Talking HealthTech

How do you avoid concerns of privacy breaches when it comes to contact tracing? By utilising bluetooth technology, Contact Harald is helping Australian companies get back to business safely.

Peter Vranes from Nutromics talks about their innovative smart patch biosensor technology, as well as helpful insights and guidance for founders and entrepreneurs.

Sally-Ann Williams is the CEO of Cicada Innovations. Cicada Innovations is Australia’s pioneering deep tech incubator supporting companies solving the world's most pressing problems through science & engineering. Cicada Innovations has nurtured hundreds of visionary deep tech innovators to validate, commercialise and scale high impact technologies globally across MedTech, HealthTech, AgTech, FoodTech, Clean Energy, AI, Industry 4.0 and more. Prior to joining Cicada Innovations Sally-Ann spent over 12 years at Google as an Executive Program Manager on the engineering team leading work on R&D collaborations with universities, startup and entrepreneurship engagement and pioneering work on CS & STEM education including building world first collaborations delivering national transformation. She is on the boards of World Vision Australia, Fishburners and Cicada Innovations. She is an advisor to several state and national working groups on tech & innovation and is a mentor and advisor to several industry and university incubators & accelerators including Startmate. In this episode you will learn about Cicada Innovations and their involvement in the deeptech sector. You will learn more about what exactly is “deep tech” and what it looks like when it’s done well. You will hear about some of the exciting innovations coming from of Cicada Innovations members, and get an understanding of how Australia compares with the rest of the world when it comes to innovation and deep tech. Founders and entrepreneurs from any industry will also get loads of helpful information and motivating advice around innovating, commercialising and building a company. A lot of learnings from this episode, so we added a load of new terms to our glossary on the Talking HealthTech website including definitions for: Incubators & Accelerators, Research & Development, STEM, Agtech, Foodtech, Industry 4.0, Intellectual Property (IP), Venture Capital, Molecular Diagnostics and Prototype. Full show notes are available on the Talking HealthTech website here. To see the latest information, news, events and jobs on offer at Cicada Innovations, visit their Talking HealthTech Directory here.

What healthtech solutions have you acquired for your medical practice this year? Hear Kelly Chard from GrowthMD provide their practical guide to making the most of your investment and how to avoid common pitfalls.

How do you drive big system change in healthcare? Check out this interview with Duane Attree from Potential(x) and Health Round Table to learn more...

Berne Gibbons is Head of Business Innovation and Partnerships at InfoMedix Berne is a respected leader in the healthcare industry with a background in Nursing, Pharmaceutical Industry and Digital Technology spanning 40 years. Listen to this episode to hear about her commitment to advancing Digital Health in Australia, and her desire to educate and inform the current and future healthcare workforce in Australia to utilise technology to its full potential. You will hear about Berne’s impressive history as a clinician, drug rep, business woman an decision maker within various healthcare settings along her career, which have led her to her current role at InfoMedix. You will also hear her passion for standards and interoperability within healthcare. Check out the episode and full show notes here. To see the latest information, news, events and jobs on offer at InfoMedix, visit their Talking HealthTech Directory here.

In this episode of Talking HealthTech, we sit down with Cheryl Maley; General Manager of Oncology For Australia, New Zealand at Novartis, Krystal Barter; CEO of Humanise Health and the founder of Pink Hope, and Holly Masters; CEO of the McGrath Foundation. With the growing number of people avoiding getting routine checkups, health screenings, and early diagnostic tests because of the pandemic, Novartis has created the Wellness Day Campaign. It aims to motivate individuals to focus on their health for a moment during these challenging times. Novartis is a leading global medicine company focused on innovative science, digital technologies, and data that lead to transformative medicines. Check out the episode and full show notes here. To see the latest information, news, events and jobs on offer at Novartis, visit their Talking HealthTech Directory here.

Leading into 2020, there was already strong interest from the Australian investment community regarding healthtech solutions. Now moving into our new normal world, the use of technology in delivering better patient outcomes is no longer a novel idea, it's mission critical for Australia, and the rest of the world. In this episode of the Talking HealthTech podcast, Peter Birch hosts a panel discussion with representatives from 3 top Venture Capital firms in Australia, who all have experience and interest in investing in health technology: - Niki Scevak: Co-Founder & Partner @Blackbird Ventures - Dan Krasnostein: Partner @Square Peg Capital - Jackie Vullinghs: Principal @AirTree Ventures Some of the topics discussed and questions answered: The Role Of Venture Capital In the healthcare ecosystem Differentiating pure healthtech versus life science-based companies Marketing healthtech products - avoiding common mistakes At what pace should healthtech companies generate investments & sales? How challenging has raising funds for a healthtech company been in 2020? What investment opportunities do venture capitals consider? Advice for founders seeing investment This episode was recorded as a live webinar, with over 100 attendees attending live who interacted in the session with chat, Q&A, and polls. Check out the episode and full show notes here. To see the latest information, news, events and jobs on offer at AirTree, Blackbird, and Square Peg, visit their Talking HealthTech Directory listings.

Athol Hann is a critical care and emergency nurse, and the founder of Fwards; an app designed to assist healthcare workers to control the fundamentals of shift work and off-load from the demands of working in healthcare. In this episode of the Talking HealthTech Podcast, Athol speaks to Pete about the challenges facing clinicians on the coalface of healthcare today, and shares some first hand advice to fellow healthcare workers who might be experiencing burnout. Check out the episode and full show notes here. To see the latest information, news, events and jobs on offer at AtholTech, visit their Talking HealthTech Directory here.

Kate Quirke is CEO and Managing Director at Alcidion. Kate has more than 25 years of experience in healthcare information technology She has been involved in large system procurements and implementations of healthcare information technology across Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia. Kate’s background involves holding leading management roles at some of the largest healthcare software firms where she has had an impact on strategic product direction across the health sector and believes astute application of information technology will support the transformation of healthcare delivery worldwide. In this interview, learn about Kate’s background in healthcare IT, as well as the 20 year evolution of Alcidion. You will hear about their flagship product Miya Precision, and how it’s helping clinicians operate with more efficient workflows using their clinical decision support (CDS) tool. You will learn about the most important elements of what makes a good digital health strategy, as well as why it’s important to have a good understanding of healthcare data and analytics. Kate describes her vision for driving change in healthcare models of delivery, and their focus on supporting caregivers with positive user experiences. Check out the episode and full show notes here. To see the latest information, news, events and jobs on offer at MTAA, visit their Talking HealthTech Directory here.

Ian Burgess is the CEO of the Medical Technology Association of Australia (MTAA), the national association representing companies in the medical technology industry in Australia. In this episode, Ian chats with Pete about the collaborations, innovations and evolution we’ve seen within the Australian MedTech industry particularly in the past 12 months. He also talks to the response to COVID from the medtech industry and the related impact and opportunities presented. Check out the episode and full show notes here. To see the latest information, news, events and jobs on offer at MTAA, visit their Talking HealthTech Directory here.

Deana Scott is Founder and CEO of VMORE. Deana and VMORE helps medical specialists start and scale their practices, and she continues to re-design, apply new technologies, processes, and systems to improve the ‘virtual private practice’ model. In this episode you will hear about Deana’s career, and the evolution of virtual services within healthcare. Deana also provides some helpful advice for healthcare providers about leveraging virtual services, as well as tips for implementing successful telehealth and remote monitoring services. Check out the episode and full show notes here. To see the latest information, news, events and jobs on offer at VMORE, visit their Talking HealthTech Directory here.

Hootan Mohseni is the founder of Cliniq Apps, a company that helps practitioners create and manage patient recall, retention and reactivation campaigns simultaneously across multiple channels. In this episode, Hootan talks about automation in a clinical setting - how it looks when it is done well, and what can go wrong when it fails. He also gives some super practical tips for anyone wanting to automate or streamline some processes and communication in their healthcare business right away. Check out the episode and full show notes here. To see the latest information, news, events and jobs on offer at Cliniq Apps, visit their Talking HealthTech Directory listing here.

Hanya Oversby is Director and Healthcare Business Adviser for the company Specialist Consulting, and the company Health Business Network. She is also the host of the Doctor Diaries Podcast, which takes listeners behind the scenes of the intriguing medical world. In this episode, Hanya explores the challenges and opportunities facing the business of Australian GPs today, and the benefits of a “Business Reset” to get things back on track. Hanya also covers some valuable lessons she has picked up in her career as an established consultant to the medical community. Check out the episode and full show notes here. To see the latest information, news, events and jobs on offer at Health Business Network, visit their Talking HealthTech Directory here.

Mir Imran is a healthcare innovator and entrepreneur who has been developing and commercialising breakthrough medical innovations for more than 40 years. He is founder and CEO of Rani Therapeutics,and he is focused on developing breakthrough technology that has the potential to disrupt the pharmaceutical industry by converting injectable medications into pills. Tune into this episode of the podcast to hear all about the RaniPill, and how they made a robotic pill that injects medication into the intestinal wall. You will also hear Mir’s advice and reflections on his years of experience and wisdom in the medtech and life science industries, and get a taste of the exciting innovations ahead of us. Check out the episode and full show notes here. To see the latest information, news, events and jobs on offer at RaniPill, visit their Talking HealthTech Directory here.

Luke Fletcher is Co-Founder and CEO of Foxo, a global communication platform for enterprise Health. Foxo sets out to engineer modern solutions to today’s communication challenges, and they’re on a mission to connect a fragmented health system. Hear Luke describe what Foxo does and the challenges it overcomes regarding communication in healthcare. You will also learn about Luke’s experience with product design, and how these best practices need to be leveraged in healthcare. Check out the episode and full show notes here. To see the latest information, news, events and jobs on offer at Foxo, visit their Talking HealthTech Directory here.

Mike Wenger is the Vice President of Patient Engagement at TrialScope, a company out of New Jersey who are unlocking clinical trial data superpowers. They’re helping to make centralising, structuring and activating clinical trial information simple for use across an organisation at every stage of a study. Mike has made a career within the clinical trial space and helping patient advocacy groups support clinical trial awareness to their online communities. In this episode, hear the story of TrialScope and the work it does regarding clinical trial data. You will learn about the challenges facing patients, sponsors and recruiters when it comes to clinical trial enrolment and recruitment. You’ll also hear about Mike’s personal story and health scare which motivated him to be where he is now. Full show notes and summary of the episode is available here. For more information about TrialScope check out their listing on the Talking HealthTech directory here.

Ali Besiso is Managing Director of iCIMS, creating technology to solve the problem of producing tailored information systems for clinical teams. Ali is a passionate Health Informatician who holds a Bachelor’s degree in Health Sciences and a Master’s in Health Informatics from the University of Sydney. In this episode Ali talks with Pete about Clinical Information Systems, Process Redesign, and User Experience (UX). He also takes a deep dive into health informatics, and the important work of health informaticians. Check out the episode and full show notes here, as well as the iCIMS listing on the Talking HealthTech Directory here.

Tim Atkins is the COO of CancerAid, a digital health technology company that builds patient engagement solutions for people with a cancer diagnosis. In this episode, you will learn about Tim’s unique career pathway that drew him to CancerAid, and his reflections and advice for others who want to enter into a career with a healthtech start up. Tim talks about the process of instigating behavioural change in cancer patients and the importance of patient engagement, as well as the challenges of delivering a hyper personalised healthcare solution at scale using technology. He also provides his two cents on pitching for fundraising for healthtech startups. Check out the episode and full show notes here. Visit CancerAid on the Talking HealthTech Directory here to see the latest information, news, events and jobs on offer at the company.

Robert Buehrig is the co-founder and CEO of Cogniom, a company that is empowering organisations to discover new truths through the collection and analysis of data. Cogniom's TANDM Suite helps bridge the gap of understanding between executives and front line staff, ensuring decisions made create the best possible outcomes for clients, staff and business alike. In this episode, hear about how to best demonstrate your Return on Investment (ROI) as a healthtech start up, and how to engage with different buyers across healthcare. Robert also shares his experiences and successes regarding raising funding via grants and other means to help kickstart his business. Check out Cogniom’s listing on the Talking HealthTech website here.

Mary Foley is the Managing Director of Telstra Health. Telstra Health is one of the largest Australian owned health technology companies, and is a subsidiary of Telstra Corporation, which is Australia’s largest telecommunications company. Prior to joining Telstra Health, Mary was Director General and Secretary of NSW Health for a five-year term. She has also previously held roles as National Health Practice Leader for PwC Australia, Chief Executive of St Vincent’s and Mater Health Sydney, and a senior executive of a major listed Australian healthcare company. Mary was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia for her contribution to public administration in health and education in 2016. She’s received the Centenary Medal from the Federal Government for her business leadership in the private sector, and she is a former Telstra NSW Business Woman of the Year. In this interview, Mary reflects on her distinguished career in healthcare, and how she became Managing Director of Telstra Health. You’ll hear about the history of Telstra Health, and how it went from being a corralled group of acquisitions to a cohesive digital health innovator. You will also hear about the impact of COVID-19 on Telstra Health and healthcare more broadly, as well as Mary’s perspective on the response to COVID from the Australian digital health community.

Bronwyn Le Grice is Founder, CEO and Managing Director of ANDHealth, a national digital health initiative established by commercial and government partners to facilitate and support the development & commercialisation of clinically validated digital health technologies across Australia. Bronwyn has many years of executive experience in the life sciences sector spanning corporate and business development, transaction management, investor relations and industry advocacy. In this episode learn about ANDHealth and the impact it has on the digital health ecosystem down under. Hear about insights from their recently released Digital Health landscape report, as well as subsequent insights into the current climate. Bronwyn also shares some important tips for emerging digital health companies in Australia, as well as a glimpse into what’s to come from ANDHealth this year and next. Check here for full show notes and more information.

Dr April Armstrong is a rural GP with a passion for business. She is the CEO of Business For Doctors, a social network and business advisory firm for Australian clinicians to help them run a better business. In addition to that, she owns two medical practices and has won a bunch of awards and invested in various initiatives supporting health care. She also actively supports medical students and overseas trained doctors during their transition into the Australian medical system. In this interview you will hear the April Armstrong story (a fascinating one filled with babies, farms and private investigators…) as well as the origins of Business For Doctors. April provides insights into the history of Medicare and shares her thoughts on the handling of telehealth billing. She also covers the joys of providing a healthcare service in rural and regional Australia. More information and full show notes located here.

Dr Karen Price is a clinical GP, and Past Practice Owner. And up until recently she was the Deputy Chair, Victorian Faculty of the RACGP - she stepped down from this role as she is now a Candidate for the RACGP Presidential Elections. Karen is also the Co-Founder and administrator of GPs Down Under (GPDU) - a membership community featuring nearly 8,000 GPs focused on peer learning, peer advocacy, and peer support. In this interview, learn about the rise of social media and its role in clinician support and education. You’ll hear about Karen’s bid to become the new RACGP President and what she will bring to the role. You will also hear of the impact of telehealth on the Australian GP community, and the benefits of patients taking a more active role in their healthcare. For complete show notes about this interview and many more resources for Australian healthcare providers about technology, check out the Talking HealthTech website.

RACGP President Dr Harry Nespolon has passed away aged 57 following a battle with pancreatic cancer. He died peacefully in his sleep nine months after first being diagnosed. Dr Nespolon was great advocate for General Practice in technology, and supporter of healthtech innovation in Australia. A wonderful clinician and businessman, taken from us way too soon. When Pete from Talking HealthTech last with Dr Nespolon back in November 2019, the idea that Medicare funded telehealth would be a reality only 5 months later seems almost unthinkable, but it came to fruition thanks to his tireless efforts to instigate meaningful change at a policy level. Harry has paved the way for great developments within primary care for years to come. He will be missed.

With me today is Henrik Molin. He’s the CEO of Physitrack, a patient engagement technology company that he co-founded in 2012. Physitrack was initially a side hustle for Henrik in parallel to a career in investment management. He attributes the success he has had in life to the fact he has always had a side hustle. In fact, he believes everyone should have one! During this interview, learn about the extreme rapid growth that Phystrack saw when COVID hit (200% of one year’s growth in only six weeks?! 🤯), and what they learnt during the process. Also hear about the lesser known ‘secret lives of Molin’ including his band’s entries to Eurovisoin, and his own best selling financial fiction that once outsold JK Rowling (in Sweden, but it still counts 🇸🇪 😉) For detailed show notes from the episode, click here.

Dr Chris Jones, Founder and Director of HosPortal, who are all about better management of healthcare staff by allowing better communication. Chris is like the double threat of healthtech - a software developer / computer programmer turned doctor, which means that the software solutions we creates directly address the needs of clinicians and solve some genuine problems in healthcare. In this episode you will hear all about Hosportal and the problems it solves for healthcare professionals and organisations. You will hear Chris’ story and how he came into his passion for technology for healthcare. You will also hear about the impact of COVID-19 on the hospital environment in Australia, as well as the adoption of technology within healthcare. Click here full episode notes.

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 digital health in Australia during that time, and what healthcare looks like post COVID-19. Click here for full show notes and more information.

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 those on a transaction by transaction basis, we’ve thought long and hard on how to do it in a scalable way. So we are super pumped to launch our new offering to the industry: Talking HealthTech is no longer just a podcast, it’s where healthtech happens. What is the big news? Talking HealthTech is now a membership community and online directory of all the technical providers making healthtech solutions, healthcare providers using healthtech solutions, and supporting services who are helping make sure those solutions are created, implemented and utilised in an optimal way. Think, like a “Glassdoor” or a “Trip Advisor”, or a “Compare the Market”, but for healthtech companies, and from the perspective of the Australian healthcare practitioner. We now have a brand new website, still at talkinghealthtech.com, which features the largest, most comprehensive, and engaging, online directory of healthtech providers, solutions and resources who are servicing Australian healthcare practitioners. Doesn’t the industry already have healthtech directories? Kind of. I guess we kind of already had healthtech podcasts when I started this show as well... But I looked for healthtech directories, and I just couldn’t find anything close to what I think we need in this industry today. Until now, we didn’t have anywhere for all the stakeholders in Australian HealthTech - so the software vendors, device manufacturers, biotech companies, telehealth providers, patient apps, consultants, IT Support companies ALL of these different players - to go to a place, other than those companies own websites, to get an informed view on how those companies stack up against their peers. Healthtech now has a home. A place to come back to. A point of reference. Generally, so many of our buying decisions on a day to day now factor in online reviews. We trust online reviews so much more than messaging than the company's websites. So the new Talking HealthTech Directory is better than any other online healthtech directory you’ve seen. It’s way more engaging. But it’s not just about reviews and comparing either - it’s also been created as a lead generation tool for the companies who list themselves on the directory. So, all of these doctors, physios, nurses, the end users of all these solutions; they are searching this directory looking for the right solution for their practice. The site has been optimised to make it super easy for those end users to contact their preferred vendor for more information, or “get matched” to the right provider if they don’t know who they are looking for. When they fill out a get matched form, the lead gets presented to those companies listed under that category. Our website is really nice to navigate too. Stuff is laid out in a logical way, it’s easy to ger around - hopefully you’ll want to stay on there for a bit, explore the content, and find out more about a particular company, or just peruse it and learn somet

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 episode explore the rising use of mobile apps in healthcare, as well as the current trends, safety, regulation and future of digital health. Listeners of this episode can also score a 10% discount on the Digital Health Guide by using the promo code Kk4ilNs9, valid until the end of June 2020.

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 get some great tips on running your own business in the healthcare arena. Make sure you check out Clinic Mastery’s free clinic assessment tool mentioned on the show by following this link.

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 fosters a culture of innovation internally. You’ll hear about their Eureka Live program and how the company engages with the medtech industry to maintain its reputation as a lead innovator. You will also hear from Dr Buzz Palmer, CEO of the MedTech Actuator, as he reflects on the challenges and opportunities facing the medtech industry today. First up is Andrew Whiltshire. He is Senior Director, Market Access, Public Affairs & Policy for both Australia and New Zealand at Medtronic. He is also sits on the Board of the Medical Technology Association of Australia. Andrew has been with Medtronic for over 24 years, and he is responsible for Health Economics, Market Access, Policy and Government and Stakeholder Relations at Medtronic, as well as coordinating Government Affairs for the APAC region. Pete spoke with Andrew first, to get to know a bit more about the background of Medtronic and how they bake innovation into everything they do. Next up Pete spoke with Prajni Sadananda. Prajni is the Business Development & Corporate Strategy Manager at Medtronic, where her key focus is on investment opportunities and partnerships that can help accelerate business growth. Prajni is also responsible for Medtronic’s Eureka Live program - where they are on the hunt for innovative companies that are keen to scale up and collaborate with Medtronic from across Australia and New Zealand. Check out Prajni’s interview to learn a bit more about the Eureka Live program. Lastly, Pete spoke with Dr Buzz Palmer - one of Australia’s leading and most visible voices in entrepreneurship and MedTech innovation. He’s the CEO of the MedTech Actuator, founding partner in Dialectica Group, serial entrepreneur and Professor of Entrepreneurship at Monash University. He’s had a lot of entrepreneurial success in medical technologies. He’ mainly focused on the translation of next-generation tech - which is all around creating and leading innovative solutions into new markets. He has a background in orthopaedic regenerative medicine and microsurgery, So he is well positioned to strategically drive innovative medical technology solutions that provide a significant impact on society. Listen to Buzz to learn more about the MedTech space more broadly, and understand the opportunities and challenges that face companies playing in that arena today.

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 ecosystem.

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 provides her insights on starting your own business, running your own company while balancing family and kids, as well as how and when to spin up a side hustle, plus much much more.

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 telemedicine, the broader technology and infrastructure requirements of performing healthcare at the moment, and the broader observation about how humanism is outpacing darwinism in these unprecedented times.

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 how to win in both parts of life.

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 doctor a phone or zoom log in and say go nuts, there is a fair bit more infrastructure that goes around making the COVID-19 screening process and tele-consult actually work. Healthtech providers around Australia have been working day and night to fasttrack new features and modify their existing products due to COVID-19. And the leaders of 4 of those well known companies are here on this live panel discussion today. Tess Van der Rijt - CEO of Medinet Dr Ben Hurst - CEO and CoFounder of HotDoc Pete Williams - CEO and CoFounder of Medipass Rami Weiss - CoFounder of Healthshare What’s really cool as well, is all of these panelists have previously appeared on the Talking HealthTech podcast - so they will join this elite club that I just made up for people who have appeared not just once, but twice, on the show. This episode was recorded during a livestream video panel interview, where attendees engaged with the panelists, asked questions, completed polls and networked amongst their peers. It was super cool to have the direction of the show be heavily influenced by where the attendees wanted to take it. In this episode, hear from the leaders of some of Australia’s biggest healthtech companies on how they are supporting GPS and clinicians during the COVID-19 pandemic. Learn about the practicalities of implementing Telehealth in a clinic, the nuances of the new billing rules announced by the government and recommendations for some of the best tools to run a productive practice during social distancing restrictions.

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 Cliniko has adapted to the environment. Joel gives some useful tips for working from home, teleconsulting and other productivity hacks to be your best during these challenging times.

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 global catastrophe, the need has never been more obvious to have a single voice, a consistent message and some clear direction. So, at this MSIA Forum earlier in the month, much like last time, Pete was able to catch a lot of the presenters after they spoke for a few minutes debrief - essentially this episode of the Talking HealthTech podcast is the TLDR of the MSIA March Forum. If you want to check out the slides from these presenters and see the full program of who presented, get in touch with the MSIA and learn about becoming a member, as these presentations are filled with amazing insights that aren’t for public release. It’s simply a non-negotiable in our opinion for all healthtech vendors in Australia to be a member of the MSIA. Interviews in this episode include: George Tambassis, National President of the Pharmacy Guild of Australia. He has been a community pharmacist for over 25 years and is a partner in 5 community pharmacies in and around the city of Melbourne. As president of the guild, he is essentially the voice of the 5,700 pharmacists in Australia George has a keen interest in enabling community pharmacies in Australia to work to their full scope of practice to maximise benefits for patients and the health system At the MSIA Forum in Melbourne, George participated on a health policy panel session called “Sharing the health burden and pushing the boundaries, Health leaders stake their claims”. It was fascinating to watch George debate some important topics with the President of the AMA - who essentially represented every doctor in the country, to see what they definitely agreed on, kind of agreed on, and definitely did not agree on. In a chat with me after the panel, George shared some of his key takeaways from the session. Dr Tony Bartone, President of the Australian Medical Association, Tony shared his thoughts on what needs to change in healthcare in light of bushfires and corona virus, and what all parts of the ecosystem should be focusing on to enable better patient care and a more sustainable healthcare system Toby Hall, Group CEO of St Vincent’s Health Australia. Toby presented to the forum a session called “A brave new idea for health funding and opportunities for industry” Contrary to what you think the leader of one of Australia’s largest provider of hospitals would say, Toby talks about how the future is not delivered in acute hospital, and how we should stop investing in hospital beds. Listen in more to his debrief to learn more about his approach. Professor Trish Williams, Cisco Chair, and Professor of Digital Health Systems at Flinders University. Trish knows health technology - she essentially launched the first ever practice management system for general practitioners in Australia. Trish spoke at the forum about user experience design, and the important aspects of designing good software, especially when it comes to the healthcare arena. Trish gave some insights f

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 healthcare, what to do with all this patient data, as well as his perspective on the European and global healthtech scene. Bertalan also shares some very handy tips for any Doctors currently going through medical school about how to prepare for the future of medicine.

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, Coviu Charles Lynam - Commercial Director, Hosportal

Dr James Somauroo is Co-Founder at HS. Ventures, a UK-based accelerator and VC that builds, scales and invests in the best healthtech startups. James hosts the HS. Health-Tech Podcast, featuring 2 episodes a week with listeners in over 80 countries, interviewing inspiring entrepreneurs in this space. He is also is a contributor to Forbes in the UK. He is an anaesthetics and ICU doctor by training, and held roles in leadership at the NHS, Health Education England and the British Medical Journal and he previously directed an accelerator that provided startups with market access to the NHS. He also has degrees in biomedical sciences and education, and a guest lecturer on healthtech innovation and entrepreneurship at University College London. In this episode, James talks all about HS. Ventures and why it exists. He explains what an accelerator and navigator does, and their importance in the health ecosystem. Listen in for valuable insights from James about what to do and what not to do when you’re trying to raise money as a healthtech start up. (This guy has seen many pitch decks in his time!) Learn about the healthtech space in the UK, and whether or not it’s worth having a go at cracking the NHS if you’re from Australia or anywhere else in the world. He also talks about how his own healthtech podcast came about, and some of the amazing guests he has had in his time, including Talking HealthTech’s very own Peter Birch later this week! Swapcast time!

Chris Smeed is the CEO and Founder of Cubiko, a business report and analyst tool made especially for general practices, and they are making a bit of noise here in Australia. Chris has extensive experience in healthcare, cloud based solutions and accounting services. He holds a Masters of Business Administration and a Masters of Professional Accounting, and he’s also an accredited BAS agent and certified Xero partner, so he has a lot of first hand experience about every facet of running a clinic - from balancing the books of a medical practice on a day to day, right up to reporting on performance to management and owners. In this episode, learn all about Cubiko how it came together, and the problems it solves for GP practices around Australia, big and small. Chris speaks about the importance of integrations and API feeds to breakdown silos in healthcare performance measurement, and their ethos towards benchmarking nd keeping clinic data secure.

Karen Borg is the CEO of Healthdirect Australia, working with government partners to deliver innovative and trusted health information and services to all Australians so they can connect to the right care at the right time, wherever and whenever they need it. In this episode, Pete and Karen talk about the different offerings of Healthdirect, the important role they play in supporting the government find new innovative healthcare technology solutions. They also talk about the readiness for telehealth in Australia, where we stand compared to other parts of the world, and the carrots and sticks required to facilitate positive change to address complex health challenges.