Talking HealthTech

Rachel de Sain is an internationally regarded digital strategist and thought leader on the future of health and social care delivery in a connected world, with over twenty years of global experience having worked with governments, Fortune 500 companies, and leading academic institutions.   Rachel is a member of the Australia New Zealand leadership forum and was appointed to the newly established World Health Organization's Digital Health panel of experts and has provided keynote presentations on this subject at events around the world. Up until recently, Rachel was the Executive General Manager at the Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA), where she led the creation of Australia's national digital health strategy, the ‘Health Innovation Exchange’ concept, the My Health Record and many others.  In this episode you will learn more about Codesain and what they do for organisations associated with digital health.  You will learn why Rachel left the ADHA and what kind of transformation occurred to innovation and

This is a pretty special episode for us here at Talking HealthTech.  I don’t have with me here today a guest, it’s just me and you for the next little bit. That’s because I got news so noteworthy, I reckon it deserves it’s own episode.  So buckle in, and check it out. Back in December 2018, so not even 2 years ago, this podcast started to fill a need in the Australian healthtech industry - to have more conversations, to promote collaboration for a more efficient healthcare system and a healthier nation. We’ve had a number of guests on the show, ranging from entrepreneurs and startups, leading clinicians, investors, software engineers and decision makers, and even members of the Australian health department.  The positive response to the show has been beyond what I was expecting, and I’m super grateful for that.   So now it’s time to kick it up a notch.  Over the months we’ve had a lot of people ask us to help connect people in the industry, and that’s super rewarding, and we love that.  Rather than doing thos

David Korsunsky is the founder of US based firm Heads Up Health - a mobile app and web portal that integrates health information from a huge number of different sources.  Check this episode out to learn more about Heads Up Health and an emerging new era of the patient / doctor relationship.  Visit here for complete show notes and more information on the topics discussed in this episode.

Rohan Pardasani is the CEO and Founder of Avaana, an online marketplace and community in the well-being, fitness and allied space helping practitioners. Their mission is to be the anchor of a person's entire wellbeing journey, and grow practitioner businesses Avaana are helping practitioners to grow their business, market themselves effectively and fill those dreaded white gaps in their appointment calendars. They are also helping patients address the challenge of getting access to good wellbeing providers, particularly in the current climate of social distancing due to COVID-19. Check out this interview to learn more about Avaana, as well as the challenge patients face finding the right health and wellbeing providers.  Rohan also talks about how they are helping Allied Health Practitioners navigate the complexities of NDIS claiming to help them find new revenue streams during these challenging times.

Kathy Hubble is the founder of a chronic pain management platform called Amelio Health, providing people in pain with instant access to evidence-based care, all through a web portal or an app on a smartphone.   Kathy has a background in nursing, with 20 years in pain management.  During this episode you will learn about what Amelio Health does, and how it’s working towards addressing the problem of chronic health in Australia.   You’ll hear about the importance of engaging all the different stakeholders in the industry in order to deliver better patient outcomes, as well as their rapid growth trajectory fuelled even further by COVID-19.

Rick Rowan is a healthcare entrepreneur, innovator & facilitator.  He is the CEO and Founder of NuroKor Bioelectronics, a UK based medical technology company specialising in non implantable electroceuticals and bioelectrical medicine.It’s basically like a tech version of a pain killer and an anti-inflammatory combined. Rick is internationally recognised thought leader and expert commentator in the health tech space, and his consumer lifestyle medical devices have been featured in Forbes list “The best healthcare gadgets and gizmos of 2018” Rick’s overarching goal is to use NuroKor’s innovative, evidence led, bioelectronic technology to create a positive impact on people’s quality of life on a global scale. In this interview you will learn who is Nurokor, as well as the science of bioelectronics and how it is helping chronic and acute patients without the need for medication.

Can you trust that smartphone app with your health information?   Tim Blake is the Managing Director of Semantic Consulting, who are focused on leading digital change in healthcare.  Tim helps organisations with digital health strategy, and is passionate about enabling engaged patients, activating carers, the use of mobile solutions in health, consumer health technology, precision medicine, consumer genomics, pharmacogenomics and many other components of digital health that are disrupting healthcare in positive and exciting ways. Tim has been on the Talking HealthTech Podcast once before - way back in episode 2, which you should totally go back and check out after this one.   Semantic Consulting are the creators of the Digital Health Guide which is providing high quality information about mobile health apps, including what capabilities they have, what conditions they are for, what evidence exists to support their claims, and reviews and ratings from health providers, patients and more.   In this

Jack O'Brien is an early adopter, business geek, and a health professional.  He is a Director of Clinic Mastery, who have built a thriving community and an invaluable library of resources around helping Australian health professionals thrive, and is also a host of the Grow Your Clinic Podcast, which you should definitely go and subscribe to now by the way. Jack inspires others to live a high performance life that is led by innovation and purpose-driven giving.  He is Owner and Senior Physiotherapist at Terrace Physio Plus in Newcastle, and a devoted husband and father, as well as a lover of coffee, wine and whisky,  In this episode you will learn about how Jack got started with Clinic Mastery, and what makes him tick.  You will hear about what life is like in Allied Health, and some of the similarities and differences compared to GPs and Specialists. You will also learn about some of the popular and emerging tech available to Allied Health Practitioners today to help them run a successful clinic, as well as g

Dan Schulte is the Senior Vice President of Healthcare at HGS Inc, a global business processing outsourcing firm. Dan has decades of experience specialising in healthcare financial management, helping companies of all sizes find vulnerabilities, change processes, and realize immediate returns in bottom-line cash.  In this episode we will explore the complexities of the US healthcare funding model and take a deep dive into revenue cycle management, as well as some of the technology that supports the process.

Medtronic is one of the world's largest medical technology companies, but it came from humble beginnings over 70 years ago. Their first life-changing therapy — a wearable, battery-powered cardiac pacemaker — was the foundation for many more Medtronic therapies that use their electrical stimulation expertise to improve the lives of millions of people. Over the years, Medtronic has developed more core technologies, including the first battery-powered pacemaker, a number of implantable mechanical devices, drug and biologic delivery devices, and powered and advanced energy surgical instruments. Today, their technologies are used to treat nearly 70 medical conditions. The concept of meaningful innovation is at the heart of everything that happens at Medtronic.  In this episode, Peter Birch speaks with a few different guests to get the full picture on Medtronic, innovation and the medtech industry.  You’ll learn about the history of Medtronic, how it maintains it's position as a pioneer of medtech, and how it fost

Yianni Serparnos is a health-tech innovator, digital health advocate, podcaster, and founding CEO of Coreplus, an Australian digital health practice management software for Allied Health providers, clinics and private practices.   He is inspired and motivated to modernise healthcare and achieve a vision of a world of integrated digital health empowerment for all people.  Coreplus's Mission is to connect, help and grow Allied Health providers, with the right tools and empowerment so that the delivery of modern healthcare services can better fit into the lives, schedules, goals and aspirations of healthcare consumers whilst supporting the clinicians and practitioners to practice in a happier way. Check out this episode to learn about the background of Coreplus, and a bit of a pulse check on technology in Allied Health.  Also in this discussion, Yianni talks about his broader connection with the healthtech industry with Healthtech X, exploring the evolution of digital health, and the future for our evolving ecos

Dr Marcus Tan is the Founder, CEO and Medical Director of HealthEngine, one of Australia’s largest online healthcare marketplaces, helping millions of patients connect with thousands of healthcare providers nationally. His vision for HealthEngine is to be a global leading platform that revolutionises the access and experience of healthcare for patients and providers. Marcus is a University of Western Australia medical graduate with an executive MBA from the Australian Graduate School of Management.  He is an experienced GP, healthcare executive and company director with over 20 years of clinical and commercial experience. His diverse career spans the health, technology, investment and philanthropic sectors. In this episode Marcus chats with Pete about the history and evolution of Health Engine, their response to COVID-19 and telehealth.  Marcus also shares some wisdom for founders as they scale their digital health startup and look to raise capital.

Dr Ginni Mansberg is no stranger to Australian television and other media - she is a Sydney GP, and has been on shows like Embarrassing Bodies Down Under on Channel 9, Sunrise & the Morning Show on Channel 7, Medicine or Myth on SBS, Things You Can't Talk About on TV on Audible, as well as featuring in a bunch of magazines, radio shows and podcasts.  In addition to this and a heap of other responsibilities, Dr Ginni is also a successful businesswoman, with her own cosmeceutical and beauty-related business, ESK - Evidence Skin Care. Pete and Dr Ginni spoke via livestream video with a live audience, and the audio recording was converted into an episode of the Talking HealthTech Podcast.  Attendees engaged in chat, asked questions, participated in polls, and generally shaped the conversation.   In this episode Pete and Ginni talk all about entrepreneurship - from idea to execution.  Ginni talks about her background, the impact of COVID-19 on General Practitioners, and the story of her own business.  Dr Ginni

Matt Bardsley is the CEO of MedicalDirector, one of Australia’s leading practice management systems for healthcare practitioners. In the wake of the COVID-19 epidemic and the impact it has had on our global healthcare system, technology providers have been searching for ways to add more value to their existing products, create new offerings and enable practitioners to deliver patient care safely and effectively. One of those technology providers in Australia is MedicalDirector.  Their fearless leader Matt Bardsley has been on the Talking HealthTech Podcast once before, and I recommend you also go and check out episode 15 back in August 2019 once you’ve listened to this one.  Click here to check that one out.   Fast forward to today, Matt and the team have a lot of different things going on at MedicalDirector at the moment, but he made time to talk through how they’ve responded to the crisis at hand.  Check this one out to learn how MedicalDirector is supporting clinics during COVID-19, the uptake of telemedic

Dr Cortina McCurry is the CEO and Co-Founder of Caia, a video and text consultation platform which securely connects women and families with vetted women’s health practitioners, treatments, and products to make it easy to navigate each stage of life.  Cortina has a PhD in neuroscience from MIT, and more than 15years experience across healthcare, technology, and operations. Cortina was a Partner at Boston Consulting Group, and traded it all in for the best job of all - founder of a healthtech start up in Australia.  Check out this episode to learn all about Caia and how they are addressing an unmet need in women's health, the role businesses can play in supporting the health and wellness of their employees during the transition to parenthood, why investing in women and families is good for business, and moving the needle on gender equality and how it is more than just flexible work and parental leave.   Pete and Cortina also discuss the real challenges of being a Co-Founder and new parent, and strategies on ho

It feels like it was only a few weeks ago that we were praying for Telehealth to be implemented in GP clinics over the coming years.  We pictured a gradual roll out, drip fed slowly by types of service, or locations.  It was the type of thing that could only be implemented in baby steps.  There was simply no other way to disrupt the GP workflow to bring Telehealth front of mind. Then the day before recording this episode, the baby just not only took some steps, it did a triple backwards summersault while running a marathon in under 2 hours - as in, it was announced that we now have universal Telehealth available in Australia.  As Greg Hunt our health minister said - it is a decades worth of work in a matter of days.  It seems pretty apt that the only way to implement a disruptive solution like Telehealth was to have a disruptive problem like COVID-19.   Many of the tools that GPs need to enable all of this, are created by healthtech providers.  It goes beyond the obvious things though, which is just giving a

Joel Friedleander is the founder of Cliniko, which is practice management software used by more than 30,000 people in over 70 countries.  Joel has a software development background, and started Cliniko with his wife who is an osteopath back in 2010. As many organisations around the world grapple with the concepts of adapting to remote work due to social distancing, Cliniko has been doing it for over 10 years - with an entirely remote team spanned across the globe.  This is no ordinary podcast episode, this was the first Talking HealthTech Livestream Webinar recorded to an audience who not only listened to what Joel had to say, but also engaged with polls, chat, and even a few came ‘on stage’ and spoke with Joel directly about some important topics.   In this episode you will learn about the history of Cliniko, the company culture, and how they break some of the corporate norms you might see in other organisations. Pete and Joel also delve into the challenges of social isolation due to COVID-19, and how Clinik

In this episode are interviews with some of the biggest names in Australian health policy influence and clinical leadership. Earlier this month, at Baker Mackenzie in Melbourne, Australia, the Medical Software Industry Association (MSIA) hosted its March Forum for members.  If you didn’t know, the members of MSIA are providers of technology to the healthcare industry in Australia.  When the MSIA puts on an event, they get the very best of the best in key opinion leaders and experts into the room to provide some really meaningful and actionable insights foe members.  They also do a bunch more outside of events like essentially being the voice for every software vendor to raise important issues right up through government to influence policy decisions, which ultimately link back to how technology is adopted in the healthcare ecosystem here in Australia. And in this current climate of COVID-19, which is essentially a rapidly evolving crisis situation that is relying heavily on health technology to address a glob

Dr. Bertalan Mesko, is The Medical Futurist, looking at how science fiction technologies can become reality in medicine and healthcare. He is a geek physician with a PhD in genomics, and an Amazon Top 100 author. He is one of the top voices globally on digital health technology and the future of healthcare. Bertalan has delivered hundreds and hundreds of keynotes for governments and organizations including Harvard, Stanford, Yale Universities and NASA.   He’s been featured by dozens of top publications, including CNN, the World Health Organization, National Geographic, Forbes, TIME magazine, BBC, and the New York Times. And now of course, Talking HealthTech His website The Medical Futurist has had more than 5 million readers, and he is one of LinkedIn’s Top Voices in Healthcare. He is a member of Mensa International and has been selected by the Huffington Post as one of the 30 biotech thinkers with the biggest global impact.  Tune in to hear all about Bertalan’s perspective on Artificial Intelligence in healt

For those familiar with the format of theTalking HealthTech Podcast, you would know that normally its a 1:1 conversation between me and someone else in the healthtech scene.   Recently we upped our game, and thanks to the support of Hub Australia, we hosted our first ever Talking HealthTech live panel event. This was an opportunity for an audience of around 50-60 people to hear first hand from a panel of 4 healthtech leaders, moderated by Peter Birch, talking about all the important topics in the world of digital health.   This panel discussion was hugely insightful, and highlighted the massive dividends that pay off when companies embrace collaboration to solve big problems - a tool particularly helpful to Aussie healthtech firms who are looking to solve some of the countries biggest challenges using modern and emerging technologies. Enjoy the following panel discussion featuring: Manuri Gunawardena - Founder and CEO, HealthMatch
 Melissa Webster - Founder and CEO, Sleepfit
 Silvia Pfeiffer - Founder and CEO