DHNY Summit 2024: Why The Big Apple is Leading Digital Health Innovation

“It was clear from the expertise and quality of attendees that NYC is a key hub for both current and next generation healthcare innovation and entrepreneurship.”

As healthcare continues to transform, the DHNY Summit in New York City last month brought together top industry leaders for engaging discussions on the future of digital technology in healthcare. The event featured thought-provoking conversations, highlighting the impact of AI in health plans and the seamless integration of technology into value-based care models. Key New York-based groups, including representatives from Fidelis Care, Northwell Health, and Aegis Ventures, provided their perspectives on navigating the digital frontier in healthcare.

The meeting topic is timely, and underscores years of continued growth in New York’s healthtech scene. Earlier this week, Modern Healthcare published a piece showing New York has surpassed Silicon Valley as digital health hub, citing data that shows New York companies received $2.3B in venture-backed health tech investments in the first eight months of 2024, compared to $2.1B earned by Silicon Valley firms. And while megadeals ($100 million+) continue to level off from 2022-23 heights, investors have put 44% of their total dollars into AI-focused companies so far in 2024.

“It was clear from the expertise and quality of attendees that NYC is a key hub for both current and next generation healthcare innovation and entrepreneurship.”

— Bunny Ellerin, Co-founder & CEO at DHNY

Key Takeaways:

AI’s Role in Health Plans: In a world where Medicaid operates on razor-thin margins, the integration of AI is no longer a luxury but a necessity. Nadav Shimoni of Arkin Holdings and Erin Henderson Moore from Fidelis Care emphasized the importance of leveraging AI to optimize claims management, improve operational efficiency, and harness data analytics. However, the real challenge lies in ensuring that AI models are free from bias and tailored to meet the unique needs of Medicaid plans.

Value-Based Care Needs Collaboration: Panelists such as Evelyn Goodfriend of Strive Health and Ali Khan of Aetna stressed the necessity of payer-provider collaboration to advance value-based specialty care. While clinical innovation offers promising opportunities, successful execution requires trust, transparency, and well-aligned financial incentives to ensure both improved patient outcomes and cost efficiency.

Human Touch in the Age of AI: During the keynote, Michael Dowling of Northwell Health offered a reminder that while technology has immense potential, maintaining the "human element" in healthcare is vital. Trust, patient-centered care, and cautious integration of technology are essential to building solutions that truly enhance the quality of care without introducing complications or bias.

Biotech and Digital Health Investment Boom: Matt Griffiths of HSBC underscored the remarkable growth in digital health investments, with New York-based companies receiving 20% of total funding in 2024. The digital health ecosystem in New York, driven by data, AI, and profitability-focused investments, is maturing post the 2021 investment boom, demonstrating cautious optimism for sustainable growth.

Real-Time Impact of AI on Clinicians: The advancements in AI-driven clinical tools were a focal point of discussion. Speakers from Microsoft and New York-Presbyterian highlighted the integration of AI into clinical workflows, such as ambient documentation and patient care algorithms. However, the challenge remains in operationalizing these technologies to ensure they seamlessly fit within the current healthcare infrastructure, reducing friction for clinicians and patients alike.

via LinkedIn

Action Steps:

Focus on Collaborative Partnerships: Healthcare organizations should foster deeper collaborations between payers, providers, and technology companies to implement AI-driven solutions that support operational efficiency and patient-centered care.

Develop a Strategic AI Governance Framework: Health plans and healthcare organizations must create comprehensive frameworks to govern the implementation of AI, ensuring transparency, safety, and alignment with care delivery goals.

Leverage New York’s Growing Digital Health Ecosystem: With 20% of national digital health funding flowing to New York-based companies, innovators should capitalize on this momentum by scaling tech-driven solutions in key sectors like value-based care, home-based healthcare, and pharmacy automation.

Closing thoughts

The DHNY Summit 2024 highlighted the critical role digital technology plays in reshaping healthcare. As New York continues to attract investments and talent, the convergence of AI, biotech, and value-based care models positions the city as a leader in healthcare innovation. The challenge ahead will be ensuring these advancements lead to meaningful patient outcomes while maintaining cost-efficiency and equity. By fostering collaborations between payers, providers, and technology leaders, we have the potential to build a more integrated, patient-centered healthcare system—one that prioritizes both human touch and cutting-edge technology.

Discussion

1. How can healthcare organizations ensure that AI integration enhances both operational efficiency and patient outcomes, without sacrificing the human touch in care delivery?

2. For healthcare leaders looking to implement value-based care models, what are the most important first steps in establishing trust and alignment in payer-provider collaborations?

3. What governance frameworks should healthcare institutions develop to ensure that AI-driven solutions are transparent, safe, and equitable, especially in complex environments like Medicaid? Any examples come to mind?

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Suggested reading

• Q3 2024 New York Healthcare Innovation Report: DHNY's Q3 2024 Healthcare Innovation Report shows that 31 companies raised $.75B, a significant increase from the same period last year, but down from Q2. In Q3, the top five raises were Headway ($100M), Spring Health ($100M), Vesta Healthcare ($65M), K Health ($50M) and CoachCare ($48M).

• 2024 New York Healthcare Innovation Report: DHNY publishes the New York Healthcare Innovation Report to showcase the companies and leaders (more than 40 of them in this issue) driving growth and innovation in our ecosystem. In 2023, 114 companies raised $2.5B, and early-stage companies secured 55% of this funding. Biotech claimed nearly a quarter of the investment dollars, while on the digital health front, provider enablement, mental health and analytics were key focus areas.

• 2024 DHNY Executive Summary: This is DHNY’s official summary of the recent event that brought together 350+attendees representing the top entrepreneurs, investors, advisors, health systems, health plans and pharmaceutical companies to discuss the future’s most pressing challenges and strategies to achieve sustainability and improve lives.

• The Promise of Digital Health: Then, Now, and the Future: This paper explores the evolution and potential of digital health technologies, particularly their role in transforming healthcare delivery. It highlights how advances in AI, cloud computing, and wearable devices are reshaping diagnostics, treatment, and patient self-management, while also addressing interoperability and data security challenges. Despite substantial progress, the paper notes that achieving seamless, real-time data sharing and improved patient outcomes remains a work in progress. The authors advocate for ongoing collaboration between policymakers, healthcare providers, and the tech industry to unlock the full potential of digital health tools, especially in managing chronic diseases and improving public health.