A Conversation with Eric Wicklund
Innovation and Technology Editor for HealthLeaders
Twitter: @HealthLeaders
Eric has served 20 years in daily newspapers from beat reporter to columnist to managing editor. He joined MedTech Media in 2007, managing two national business-to-business publications, Healthcare IT News and Healthcare Finance News, and editor of MobileHealthWatch and mHIMSS.org. He helped launch as the editor of mHealthNews.com for HIMSS Media. Then in 2015 he joined Xtelligent Media and became editor of mHealthIntelligence.com. Now the Innovation and Technology Editor for HealthLeaders, a multimedia platform dedicated to bringing the latest business information needs to healthcare executives and professionals.
Listen in as Eric discusses takeaways from HIMSS 2023 and developments in the digital health landscape, health IT, and innovation.
Listen to the Conversation
Episode Takeaways
- HIMSS has recovered from the dip brought on by COVID. Live events are coming back online in a big way and between HIMSS and Vive, the bulk of the talk was really all about automation – making things easier for staff and providers at a time of workforce shortages and increased burnout.
- Health professionals are shouldering more and more responsibility to shoulder more and more information. It used to be providers were responsible for diagnosing and treating patients. We had paper files in a cabinet somewhere and physicians did quite a bit through memory. It’s different now. Doctors are increasingly specialized and compartmentalized, so capturing information is more important than ever before.
- AI opens a new frontier in the information ecosystem. It can be a proactive tool for preventative care, but different markets are in a different place at a different level of sophistication. For the real impact to happen, we have to focus on value-based care instead of episodic care. There are small use cases wherever you look for automation. We have huge areas of concern and a need for innovation. Everyone’s trying it and everyone’s going to have a different way of using it. It’s not going to be a single unified system from coast to coast.
- Startups are being built to address specific pain points in the system. They’re identifying issues we need to address, but the problem is scalability and sustainability. Can they move the wheel enough to improve clinical outcomes and reduce waste and cost, for example? Or is it too small to move the needle. The ones that can scale up, partner, and collaborate with other small companies or health systems will be the ones to make the biggest impact.
Hosts
Gil Bashe
Managing Partner, Chair Global Health, FINN Partners
Twitter: @Gil_Bashe
LinkedIn: Gil Bashe
Gregg Masters
Founder & Managing Director, Health Innovation Media
Twitter:Â @GreggMastersMPH
LinkedIn: Gregg Masters, MPH
About the Show
Join digital health advocate and author Gil Bashe, on Health Unabashed, as he discusses the power of collaboration and innovation in improving care across the health ecosystem. Sharing stories and insights from a global perspective, Gil looks at the companies and people who are making a difference and offers his opinions on how to connect the dots to transform the industry for good.
Tune in weekdays at 10:30 am, 6:30 pm, & 2:30 am ET.
Join the conversation on Twitter at #HealthUnaBASHEd