Meet Dawn Irish, Digital Health & Emerging Technology Expert

I’m passionate about the opportunity to incorporate genetics into healthcare. It’s a field that I think is nearly untapped at this point. There are many things that are hidden within our DNA that can give us clues as to what our future might look like.

Rare Diseases & Health Technology

There are many issues with rare diseases and they’re unique in many cases. So for instance, if you have patients who have a common disease like diabetes or heart disease, while there it’s incredibly important to treat those diseases as well. I think there are some issues that are unique with rare. For instance, patients being diagnosed. Many physicians have never seen a patient with a rare disease. Therefore when patients come into the office, they’re often miss diagnosed. I think 40% of patients are misdiagnosed multiple times before they receive a correct diagnosis and the average time to diagnosis is about five years.

Patients & Data

I do believe in patients having access to their own medical records, to being able to have more of a say in their healthcare experience. That might be empowering to them with their treatment plan. It may mean more contact with their medical team.

This interview was recorded at NODE.HEALTH Digital Medicine Conference