On Wednesday January 10^th, 2018 I attended the Health 2.0 WinterTech Conference.

WinterTech is a conference with perfect focus on the pulse of digital health investing.

This one day San Francisco symposium, held in parallel with JP Morgan Week, brings together top tech companies, venture capitalists and entrepreneurs to explore the present and future digital health landscape.

Here are my five major takeaways:

1. THREE OR LESS HEALTH TECH IPO’S IN 2018: the venture capitalist panel notes that 2018 will yield less than three health tech IPO’s and over $12 billion in digital health investments.  Digital Health companies historically have not produced outsized IPO returns on the order of LinkedIN, Facebook and Google.
2. TSA PRE-CHECK COMES TO THE FDA: The future of health is a TSA Pre-Check style program for FDA approvals for software as a medical device. Click for additional details,
3. MOST CHRONIC DISEASE IS REVERSIBLE: A panelist cited the National Institute of Health statistic that “86% of disease is lifestyle driven and reversible.” Meanwhile, 185 million Americans have one or more chronic diseases.
4. DIGITAL THERAPEUTICS ARE THE FUTURE, YET 70% OF DOCTORS HAVE NEVER USED THEM: Digital Therapeutics are the use of a dedicated digital device, software, or both for prevention, chronic condition management, etc. According to a presentation by Patricia Mechael, PhD, MHS, 70% of neurologists and 70% of endocrinologists have never used digital therapeutics. Technology has the potential to positively impact health via patient behavior and ownership, improvements in patient care and data driven treatment decisions at the individual patient level.
5. THREE COMPANIES I LOVED:
   1. Parsley Health focuses on the consumer not the insurer. 50 minute patient visits. Nutritional guidance. Advanced testing. The future of healthcare.
   2. Buoy Health is a platform leveraging AI to easily check symptoms and identify the best options for care – before you go to the doctor.
   3. Smart Contacts is the future of vision care. Renew contact lens prescriptions and take an eye exam via your phone. Yes!

A day well-spent. It was absolutely fascinating.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 12th, 2018 at 1:15 am and is filed under Entrepreneurs, Healthcare, Innovation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Tags: Health 2.0, innovative
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