"From ineffective electronic health records, to an explosion of directtoconsumer digital health products, to apps of mixed quality – it's the digital snake oil of the early 21st century." James Madara M.D., CEO of American Medical Association

“Digital Health Will Only Become Our Generation's Snake Oil If We Let It” Sachin H. Jain M.D., CEO CareMore Systems

To start—where does the term “snake oil” actually come from?

The original use of “snake oil” dates back to Chinese laborers who immigrated to North America to work on the first Transcontinental Railroad.

Laborers gave snake oil to one another promising rapid relief of severe joint pains.

The original snake oil came from the Chinese water snake—known to be rich in omega3 acids—and, it turns out, was actually quiteeffective in treating arthritis and bursitis.

The Chinese workers shared water snake oil with American counterparts who were amazed by its therapeutic benefit.

And before long, Americans appropriated the concept—and began commercializing it at scale, first by using oil from the American rattlesnake (which was far less rich in omega 3acids), and, later, by creating a mix of other elements and applying the label “snake oil” to designer compounds that were anything but.

They also expanded the label to include promises that snake oil would cure cancer, reverse kidney failure and improve sexual function, among other indications.

Perhaps the most prominent snake oil salesman was snake oil king Clark Stanley, whose “snake oil” was actually a mixture of mineral oil, beef fat, red pepper and turpentine.

That’s to say Stanley’s Snake Oil, in fact, ended up not containing any snake oil at all.

Stanley was investigated under the Food and Drug Act and was forced to pay a $20 fine—$429 in 2016 money—for his fraudulent claims about his “snake oil.”

According to historical records, it was a fine he did not contest.

The little kernel in this story that is relevant here today is that the original product, water snake oil, administered the right way, in the right context, for the right medical conditions—actually worke

That snake oil actually worked is a fact that has been obscured for generations on account of the fraudsters who sought shortterm profit instead of real patient benefit. (Forbes, June 20 th , 2016)

DIGITAL HEALTH is convergence of healthcare and digital technologies, social networking, mobile connectivity and bandwidth, increasing computing power and the data universe will converge with wireless sensors, genomics, imaging, and health information systems to creatively destroy medicine as we know it.

Week 1  MEDICINE, MEDICAL RESEARCH AND PATIENT SAFETY & REGULATION

THE OBJECTIVE is deliver overview of various medicine disciplines (oncology, cardiology, personalized medicine), medical research (medicinal chemistry, systems biology, microbiome) and patients, payers, providers and regulators (patients advocacy groups, health insurance companies, healthcare providers, regulators) and their technology adoption level with their respective potential for patients health and wellbeing yet to be realized.

Week 2  TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION IN MEDICINE, HEALTHCARE AND LIFE SCIENCES

THE OBJECTIVE is to deliver technology (epigenomic sequencing, full genome sequencing, immune checkpoint inhibitors humanized mice model, in silico medicine, targeted gene editingCRISPR, genomicsbased clinical trials, fecal microbiota transplantation, genomeguided solid tumor diagnostics, bariatric surgery for control of diabetes) overview and impact on developing more meaningful drugs, devices and diagnostics patient experience.

Week 3  LEGAL & ETHICAL, PRIVACY, GLOBAL & CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE

THE OBJECTIVE is to deliver idea of legal (FCC, FDA, EC, EMA, CFDA, CDSCO laws and directives regulations) and digital ethics (equality, accessibility, genetic discrimination) frame, privacy (data sharing, European General Data Protection Regulation, Privacy as a Service) and security (succesfull defibrillator hacking, IoT security, ransomware) concerns and provide global (global digital divide), sociocultural (language) and modernity (network society) perspective of developed and developing world.

Week 4  DIGITAL MEDICAL DEVICES, DIAGNOSTICS AND IMAGING

THE OBJECTIVE is to deliver overview of digitally enabled devices modalities (connected inhalers, smart thermometer, connected blood pressure monitor, digital stethoscope, tinnitus treatment), diagnostic modalities (algorithm for detecting atrial fibrillation, pulmonary artery pressure monitor, camera based blood loss estimate during surgery, muscle activation sensor, connected glucose meters, telemedicine manager) and imaging modalities (mobile radiology, radiowave breast imaging, digital pathology, digital radiography, smart pill) and their impact on current medical practice and value on patient experience.

Week 5  GENOMICS, PERSONALIZED MEDICINE AND THERANOSTICS

THE OBJECTIVE is deliver the understanding of genomics (Human Genome Project, Beijing Genomics Institute, Largescale wholegenome sequencing of the Icelandic population, public health genomics, personal genomics, cancer genomics, pharmacogenomics, metagenomics, ecogenomics, requirements for the adoption of genomics as digital health tool), precision medicine (Precision Medicine Initiative, Precision Medicine Initiative Cohort, precisionFDA) and theranostics (nanoparticles, microfluidics, cancer theranostics, theranostic imaging) and future possibility of real time diagnostic and therapeutic interventions.

Week 6  ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, MACHINE LEARNING AND MEDICAL BIG DATA

THE OBJECTIVE is to deliver conceptual understanding of AI (Google Deepmind Health, IBM Watson for Oncology, Medical Sieve, IBM Watson for Genomics, IBM Watson for Clinical Trials Matching, Atomwise, openAI, Berg, Cloud Pharmaceuticals), ML (Health Informatics, Radiology, Radiation Oncology, Automated Machine Learning, Interactive Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing, Unified Medical Dictionary, Enlitic, Sense.ly, MedAware, Lumiata), Big data and Predictive Analytics (EHR, clinical workflow, prescribed therapies management, population health management, gaps/bias in care) in context of medicine, clinical research and safety and regulatory frameworks

Week 7  TELEHEALTH, HEALTHCARE ROBOTICS AND VIRTUAL & AUGMENTED REALITY

THE OBJECTIVE is to deliver understanding and use of Telehealth (evisits, econsult, remote monitoring, aging care, mental health, eICU, etrauma, delivery mechanism) services, Robotics (surgical, rehabilitation, exoskeleton and prosthetics direct care, pharmacy, delivery, disinfection indirect care, robotic telepresence home care), Virtual Reality (professional medical training and education, PSTD, ADHD, Alzheimer disease, pain management, cognitive phobia treatment, eye treatment, speech treatment, consumer education CPR, stress management, preventive medicine and fitness) and Augmented reality (education, health information, digital models in dentistry, procedural accuracy AccuVein) improving access, experience and cost effectiveness

Week 8  PATIENT ENGAGEMENT, EDUCATION AND GAMIFICATION

THE OBJECTIVE is to deliver overview and application of concepts of patient engagement and experience (payers, providers, pharmaceutical companies, communication and coordination, integration of services, pretreatment services, adherence, FDA patient engagement committee, education (nutrition, wearables, access, transparency, incentives, social media, rewards, product information, capability tracking, financial assistance, access to patient forums, access to clinical trials) and gamification (pointstification, rewards, patient activation, patient adherence, chronic diseases, physical therapy, physician education and training)

Week 9  MOBILE, CLOUD, APIs, INTERNET OF THINGS HEALTH AND FITNESS

THE OBJECTIVE is to deliver market, services and trends in Mobile (m Health, mobile apps in medicine, clinical research, patient safety, health, fitness and wellbeing, regulatory compliance, security, privacy, technology adoption, attitudes and preferences), Cloud (cloud based platforms and ecosystems, open source, business models, OncologyCloud, cloud EMRs, PopHealth, regulatory, security, privacy), APIs and SDKs, IoT (remote patient monitoring services, mobile health technologies, telemedicine, medication management, clinical operations, employee workflow management and inpatient monitoring, device interoperability and data integration, component technology, baseline & benchmark databases, analytics, regulations, security, privacy, data sharing, skills gap ) overview and evaluation

Week 10  HEALTHCARE AND LIFE SCIENCE SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING & CAMPAIGN MANAGEMENT, ONLINE COMMUNITIES, REAL WORLD DATA, PATIENT REPORTED OUTCOMES AND POPULATION HEALTH MANAGEMENT

THE OBJECTIVE is to deliver orientation in Social media marketing in healthcare and life sciences (websites, blogs, social networks, social networks and messaging apps, digital advertising, sponsored content, banner, search, video, social media, infographics, PatientsLikeMe’s Donate Data for Good, Melanoma Patients Australia’s Melanoma Likes Me, Bayer Healthcare's Grants4Apps, Johnson & Johnson's Janssen Healthc