More than 100 world-class healthcare and technology experts met recently at the IIT, Delhi on August 07, 2015 for the HITLAB Innovators Summit India, exchanging transformational ideas on digital health. The conference culminated in the HITLAB World Cup India, which rewarded three winners for original concepts designed to improve healthcare access and delivery in India and across the globe.

"We were honored to host this exciting event, which featured a variety of healthcare experts, all of whom shared our mission to address pressing global healthcare challenges," said Dr Nishita Rai, Executive Director of HITLAB, a healthcare innovation and teaching lab. "Both the Summit and World Cup serve to accelerate much-needed digital health innovations affecting all aspects of care. We are grateful to our sponsors, Medtronic and HealthStart, for their support, which will result in true change for patients and providers alike."

Luminaries included Guest of Honor Sanjiv Kumar, Executive Director of the National Health Resource Center and WHO Collaborating Center India; Keynote Speaker Shailja Dixit, Executive Director, Global Health Economics and Outcomes Research, Actavis; Keynote Speaker Supten Sarbadhikari, Project Director, Centre for Health Informatics, National Health Portal, India; Kaustubh Patil, Medtronic India Development Centre (Bangalore), Anurag Asthana, Site Director- Medtronic India (R&D Centre Hyderabad) ; M.P. Gupta, Professor at IIT; Guruprasad S., General Manager, Healthcare Practice, Robert Bosch Engineering Solutions, India; Rahul Mullick, Chief Technology Officer, India Programs, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; and many others.

They exchanged ideas on:
• Technology trends and their ability to revolutionize Indian healthcare
• Not-for-profit models in healthcare and their impact on Indian society
• Investment strategies for innovation adoption in healthcare
and much more.

"Digital health, mHealth, and medtech are moving at a tremendous pace in India, demonstrating the potential to revolutionize health delivery and outcomes in the country," said Ms Laura Pugliese, Manager, Innovations at HITLAB. "It was fascinating to see government groups, multi-lateral agencies, pharmaceutical companies, private investors, startups, foundations, universities, hospitals, and medtech corporations interact at the Summit, all of whom are working toward a common goal: improving the impact and reach of mobile and digital health technologies."

Mr Sahil Kapoor, Manager, HITLAB India and Summit Director, announced the winners of the HITLAB World Cup India. Mr. Kapoor noted, "Finalists in this challenge represent the best in healthcare innovation, offering new approaches that are not only visionary but practical. Our World Cup produced inspiring ideas with real-world applications."

"HITLAB is more than encouraged not only by the ideas that were elicited at our Summit in India, but also by public response to the event, which has gained much attention on social media and in academic circles," said Rai. "We're looking forward to our signature event December 3-4, 2015, the HITLAB Innovators Summit in New York City, where transformational ideas will no doubt continue to emerge."

Winners received seed funding of 20,00,000 INR and mentorship from HealthStart India. They are:

• KiviHealth
KiviHealth is a health-tech start-up that aims to provide an affordable, patient-centric, digital health information management system that can be used across multiple clinics, hospitals, labs and pharmacies. With a vision for "One Patient, One Record," KiviHealth provides patients with access to their health information, brings more clarity to medical management, and enables doctors to make superior medical decisions.

• iMed India
iMed India is solving the problem of real-time information flow between multiple stakeholders in the pharmaceutical supply chain by using state-of-the-art mobile and cloud computing technology. By integrating the end consumers, retailers, stockists, and pharmaceutical companies, iMed India promises to cut the cost of medicine distribution and eliminate waste by 40% to 60%.

• MyDermacy
MyDermacy.com is the world's first personalized lifestyle platform for people searching for solutions to their daily skin and hair concerns from discovery to delivery with the help of qualified dermatologists.

HITLAB is an innovation and teaching lab dedicated to improving the quality and accessibility of healthcare worldwide. We help leading organizations ideate, create, and evaluate technology-based solutions to pressing healthcare challenges.