Improving Healthcare Access

Early in my career as a cardiologist, I used the word “noncompliant” for patients who didn’t follow a plan. I don’t anymore. What I’ve learned: behavior has context. Missed medications or appointments are often about cost, transportation, work schedules, or caregiving. Not a lack of caring. Nearly 1 in 4 U.S. adults reports cost-related medication nonadherence. Trust breaks when patients feel judged for circumstances beyond their control. It rebuilds when we ask: What’s actually getting in the way? What would make this possible? Effective care meets people where they are. Not where we assume they should be. #justoneheart

Health apps lose 96% of their users within 30 days - and nobody in digital health wants to talk about it. We've raised billions to change health behavior. But we're failing at the most basic metric: keeping people engaged. Here's the data nobody publicizes 👇 ▶ Health app retention is catastrophic Day 30 retention for health and fitness apps sits at just 3-4%. That means 96% of users are gone within a month of downloading. ▶ Mental health apps see massive dropoff A meta-analysis of 79 mental health app RCTs found 92% initial uptake but 18.6% dropped out before completion. People download. They don't stay. ▶ Even research apps can't keep users Stanford's MyHeart Counts study saw average engagement of just 4.1 days. Not weeks. Not months. Only four days. ▶ Clinical decision support tools get ignored AI-powered clinical alerts in hospitals have a 90-96% override rate. Some doctors receive 100-200 alerts daily, so they stop paying attention entirely. But here's what's interesting: the companies that actually reached IPO scale didn't rely on apps alone. Hinge Health pairs AI with physical therapy kits and human coaches. They claim AI reduces human clinician costs by 95% - but still include devices and human support. Because AI alone doesn't keep people engaged. Oura locked users in with hardware. You can't abandon an app when you've bought a $300 ring. The sunk cost drives continued use. Omada secured employer distribution. When your company pays and your health outcomes affect premiums, you stick with it. Accountability comes from employment, not the app. The pattern is clear: retention comes from external accountability - devices, human coaches, or employer pressure. Not better UX or gamification. App-only solutions don't work. The data proves it. And the companies that made it to IPO knew that from the start. So do you think digital health companies should be required to disclose retention rates the way they disclose clinical outcomes? #entrepreneurship #healthtech #AI

We’ve all had some experience of struggles with mental health. Maybe you’ve stood by a loved one in a time of need. Maybe you’ve been through tough moments yourself. Too often, illness is only half the challenge, with people forced to wait too long and fight too hard to get the help they need. The simple fact is that mental health services haven’t kept pace with rising demand. The result is a system that waits to step in only when someone reaches crisis, leaving their family under unbearable strain and piling more pressure on our NHS. This needs to change. Today, we’re announcing a major expansion of NHS mental health services so people can get help earlier and closer to home. This includes 100 new community mental health centres, where people with severe needs can walk in without a referral and get support without waiting months. In addition, we’re setting up 59 dedicated mental health emergency departments, giving people in crisis fast, same-day specialist care. Community-led, community-based support is an approach we used to great effect in Greater Manchester. These services will make it much easier for people to get the right support, at the right time, in the right place. Mental health specialists will work alongside GPs, councils, charities and families, and provide direct links to housing and employment support. The first of these new facilities will open their doors and offer their help later this year. We know there’s a profound mental health crisis impacting younger generations. There are those who are quick to criticise young people today, but that’s never been my way. Our country’s future depends on them – and they will have this government’s support. The overwhelming majority of the one million young people not in education, employment or training want the chance to build their future. But poor mental health, combined with a system that can’t keep up, robs them of that opportunity. These new NHS facilities will help get lives moving again. When I spoke outside Downing Street on day one of the job, I promised we’d help people live well. I said we’d invest in success, rather than pay for failure. This is what that promise looks like. And to everyone who’s struggling with their mental health today: don’t give up hope. Help is out there and more is on the way.

In many parts of the world, the standard $20,000 fetal monitor simply isn't an option. This portable alternative uses AI to help health workers get accurate readings at a fraction of the cost—no specialized training required. It can spot warning signs like a slow fetal heartbeat in time to consult a specialist, begin treatment, or get a mother to a hospital. In maternal health, that can mean the difference between a dangerous complication and a healthy birth.

BIG News for Cell Therapy Patients: FDA today eases CAR-T restrictions 👇 The FDA has approved label updates for BMS’ CAR-T therapies Abecma and Breyanzi, removing REMS requirements and reducing post-treatment monitoring obligations. This matters. Only about 20% of eligible patients in the U.S. currently receive CAR-T therapy. This isn’t due to clinical reasons - it’s because many patients and their families face the harsh reality of traveling hours, sometimes across state lines, to reach certified treatment centres. A quietly significant shift in cell therapy access? Key changes: • REMS removal - reflecting that healthcare systems are now better equipped to manage key safety risks (CRS, ICANS) without extra regulatory hurdles • Monitoring reduction post-treatment proximity window cut from 4 weeks to 2 • Driving restrictions reduced from 8 weeks to 2 weeks. These updates can help shift CAR-T from a complex, limited-access treatment to one that’s available sooner and closer to home, including at select community hospitals. Community is key. Because no patient or family should have to drive hours or relocate for life-saving treatment. More patients. Sooner. Closer to home 👏 #celltherapy #oncology #CGTweekly #cellandgenetherapy

Incredible results coming from both federal and state evaluations: funding a system that takes care of the Whole Person works! Upstream issues like transportation, food, and housing not only impact health outcomes but can be mitigated through navigation and engagement: “Perhaps the most striking finding: These outcomes occurred even though the model achieved only moderate rates of social need resolution. Fewer than half of individuals receiving services reported that at least one need had been resolved, and around one in four reported that all their needs had been resolved. Navigation itself, or the act of helping someone understand and access available resources, appears to have independent value. As one evaluator put it, the very process of engaging a person in their own care and social circumstances changes how they interact with the health care system.”

Patients are changing fast. Healthcare must change faster. The old model is dead. Today’s patients are not waiting in line. They are searching, clicking, and asking AI for answers—before they ever see a doctor. One in four UK patients already use generative AI for health advice. Nearly a third would rather ask AI or social media than wait for a clinician. This is not a threat. It is a signal. Digital curiosity is the new front door to care. The best healthcare leaders see this as a chance to build something better. Not more apps. Not more portals. But a true bridge—where technology and empathy work together. Here’s the new playbook for Connected Care: 1/ Welcome the digital first step • Treat every online search, chatbot, or AI query as the start of the care journey. • Build systems that catch these signals and guide patients into real care, not dead ends. 2/ Make AI a bridge, not a barrier • Use AI to handle admin, triage, and routine questions. • Free up clinicians to spend less time on screens, more time in eye contact. • Let AI reduce friction, but never erode trust. 3/ Design for transparency and control • Give patients clear, simple access to their records, appointments, and care plans. • Let them see the whole journey, not just the next step. • Make them feel like part of the team, not just a case number. 4/ Connect the dots, break the silos • Stop building one-off tools that don’t talk to each other. • Create platforms where every digital touchpoint feeds into a single, human-centered care experience. 5/ Build trust at every step • Use technology to inform, not overwhelm. • Keep the human touch at the center, even as AI does more heavy lifting. This is not theory. This is the new roadmap for healthcare. When you treat AI-curiosity as the entry point—and connect it to a seamless, human care journey—you unlock the future. Your patients are already digital. Your care model must be, too. The future belongs to those who connect, not those who compete. Build the bridge. Welcome the search. Lead the change. Here's the link to the report: https://lnkd.in/eUfJ7aab Semble Christoph Lippuner Mikael Landau

Five Black surgeons just made history at Johns Hopkins Hospital. The portrait in the background holds an entire century of Black brilliance, denied and finally honored.✊🏾 For the first time in Johns Hopkins Hospital’s 137-year history, an all-Black team is leading the flagship Halsted Service in Trauma and Acute Care Surgery. Five surgeons. Five lifelong missions. One historic moment. Meet them: Dr. Valentine S. Alia, second-year resident. Dr. Lawrence B. Brown, seventh-year resident, holding an MD, PhD, and MPH, and the first physician in his family. Dr. Ivy Mannoh, third-year resident. Dr. Zachary Obinna Enumah, ninth-year resident and critical care fellow, holding an MD, PhD, and MA, raised in Columbus, Georgia by two doctors. Dr. Ifeoluwa “Ife” Shoyombo, third-year resident, holding an MD, MPH, and MS. Between the five of them: five MDs, two PhDs, six master’s degrees, and a collective commitment to the people of Baltimore that should make every healthcare system in this country pay attention. Now let’s talk about why this matters. Black people make up 13.4 percent of the US population but only 5.6 percent of surgeons in training. We are dying in hospitals at higher rates from conditions we should survive. Black women are three times more likely to die in childbirth. Black patients are routinely undertreated for pain because of medical myths rooted in slavery. Studies show patient outcomes improve dramatically when patients are treated by doctors who look like them. Representation in medicine is not symbolic. It is lifesaving. Dr. Brown said it perfectly: “Medicine is more than science. It’s service. Equity has to remain at the forefront of how we deliver patient care, how we do research, how we scale programs up in our healthcare system.” Dr. Shoyombo added: “To anyone who’s watching, realize that your dream and capacity can only be limited by you.” What makes this moment most powerful is the portrait in the background. Vivien Thomas was a Black surgical innovator who developed the procedures used to treat blue baby syndrome in 1941. He performed the work, trained the white surgeons, and was denied a medical degree, a job title, and recognition for decades. Johns Hopkins finally awarded him an honorary doctorate in 1976. That portrait is not decoration. It is testimony. It is every Black doctor, nurse, scientist, and healer who was told they did not belong in those halls. It is every brilliant mind that was buried before it could shine. It is the long, painful path that made this photograph possible. To the Hopkins Five: Vivien is proud. The ancestors are proud. We are proud. Keep blooming. 🌼 AA🌼 We bloom together or we wilt alone™️🌱 ———————————————————— 👀 Read more : Substack link in the comments

Modern bio mrobotics is redefining what “medicine inside the body” actually means. Instead of relying only on bloodstream diffusion, researchers are developing caterpillar like multi leg micro robots that can navigate inside the human body and deliver drugs directly to targeted tissues. This is not just engineering it is applied molecular biology in motion. The Concept is Simple: Target the disease site directly. Minimize side effects. Maximize therapeutic efficiency. Here’s the breakdown: ↳ Purpose: Enable highly precise drug delivery in hard to reach regions such as tumors, inflamed tissues, or microvascular environments. ↳ Mechanism: These robots are often designed at micro/nano scale and can be: Made from biocompatible polymers, hydrogels, or magnetic materials Controlled via external magnetic fields, ultrasound, or chemical gradients Shaped like caterpillars or multi leg structures to improve surface interaction and locomotion inside viscous biological fluids Their movement mimics biological organisms, allowing them to “crawl” through tissue like environments rather than relying on passive flow. ↳ Molecular Biology Interface: At the core of this system lies interaction with cell membranes, extracellular matrix, and biochemical signaling pathways. Drug molecules can be loaded onto or inside the robot Some designs use pH sensitive or enzyme responsive coatings This allows release only in specific microenvironments (e.g., tumor acidity) This bridges robotics with cellular targeting mechanisms used in molecular medicine. ↳ Efficiency Advantage: Compared to traditional systemic drug delivery: Reduced systemic toxicity Higher local drug concentration Improved therapeutic index Potential for real time navigation and controlled release Why This Matters: From a biomedical engineering perspective: ↳ It transforms pharmacology from passive distribution → active navigation ↳ It integrates robotics with molecular signaling ↳ It enables minimally invasive internal treatment strategies ↳ It may reduce dosage requirements while increasing efficacy Future Outlook: What looks like a tiny crawling machine today may become: Smart cancer targeting systems Precision antiinflammatory delivery tools Next generation minimally invasive therapy platforms —————————————— 𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 👉Muhammet Furkan Bolakar and 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗹 🔔 for more updates on how #robotics, #automation and #science are shaping the future. Robot Technology: +10K RoboSapienss Science Biology: Mr.Biyolog Digital Marketing: Bignite Digital —————————————— DM me for a specific attribution or removal credit: seeker Miloš Kučera Luis L. Christine Raibaldi Philipp Kozin, PhD, EMBAMarcus Scholle Ulrich Moeller 🤖 🚀 Marcus Scholle Ronald van Loon Amine BOUDER Amir Eduardo BANZATO Marcin Gwóźdź Billy Cogum İsmail Durgun (Doç.Dr.) Marcus Köhnlein Christian Kampf Sascha M. Koeppel Alexey Navolokin Florian Palatini

If hospitals waited for peer-reviewed journals to justify every operational decision in maternal care, most cost-saving programs would never exist. At Duke University Health System, that reality drove a decision that few maternity units in the U.S. have ever made: integrating physical therapy directly into postpartum care. Duke added physical therapy to the maternity unit and extended care into the early postpartum period through telehealth as an 18-month implementation pilot focused on readmissions and cost containment. The justification did not come from a journal article. It came from internal implementation data. That data was shared publicly at the 2025 Combined Sections Meeting of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) by Lisa Massa, PT, CLT, program coordinator for Duke’s Women’s Health Physical Therapy Residency. Duke averages ~350 births per month. With baseline postpartum readmission rates around 1-2%, roughly 126 readmissions would be expected over 18 months. During the pilot period where inpatient physical therapy was added on the maternity unit in addition to early postpartum telehealth as a follow-up, only 6 patients were readmitted. With postpartum readmissions costing hospitals $5,000-$8,000 each, Duke calculated over $500,000 in avoided costs. Patient satisfaction scores followed, along with nursing support and leadership buy-in. The program expanded to a second Duke hospital. Today, only 118 maternity units in the U.S. offer occupational and physical therapy services during postpartum admission. Duke accounts for two. They did not wait for journals to catch up to implementation science and public transparency. Hospitals that operate at the level of Duke can’t wait for journal publication to address the avoidable cost and harm affecting maternal health. ~Dr. Rebeca Segraves