthcare’s South Atlantic Division. “He has a track record of success and is a perfect fit for HCA Florida Orange Park Hospital.”

At Missouri Southern State University, Taylor earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration. At the University of Missouri, he secured his Master of Healthcare Administration degree.

Taylor has 17 years of experience in healthcare administration, including his post as CEO at HCA Healthcare’s Summerville Medical Center in Summerville, South Carolina.

HCA Florida Orange Park Hospital has invested over US$220m to meet the needs of its community, including expanding modern rooms for medical and surgical patients and adding 20-beds to its Intensive Care Unit.

ROD O’REILLY

LAURA TORTORELLA

JOB FROM: C HANGE HEALTHCARES

JOB FROM: S TEWARD HEALTH CARE, COO

JOB TO: E DIFECS, CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD

JOB TO: A CCENTCARE, CEO

Global health information technology solutions company Edifecs has announced the appointment of Rod O’Reilly to Chairman of the board.

Edifecs serves 300m people in the US healthcare market, by offering market leading technology to its payer and health system customers.

“Edifecs is a trusted partner to both payers and health systems and has a broad footprint across the U.S. healthcare industry,” said O’Reilly. “This allows us to innovate at scale and enable our customers’ strategic initiatives that will impact when and where care is delivered, how care is funded and ultimately improve access to care and affordability for all.”

TIM BREWER JOB FROM: C OVETRUS

AccentCare has appointed Laura Tortorella its CEO, as she moves from her role as COO for Steward Health Care. AccentCare is a national post-acute health care provider based in Dallas, Texas.

AMANDA WRIGHT-KLUGER JOB FROM: B ROWNE JACOBSON, SOLICITOR JOB TO: B EVAN BRITTAN, PARTNER Amanda Wright-Kluger has been appointed to partner in the health and care regulatory team of Bevan Brittan, a law firm which advises businesses across various sectors, including housing, local government and health and social care.

AL-MUNTHER SULTAN

JOB TO: H HAEXCHANGE, CTO

JOB FROM: K PMG, DIRECTOR

Homecare management solutions provider HHAeXchange has announced Tim Brewer as the company’s Chief Technology Officer.

“I’m excited to join HHAeXchange at a pivotal moment, where we are continually improving and innovating our trusted solutions to ensure that we are developing the best tools and technology for the future,” said Brewer.

Business consulting service Alvarez & Marsal has appointed Al-Munther Sultan as a Managing Director of Healthcare and Life Sciences in its corporate finance division, where he will advise business owners and management teams.

JOB TO: V ALVAREZ & MARSAL, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF HEALTHCARE AND LIFE SCIENCES

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THE MONTH THAT WAS

FLUIDAI & MEDTRONIC WORK ON REMOTE PATIENT MONITORS AI startup FluidAI has entered into a strategic partnership with Medtronic Canada ULC, a Medtronic subsidiary, to advance DIGITAL’s Continuous Connected Patient Care Project.

The businesses aim to transform Canadian healthcare with the Continuous Connected Patient Care project, under the Global Innovation Cluster rollout for Canadian digital technologies, called DIGITAL. READ NOW

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November 2023

HEALTHCARE INVESTIGATED FOR CORRUPTION, FROM CHINA TO THE UK The healthcare sector exists to protect patients, but sometimes greed and pride from senior staff can take precedence. Post-COVID-19, the global healthcare sector is changing the way it protects patients and supports staff. From China to the UK, hospitals are no safe haven READ NOW for the corrupt.

EVEREST GROUP NAMES NTT DATA AS ITS HEALTHCARE DATA LEADER

NOVO NORDISK & ELI LILLY’S OBESITY EPIDEMIC MEDICATION 1.9bn adults across the world are overweight, according to the World Health Organisation. Novo Nordisk’s medications Ozempic and Wegovy, alongside Eli Lilly’s injectable weight-loss medication, Mounjaro, have both been approved by The Food and Drug Administration to treat obesity, with results showing that they reduce body weight by 15%.

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Everest Group has released its Healthcare Data and Analytics Services PEAK Matrix Assessment 2023, naming NTT DATA as its leader in healthcare data and analytics. NTT DATA’s healthcare-focused offerings such as its integrated data and analytics platform, Business Insights Engine and Nucleus for Healthcare platform deliver value for healthcare businesses.

READ NOW

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TOP 10

HEALTHC LEADERS Our Top 10 healthcare leaders are transforming cancer care, leading medical innovations & pharma solutions, all while leading their teams with integrity

T

hree years ago, the global healthcare sector was rocked by COVID-19, and healthcare professionals looked to their leaders for direction.

While Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus oversaw the World Health Organization and Soumya Swaminathan addressed pressing healthcare issues, Albert Bourla was pushing the boundaries of science at Pfizer, Paul Stoffels’ enhanced care quality and Stéphane Bancel developed innovative healthcare solutions in Moderna.

Bill Gates has continued to tackle poverty, while Anna Believantseva is utilising AI to build robotic limbs at Esper Bionics, and Laura Esserman is making groundbreaking progress in cancer advocacy. Meanwhile, consultant paediatrician and TV presenter Ravi Jayaram exposed a horrendous crime and the work of American neurosurgeon and former American footballer, Myron Rolle, inspires children worldwide.

Read on to learn more about our Top 10 healthcare leaders.

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November 2023

TOP 10

CARE

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TOP 10

09 Dr Albert Bourla CEO of Pfizer

10 Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus Director-General of the World Health Organization

World Health Organization DirectorGeneral Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has worked into the healthcare sector since 2005, in roles at The Global Fund and across the Government of Ethiopia, before starting the role as DirectorGeneral in 2017.

Tedros has praised the global healthcare industry for its dedication to defeat COVID-19, from administering more than 8.5bn vaccine doses and developing new treatments to lower mortality.

“With all these learnings and capacities, the opportunity to turn this pandemic around for good is in our grasp.”

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November 2023

Pfizer is a multinational pharmaceutical company based in New York which is consistently pursuing scientific breakthroughs to create a healthier planet. CEO Dr Albert Bourla started out studying Veterinary Medicine and holds a PhD degree in the Biotechnology of Reproduction. He has worked across many senior level positions, from vaccines to oncology and even animal health. Dr Bourla was appointed as Pfizer’s new Chief Operating Officer, in January 2018 and is also a member of the Pfizer Foundation and the Biotechnology Innovation Organization.

TOP 10

07 Bill Gates

Co-founder of Microsoft and Co-Chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

08 Stéphane Bancel

CEO of Moderna

Biotechnology company Moderna is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was founded in 2010, with Stéphane Bancel becoming the founding CEO. He is also a member of Moderna’s board of directors. Prior to this, Bancel earned a Master of Engineering, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Centrale Supélec and in 1995 he scored an MBA at Harvard Business School.

Bill Gates is an advocate for healthcare innovation and sustainable solutions. After studying maths and computer science at Harvard University, Gates co-founded Microsoft in 1975 and is now the fifth-richest person alive.

Later in 2000, the then-husband and wife duo created the nonprofit Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which aims to combat poverty, disease and inequity, wherever it is.

The organisation aims to ‘create a world where every person has the chance to live a healthy, productive life’.

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TOP 10

05 Dr Paul Stoffels

Paul Stoffels CEO and Chairman, Galapagos

06 Dr Myron Rolle

Dr Myron Rolle Neurosurgery Resident at Harvard/Massachusetts General Hospital

Paul Stoffels studied medicine at the University of Antwerp in Belgium and then Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine at the Institute of Tropical Medicine. He worked as a physician in Africa, focusing on HIV and then spent 13 years in pharmaceutical research at Johnson & Johnson. Stoffels is now the CEO of biopharmaceutical company Galapagos, which commercialises innovative medicine.

In this role, Stoffels pioneers and develops transformational healthcare solutions, to ‘help people live longer and better lives’.

Dr Myron Rolle is a Neurosurgery Resident at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital.

In 2008, he began studying Exercise Science at Florida State University, followed by Medical Anthropology at the University of Oxford. From 20102012, Rolle played in the NFL for the Tennessee Titans and Pittsburgh Steelers. He founded The Myron L. Rolle Foundation, a tax-exempt, nonprofit organisation which supports various health-related charitable initiatives across the world which benefit families in need and has written a book to encourage others to persevere.

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TOP 10

04 Anna Believantseva

Co-Founder and COO at Esper Bionics Human augmentation startup Esper Bionics builds robotic limbs and controllers for people who need them, by utilising AI and IoT. CoFounder and COO Believantseva could see the potential of these technologies. Esper Hand collects data supplied by users about every grip they make. Mathematical and machine learning algorithms process this data to build new control algorithms for each specific hand.

“I believe that electronic implants will help billions of people live more fulfilling and longer lives,” said Believantseva.

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November 2023

03 Dr Soumya Swaminathan Chief Scientist at the World Health Organization

Soumya Swaminathan is based in Geneva, Switzerland, and started working for the World Health Organization in 2017 as Deputy Director-General for Programme. She was then promoted to Chief Scientist in 2019, in time for the organisation’s biggest challenge when COVID-19 hit that year.

While women only account for only 30% of researchers in science, Swaminathan leads WHO’s Science Division, where she makes sure that the organisation utilises the latest developments in science and innovation to advance global healthcare.

TOP 10

02 Dr Ravi Jayaram Consultant Paediatrician

Dr Ravi Jayaram is well-trained in paediatrics, particularly in treating asthma and cystic fibrosis. In 2015, he co-presented a television programme ‘Born Naughty?’ which explored child behavioural problems and is a contributor to the BBC Asian Network, where he offers parents support and advice as a child health guru.

While Dr Jayaram has always been dedicated to ensuring the safety of his smallest and most vulnerable hospital patients, he never expected to be thrust into a murder investigation.

After noticing a correlation between unexplained baby-deaths on his ward and odd behaviour from one particular nurse, Jayaram presented his concerns to hospital management. He was ignored and ordered to apologise to the colleague, who was eventually found guilty of murdering seven newborns.

Dr Ravi was integral to helping catch child killer Lucy Letby and ensuring change is made in the NHS to protect whistleblowers.

“I’m not a hero, I was just doing my job”, said the self-described ‘tryathlete’.

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TOP 10

WATCH NOW

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November 2023

01

Laura Esserman Principal Investigator at The WISDOM Study

Laura Esserman is the Principal Investigator at The WISDOM Study, a breast cancer screening and prevention trial, where she is pushing for positive change in the delivery of breast cancer services.

Esserman studied History of Science at Harvard University and later became a Doctor at Stanford University.

Esserman opened the University of California-wide breast cancer initiative called the Athena Breast Health Network, is the Principal Investigator of the I-SPY TRIAL programme and was a member of President Obama’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) Working Group on Advancing Innovation in Drug Development and Evaluation.

Now, she is a practising surgeon and Professor of Surgery and Radiology at UCSF, where she has been the Director since 1996.

Bioinformatics, clinical care delivery, medical and clinical informatics and systems integration are at the core of her research.

In October 2016, TIME Magazine honoured Esserman with a spot in its ‘Top 100 Most Influential People in the World’.

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HOSPITALS

SEXUAL HEALTH & BIOTECHNOLOGY AT THERMO FISHER SCIENTIFIC Thermo Fisher Scientific’s Jelena Feenstra discusses the impact of COVID-19 on sexual health and how hospitals can better support LGBT+ healthcare WRITTEN BY: HELEN ADAMS

T

hermo Fisher Scientific is the world leader in serving science, with a mission ‘to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer’.

Within its Genetic Testing Solutions team, the focus is on developing diagnostic solutions for a number of disease areas, including sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

Jelena Feenstra works as a Senior Manager for Medical and Scientific Affairs at Thermo Fisher Scientific. Her background is mainly in genetics, cytogenetics and genomics and she has worked extensively in diagnostics and research. At Thermo Fisher Scientific, Feenstra and her colleagues look to bridge molecular biology with clinical medicine. healthcare-digital.com

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A Healthcare Technology Company We built the market-leading Senior Care EHR in North America.

We have expanded our data and network to enable value-based care for health systems and our embedded software workflows and extensive realtime insights offer the most robust view of a person and how best to care for them.

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PointClickCare platform enables Bluebird to use real-time data to forecast and plan for staffing and occupancy challenges, providing critical insights to the management team.

HOSPITALS

“ Understanding the specific barriers that members of the LGBTQ+ community face and acting to actively remove those barriers is critical” JELENA FEENSTRA

SENIOR MANAGER FOR MEDICAL & SCIENTIFIC AFFAIRS, THERMO FISHER SCIENTIFIC

“I work to bring these two fields together, by developing innovative solutions that help advance science and the practice of medicine, with the ultimate goal of impacting patient lives,” she said. “We envision this in the field of infectious diseases, oncology, personalised medicine, reproductive health and much more.”

The team is at the forefront of diagnostic technology and believes that every test which aids in obtaining an accurate diagnosis or identifying the most effective treatment can have a profound impact on improving patient care .

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HOSPITALS

The impact of COVID-19 on sexual health Moving quickly in disease management is always important, and testing is the first step in helping to manage the spread of any infectious disease, including STIs. Feenstra says: “Patients presenting symptoms, who think they are at risk, or have come in contact with an individual who has been exposed or infected, should get tested as soon as possible.”

She adds that many patients with STIs do not show any symptoms, while the presence of infection can impact their health and they can transmit the infection to others, and that this is why screening programmes are in place and regular participation in screening is important.

She says: “Once informed of their infection status, patients can discuss with their clinicians the most appropriate treatment and how to make sure they are not spreading the infection to others. From a public health perspective, having accurate testing data aids officials in monitoring how the infections are spreading and what areas may be having surges.

“This allows them to properly allocate resources as needed if certain communities are witnessing spikes.”

According to the World Health Organisation, each year there are 374m new STI infections, which are mostly chlamydia, gonorrhoea, syphilis and trichomoniasis.

Those who have had an STI often ask why the STI test can’t be done at home?

“Technology isn’t currently ready to support ‘true’ at-home testing for STIs, in the same way that antigen tests helped with COVID19 diagnostics,” says Feenstra. “The current at-home solution for STIs involves selfcollection of samples in the comfort of one’s own home and then shipping out the samples 40

November 2023

“ Once informed of their infection status, patients can discuss with their clinicians what is the most appropriate treatment” JELENA FEENSTRA

SENIOR MANAGER FOR MEDICAL & SCIENTIFIC AFFAIRS, THERMO FISHER SCIENTIFIC

to be tested in a laboratory, which Feenstra sees as an advantage in terms of privacy and ease of access.”

She adds: “Labs typically use molecular diagnostic tests which are able to provide highly accurate results quickly and offer the advantage of testing for multiple STIs from one sample, regardless of whether the sample was self-collected or collected by a healthcare professional.”

However, the quality of sample is very important for obtaining reliable results and

Jelena Feenstra TITLE: SENIOR MANAGER FOR MEDICAL & SCIENTIFIC AFFAIRS COMPANY: THERMO FISHER SCIENTIFIC typically sample collection in a healthcare setting offers a more standardised approach.

With self-collected samples the concerns are mainly regarding individuals being able to correctly collect the sample and in sufficient volumes, as well as whether the sample integrity will be impacted by shipping conditions.

“Closely following the instructions for self-collection of samples is therefore very important to avoid the need for repeated testing and thus prevent delays in treatment,” says Feenstra.

INDUSTRY: BIOTECHNOLOGY LOCATION: VIENNA, AUSTRIA Feenstra has a background in genetics, cytogenetics and genomics. She earned a PhD in experimental oncology from the Medical University of Vienna and previously worked as a Senior Scientist at the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute in Vienna. At Thermo Fisher Scientific, she is bridging molecular biology with clinical medicine.

HOSPITALS

“ Technology isn’t currently ready to support ‘true’ at-home testing for STIs, in the same way tests helped with COVID-19 diagnostics” JELENA FEENSTRA

SENIOR MANAGER FOR MEDICAL & SCIENTIFIC AFFAIRS, THERMO FISHER SCIENTIFIC

Thermo Fisher: Supplying a Healthier, Cleaner, Safer World WATCH NOW

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(CDC), based on surveillance data from 2020, showed that STIs decreased during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, but resurged and surpassed previous years by the end of 2020.

Feenstra says: “One of the key factors of the early decline appeared to be underdiagnosis and reduced screening efforts rather than an actual reduction in new infections, with more individuals staying home instead of going to their health care provider out of concern of contracting COVID-19.”

As healthcare resources were diverted towards fighting COVID-19, laboratory and testing shortages additionally contributed to the underreporting infections in surveillance data.

Yet by the end of 2020 it was clear the STI epidemic had worsened and that the true incidence of STIs were higher than in previous years.

“Since then, this trend has continued and STIs seem to be a major concern from a public health standpoint,” says Feenstra.

“At the same time, the at-home collection devices are constantly being improved to ensure sample quality. While progress is ongoing, the immediate priority should be on getting people tested for STIs and making sure they’re getting the treatment they need, whether it be in the conventional hospitallab based system or the convenient at-home collection followed by lab testing.”

While data are still coming in, so far it appears that the pandemic has had a marked impact on the spread of STIs. The report by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

How hospitals can better support LGBT+ healthcare Healthcare services can better support the LGBT+ community in a variety of ways, says Feenstra: “On the testing side, we have advanced tools like molecular diagnostics to support needs better than ever before. This helps all people including people in the LGBTQ+ community, who are commonly impacted by STIs.” The pandemic advanced the accessibility of technology used in diagnostics out of necessity. Now, labs around the world have myriad testing infrastructures better Usewith morefar image capabilities than ever before. captions as often possible “What we need to focus on isas finding ways to provide better access to these services,” she healthcare-digital.com

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HOSPITALS

According to the World Health Organisation, each year there are 374m new STI infections, which are mostly chlamydia, gonorrhoea, syphilis and trichomoniasis.

says. “For instance, reimbursement issues can often get in the way, and take health care decisions away from providers and their patients. Now that the tools are in hand, we need to be able to use them properly.”

Outside of testing, the focus really should be on other methods of disease prevention, which can only be achieved with adequate counselling.

“In addition, understanding the specific barriers that members of the LGBTQ+ community face and acting to actively remove those barriers is critical.”

Over the next 12 months, Thermo Fisher Scientific is committed to continuing to work on advancing the access to molecular diagnostic tools that help to progress the standard of care in STIs and other infectious diseases.

“We can do this by improving education and communication about the technologies currently available, so patients know what they can expect and so laboratorians know what sort of services they should be offering,” says Feenstra. “On the policy side, we can continue to gather real-world data on these tools and benefits they provide to patient care and outcomes.”

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PROCUREMENT AT CLAROTY AT THE FOREFRONT OF BUSINESS SUCCESS WRITTEN BY: NEIL PERRY PRODUCED BY: STUART IRVING

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CLAROTY

CLAROTY

Noga Sharabani, Director of Global Procurement at Claroty, discusses putting procurement at the forefront of business strategy

C

laroty’s goal is to secure the cyber-physical systems (CPS) that are used to run critical infrastructure every day. Its technology protects systems used to run oil pipelines, health facilities, power grids, water utilities and many other essential services.

When Noga Sharabani made her first steps into the procurement sector, it was to protect against a very different type of threat.

“It was mid-1999, I was working in a bank and studying for my Master’s degree in Marketing & Finance when a friend called me saying that the high-tech company she was working for, Gilat Satellite Networks, was looking for someone to join the procurement team for a temporary role to oversee suppliers’ compliance for the Y2K bug,” she says.

“At the beginning of 2000, when the Y2K panic ended, I was asked to take the role of direct buyer and started to learn everything about the procurement world.

Working for nearly 22 years at Gilat gave me the opportunity to develop my skills and gain experience in almost every category of purchasing – direct and indirect – and managing OEMs and suppliers in a multicultural environment, which kept my career very challenging but interesting.

“I had excellent mentors over the years who taught me about supplier relationship management, and this is what I am focused on teaching my team today.”

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Unified Intake.

Intelligent Orchestration.

Learn more

ProcurementWorks gives procurement teams what they need to build buying experiences that are personalized and intelligent. Now, procurement can automate the intake of all kinds of procurement requests and orchestrate complex resolutions.

Sagi Eliyahu, co-founder and CEO, Tonkean

Tonkean: Business process automation to maximise adoption To understand the mission of Tonkean, you need to understand that compliance requires high adoption, and adoption requires a great experience Sagi Eliyahu is CEO at Tonkean and was one of the founders just under a decade ago. Tonkean is a first-ofits-kind experience platform with the purpose of developing internal processes that employees actually follow.

Partnership with Claroty Tonkean has been working with Claroty to modernise the way internal teams engage with the company’s processes and systems, with the aim of increasing adoption, compliance and satisfaction.

Ultimately, organisations like Claroty work with Tonkean to increase the value their procurement teams are able to create as partners to the business.

“We started the company with a very simple goal in theory, but very hard in practice, which is empowering companies to leverage software better,” he says.

“They were a great partner to work with, and we are very excited to see the results and the value they’ve been getting through the platform,” Eliyahu adds.

Maximising compliance through process improvement The key to empowering companies in that way is helping them optimise their internal processes so that following those processes is both easier and more valuable than circumventing them.

The influence of AI is also something that excites Eliyahu, as he believes it will inspire people to rethink their approach..

“Everyone knows that if you go on a website and there are twenty fields for you to fill in versus one, the conversion rate is going to be poor. Why do we expect people within the company to fill in a twenty-step process?” he says.

“One thing that is very clear, is that it has reinvigorated the minds and the imagination of people into asking ‘why do I do it manually?’,” Eliyahu concludes. “They will ask why is this something that I need to take 10 clicks to do? Why can’t this be smarter? Why can’t this be more intelligent?”

Learn more

CLAROTY

“ I am passionate about driving innovation in procurement and staying up to date on industry trends and best practices” NOGA SHARABANI

DIRECTOR OF GLOBAL PROCUREMENT, CLAROTY

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Nearly 25 years later, Sharabani is a passionate advocate of procurement operations taking a leading role within business, being central to the strategy of organisations going forward, and brought that mindset to Claroty since establishing its procurement operation in 2020.

After leaving her career in banking, she embraced procurement at Gilat Satellite Engineering, before making the step to Claroty, where she enjoyed the opportunity presented by helping a young cyber company implement a growth strategy.

Driving innovation through procurement Claroty was founded in 2015 and has grown to be a trusted provider and advisor for

NOGA SHARABANI TITLE: DIRECTOR OF GLOBAL PROCUREMENT COMPANY: CLAROTY INDUSTRY: CYBER SECURITY LOCATION: ISRAEL Noga Sharabani is the Director of Global Procurement at Claroty, and has 25 years of experience in the procurement sector and a Master’s Degree in Business Management from Ben-Gurion University in Israel.

She spent two decades at Gilat Satellite Networks, working her way from Procurement Buyer to Strategic Procurement Manager, before moving to Claroty in 2020.

She is passionate about professional development, embracing the latest technological trends, and moving procurement operations to the forefront of business.

hundreds of businesses with thousands of locations around the world. Its platform is a crucial tool that integrates with customers’ existing infrastructure to provide a full range of controls for visibility, risk and vulnerability management, threat detection, and secure remote access.

“I am passionate about driving innovation in procurement and staying up to date on industry trends and best practices,” says Sharabani. “I believe that collaboration and building strong relationships with suppliers are essential for achieving successful procurement outcomes.”

Driving that innovation has become ever more crucial after the expansion of

Claroty Ensures Safe SaaS Usage With Wing Security Wing provides peace of mind by leveraging in-product remediation and automation to secure organizations' SaaS usage at an affordable price

Click for Free SaaS Discovery

Regaining control over SaaS usage with Wing Security Claroty turned to SaaS security posture management (SSPM) leader Wing Security, to ensure its SaaS usage is secure.

Claroty secures the Extended Internet of Things (XIoT) to achieve unmatched visibility, protection, and threat detection across all cyber-physical systems. When it came to securing their employees’ SaaS usage, they turned to Wing Security to ensure they have full control over their SaaS layer.

“Wing provides us with the visibility and the detail we need to protect our (SaaS) environment and make sure that our employees are safe and secure when they’re dealing with SaaS applications,” says Tim Hillyard, Senior Director of Security Operations at Claroty.

SaaS onboarding is decentralised and often doesn’t go through IT or Security approvals. This creates a massive Shadow IT problem, as well as a serious security concern Hillyard adds: “We need Wing because many SaaS applications are actually vulnerable to certain types of attacks, and in some cases these SaaS applications are malicious. “They are created

by bad actors whose intention is to compromise your end systems, or gain access to your personal data. So we need visibility on bad applications so that we can protect our employees.”

Wing Security is the only SSPM provider to deliver SaaS visibility completely for free.

More info on that here It is unique in that it doesn’t only lay out the problem for you by showing you all the SaaS applications, users who use them and the data that is shared in and between SaaS applications, it also automatically remediates SaaS security issues from within the system, taking the load off of the security teams.

For other companies looking for similar SaaS peace of mind, Hillyard has this advice: “Find a company like Wing, that can change quickly and adapt to the ever-changing SaaS threat landscape.

“You need a tool that can also adapt quickly to the environment and protect your users and your data.”

Learn more

CLAROTY

“ Procurement teams must establish robust data governance practices, clear policies, data quality controls, and data integration strategies to leverage AI effectively” NOGA SHARABANI

DIRECTOR OF GLOBAL PROCUREMENT, CLAROTY

the Claroty team and portfolio with the acquisition of the healthcare IoT security company Medigate in January 2022.

This represented a quantum change in the company, expanding its focus beyond operational technology (OT) to protect all CPS across industrial, healthcare, and

commercial environments: the Extended Internet of Things (XIoT).

Procurement at the forefront of business strategy This expansion, combined with the everchanging roster of cyber threats, means it is imperative that the company remains at the forefront of technology innovation while maintaining fast, efficient, and sustained growth.

“In my experience, putting procurement at the forefront of business strategy is essential in driving efficient growth for any organisation. At Claroty, the procurement function is fully aligned with the company’s growth objectives, which empowers our team to not only source and manage resources more effectively, but also to proactively identify cost-saving healthcare-digital.com

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CLAROTY

Claroty WATCH NOW

“ By leveraging cutting-edge solutions, emerging technologies, and strategic partnerships, I am able to secure the most innovative and robust technologies offerings for our organisation” NOGA SHARABANI

DIRECTOR OF GLOBAL PROCUREMENT, CLAROTY

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opportunities, adopt a culture of innovation, and foster supplier partnerships.”

One of the biggest challenges Sharabani faced in this role was managing cloud spend. “After the Medigate acquisition, we had to bring two very different cloud spend strategies together. The Claroty platform at the time was on-prem with very little cloud spend, while the Medigate platform was fully SaaS and drove high cloud spend.”

Within a few months of the acquisition, Claroty had developed a new SaaS product called xDome, which further increased its cloud spend.

“To address this challenge, I asked Eli Mansoor, the owner of OskaQ Consulting, to help us develop a cloud spend management plan,” Sharabani describes. “This plan included setting clear goals, identifying cost-

CLAROTY

saving opportunities, and implementing best practices for cloud procurement. As a result of this plan, Claroty as a team – including Procurement, Product, DevOps, R&D, and Chief Architect – is working in full sync and we were able to reduce the cloud spending substantially, while still supporting the growth of our business.”

It is by adopting this mindset for the procurement function that Sharabani believes she can make the greatest impact on the future success of the business and the customers who rely on its technology to secure their most critical operations.

“I am committed to staying at the forefront of technological advancements and industry best practices,” she argues.

“By leveraging cutting-edge solutions, emerging technologies, and strategic

partnerships, I am able to secure the most innovative and robust technology offerings for our organisation. I meticulously evaluate and select suppliers with proven expertise, track records of excellence, and a strong commitment to data protection and privacy.”

By building strong communication channels with other business functions, Sharabani has helped to add value to Claroty and support the revenue side through proactive engagement with key departments such as Business Development, Product, DevOps, and Finance. I’ve been able to identify and capitalize on numerous opportunities for cost optimization and value enhancement that directly contribute to revenue growth.

My team and I work closely with the Product team to define and track our COGS (Cost Of healthcare-digital.com

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Your partner for

optimizing cloud spend “ With OskaQ Consulting I feel confident that Claroty’s cloud spend is optimized, in control, and we have the agreements we need in order to accelerate Claroty’s business growth” Noga Sharabani, Director of Global Procurement, Claroty

OskaQ Consulting services: • On-going FinOps-as-a-service • Negotiate cloud discount agreements • FinOps maturity assessment • Build a cost aware organization culture • Accelerate business collaboration with your cloud vendors

LEARN MORE

Co-authored by OskaQ-Consulting Founder and CEO

CLAROTY

Goods Sold) and cloud infrastructure, driven innovation and continuous ensuring we are getting the best value improvement throughout the for our investments but also maintaining organisation,” Sharabani says. “I take scalability. great pride in my ability to establish Year In collaboration with the Finance and nurture these relationships and founded department, we’ve successfully communication channels, as they optimized payment terms, reduced have been instrumental in driving supplier duplication, and streamlined critical success and positively impacting the processes. For instance, we’ve implemented procurement function at Claroty.” an efficient vendor onboarding process through automation using the Tonkean AI Embracing emerging technologies platform, which not only saves time but also Sharabani believes that the future of ensures compliance and cost efficiency. procurement is going to be fundamentally Moreover, a strategic partnership with the linked to, and influenced by, emerging Business Development team has resulted technologies and digital transformation and in the optimization of AWS agreements, that procurement leads need to embrace further boosting revenue for Claroty. This automation, AI and data-driven decisions. collaborative approach across functions “By leveraging technology effectively, underscores how procurement can have a procurement leads can enhance efficiency, direct and positive impact on the bottom line. reduce costs, and improve decision-making,” “These examples reflect how the strong she says. “So, in the next 12 to 18 months, relationships and effective communication we’ll continue to adopt automation and AI.” channels established in procurement have This mentality, Sharabani explains, will help

2015

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CLAROTY

“I wake up each morning eager to learn something new and experience the impact it has on procurement” NOGA SHARABANI

DIRECTOR OF GLOBAL PROCUREMENT, CLAROTY

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CLAROTY

build the foundations for the next decade of progress at Claroty.

“By successfully establishing a scalable procurement organisation, we are helping to position Claroty as a trusted partner for securing critical infrastructure and enabling the adoption of CPS. This will create new opportunities for growth and expansion, allowing us to play a pivotal role in securing the XIoT ecosystem.”

Although AI presents many positive possibilities, she emphasises that it needs to be used carefully and with intelligence to get the most useful results.

“AI relies heavily on high-quality data and we – as the data source – need to ensure data accuracy and integrity.

Procurement teams must establish robust data governance practices, clear policies, data quality controls, and data integration strategies to leverage AI effectively.”

Best-in-class partnerships The quality of the partnerships formed between the procurement team at Claroty and both internal and external colleagues is something Sharabani is particularly proud of, as it has allowed her to align with business objectives and drive successful outcomes.

“Collaborating closely with strategic suppliers has allowed for deeper, stronger partnerships, resulting in achieving company targets like opening local fulfilment centres in the US and Germany to support our customers locally,” Sharabani says.

“By maintaining strong connections with stakeholders, I have been able to align procurement strategies with organisational goals, ensuring seamless integration and driving mutual success like cost optimisation and risk mitigations.” healthcare-digital.com

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CLAROTY

Sharabani emphasises the importance Another key partnership Sharabani of some of Claroty’s external partners, as references is Wing Security, which gives identifying best-in-class partners helps the full visibility into Claroty’s environment and company achieve its objectives. enforces security controls and policy.

She highlights the partnership with OskaQ “We have monthly meetings with the which has become a key partner in cloud partner to discuss issues, features, new management strategy. requests and mutually understand the “They have expertise in optimising evolving threat landscape to ensure we are cloud expenditure and work closely with aligned,” Sharabani says, emphasising the me and the company to identify areas of importance of close communication. improvement,” she says. “Through their “The partnership with Wing Security guidance and recommendations, we have has been essential,” she adds, “allowing been able to make strategic adjustments that Claroty to effectively manage our security increase profitability and optimise programme and meet our projected our cloud spending.” target goals to protect Claroty and This has helped fulfil a highultimately our customers from everpriority project focused on cloud changing threats.” cost management and optimisation, Another partner is Snyk, Amount of which is essential for improving the which helps Claroty’s software countries Claroty company’s gross margin. development team develop fast and serves in

50+

CLAROTY

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CLAROTY

stay secure, using AI and automation from their first lines of code to their running cloud.

Sharabani also highlights the value of the Tonkean partnership, as a comprehensive solution to handling the entire procurement process.

“By leveraging Tonkean, we can save time and resources for my team while ensuring a seamless and efficient procurement process, from intake to resolution,” she says.

Sharabani continuously links the importance of the procurement operation to wider business and customer goals, whether that be in terms of finance, environment, or security, and the input of partners is critical to that success.

“Overall, these partnerships have been invaluable in helping us achieve our aims. They bring expertise, technological capabilities, and streamlined processes that contribute to cost savings, efficiency, and a positive user experience,” she emphasises.

“By collaborating with these partners, we can drive success in our procurement function and support the overall growth and success of the company.”

When Claroty acquired Medigate, Sharabani says this presented an opportunity to increase value from procurement synergies. “I implemented a new SaaS management platform called Zluri for visibility into all the software within Claroty and Medigate’s respective technology stacks and was able to manage renewal effectively. This way I could better manage the integration, and identify similar or duplicate SaaS platforms, which not only saved a significant amount of money but also enhanced overall efficiency.”

Continuous improvement With nearly 25 years of experience in the procurement sector, Noga Sharabani has seen significant changes in technology that have fundamentally transformed the way procurement business is conducted, and she says it motivates her to stay on top of industry trends and best practice.

She believes seeking continuous improvement is the way she gets constant fulfilment from her profession.

“Besides the joy of raising my five children, I wake up each morning eager to learn something new and experience the impact it has on procurement,” she says enthusiastically. “I actively engage in professional networks, participate in continuous learning opportunities, and find inspiration in podcasts and webinars.

It is incredibly exciting to witness how AI, for example, can elevate the field of procurement.”

Her advice to other professionals earlier in their procurement careers is to embrace change, as the environment is constantly evolving because of technological advancements, market dynamics and global factors, but by staying adaptable you can thrive.

“What I find most fulfilling about working in my role is the opportunity to shape the future of my organisation in today’s rapidly changing business landscape,” Sharabani concludes. “By embracing innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvement, I can contribute to creating a resilient and sustainable procurement and supply chain that drives business success.”

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DIGITAL HEALTH

BIOMARKER IN DIGITAL HEALT

Roozbeh Ghaffari, Epicore Biosystems CEO & Matt Lavin of LifeOmic, explore how biomarkers are advancing healthcare and supporting patients WRITTEN BY: HELEN ADAMS

B

iological markers, known as biomarkers, are indicators that can measure signs of normal biological processes.

They are used in healthcare to help diagnose diseases and monitor patients, as well as in research for drug development.

Most biomarkers are naturally occurring within the body, such as bodily fluids, DNA mutations, certain types of proteins and components of blood. Synthetic biomarkers are also being used in cancer detection.

Biomarkers allow early healthcare intervention and can help doctors decide on the best treatment for the patient, which reduces the need for invasive 68

November 2023

therapies (and their sometimes unpleasant side effects). There are several different reasons for using biomarkers: • Diagnostic biomarkers can spot a disease • Prognostic biomarkers provide information about a disease • Predictive biomarkers gain insight on how a patient will respond to a certain drug • Monitoring biomarkers observe the behaviour of a disease • Surrogate biomarkers measure the effects of treatment.

Here, two healthcare experts discuss the use of biomarkers in the sector.

NNOVATIONS IN TH SOLUTIONS

Digital health solutions & wearable sensors Roozbeh Ghaffari is the Co-Founder and CEO of Epicore Biosystems, a digital healthcare company, which is a spinout of Northwestern University and is headquartered in Cambridge, MA, USA. “I’m focused on our day-to-day execution and planning the long-term course to bring our digital health solutions to market,” he explains.

While most of the world has embraced heart rate monitoring and tracking steps, Epicore Biosystems has been hard at work in developing the next generation of wearable technology that can tap into biochemistry, hydration and stress biomarkers, by measuring tiny amounts of sweat.

Ghaffari says: “It turns out you can learn a lot about human physiology and hydration if you measure biophysical markers, such as skin or body temperature, movement and heart rate, in tandem with a few key biochemical markers, such as electrolytes, metabolites and hormones in sweat.”

Epicore Biosystems is focused on executing and clinically validating this vision, to bring products to market on a daily basis.

“Biomarkers are measurable biological substances or physiological parameters like heart, steps and blood pressure, that correspond to the state of health, onset of disease and/or progression of disease,” says Ghaffari. “With advances in biosensors and the miniaturisation of medical devices, there are numerous clinical studies underway to healthcare-digital.com

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Give it a shot

DIGITAL HEALTH

Roozbeh Ghaffari

TITLE: CO-FOUNDER AND CEO COMPANY: EPICORE BIOSYSTEMS INDUSTRY: WELLNESS & FITNESS SERVICE LOCATION: BOSTON, US Ghaffari is focused on Epicore Biosystems day-to-day execution and planning the long-term course to bring its digital health solutions to market. The company is a spinout of Northwestern University and is headquartered in Cambridge, MA.

Matt Lavin TITLE: VP/GM COMPANY: LIFEOMIC INDUSTRY: SOFTWARE DEVELOPER LOCATION: NORTH CAROLINA, US Lavin started working as the Software Architect at LifeOmic in 2017. Since then, he has risen to Vice President and General Manager. Previously, he worked at IBM and OTI.

Epicore Biosystems Gx Sweat Patch & mobile app

“ Biomarkers are measurable biological substances that correspond to the state of health and progression of disease” ROOZBEH GHAFFARI

CO-FOUNDER AND CEO, EPICORE BIOSYSTEMS

identify new digital and biochemical markers as a way to achieve preventative care and early diagnosis.”

Epicore Biosystems is developing advanced sweat-sensing wearables that provide real-time, personalised health insights for hydration, stress and wellness.

This includes advanced biometrics as such sweat rate, total sweat loss, sodium chloride concentration and total sodium chloride loss, skin temperature, and motion — all healthcare-digital.com

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Blurring the Lines Between Biology and Electronics | Roozbeh Ghaffari | TEDxGateway WATCH NOW

“ We are developing non-invasive devices that can measure sweat biomarkers related to hydration, nutrition, stress and disease progression” ROOZBEH GHAFFARI

CO-FOUNDER AND CEO OF EPICORE BIOSYSTEMS

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captured with a noninvasive biowearable patch, analysed through a proprietary cloud engine and delivered directly to the wearer through a mobile application.

“Our suite of biowearables includes the Gx Sweat Patch created in partnership with PepsiCo and Gatorade, the Discovery Patch Sweat Collection System, and the Connected Hydration sensor and mobile application tailored for industrial athletes and sports.”

Ghaffari believes that the rampant heat exposure seen across the globe has amplified the need for new technologies that could assist everyday people with their fluid and electrolyte loss and intake.

DIGITAL HEALTH

“I’m very excited about the future of hydration and nutrition science, and its intersection with the need for personalisation and real-time management,” he says. “At Epicore Biosystems, we have created novel digital health solutions beginning with a wearable sensor and cloud analytics that unlock your individual hydration, skin temperature and motion data, and give rise to real-time recovery recommendations for the very first time.”

Biomarker time and cost savings Matt Lavin is the Vice President and General Manager of Platform at LifeOmic,

a healthcare technology company that is connecting, consolidating and visualising complex health data to improve patient outcomes. He is responsible for setting the direction for what products the company should build.

“A big part of my work involves talking to lots of early-stage companies, hearing their visions for the future of healthcare, and making sure that the LifeOmic Platform has the features they need,” Lavin says.

“Our technological backbone, The LifeOmic Platform, is a secure and scalable cloudbased software solution designed to aggregate and visualise complex health data to power precision health.”

“By seeing the whole picture of a person, we can better uncover when one uncommon biomarker is not a cause for concern,” Lavin continues. “We can stop prescribing drugs for every value that’s out of range and focus on applying treatments that are effective at changing outcomes.”

He also believes that it will help to better explain why treatments work on some people and not others.

“Imagine the time and cost savings if we could get better at matching an effective treatment to the person on the first try?” he says.

However, Lavin understands there are challenges related to data privacy and algorithm transparency, but has an answer to how this can be addressed.

“I think that algorithm transparency is an interesting discussion,” he explains. “On one hand, the results of the algorithm might be the most important judge of the algorithm.

“If the algorithm is consistently correct about the best treatment and results in good outcomes, then it would be a good healthcare-digital.com

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DIGITAL HEALTH

“ Only by seeing the whole picture of a person can an uncommon biomarker be dismissed as no cause for concern” MATT LAVIN VP/GM, LIFEOMIC

idea to take the output of the algorithm seriously, even if we don’t fully understand the algorithm.

“I think it’s still true that we have traditional diagnostics where we use biomarkers as inputs into treatments when we don’t fully understand the mechanism that explains why the biomarker is an effective guide. We should use what works.”

As with traditional biomarkers, Lavin believes that healthcare professionals should be working to understand what causes it to work so well.

“In our search for understanding, sometimes new biomarkers are found.

When working to understand algorithms, we’ll likely discover new areas of research and a better understanding of the differences between people that have an impact on health.” healthcare-digital.com

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DRIVING AND DELIVERING DIGITA TRANSFORMATION AT DPV HEALTH WRITTEN BY: SCOTT BIRCH

PRODUCED BY: NAZEEF RABIU-IDREES

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DPV Health in Victoria, Australia, undertook a digital transformation set against the backdrop of COVID-19, delivered by awardwinning CIO Noel Toal

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veryone faced unprecedented challenges during the COVID19 pandemic, but imagine those hurdles being amplified working in the healthcare industry in one of the most locked-down places on the planet. Then imagine implementing a company-wide digital transformation while simultaneously saving lives.

Noel Toal describes that situation as “change on steroids”, and few could argue with that.

Toal is the CIO of DPV Health, a community health service across 20 sites in the northern suburbs of Melbourne, Australia. DPV Health offers everything from GP medical services through the whole range of allied health services, mental health services, dental and disability services.

Under Toal’s leadership, DPV Health is using technology to improve the client experience and to improve the ability of its clinicians to deliver excellent care.

Toal’s first senior role was as a regional head of ICT for a large international software development company with clients including the National Australia Bank, JP Morgan, and Swiss Reinsurance.

From there, Toal had something of an epiphany and thought that maybe an ICT leader like himself should have a greater understanding about the world of business, so he studied for an MBA.

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“ I’ve spent the last four years having a lot of fun in a challenging environment” NOEL TOAL

CIO, DPV HEALTH

“I wanted to understand the language of the business, and I also wanted to understand the difference between managing and leading,” explains Toal.

“Once I had that MBA under my belt then I wanted to understand the practical 80

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application, so I went into business, purchasing a cardboard box manufacturing firm. In three years – thanks to my MBA knowledge, board experience and ICT expertise, I was able to turn it around and sell it to a listed company.”

During that period, Toal says he learned a lot about rapidly scaling a business, using ICT to support a new business model, and processes – all of which served him well as he decided to make a move into non profits and healthcare, and eventually to DPV Health.

“I’ve spent the last four years having a lot of fun in a challenging environment, during the pandemic, but a really interesting time to help deliver excellent healthcare services,” says Toal. “So it’s been pretty exciting.”

TOP 50 CIOs IN AUSTRALIA Noel Toal has been named in the Top 50 CIOs in Australia for the last two years.

“When I came into the organisation, we had lots of problems, and we outsourced ICT,” he recalls, talking about his early days at DPV Health in late 2019.

“With a new strategy, we built our own internal ICT team and we built that team in the middle of a pandemic. And we also built the data team. To see how hard those teams worked to deliver everything we had to respond to during the pandemic, I think it’s amazing.

“When I won the first time, and then again the second time, I said I’m the person who stands up to get the award, but really it’s recognition of the effort of everyone in the ICT function, because I don’t deliver all those pieces individually. That is a collective effort.”

“I think it vindicates the desire to have an internal team because it delivered better service and drove transformation. It’s nice on a personal level to see these teams that I’ve built get recognition for their hard work.”

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DPV HEALTH

“ A lot of the early part was getting our hands on equipment.

We needed to make people more mobile” NOEL TOAL

CIO, DPV HEALTH

Toal is not your average CIO. As well as handling the ICT side of DPV Health, he also uses that expertise and experience to manage three teams responsible for client access. These teams handle call centre, interpreting and reception/administration, and Toal puts systems in place to make sure they run as efficiently as possible, while also leveraging technology.

And it’s that approach that really helped DPV health not only survive the pandemic but actually improve the healthcare services it was able to offer its clients, in the most difficult and distressing of times.

“I think we were all shell shocked initially,” admits Toal, “but the organisation grew its revenue by 65%. We had enormous growth, we are very busy, and we’ve retained most of that because a lot of it was organic – not just related to the pandemic-specific services we were providing.” healthcare-digital.com

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Noel Toal TITLE: CIO COMPANY: DPV HEALTH LOCATION: VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA Noel Toal is the CIO for DPV Health. With over twenty years ICT leadership experience he was judged by CIO Magazine as one of the top fifty Australian CIOs in their CIO50 list for 2022 and 2023.

He is a business leader with an ICT speciality, with previous experience as a board director/chair and a successful business owner who sold a business to an ASX listed company. He utilises this experience to deliver pragmatic value and positive impact through digital transformation and thrives on ICT collaboration with the business.

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Toal joined in August 2019 and as the new CIO his strategy was to roll out a controlled digital transformation – but most of that plan went quickly out of the window with COVID19. Some of the elements of the plan, such as new equipment and Azure Virtual Desktop, were accelerated to accommodate staff working from home, and DPV Health had to switch to providing telehealth services within two weeks.

With Victoria being the most lockeddown state in Australia, and one of the most restricted in the world, it was even harder for people to access vital health services – which placed extra pressure on Toal and his teams.

“We were trying to drive the transformation while supporting all of these extra, urgent demands that were popping up as part of the pandemic response,” recalls Toal.

“We were having to help setup and shift the services, acquire printers, laptops, iPads. A lot of the early part was getting our hands on equipment. We needed to make people more mobile. Luckily we had a good relationship with Microboss and that helped us to get all the equipment that we needed.”

“We also had important partners to help us with the CRM development. Delta Insights were really important for the delivery of that system and then linked to that, we needed a cloud-based phone system, and that’s where RingCentral and NativUC came into the picture.”

We all know that the pandemic accelerated digital transformation and that became in some ways a silver lining to a very dark cloud.

Toal admits it was an enabler and helped DPV Health get things done quickly “because we had to”.

And while the pandemic was a period of intense change, there is still more to come. Toal has completed the delivery of

RINGCENTRAL AND NATIVUC “Before RingCentral, we didn’t have a contact centre; we had a phone system with an IVR [Interactive Voice Resonse] that directed you somewhere.

We’ve got a massive client base where 10% of our clients have Arabic as a first language. They’re our biggest group. But then we’ve got lots of different language groups. One of the things we wondered was, in the future can we have some language translation capabilities?

We haven’t quite got there yet, but we’re on the path. This makes it a much more personal experience.

Phone system projects always get very complex. NativUC knew the technology and took time to listen and understood our requirements, to find the best product that was meant for us, and for our long term vision. In the end, we chose RingCentral because long term it represented the best return on investment.

After we decided on RingCentral, NativUC was invaluable throughout the process in getting our numbers ported, working with the RingCentral team, and sorting out the financials and support arrangements.”

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DPV HEALTH

“ I think one of the risks is that an organisation feels pressured to deliver AI” NOEL TOAL

CIO, DPV HEALTH

the digital transformation and is now working through defining what the new ICT strategy will be, having fixed what he calls “technical debt”.

The new strategy is all about being more engaged with people and leveraging the new systems that have been put in place, such as the new CRM, clinical grade network, cloud systems, omnichannel phone system, hardware, and making sure the company maximises the value of the significant investment from the last four years.

You can almost hear Toal’s MBA switching into action as he explains how he is approaching this new strategy now that he has the platform to build on.

“Someone from another community health organisation said to me the other day, ‘we’re three to four years behind you’. That’s because we have just done four years of work on digital transformation. You have to do the work, to be ready for the next stage.”

So what is that next stage? Toal immediately, like many tech leaders, turns with caution to artificial intelligence.

“I think one of the risks is that an organisation feels pressured to deliver AI,” says Toal. healthcare-digital.com

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Noel Toal, CIO of DPV Health, on driving digital healthcare in Australia WATCH NOW

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“Then they’re going to turn it on, think it’s intelligent, and use it to search through data and pull together answers for their questions – that’s an obvious, real benefit for an organisation. But they’re not necessarily going to be prepared for the fact that, historically, they’ve had really bad practices managing their systems and files.”

“If you unleash AI and haven’t segmented and haven’t got good internal controls with role-based access, and haven’t locked down those documents, and they’re not encrypted, you’re going to get all sorts of privacy issues.”

Toal’s advice is don’t rush into delivering AI without thinking about what the problem is you are trying to solve. He also suggests not using the word AI when working out the problem because it will “just scare people”.

Instead, he says just talk about the problem and what you want to do better, and then work out how AI can provide a solution for each element.

DPV Health have built a proof of concept predictive AI model to address the fact that around 25% of clients would fail to attend appointments.

“That’s an instant hit to productivity, and we have massive wait lists because we’re publicly funded within a rapidly growing community, to get people in who really need help,” explains Toal. “So if the clinician sits there not servicing someone, that’s impacting us and the clients”.

“The model predicts at the time when clients are making the appointment their likelihood of attending. We’ve tested about 91% accurate on that, so that’s been really good, and with a number of other data driven changes those no-shows are now around 14% – or 8% if you exclude mental health appointments – down from 25%.” healthcare-digital.com

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DPV HEALTH

“ We have just done four years of work on digital transformation.

You have to do the work, to be ready for the next stage” NOEL TOAL

CIO, DPV HEALTH

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DPV Health also utilises AI on some cyber security tooling, and Toal says it’s a great way to make small teams more efficient – “AI is a really powerful way to do some of that leg work for you and just let your people focus”.

Cyber security is also the one thing that Toal says, when asked, what keeps him awake at night.

“It’s got to be cyber security, right?

That has always been the case but it’s been moving towards what I would call drive-by cyber attacks because people can just go on to the dark web and they can download quite sophisticated tooling and run it – but now that tooling is AI enabled.”

“Around 59% of breaches in healthcare come from compromised credentials.

They’re coming from phishing. You need

good internal controls to deal with hackers who use legitimate user credentials. The other element is mistakes. If you look at some of the big breaches that have happened, they are simple mistakes.”

“So how do you deal with mistakes? I think you’ve got to have really good controls so that when someone does make the inevitable mistake, you pick it up, and you deal with it.”

Toal can rest easy, safe in the knowledge that his extensive skills and experience have not only delivered DPV Health’s digital transformation, but also along the way improved the health services and care for thousands of people.

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TECHNOLOGY

TRANSFORMING HEALTHCARE WITH DATA-DRIVEN SURGERY INNOVATION

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Proximie Founder and CEO Nadine Hachach-Haram, explains how data-driven surgery innovation can transform healthcare and reduce inequality WRITTEN BY: HELEN ADAMS

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roximie holds the world’s largest database of recorded surgeries, comprising 20,000 videos of operations. The company harnesses the power of these recordings by using data-driven technology to enhance healthcare performance, improve patient outcomes and revolutionise the way surgeries are conducted.

“Our telepresence solution allows us to capture, upload and process information in real-time,” says Nadine Hachach-Haram, the Founder and CEO of Proximie.

“It provides high-fidelity access to procedures, so operations can be remotely viewed from anywhere or used to scale training efforts.”

She adds that 95% of all the surgical sessions conducted with Proximie are recorded and uploaded onto its online library where they can be downloaded, shared and edited.

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By recording every surgery and archiving them into personalised profiles on Proximie, healthcare teams or individuals can demonstrate their skills and share expertise from anywhere.

Hachach-Haram is also a practising NHS surgeon, lecturer and the Director of Clinical Innovation and Strategic Partnerships at Guy’s and St Thomas’s NHS Foundation Trust in London.

“I founded Proximie in 2015, drawing on my desire to improve global access to safe surgical care by creating a solution which addresses some of the most pressing issues in healthcare,” says Hachach-Haram. “Over time, Proximie’s mission has grown and the company now focuses on transforming the surgical system with software, data and technology, from the operating room to wider healthcare.”

Hachach-Haram has always been passionate about plastic and reconstructive surgery.

“Having grown up in war-torn Lebanon, and later spending over ten years working on global health initiatives around the world, I witnessed first-hand the deeprooted inefficiencies found across the global healthcare ecosystem.”

This inspired her to create Proximie and fulfil her ambition to build a network of operating rooms interconnected by the world’s best surgeons, and empowered by real-time diagnostics, data and analysis.

She says: “The challenge was building a working platform which could be deployed in developed countries. It had to be seamless, but with low bandwidth and accessible on everyday devices such as laptops, tablets and computers.” healthcare-digital.com

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TECHNOLOGY

Nadine Hachach-Haram TITLE: CEO COMPANY: PROXIMIE INDUSTRY: HEALTHCARE LOCATION: UNITED KINGDOM Hachach-Haram is the CEO of global health technology platform Proximie and a practising NHS surgeon, lecturer and Director of Clinical Innovation and Strategic Partnerships at Guy’s and St Thomas’s NHS Foundation Trust in London.

The experience of recent years has also highlighted how much value Proximie can provide in developed markets – particularly with healthcare systems under pressure across the globe following the pandemic.

Proximie’s power to share, store and generate insights from surgical expertise can be deployed exponentially and securely throughout the world, creating the potential to deliver a real and tangible shift towards the shared goal of improving health outcomes for all. It is currently being used across 20% of all NHS Trusts and working to cover more.

Challenges to the global healthcare system Universal access to safe, affordable surgical care is still a major issue.

“5bn people do not have access to safe surgery,” says Hachach-Haram. “Continued co-operation and scaling of basic healthcare is a necessary step to improve global health.”

She sees patient safety and patient care as a major challenge.

“Three in four patients in the UK about to undergo surgery are concerned about their safety. This safety crisis has been strained by the aftereffects of COVID-19 – and solutions, such as greater digitisation,

“ We are focused on promoting the potential of data and generative AI to improve healthcare through partnerships and sales” NADINE HACHACH-HARAM CEO, PROXIMIE

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TECHNOLOGY

WATCH NOW

“Technology and data can create an unparalleled ecosystem that improves patient care before, during and after care”

are needed to reassure AI, telehealth and patients and mitigate machine learning.” pressures on surgeons.”

Hachach-Haram Demographic adds: “We are seeing AI pressures and a growing potential in healthcare global population are and in particular, surgery increasing the demand and patient care. We for surgeons worldwide. use AI to provide However, up to 60% of data-rich summaries surgeons are due to leave of procedures, track the NHS in the next eight surgical instruments and years – current estimates generate patient reports. indicate there is a shortfall It has the potential NADINE HACHACH-HARAM of over 2m surgeons. to hugely improve CEO, She says: “As surgical healthcare simply by PROXIMIE training can take up removing drudgery and to 10 years, there is a pressing need for scope for error, resulting in better healthcare innovative solutions, such as content for patients.” management platforms and augmented AI can also be applied to necessary yet reality, to train the next generation and time-consuming administration tasks, mitigate potential shortages. especially in hospitals. If AI can perform “There are many solutions to this, with even 20% of required administrative tasks, various opportunities in healthcare, from it would unlock a lot more time 98

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for nurses and doctors to focus on patients, increasing efficiency.

“At Proximie, we can quickly use data analytics within hospitals to analyse turnover time, the time of procedure, instrument usage as well as general ways to increase productivity and eradicate potential obstacles,” says Hachach-Haram.

“Similarly, new technologies can help to train new surgeons in a more efficient and seamless manner. Our cloud centric technology, for example, can train twice as many surgeons in half the time. In February, we partnered with the Association of Surgeons in Training (ASiT), enabling all 3,500 ASiT members to access the Proximie platform, providing a vital source for training the next generation of surgeons.”

Proximie is using technology and data to create an unparalleled ecosystem which improves healthcare systems and patient care before, during and after care.

“Put simply, data saves lives.”

Solving inequalities in healthcare with data & AI Inequity in surgical access is an ongoing global challenge. Today, too many people don’t have access to safe surgery, there are huge quality disparities and variations in surgical care, with impinged access currently accounting for approximately a third of all global deaths.

Hachach-Haram says: “We must think creatively and differently about how to accelerate the learning curve. We recently announced a partnership with Guy’s and

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Use more image captions as often as possible

“ Put simply, data saves lives” NADINE HACHACH-HARAM CEO, PROXIMIE

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TECHNOLOGY

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Proximie is a global health technology platform deployed in over 50 countries

5bn

Number of people who do not have access to safe surgery

St Thomas’ (GSST) to launch the world’s first virtual training course in thoracic roboticassisted surgery for overseas healthcare professionals who are not UK-registered.

“We have also partnered with Jhpiego in Kenya, to digitally connect high-volume health facilities in Makueni County and ensure equitable access to timely and safe obstetric surgical care. Our platform further enables surgeons to scrub-in virtually, and critically increases mentorship and upskilling.”

Sharing expertise globally will make a real difference in operating rooms and for patients, improving outcomes while making training more efficient and affordable. This is why Hachach-Haram knows that it is so important to embrace emerging technologies, which enable Proximie to do just that.

“This will fundamentally democratise healthcare and raise the standards of surgery all over the world,” she says.

“Over the next 12 months, Proximie is focused on promoting the potential of data and generative AI, to improve the healthcare sector through continued partnerships and sales.

“We have now conducted tens of thousands of surgical interactions and are available in over 800 hospitals in 50 countries.

We have developed partnerships and contracts with over 40 major medical device companies and have access to 90% of operating rooms and diagnostic suites in the UK, US and EU.” healthcare-digital.com

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3D PRINTING

NUANCE’S VISION OF HEALTHCARE TRANSFORMATION & AI REGULATION Nuance’s Chief Clinical Information Officer Dr Simon Wallace shares his thoughts both on AI’s role in healthcare and how to effectively regulate its use WRITTEN BY: HELEN ADAMS

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uance is a technology pioneer, with market leadership in conversational AI and ambient intelligence. Last year it was acquired by Microsoft and the company is now working together to drive better decision-making, improve clinician and patient experiences, create more meaningful connections and improve the quality of healthcare.

Dr Simon Wallace is the Chief Clinical Information Officer at Nuance in the UK and Ireland. Over the years, he’s worked as a GP, hospital and public health clinician in both Brighton and London.

“I’m really passionate about giving back and have a keen interest in the voluntary sector,” says Wallace. “I spent seven years as a Trustee for Fitzrovia Youth in Action, a London based charity focused on helping children and young people. In addition to this, I spent two and a half years as a Board Trustee for the Dublin Well Woman Centre, an organisation that helps Irish women access family planning, counselling and sexual health services.”

Wallace’s interest in health informatics began back in the 1990s when he spent a year at the King’s Fund, investigating the impact of the internet on shared decision making between patients and healthcare professionals.

“Although many hospitals were in the very early stages of their digital transformation journeys at the time, the benefits were already clear to see,” he says. “It was obvious to me that this revolution was here to stay, and I wanted to be at the forefront of change.” healthcare-digital.com

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Telstra Health and Gold Coast Health: delivering virtual care

Embracing the Digital 3D PRINTING Economy in Health.

Find out what Australia’s digitisation opportunity means for Health.

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Founded in 2013, Telstra Health works to improve lives by delivering digitally-enabled care to its communities by providing software products, solutions and platforms to governments and healthcare providers throughout Australia.

Watch: Telstra Health and Gold Coast Health can monitor patients’ blood pressure, pulse oximetry, temperature and weight remotely.

These baseline metrics are then combined with a virtual appointment in which the clinician can follow-up with the patient to discuss and provide results.

Be What’s Next. “ AI printing is here to Embracing the Digital stay and I want to be at the forefront of change” Economy in Health.

Telstra Health was chosen as a key partner “We’ve found that our service has helped to of Gold Coast Health Services, providing dramatically reduce readmission rates, and The Dragon Medical One solution uses their virtual health consultation platform enabled early discharge, which means that conversational AI to accurately capture as a way to deliver patient care remotely. patients get to be at home sooner,” enthuses voice generated content directly into clinical “Traditionally, you might go to see a Spencer, who also notes that, “The overarching systems. Compatible with all leading EPR specialist at a hospital and, after a five monitoring aspect can also help people who DR SIMON WALLACE systems used in the NHS, Dragon Medical CHIEF CLINICAL INFORMATION OFFICER, minute conversation, be sent home,” Jamie readmission get back into hospital Find outneed what Australia’s digitisation One can help deliver improved NUANCE Spencer, Regional General Manager opportunity sooner,means which can make a hugequality difference for Health. of documentation and support national Business Development at Telstra Health in some cases.” standards such as those recommended by says. “Someone living in rural Queensland Spencer, who works closely with Sandip Kumar, At Nuance, the specialises in for Download the PRSB.today might drive for upteam to four to six hours Gold Coast Health’s Executive Director healthcare solutions that support a more “We’re proud that the technology is of that five minute appointment.

Now, rather Transformation and Digital, emphasises natural approach to clinical documentation. currently used within NHS Trusts up andthat than people having to make those long the relationship between Health Wallacetosays: AI-powered solutions down the country in bothTelstra primary and and journeys see “Our a specialist, we can provide Gold Coastcare, is far than that of vendor which are utilised by over 10,000 healthcare secondary asmore well as community and that consultation to people in their own and client.

“We’re looking for a real partner, organisations worldwide - help mental health,” says Wallace. homes, in a way that leads to aclinicians, richer not just a customer.” radiologists and careresults teamsinacross the health conversation, which better feedback sphere to streamline thestandard documentation The impact of generative AI in healthcare and, ultimately, a better of care.” process, revolutionising the doctor-patient The recent explosive growth of foundation Telstra Health’s virtual care technology relationship and driving better clinical and large language models, such as GPT-4, adopts a twofold approach. First, using Findinout more > outcomes.” point to a future which clinicians and Bluetooth connected devices, clinicians healthcare-digital.com

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Digital healthcare For the past 20 years, Wallace has been specialising in health informatics and digital healthcare, working for organisations such as Bupa, Dr Foster, Cerner Corporation and GSK, across a range of technologies, including electronic patient records, telemedicine, mobile health and lifestyle devices

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patients are empowered with personalised medicine, clinical decision support, increased patient access and workforce optimisation.

“But while the overarching promise for the future of generative AI in healthcare is potentially huge, there are ways in which this technology is already shaping healthcare delivery today,” says Wallace. “For example, the healthcare industry is laden with administrative processes; many of which are manual, paper-based, time-consuming and error-prone.”

Modern technologies, such as AI– powered speech recognition, can be used

3D PRINTING

to help relieve some of these pressures, enabling clinicians to work more efficiently and intelligently. These technologies are designed to recognise and record passages of speech, converting them into detailed clinical notes, regardless of how quickly the clinician speaks.

“By reducing repetition and supporting standardisation across departments, they can enhance the accuracy as well as the quality of patient records,” says Wallace. “Frimley Health NHS Trust is a prime example of an organisation that has benefited from this technology.

“ The overarching promise for the future of generative AI in healthcare is huge” DR SIMON WALLACE

CHIEF CLINICAL INFORMATION OFFICER, NUANCE healthcare-digital.com

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3D PRINTING

Reducing clinician burnout within UK NHS WATCH NOW

“The conversation around regulation and AI in healthcare is ongoing – and rightly so”

“In the past, the trust that feed directly into has relied on transcription a Trust’s EPR. services and handwritten However, Wallace reports for document believes that the use of and letter creation. This AI in healthcare must be process worked, but it carefully regulated. was slow and inefficient.

“Paper records had Regulation of AI to be scanned, then use in healthcare entered into electronic “The conversation around DR SIMON WALLACE CHIEF CLINICAL INFORMATION systems. Letters had to regulation and AI in OFFICER, NUANCE be typed up and sent out healthcare is ongoing – to patients and GPs. With and rightly so,” he says. the move to an Epic EPR, the Trust wanted “As these tools become more powerful and to keep its staff using their voices - but it embedded into our daily lives, we must also wanted to ensure they could create ensure that they are safe.” documents and letters in a much more As more regulation comes into force, the efficient, real-time way.” team at Nuance, is committed to ensuring Frimley chose Nuance’s cloud-based that its AI platforms are both safe and secure. speech recognition solution, Dragon Medical “This is why we are getting behind One, which accurately translates the Microsoft’s Responsible AI Standards which voices of doctors, nurses and allied health guide the development of AI through every professionals into detailed clinical narratives stage of its process and implementation. We 108

November 2023

want to ensure that patients and clinicians are at the forefront of this new technology but still feel as though their privacy is protected and their safety is prioritised.”

Another example of healthcare innovation is 3D printing for prosthetics. Research from The Worldwide Health Organization suggests that 0.5% of the global population requires prostheses, but 95% do not have the access - which is where 3D printing can help. The Microsoft Accessibility Innovation offers support for those in low- and middleincome countries in the use of prosthetics

3D printing, to change the lives of many.

The adoption and use of AI is already transforming the delivery of services and treatment across the healthcare sector. Over the next 12 months, Wallace predicts that this will continue to expand.

“Next-generation AI has the potential to revolutionise healthcare by empowering clinicians to focus on a more personalised patient-centred medicine, strengthening the human interaction in medicine, reducing costs, and easing the administrative and cognitive burdens providers face,” he says.

0.5%

The Worldwide Health Organization estimates that 0.5% of the world’s population needs prostheses healthcare-digital.com

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