As Co-Founder and CEO of Digital Health New York (DHNY), Bunny Ellerin understands the importance of building community.  With 30 years of experience in the healthcare industry, Bunny has worked in everything from value-based care, tech, marketing, and even led the Healthcare Management Program at Columbia Business School for five years. With such a varied career in healthcare, she’s observed many different facets of the healthcare ecosystem which enabled her to, in her words, “see how it all works together.”

Playback had the privilege of sitting down with this public figurehead of the New York digital health community to talk all things digital health. 

Playback: Hi Bunny. Would you tell us about DHNY in your own words?

Bunny: Sure! We are a hub for the digital health ecosystem in New York - we connect, and we convene. We put on a number of events throughout the year - our biggest one is our annual summit in September. We publish data and reports to provide  insights into  what's going on in the ecosystem. We're also home to the Digital Health 100, where we celebrate the most innovative and exciting health startups in the New York area. It’s an annual recognition, and I’m delighted that Playback has been on the list for several years.

Playback: Yes we have! And thank you for that! Can you tell us what led you to starting DHNY in the first place?

Bunny: About 15 years ago a colleague and I formed a group called New York City Health Business Leaders (NYCHBL) because we saw a need for a cross-sector organization focused on healthcare innovation. We were both building our healthcare careers in New York and wanted to connect with other smart people who were passionate about making changes in the system. At the time, there was nothing in place to bring people together across the ecosystem. We started putting on events and the group  took off! We built NYCHBL into a real hub and put NYC on the map for healthcare innovation. Fast forward to 2022, when we evolved into DHNY. This made sense because New York has become a nexus  for tech-driven healthcare startups.

‍Playback: What have you learned from running DHNY?

‍Bunny: There's a tremendous amount of opportunity in this region and the need for community is  palpable. New York has become a health innovation  hub and its leaders and executives need a way to connect. We see how much people love getting together in person - that's when the magic happens. Our organization enables that type of connectivity which can lead to business development, investor meetings, idea exchange, friendship and mentorship.  

‍Playback: Have you seen any changes in the digital health landscape since you’ve been doing this work?

‍Bunny: The ecosystem has grown exponentially.  I used to know every company  but now there are so many that it’s hard to keep track. That’s why we built a proprietary database to monitor funding and company formation. Obviously since the heyday of ‘20 and ‘21, there's been less funding and some companies may be struggling so it’s likely we’ll see some contraction in the market. In general, however, the ecosystem continues to flourish.

Playback: What’s something you would like to see more of in digital health?

‍Bunny: More success stories like Flatiron, Oscar and Medidata emerging from the New York region. Several  unicorns are being built here so it’s just a matter of time.

Playback: Thoughts on AI in healthcare?

‍Bunny: It's a tool, an enabler, it's about finding the right use cases that are going to make a meaningful difference and impact, It's not just about using AI to use AI. There's got to be a need, and then there's got to be a result that is impactful, meaningful, and scalable. In healthcare, we're seeing adoption on the administrative efficiency side. More will come. The experts are very clear that we're just at the beginning of this transformation. 

‍Playback: Thank you for taking this time with us, Bunny. We are big fans of yours at Playback! Anything exciting coming up for DHNY?

‍Bunny: Our summit is in September! It is invitation-only for C-suite folks, so if you have not applied and want to attend , please go to dhny.co. We're very excited about it. We're going to be featuring several health systems this year and talking about how they're incorporating and working effectively with tech. Obviously, New York has so many wonderful large health systems, so we're excited. 

‍

Playback Health is a unified clinical platform featured on DHNY’s DH100 as a leading digital health platform in NYC. Get started today. 

‍