2024 has been off to a great start at HealthXL, with topics ranging from How to Scale Partnerships Between Lifesciences and Digital Health Companies? to Real World Data in Clinical Trials: Benefits and Best Practices. 

To make sure you don't miss the top insights from our community meetings, here are my top five takeaways from HealthXL meetings that took place in since the start of the year: 

1. Roundtable: How to Scale Partnerships Between Lifesciences and Digital Health Companies 

This roundtable meeting was hosted by Melinda Decker, Advisory at Plexus Ventures, and anchored by Piotr Sokolowski, Chief Med-Tech Strategist at S3 Connected Health. Throughout the meeting, the group highlighted the importance of striking the right balance between short-term and long-term goals. The discussion focused on the transition from local deployments to global scalability. 

Scaling requires a long-term perspective and the building of strong relationships. Balancing short-term and long-term goals is crucial, as is open communication and transparency among partners. Navigating the complexities of different stakeholders priorities and considering factors such as compliance and privacy are important for success.

Experts highlighted that partnership compatibility and commitment are key, and that finding common ground early on is essential. Additionally experts noted that transitioning from local to global scalability presents challenges that require careful consideration. Overall, the evolving impact of digital health on pharma business models will shape the future partnership trends. 

Read the key discussion points here.

2. Masterclass : How to Work with Hospitals as Pharma and Digital Health Companies?

This masterclass meeting was hosted by Eoin Tabb, Chief 2 Clinical Cancer Services Pharmacist at Health Service Executive (Ireland), and anchored by Sarah Boone, Associate Partner at Decimal.health. 

Working with hospitals and digital health companies requires aligning the value proposition of the solution with the incentives and priorities of health systems. This involves understanding key performance indicators and problems faced by hospitals and tailoring the value proposition to meet their specific needs. It is important to demonstrate how the solution can generate financial benefits for the hospital while improving patient well-being. 

Navigating integration considerations involves understanding the financial parameters and operating models of the hospital, seeking feedback from key implementation partners, and avoiding solutions that disrupt workflows or cannibalise existing revenues. When engaging with clinical stakeholders, it is important to evaluate the value equation of the solution, assess implementation capacity, and position the solution as enabling the health systems to achieve quality measures. 

Scaling solutions and engaging with stakeholders requires tailoring solutions to specific contexts, maintaining scalability, and incentivising strategic partners. 

Dive deeper into this topic here.

3. Roundtable: The Role of AI Across the Clinical Trial Landscape

In a recent roundtable meeting anchored by Craig Lipset, Advisor & Founder, Clinical Innovation Partners, and hosted by Alette Brinth, Director of Digital Innovation at Novartis, the group discussed the importance of having a roadmap and demonstrating impact when leveraging AI in clinical trials.

Taking it step by step is crucial when considering the role of AI as it has the potential to bring significant advancements and innovation. It can be used to create new and unique data and insights, customise language for individual users, help with the study design, and improve patient enrollment. AI and analytics can streamline data collection, management, and processing, leading to improved efficiency and decision-making. It can also identify and validate novel digital biomarkers and endpoints. 

AI is leveraged to gather and analyse data on the patient experience, provide real-time feedback and personalise support, whilst enhancing patient satisfaction and engagement. The technology can inform decision-making by analysing patient data and providing deeper insights on clinical decision making. 

Dive deeper into this topic here.

4. Roundtable: Pharmacy as a Catalyst to Scale Digital Health

This roundtable meeting was hosted by Kate O'Reilly, Manager, Health & Life Sciences, EY and anchored by Mike Pace, CEO and Founder, PalmHealthCo. The duo discussed the potential of digital health in transforming the pharmacy sector with pharmacists taking centre stage in providing patient-centric services.Pharmacies are shifting their focus from product-oriented approaches to patient-centred care, with an increasing emphasis on digital therapeutics. 

Pharmacy’s adoption of digital health relies on collaborations with stakeholders such as pharma companies, health plans, and virtual primary care providers. Challenges in scaling pharmacy digital health solutions include limited resources, infrastructure, and restrictions on pharmacist’s prescribing rights. 

There are opportunities for pharmacies to play a central role in patient education and engagement through digital health technologies. Collaborations and integrations with technology developers are crucial in leveraging pharmacy’s potential. Pharmacies can engage patients through virtual care, mail order services, and specialty services, utilising innovative solutions like apps and remote patient monitoring. 

Dive deeper into this topic here.

5. Roundtable: Customer Experience is a New Role in Pharma - What Does it Really Mean?

In this roundtable, hosted by Christof Wedemeyer, Director Patient Experience Cardiovascular, Novartis, and anchored by Ciara Clancy, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Beats Medical. The group discussed the concept of customer experience in the pharmaceutical industry, with discussions of its significance, the shift towards patient-centric care, and the importance of understanding the patient journey.

The focus is on providing a seamless and frictionless healthcare experience for patients through the adoption of digital health solutions and an omni-channel approach. Collaborations with other stakeholders in the healthcare ecosystem, such as payers, are important in driving enhanced customer experiences. Challenges in integrating technology include competing incentives, data interoperability, and sustainable funding models. 

Opportunities lie in continuous health tracking, human-centred design, and fostering collaborations among competitors. AI systems can personalise recommendations and improve accessibility, while measuring customer experience success involves a balance between qualitative and quantitative methods. 

Dive deeper into this topic here.

These are just a few top takeaways from some of our discussions this month. Apply to attend an upcoming HealthXL Community event and get all the insights first hand. 

Join the HXL community, where  members can rewatch our webinars and read the key takeaways from virtual and in-person events, and more. 

See you in a HealthXL meeting soon!