Experts to discuss impact of telemedicine on care delivery for aging Americans at d.health Summit

Recent technological, legal, and clinical developments are leading to dramatic changes in the ways medical care is delivered. While this shift has the power to displace many well-established healthcare players, it also presents an opportunity to form new partnerships and business alliances among industry leaders and newcomers to improve and enhance healthcare delivery. The d.health Summit provides a platform for national leaders in public policy, healthcare, finance and the high-tech industry to assemble for a day-long discussion of the impact of these forces on the delivery of care for Aging Americans.

Emerging technologies, novel approaches, and new partnerships can and should address the healthcare needs of an aging population. The d.health Summit will focus on key questions that are shaping the new healthcare narrative. Sessions will cover investment opportunities in start-ups and early stage companies and emerging trends such as home care and mobile medicine. Speakers from disparate industries will share stories about their organization's disruptive innovations and vision for improving the health of Aging Americans.

"As we approach Medicare's 50^th anniversary, we need to ensure that distance and disability do not prevent beneficiaries from accessing the care they need," said former Senate majority leader Tom Daschle, the keynote speaker of the event. "This century has brought us technological advances that can bring death to distance and allow us to more fully realize the vision that almost anyone anywhere can receive care." Our speaker line-up also includes the following influential thought leaders:

• Senator Bob Kerrey, Managing Director, Allen & Company
• David Brailer, CEO, Health Evolution Partners
• Kai Hsiao, President & CEO, Holiday Retirement
• Ralph Muller CEO, University of Pennsylvania Health System
• Dan Pelino, General Manager, Healthcare & Life Sciences, IBM
• Seth Sternberg, Co-Founder and CEO, Honor
• Peter Tippett, CMO & VP, Verizon Enterprise Solutions

The official d.health Summit agenda with a complete list of speakers and sessions can be found here.

A recent example of disruptive innovation is mPower, part of Apple's recently released ResearchKit. A smartphone app designed specifically for Parkinson disease, mPower allows individuals to track their symptoms in real time and share the information with researchers. With unprecedented support from Apple, mPower was developed in collaboration with d.health Summit speakers Stephen Friend, M.D., Ph.D. from Sage Bionetworks, Todd Sherer from The Michael J. Fox Foundation, Ray Dorsey, M.D. from the University of Rochester, and Max Little, Ph.D. from Aston University.

Another powerful example of disruptive innovation is a unique care plan initiative that will be officially announced at the Summit by Former All-Pro NFL linebacker and world famous yogi and mindfulness expert Keith Mitchell . "Working with Dr. Dorsey and his team at the University of Rochester Medical Center on this ground breaking care plan enables us to provide sustainable and immediate care to individuals that are in desperate need of treatment," said Mitchell. The initiative combines holistic medical practices with traditional Western medicine to treat military veterans and former NFL players, a new healthcare model that could be extended to our aging population.

The d.health Summit 2015 will be held on Friday, May 29 at The New York Academy of Sciences, 7 World Trade Center (250 Greenwich St., 40^th Floor), New York, NY. The Summit is co-chaired by two national experts: Abraham (Avi) Seidmann, Ph.D., Professor of Computers & Information Systems, Electronic Commerce, and Operations Management at the Simon Business School and by Dorsey, Professor of Neurology at the University of Rochester Medical Center. Support for the Summit is provided by the University of Rochester.

"The rapid development of telemedicine for clinical care dramatically changes the well-established competitive boundaries surrounding care delivery for elderly Americans," said Seidmann. "On one hand, patients are now able to receive quality care at home, as proven by recent studies. On the other hand, regional hospitals and clinics are at a serious risk of losing a significant portion of their patient population."

"The convergence of technologies such as broadband internet, high performance computing, telemedicine, remote and wearable health monitoring technologies, and point-of-care diagnostic are all combining to expand access to care. The challenge now is to overcome barriers and move forward," said Dorsey.