John Bertrand is co-founder and CEO of Digital Diagnostics. Bertrand’s journey began with working to digitize medical records, followed by working on virtual care, before working at the forefront of artificial intelligence (AI) in health care. His North Star is an unshakeable commitment to his mission: transforming global health care.
Bertrand’s career in health care technology began at Epic Systems long before Electronic Medical Records were commonplace in physician offices. Over his 12 years there he played many roles, each leading him to new lessons and insights on health care innovation. From leading cross-functional teams to managing products to identifying emerging market opportunities, Bertrand absorbed every experience, developing a well-rounded understanding of the health care technology landscape and how innovation makes its way into workflow.
Connecting health care and technology
After Epic, Bertrand worked in venture capital for the firm 8VC. This phase of his professional journey allowed him to explore the potential of emerging technologies and pair it with his industry experience from Epic. He worked with numerous digital health and AI companies that continue to propel the new wave of advancement in the industry. Bertrand’s experience within the health care system clarified for him that there was a need for people who have lived through a wave of health care innovation to lead from the front, rather than drive from behind the scenes. Bertrand harnessed these experiences to get innovation into the workflow, and ultimately have a positive impact on patient lives.
The birth of Digital Diagnostics
This path led Bertrand to the helm of Digital Diagnostics, a company that aims to help transform the health care industry by innovating the way health and tech work together to improve patient outcomes. As the CEO, he has led the company’s transformation from a primarily research-driven organization to a commercial enterprise that acts as a global AI platform to diagnose many diseases.
Under his leadership, Digital Diagnostics introduced LumineticsCore™, a rebranding of their flagship product IDx-DR®. LumineticsCore embodies Bertrand’s vision: an AI diagnostic system designed to diagnose diabetic retinopathy, including macular edema, autonomously at the point of care, with the aim of increasing access to care for patients while mitigating bias.
Most recently, Bertrand led Digital Diagnostics in securing monumental achievements such as garnering $75M Series B in KKR-led funding. Plus, he has guided the company in signing partnerships to extend preventative health care that has the potential to reach millions globally.
An ethical approach to innovative health care AI
One of the defining elements of Bertrand’s leadership at Digital Diagnostics is his commitment to leading innovation in health care by applying his understanding of the health care and business ecosystems to enhance patient outcomes. The company, under his guidance, is dedicated to developing AI systems that are not only highly accessible and clinically aligned but also explainable. The aim is to foster disease detection at the point of care, craft algorithms rooted in existing clinical practice guidelines and ensure a transparent AI decision-making process.
Contributing to broader horizons
Bertrand’s influence stretches beyond his role of CEO at Digital Diagnostics. He has served on the board of digital health companies such as KeyCare and Sirona as well as an adviser for Innovaccer. His insights contributed to growth within several of these organizations, including Innovaccer becoming a unicorn startup.
Bertrand’s dedication to improving health care accessibility, affordability, equity and quality through technology illustrates the promising future of global health care. His story is a testament to the potential of relentless innovation. While the road has been long and winding, he’s only just begun.
