RamaOnHealthcare December 27, 2023
The Power of Innovation and Collaboration
Today, RamaOnHealthcare talks with Dr. Jon Bloom, a board-certified physician innovator with 20+ years in healthcare delivery and biomedical research. He is the CEO and co-founder of Podimetrics, a company focused on preventing diabetes-related amputations in vulnerable populations. Dr. Bloom and team created the SmartMat™ technology that has proven to be effective in reducing diabetic foot ulcers and amputations.
Dr. Jon Bloom, CEO and Co-Founder of Podimetrics
RamaOnHealthcare (ROH): Welcome to RamaOnHealthcare! What is your story? How did you become an innovator in healthcare?
Dr. Jon Bloom (JB): Looking back, multiple opportunities came to put me where I am today. I saw firsthand the terrible impact of diabetes while a resident in anesthesiology at the Massachusetts General Hospital and spending significant time supporting the Department of Vascular Surgery. This proved to be a very formative time in my career, as I would later leave bedside practice to dedicate my time to amputation prevention.
Working as the Director of Global Medical Affairs for Covidien’s Respiratory and Monitoring Solutions exposed me to population-level monitoring and technology development concepts. I also served as a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and more – but participating in a Hackathon brought things all together. It was then I co-founded Podimetrics along with other graduate students from MIT and Harvard. Our team created a purpose-built technology — the SmartMat™ — that also integrates directly with a remote nurse care manager team to power more holistic, home-based care for patients with diabetes.
Today, our team is focused on delivering critical access to foot ulcer and amputation preventive services through numerous health plans, including the Veterans Health Administration. Due to this success, several other companies have been founded to help aid in the early detection and prevention of diabetic foot ulcers. This has spurred unprecedented venture capital investment into the space and a proliferation of technologies and modalities, all with the same goal: eliminating avoidable diabetic foot complications.
One of the greatest markers of health inequity today is diabetic amputation. Black Americans are three times more likely to require a diabetic amputation than others. That’s why our team at Podimetrics continues pushing forward on its mission today to end unnecessary amputations for all patients with diabetes.
ROH: Looking more broadly, what are the most significant opportunities and obstacles for innovation in diabetes care management?
JB: Unfortunately, diabetes is the poster child for health inequity in this country. Black, Hispanic, and American Indian/Alaska Native communities are dramatically more likely than white people to experience diabetes — up to three times as likely, in some cases. And these groups are significantly more prone to serious complications. Non-Hispanic Black people with diabetes are 2.5 times as likely to be hospitalized and 3.2 times as likely to experience end-stage renal disease when compared to non-Hispanic white people. They are also up to four times as likely as white patients to require lower extremity amputations.
Unfortunately, diabetes is the poster child for health inequity in this country.
We used to call diabetes a “lifestyle disease” because we believed people were generally making conscious choices that contributed to poor health. But we now know that many of the people disproportionately experiencing diabetes are facing structural inequities and deeply rooted socioeconomic issues that go far beyond any individual decision-making. Pharmacy and food deserts, shortages of primary care providers, lack of economic opportunity, and lower levels of health literacy — are just some of the social determinants of health that we must overcome to make a real difference in diabetes outcomes.
The good news is we now have the technology to help. In recent years, there has been explosive innovation in the telehealth and remote monitoring spaces. Video consults with clinicians and diabetes educators and home-based devices for ongoing monitoring are making it possible for patients to get the support and services they need more conveniently and creatively while providing the health system with an incredible wealth of structured data to analyze for predictive and preventive purposes. Our biggest opportunities lie in leveraging these new data streams and building lasting connections with people in their communities and homes so we can leapfrog the traditional barriers to care for these groups.
ROH: When you look at the health system (providers, payors, doctors, patients), who do you see driving innovation in diabetes care?
JB: Today, innovation is coming from everywhere, which is exciting. For example, I’m very pleased to see medical schools and professional societies, including social determinants of health education classes. Hence, clinicians have a better toolkit for addressing these issues in practice. Health plans also provide much more robust, patient-centered diabetes prevention and management programs that use advanced risk stratification and population management analytics to bring people in as early as possible.
…I’m very pleased to see medical schools and professional societies, including social determinants of health education classes.
And innovation in the data analytics and medical device spaces is off the charts. Artificial intelligence is also changing the way we prevent diabetes from developing and helping control the condition in people who do have it. From more accurate continuous glucose monitoring to creating full-on digital twins via noninvasive sensors and predictive modeling, so much exciting innovation is happening that can revolutionize how we truly think about living with diabetes.
Artificial intelligence is also changing the way we prevent diabetes….
ROH: Can you share with us what your SmartMat measures, how often the patient uses it, and what types of data/outcomes you collect?
JB: With our SmartMat technology, a person living with diabetes simply steps on the mat for 20 seconds a day – and they can do so from the comfort of their own home. The SmartMat is a thermometry-based solution that measures increases in the temperature of a patient’s foot, and it is cellularly connected and can be used without internet access.
The Podimetrics SmartMat can detect warning signs of diabetic foot complications up to five weeks before they present clinically, allowing for early intervention. Research has also shown the following ROI as a result of SmartMat utilization: 71% elimination of amputations, 52% reduction in all-cause hospitalizations, and preventive actions and lower cost interventions driven by the SmartMat result in $8-13K savings per member annually.
By combining cutting-edge technology with best-in-class clinical and patient support services, we have realized high engagement rates with patients and helped clinicians save limbs, lives, and money — all while keeping vulnerable populations healthy in their own homes.
ROH: In your opinion, what is the most important change to better enable digital transformation in diabetes care?
JB: A commitment to universal internet access and digital and health literacy would be one of the most significant changes we could make. For example, broadband infrastructure is still unavailable in many parts of the U.S. — and still unaffordable in many more. Closing the digital divide will significantly impact people’s ability to access care, understand its importance, and stay engaged with care plans that can prevent complications and poor outcomes. We need to continue to invest in broadband infrastructure development, as well as basic cellular and 5G infrastructure, at a national level so internet access is no longer a social determinant of health.
Closing the digital divide will significantly impact people’s ability to access care, understand its importance, and stay engaged with care plans….
ROH: What advice do you have for other healthcare innovators who may be earlier in their career and/or in the journey of their company?
JB: Clarify your values, goals, and norms on Day 1 and stick with them. With an uncertain economic environment and so much competition, companies can’t afford scope creep that fragments their resources and dilutes their value proposition. And they certainly can’t afford to compromise their values to make a quick buck because that’s the kind of thing that investors and customers will remember. If you are pursuing a meaningful problem that touches people on a real level, you will be ahead of the game in terms of building a culture that can withstand these pressures and prioritize integrity in the long term.
Culture is what defines a company and attracts the most talented, committed, innovative people. At Podimetrics, we prioritize focusing on how we care for each other because that reflects how we care for the patients we serve.
Culture is what defines a company and attracts the most talented, committed, innovative people.
ROH: What health prediction related to diabetes care do you have for 2024?
JB: The continued expansion and maturity of remote patient monitoring is a given, so I’ll say that GLP-1s (Glucagon-like peptides-1 – which are a class of medications used to treat type 2 diabetes mellitus) are going to keep changing the game in 2024.
Closer integration of GLP-1s as part of a diabetes care regimen is on the horizon. However, we’re not likely to see an end to drug shortages in this area, so we need to make sure we focus on prioritization of access to these drugs for those with diabetes versus non-chronic users.
We also need to ensure equitable access in socioeconomic terms, so we don’t just create another disparity. If we can ensure affordable and fair access to GLP-1s for those most in need, we will see significant positive changes in treating and preventing diabetes.
ROH: Thank you for sharing your insights and expertise with our Readers! We wish you all the very best in transforming healthcare!
About Dr. Bloom
Dr. Bloom and the Podimetrics team support the most vulnerable patients dealing with severe and life-threatening complications brought on by diabetes. The company offers unrivaled, evidence-based clinical research and data showing strong patient adherence and reduced amputations, hospitalizations, and costs.
Believing in the power of innovation and collaboration, Dr. Bloom serves as vice chair on the board at the Massachusetts Medical Device Industry Council and as a board member at MIT Hacking Medicine — the organization that helped spur the creation of Podimetrics.