South Florida Tech HubSouth Florida Tech Hub
05
Jun, 2023

By Nikki Cabus

ChenMed, a leading primary care provider, recognized for using intelligence and automation in HR practices

Read Time 3 Minutes

ChenMed, a national leading primary care provider based in South Florida, was recently recognized at the Phenom Intelligent Talent Experience Awards as this year’s Intelligent Talent Experience: Advocate of the Year.

Phenom, a purpose-driven HR tech company, recently announced the winners of the Phenom Intelligent Talent Experience Awards, recognizing organizations for exceptional achievements using intelligence, automation and experience to hire employees faster, develop them to their full potential and retain them longer. Through AI-powered solutions, employers increased efficiencies, and saved valuable time for all talent stakeholders — candidates, recruiters, managers, employees, HR and HRIS teams. Award recipients were honored at IAMPHENOM, the company’s premier conference for human resources hosted in Philadelphia.

“We’re celebrating the organizations whose platform use and partnerships are driving lasting impact across their businesses, their industries, their teams and HR as a whole,” said Jess Elmquist, Chief Human Resources Officer at Phenom.

On a mission to hire faster and better and simultaneously empower employee development and mobility with a talent marketplace, ChenMed is a model example for hypergrowth peers. By infusing hyper-personalized experiences into their hiring, development and retention strategies, ChenMed has increased quality applies, reduced time to fill and improved employee retention despite a challenging talent landscape.

When three out of every four professionals in healthcare are looking to leave the industry, providing a better talent experience is no longer optional — it’s critical to hire, develop, and retain workers.

Being a rapidly-growing primary care provider, ChenMed knows this firsthand. To succeed, they needed:

  • A reliable, robust talent community of quality candidates
  • An improved candidate experience for both internal and external job seekers
  • Automated, time-saving talent acquisition processes for recruiters

ChenMed is a family-owned, family-oriented organization serving underserved moderate-to-low-income seniors with complex chronic diseases. The company’s high-touch, VIP, preventive primary care works for patients and team members. Unlike typical primary care providers, ChenMed has a much lower doctor-patient ratio which allows doctors to spend more time with their patients, getting to know them and their concerns so we can better serve them. ChenMed has 100+ centers across 15 states and is a privately held and physician-led company.

“Because we’re in hypergrowth, we’re looking for ways to automate things so our recruiters don’t have to do them. Phenom helps us do that so our recruiters aren’t bogged down by administrative tasks and have time to spend with candidates,” stated Christin Davis, ChenMed’s Managing Director of HR Operations and Technology.

Above all, the ChenMed culture is what’s most important for Davis and her team to maintain: “This company’s mission is simple: helping seniors live longer and healthier lives. The only way to manage that mission is to buy into it. Now that we can easily see who identifies with our culture, it’s easier to make the right hiring choices.”

ChenMed is using the Phenom Intelligent Talent Experience platform to increase applies, reduce time to fill, and level employee turnover. Through AI-powered solutions, ChenMed is increasing efficiencies and saving valuable time for candidates, recruiters, managers, employees, HR, and HRIS teams and in a candidate-driven market time could cost you.

Additionally, when candidates have options, a streamlined professional and timely process helps give candidates the first impression they are looking for and HR professionals not lose out on that next best candidate.

Phenom has a purpose of helping a billion people find the right job. Through AI-powered talent experiences, employers are using Phenom to hire employees faster, develop them to their full potential, and retain them longer. The Phenom Intelligent Talent Experience platform seamlessly connects candidates, employees, recruiters, hiring managers, HR and HRIS — empowering over 500 diverse and global enterprises with innovative products including Phenom Career Site, Chatbot, CMS, CRM, AI Scheduling, Video Assessments, Campaigns, University Recruiting, Talent Marketplace, Career Pathing, Gigs, Mentoring, and Referrals.

Phenom has earned accolades including: Inc. 5000’s fastest-growing companies (3 consecutive years), Deloitte Technology’s Fast 500 (4 consecutive years), five Brandon Hall ‘Excellence in Technology’ awards including Gold for ‘Best Advance in AI for Business Impact,’ Business Intelligence Group’s Artificial Intelligence Excellence Awards (3 consecutive years), and a regional Timmy Award for launching and optimizing HelpOneBillion.com (2020).

Click here to read more about all award recipients.

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22
May, 2023

By Nikki Cabus

Getting to know Boca Raton-based ModMed’s new CTO Venkatesh Jayaraman

Read Time 5 Minutes

Boca Raton-based practice technology leader ModMed® appointed Venkatesh Jayaraman (VJ) as the company’s Chief Technology Officer.

Jayaraman leads the strategic direction and technical leadership for the product engineering organization, including cloud operations.

With over 25 years of technology and software development experience, Jayaraman brings an extensive record of success in technical leadership, cross-functional product development and software architecture. He has a proven record of building business agility using Lean-Agile practices while managing large-scale enterprise organizations across multiple geographies.

ModMed is transforming healthcare by placing doctors and patients at the center of care through an intelligent, specialty-specific cloud platform. With electronic health records (EHR) and practice management (PM) systems, and revenue cycle management (RCM) services, their all-in-one solution empowers specialty medical practices by providing clinical, financial, and operational software solutions. ModMed’s staff physicians help to develop products and services for allergy, dermatology, gastroenterology, OBGYN, ophthalmology, orthopedics, otolaryngology, pain management, plastic surgery, podiatry, and urology practices, as well as ambulatory surgery centers.

“VJ’s background and experience will deliver tremendous value to our organization, as he embodies ModMed’s cultural values around aligning passion with purpose,” said Daniel Cane, ModMed Cofounder and CEO. “We have welcomed him to our team as we work together to transform how healthcare information is created, consumed and utilized to increase practice efficiency and improve patient outcomes.”

Jayaraman most recently served on the executive leadership team at Vertex Inc., where he led the cloud/SaaS transformation of the product engineering organization, including cloud operations using agile methodology, modern DevOps and site reliability engineering principles. Prior to Vertex, he was in various leadership roles at Citrix Systems and Motorola, where he built and scaled agility across a globally distributed engineering team to achieve software engineering excellence. He holds a master’s degree in engineering management from the University of Florida and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from India’s National Institute of Technology.

 

GETTING TO KNOW VJ:

1. What are you looking forward to most in your new role with ModMed?
Using cutting edge technology to transform how healthcare information is created, consumed and utilized to increase practice efficiency and improve patient outcomes. Really looking forward to the opportunity to create simple workflow solutions for complex problems with valuable, meaningful impact. ModMed’s product portfolio does align passion with purpose where we can impact the lives of practice providers and patients in a big way by creating excellent software that delights them.

2. What do you love most about the healthtech industry?
The healthcare industry has always been full of untapped opportunities for technology innovation and workflow optimizations. COVID just exposed some of these opportunities in many ways. Healthcare is unique with respect to regulatory and interoperability demands. Coupled with the fact that healthcare software is only expected to benefit from the overall growth in US healthcare spend makes it a very exciting ground for making a positive impact.

3. What advice would you give to someone who wants to enter the healthtech industry?
Keep an open mind in terms of connecting their passion, skills, knowledge and experience for the various innovation opportunities that present using technologies like cloud, ML / AI, big data etc.

4. Any insight into what’s next for ModMed?
ModMed has had a phenomenal journey so far. From the initial momentum that we have gained, we are very well poised for creating our own flywheel effect to accelerate faster and faster, and gain even more momentum while building this organization for scale and growth. I am very excited by what’s to come and truly honored to be part of defining this journey.

5. From the 90s to now, what has been the biggest change you have seen in our local tech markets?
There have been quite a lot of changes in the local tech markets in the last 2-3 decades that have followed the industry trend largely. The tech industry itself has evolved from the PC computing, hardware & communications related innovations to more software based innovations with the advent of internet and cloud. Back in the 90s, we had quite a few tech companies like Siemens, IBM, Motorola etc. and they all have evolved with this changing landscape. With the advancements in cloud computing, even concepts as esoteric as Machine Learning & Artificial Intelligence have become so accessible to the engineering community that they can be easily harnessed for the next generation of innovations. The core to this evolution is “business agility” and the companies that do that with the right talent and leadership thrive in the face of this changing landscape. Also, the promotion of STEM education in local schools and colleges has really propelled this pace of innovation and South Florida is on a path to excellence in making its mark in the tech industry.

6. All in on AI? What’s your thoughts on the future of generative AI in healthcare? 
Generative AI can be applied in various use cases to generate virtually any kind of content. The technology is becoming more accessible to users of all kinds thanks to cutting-edge generative AI interfaces like ChatGPT, Dall-E and Bard that can be tuned for different applications. With generative AI technology, doctors, hospitals, clinics and beyond may be able to streamline patient care and improve health outcomes with significant advantages like personalized healthcare for patients, predictive maintenance of medical devices and supporting administrative tasks to improve efficiency. Despite their promise, the new generative AI tools open a can of worms regarding accuracy, trustworthiness, bias, hallucination and plagiarism — ethical issues that likely will take years to sort out. None of the issues are particularly new to AI though. Just like any other technology, I am confident and cautiously optimistic that the generative AI would mature to bring the bigger benefits that we all aspire for.

7. No matter our role or level, we are always learning. What’s one thing – either industry-related or not – you learned in the last month?
I am a big believer of being a continuous learner while pivoting and adapting to changing landscape of needs. The mantra should be to plan the work and work the plan but be flexible and realistic to adapt for best outcomes. One of the books that I have been reading of late is Limitless by Jim Kwik. In this book, he overturns the conventional ideas of intelligence, achievement and perceived limitations with a compelling and practical handbook for change. It is based on the concept of all of us having boundless capabilities and what we make of them has everything to do with mindset and application.

8. Outside of work, do you play any sports or have any hobbies? What do you do for fun?
Yes, I play tennis, volleyball, chess etc. whenever time permits. Also, I like to read different books and spend time with my family. Love to explore and  experience the world through various travels to create a wholesome life!

9. What’s something about you (a fun fact) that not many people know?
I used to play cricket early on in my career and I received a trophy from the cricketing legend Clive Lloyd for my performance in the finals of a tournament that was played in the Central Broward Cricket Stadium in Lauderhill. Another fun fact is that I had to find a way to overcome acrophobia (thanks to the constant nudge from my daughter) to do ziplining with my family in Costa Rica recently.

 

Learn more about ModMed’s leadership team here. 

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19
May, 2023

By Nikki Cabus

StartUP FIU Students Develop Innovative Strategies to Tackle Healthcare Disparities for Pharmaceutical Giant GSK

Read Time 5 Minutes

StartUP FIU, the innovation hub at Florida International University, partnered with GSK, one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, established a hands-on, multi-disciplinary experience that inspired students to develop new and creative solutions to dismantle health disparities in minority communities.

In addition to being part of a nation-wide effort to improve health outcomes for minority communities and making a positive impact in the medical field, students selected for the program received corporate internship credits, the experience of learning from leaders and experts in the healthcare industry, and earning $1,000 for their efforts.

Inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s commitment to equity and access, the 12-week GSK Innovation Challenge had a goal of honoring the legacy of this great man by igniting in a new generation the desire to fight for justice in the healthcare sphere. Reflecting the values of Dr. King, GSK is focused on the social determinants of health and is working to ensure high-quality, inclusive healthcare services and education is accessible to all. GSK is a global biopharma company with a purpose to unite science, technology, and talent to get ahead of disease together.

This experiential, hands-on challenge leveraged the lived experiences and diverse backgrounds of 34 FIU undergraduate students, 96% of whom hail from minority communities. Students with Hispanic, African American and Asian backgrounds are often able to offer personal perspectives into health disparities. In this case, the program addressed the low rates of vaccines in marginalized communities.

“These students really rose to the challenge with compelling and creative solutions and all the program mentors deserve a big thank you for their guidance” said Maya Martinez-Davis, GSK US President. “Some of these students learned about health disparities for the first time while others brought their shared experiences. Our goal is to close the gap in underserved communities by developing the next generation of innovators. The partnership between GSK and StartUP FIU is just one of many steps towards achieving that.”

FIU’s unique status as the country’s largest Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) with more than 32,000 students who identify as Hispanic or Latino, makes it an ideal place for global companies like GSK to get ‘on the ground’ perspectives from the communities they want to serve. Educating students across campus, many from different parts of the world, StartUP FIU offers a vibrant array of diverse outlooks, life experiences and cultural values that help organizations better understand their customer base and plan for a dynamic future.

Throughout the GSK Innovation Challenge, students from a variety of majors were guided by public health and entrepreneurship mentors to delve deeper into how minority communities make health care decisions, what sources they trust, who they listen to for medical information and how their lifestyles
either facilitate or impede positive healthcare decisions.

“This unique Challenge offered our students the opportunity to creatively explore a serious population health issue and brainstorm innovative ways to drive communities towards making healthy decisions,” said Emily Gresham, Assistant Vice President for Research, Innovation and Economic Development and Co-Founder of StartUP FIU.

At the end of the 12-week GSK Innovation Challenge, seven student groups pitched their solutions for increasing vaccination rates to GSK leadership. The Pitch Day event, held Friday, April 14, showcased the creativity and novel thinking that can occur when students are empowered with the tools of innovation and supported by expert mentors in the industry.

Members of GSK leadership who came to StartUP FIU to judge the student pitches were impressed by the creativity, thoughtfulness and hard work shown by FIU students.

 

PITCH DAY WINNERS

1ST PLACE

Winning Idea:

Collaborate with companies that have large Hispanic workforces to include at-work vaccination events and other healthcare programs to streamline the patient experience

Team Members:

Vinai Sewaliah, Akerke Parmbek, Christian Castellanos & MaAngelica Subido

 

 

2ND PLACE

Winning Idea:

Targeted advertising campaign focused on influencing mothers, who usually make healthcare decisions for the entire family.

Team Members:

Daniella Diaz, Emily Gresham, Lina Henriquez & Yasha Hasan, Chloe Posthuma-Coelho

 

 

3RD PLACE (TIE)

Winning Idea:

Targeted advertising campaign focused on influencing mothers, who usually make healthcare decisions for the entire family.

Team Members:

Devin Shanahan, Owethu Phekani, Itzel Castellon, Yomaira Ayala Daboin

 

 

3RD PLACE (TIE)

Winning Idea:

Work with faith-based organizations to educate congregations about shingles and prevention.

Team Members:

Aditi Mishra, Katherine Mejia

 

 

 

The GSK Innovation Challenge is just one example of how StartUP FIU uses hands-on, experiential learning opportunities to help students implement the core concepts of innovation and entrepreneurship towards solving real-world challenges.

“By adapting what they’ve learned in the classroom to help companies solve some of their toughest problems, students gain confidence in their skillset and learn how to think critically,” said Robert H. Hacker, Director and Co-Founder of StartUP FIU and one of the Challenge’s entrepreneurial mentors.

StartUP FIU is a university-wide innovation hub that fosters and develops entrepreneurship and innovation to help our students, researchers, and community connect, contribute to, and thrive in today’s fast-changing world. We create and run programs based on two foundational beliefs: that the skills and principles of entrepreneurship are essential to navigate and harness the opportunities of our disruptive age, and that universities can play a unique role in unlocking opportunity and unleashing potential to shape a better, more inclusive, and more innovative future.

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18
May, 2023

By Adam Elitzur

PEER GROUP | Generative AI: A New Frontier for HealthTech

Our Peer Groups discussions for our community to meet, learn, and share together.

ABOUT DISCUSSION
The launch of ChatGPT and the release of Stable Diffusion in late 2022 have created a ripple effect in the world of generative AI. These developments have drawn interest from a variety of industries, including art, entrepreneurship, higher education, marketing, business, and even healthcare.
Our conversation will explore the following topics and more:
– An explanation of generative AI
– Ethical considerations surrounding this technology
– The potential for business leaders to utilize AI to drive growth and innovation
– Real-world applications of generative AI and their impact in the healthcare and life sciences industry
Join Chris Johnston, Director of Product at The SilverLogic, for a discussion on the future of generative AI and its potential to transform the way we think, work, and create.
ABOUT SPEAKER & COMPANY
Chris Johnston, Director of Product at The SilverLogic, a software consulting and development company. Our motto is “we make ideas happen”, whether they require sophisticated apps, websites, business automation, augmented reality (AR), and more. Collaborating closely with our clients, we strive to exceed expectations and are dedicated to delivering the best possible products to our clients and their users. We always offer the highest quality service and maintenance. Get more info at https://tsl.io
ABOUT PEER GROUP
Tech Hub Member Peer Groups are exclusive for our members to meet, learn, and share together. All members are invited based on their current work & past experience, with benefits including:
– Regular Meetings
– Exclusive Member Communications
– Unique Speakers & Networking
The HealthTech & Life Sciences Peer Group’s mission is to empower, collaborate and educate health professionals, entrepreneurs and business leaders who best serve the health and well-being of South Florida’s residents by supporting its healthcare ecosystem’s ability to leverage current and emerging technologies and services.
As a regional and national leader of health sciences technology, research and innovation, we are recognized for our strong strategic partnerships and collaboration initiatives, our commitment to diversity, and ground-breaking approaches to business development, education and innovation.
CHAIR: Meggie Soliman, Director, Strategic Innovations, Applications at DSS, Inc.
Interested in joining? Become a Member Today!
If you are a Tech Hub member or your company is, we are happy to have you join us. If you don’t have your access link or access code to register, please email team@techhubsouthflorida.org

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06
Mar, 2023

By Riley Kaminer

Here’s to another 13 years of healthtech innovation for Modernizing Medicine

Read Time 3 Minutes

The US healthcare sector is rife with inefficiencies – from uneven care to overworked medical professionals to outdated digital systems. In a country that spends almost 20% of our GDP on healthcare, there remains a large opportunity to create better outcomes for patients and better working environments for providers.

For the last 13 years, Boca Raton-based Modernizing Medicine, now known as “ModMed.” has worked tirelessly to improve the tech tools that keep us healthy. They have developed a wide range of specialty-specific electronic health record (EHR) systems and solutions, practice management platforms, revenue cycle management software, and more.

And in an interview with South Florida Tech Hub, co-founder and CEO Daniel Cane said that this is just the beginning for the 3,400-person company.

“You can expect to see more growth, including coverage of more specialties throughout the US – and we will certainly become international,” Cane said of his plans for the company’s next 13 years. 

As for what accomplishment he is most proud of in Modernizing Medicine’s history thus far, Cane said that it was “creating an incredible culture and environment for all our team members.” Building a strong company culture creates lots of work and is a top down effort at ModMed, with Cane still personally meeting every new member of the team.

So is Cane ready for his next venture? Not quite yet. The entrepreneur, who previously co-founded EdTech giant Blackboard, said that he is still laser focused on tackling some of the many issues still plaguing the healthcare industry. “I’ve got a lot more work cut out for me, fixing healthcare and making sure that ModMed is incredibly successful.”

Of course, ModMed has already reached a level of success that most companies will never see. It has 3,400 employees around the world – 700 of whom are based in Modernizing Medicine’s headquarters at the Boca Raton Innovation Campus, IBM’s former R&D facility.

So what advice would Cane give to budding entrepreneurs?

“100% of big companies you see today started off as a small company, so remember to dream big.” Cane also admitted that he has had more failed companies than successful ones, and that is normal. “If you’re going to fail, fail fast. You can learn a lot from those failures.” He noted that while someone might be born an innovator, entrepreneurship – building, running, and scaling businesses – requires a specific set of skills that can be taught.

As ModMed has grown over the last 13 years, so has South Florida’s tech ecosystem, noted Cane. But he urged us to recall that South Florida has had a long tradition of innovation, not least of which includes IBM’s storied past in Boca.

“South Florida is on the map as a strong entrepreneurial hub,” he asserted. This is despite any turbulence caused, for example, by the decline of crypto.

“Our biggest challenge is our geography,” said Cane, noting that South Florida is very long but not very wide, and lacks a main downtown area. “South Florida Tech Hub is essential for bringing all of our amazing companies together.”

 

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25
Jun, 2022

By Nikki Cabus

Miami startup Modern Trials wins IDEA Showcase for investment from Seedfunders

Read Time 4 Minutes

Modern Trials, a Miami-based startup, pitched at this year’s IDEA Showcase held on Thursday, June 23rd at the Broward County Convention Center. The startup took home first place which included an investment opportunity with Seedfunders, a Florida-based investment firm.

The HIPAA-compliant platform, Modern Trials, leverages electronic medical record data from a broad network of healthcare organizations to match patients in need of advanced treatment options with appropriate clinical trial opportunities.

IDEA Showcase is part of the #TECHSUPERSHOW at the ITEXPO which has been coming to South Florida for decades. South Florida Tech Hub has been partnering with the expo for three years now. The IDEA Showcase pitch contest has become one of the most popular and best-attended events at the ITEXPO. It features cool startup pitches and networking with open bar.

ITEXPO and the collocated events that comprise the #TECHSUPERSHOW all feature educational sessions presented by industry-leading experts. Attendees also gain valuable new insight from keynotes presented by thought-leaders from around the globe. The expo floor is filled with more than 200 companies demonstrating the latest innovations in a marketplace setting.

Startups that pitched included CERA, Envonics, flo-ops, Modern Trials, Nebulai, Unitii, and In My Team. Six of the seven startups to pitch were from South Florida and for the first time ever a prize package including an investment opportunity. Modern Trials took home the judges prize!

“Despite 20 years of experience and many friends in the [healthcare and clinical trials] industry, I was not able to find an appropriate trial for my own mother,” said Dr. Christopher Ochner, Co-Founder of Modern Trials whose mother was diagnosed with a stage IV glioma. “I came to the startling realization that there exists no way for patients in need to gain access to appropriate clinical trial opportunities.”

Immediately after his mother’s passing, he circled back with his Co-Founder, Dr. Alex Logsdon and said; “you were right; this system is broken and we need to fix it”. After countless hours working through a modernized process flow with regulatory experts, legal counsel and consultants, Modern Trials was born.

The IDEA Showcase judges panel included Tahl Milburn, former tech executive and founder from Silicon Valley turned investor, Danielle Mousseau, Manager of 35 Mules, Florida Power & Light’s Company’s (FPL) innovation hub, Akshay Sharma, former Gartner Analyst having authored or co-authored over 280 research notes and current CTO at Kovair, Ariana Pareja, startup founder with three exits and current President and Co-founder at Pareja Family Foundation which provides tech bootcamp scholarships for women and minorities, and Dave Chitester, Founder of Florida Funders, Founder of Seedfunders, and named one of Florida Trend’s 500 Most Influential Business Leaders in the state.

Dave Chister announced the judges winner and awarded Modern Trials with a minimum of $5000 investment through his firm Seedfunders. He said that after due diligence the investment could be much more significant. South Florida Tech Hub also added a free Startup level membership for Modern Trails for one full year.

Seedfunders is investing in pre-revenue scalable technology throughout the state of Florida. Led by a group of leading visionaries, Seedfunders is paving the way for technology startups throughout the state with a presence in St. Petersburg, Orlando and Miami. Dave recently moved to Miami to be able to support startups across the entire South Florida region.

With a unique focus on pre-revenue stage concepts, Seedfunders brings a different approach with mentoring and guidance for developing an MVP and bringing your concept to market.

“No question that cash is the lifeblood of every startup, particularly given the current economic environment,” said Modern Trials Co-Founder Dr. Ochner. “To us, however, an investment from SeedFunders means much more than that. Good mentorship is even more valuable than cash and the intellectual investment that Dave Chitester and his group make in the companies they chose to work with is the real prize.”

With approximately 200 people in attendance for the IDEA Showcase, there was an audience winner chosen as well. The audience used a real-time voting tool to choose their favorite pitch and the winner was CERA – Critical Emergency Response Applications.

Judge and investor, David Chister assured a handful of the startups that pitched that they were close behind, He urged each of them to apply for investment from Seedfunders as well.

Click here for more info on Seedfunders, Modern Trials, CERA and the ITEXPO.

 

 

 

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ChenMed, a leading primary care provider, recognized for using intelligence and automation in HR practices
Getting to know Boca Raton-based ModMed’s new CTO Venkatesh Jayaraman
StartUP FIU Students Develop Innovative Strategies to Tackle Healthcare Disparities for Pharmaceutical Giant GSK
PEER GROUP | Generative AI: A New Frontier for HealthTech
Here’s to another 13 years of healthtech innovation for Modernizing Medicine
Miami startup Modern Trials wins IDEA Showcase for investment from Seedfunders