Entrepreneurs have been trying to kill off pen and paper with software for the healthcare industry for at least a decade. But it has really only leaped toward the top of the U.S. political agenda since January 2009, when President Obama said he wanted the nation’s health records to go electronic within five years. A few months later, Congress pumped in an estimated $19 billion in stimulus money for it. Yet many healthcare providers, as well as consumers, are still struggling to adopt technologies that promise to usher in a new era of more efficient, personalized healthcare.
It’s clear that the Northwest, with its diverse talents in software, biotech and healthcare, could be a petri dish where this concept is proven. So Xconomy is bringing together some of the region’s leaders who are using information technology to drive all sorts of innovations across the health spectrum—things that go far beyond simply making electronic medical records. This emerging IT is helping to create more effective new medicines, help consumers take better control of their wellness, and enable providers to deliver healthcare more efficiently.
We have assembled an amazing group of speakers to explore these issues at an event on May 12. The list includes Swedish Medical Center CEO Rod Hochman, who oversees the largest nonprofit hospital in Seattle; Stephen Friend, the founder of Sage Bionetworks, a nonprofit effort to get researchers and physicians to combine data from genomes with clinical observations; and Don Listwin, the founder of the Canary Foundation, a nonprofit devoted to early detection of cancer, partially through a strong biological IT emphasis. Before starting Canary, Listwin was the No. 2 executive at computer networking giant Cisco Systems.
And that’s just the start. We will hear from David Cerino, who oversees Microsoft’s HealthVault program, and Chad Waite of OVP Venture Partners, who has invested for years in companies that seek to apply IT to biological and medical problems. We’ll hear from executives at a number of startups from across the Northwest with a strong biological and healthcare-IT bent, including Seattle-based Geospiza, Victoria, BC-based Genologics, Bellevue, WA-based Talyst, Seattle-based Appature, and Hillsboro, OR-based Kryptiq. And, last but not least, we’ll hear from Greg Foltz, a neurosurgeon at Swedish who works in partnership with the Institute for Systems Biology to come up with personalized treatments for cancer patients.
This event will be from 2 to 6:30 pm on May 12 at the Frye Art Museum, in the heart of Seattle’s hospital district on First Hill. Greg Huang and I will be there to help you direct your questions to this stellar group of speakers. As always, there will be time to carry the conversation further during the networking portion of the evening. You can find out more details on how to register, by clicking here.
