The 20 Most Disruptive Healthcare Solution providers

www.insightscare.com November 2018

THE Most

D I SRU PT I V E

20 2018

HEALTHCARE SOLUTION PROVIDERS

Laurie Goodman CEO & Board Manager

CLEARLIGH BIOTECHNOLOGIES T

Developing a Next-Generation 3D Tissue Processing Platform by Leveraging CLARITY

Editor-in-Chief Pooja M. Bansal Senior Editor Anish Miller Managing Editor Ashwini S. Deshpande Executive Editor Aishwarya Contributing Nawandhar Editors Devasish, Sneha, Sayali Visual David King iser Art & Design Head Amol Kamble Poonam, Co-designer Belin Shweta Art & Design Paul Art & Picture Editor Karan Gaikwad Assistant Peter Collins

Business Development Manager

Marketing Manager Business Development

Marry D’Souza Ma rk

Williams Executive John, Amy, Bill, Sarah Sal Jacob Smile es Executives Technical Head Swapnil Patil

Assistant Technical Head Technical Consultants

David, Robert Alina Sege

Digital Marketing Manager Prashant Chevale Rahul, Gemson, Swati

Assistant Digital Marketing Manager

Eric Smith

S M E - S M O Executives Tanaji sales@insightscare.com Research Analyst

November, 2018 Circulation Manager Corporate Ofces:

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Editor’s Column

Kick-Starting Your Way in Healthcare

I

nnovation is the key to unlock the future in every sector. Same is the case with healthcare. The need of innovation in this segment is being fed by the numerous start-ups as well as the big giants in this sector, and rather disruptively. Yet, there place for more. With so many emerging trends and changes in healthcare, one question is that comes to the mind of any professional willing to establish a new business is- How can it be done in a better way?

In healthcare, success of a business is not determined by only the ordinary terms.

There are some industry-specific points that one has to consider.

To start with, one must know that it is not a consumer market. In most of the cases, patients are not the ones paying their own bills and selecting their own products. Here's where the doctors and insurance companies play a role and should be considered as well. Also, the investment needed in a healthcare start-up is long term. Even if the company manages to incur decent amount of money to initiate the business, there comes a need for second and third and more rounds of investments required. It is of significance to have a proper business model.

Another important factor to consider is the regulations that are to be abided in healthcare. Various regulations such as HIPAA, the Affordable Healthcare Act, and many more are unavoidable. The companies need to embrace these, in order to remain in the picture. Alongside, while thinking of disruptive technology, in healthcare there are already several giants and companies present that are working on the same. It is of benefit to learn to work with them, rather than against them. A lot of start-ups do not think sufficiently over this.

There are various other things to be thought of while establishing a new business in the healthcare space. An idea is the path laid; to walk through it is the execution of that idea; and to end up successfully, requires a lot more than just idea and execution.

So, with the right ingredients, one can embark on this path and disrupt!

Aishwarya Nawandhar Editor

08 ClearLight Biotechnologies Developing a Next-Generation 3D Tissue Processing Platform

by Leveraging CLARITY - Cover Story

20 Behavioral Health Works Restoring Hope for Families Facing Autism with Premium Service Delivery

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Clearsense

Genpharm

Driving Innovations to Bring an End to the Era of Disconnected Data

A Foremost Pharmaceutical Organization Offering Tailormade and Comprehensive Solutions

C ON TEN TS

CXO

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40

Exclusive

Expert’s View

Proteins are Better Biomarkers than Genes

Why is it important for healthcare providers to move towards patient- personalised services?

24

Articles

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Science Scoop

Never Miss a Dose Medication Apps

HIV Awareness Month HIV Still an Impending Threat to Mankind

Editor’s Insight

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30 Phronetik Unmasking Genetics to Improve Health

Telemedicine A Revolutionary Step in Healthcare

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46

Sunny Days In-Home Care

The TeleDentists

Re-shaping the Healthcare Landscape with In-Home Care

Delivering Top-notch Dentistry Services at Your Doorstep in a Cost-effective Way

MOST

DISRUPTIVE HEALTHCARE SOLUTION PROVIDERS 2018

Innovators Disrupting the Healthcare Industry

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he term “Disruptive Innovation” was first coined by a Harvard Professor, Clayton M. Christensen. Today, it is a word widely heard and spoken across the entire business landscape. According to Clayton, it is a circumstance in which an innovation starts reshaping an industry or a market by making it convenient, accessible, and affordable. The process initiates in a niche area that may be inconsequential to the whole simpler, market, but eventually ends up transforming the entire industry.

Healthcare is one of the spheres that highly need disruptive innovation. With the numerous new technologies launched, the opportunity for this is greater than it has ever been. It is expected that in the future, with disruptive innovation, patient care will be provided at reduced costs and improved quality.

With an idea to acknowledge the fast-growing companies, contributing extraordinarily to the revolution of disruption in healthcare, we bring to you the special edition of “The 20 Most Disruptive Healthcare Solution Providers 2018”.

Featured on its “Cover” is ClearLight Biotechnologies. It is harnessing next generation technologies to revolutionize the diagnostic, prognostic, and predictive treatment of disease.

Apart from this insightful cover story, we have also enlisted the leading companies transforming the healthcare landscape. This list includes Behavioral Health Works, a company focused on improving autism and related-disorder treatment; Clearsense, which is solving all the fundamental problems of data in healthcare; Genpharm, offering comprehensive solutions to the pharmaceutical companies; Phronetik, answering the unanswered questions of healthcare and advancing precision medicine; Sunny Days In-home Care, providing best-in-class and affordable inhome care services; The Teledentists that has enabled top-notch dental care anytime, anywhere; American Telepsychiatrists; Avera eCARE; Bikham Information Technology; Cydar Ltd; Direct Radiology; KPMG LLP; LiveProcess; Livio Health Group; Medivizor; NaphCare, Inc.; Rethink; Singapore O&G Ltd; and Zilico.

In addition to this, we have also featured two interesting articles from the industry experts Stephen Critchlow and Steven Pelech. To further engage your thoughts, we have incorporated a few gripping write-ups from our inhouse editors.

Flip through the pages and enjoy a good read!

MOST

DISRUPTIVE HEALTHCARE SOLUTION PROVIDERS 2018

ClearLIGH T BIOTECHNOLOGIES

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We are developing novel, next on Devel oping a aNext-Generati technology platfam fa generation 3D Tissueand Processi ng Platform by Leveraging visualizing tissue in processing CLARITY 3D

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Cover Stay

Laurie Goodman, Ph.D. CEO & Board Manager

H

ealthcare presents a paradox when it comes to innovation.

Although many of the highly innovative discoveries come at a very swift pace, ideas that can transform healthcare occur gradually, over a prolonged period of time. These gradual transformations are also known as ‘Disruptive Innovations’. In this, the existing methods or traditions are improved to increase the quality of care and simultaneously make it affordable by leveraging the existing or up and coming technologies. This allows the whole population to significantly seek the benefits of various healthcare technologies and thereby promoting population health. Looking at the scenario of the health space today, disruptive innovation in healthcare is a significant revolution that the world needs.

A small Biotechnology startup, ClearLight Biotechnologies, LLC, is leading the revolution of a positively disruptive innovation in healthcare.

Formerly known

ClearLight is an early stage company, focused on developing automated instrumentation and associated reagents to simplify and expedite non-destructive 3-Dimensional (3D) tissue analysis to facilitate preclinical and clinical research applications. It is creating a platform that will enable an end-to-end solution for 3D analysis of preclinical and clinical models of disease. It will consist of an automated multi-sample and individualized 3D tissue processor paired with optimized biomarker panels as well as multi-sample imaging and custom 3D image analysis software.

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as Clearlight Diagnostics, LLC, it was founded in 2014 by Karl Deisseroth, MD, PhD, the inventor of CLARITY, Optogenetics, and STARmap technologies and D.H. Chen, Professor of Bioengineering and Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University as well as the Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

At ClearLight, we are focused on improving the future of predictive treatmen t

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The current focus of the company is in the area of oncology prognostic and predictive applications. In this, it emphasizes on predictive biomarker applications for immune-oncology T-cell based drugs as well as standard of care (SOC) biomarkers. Neuroscience is another area of interest for ClearLight Biotechnologies. In neuroscience, it emphasizes on the models of Alzheimer’s disease.

However, the technology could be easily applied to any biological area that relies on 2D thin-section analysis of a tissue.

She has worked in broad senior level roles encompassing research and development as well as clinical and medical affairs. Prior to joining ClearLight, Dr. Goodman held the position of Senior Director of Scientific and Medical Affairs for Biodesix, an innovator of blood-based cancer diagnostics. She was instrumental in building and leading the company’s first scientific and medical affairs team, as well as initiating key academic collaborations in the areas of lung and breast cancer. Her other senior level roles include directing the analytic team involved in the CLIA validation and commercialization of Monogram Biosciences’ first oncology diagnostic product, HERmark®.

The Visionary Leader

The Problem in the Already Existing Techniques

Laurie Goodman, Ph.D. is the current CEO and Board Manager of ClearLight Biotechnologies and previously served as the Chief Scientific Officer since 2015 before assuming her new role. Dr. Goodman is a seasoned professional with more than 25 years of experience in innovative technology development, clinical cancer diagnostics, and translational cancer research within the biotechnology industry. She holds a BS degree in Biology with a minor in Chemistry from Arizona State University and a PhD in Cell and Molecular Biology from University of California Berkeley. Following a postdoctoral fellowship at Genentech, she began her career at Lynx Therapeutics (currently Illumina) where she initiated and developed a breast cancer scientific program to validate the company’s next generation sequencing platform. Dr. Goodman is also an author on several key publications and patents related to analytic and clinical cancer biomarkers.

Current gold standard techniques, for the analysis of diseased and normal tissues are outdated and around a century old. It relies on the analysis of 2D thin-section formalin fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) tissue techniques. The spatial analysis of a potentially heterogeneous tissue microenvironment can be highly limited by such techniques, as can the analysis of the tissue morphology.

Furthermore, 2D analysis is destructive, slide-based, variable and highly manual, and does not represent the entire biology. Mathematically speaking, a single 5-micron tissue section from a 2 cm3 breast carcinoma is exactly the same as the ratio of a single Manhattan block to all of Manhattan (adapted from a personal communication with Dr. Geoffrey Baird MD PhD). It is not representative of the more comprehensive biology of that tumor and therefore may hinder successful treatment outcomes for patients.

Focus Areas

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Revolutionizing thetreatment of cancer is our goal

biomarker information. Importantly, the technology enables the storage of samples indefinitely for future analysis and the microscopic imaging capabilities including confocal, light sheet, and SPIM. The workflow of this platform is very simple and includes: 

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 

 ClearLight’s Ingenious Solution ClearLight is developing a next generation instrument, reagent and software platform for volumetric tissue processing and 3D image analysis. It is developing this solution by leveraging the revolutionary technology called CLARITY, which is an acronym for Clear Lipid-exchanged Acrylamide-hybridized Rigid Imaging/Immunostaining/Insitu hybridization-compatible Tissue-hYdrogel.



Embedding the tissue in a hydrogel matrix solution; Removal of light scattering lipids that impede the ability to image deeply within a tissue; Multiplexed interrogation with directly or indirectly fluorescently labeled antibodies or nucleic acids to identify key structural and microenvironment biomarkers and refractive index matching; Microscopic imaging of the tissues, using long working distance objectives and either confocal, light sheet, or SPIM; 3D image analysis using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning techniques.

The development program of the company is a combination of external software and hardware engineering contractors, as well as strategic academic and business partnerships.

Team ClearLight

“CLARITY is a novel approach that is innovative in both function and utility, and has been applied broadly to the field of neurobiology, primarily as a qualitative tool,” says Dr. Goodman. The company believes in the technology as it enables the formation of a hydrogel matrix (HM) by crosslinking biological molecules to a 3D network of hydrophilic polymers, followed by lipid removal to generate a transparent and structurally intact tissue. This tissue retains its original structural features, can be labeled with macromolecules, and imaged without destruction of the tissue morphology.

The internal team of ClearLight is comprised of a Director of Operations, two Directors of Research and Development, a Head of Lab Operations along with the CEO. In order to keep costs to a minimum, the company operates primarily with an extensive external network support that handle human resources, IT, accounting & taxes, engineering, animal facility CRO, marketing/website support, and legal works (corporate and IP). It also has key academic collaborations in the area of oncology and neuroscience.

Another advantage of the CLARITY technology, is that it is compatible with previously frozen, fresh, formalin-fixed, and FFPE research and clinical human or rodent tissue. It is non-destructive, and therefore fewer samples are required, thus allowing recapitulation of spatial heterogeneity without laborious sectioning and registering of samples. It is compatible with standard nucleic acid and antibody interrogation techniques. This technique also allows for multiple interrogations of a single sample to increase 3D

The mission of ClearLight is to revolutionize the diagnostic, prognostic, and predictive treatment of disease by enabling next generation technologies for nondestructively and digitally analyzing diseased and normal tissues in 3D. It predicts a similar future of this industry as to that of the adoption of next generation sequencing (NGS) into clinical decision making that took more than 20 years and has now become a billion-dollar industry.

Dr. Goodman says, “We predict a similar steady trajectory with

Determined to Revolutionize the Future of Medicine

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We aim to deliver an unprecedented

way to visualize and quantify 3D relationships within the tissue microenvironmen t

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3D processing and imaging of diseased tissue being adopted initially into the research use only (RUO) market and eventually entering the clinical market as adoption increases and clinical utility is established.”

Future Business Plans Reorganization of leadership in recent months, has resulted in changes to several aspects of the company, including a name change to more accurately portray the revised business model of the company and future potential commercialization plan. By the fourth quarter of 2019 or first quarter of 2020, the company will be launching a Research Use Only (RUO) in-house service model along with limited beta platform testing in the field, for 3-4 academic sites. The in-house custom service model will be offered to academic and pharmaceutical customers in any field, like preclinical, clinical drug development, exploratory inclusion in clinical trials; as a means to grow a profitable business over the next five years. These Beta platform studies will allow the company to validate the system and facilitate the generation of key clinical utility data, informing about its future potential.

Following long term adoption of the RUO product by pharma, academics, and CROs, ClearLight has plans to enter the Laboratory-Derived Testing Clinical Market or a Potential FDA-cleared platform/companion diagnostic with potential partners, although the plans for this have not been established at this time. The strategy of the company is to first establish the RUO and potential clinical utility and develop the market for the technology. It foresees this timeline for FDA approval and clinical utility to be similar to NGS technology market adoption.

“With any new disruptive and revolutionary technique, adoption takes time and patience but the rewards are extensive for a company like ClearLight Biotechnologies since it holds exclusive intellectual property rights to develop the CLARITY technology for diagnostic, prognostic, and predictive future clinical applications,” asserts the CEO.

MOST

DISRUPTIVE HEALTHCARE SOLUTION PROVIDERS 2018

Company Name American Telepsychiatrists atpsnetwork.com

Management John Schaeffer CEO

Brief American Telepsychiatrists work exclusively through Telepsychiatry and TeleMental Health.

Avera eCARE averaecare.org

Deanna Larson CEO

Avera eCARE is helping bring advanced medicine to the community so more patients can be treated in a place.

Behavioral Health Works bhwcares.com

Rob Douk Founder, Chaiman & CEO

Behavioral Health Works is a leading provider of treatment for individuals with autism and related disorders.

Bikham Information Technology bikham.com

Sonia Dhawan CEO

Bikham Information Technology is a Knowledge Process Management company, initiated in 2005.

ClearLight Biotechnologies, LLC clearlightbiotechnologies .com

Laurie Goodman CEO & Board Manager

ClearLight is focused on developing automated instrumentation and associated reagents to simplify and expedite non-destructive 3D tissue analysis to facilitate preclinical and clinical research applications.

Clearsense clearsense.com

Charles Boicey Co-founder & CIO

Clearsense is a technology-based company that provides a platform to solve the fundamental problem of data in healthcare.

Cydar Ltd cydarmedical.com

Tom Carrell CEO

Cydar has developed computer vision software that produces real-time automated 3D overlays during X-ray guided procedures.

Direct Radiology directradiology.co m

John Arias MD

Direct Radiology is a physician-owned and operated teleradiology practice.

Genpharm Inc. genpharmservices.com

Karim Smaira & Kamel Ghammachi Founders & MP

Genpharm provides fast-track Market Access to specialty pharmaceutical companies looking to expand into the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

KPMG LLP home.kpmg.com

Lynne Doughtie CEO

KPMG is a global network of independent member firms offering audit, tax, and advisory services.

MOST

DISRUPTIVE HEALTHCARE SOLUTION PROVIDERS 2018

Company Name

Management

Brief

LiveProcess liveprocess.com

Terry Zysk CEO

LiveProcess mobile solutions enable real-time healthcare coordination and efficient emergency response.

Livio Health Group liviohealth.com

Mike Nathan CEO & Founder

Livio delivers the care patients need face to face while building a relationship to help them get around obstacles that stand in their way.

Tal Givoly CEO

Medivizor aims to improve the lives of people with serious or chronic medical conditions and of those who care for them.

NaphCare, Inc. naphcare.com

Jim McLane CEO

NaphCare is dedicated to implementing cost-effective, quality services according to our clients’ needs.

Phronetik phronetik.com

Tania Martin-Mercado President & CEO

Phronetik offers competencies in biotechnology, bioinformatics, data science, artificial intelligence and information systems to advance precision medicine and positively impact scientific research.

Rethink rethinkfirst.com

Daniel Etra CEO

Rethink is a global health technology company providing cloud-based treatment tools, training and clinical supports for individuals with developmental disabilities and their caregivers.

Singapore O&G Ltd sog.com.sg

Ivan Lau CEO

Singapore O&G Ltd are a leading group of specialist medical practitioners dedicated to women’s & children’s health and wellness.

David Ellenwood Founder

Sunny Days In-Home Care provides high quality, clientcentered, and affordable in-home care service.

The TeleDentists theteledentists.com

Maria Kunstadter & Michael Sigler, Co-founders

The TeleDentists has engineered a cutting-edge cloud-based SaaS service that enables hospitals and urgent care facilities access to a dental specialist.

Zilico zilico.co.uk

Sameer Kothari Chief Executive Director

Zilico is developing the next generation of diagnostic devices that remove subjectivity, increase accuracy, and deliver results in real-time.

Medivizor Medivizor.co m

Sunny Days In-Home Care sunnydaysinhomecar e.com

T

Proteins are Better Biomarkers than Genes

he costs of sequencing the order of nucleotide bases in the DNA strands found in chromosomes have plummeted by a million-fold over the last 25 years.

The entire sequence of 2.9 billion nucleotide base-pairs in a single human genome can now be determined for less than $1000. Complete genomes of hundreds of thousands of people are expected to be sequenced over the next decade.

While the acquisition of such genomic knowledge was health careforecasted have beentodisappointing.

Excluding cancer, originally herald better diagnostics and it has becometreatments, apparent that about 10% of the of therapeutic theonly actual deliverables forcases improved the most common diseases that afflict our population have a genetic basis that can be ascribed to hereditary mutations in the DNA sequences of specific genes.

Over 100 million single nucleotide variants appear to exist in the human population, and perfectly healthy people appear to commonly harbour about 100 or so serious disease-associated mutations without any apparent manifestations of these particular diseases. Studies, with over 50,000 genetically identical twins, have shown no increased risks for the 24 most common diseases amongst the twins than for a twin with the general population.

Over 95% of the known 21,300 genes carried in the human genome serve as the blue-prints for the construction of all of the cellular proteins, known as the proteome. These proteins function like molecular robots to regulate and carry out all of the biochemical reactions needed to keep cells alive. Their programming for specific tasks is partly

hardwired into the structures of these proteins as dictated by their gene sequences. But, they are also tightly controlled by reversible modifications after they are initially manufactured, which are added on by regulatory proteins that operate within cellular intelligence systems.

While gene sequences can provide some clues as to the potential functions and interactions of proteins with each other and other molecules, this information is extremely limited. Even now, we do not have a real sense of what over a third of these diverse proteins do, and less than 20% of these proteins have received any real serious attention in research labs.

The disconnect between genetic information and the actual occurrence of disease is due to the high impact of environmental factors such as diet, life style and exposure to agents in the environment that can affect the proteome.

Proteomes are immensely complex and dynamic. For example, blood plasma may contain as many as 40,000 different protein products, and their individual concentrations can range over a trillion-fold. Consequently, tracking proteins offers much better insights into the occurrence of diseases than genetic profiling, and importantly the opportunity for more rational therapeutic intervention.

While about 21,300 genes encode proteins in the human genome, the actual number of distinct protein entities in the proteome may actually exceed several million, largely due to the range and degree of added modifications and other processing. More than 50 types of modifications have been |November 2018 |

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Exclusiv e ABOUT THE AUTHOR Dr. Steven Pelech is the Founder, President, and Chief Scientific Officer of Kinexus Bioinformatics Corporation, and concurrently a full professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of British Columbia. He was formerly founder and president of Kinetek the Pharmaceuticals. He has authored more than 230 scientific papers and created the SigNET on-line Knowledge-bank.

documented in proteins, with phosphorylation as the predominant reversible regulatory mechanism. Over 85% of the proteome is known to be phosphorylatable at over 250,000 sites, but the actual number of phosphosites appears to be closer to a million. The occurrence of these and other modifications in proteins represent a rich source of biomarkers that may correlate better with the development of pathologies.

Most sites of known protein modification were originally revealed by mass spectrometry (MS). However, apart from being very expensive, MS requires milligram amount of biological sample material and is finicky for reliable detection of desired target proteins. For example, out of some 3000 phosphosites in proteins that have been well documented to be functionally important in the scientific literature, about 22% have not been reported in any MS studies, whereas another 16% were documented in only one of thousands of MS analyses that had been performed.

Antibodies have been well proven to be reliable and effective probes for the detection and quantification of specific proteins for their present and modification states.

Over a million different antibodies against diverse proteinsare presently commercially available. Furthermore, the printing of antibodies as individual microdots on 19 |November 2018 |

Dr. Steven Pelech Founder, President & Chief Scientific Officer microscope slide-sized chips with densities exceeding 5000 spots per chip has paved the way for biomarker discovery that is easily translatable into the development of routine diagnostic tests. Biomarker antibodies can readily be re-deployed into other tried and true platforms such as immunoblotting, ELISA, and immunohistochemistry.

Problems with sample preparation, high background issues, and low sensitivity of detection initially hampered the widespread adoption of antibody microarrays. However, recent breakthroughs on all of these fronts have poised antibody microarrays to become the most versatile, reproducible, and cost-effective tools in the foreseeable future for biomarker discovery, using as little as 25 microgram amounts of protein samples from crude, unfractionated lysates from cells, tissues, and bio fluids. High content antibody microarrays can identify the most appropriate and robust panel of biomarkers. When used to probe lysate microarrays printed instead with hundreds of patient specimen samples on each slide, these biomarker antibodies can provide accurate, comprehensive and economical diagnoses for diseases and for the monitoring of the effectiveness of therapeutic treatments.

Behavioral Health Works Restoring Hope for Families Facing Autism with Premium Service Delivery

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utism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurological and developmental disorder that impacts the way a person socializes, behaves, or interacts with others.

Till date, there is no possible cure for autism. But some practices can help improve learning, social functioning, and quality of life for both children and adults with this condition. Behavioral Health Works (BHW) is a leading provider of treatment for individuals with autism and related disorders having offices across the United States.

The Philanthropist’s Story Dr. Rob Douk is the Founder, Chairman, and CEO of BHW. Fleeing death and seeking hope, Rob’s family escaped a Cambodian labor camp and migrated to America in the early 1980’s. Building their life from nothing, his parents taught him how to love hard and work hard through any situation. Today, these circumstances best define him.

Regarded as a thought leader in the behavioral health industry, Rob is a clinician turned social entrepreneur, executive coach, and ForbesBooks Featured Author. He is a

Dr.Rob Douk Founder, Chairman, & CEO

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The company helps individuals with autism and other developmental disabilities reach their potential by working collaboratively with families, schools, and relevant professionals. By focusing on ways in which people respond to their environment (behavior), it provides opportunities to learn in specific and observable ways, leading to a positive outcome (health). BHW renders superior personalized care and service delivery, maintaining a personal connection with each family and committing to the advancement of each and every client. It operates from a CARES philosophy with the focus on Compassion, Accountability, Research-based treatments, Effective and Efficient changes, and is consolidated with a family unit Systems-approach.

We strive to bring light into dark places of this world by delivering premium care and services

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serial entrepreneur, having built multiple successful enterprises, incorporating an emphasis on making measurable societal changes in each venture.

as social skills groups and counseling. The company provides a holistic customized program suited for every individual.

Rob married his college mate, Ami, and together they built the Hope Out Loud Foundation, an international nonprofit that helps communities around the world. Rob is known to coach from a principle of having “faith over fear” and he believes that “character” is the most important to hire for.

From certifying its therapists with RBT credentials to responding to the patients’referrals in less than 2 hours and retaining more than 99% of the clients, BHW strongly believes in delivering premium services. This is its biggest achievement and a testament to all its employees that deliver on this commitment, day in and day out. The company has graduated over 70% of its clients within two years and has a 0% client relapse rate.

BHW’s Prudent Approach BHW’s approach to treatment is naturalistic, using everyday family routines to foster generalization of skills and to promote independence right from the start. This approach is rooted in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) with emphasis on individualized programs, focusing on each person’s strengths and challenges. Its programs focus on increasing each client’s motivation to learn, making each session both fun and functional. It also considers all scientifically proven methods when tailoring each program to fit the unique needs of each client. The company’s treatment approach in each of BHW’s programs shares the common goal of teaching individuals the tools necessary to obtain a better quality of life and to lead a more independent life.

Continuously Improving with TQM Total Quality Management (TQM) is a philosophy and set of guiding principles that BHW adopts to focus on continuously improving the organization, its procedures, and the services that it provides the clients. TQM focuses on the needs of the client and on improving the quality of work and providing a finished product. It promotes continuous monitoring and improvement of company procedures in order to reduce inefficient or wasteful practices. It also involves the entire organization in the improvement of quality and also empowers employees at all levels.

The Three C’s of Work Environment

Patients’ Journey with BHW When with BHW, patients get more than a clinical team at their front door. They also get an administrative team to support them, behind the scenes, every step of the way.

BHW has a friendly and smart team at the back office, along with a caring and knowledgeable clinical team to work with patients using the best and the latest in clinical research. To keep everything together, the company has a user-friendly and robust proprietary technology platform that captures every BHW program to make what it does simply a cut above the rest. It has been servicing across multiple regions with one united team with a consolidated approach and one voice.

Services and Accomplishments BHW is a one-stop shop for premium autism service delivery. It offers ABA therapy for the entire life span, diagnostic clinics, speech and occupational therapy as well

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Collaboration: BHW prides itself on maintaining a fun, open-door working environment where collaboration is the cornerstone of its success.

Cause-driven: BHW and its employees embrace that there is more to a career than a title. What they do actually matters to them.

Celebration: Members of BHW, aka “BHWers”, support one another through celebrating their clients’ successes.

The employees are encouraged to stop by the main office to enjoy the staff lounge, take a break, and indulge in posting on or reading the client success board.

Speaking about the future, Rob asserts, “We would like to serve as many families in need as we are able to, while maintaining high quality service delivery for each family.”

Clearsense Driving Innovations to Bring an End to the Era of Disconnected Data

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The Novel Leader Charles Boicey is the Co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer at Clearsense who has expertise and experience in a variety of areas. In the medical field, he specializes in Trauma Critical Care Nursing. Charles ran the trauma unit at LA County USC medical center for about 15 years and then made a transition into Biomedical Information Systems as well as Biomedical Engineering. After that, he earned the degrees in Computer Science and Technology Management from Stevens Institute of Technology in

”

s there anything in common between finance and healthcare? Not much, but both of them are being positively disrupted by the technology. Disruptive innovation is leading the new era of advancement, and it is much needed. One of the major factors contributing to this innovation in healthcare is the use of data science. With the rise in the number of clinical documents produced every day and the sensitive nature of medical data, it is necessary to find a way to collect, organize, and process the huge amount of data for a more informed, better healthcare. One of the companies leading this revolution is Clearsense.

Based in Jacksonville, Florida, Clearsense is a technologybased company that provides a platform to solve the fundamental problem of data in healthcare. The company is an offshoot of Optimum Healthcare IT that has been around since 2012. Started as an analytics company, Clearsense, today, has become a technology driven organization that is re-imagining and simplifying data analytics to help healthcare organizations realize measurable value from their data.

Charles Boicey Co-founder & CIO

We are here to organize the chaos in healthcare

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Hoboken New Jersey and then brought that training back into healthcare. During his time at the University of California Irvine, he was the user of various social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. He was very fascinated with their technologies and was set to implement the same kind of ease in data management for healthcare. Working on this, he has innovated his way to the top and led Clearsense to its success today.

Tracing Back the Roadmap to Success Clearsense started small; they had just a couple of clients who were Charles’ partners at the University of California Irvine and Meharry Medical College. For Meharry Medical College, the company built a data science institute, and for the University of California Irvine, it developed a system for real-time monitoring of patients in high acuity area.

With this, Clearsense brought all the patients’ data together, which includes data from a clinical environment, laboratory systems, etc. in real time. This helped make the clinicians aware of the patients whose health would be slightly deteriorating so that there can be intervention before reaching any adverse conditions.

Additionally, the company has also brought in the legacy data systems and made it available for folks in health information systems. Another thing the company did create and provide a platform for its clients involved in mergers and acquisitions. It takes the data from the segment being acquired and brings it into Clearsense and sends it to the system doing the acquiring after adequate transformation of that data. Clearsense does this in a very short period of time, comparatively.

So, started with a few initial clients and have reached miles already, it plans to expand further.

What sets it Apart?

The technologies used by Clearsense have just started to creep in the healthcare market. Although the company has a couple of competitors that have started to bring these technologies in, Clearsense started long back and had already adapted to these technologies. Alongside, it has a

23 |November 2018 |

holistic team, which includes clinical professionals, data scientists, developers, etc. This has proved to be a great benefit for the company. Another one of its key differentiators is that the company has not just learned the technologies, but has helped develop them. This brings a huge advantage to the business as well as its clients.

Clearsense provides a full-blown data ecosystem and has made use of big data. This has helped it automate the large part of work processes for its clients. Also, the company allows the integration and synchronization of data in the database within days and not weeks, saving a lot of time and at affordable costa. It also has different governance around the data and provides adequate security.

Life at Clearsense The company fosters a free work environment. At Clearsense, every individual is accountable and has the freedom to be innovative and creative. The company encourages its employees to ask questions and seek help.

“It is very important in a tech company and it kind of goes back to you know, my clinical time when somebody new enters the clinical environment, the most important thing they could say is ‘I don’t know, I can’t figure this out,’and we come in and help them,” says Charles. The company also has a provision for the employees to work remotely.

There is also a culture of celebration in the organization.

What’s Ahead?

“We are very much in a growth trajectory. We are signing up more and more healthcare clients as we go,” says the CIO. This will allow its clients to collaborate with each other. The company has already started to get involved with Academia and wants to expand in it further. It is also getting inquiries from outside of healthcare. So, it will be potentially moving outside of healthcare as well, keeping healthcare at its nexus.

Science Scoop

Never

Miss a Dose:

Medication Apps

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obile phones, especially smartphones, are doing more than what they were intended to do.

Thanks to all the apps that developers around the world are busy making to simplify the lives. These mobile apps come in all shapes and sizes and do a myriad of things for smartphone users. While gaming, social media, and retail apps continue to rule the charts, health apps are surely catching up. With people becoming more health conscious than ever, these apps are also making their mark.

Good health is attributed to many factors. One needs to have a proper diet, exercise, routine checkups, and the likes. What most people tend to neglect intentionally or unintentionally is the medication routine. Medicines, be it a lifesaving drug or just a vitamin pill, is also essential for good health. Unfortunately, most people tend to forget taking their pills on time. Some blame it on their schedule, some don’t find the time, some are too busy to remember, and some, like the elderly, just forget to take it. According

to a report published in Annals of Internal Medicine, September 2012, America loses $100 – $289 billion in a year due to medication non-adherence. The situation is graver in case of chronic illnesses. Treatment of such disease requires long-term use of medicines. But patients are seen not adhering to it due to various reasons. A study from Mayo Clinic states “approximately 50% of patients do not take their medications as prescribed.” This amounts to not only monetary loss but also health issues. Some patients end up in emergency rooms because they did take medicines on time. Even small issues turn into serious ones if not treated properly. Doctors have long been advising people to take their medicines as prescribed. But the results just don’t match up.

Keeping a digital eye on health Mobile apps are now being used to fight this underrated health concern. A huge population of these patients uses smartphones. Mobile apps are now being recommended by |November 2018 |

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doctors and other patients alike to tackle this menace.

These apps are easy to use, mostly free, and are designed to perform a lot of things for the patients. These apps have a number of features to assist patients with drug adherence.

The process is simple and starts with the patient uploading their prescription or filling in the drugs that they are on.

They can then customize alarms, set up emergency numbers, put a tracker, and other such features. Some apps even use games to help patients understand the importance of taking medication on time.

Apps full of features Different apps offer different features and sometimes address only a particular concern. Some apps are free of cost while some are premium and offer muchadvanced features. But most apps do the following: Set up reminders -- Easiest way to get your dose on time is to set up alarms. The apps set off alarms at a definitive time and some even light up the screen with particular colors to remind the patients of their pending dose. Some even autoadjust to the time zones, so that the patients do not mess up their dosage when traveling to different parts of the world.

Send messages to caregiver -- Some apps send messages to the patient’s caregiver (mostly family member) and doctor when they miss a dose. They can then remind the patient to take their medicine.

Manage family health -- Some apps can help patients deal with multiple profiles. This allows one member track the medicine habits of the entire family.

Drug Interaction – Few apps have the feature to let patients know about drug interactions i.e. if any two or more of

one’s medicines can react and cause issues to his/her wellbeing. This feature can really help if one takes over-thecounter drugs with prescribed medicine.

Medical Jargons – Mobile apps can let patients understand medical terms too. Terms like CR (Controlled Release) printed on the medicine can often be confusing for patients. These apps help them crack such codes.

Refill reminders – These mobile apps remind patients in advance when they are about to run out of their prescribed medicines.

Contacting Pharmacy -- A few apps let patients upload their prescription with the pharmacy and get their medicines door-step delivered when they need it. They even allow the pharmacy to cross-check with the patient’s doctor to make sure that the prescribed medicines need to be continued.

Generic Report – Some medicine mobile apps also let patients record their blood pressure, sugar levels and send them to their doctors at a fixed time interval (say once in a month).

These mobile apps are really proving to be a boon especially for the elderly and those suffering from chronic illnesses or illnesses like Parkinson where the patient genuinely forgets to take the pills. Timely reminders, interactive interface, easy-to-use and manage features, sounds and lights, all make them suitable for patients across the world. Some paid and advanced apps even let patients take a video consultation with their doctors. The world is getting smarter and better. The world of medicine apps is slowly recognizing the opportunity and the what this this world healthier place! Such apps are market cana be in the future. surely going - Sneha Sinhato make |November 2018 |26

Genpharm A Foremost Pharmaceutical Organization Offering Tailor-made and Comprehensive Solutions enpharm is a leading regional pharmaceutical

G

market access and marketing company focused mainly on niche therapeutics and diagnostics for rare genetic diseases. The company has partnered with multinational companies that have evidence-based and innovative drugs looking to expand into the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The company operates through an experienced and dedicated team of medical science liaisons and key account managers. The company’s partnerships are based on long-term regional commercial agreements or in-licensing deals under the Genpharm brand.

Outshining with its Diverse Services Genpharm offers its expertise to achieve fast market access for companies looking to expand into the Middle East region. Being the exclusive partner for pharmaceutical organizations, it offers every required service to its clients at the highest standards which include regulatory, medical and pharmacovigilance support, quality and logistics, market access (pricing and reimbursement). It also dedicates field staff for them to work closely with the key stakeholders on disease awareness, patient support programs, CME events, scientific meetings, advisory boards and expert panels.

Karim Smaira Founder & MP

”

Genpharm was established by the two influential Founders & Managing Partners, Karim Smaira and Kamel Ghammachi, whose leadership has been a consistent presence in the MENA pharmaceutical sector for over forty years. They both have successfully occupied several industry roles and managed large multinational pharmaceutical organizations in both regional and international functions.

Kamel Ghammachi Founder & MP

Our mission is to provide healthcare organizations with innovative therapeutic solutions in niche and rare genetic disease areas, market access strategies commercial and sustainable solutions

”

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Genpharm also offers consultancy services on market entry strategies for companies interested to set up a regional office or that simply want to understand the commercial potential of their portfolio and the best strategies to approach the Middle East market with.

Prominent Landmarks in Genpharm’s Journey Genpharm was a simple entrepreneurial idea and a vision shared by the two founders that saw the light in 2012.

Seeing a significant gap in the rare disease space in the Middle East, possessing the regional pharmaceutical expertise and a wide global network, they decided to turn this into an opportunity. With every new initiative, there are risks and many “nay-sayers”. This has been a constant motivation to set ambitious objectives and surpass them.

Genpharm was born out of the idea to become a market access provider for small pharmaceutical as well as biotech organizations with innovative products. The industry reputation of its experienced management, the strong brand identity acquired and the high quality of the work performed, attracted large leading corporations such as GSK, Sanofi and Novartis which embodied a validation for its business model and standards as well.

Genpharm’s work has been recognized by working references from its partners and also through several business and industry awards such as the “Best Pharmaceutical Market Access Company” and the “Best Pharmaceutical Marketing and Consultancy Company” in 2016 and 2017 by the MEA business awards.

Creating Eminence with its Core Values and Vivid Visualization Genpharm believes that its core values have been its real driving force.  Patient Care: It is focused on rare diseases, caring for the patient and their families are central to what we do.

This is a key motivator that is used in our communication and our recruitment. We are usually the only hope that these patients have for a better life. This is the overarching motivation and the drive behind what Genpharm stands for.  Innovation: Although, the product innovation comes from its partners, Genpharm innovates in the market

29 |November 2018 |

solutions that it offers, particularly in the areas of market access, disease awareness, and diagnosis.  Accountability: The company wishes its employees to be responsible and accountable for their actions. It believes that the organizational culture of ownership and entrepreneurial spirit is extremely difficult to maintain if employees don’t feel accountable.  Integrity: Ethical standards and honesty are core values.

Genpharm stays transparent internally and with its external stakeholders.  Teamwork: Joining experiences, skills and sharing information helps them achieve more together as a group than lone individual.

Elevating Environment at Genpharm Being a start-up business, Genpharm is fully focused on maintaining an interactive work environment and offers its employees learning on the job through hands-on experience. Moreover, it tends to look internally for promotions which are very motivating. Today, its mid-level management is composed exclusively of internal talents.

Genpharm maintains a very open environment for discussion and feedback with management practicing an open-door policy. The Management team likes to emphasize the fact that, “If you want to lead people, lead them from behind”. This has led to several internal promotions, particularly for those that believe that “leadership is what you do when your manager is not around”.

Future Potential Genpharm is all set to continue its growth trajectory with several new collaborations, capitalizing on its expertise and recent track record. The company believes that the current research and technological breakthroughs will certainly lead to new advancements in disease management and even to curative therapies creating opportunities for its business development appetite.

“We are growing organically at an average of 23% per year. We see no reason why we cannot continue this aggressive growth and complete our current expansion plans. We believe we have an unlimited potential for profitable growth”, asserts the duo confidently.

Phronetik Unmasking Genetics to Improve Health

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easoning, the power to question and search answers makes human beings different from other mammals. As a race, we have always been autodidacts and found solace in learning, growing and teaching. Why and how has it always been important and has invoked us to find answers to the unknown? The reason for this inquisitiveness ranges from personal to social, but what is important is the fact that the journey to the truth has mostly ended in benefitting the society.

A biotechnology company, Phronetik advances precision medicine by leveraging OMICS data, artificial intelligence and informatics to improve diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring. It also supports translational research with particular interest in studies that encompass precision medicine. Over years the company has been trying to answer the questions with the science behind genetic predisposition followed by epigenetic studies and population health research. The diagnosis and interpretation of data and calculation to determine the diseases has become the central focus of the company.

Never say Never Quitting is unacceptable for Tania Martin-Mercado, President & CEO, Phronetik, and the idea reverberates

”

It was with this curiosity and a quest for answers to unanswered questions that Phronetik was founded. What triggered the quest was a simple question, “How and why does one get a disease without any genetic predisposition, no family history or adverse lifestyle behaviors?” Phronetik was started to try and find answer these and other questions. The company’s name is an amalgamation of two Greek words: phronesis (wisdom) and kinetic (to move) which justifies its quest to leverage technology and innovation to improve health care, as they move forward with wisdom.

Tania M President & CEO

We aim to provide answers where there were previously none

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throughout the company, its employees and its workings.

She started the company in 2013 with modest beginnings, no outside venture capital or influx of seed money and has toiled hard to bring it where it stands today. When asked what keeps her going, she answered, “I have questioned my sanity from time to time. Then I remember why I’m doing this. Maybe, though the efforts of the Phronetik team, its University partners and industry collaborators, we help a family predict and prevent the onset of disease.” She continues to voice her thoughts, “We prevent a death. We improve quality of care at a practice and quality of life for a patient. We provide answers where there were previously none. I believe in what we are doing wholeheartedly.”

Spearheaded by its leader and aptly supported by its staff, Phronetik has been designing and re-designing its offerings and focus, starting with clinical trial services and support and broadening to sequencing and genetic services. It now partners with a number of CAP/CLIA accredited laboratories where it offers the services of genomic testing such as diagnostic testing, predictive genetic tests, pharmacogenomics, and carrier testing. This OMICS data is then processed to offer next-generation sequencing services and data analysis. It also offers technical support to the solutions. These professional services include strategic planning, technology roadmaps, HIPAA risk, security assessments and more. Its managed services, SupportDR™, is an IT offering perfect for providing technical support for clinical trials, private practices and other health care organizations. Specific SupportDR™ services include public portals, asset and inventory management, system monitoring and maintenance, 24x7x365 support, remote end-user support and more.

The company is committed to its mission to provide sustainable, innovative, transformative and disruptive technologies and services to support clinical trials, translational research, and patient-driven outcomes. It offers a holistic approach to translational and clinical research.

The company being anti-silo believes in informational transparency and necessary (compliant) data exchange to achieve its goals of advanced scientific discovery, reproducible studies with data to back them up and accurate, accessible data for clinicians to improve healthcare delivery. Phronetik credits its power to remain flexible and adaptable to the needs of the clients as the key to its towering stature over competitors. It helps in offernig a wide array of services to support the client’s initiatives.

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Phronetik’s effort, as it strides along the path to realizing its values of “Good science, good data, excellence in innovation, and integrity in all we do”, has received recognition and accolades in many leading magazines.

Phronetik serves the government, life science, hospitals, ambulatory/private practices, pharmaceutical, non-profit, and community-based organizations.

The company values its employees like its customers and doesn’t hesitate in going that extra mile to keep them motivated, innovative and in love with their work. With the exception of lab work, employees are allowed to work from home, providing Phronetik access to the best talent in data science and biotech regardless of geographical location.

Employee development is highly encouraged and they are given an environment where they have the freedom to be creative and think outside the box.

Preparing Today, for a Brighter Tomorrow The healthcare and biotechnology landscape is constantly changing, and Phronetik’s journey continues. It opines this journey as an opportunity and is the passion that the company thrives on. It entails the discovery of ways it can be a part of improving health care while contributing to the larger body of scientific knowledge. It keeps an eye on the other developments happening worldwide, from new vaccines to new human cell structures. Innovations which help population and individual patients induce a sense of pride and self-worth in them for being a part of this industry. The management and employees keep up with trends by reading publications like Science Daily and Gene, Engineering & Biotechnology News. The Phronetik team also stays in touch with groups and organizations in the life science and biotechnology space news coming from individual practices, hospitals, ambulatory centers, and mental health practices to spark ideas to work upon.

Phronetik aims at having its own CAP/CLIA accredited biotechnology laboratory in the near future. That is a very important goal. Releasing an artificial intelligence engine for point-of-care diagnostics is also on the charts. The company strives to learn from failure and move ahead with double the zeal. Phronetik will continue to grow and adapt to the ever-changing science, technology, and healthcare space.

HIV Awareness Month

HI V

STILL AN IMPENDING THREAT TO MANKIND

HIV research has come a long way since the disease was discovered in the 1980's.

Antiretroviral therapy was a major milestone that has changed the lives of millions, but the goal now is to nd an HIV cure before 2020. Over the past several decades, researchers have learned a lot about the human immunodeciency virus (HIV) and the disease it causes, acquired immunodeciency syndrome (AIDS).

|November 2018 |34

01

STOPPING THE REPLICATION OF HIV Last year in a clinical trial scientists showed that this approach has the potential to become a functional cure for HIV. The key to its potential is that it can target the reservoir of HIV viruses that “hide” inactive within our cells. Current therapies suppress the virus in circulation by inhibiting the formation of new viruses, but they don't touch the reservoir. Once you stop, the virus comes back in 10-14 days. ABX464 is the rst drug candidate ever shown to reduce the HIV reservoir. The drug, called ABX464, binds to a specic sequence in the RNA of the virus, inhibiting its replication.

02 SHOCK AND KILL Another approach that is becoming popular in the ght against HIV also goes after the hidden HIV reservoir. The “shock and kill” or “kick and kill” approach uses latency- reversing agents (LRAs) that activate or “kick” the latent HIV reservoir, making it possible for standard antiretroviral therapy to “kill” these viruses. In 2016, a group of UK universities reported promising results from one patient treated with this approach. A similar strategy using vaccine is currently being tested. One stimulates the production of antibodies that block the replication of HIV, while the other attacks the reservoir.

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GENE THERAPY

03

IMMUNOTHERAPY

It is estimated that about 1 % of the people in the world are naturally immune to HIV. The reason is a genetic mutation on the gene that encodes CCR5, a protein on the surface of immune cells that the HIV virus uses to enter and infect them. People with this mutation are missing part of the CCR5 protein, making it impossible for HIV to bind to it. Using gene therapy, it would, in theory, be possible to edit our DNA and introduce this mutation to stop HIV. In the future, gene therapy for HIV could be done with CRISPR, a gene editing tool that is much easier and faster to make. Its potential in HIV has already been shown in vitro, and soon HIV could become of the rst diseases to be cured with CRISPR.

04

What makes HIV so dangerous is that it attacks the immune system, leaving people unprotected against infections. But what if we could supercharge immune cells to ght back?

That's the reasoning behind immunotherapies.

Researchers reported last year that thanks to an immunotherapy that primes the immune system against the virus, 7 out of 15 patients were cured. Their approach combines a drug to activate the hidden HIV reservoir with a vaccine that can induce an immune response thousands of times stronger than usual.

WHEN WILL WE HAVE AN HIV CURE? Although there are several approaches that could eventually bring a functional HIV cure, there are still some challenges ahead. One of the biggest concerns around any HIV treatments is the virus’ ability to quickly mutate and develop resistance, and for many of these new approaches there is still no data on whether the virus will be able to become resistant.

So far, none of these functional cures have reached late-stage clinical testing, meaning it doesn’t seem likely that we will meet the goal of having an HIV cure by 2020.

- Sayali Rane |November 2018 |36

Sunny Days In-Home Care Re-shaping the Healthcare Landscape with In-Home Care

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riginated from the founder’s desire to provide quality care for people, Sunny Days In-Home Care is committed to providing high quality, client-centric, and affordable in-home care services to its clients. It assists them in leading dignified and independent lives in the comfort and safety of their own homes. The company sees that its clients’ individual needs are carefully assessed, understood, and met through the selective assignment of qualified, trustworthy, and a compassionate personnel.

The company desires to provide the individuals, with disabilities and seniors, an atmosphere in their homes that is respectful, caring, and compassionate, so that they can live their lives to the fullest.

The Benevolent Kingpin David has worked as a sales professional most of his life.

His experience has been in marketing for several home healthcare agencies. Addressing the same, he asserts, “I witnessed first-hand companies providing sub-par athome care, who were in the business just to make a

”

Sunny Days began in a small in-home office with the Founder, David Ellenwood, controlling all operations.

Shortly after, David met with clients, developed care plans, and hired caregivers, while his wife helped assist with building the business structure. Later, a field manager was hired to manage care and client shift coverage. After about one year into the business, a new office space was rented, office staff was hired, and additional field management was brought to the team.

Today, Sunny Days is headquartered at Canonsburg, PA, and operated by an office staff of about ten along with ten Regional Field Managers.

David Ellenwood Founder

We are committed to provide enriched and compassionate in-home care services

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buck.” For David, this became increasingly frustrating because he believed people deserved good care first.

This led to the doors of Sunny Days In-Home Care opening in February 2011.

David himself was the very first caregiver. He worked around the clock caring for clients while learning their needs. During this time he worked at keeping all other functions of the new business running smoothly. He was, essentially, a one-man band for the first few months.

Later, his wife, Evelyn, quit her full-time job and joined him. Together they continue to make a great team while providing elite healthcare solutions for patrons seeking home care services.

Distinctive Products and Services Sunny Days provides professional, affordable, and caring in-home living assistance for seniors in the Pittsburgh area and surrounding regions. Its Pittsburgh home care offers companionship, light housekeeping, medication reminders, personal care, transfers, and a lot more. The company aspires to provide the highest level of care in every home by making the seniors the most important part of what it does. At Sunny Days, local field managers develop relationships with the clients and caregivers and strategic training is provided with an aim to equip caregivers as much as possible.

The company currently cares for 234 clients, in about 10,000 care hours, weekly across western Pennsylvania.

Clients are locally managed by Field Managers, who meet with the client, develop a care plan, and strategically match them with a caregiver to make sure that their needs are met. Client care is monitored monthly by a monthly client visit by the Field Manager and care is regularly assessed through an online portal to make sure tasks are completed at each visit.

Noteworthy Accomplishments Sunny Days In-Home Care has been an Inc. 5000 recipient for two years, 2017 and 2018. This list represents some of the fastest growing companies in the nation, and the company was honored to be included.

Additionally, Sunny Days is recognized by the BBB. In 2016, David and Evelyn Ellenwood were nominated for 39 |November 2018 |

EY Entrepreneur of the Year. Sunny Days has also received local recognition for participation in local events and assisting with the community.

The Values Abided  Client care is the top priority  Sunny Days is always accessible and available  Commitment to the godly principles that Sunny Days was founded upon  To create a caring and respectful environment in the homes of the clients  To foster an atmosphere of trust and safety between the clients and employees  To create a positive work environment for the employees in its clients’ homes  To conduct business with the highest level of integrity Staying at Pace with Advancements in the Industry Since the healthcare industry is ever-evolving, the company continuously tries to stay compliant and up-todate on the newest methods and information on quality care and for those with disabilities. In Pennsylvania, Medicaid recipients of in-home care recently were made to fall under the control of Managed Care Organizations. At Sunny Days, new methods, technology, and procedures are now in place to make sure all clients are served appropriately. The agency has “adapted with the times” to ensure needs are met and protocols are being followed.

Future Plans Sunny Days plans to continue to grow within the region.

“The growth and service opportunities are limitless!” asserts David. The company also plans on adding different certifications to diversify the types of care that it can provide to its clients.

Expert’s View

Why is it important for healthcare providers to move towards patient-personalised services?

I

n the UK, the NHS is the backbone of our healthcare system - a place we know care will be provided independent of wealth. When health information enters the equation, the IT systems that have been put in place are focussed on the system rather than what patients and health professionals need - relevant information at the point of care to improve care outcomes and make informed healthcare decisions.

Today we are more than familiar with IT systems being there to help keep us informed - the parcel that arrives from online shopping, the carrier knows exactly where it is, and shares that information with us. In healthcare, it’s still a very different story – our doctors are reliant on letters sent through the post to keep information and we can wait weeks to know our results. The medicines we take and the notes about our health are stored in multiple systems that often mean we must tell our healthcare professionals what’s wrong rather than them already knowing. It’s estimated that in 2000, 70% of errors in hospitals are caused by not having record at the point of care, and this hasn’t really changed.

Centralised standards rather than person-centred standards have failed repeatedly The National Programme for IT “NpfIT” started in 2002 with a budget of £6.5bn. By 2012 it was estimated that up to £40bn was spent and the programme is now seen as the biggest IT project failure ever. The objective of the project was to build software under the direction of the NHS with 5 IT integrators. There was a published ambition to stop using IT solutions from the open market. The NHS IT market has still not recovered, and investment markets are now wary about investing in IT if the NHS is the customer.

The NHS is not one organisation. It is thousands of dff i erent legal entities. Each organisation including every GP practice is responsible independently for its own information governance. Even if there was a central plan that could work it is highly unlikely that every Trust in the NHS would decide to adopt it. Unless people are asked

explicitly under GDPR for permission to share their data it is not possible to do it. If however people had copies of their health records stored and ready to share they could offer immediate permission themselves.

People powered health - IT systems should place the person at the heart of design Whilst it has been clear that the national IT programmes over the years did not listen to the clinical users it is even more clear that they did not deliver what the people they serve want. Over the last 20 years many successful commercial IT initiatives were driven by serving the suppliers of services even if the NHS failed in this way.

This is why when we compare the IT we use to shop online with receiving letters from the NHS though the post we are frustrated and disappointed.

Newer ways of working which have delivered companies like Airbnb focus not on the supplier of the service but their customer. They have a ruthless desire to deliver what we all want from their services. This allows completely new ways of working to be adopted and improves our lives. I would argue the NHS needs to think this way.

If we were to improve the booking of trains by focussing on the ticket office we would increase the number of staff and give them better computers. The Trainline app means we don’t need a ticket office to book a train. Apply this to the NHS and we could see a world where there are no server rooms and everything is cloud based. Without this drive there will always be a need for the organisation to buy better computers and employ more staff.

What needs to change?

The latest NHS IT policy states that projects should be focussed on the user need, so it seems that lessons are starting to be learned. I believe we also need to consider the following: |November 2018 |40

About the Author Stephen Critchlow is the Founder and CEO of Evergreen Group – compromising of three brands – Evergreen Life, a personal health record app used by over half a million people in the UK; Evergreen Energy, helping individuals and businesses take control of their energy supply, and Evergreen Smart Power – an innovative energy business designed to load balance domestic energy.

Stephen Critchlow Founder & CEO

Critchlow initially founded healthcare software company Ascribe in 1989, with a vision to ensure all health decisions were informed at the point of care. This business served more than 75% of UK hospitals as well as hospitals overseas. Critchlow grew the business by acquiring 9 other companies, employing 270 staff and was eventually listed on the AIM market. In 2013 Ascribe was acquired by fellow healthcare software provider EMIS Group in a sale worth an initial £57.5m. After the sale, Critchlow then went on to set up ASC Renewables, a pioneer for renewable energy which he is now in the process of scaling as the Evergreen Group.

Critchlow has also invested in other sustainable businesses and ventures

1.Stop all hand-written health records that within two with yearshis vision and align to, including eachprovides country inongoing the UK. mentorship We also get private care and we SuperCarers, Open Bionics and Switchee.

Critchlow was from awarded of including notes and any personal information now record information ourselves steps Icon and weight the Year – North Region in Barclays Entrepreneur Awards 2018. to the blood pressure.

2. Make all health data, as it is created, available via a standard interface to any organisation the patient wishes The NHS is only one provider of health data. We all want to share it with and offer a copy for their personal health all our health data to be available and we want to take this record so that they can share it as and when needed anywhere to be treated in England or not, private or not.

This, together with the fact that not all NHS organisations 3. Halt the delivery of the NHS App (technology which have the permission to share data with each other shows is already available and proven) and instead provide that the only real way we can have a complete record is if an integration layer for all app providers we have a record owned and controlled by us. By doing this we can also solve the problem that the NHS has not yet got Health information should be owned and controlled by a single record for us and take information each time we us use an NHS service instead. By moving towards a more personalised approach when it comes to owning and Most people don't get care just from the NHS; social sharing health records, more accurate, up to date services provide care and often use different systems, and information will help improve care outcomes for people. most of us travel and receive private healthcare at some point in our life. IT systems are managed separately for 41 |November 2018 |

A

s technology advances at exponential levels, innovative technologies are hitting the market at a break-neck speed. Over the last decade, the healthcare domain has witnessed gigantic transformation by embracing trending technologies, improvising patient amenities, exploring new dimensions in medical research to name a few. The medical fraternity has unearthed new opportunities that continue to streamline and minimize the challenges faced by the patients as well as the doctors.

With the abundance of healthcare providers in the industry, players are now concentrating on developing new delivery models that help to improve medical care facilities. Among the various trending business models that are shaping the current healthcare industry, ‘Telemedicine’ stands tall among making a lasting impression and bringing about a break-through change. It comes with a promise of eradicating healthcare’s last mile issue. Although it has been in the industry for quite a while, it has seen a remarkable growth in the past two decades.

An interesting analysis by experts reveals that the ‘doctor-patient’ ratio in India is around 1:921. If compared over the last few decades, this data is

|November 2018 |44

Editor’s Insight

Telemedicine A Revolutionary Step in Healthcare actually impressive. However, as a populous nation, several patients living in tier II and III towns along with the people living in rural areas still don’t have the access to quality medical facilities. Inspite of all the advancement in the medical sector, a majority of the people cannot utilize the benefits or fall short of the best medical solutions. This blockade is primarily due to the physical distance from a city along with the unawareness among the rural and underserved population.

This is where telemedicine technology evolves as a boon for the patients living in far-off areas. This technology is the amalgamation of state-of-the-art electronics, ICT, and associated applications that assist in providing education to healthcare professionals. By connecting the doctors together with the patients, telemedicine is changing the dynamics of the sector at a rapid pace. Simplifying the interaction, this technology bridges the existing gaps and diminishes the obstacle to avail optimum medical facilities – even while staying at any remotest corner of the country!

Right from having a medical consultation, complex ailments, medication reminders, tracking health parameters, transmission of medical records – telemedicine does it all! In general, there are three versions of this technology that can be used as per requirement:   

Collaborative medicine: real-time communication with physicians Store & Forward: sharing patient information Remote Monitoring: done through mobile monitoring devices

Along with the private players, the Government is providing assistance in the form of initiatives, reforms, unified platform and reliefs. Since 2000, the Government of India has taken various measures to implement this technology at the remote ground levels. This technology is gaining momentum as there is a huge surge in the Indian tech industry. Many hospitals already have and majorities are in the process of setting-up the state-of-art infrastructure

to offer the best medical services at a PAN India-level. By investing in interactive video conferences, aligning the software and hardware components and seamless highspeed connectivity, the medical giants are successful in penetrating into the remotest geographies of the country.

Making a Difference!

Before anything, the ease of accessibility is the foremost reason for this technology to witness a positive trajectory of growth in the last few years. The high volumes of elderly and specially-abled patients are also a major factor fuelling the rise of telemedicine services in the sub-continent.

Offering the most viable health care services to the inaccessible corners of the country has made it the ultimate choice for the providers. Knowledge sharing and educating the medical services available at the rural areas enables them to build their own resources and facilitates complex emergency and intensive care services.

To a huge extent, telemedicine reduces the financial burdens on the families by minimizing the hospital stays, traveling charges, and by cutting off other expenses. This technology is one of the best in its kind, as a patient gets access to premium healthcare, irrespective of the time and location.

Additionally, it plays a pivotal role in doing epidemiological surveillance for creating the healthcare database of a particular region.

The Journey Ahead The country has taken big strides forward in adopting technology and delivering innovative healthcare solutions.

However, this is just the beginning and a lot needs to be done. Countries like India and other developing countries can act as the pioneers to innovative medical solutions and match the medical superiority of the western world.

Knitting the country with this technology is surely a progressive step to eradicate the stigma of the unavailability of quality medical services across the nation.

- Devasish Kanojiya

45 |November 2018 |

The TeleDentists

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Delivering Top-notch Dentistry Services at Your Doorstep in a Cost-effective Way

avities, worn tooth enamel or fillings, gum disease, fractured teeth, or exposed roots are some of the most common dental problems that have been prevalent since ages. According to a prominent research, more than six million people annually experience an urgent dental problem but many find it challenging to find a right doctor on immediate basis.

Moreover, Hospital Emergency Departments (ED) are not fully equipped with the state-of-art infrastructure that is needed to provide efficient dental solutions to patients.

This ultimately results in no dental treatment and ultimately bears a high treatment cost to the patient. To solve this prevalent problem, a U.S. based companyThe TeleDentists entered into the market.

The TeleDentists has engineered a cutting-edge cloudbased SaaS service that enables hospitals and urgent care facilities access to a specialist who can treat oral care level one problems at a fraction of the cost that would be incurred if treated by the ER doctor. With its leadingedge solution, this company is transforming the way people treat urgent oral and dental problems. Its solution is one of the first in the market that offers an improved way to access care, providing essential dental services 24/7/365, wherever a dentist is needed.

Michael Sigler Co-founder

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Founded by notable dentists with decades of vital experience in healthcare, this company is seen as a telehealth pioneer in healthcare industry. This company offers an innovative model that saves patients’ time and money, reduces unnecessary Emergency Department visits and provides health payers and employers a more cost-effective option.

Drs. Maria Kunstadter Cofounder

Our innovative model saves patients' time, money, and reduces unnecessary Emergency Department visits as well

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|November 2018 |46

MOST

DISRUPTIVE HEALTHCARE SOLUTION PROVIDERS 2018

Brief Journey The company has done a lot of research and customer surveys to craft a platform that can alter the face of dentistry treatment in the U.S. region. The company began its research and development in 2014 and launched its platform in 2016. In the subsequent year, The TeleDentists had launched the next 2.0 version of its trademarked solution after receiving immense praise and acceptance from people all across the U.S.

The TeleDentists has a robust network of 35,000 specialist dentists who are spread across 48 states in the U.S. territory and available on demand whenever required in quick time. “Since the rollout of the 2.0 version of our platform, we have acquired several strategic partners, started our Series A fundraising round, secured contracts to provide our services and are land-grabbing the healthcare industry as the Dental Specialist,” stated the company.

About the Ingenious Leadership

The company’s vision is to expand the horizon of dental services into the far deeper pockets of U.S., such that everyone who encounters a dental problem can use its platform to connect with the dentist in quick time. Its platform also integrates oral health into total healthcare and provides much greater financial benefits to the patients in terms of total healthcare cost reduction.

Studies show a 12% reduction in overall healthcare costs by integrating oral health so the healthcare system benefits and patients benefit by being healthier.

The TeleDentists provides a virtual dentist at the desired time by adding virtual dentists in emergency rooms, urgent care centers, walk–in clinics, senior living centers, primary care clinics, and as an additional service to current tele-health companies.

Its dentists provide patients/providers with consultations to assess the problem and make recommendations regarding the best patient outcome. If an antibiotic is needed, the dentist sends an e-script to the patient’s pharmacy of choice. Non-narcotic pain meds can also be prescribed. In some instances, if a follow-up visit with an actual dentist is needed, their platform assists the patient to arrange an appointment too.

Services and Its Uniqueness The company offers dental emergencies, provides answers to the vital questions concerning oral health through its cutting-edge platform. It also addresses the huge urgent care market as well as provides an oral health maintenance program for primary care, workplace wellness centers, and FQHCs.

47 |November 2018 |

Drs. Maria Kunstadter and Michael Sigler are the Co-founders of The TeleDentists. They are both dentists and have delivered dental care for years. In 2012, Dr. Kunstadter was appointed the Dental Director of the PAINS Alliance of Kansas City, a group dedicated to help with the chronic pain crisis in America.

While recounting the challenges of healthcare industry especially of dentistry, Dr. Kunstadter revealed many interesting facts. “There are no dentists in emergency rooms. Something had to change. When $1.7B is being spent in ERs, where no treatment or remedy is provided, we had to come up with a better solution. That’s when telemedicine came to mind. A virtual dentist can be in all the places people go to seek help with their dental needs,” Dr. Kunstadter asserts.

Road Ahead The company aspires to become a dental specialist in coming years as its tele-dentistry platform has the potential to provide an easy access to oral health specialist at the touch of the finger. “We are going internationally as well. Since dental disease is the most prevalent disease in the world, we have an unlimited marketplace,” concluded Dr. Kunstadter.