Women's Health Tech Wednesday 10/12/22
October 12, 2022
On October 12th, we were fortunate to host Dr. Ami Bhatt, of the American College of Cardiology, for our Women’s Health Tech Wednesday. Here is a glimpse of the conversation:
What is your background?
It all really started with the types of patients I was treating, which were adults with congenital heart disease. As a result, when telemedicine came about, I raised my hand to see if a cardiologist would be allowed to use this form of continuous care to see patients more than once a year. Then, I reached out to other companies, and really grew with the process. Especially with COVID-19, it changed a lot and accelerated telemedicine, therefore especially helping me grow alongside telemedicine.
What does Women’s Health Tech mean to you?
There has been a lot more emphasis on studying men versus women, and these gender differences need to be understood and studied better. But as we look at different populations, there are so many ways to help people, and therefore the goal of WHT is two-fold. One is really orienting our technologies towards making sure that we are being inclusive and comprehensive in what we do. The second, is thinking about the women who are actually doing the health tech work correctly and the being innovative.
As a Chief Innovation Officer, what are some of the overlooked aspects that health tech innovators need to keep an eye on?
For one, patient voice. They need to look at which disease should be addressed first and what the patient can do in the absence or in the presence of their clinician. As well as making sure that it is a part of how we design our technology. Secondly, they need to have an understanding of collaborative intelligence, offering opinions to clinicians and physicians. As well as not take away autonomy, but instead collaborate intelligence to assist the physicians. Lastly, they need to keep in mind where the virtual reality is going and show people where the opportunities for growth are.
Can you tell us about some upcoming projects at the ACC?
We are in the midst of talking to several companies to help co-develop, such as screening for cardiovascular disease, and screening for other chest symptoms that cause anxiety and can be reassured earlier. We are also working on virtual reality and brining education into the future, and working with companies on that. Also, we are working with the communities and building a stronger structure on healthcare. Separately, we also want to partner with the NIH and FDA to talk about science and healthcare, in order to improve all aspects and honing in on every company’s strengths.
From your experience, what specific advice would you have for small startups and entrepreneurs about their impact around community health?
Ask yourself: What is your mission? What is your focus? Because you can be the company that does a hundred different things, and you could be innovative in any one of those areas, but you need to reflect on what your mission is as an innovation group.
We would like to extend gratitude to Dr. Ami Bhatt for her insight and time. To check out the video of the full interview, click here.
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