projekt202’s Health Futures Panel at Livestrong

projekt202’s Health Futures panel asked tough questions about technology, design and our healthcare system. All photos provided by projekt202.

Technology continues to expand boundaries and revolutionize nearly every experience, including healthcare. But while people increasingly adopt tracking apps and wearables, many questions and concerns emerge about where all of this is taking us: What is the reality of these technologies? How will they change the conversation between patients and providers? What about privacy? When will these technologies cease to be useful? Who will be left behind?

As part of it’s current focus on healthcare and design, projekt202, a user experience software design and development company based in Austin, TX, sponsored a “Health Futures panel”on February 18, 2015 at the Livestrong Foundation’s headquarters, hoping to gain insight into some of these questions.

Moderator Kijana Knight Torres asks panelists a series of questions.

projekt202 invited several local experts and practitioners to provide views into the current state and future direction of healthcare technology. I moderated the panel, and we heard from the following experts:

• The CXO of projekt202, Peter Eckert, kicked off the panel by asking, “What is the future of health and technology?”
• Dr. Mini Kahlon from UT Austin’s Dell Medical School framed the debate in terms of the need for an “ecosystem of care.”
• Kyle Samani, co-founder and CEO of Pristine, focused on the need for increased innovation and ingenuity in telemedicine.
• Robin Krieglstein, a Behavior Design Consultant from Stanford’s Persuasive Tech Lab (where he works with Dr. B.J. Fogg), made it clear that we also need to consider the behavioral aspect of these technologies and how they will shape our lives.
• Pär Axelsson, Director of UX Research at FloSports, brought along several of the digital and analog devices that he uses to manage his recently diagnosed Latent autoimmune diabetes of adults (LADA), showcasing the difficulties that arise when technology is not fully integrated into care.
• Richard MacKinnon, Founder and Executive Director of the BorgFest Human Augmentation Expo, spoke of the realities of the social, political, and economic implications of pervasive medical technology and human enhancement.

The lively debate sparked several questions from the audience and further discussion on these highly relevant topics.