Career Development : Calendar

Covering health technology and wearables

07/14/16     Washington, DC

Covering Health: Reporters learn about wearables, health IT and telehealth

Candy-colored Fitbits, sleek Apple Watches and other high-tech calorie and heart-rate trackers have exploded in popularity, and their Big Data capabilities are increasingly celebrated by fitness experts, nutritionists and public health advocates. But there's a more complicated side to digital health, and one that has Washington perplexed: It surrounds the devices doctors use to monitor health from afar, as, for example, with patients with diabetes or heart attack survivors. Those new technologies are raising major questions about privacy, security, discrimination and reimbursement, as private insurers and Medicare and Medicaid officials question whether they should pay for the new technology, whether it can be relied on in research and how to regulate it.

Join us for a conversation about how consumers and doctors are using these tools, how they're being paid for, how the field is regulated (or not), what Congress thinks and whether or not there's evidence to show that digital interventions are improving health outcomes.

We've got a great lineup of guests who will address these and other topics: 

  • Krista Drobac, the executive director of the Alliance for Connected Care and a former adviser for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; 

  • Zach Rothstein, an associate vice president at AdvaMed, the medical device industry's lobbying arm; andJohn Lewis, vice president of public affairs for the Association of Clinical Research Organizations. 

  • AHCJ member David Pittman, who covers health technology for Politico Pro, will moderate.

Our speakers will give short presentations beginning at 6:30 p.m., with plenty of time afterward for discussion, questions and mingling.

AHCJ will pay for drinks for the first attendees to arrive, up to $150 – so come early!

Time: 6:15 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 14

Location: Matchbox at 1901 14th St NW, Washington, D.C.

All journalists welcome. Space is somewhat limited. Please RSVP or send questions to emershon@cq.com.