DHIT Press Release | November 2018
Durham, NC – More than 160 healthcare leaders, providers, technologists, entrepreneurs, and investors gathered at the inaugural DHIT Summit on November 14that American Tobacco Campus, Durham for a day of learning and collaboration aimed at driving our community into a new era of digital health and consumer empowerment.
The event was kicked off by author, thought leader and former CMO of UnitedHealthcare Dr. Archelle Georgiou, who issued a call to action to attendees: #DHITsTime – to reimagine how healthcare can be better designed, delivered and experienced in the consumer-driven digital age. Dr. Georgiou commented, “We all need to recognize how important language, actions, and choice are to engaging patients in their own healthcare. And, when you understand how patients are empowered, or disenfranchised, you can humanize the healthcare experience. This Digital Health Summit is the perfect way to challenge everyone from care providers to CEOs to think innovatively, and collaboratively, to bring new care approaches and experiences to market.”
Joining Dr. Georgiou on stage was an esteemed and diverse selection of panelists from around the country. Speakers included Linda Avey, Co-founder of 23andMe, Charlene Foley, Head of Exceptional Experience at Blue Cross Blue Shield NC, and Patrick Mobley, Market President at Evolent Health. The overarching message across all the work streams was that now is the time to redesign traditional clinically-driven care pathways into those which put the consumer at the center, empowered by digital health technology. Dr. Luke Marshall, Co-founder and CEO of VitalFlo, a local healthcare startup, remarked “I was really impressed by the inclusion and diversity of the panel participants in every dimension: ecosystem background (payor/provider/innovator), focus area (design/care/community), and personal perspective (gender/POC, etc).”
The Tech Zone featured Durham-based software developer CrossComm, who showcased their augmented reality healthcare applications on Oculus Go; UNC Health Science Library who brought an extensive range of cutting edge digital health wearables and sensors; and Tanjo.ai, who presented a VR medical training room. Attendees were excited to learn about and test new emerging technologies from the many regional technology companies and organizations who attended the event.
The output from DHIT’s VIP Supper Club, hosted the prior evening, as well as from the Summit expert panels and design thinking workshops is being collated and synthesized into a White Paper, which will set out a “Roadmap to Impact” for 2019 across three key domains – Building Healthy Communities, Motivating Health Engagement, and Advancing Precision Health. Opportunities to get involved will be announced in January 2019. “Only by creating an action plan around a well-vetted and defined problem statement, can we bring together the right resources to begin ideating and prototyping solutions to validate back in the market. In this way, we have a much better chance of meeting consumer and provider needs and generating solutions that improve the efficiency, effectiveness and experience of healthcare,” said Don Turner, DHIT Global’s Chairman and CEO.
Those who attended remarked at the enormous energy and engagement the keynote and panels brought. They also enjoyed the opportunity to participate with the panelists in design thinking workshops and hear diverse perspectives while collaborating to advance digital health through innovation and cultural transformation. “This inaugural Summit has shown us that the energy and intent to collaborate to solve against our highest unmet needs in healthcare is brimming with potential. Now it’s a matter of formalizing these collaborations and moving them down the path to impact,” said Michael Levy, Co-founder and President, DHIT Global. “We are looking forward to leveraging this momentum created at the Summit to generate impact in the three focus program areas of building healthy communities, motivating health engagement, and driving precision health.”
About DHIT Global
DHIT is a social purpose venture dedicated to driving healthcare transformation through our digital health impact platform. We connect people and emerging technologies, matching ecosystem needs with validated solutions through demand-driven collaboration and innovation to transform the way we treat, cure, care, live. Our platform is driven by Impact Committees that identify the highest unmet health needs in a community and generate demand blueprints. These blueprints are exposed to digital health innovators to guide and validate their solutions in real-world settings which we call Impact Centers. Our Impact Fund is used to accelerate and amplify results for opportunities that present the highest potential. DHIT – Driving digital health innovation to impact.
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Media contact:
Keith Duprey, VP Strategic Partnerships + Market Development
404.452.5214