How can product leaders transform chronic disease management with digital products? In this episode of the Product Divergence Series with Ubiety Technologies Fmr. CPO Nacho Andrade, Carna Health Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer Salvatore Viscomi speaks on building a digital health platform for remote patient monitoring. Salvatore discusses how Carna Health uses connected devices and biomarkers to detect and manage chronic kidney disease, one of the leading causes of death worldwide. He explains how their platform improves patient outcomes by catching the disease early through national screening programs. Salvatore also shares insights on developing patient-centric digital health products, including balancing data collection with usability and providing feedback to engage users.
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Show Notes
- Chronic kidney disease affects 900 million people worldwide, but 90% don’t know they have it.
- Catching chronic kidney disease early through screening can significantly improve outcomes.
- Lifestyle changes and new drugs can delay or stop progression if the disease is detected sooner.
- Carna Health’s e-meter allows convenient at-home biomarker testing from a blood sample.
- Their platform improves patient compliance by engaging them through a mobile app and feedback.
- It reduces time spent traveling to appointments for frequent in-person clinical monitoring.
- Their goal is to put patients on a better health trajectory through early detection.
- Developing digital health products requires understanding both patient and doctor perspectives.
- Too much data collection can overwhelm users, so focus on actionable information.
- Their platform is device-agnostic and can integrate a variety of health data sources.
- Collegiate athletes are a promising market seeking incremental performance improvements.
- Biomarkers like lactic acid provide insights to optimize training and prevent injuries.
- Convenience products like Nespresso can solve important problems simply and enjoyably.
- Solving real user problems is fundamental to building great products.
- Getting early user feedback improves future product iterations.
- Publicizing disease prevalence inspires prevention and drives platform adoption.
- National screening programs facilitate large-scale early detection efforts.
- Portable devices improve access to care, especially for underserved groups.
- Remote monitoring reduces healthcare costs by catching issues earlier.
- Digital platforms continue evolving to support multiple conditions over time.
About the speaker
Dr. Salvatore Viscomi is a practicing physician, professor, researcher, and serial entrepreneur. He is currently the co-founder of Carna Health, a digital platform that provides clinical-grade capillary blood testing for remote patient monitoring. Previously, Dr. Viscomi spent 14 years as a member of Harvard Medical School’s faculty and concurrently as a clinician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. In that capacity, he held various administrative and clinical roles including Director of Admissions of a Harvard Residency Program and Department Chairman. As an expert in medical imaging, Salvatore has published and presented nationally and internationally. Dr. Viscomi co-founded Brigham NightWatch, the first academic teleradiology network in the world. In addition, Dr. Viscomi served as an executive and board member of FreMon Scientific where he led the development of a next-generation blood product management solution through FDA approval and ultimately to market. Dr. Viscomi began his path towards medicine while at Columbia University, earning a B.A. in Neuropsychology. Salvatore completed his residency and specialization at Harvard Medical School. He also serves on the Board of Directors of Make-A-Wish Foundation MA/RI . In 2016, Dr. Viscomi completed the Executive Education Program at Harvard Business School.
About the host
Nacho is an Evangelist for all things product, advocating for innovation, diversity, and building amazing products. Nacho has spent over 10 years in product roles ranging from startups to enterprise in industries like education, healthcare, finance and gaming.