S2E10 COVID Unites Us All: Progressing Toward Adoption (Continued)

By Olivia R. Weidner, DHIT Global Intern | August 10, 2020

On Friday, August 7th, 2020, the Digital Health Institute for Transformation (DHIT) hosted the tenth and final installment of Season 2 of its digital web series in collaboration with the ASSIST Center at North Carolina State University.

Season 2 of the DHIT Frequency Webinar Series took place biweekly as a way to keep our community connected while many work from home. Each segment was co-hosted by DHIT’s President, Michael Levy, and Adam Curry, ASSIST Innovation Ecosystem Director. The series spotlighted distinguished guests from across the ecosystem to discuss the state of digital health in the time of COVID-19. 

Amidst widespread fear and uncertainty, DHIT explored the role of digital health in the global response to COVID-19, gaining insight into the ways this crisis has catalyzed the usage and acceptance of telehealth, remote monitoring, and other digital health technologies. Last week’s panelists included:

• David Heenan, Venture Director, Cone Health Ventures

• Krista Covey, President, First Flight Venture Center

• Rachael Newberry, Program Director, RIoT

Over the past few months, the DHIT Frequency series included discussions about a range of different challenges to maintaining health and wellness in the time of COVID-19. Moderators and panelists have looked at emerging technologies and their potential benefits for healthcare delivery. The most recent installment was the second episode dedicated to our innovation champions, also marking the end of Season 2. Last Friday’s episode continued the discussion of progressing toward adoption, with three new panelists representing three distinct program and innovation champions: David Heenan, Venture Director of Cone Health Ventures; Krista Covey, President of the First Flight Venture Center; and Rachael Newberry, Director of the RIoT Accelerator Program. Each panelist spoke about their respective company, personal mission statement, and involvement with the virtual incubator. At the conclusion of the discussion with the panelists, co-hosts Michael Levy and Adam Curry announced the six winners of the virtual incubator awards. 

Friday’s webisode represented a continuation of the previous episode’s theme regarding progressing toward adoption, and Levy again posed a few key questions for each panelist to answer. Levy began the conversation by asking each guest to provide some information about their respective workplace; this granted viewers insight into some of our program and innovation champions. 

David Heenan of Cone Health Ventures told the audience that this branch of the Cone Health system was created with the aim of supporting operational and clinical leaders in meeting their goals and overcoming obstacles. Located in Greensboro, Cone Health is a fully-integrated health system that serves a five-county area encompassing roughly 2 million people. Cone Health Ventures uses its resources, network, and brand to help companies scale their products and services into the marketplace. 

First Flight is a nonprofit business incubator located in the Research Triangle Park. Hangar6 is a division of First Flight, which exists to “serve high-science, high-impact startups that are changing the world,” according to Krista Covey. Hangar6 provides prototyping support to startup ventures, and one of the incubator awards includes advanced prototyping assistance offered by this nonprofit. 

RIoT is an economic development nonprofit with the goal of job creation and company growth. Rachael Newberry provided viewers with an overview of RIoT’s inception: 

“RIoT quite literally started as a Meetup group; six years ago, we started convening technology and business professionals in the RTP region to talk about the future of wireless. Today, these events are still a core part of what we do, but ultimately, we support businesses, large and small, with taking advantage of the opportunities that IOT presents.”