Tuesday, March 10, 2015

March 9, 2015: Fox interviews Theranos and Cleveland Clinic.

http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/4100844587001/theranos-cleveland-clinic-ceos-on-innovation-partnership-/?#sp=show-clips

Note: These are my running notes and not a transcript.

Elizabeth Holmes, CEO Theranos, Toby Cosgrove MD, CEO Cleveland Clinic.

TC:  Theranos has developed some new technology with the opportunity to reduce the cost and trauma of lab tests.  A real game changer for patients, and improve access.

FOX:  The one thing people hate, "giving blood."

EH:  We've focused on bringing access to actionable health information to everyone, driven by lab data, and people have such a fear of having blood drawn.  We've spent 12 years redeveloping every lab test for tiny samples.  And access to tests that uniform transparent prices, regardless of insurance, and very low pricing, 50% of Medicare.  We've dropped further for some tests, to 90% off Medicare.  Everyone can afford getting tested. Moves us to the dream of early detection.

FOX:  We are getting in front of disease.  I was at your innovation summit, Craig Venter said, we'll live into the second century (> age 100).

TC:  That's correct, and people won't be afraid of a finger prick, and it will be cheaper.  For hospital patients, we can make them anemic. We avoid that.

FOX:  Elizabeth, you already have Wellness Centers, in California, in Arizona.  How come, the hospital, they take an enormous amount of blood?

EH:  It's effectively an infrastructure unchanged for a long time.  We have redeveloped the infrastructure.  We can do the combinations of tests from tiny samples.  We redeveloped the whole infrastructure.   It's a privilege to partner with Cleveland Clinic.  Not just outpatient, but inpatient. the exact same technology as outpatient world.

FOX:  We talked about the outpatient world, Walgreens.  You use it differently?

TC:  Think about a new born baby, if you can do a two drop heel prick, a huge advantage.  Tremendous potential.  Inpatient and outpatient.

FOX:  It's a marriage of health care and technology.  The worlds are merging.

TC:  We see tremendous opportunity with new technology - Theranos is one.  We also see opportunities with IT, looking at collecting the knowledge, the Big Data.  We see virtual visits.  Take the care to the patient.   We've done that with stroke, a CT scanner in an ambulance.  It's coming together as rapidly as we can.  We've been less technologically facile in the past.

EH:  I deeply believe, the answer to health challenges lies in the individual, engaging them, in the management of health, the more we can impact outcomes.  Access, engagement, dovetails with technology, you can connect with people and in our work getting them more and more focused on the power of this information, that they've never paid much attention to.  They know more about their credit cards than their lab data.  But you can do alot from a lifestyle perspective, you see the powerful change in your blood.  We provide technology, they allow engagement, connect to the healthcare process.  We are developing the retail Wellness Centers, a wonderful experience for patients.

TC:  You asked about tech and virtual reality.  We are partnering with Microsoft, VR goggles, for teaching, someday for patients.

FOX: It's exciting.  It's consumerism.  Taking responsibility.  Final question: What about the privacy end?  All that info in that drop of blood?

EH:  That's critical. It doesn't tell the world - individuals own their own data, we will never sell data or advertise on it.  We can delete it on request, or transfer it on request.  

TC:  The privacy of health information is better off electronic than a paper chart just floating around a hospital with access by many people.

FOX: Phenomenal.  Thanks.





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