Looking back at digital health's roots — with John Sharp

Host Jonah Comstock welcomes John Sharp to the show on the occasion of his retirement from HIMSS. Until recently the director of thought advisory at HIMSS, John has worn many hats in his career and become one of the most well-known, respected, and beloved voices in the digital health community.

We talked about that community, John's career, and all the ways the space has changed and developed — not to mention where we see it headed next.

Talking points:

• How John found his way to the fledgling digital health space
• Health 2.0, Medicine 2.0, and the early days of digital health
• Social media and the digital health community
• “10 years of growth in six weeks” — the rapid adoption spurred by COVID-19
• Telehealth adoption after COVID-19
• Value-based care, reimbursement, and virtual care
• How virtual coaching fits into the future of care
• Digital health has moved from niche to mainstream
• The “who will own telehealth?” debate
• John’s hopes for the future of health IT: better incentives for value-based care
• Virtual reality’s ascendancy in healthcare

More about this episode:

John on Twitter

COVID-19 brings a boom in use of virtual consumer-centric care

Telehealth set for 'tsunami of growth,' says Frost & Sullivan

Teladoc Health data shows virtual mental healthcare boom

'Weeks where decades happen' (Healthcare Dive)

The Empathy Machine: COVID-19 and Therapeutic VR, part 2 with Dr. Brennan Spiegel

The Teladongo Episode