the Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the problems of access to medical care. At Wednesday’s Time100 Summit, three healthcare officials discussed how the concept of meeting people where they are could help improve the entire industry.
Dr. Toyin Ajayi, CEO and co-founder of Cityblock Health, Dr. Raj Panjabi, former White House senior director and special assistant to President Joe Biden, and Dr. Luther T. Clark, deputy chief patient officer at Merck, each one pointed out his own versions of bringing health care to the people in a conversation moderated by TIME senior health correspondent Alice Park. (Merck is a partner of the Time100 Summit 2024).
Panjabi finished his White House term in 2023, after working on the government’s action plan in response to Covid-19, which included coordinating a vast vaccination effort. During the emergency, he said his “high-tech, high-touch approach” to community health care (such as holding clinics in community spaces, sending home testing to people by mail, and expanding telehealth capabilities) can be applied to help with maternal care. birth outcomes and opioid addiction.
“This mantra that really emerged during the Covid-19 pandemic, ‘meet people where they are,’ was responsible for helping ensure hundreds of millions of shots got into the arms of Americans, three million deaths were avoided, and One trillion dollars in economic losses will be avoided. “They were prevented,” Panjabi said.
Ajayi also built Cityblock Health on those principles. He noted that the traditional model of patients going to the doctor’s office during the workday does not work for many people with inflexible work schedules, traffic restrictions or parental responsibilities. At Cityblock, doctors make multiple home visits to patients, building trust and being available for early interventions in any health condition.
“Imagine the feeling you get as a doctor if you completely change the paradigm,” Ajayi said. “The respect you instill in that relationship is really powerful.”
The business model works, he explained, by reducing the health care costs associated with these patients in the future: expensive visits to the emergency room, which often become the only option for people who were unable to see a doctor. before. Panjabi pointed to Cityblock Health as the type of organization industry and government need to prioritize scaling up.
Clark also highlighted the benefit of community involvement during the research and development of new drug therapies.
“One of the areas of focus is incorporating the voice of patients into the work we do,” Clark said. “Patients are the beneficiaries of any new medical intervention, so involving them in those decisions (contributing their ideas, their perspectives, what is important to them) to our work is vitally important. “It helps us develop more patient-centered and patient-friendly therapies.”
That way, pharmaceutical companies can not only make treatments more representative of different communities, but they can also overcome the barriers they face in reaching those communities, such as a lack of trust.
“When patients are included in this process, they not only contribute to the advancement of science, but also to the development of healthcare solutions that improve healthcare and can ultimately promote equity,” Clark said.
The TIME100 Summit convenes leaders from the global TIME100 community to highlight solutions and encourage action toward a better world. This year’s summit features a variety of speakers from a wide range of sectors, including politics, business, health and science, culture and more.
2024 TIME100 Summit speakers include actor Elliot Page, designer Tory Burch, Olympic medalist Ibtihaj Muhammad, WNBA champion A’ja Wilson, author Margaret Atwood, New York Stock Exchange President Lynn Martin, comedian Alex Edelman, Professor Yoshua Bengio, the 68th Secretary of State John Kerry, actress Jane Fonda and many more.
The TIME100 Summit was presented by Booking.com, Citi, Merck, Northern Data Group, Glenfiddich Single Malt Scotch Whiskey and Verizon.