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Crow discusses health care revolution with biomedical tycoon


September 06, 2012

Before an audience at Los Angeles' Petersen Automotive Museum, ASU President Michael Crow asked biomedical innovator, businessman and physician Patrick Soon-Shiong what drives him to take on a "monumental problem that even the government can't seem to tackle?"

Crow was talking about health care, and Soon-Shiong, a surgeon and professor at UCLA's medical school, told Crow that he is motivated through his work as a physician.

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To access full coverage of the interview, click here.
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Soon-Shiong says he has repeatedly observed patients receive the wrong treatment, suffering as a result, and that there are three barriers to getting doctors the information they need: knowledge, delivery and payment.

The knowledge barrier “is exploding every day,” he said, but added that it takes an average of 17 years for knowledge to get to patients.

Transfer of knowledge, and coordinating care from the clinic to the lab and the hospital to the home, is one of the greatest barriers to better health care delivery, Soon-Shion told Crow, whose background is in innovation and technology transfer.

The two discussed the potential for molecular medicine and wireless technology in helping advance health care.

To access full coverage of the interview, click here.