Day #1 Wrap
“It is all about trust”
Day 1 of Rock Health Summit 2020 has left me ringing with thoughts. With 47 speakers from across health plans, government agencies, and digital health startups, the Summit explored the topic of “what does it mean to provide meaningful care during and after COVID-19 pandemic”.
To me, “trust” is the keyword in Day 1 — the key to a more patient centric model, to be able to provide personalized health, and ultimately to improve outcome.
- This means we must understand who we are serving through redesigning what types of data we collect about them:
— Healthcare experience means different things for different people. Being able to truly “see” and “capture” who we are serving — what housing do they live in? What food do they eat? What is their income bracket? Can they afford their next utility bill? What is their mother tongue? — helps us see who they are as human, and understand the gaps between their desirable health outcomes and their inability (Sachin Jain, SCAN Group; Abner Mason, ConsejoSano)
- Incorporating diversity — seeing patients as “who they are”, not a blanket stereotype — in care design & operations will earn trust:
— In COVID-19 Phase III trial design, the FDA has mandated drug manufacturers to ensure that LatinX and black patients are adequately represented in trial recruitment, given members from these two demographics are disproportionally affected by COVID-19 (Llyod Minor, Stanford School of Medicine; Richard Milani, Ochsner Health)
- This means startups, payors, and providers with shared values must unite together:
— Humana has started to measure food insecurity, social isolation, loneliness, and access to regular transportation in different neighborhoods. This is the first step towards recognizing their patients as a real human with desires and constraints
— American Medical Association (AMA) has partnered with Essence to provide tests and resources to diagnose and track blood pressure for black women, who are 40% more likely to be affected than their white peers (Lourie McGrow, AMA)
- Lastly, this means we must bring care into our community
— In New Haven, less than 5% of the total population use MyChart, an eHR system powered by Epic. When hospital systems contemplate using MyChart as their primary tool for patient recruitment, the rest 90% community members not on MyChart would remain invisible for the drugs, products and the care they are entitled to. CtrlTrial is contemplating bringing access to trial into underserved communities (Guannan, CtrlTrial)
At the end of the day, we just wanted to be seen, heard, and valued. We are moving towards designing care to make our patients feel seen, heard, and valued. The journey is long, but we are on the way.
