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Reducing Hospital-acquired Infections

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hospital-acquired infections

Sam Perkins

ebola

Jay Shaffer isn’t afraid of Ebola

Reducing Hospital-acquired Infections

Jay and I sat down with Sam Perkins, CEO of Pūrgenix™, a company that has developed a technology that enables healthcare organizations to contain, and in fact, reduce rates of occurrence of hospital-acquired infections.  It is well known that pathogens such as MRSA and Clostridium difficile are challenging to treat and equally challenging to eradicate from a care environment once they have taken hold.  The Pūrgenix™ platform addresses a component that is often overlooked in dealing with these dangerous organisms—the air.

Sam shared how they saw a need for a new solution to eliminating illness-causing organisms from the hospital environment, ultimately developing a system that is custom-designed and installed to be installed into the building’s air handling units.  The Pūrgenix™ system employs powerful UV lights that use energy to kill air-borne organisms as they pass into the air handler from the return and again on the way back to the environment on the downstream side.

He shared some use-case examples where client hospitals were able to successfully reduce occurrences of infections for their patients, as well as experiencing a measurable reduction in absenteeism among their employees due to illness.

Sam also explained that deposits, including bioburden that is created by bacteria, as thin as a micron (a piece of paper is ~6 microns thick) can significantly reduce the cooling efficiency of a building’s air handling unit.  By preventing a build-up of bacteria within the unit on the cooling coils, the deposit of bioburden is eliminated, leading to marked increases in energy cost to condition the environment of the building.

Pūrgenix™ creates PūrHospitals™, an environment in which patients and employees experience a purer
environment where they can heal and work.  Hospitals deploying the system can advertise their status as PūrHospitals™, letting patients in the community know their environment is safer with less risk of hospital-acquired infection.  As Mark Haney, President at WellStar Paulding Hospital, said about the Pūrgenix™ solution at the launch of their new hospital: “…we still have to do the basics, but we have the building working for us now.”

Special Guest:

Sam Perkins, CEO, Pūrgenix™   linkedin_small1  twitter_logo_small

 

 

ChronicCareIQ

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ChronicCareIQ

Matt Ethington

ChronicCareIQ

This week Jay and I sat down with Matt Ethington, CEO of ChronicCareIQ to learn how this technology company is providing physicians and hospitals with tools that empower them to better manage patients with chronic illnesses.  The Affordable Care Act has put in place measures around patient outcomes that can affect how much the provider is reimbursed for care they deliver.  Managing patients with chronic illnesses is time-consuming and requires much patient education and follow up to facilitate compliance with the recommended care plan.  The ChronicCareIQ platform not only provides the practice or hospital with an efficient tool for engaging patients, it also provides documentation of required patient contacts, along with current health status data such as glucose measurements, blood pressure, weight, and others.

Matt shared how he is a patient dealing with a chronic illness, Type I Diabetes.  His experiences along the way helped him see how care delivery can be somewhat disconnected at times and inspired him to think about ways to bridge gaps in communication and give providers a better way to know what is happening with their patient between visits.

ChronicCareIQ enables healthcare providers to keep tabs on fragile and chronic patients through their smart phones. Recognizing the impact on patient outcomes when effective chronic disease management measures are in place, Medicare has begun to reimburse for patient engagement performed through the platform, allowing providers to simultaneously automatically meet compliance requirements, and measurably reduce call volumes. Identified as a “Best Practice” by leading consulting groups and with patient engagement rates that exceed 80% on an average weekly basis, practices, hospitals, or health systems can identify decompensating patients in real time, manage risk to prevent unnecessary hospitalization or ED visits, and advance material steps with payment reforms.

Special Guest:

Matt Ethington, CEO, ChronicCareIQ  linkedin_small1  twitter_logo_small  facebook_logo_small3

ChronicCareIQ

Zyrobotics

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Zyrobotics

Dr. Johnetta Maccalla

Zyrobotics

We host Dr. Johnetta Maccalla, CEO of Zyrobotics, an assistive technology company that was conceived in the summer of 2012 and officially incorporated in 2013 as a Georgia Tech Venturelab spin-off company. Their mission is to create accessible technologies that engage and empower children with disabilities and enhance their quality of life.

The technology company develops personalized technologies that are adaptive to each individual’s capabilities.  Zyrobotics first product offerings include accessible interfaces and smart toys, socially assistive robots, and a suite of educational apps that are specially designed to enable educational and accessible play. The company’s mission facilitates freedom through technology for children of all abilities.

Johnetta shared how she saw an opportunity to leverage her long background in research and development and robotics for several large, well-known enterprises to help children with disabilities.  Zyrobotics is now engaging with professionals in rehabilitation facilities to make them aware of this technology that has shown to help engage these children in their rehab exercises, as well as increasing compliance with the prescribed plan.

We talked about the fact that the technology company is actively seeking funding to support their marketing and production scalability.  The company is also interested in partnering with rehabilitation centers and physicians who would be prescribing such services so they and their patients can benefit from access to this tool.

Special Guest:

Dr. Johnettta Maccalla, CEO, Zyrobotics

 

Brain Monitoring Headphones

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 Brain-monitoring headphones

Karol Hatzilias

Brain Monitoring Headphones

We host Karol Hatzilias, Chief Science Officer of United Sciences, the company that has developed custom-made, personally-fitted brain monitoring headphones.  Karol talked about how he had helped to develop a device that gives 3D mapping of the features of the outer ear and canal.  Using the data from the 3D scans, his company could print perfect-fitting, custom made ear pieces, which proved to be very useful to hearing aid manufacturers.

After selling his initial company he wanted to build on the 3D imaging capabilities he had developed.  United Sciences is using the technology to design wireless headphones that, while providing excellent stereo sound, also contain numerous sensors that can monitor a host of physiologic activities.

The Aware headphones, as they’re called, can provide pulse oximetry, monitor brain wave activity, report steps taken, heart rate, activity of the muscles of the jaw, and potentially others.  Because of the secure fit, the headphones provide significant sound protection for the wearer.  To provide situational awareness when desired, the user can activate mics on the exterior of the device that allow them to listen to audio and also hear approaching cars or other activity around them.

The Aware hearable can track brain waves through EEG and provide real-time feedback about focus, stress, sleep patterns, and relaxation. This enhanced awareness may help users increase focus, lower stress levels, understand their sleep patterns, and help guide them to be more mindful.

Karol and his team are collaborating with academic institutions to conduct research that may enable these devices to be deployed for a variety of clinical studies, facilitating real-time, real-life monitoring of key biodata.  United Sciences is currently raising funds through a Kickstarter campaign, where contributors can pre-purchase a set of the Aware headphones at a discount in exchange for their investment support.

Special Guest:

Karol Hatzilias, Chief Science Officer, United Sciences linkedin_small1

headphones

 

 

 

Georgia Tech Wearable Computing Center

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Georgia Tech Wearable Computing Center

Maribeth Gandy Coleman

Georgia Tech Wearable Computing Center

Jay Shaffer and I sat down with Maribeth Gandy, Principal Research Scientist, and Director of Georgia Tech Wearable Computing Center.  We talked about research the university is conducting in conjunction with ShareCare to look at how wearable and mobile technology can impact stress levels for individuals using these devices.

Check back soon for more information!

Special Guest:

Maribeth Gandy Coleman, Principal Research Scientist/Director, Georgia Tech Wearable Computing Center

 

Neurgain

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Neurgain

Sai Kumar

Neurgain

Chronic back pain (traumatic and neuropathic) affects over 26 million Americans, of which about 7 million have spinal stiffness (spasticity).  Current therapeutic management is not working: drugs in use have poor efficacy, and cause undesirable side effects such as resistance, dependency/abuse and other disorders.

The estimated annual economic burden of back pain is over $150 billion.  Our mission is to positively impact this “pain” by means of our patented innovation to provide a therapy that works, improves patient’s quality of life and reduces the overall burden.

Neurgain Technologies, Inc., is a Delaware Corporation founded to license, develop and commercialize the technologies arising from Dr. Martin Marsala’s regenerative medical research at the University of California-San Diego (UCSD).  The innovation is distinguished by a unique combination of a novel delivery method and a specially designed device for practicing it, both of which are patented.

The delivery method has been validated in both rodent and swine models; and we have verified the satisfactory functionality of a proof-of-concept device prototype.

Special Guest:

Sai Kumar, Principal, DiligentCXO

Neurgain

Return of the House Call

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house calls

Return of the House Call

We sat down with Sam Zebarjadi of Medicast on this week’s show.  This company is using technology to facilitate the return of the house call as model of healthcare delivery.  Founded in 2013, Medicast is a healthcare technology company that enables hospitals and health systems to deliver care in a patient’s own home. Medicast’s platform, Virtual Practice, is used by organizations to send nurses and doctors to patient’s homes as an alternative to traditional primary or urgent care visits in a clinic—often in 2 hours or less from the time a visit is requested.

Medicast is a Techstars and StartUp Health company, and was recently recognized by Becker’s Hospital Review as one of the top disruptive healthcare companies to watch in 2016.

Check back soon for more information!

Halyard Health Provides Alternative To Opioid Pain Meds

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opioid

Dr. Kevin Friedman of Halyard Health

Halyard Health Provides Alternative To Opioid Pain Meds

The current opioid abuse epidemic has been called the worst drug crisis in American history. Death rates now
rival those of AIDS during the 1990s, with overdoses from heroin and other opioids now killing more
than 27,000 people a year. People across the country are asking themselves: why? What are the forces
causing this issue, and what can lawmakers and the healthcare community do to curb it? At the heart of
the epidemic is the shift in opioid prescribing practices: in 1991, doctors wrote 76 million prescriptions
for painkillers.

In 2012, that number tripled, with healthcare providers writing 259 million prescriptions for opioid painkillers – enough for every American adult to have a bottle of pills.1 Most addicts aren’t introduced to opioids through the black market; they are far too often prescribed by their doctors as part of standard treatment protocols for treating postoperative and chronic pain.

On this episode we were joined in studio by Kevin Friedman, medical director at Alpharetta, Georgia-based Halyard Health.  The company manufactures two non-narcotic alternatives – COOLIEF Cooled Radiofrequency and the ON-Q* Pain Relief System – for chronic and post-operative pain, respectively.  Kevin shared actionable steps to address the opioid crisis and how patient/provider education, coupled with non-opioid therapies such as these for pain management, play a critical role in reducing the rate of occurrence of opioid addiction due to prescription use.

Halyard Health is a global medical technology company focused on preventing infection, eliminating pain and speeding
recovery.   Just as a halyard fuels forward movement, Halyard Health’s clinically-superior products and remarkable
service help to advance health and healthcare worldwide. Halyard sells its recognized brands and products in more
than 100 countries, and holds leading market positions in multiple categories across the portfolio. Formerly part of
Kimberly-Clark, Halyard became an independent company on November 1, 2014.

For more information, visit
www.halyardhealth.com.

Special Guest:

Dr. Kevin Friedman, DO, Medical Director, Halyard Health  twitter_logo_small  facebook_logo_small3  linkedin_small1

opioid

  • Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine and Surgery, Nova Southeastern University
  • MBA, IU Kelley School of Business
  • Former Flight Surgeon, US Navy

Moving Analytics

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Moving Analytics

This week I spoke with the co-founder, Harsh Vathsangam, of a technology company, Moving Analytics, that is working to significantly increase participation rates in cardiac rehabilitation. Over 900,000 Americans experience heart attacks each year.  Still more will experience heart failure, valvular disease, and other cardiovascular problems that create a diminished tolerance of activity.

We know very well that regular activity and selective behavior choices around such things as diet, alcohol consumption, and smoking, among others, play a large role in stopping or even reversing effects of these conditions.  Currently, roughly a third or less of these patients are engaging in a supervised cardiac rehab program.  Clearly, there is much room for improvement in this regard.

As a computer scientist, Harsh has long-known the power of computing and analytics data for creating efficiencies and making well-educated strategic decisions.  He and some colleagues began to look for opportunities to leverage this power in the healthcare arena, one which we know is actively seeking to reduce cost while at the same time improve patient outcomes.

The Moving Analytics app allows patients to receive frequent feedback regarding their prescribed activities and behavioral choices.  Additionally, it provides data regarding the patient’s compliance with their regimen along with some basic health data to the health professional overseeing their cardiac rehab progress.  In this way, the patient is able to engage in healthful activities that will improve their condition in the convenience of their home.  Additionally it will allow the cardiac rehab professionals to scale their services to a wider patient population, reducing cost of providing care (based on a per-provider cost).

Moving Analytics is looking to partner with hospitals and health systems who are working to improve patient engagement with these important cardiac rehab programs for the post-cardiovascular event patients.

Special Guest:

Harsh Vathsangam, Co-founder, Moving Analytics  linkedin_small1

cardiac rehab

  • PhD, Computer Science, University of Southern California
  • MS, Computer Science, University of Southern California
  • Recipient, PhD Award, University of Southern California
  • Awarded USC Annenberg Fellowship 2008-2012

Radix Health

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Radix

CW Hall and Arun Mohan of Radix

 

Radix Health

Dr. Arun Mohan talks Radix Healths physician scheduling optimization solution.

Radix Health

Jay Shaffer and I sat down with co-founder of Radix Health, Dr. Arun Mohan.  Radix Health uses technology to improve patient access.  Radix’s flagship product, DASH, is a patent-pending, cloud-based software platform that optimizes ambulatory capacity utilization and reduces scheduling cost. DASH automates and optimizes much of the work currently done by schedulers.

DASH intelligently balances patient characteristics, patient and provider preferences, and appointment availability to match patients with the right provider at the right location for the right duration. The system supports all forms of scheduling including through an agent, provider-provider scheduling and patient self-scheduling.  DASH easily integrates with existing practice management systems.

By leveraging predictive analytics, rules-based scheduling, automation, and user experience, DASH improves access, reduces scheduling costs, eliminates scheduling errors and ensures happier patients and providers.

Arun shared how his experience as a physician, coupled with many conversations over time with colleagues, revealed there is an opportunity to improve patient satisfaction and engagement, while at the same time optimizing the physicians’ utilization of their schedule time.

The Radix Health solution integrates and enhances the basic scheduling feature of existing EMR’s, bringing valuable analytics and algorithms designed to insure a patient is scheduled with the correct specialist, avoiding the need for rescheduling and loss of productivity.

Special Guest:

Dr. Arun Mohan, Co-founder, Radix Health  linkedin_small1

radix health