StartUp Health Blog

Where: Washington, DC
When: December 3-5, 2012

The StartUp ‘Mobile’ Health Pavilion brought to you by StartUp Health returns to the  2012 mHealth Summit presented by mHIMSS as a launch showcase for 20 of today’s most innovative seed and early stage startups that are impacting mobile health. Attendees will have a chance to engage directly with the these innovators, entrepreneurs, and founders and get LIVE demos of their mHealth applications as well as see how the use of wireless technology can improve healthcare delivery and patient care.

If you are a startup interested in presenting your company and being a part of the StartUp Health Pavilion please submit your application here. The application deadline is July 31st.

Read all about the 2012 mHealth Summit.

10 Questions with…

Samer Hamadeh
Co-Founder & CEO, Zeel Networks

Healthcare Transformer, StartUp Health Class 1  

Samer is a serial entrepreneur on a mission to make it easier for people to find and book appointments with alternative healthcare and wellness practitioners ranging from acupuncturists and chiropractors to massage therapists, physical therapists, and personal trainers. Samer is the Founder and CEO of Zeel Networks, headquartered in New York City. Zeel has raised over $1.5 million in seed funding from angel investors including Esther Dyson, Ravi Mhatre, Tim Kendall, and Matt Ocko.  Samer was recently EIR at Lightspeed Venture Partners. Samer’s last venture, career site Vault.com, was acquired by private equity firm Veronis Suhler Stevenson in 2007.

Describe your company in 140 characters or less.

Zeel makes finding and booking appointments with qualified health & wellness practitioners fast and easy. Compare prices, book instantly.

Why are you passionate about transforming health tech?

Technology makes managing your health simpler, which means everything from tracking your vital statistics to managing healthcare payments to booking an appointment online at your convenience.  You can even get reminders before your appointment. It’s just so much easier.

What was your biggest “a-ha!” moment?

When we first founded Zeel, we assumed that most online healthcare consumers would be motivated by vanity, booking skincare and weight loss treatments. And vanity is indeed a strong motivator. However, we found out that pain is an even stronger motivator – easing the pain from injuries, cancer, fibro, and other chronic conditions. It was a real a-ha moment once I realized that Zeel was perfectly situated to help these people improve their lives and reduce pain. Plus, chronic pain itself is often the root cause of other conditions, like insomnia and depression. It’s really satisfying that we’re helping people live happier, healthier lives with less pain.

What is one piece of advice you’d like to share with other entrepreneurs?

Be tenacious. There’s an increasingly common belief that if you’re not wildly successful within six months, you should pivot dramatically or close down.  In all industries, but particularly in health, building a brand and trust among your customers and tech systems takes time, usually years. You need to stick with it until you reach a tipping point.

What is your super power?

I can follow at least 3 conversations at once.

Who inspires you?

My wife and kids.

What innovation will transform healthcare most in the next 24 months and why?

Mobile

What is your mantra?

“You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take.”  (Wayne Gretzky)

What do you do for fun?

Fishing with my kids, barbecuing and enjoying wine with my wife and friends.  

Check out Zeel.com to learn more or follow them on twitter.

We are excited to announce that Intel has generously signed on to help sponsor and support this year’s StartUp Health Pavilion so that startups will have the opportunity to participate and demo their solutions for free! The StartUp ‘Mobile’ Health Pavilion returns to the 2012 mHealth Summit presented by mHIMSS as a demo showcase for 20 of today’s most innovative seed and early-stage startups that are impacting mobile health. Attendees will have a chance to engage directly with the these innovators, entrepreneurs, and founders and get live demos of their mHealth applications as well as see how the use of wireless technology can improve healthcare delivery and patient care. If you are a startup interested in exhibiting your company and being a part of the StartUp Health Pavilion please submit your application here today. Best of all, this is another free opportunity that we are working with partners to make available for startups and innovators.

Attention mHealth researchers, startups, and entrepreneurs – if you would like to present a talk or participate on a panel at the 2012 mHealth Summit presented by mHIMSS in December, the submission deadline is this week!

For more information, please go to: mHealth Summit – Call for Presentations and share your experience and expertise with over 5,000 leaders in mobile health. The submission deadline is Friday, June 29^th, 2012. Topic tracks include Health and Healthcare Delivery, Global Health, Technology, Business, Policy, and Research. This year’s summit will also feature its first ever Global Health track, which will showcase applications of mHealth topics in the global health field. This cross-cutting track will highlight mHealth efforts to improve health outcomes in low- and middle-income countries including progress and challenges projects have encountered.

The mHealth Summit presented by mHIMSS in partnership with the National Institutes of Health, the mHealth Alliance, and the Foundation for NIH, is the premier international forum connecting the mobile health ecosystem for mobile health research, education, thought leadership, exhibits, and action-provoking panel discussions.  The event will take place December 3-5, at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in the Washington, DC, area.

We also welcome you to apply to demo your mHealth app at the StartUp ‘Mobile’ Health Pavilion, which returns to the 2012 mHealth Summit presented by mHIMSS as a demo showcase for 20 of today’s most innovative seed and early-stage startups that are impacting mobile health. Attendees will have a chance to engage directly with the these innovators, entrepreneurs, and founders and get LIVE demos of their mHealth applications as well as see how the use of wireless technology can improve healthcare delivery and patient care. If you are a startup interested in exhibiting your company and being a part of the StartUp Health Pavilion please submit your application here today. Best of all, this is another free opportunity that we are working with partners to make available for startups and innovators.

10 Questions with…

David Wong
Co-Founder & CEO, Direct Dermatology

Healthcare Transformer, StartUp Health Class 1  

David is a dermatologist on a mission to make it easy and affordable for anyone to get online access to board-certified dermatologists and get immediate assistance in the diagnosis and management of skin diseases. David is CEO of Direct Dermatology, which he co-founded with Rajnish Gupta, MD, PhD, and is headquartered in Palo Alto. Direct Dermatology has received funding by California HealthCare Foundation and angel investors.

Describe your company in 140 characters or less.

Direct Dermatology provides you and your primary care providers with convenient and affordable access to online consultations with US board-certified dermatologists.

Why are you passionate about transforming health tech?

As a physician, I continue to see unnecessary patient morbidity and mortality because of poor access to the appropriate medical care at the right time and place.

What was your biggest “a-ha!” moment?

Seeing so many patients who would have had a different health outcome if they had access to me or my fellow dermatologists sooner.  For example: 1) delayed diagnoses of melanoma (a type of skin cancer) that resulted in death, 2) permanent scarring and disfigurement due to delayed or incorrect treatment of skin rashes.

What is one piece of advice you’d like to share with other entrepreneurs?

Be agile.  Always learn and experiment.

What is your super power?

I wish that I had a super power.

Who inspires you?

My patients inspire me.

What innovation will transform healthcare most in the next 24 months and why?

Telemedicine services that provide increased access to quality health care and better patient outcomes at lower cost.

What is your mantra?

Improve people’s lives.

What do you do for fun?

Spending time with my daughters. Traveling to new countries around the world. Wine tasting with friends.

Answer a question you wish we had asked.

Why did you become an entrepreneur?  The belief that I can help to transform health care.

Learn more about David at Direct Dermatology or follow them on twitter.

World Congress is teaming up with ONC to bring you a national mHealth Innovation exchange event which brings together mHealth entrepreneurs and healthcare IT leaders from across the U.S. in presentation and match-making and commercial collaboration sessions to accelerate the pace of adoption of innovative mHealth solutions in the medical marketplace.

Why Attend?

• Join healthcare IT leaders from across the country and vote for your favorite mHealth entrepreneur presentation highlighting the latest, most cutting-edge mHealth solutions!
• Learn from keynote speaker and ONC Special Assistant for Innovation, Wil Yu, regarding awards from the $1B CMS Innovation Grant Initiative and other Federal programs to support innovation and mHealth adoption!
• Enjoy unparalleled speakers and networking opportunities in historic Back Bay Boston, in an innovation exchange event MA Health Data Consortium CEO Ray Campbell said is “very well done, both logistically as well as substantively.  Lots of strong presenters and a lot of big names in the audience…”

Who Should Attend?

Hospitals/Health Systems

• Chief Information Officers
• Chief Innovation Officers
• IT Directors
• Nurse Informaticists

Payors

• Chief Information Officers
• Chief Innovation Officers
• Provider Relations Executives

Also…

• Primary Care Physicians
• Practice Managers
• Public Health Officials
• mHealth and Technology Entrepreneurs, Vendors
• Venture Capital and Angel Investors
• System Integrators
• Process Redesign, Change and Management Consultants

In November, 2011 the Center for Medicaid and Medicare (CMS) Innovation Center announced $1 Billion in new funding to support health innovation projects across the country. On March 17th, 2012, on the strength of sales of its iPod, iPhone and iPad product lines, Apple Computer’s individual share price hit $600 to cement its position as the world’s most valuable company, worth $540B, just behind the all-time record set by Microsoft, which peaked at $619b in 2000.  And on March 30, 2012, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology closed its public comment period on privacy and security issues and best practices related to the use of mobile devices in healthcare settings…

Commercial Collaboration & Partnering:  In support and recognition of these milestone events, World Congress is proud to host its first mHealth innovation exchange event, whereby provider & payor technology decision-makers will be paired with mHealth entrepreneurs from across the U.S. to facilitate commercial partnerships which both showcase mHealth innovation and accelerate its adoption.  The inaugural one-day  World Congress mHealth Innovation Exchange Conference is scheduled to be held on July 25, 2012 at the Colonnade Hotel in the historic Back Bay of Boston, MA, the largest medical marketplace in the U.S.

Save up to $200 mention StartUp Health’s promo code: MKTPARTNER

For more information regarding the World Congress mHealth Innovation Exchange Conference - New England please visit http://www.worldcongress.com/events/HT12003/ or call 800-647-7600.

In This Update:

• Noteworthy Headlines
• StartUp Health Pavilion
• Diabetes Innovation
• Upcoming Health Events & Challenges
• Requests for StartUp Health Community
• StartUp Health Academy Update

Sell Your Vision, Engage Consumers, Unleash Ingenuity, and Other Noteworthy Headlines

GigaOM: With new app, Facebook brings social insights to consumer health
Entrepreneur: How to Sell Your Startup’s Long-Term Vision
Forbes: 10 Ways That Healthcare Can Engage Consumers
Forbes: Big Data And Health Care Get Engaged
CNN: Obama’s chief tech officer: Let’s unleash ingenuity of the public
BostInno: Can Health Apps Find Users Who Are, Or Are About To Be, Really Sick?
HealthTechZone: Venture Capitalists Still See Healthcare as Major Investment Opportunity

Demo Opportunity: StartUp Health Pavilion at 2012 mHealth Summit!

The StartUp ‘Mobile’ Health Pavilion returns to the 2012 mHealth Summit presented by mHIMSS as a demo showcase for 20 of today’s most innovative seed and early-stage startups that are impacting mobile health. Attendees will have a chance to engage directly with the these innovators, entrepreneurs, and founders and get LIVE demos of their mHealth applications as well as see how the use of wireless technology can improve healthcare delivery and patient care. If you are a startup interested in exhibiting your company and being a part of the StartUp Health Pavilion please submit your application here today. Best of all, this is another free opportunity that we are working with partners to make available for startups and innovators.

Diabetes Innovation 2012: Be The Solution

For the first time in its 100-year history, world renowned Joslin Diabetes Center, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School, will convene an activity designed to carve new pathways to approach this enormous and growing problem of diabetes. Space is limited, so register today to engage with business, government, and academic leaders, entrepreneurs and innovators, talk about projects and ideas, and, together, hope to find some of the missing pieces to this complicated puzzle. Learn more here.

Upcoming Health Events & Challenges

Kauffman Life Science Venture Summit
San Francisco, CA (June 22-23, 2012)

Consumer Electronics Week
New York, NY (June 25-29, 2012)

CONVERGE
Philadelphia, PA (July 10, 2012)

EHR Accessibility Module Challenge
Deadline for submissions: July 23, 2012

World Congress Health Innovation Exchange Conference
Boston, MA (July 25)

World Congress 4th Annual Leadership Summit on mHealth
Boston, MA (July 25-27, 2012)

Palo Alto Medical Foundation linkAges Successful Aging Challenge
Deadline for submissions: July 30, 2012

Health Innovation Summit
San Francisco (August 28, 2012)

Reporting Patient Safety Events Challenge
Deadline for submissions: August 31, 2012

Blue Button Mash Up Challenge
Deadline for submissions: September 6, 2012

Quantified Self
Palo Alto, CA (September 15-16, 2012)

Diabetes Innovation 2012
Arlington, VA (September 23-25, 2012)

Health Data Platform Simple Sign-On Challenge
Deadline for submissions: October 3, 2012

Health Data Platform Metadata Challenge
Deadline for submissions: October 3, 2012

Health 2.0 Fall Conference
San Francisco, CA (October 7-10, 2012)

DC to VC: Health IT Startup Showcase
San Francisco, CA (October 10, 2012)

For even more, visit our listings of Events & Challenges.

Requests for StartUp Health Community

Hiring PHP Hackers
This week we have a Healthcare Transformer looking to hire junior or mid-level PHP developers. If you are interested or know of an exceptional developer who wants to help hack new healthcare solutions please see more here.

The StartUp Health Fellows Program
Here at StartUp Health we are currently looking for Fellows to join the the StartUp Health Fellows Program this fall. Apply here now!

If you have a request for the StartUp Health community that you would like featured in our newsletter, please let us know.  

Update: StartUp Health Academy to Announce Next Class in July!

StartUp Health is reviewing applications for our next three classes of Healthcare Transformers which we will start to announce in July.  The other classes will be announced later this year. We will be reviewing all applications by the end of this month, so feel free to reach out to us if you have any updates since you submitted your application. If you have not yet applied, you can apply today. We have a rolling admissions process; even if you aren’t invited to our next class, you will be considered for future classes. We want to hear all about you, your company, and how you plan to disrupt healthcare!  Be sure to read our FAQs about the program.

JOB DESCRIPTION: Are you a talented and driven PHP developer looking to join a fast-paced startup? Looking for an environment where you can learn a ton and see your ideas move quickly from your brain to actual usage on a fast-growing web site? Zeel.com might be what you’re looking for. 

The ideal candidate is a developer with experience in PHP, strong front-end skills, and a strong desire to work in a start-up environment. This position starts on a contract trial basis, with the expectation of converting to a full-time position within 1 month. 

You’ll have an opportunity to learn and grow with a small team of developers using a variety of skills and technologies. We push code live multiple times per day. Your work will have an immediate and visible impact and your opinions count. 

Required skills: 
HTML, CSS, Javascript, PHP and MySQL 

Helpful to know (or interested in learning) 
Kohana or other MVC Framework 
jQuery 
JSON 
Basic Linux shell 
Version control (SVN) 
Facebook Graph Api 
Smarty 

About Zeel 
Zeel (www.Zeel.com) makes finding and booking appointments with qualified health & wellness practitioners straightforward, fast and easy. Active in 12 cities, including New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Atlanta and Chicago, Zeel is home to a nationwide network of health & wellness practitioners, including massage therapists, chiropractors, registered dietitians, acupuncturists and others. Members can browse profiles of these qualified Zeel Experts, compare prices, check real-time appointment availability, and book online instantly. Users seeking more information can consult member reviews, a Q&A forum with answers from Zeel Experts and a compendium of treatment information that covers everything from acupuncture to Zen Shiatsu. 

New York City-based Zeel was founded in July 2010 by Samer Hamadeh (in StartUp Health’s inaugural class of Healthcare Transformers), co-founder and former CEO of Vault.com and entrepreneur-in-residence at Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Alison Harmelin, an Emmy-nominated television news correspondent. Samer is an active angel investor with stakes in multiple Internet start-ups, including GrubHub, SalesCrunch, PublicStuff, Insidr.com, and Sitesimon. 

To apply, please send resume and cover letter to humanresources@zeel.com

When it comes to prevention and care of diabetes, its comorbidities and complications, data seem to show we may overall be losing ground. For everyone with an interest in this issue (and if you are breathing that should include you) this is not good news from every perspective: cost, efficiency, quality of life and the rest.

We need a call to action.

Diabetes Innovation 2012

For the first time in its 100-year history, world renowned Joslin Diabetes Center, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School, will convene an activity designed to carve new pathways to approach this enormous and growing problem. They have gathered business, government, and academic leaders in the food and nutrition world, those representing health care purchasers and payors, providers of care, and patients. We have also engaged government leaders who decide what gets paid for, what ideas will be funded, and those that need collaborators for innovative studies. Plus, entrepreneurs and innovators in social networks, mobile health, and gaming will be there, along with private funders and foundations and advocates. In total there will be nearly 80 faculty who will be there to engage with you, talk about projects and ideas, and, together, hope to find some of the missing pieces to this complicated puzzle.

See www.diabetesinnovation.org for full details, including the stellar advisory board that helped inform the agenda, or download the registration form.

Now, to make it work, all we need is you!! 

We wanted to let you know about what is sure to be one of the hottest health care and life sciences events of the year:  CONVERGE, MedCityNews.com’s one-day summit in Philadelphia on July 10, where the entire healthcare ecosystem will gather for an empowering discussion of innovation and convergence on healthcare and the life sciences. Register now to save 30% using our discount code: STARTUPHEALTH.

Meet and network with elite startups, some of the most innovative hospital leaders and top decision makers from the medical device, pharma, health IT and investor communities.

Pfizer’s head of clinical innovation will talk about Big Pharma’s transition in a new era for medicine, the chief innovation officer of Children’s Hospital Boston will outline a vision of telemedicine, and a vice president from Medtronic will discuss how the digital health movement can best serve the medical device industry.

CONVERGE will outline the big opportunities, provide guidance to address innovation challenges and determine where the industry is going.

CONVERGE will put innovators of all stripes shoulder-to-shoulder with one another to talk about the next opportunities and the latest in cutting-edge solutions. For more information and details, visit www.medcitynews.com/events/converge.

Here’s a snapshot of the CONVERGE agenda so far:

• Wil Yu, Special Assistant of Innovations & Research, Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT
• Dr. Gary Kurtzman, VP and Managing Director in Life Science Group, Safeguard Scientifics
• Steven Krein, Co-founder & CEO, StartUp Health
• Brandon Rowberry, VP of Innovation Development, UnitedHealth Group
• Albert Shar, VP, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
• David Delaney, CMO, SAP
• Kem Hawkins, CEO, Cook Medical
• Craig Lipset, Head of Clinical Innovation, Pfizer
• Brian Wells, Associate CIO, Penn Medicine
• Naomi Fried, Chief Innovation Officer, Children’s Hospital Boston
• Alan Ying, Venture Partner, Chrysalis Ventures
• Dr. Ken Riff, VP of Strategy and Patient Data Management CRDM, Medtronic
• Dr. Brad Weinberg, Founding Partner, Blueprint Health
• Dr. Arlene A. Forastiere, Senior VP for Medical Affairs, Eviti, and Professor of Oncology at the Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center
• Dr. Anil Jain, Staff Physician at Cleveland Clinic and senior VP and CMIO, Explorys
• Dr. Jennifer Lowry, Center for Personalized Medicine and Therapeutic Innovation, Children’s Mercy Hospital & Clinics
• Steve Auvil, Partner, Benesch
• Andre Blackman, Managing Editor, Pulse & Signal
• Jim Burns, CEO, AssureRx
• Ted Driscoll, Technology Partner, Claremont Creek Ventures
• Don Rose, Director of University of North Carolina’s Carolina KickStart Program
• Richard Russo, CEO, Endomedix
• Mike Scott, Chairman, Board of Directors, National Organization for Rare Disorders
• Steve Tang, President and CEO, University City Science Center of Philadelphia
• David Williams, Health Business Blog
• Jessica Boden, President, Stone Arch Creative

Plus, MedCity CONVERGE will feature an invitation-only startup showcase of innovative emerging companies as selected by MedCity News. There are a limited number of these showcase spots left. If you are interested in having your startup at CONVERGE, please contact us right away to find out how to get 30% off on the showcase registration!

We’re looking forward to seeing you at MedCity’s inaugural CONVERGE summit for healthcare innovation on July 10 in Philadelphia.  Register now!

Datapaloozas, Disruptions, Apps, and Other Noteworthy Headlines

Nadeem Kassam: StartupHealth, Datapalooza and My White House Debut
GigaOM: Doctors on demand: 5 startups wiping out the waiting room
Fast Company: Medical Innovation Needs Silicon Valley Speed, Stat 
O’Reilly Radar: mHealth apps are just the beginning of the disruption in healthcare from open health data
Forbes: 5 Ways Mobile Apps Will Transform Healthcare

Healthcare Transformer Spotlight: Hesky Kutscher, MotherKnows

A member of StartUp Health’s inaugural class of Healthcare Transformers, Hesky Kutscher is a serial entrepreneur on a mission to revolutionize and simplify the way families manage their children’s health. Hesky is Founder and CEO of MotherKnows, headquartered in Palo Alto.  MotherKnows has raised $1.7 Million in a Series A from First Round Capital, Charles River Ventures, Giza Ventures, and Band of Angels. Hesky’s previous company Shoplocal was acquired by Tribune and Gannett in 2004. Hesky is also Chairman and founder of High Gear Media, a leading automotive content network…. Check out our 10 Questions with Hesky Kutscher!

StartUp Health Offers Free Demo Opportunities to 20 mHealth StartUps at HIMSS 2012 mHealth Summit

The StartUp ‘Mobile’ Health Pavilion returns to the HIMSS 2012 mHealth Summit as a demo showcase for 20 of today’s most innovative seed and early-stage startups that are impacting mobile health. Attendees will have a chance to engage directly with the these innovators, entrepreneurs, and founders and get LIVE demos of their mHealth applications as well as see how the use of wireless technology can improve healthcare delivery and patient care. If you are a startup interested in presenting your company and being a part of the StartUp Health Pavilion please submit your application here today.

Get Your Discount Registration to CONVERGE

Don’t miss your chance to hear from StartUp Health’s own Steve Krein and connect with other top executives to find out what matters and why in today’s era of change and innovation in healthcare. Attend CONVERGE: a one-day executive summit about innovation and convergence in healthcare. On July 10 in Philadelphia, you’ll hear from the hottest start-ups, meet with the most innovative hospital leaders and top decision makers from the medical device, pharma, health IT, and investor communities. You’ll join in the debate and discussion of the leading trends driving this transformation, share best practices with those driving today’s healthcare innovations, and be introduced to the most promising startups. Register today with code STARTUPHEALTH to save 30%.

Apply Now for Showcase at World Congress mHealth Innovation Exchange Conference

The inaugural one-day World Congress mHealth Innovation Exchange Conference is scheduled to be held on July 25, 2012 at the Colonnade Hotel in the historic Back Bay of Boston, MA. Now is your last chance to apply for a showcase spot; the deadline is this Friday, June 15, 2012. Go here to read more and download an application today.

Upcoming Health Events & Challenges

Games for Health Conference
Boston, MA (June 12-14, 2012)

Digital Health Summer Summit
San Diego, CA (June 14-15)

Kauffman Life Science Venture Summit
San Francisco, CA (June 22-23, 2012)

Consumer Electronics Week
New York, NY (June 25-29, 2012)

CONVERGE
Philadelphia, PA (July 10, 2012)

EHR Accessibility Module Challenge
Deadline for submissions: July 23, 2012

World Congress Health Innovation Exchange Conference
Boston, MA (July 25)

World Congress 4th Annual Leadership Summit on mHealth
Boston, MA (July 25-27, 2012)

Palo Alto Medical Foundation linkAges Successful Aging Challenge
Deadline for submissions: July 30, 2012

Health Innovation Summit
San Francisco (August 28, 2012)

Reporting Patient Safety Events Challenge
Deadline for submissions: August 31, 2012

Blue Button Mash Up Challenge
Deadline for submissions: September 6, 2012

Quantified Self
Palo Alto, CA (September 15-16, 2012)

Health Data Platform Simple Sign-On Challenge
Deadline for submissions: October 3, 2012

Health Data Platform Metadata Challenge
Deadline for submissions: October 3, 2012

Health 2.0 Fall Conference
San Francisco, CA (October 7-10, 2012)

DC to VC: Health IT Startup Showcase
San Francisco, CA (October 10, 2012)

For even more, visit our listings of Events & Challenges.

StartUp Health Fellows Program

We are currently looking for Fellows to join the the StartUp Health Fellows Program this fall. Apply here now!

Update: StartUp Health Academy Reviewing Applicants for Next 3 Classes!

StartUp Health is reviewing applications for our next three classes of Healthcare Transformers which we will start to announce at the end of June.  The other classes will be announced later this year. We will be reviewing all applications by the end of this month, so feel free to reach out to us if you have any updates since you submitted your application. If you have not yet applied, you can apply today. We have a rolling admissions process; even if you aren’t invited to our next class, you will be considered for future classes. We want to hear all about you, your company, and how you plan to disrupt healthcare!  Be sure to read our FAQs about the program.

StartUp Health is proud to be a partner in MedCity News CONVERGE!

This summer, anyone with a vested interest in healthcare will get the chance to engage in discussion, debate and brainstorming with some of the industry’s most forward-thinking executives and innovators. Pfizer’s head of clinical innovation will talk about Big Pharma’s transition in a new era for medicine, the chief innovation officer of Children’s Hospital Boston will outline a vision of telemedicine, and a vice president from Medtronic will discuss how the digital health movement can best serve the medical device industry. It’s all happening at the first ever CONVERGE summit for healthcare innovation on July 10 at The Hyatt at The Bellevue in Philadelphia, Pa.

Hosted by MedCityNews.com, the one-day summit will explore healthcare’s leading trends and share best practices among some of the industry’s most innovative hospital systems and leading medical device, digital health, pharmaceutical and information technology companies.

Keynote speaker Wil Yu of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will be joined by Craig Lipset, Pfizer’s head of clinical innovation; Dr. Brad Weinberg, a founding partner of Blueprint Health; Anil Jain, CMIO at Explorys and former senior executive director of IT at the Cleveland Clinic; Steven Krein, Co-Founder & CEO of StartUp Health; and many more. In provocative keynotes, panels, and breakout sessions, they’ll be talking about:

• Telemedicine: Best practices and new frontiers
• A new roadmap for tech transfer: Ideas on the best path for innovation out of the nation’s universities 
• Personalized medicine: What are the pathways to success?
• Convergence worth investing in: The hottest investment segments
• Mobile health: What kind of scientific standard will be coming for app developers seeking to serve patients?
• CIOs and health IT: Exploring new solutions for EHR

CONVERGE will also showcase some of today’s hottest health startups – a largely hand-picked collection of early-stage companies showing how convergence is done.

Find details and registration information at www.medcitynews.com/events/converge.  Register today with code STARTUPHEALTH to save 30%. Twitter users should use the hashtag #ConvergeConf for event discussion.

Digital Health Summer Summit, An Rx for Success on June 14th and 15th
Startup Advice, Partnership Workshops, Health Networks, and More

StartUp Health is proud to be a sponsor of the Digital Health Summer Summit. Building on the success of their January Digital Health Summit at the International CES, this two-day event promises a deeper dive into the rapidly evolving world of technology and healthcare.

Summit events include workshop-style sessions coupled with high-level discussions addressing digital health products and services, startup advice, partnership workshops, health networks, and more. Industry leaders will share current realities, insights and solutions to the many challenges facing digital health businesses today.

StartUp Health has ONE free pass to the Digital Health Summer Summit this week in San Diego, CA!  This is a $595 value. Would you like to go? Here are the rules:

1) You must have applied for StartUp Health Academy (apply right now or have an application on file).

2) You must send us a Tweet to @startuphealth telling us why you’d like to go to the Digital Health Summer Summit.

3) You must be able to put the pass to use!

4) You must apply by end of day today.

That’s it! We will randomly give the ticket to ONE winner!

See more about the Digital Health Summer Summit here: http://summersummit.digitalhealthsummit.com/

10 Questions with…

Hesky Kutscher
Founder & CEO, MotherKnows

Healthcare Transformer, StartUp Health Class 1  

Hesky is a serial entrepreneur on a mission to revolutionize and simplify the way families manage their children’s health. Hesky is Founder and CEO of MotherKnows, headquartered in Palo Alto.  MotherKnows has raised $1.7 Million in a Series A from First Round Capital, Charles River Ventures, Giza Ventures, and Band of Angels. Hesky’s previous company Shoplocal was acquired by Tribune and Gannett in 2004. Hesky is also Chairman and founder of High Gear Media, a leading automotive content network.

Describe your company in 140 characters or less.

MotherKnows lets parents access their children’s medical records. Parents can have this info for form-filling, traveling, and emergencies.

Why are you passionate about transforming health tech?

It is just amazing that in 2012 we can manage all our finances and meet new people online but we cannot access our medical records online.

What was your biggest “a-ha!” moment?

It was during a time when I was rehabilitating from an injury that I realized that I had completely forgotten who I saw and what tests were run on me.

What is one piece of advice you’d like to share with other entrepreneurs?

Jump in and be tenacious. Nobody wakes up thinking about you so YOU need to remind them who you are and why they need you.

What is your super power?

Connecting with people and getting them to help our cause.

Who inspires you?

People who have achieved much but have their ego in check.

What innovation will transform healthcare most in the next 24 months and why?

The ability for anyone anywhere to have total online access to their own health information.

What is your mantra?

HUSTLE and never give up.

What do you do for fun?

Traveling all around the world.

Answer a question you wish we had asked.

What is your mission? To make the world a better place.

Learn more about Hesky and the rest of the team at MotherKnows.com or follow them on twitter.

We are currently looking for Fellows to join the the StartUp Health Fellows Program this fall. This is an opportunity to get practical experience from a team of passionate entrepreneurs, investors, and mentors focused on meaningful innovation. You’ll have a chance to work on and implement a series of important projects ranging from research and business analysis, developing insight reports, social media, marketing, PR, event coordination and planning, and working with health tech startups to help them succeed. We are looking to work with super-smart, passionate people that want to be responsible for initiatives that will directly impact our rapidly growing business and who want to engage with and help health startups succeed. Apply here now!

1600+ innovators, officials, entrepreneurs, developers, and doctors attended HDI Forum III: The Health Datapalooza this week! StartUp Health was proud to be on the selection committee responsible for putting on such a spectacular event. Speakers included US CTO Todd Park, Jon Bon Jovi, US VA Deputy Secretary W. Scott Gould, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, doctor and Senator Bill Frist, and many more! If you missed the event this year, check out Twitter using #healthdata.

StartUp Health’s inaugural class of Healthcare Transformers convened in Washington DC this week for their quarterly in-person peer forum and working session.  There’s nothing more energizing and inspiring than spending a full day supercharging with a team full of passionate Healthcare Transformers.

We often get questions about what we do in these quarterly workshops so we thought we would share some of the details about what we accomplished on Monday…

It was an extraordinary all-day marathon starting at 8:30 AM and continuing past 9 PM. The day started with a series of private meetings at the White House, transitioned to a half-day coaching session to help each company most effectively package their business offerings for customers, and then culminated with a private Health and Innovation Salon featuring Todd Park and a guest list of 50 health tech investors, strategic partners, and government officials. 

StartUp Health and Its Class of HealthCare Transformers Visit The White House

StartUp Health and our inaugural class of Healthcare Transformers were honored to be hosted Monday, June 4th, at the White House for a private “Entrepreneur and Innovation Exchange.”  The agenda included in-depth conversations about the numerous ways startups and innovators can work with and get support from the Federal Government.  Todd Park, Assistant to the President and U.S. Chief Technology Officer, kicked off the meeting sharing insights about this “Golden Age of Health Innovation” and introduced our team to Jonah Czerwinski, Sr. Advisor to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, to outline the VA Innovation Industry Competition. We later met with Mark Rohrbaugh, NIH Director of the Office of Technology Transfer, and Cristin Dorgelo, Assistant Director for Grand Challenges, who discussed using prize competitions to spur entrepreneurship.

It was an extraordinary meeting and we were inspired by the meaningful support the Federal Government is providing to support the health and wellness innovation ecosystem.  A special thank you to Aman Bhandari for hosting StartUp Health during DC Health Innovation Week.

The Healthcare Transformer “Customer Packaging” Workshop

Just after leaving the White House and taking tourist pictures in front of the West Wing, the entire group walked a few blocks to the Ronald Reagan International Building and University of Maryland’s Robert H Smith School of Business, where we jumped right into a hands-on coaching and pitch session moderated by StartUp Health co-founder Steven Krein.  After two structured update sessions to review 30/90/360 day goals with peers, we moved into a working session designed specifically to package each business for customers and strategic partners.  The team sprinted through StartUp Health’s Customer Packaging Tool and then each Healthcare Transformer was put on the hot seat and had the opportunity to pitch and present their business to their peers for feedback.  

Health and Innovation Salon With Todd Park and 50 Investors, Partners, and Officials

Our jam-packed day ended with a networking event we organized to connect innovators with investors and partners. StartUp Health had the honor of organizing the private Innovation Salon for investors, senior government officials, and our class of Healthcare Transformers.  Todd Park spoke about Data Liberation on the evening of the Health Datapalooza. The event was hosted at McKinsey, who also shared a report about significant trends in health innovation.

Interested in being part of StartUp Health Academy and participating in exclusive events like this? StartUp Health is reviewing applications for our next three classes of Healthcare Transformers which we will start to announce at the end of June.  The other classes will be announced later this year. We will be reviewing all applications by the end of this month, so feel free to reach out to us if you have any updates since you submitted your application. If you have not yet applied, you can apply today. We have a rolling admissions process; even if you aren’t invited to our next class, you will be considered for future classes. We want to hear all about you, your company, and how you plan to disrupt healthcare!  Be sure to read our FAQs about the program.

StartUp Health Academy Healthcare Transformers Meet at White House Eisenhower Executive Office Building

Attention mHealth Entrepreneurs!

A Call for Participation

In November, 2011 the Center for Medicaid and Medicare (CMS) Innovation Center announced $1 Billion in new funding to support health innovation projects across the country. On March 17th, 2012, on the strength of sales of its iPod, iPhone and iPad product lines, Apple Computer’s individual share price hit $600 to cement its position as the world’s most valuable company, worth $540B, just behind the all-time record set by Microsoft, which peaked at $619b in 2000. And on March 30, 2012, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology closed its public comment period on privacy and security issues and best practices related to the use of mobile devices in healthcare settings…

Commercial Collaboration & Partnering: In support and recognition of these milestone events, World Congress is proud to host its first mHealth innovation exchange event, whereby provider & payor technology decision-makers will be paired with mHealth entrepreneurs from across the U.S. to facilitate commercial partnerships which both showcase mHealth innovation and accelerate its adoption. The inaugural one-day World Congress mHealth Innovation Exchange Conference is scheduled to be held on July 25, 2012 at the Colonnade Hotel in the historic Back Bay of Boston, MA, the largest medical marketplace in the U.S.

The Conference is now soliciting applications from mHealth entrepreneurs nationwide, and will match ten (10) finalists - chosen by a World class Advisory Council made up of leading mHealth decision-makers - with ten (10) regional providers and payors for a series of educational and match-making sessions with the end goal of standing up mHealth innovation pilots across region. The first fifty (50) applicants will be eligible to be considered. A limited number of tickets will also be made available to the public to participate in this historic event.

DEADLINE EXTENDED

The deadline to apply is now COB Friday, June 15, 2012. To download an application, please visit: http://www.worldcongress.com/events/HT12003/entr_app.cfm or request an application by e-mailing wcreg@worldcongress.com (please reference conference HT12003).

For more information regarding the World Congress mHealth Innovation Exchange Conference - New England please contact world congress by email at: customerserviceteam@worldcongress.com or call 800-647-7600.