Reflecting on 3 Themes from HLTH 2023

Every year, HLTH USA unites the leaders of the healthcare industry under one (really big) roof to discuss new developments that are making better care possible. This year, @Wellinks was invited to speak at the event by our colleagues at the @Digital Medicine Society (DiME) to discuss a topic that we are deeply focused on: leveraging virtual-first solutions to care for older adults and those managing chronic diseases. Thank you to Dr @Carolyn Bradner Jasik, MD from @Omada Health for joining me on the panel, and my terrific colleague @Pooja Doshi for moderating the session!

Reflecting on this experience and the conference as a whole, there were three important themes that have had a good deal of my mindshare:?

Building To Address Specific Gaps in Care

The theme of improving virtual care was everywhere at HLTH and clearly remains a strong objective for many companies across our ecosystem. But what do these improvements mean specifically for people managing chronic diseases? In our panel, I referenced the many Wellinks members who have previously struggled to access pulmonary rehabilitation, experiencing long waitlists or having to travel many towns over to reach their nearest option for care. This is especially true for our older adult members with mobility and transportation problems. I’m reminded of the importance of our work to ensure there is a virtual or telerehabilitation option available for everyone who needs it, consistent with the most recent ATS Clinical Practice Guidelines.?

We need to move even faster in the face of a growing access crisis. There are simply not enough pulmonologists, respiratory therapists, or pulmonary rehabilitation facilities to treat the growing number of people with COPD. Current estimates indicate that there are 18,000 COPD patients for every one pulmonary rehabilitation facility, and by 2025, experts predict that there will be a deficit of 1,400 pulmonologists in the United States. This has created an urgent window of opportunity for virtual care to establish its position in the standards of care, ?building a bridge to seniors and traditionally disadvantaged communities when and where they need it.?

Building Connective Tissues of Care

In our panel, we also discussed how people with multiple chronic conditions too often lack the coordinated care and resources people need to effectively self-manage and maintain quality of life. As I walked the show floor and talked with fellow entrepreneurs about the problems they’re building to solve, I couldn’t help but be excited for the possibility of a future where everyone has access to virtual care options that are integrated with our care journeys and personalized to our health needs. ?

When virtual-first care models are designed around the needs of our users, we can enable more frequent and personalized touchpoints, offer access to support precisely in times of need, and help individuals to become more activated in their health. Don’t just take my word for it – the data shows this kind of care delivery sustainably drives meaningful outcomes. ?

In a conversation with DiME CEO Jennifer Goldsack on Tuesday, Sean Duffy CEO of Omada Health drew a parallel between a great health tech product experience and a Beethoven symphony. We need all of the instruments, the movements, the timing; one person playing the picolo does not a symphony make. It reminded me how challenging it is to get this right, but also proud I am of the team at Wellinks for being so intentional in the way we’ve built the product and pored over the details to delight our members and their care teams.?

Building For Measurable Impact?

The majority of my time at HLTH was spent meeting with our future customers. (As an aside, this is the 3rd year we found HLTH’s ‘Hosted Buyer’ sessions to be one of the best commercial investments we make and I’d be happy to share some of the details behind that conclusion if you want to reach out). The importance of delivering clinical and financial outcomes has never been more clear. I heard a lot of stories about empty promises, over-commitments, and even one about a refusal to honor contracted performance guarantees (yikes!). We as a field have a responsibility to build companies that go beyond delivering outcomes to our investors and create real, measurable, and repeatable impact for our patients and business partners. More on that to follow, but suffice it to say that if the upslope of the digital health hype-cycle may be behind us, or at least on hold, it’s time for the field to give some real thought to how to ensure solutions can stand on their own feet.?

Overall, the trip to HLTH further fueled my excitement for the possibilities for our field. As I set aside my lanyard and get back to the day-to-day, I believe that we as an industry will continue to work tirelessly and collaboratively towards a brighter future of H(ea)LTH.