Mar 1, 2021Health Data Investments Potentially Wasted?How might we better realise the potential of investment into digital health research and solutions? Image credit Digital health adoption accelerated by three years as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Corporate funding increased by 103% between 2019 and 2020, capping at $21.9 billion in the US alone. …Healthcare7 min read
May 17, 2020The weakest value proposition in digital health?Why selling ‘control’ defies the fundamental nature of healthcare. — “Our company believes that all patients should have more control over their own healthcare. That’s why we’ve built this widget.” Giving patients more control is the mission of a large number of companies in the digital health space. …Digital Health4 min read
May 10, 2020COVID-19: rise of the conscientious consumer?Who deserves your money? More importantly, why don’t we ask ourselves that more often? A few weeks ago I read an opinion piece by Mathijs Bouman in the Dutch business paper, the Financieele Dagblad. …Covid 194 min read
May 5, 2020COVID-19 reveals the secret strength of the DutchYou really get to know people when they’re under pressure. The COVID-19 pandemic has put entire populations under stress and I’ve picked up on one important difference between the UK and the Netherlands. I live and work in the Netherlands but I’m a Brit and my family and many friends…Covid 194 min read
Feb 7, 2019What is Health?If you haven’t got your health, what have you got? But then again, if you have got your health, what have you got? ‘Health’ in some sense of the word, is a major personal, professional and macro-economic force in the world. …Health9 min read
Jan 29, 2019Robo-Doc: Will AI make doctors redundant?The search for consensus in a BMJ debate, with help from Captain Kirk. In mid-November, the BMJ asked this question for its Head to Head debate feature. Can you imagine a future in which you never interact with a human doctor? A few taps on a smartphone gets you chatting…Artificial Intelligence5 min read
Dec 12, 2018Healing in five fundamental steps: what we can learn from religion and magicReligion and the Decline of Magic is a history book. It should be required reading for anyone interested in healthcare. In 1984 it was on the reading list for history students at the University of Cambridge. …Health5 min read
Dec 5, 2018Healthcare or medicine: which is more important?It’s December 1995. A chubby four year-old boy in a Thomas the Tank Engine woolly hat is crying. He’s suffering from a very common ear infection that almost all children have experienced, ‘otitis media’. He’s crying because it’s painful. His parents have tried for a couple of days to soothe…Health6 min read
