As the healthcare sector embraces digital transformation, leaders like Ignacio (Iggy) Handal stand at the forefront challenging traditional practices with bold innovations. His leadership at Clinicom exemplifies a revolution in mental health assessments, utilizing advanced Augmented intelligence to transform how clinicians diagnose and treat patients worldwide. By pushing the boundaries of personalized medicine, Iggy and his team are helping shape a future where mental health care is more accessible, accurate, and patient-centered.
Ignacio Handal, the Chief Executive Officer of Clinicom, is a visionary in the mental health field. His journey began in 2003 with the founding of Harmonex Neuroscience, one of the leading private neuroscience research sites in the U.S. Through his work at Harmonex, Iggy gained invaluable insights and experience preforming hundreds of FDA clinical trials in Neuroscience, fueling his passion for mental health technology. This drive led his team to create Clinicom, a platform that is redefining how mental health assessments are conducted by clinicians across the globe.
Let’s delve into the details below!
A Vision for the Future of Mental Health
Driven by his passion for improving mental health care, Ignacio and his team are revolutionizing the way assessments are carried out. Clinicom’s platform allows providers to autonomously assess patients, both young and old, for over 80 mental health conditions and social determinants of health in less than 30 minutes with complete privacy at home on their phones. The system generates detailed, actionable reports that clinicians can use to make informed decisions, while tracking patient outcomes for up to a year with no additional costs. With a robust focus on data security, Clinicom is GDPR, HIPAA, and FDA CFR21 Part 11 compliant, ensuring that patient privacy is maintained to the highest standards.
Clinicom not only improves diagnosis accuracy but also empowers clinicians with the tools to eliminate trial-and-error approaches to mental health medications. By leveraging these capabilities, the platform has significantly reduced the high misdiagnosis rates in mental health (which range from 39% to 79%) and enables clinicians to deliver care that is both personalized and precisely tailored to the individual.
Leadership and Global Impact
Iggy Handal exemplifies a new generation of healthcare leaders; those who combine technological expertise with a deep understanding of clinical needs. Under his leadership, Clinicom has expanded its services to 45 states in the U.S. and 27 countries globally. For example, the platform serves all students across 58 campuses at SUNY/Syracuse and has partnered with Australia’s largest tele-mental health provider, WeLysn, securing 23 insurance contracts serving 4/5 of the Australian continent. These partnerships will cover 80% of Australians by 2026, making Clinicom’s mental health solutions widely available across the globe.
In addition to these achievements, Iggy Handal was honored with the Christine Pierre Clinical Trials Lifetime Achievement Award in 2022, the highest accolade in clinical trials on a global scale. This recognition emphasizes his contributions to advancing healthcare through clinical research and innovation, further strengthening his role as a leader in the industry.
Innovations in Technology: Beyond AI
While most companies are focused on artificial intelligence (AI) models, Iggy and his team at Clinicom have taken a different path. They have developed what they call “Augmented Intelligence,” a scientifically accurate, error-reducing technology stack that unifies a vast knowledge base with supervised learning. This ensures that clinicians retain full oversight and control over the diagnostic process, integrating their expertise back into the system to continually refine its accuracy. The foundational knowledge is based on the APAs DSM5 criteria which governs the clinical decision making. Unlike traditional AI models prone to errors and hallucinations, Clinicom’s Augmented Intelligence guarantees the cleanest and most accurate data, allowing clinicians to make confident, informed decisions.
Ignacio sees a future where most AI models will transition to a hybrid between AI and Augmented Intelligence, with Clinicom at the forefront of this evolution. The platform’s data could even be used for post-marketing studies, reducing the cost of drug development by up to 80% for Phase II–IIIb studies.
Driving Global Partnerships and Expansion
Clinicom’s ability to adapt to any clinical environment has made it a valuable asset in global health. In addition to its work in the US and Australia, Clinicom has launched numerous channel partnerships and distribution channels worldwide. Many organizations now use the platform in a white-labeled format, embedding Clinicom’s cutting-edge technology into their own mental health solutions.
Iggy envisions Clinicom as the “Intel Inside” for mental health, empowering digital health companies, telemedicine providers, and EMR systems with its adaptive technology. This flexibility and innovation make Clinicom a reimbursable tool for clinicians, offering a 2-10x return depending on the clinician’s credentials and payer contracts.
A Focus on Personalized Medicine
Personalized medicine lies at the heart of Iggy’s vision for the future of healthcare. Clinicom tailors its assessments and reporting to each individual patient, ensuring that clinicians can provide care that is customized to the patient’s specific needs. This focus on personalized medicine will only grow in the coming years, as healthcare shifts toward more individualized and accessible models. With Clinicom, patients can receive tailored care from the comfort of their homes, and clinicians can track their progress in real-time.
Meeting the Challenges of an Aging Population
As the global population ages, mental health care must adapt to the unique challenges this demographic presents. Clinicom is equipped to serve anyone aged six and older, providing comprehensive assessments as long as the patient does not suffer from dementia or neurodegenerative diseases. This ensures that Clinicom remains a versatile tool for clinicians addressing a wide range of mental health issues across all age groups.
Looking Ahead: The Future of Healthcare
Ignacio Handal envisions a future where tailored AI solutions will reduce the need for frequent doctor visits, offering more personalized and continuous monitoring of individual health. Imagine having a personal AI doctor that is always on call—this is the direction Iggy sees healthcare moving in, and Clinicom is positioning itself to lead in this space.
