| Startup Highlight: SpiroSmart/SpiroCallSpiroSmart and SpiroCall aren't necessarily companies, per se, | | | | | May 20 - Issue #13 Curated by R. Scott Munro, the latest news and information about startups and innovations in healthcare. |
| | SpiroSmart and SpiroCall aren’t necessarily companies, per se, but they are very cool apps/software packages that allow for remote spirometry (lung health test) either via a smart phone (SpiroSmart) or a low-tech phone (SpiroCall). This may seem trivial, but as the group points out, “lung impairments account for roughly 10% of global deaths.” This could help rural and third world populations track pulmonary exacerbation that ultimately lead to saved lives (in a quite cost effective manner). As always, if you come across news, announcements, videos, or podcasts that you think the other 4,800+ subscribers would benefit from, e-mail me at scott.munro@startupdigestmail.com or tweet @R_Scott_Munro and subscribe to the digest, here. If you have feedback/suggestions, please let me know, here. |
| | | Inside Silicon Valley's Culture of Spin | Fast Company Hyperbole is commonplace in the Valley, and for traditional tech companies I don’t find this to be much of an issue. Folks are always selling the dream vs. the reality. The issue I have is when this hyperbole creeps its way into digital health and health tech. Traditional health care companies have a hard time stretching the truth because of a combination of regulation, clinical data, and general scientific research. But as we’ve seen with Theranos (most recently voiding two years of test results) hyperbole in health tech can have real consequences. Chrissy Farr has a great (and timely) piece here diving into the hyperbole that has infected health tech. | Fitbit or Groceries? The Challenge of Wearables in Underserved Populations | Tincture In all the hype that can surround digital health companies, many of us often forget that $100 for a wrist band is outside the budget of most of the country. This article focuses on the issue of wearables for underserved populations; however, I think it is also indicative of a larger issue around digital health interventions that are geared towards privileged populations without stepping back and thinking about 1) the needs of other population segments and 2) the needs of real patients that have real struggles on account of their diseases. | Merck Changes The Paradigm On Clinical Trials | Clinical Leader Clinical trials are in many ways stuck in the stone age. This is a great overview of how Merck is looking to completely change the process both from a logistical and a technological stand point. When I look at the health care landscape, I think there is a huge opportunity to help industry operate more efficiently when it comes to R&D, clinical trial management, physician engagement/training, so this article was particularly interesting to me. | It's silly to assume all research funded by corporations is bent | The Guardian I’ve had a few articles on conflict of interest in this digest. This one isn’t so much about the issues around physician payments as much as it is about corporate funded research. The article points out a number of scientists that got hung out to dry over research on the impacts of sugar that was funded by industry. They got taken to task, even though the research was not in favor of industry. Now, don’t get me wrong, corporate funded research should be looked at with a certain level of scrutiny, but it is not ipso facto “bad” research. | Mental Disorders Top The List Of The Most Costly Conditions In The United States: $201 Billion | Health Affairs There is almost too much in this review of health spend data for me to unpack it all in a brief overview (and frankly the title of the article is misleading, the article is about far more than just the high mental health spend). It also goes into the speed of growth in spend for various conditions, how much of the rise in spend can be associated with obesity related diseases, and finally how expensive treatments also account for much of the increase. Check it out for yourself to get all the details. | | | “Data on the significant health benefits of fitness trackers is lacking. Furthermore, if fitness tracking technology can lead to such notable behavior modifications, why isn't the market advertising simple solutions like pedometers? I wonder if it might have to do with the cost of a pedometer being as low at $2–3.” - Jorge Rodriguez, MD & Internal Medicine Resident @ MGH | | | R. Scott Munro - Utility Infielder @ DocMatter I am a classical languages nerd turned digital health geek. I spend my days researching medical device, pharmaceutical, and biotech companies + helping clinicians efficiently collaborate. I have a passion for the intersection of health and technology, and wholeheartedly believe we are at the beginning of the most exciting eras of health care. |
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