Inga Bergen (Founder, Visionäre der Gesundheit)
Inga Bergen is co-founder and host of the podcast Visionaries of Health. After studying International Politics & Management and General Management, she worked for the innovation consultancy FJORD and as Managing Director at welldoo and magnosco, among others.
How would you explain to a five-year-old what you are doing?
I have been CEO of 2 digital health startups. Today, I advise and consult companies in healthcare about future technology, new business models and customer needs. I also tell stories about the future of healthcare and interview scientists, entrepreneurs, and key opinion leaders for my podcast ‚Visionäre der Gesundheit‘.
What excites you most about your job?
If you have been a patient yourself, you surely have experienced the potential to improve healthcare. I believe technology will lead us to more empathic, holistic, personalized, and human-centric medicine and healthcare. It even has potential to lower costs. I have a strong vision and love for creating the medicine and healthcare of the future, connecting and inspiring people, and working with bright minds.
Which trend will change the future of medicine?
I believe that we will see three big shifts: (1) Personalization: technology, wearables, big data, and data analytics help us to create more personalized medicine and build patient-centered care. (2) Empathy: the rise of technology makes us appreciate meaningful personal interaction. No voice artificial intelligence can initiate a healing process like an empathic doctor-patient conversation can. Empathy has been the most undervalued component in healthcare and it will take a rise. (3) Societal division: the wealthy and educated half of societies will shift to a more preventive healthcare, where many lifestyle-caused diseases will disappear. Longevity and healthy lifestyles become a commodity, health and youth the most attractive life goals. The other half of society with low health literacy and low income will be provided with scalable low-cost, technology-based healthcare. Health will be the ultimate proof of wealth.
Looking back, which trends have you missed or underestimated?
I have brought to market medical products, initiated clinical trials, and invented new business models. Luckily, I have always underestimated how long it takes and how many stakeholders in the system want to block change — otherwise, I might not have started.
Which MedTech initiative or startup deserves more attention?
Instead of focusing on Silicon Valley, we can look at Asia and China for inspiration. These societies use technology to provide healthcare to a massive population that had no access before.
Where would you put a million dollars?
In digital mental health and data-driven prevention.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
If you want to drive change and improve the world, start with your own mindset first.