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25 Apr 2024

Democratizing Healthcare

About the Book

AI is revolutionizing the Where, When, What and How people access healthcare. Trained healthcare professionals and physical clinics are a limited and expensive resource. With location removed from the equation, shifting care to the point of the patient increases access and lowers the cost of delivery. The negligible incremental cost to provide an AI based software program per person makes AI infinitely scalable and accessible.

The patient experience is changing, expectations are evolving and the major healthcare stakeholders are recognizing healthcare can be delivered in new ways that improve patient outcomes. AI advancements across Vocal Biomarkers, Remote Patient Monitoring, Digital Therapeutics, Voice Recognition, Decision Support Tools, Virtual Reality and Predictive Care are converging together to create Ambient Healthcare Computing:  the ever-present healthcare assistant that monitors, analyzes and provides the right interventions to the right person at the right time. This future of ambient computing promises a reimagined healthcare paradigm from sick-care to continuous-care.

Book cover 3D Democratizing Healthcare

Advance Praise

Bing Gordon

“There is overwhelming complexity at the intersection of artificial intelligence, medical technology, human factors and regulatory context. There are almost too many new health care products, services and companies to sort through. Thankfully, How AI Can Democratize Healthcare gives us the old-fashioned sort of intelligence enhancement, clear prose, that makes our collective future both understandable and optimistic. A must read for citizens, investors and policy-makers alike.”

Bing Gordon: General Partner & Chief Product Officer, Kleiner Perkins

Ray Kurzweil

“Artificial Intelligence is going to very rapidly transform medicine, along with ubiquitous cameras and all kinds of sensors. If you want to understand this disruption to our healthcare, Michael and Robin will explain how this will impact you as well as positively impacting billions of lives.”

Ray Kurzweil inventor, author and futurist

John E. Kelly, III, PhD

“How AI Can Democratize Healthcare” by Michael W. Ferro Jr. and Robin Farmanfarmaian is easy to read and chock-full of great examples of startups in healthcare AI. We’re in the first inning of AI in healthcare, and this book points to a very exciting future. Congratulations on a great book!”

John E. Kelly III, PhD IBM EVP – Retired

About the Authors

Michael W. Ferro, Jr.

Michael Ferro, Jr.

Healthcare tech entrepreneur Michael Ferro is the Founder and CEO Merrick Ventures, a Miami based PE Firm focused on AI and democratizing healthcare. A lifelong entrepreneur, Michael W. Ferro Jr. has founded and built many companies that were acquired or went public. Ferro’s most widely known acquisition was when IBM bought Merge Healthcare for $1B. In 2008, Merrick Ventures bought a controlling stake in Merge and Ferro spent 7 years building the company from near bankruptcy to billion-dollar valuation. Ferro also founded Click Commerce, another notable exit with an IPO valuation of over $1B. Through the Michael and Jacqueline Ferro Foundation, Ferro has donated millions of dollars, including $1M to Melanoma Research Alliance (MRA) and $2M to Northwestern for an entrepreneurship incubator. Ferro has won over 15 awards, including being named to the Forbes Tech’s 100 Highest Rollers, the Ernst & Young Technology Entrepreneur of the Year, and was an Emmy Award Nominee for Best Documentary.

Robin Farmanfarmaian

Robin Farmanfarmaian

Robin Farmanfarmaian is a Silicon Valley based professional speaker and entrepreneur working in cutting edge tech poised to impact 100M people or more. Robin has been involved with over 20 early-stage biotech and healthcare startups from curing cancer to medical devices and digital health. She is an advisor to Luxsonic Technologies, working on a portable and modular radiology reading room in VR. She is also an advisor to Alacrity Care, remote patient monitoring and data analytics for oncology. With over 170 speaking engagements in 15 countries, she educates audiences on technology, the future of healthcare, artificial intelligence, the shift in healthcare delivery to the patient’s home, and more. She is the author of multiple books including: “The Patient as CEO” and “How AI Can Democratize Healthcare” with healthcare tech entrepreneur Michael Ferro, Jr.