We are premiering a special episode of CareTalk, a weekly podcast that provides an incisive, no B.S. view of the US healthcare system, to close out the day.

Host John Driscoll (CEO, CareCentrix) debates COVID-19 policies, drug prices, digital health, Medicare, racial disparities and more with his esteemed guests. Check out other episodes and learn more about CareTalk here: www.CareTalkPodcast.com

With so much mis- and dis- information in society and healthcare, the challenge rests in how to tackle such a big topic with specific strategies and lessons learned, leveraging our individual and collective sources of truth to turn the tide in the favor of what healthcare inherently turns to for its North Star: science, research, standards of care, evidence-based medicine and the holy grail of value-based care.

This panel will focus on the things we can control, address, plan for and influence amidst such a socio- and politically charged environment + highlight examples of real-world technology- and data-enabled breakthroughs that have led to greater trust in organizations, public-private partnerships and the greater-good mission behind the people and the technologies at play.

For years industry experts have been predicting that healthcare would indeed become more “consumer-driven and directed”. Even the greatest futurists could not have predicted the direct, deep and profound impact the global pandemic would have in driving focus on individual health and well-being as well as serve as the true catapult of telehealth and other digital services into the mainstream for healthcare delivery.

Consumer demands for fast, quick and easy experiences related to healthcare are resulting in next-level innovations in all aspects of healthcare. And post-pandemic implications for how companies will continue to transform in the future — because there is no “going back” in consumers’ minds.

For payers and providers working to create value-based care models and aligned financial incentives, the newfound focus on addressing and paying for the underlying Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) may be the missing link.

Yet the proliferation of digital solutions during the COVID-19 pandemic closed as many gaps as it exposed, proving transportation and other SDOH factors are as big a barrier as technology for many, especially Medicare and Medicaid populations.

The urgency of COVID-19 proved that the notoriously slow healthcare industry can swiftly remodel outdated ways of working to usher in change. We’re just getting started meeting the digital consumer’s needs and expectations for usability, connectivity, hyper-personalization, contextualization and integration.

All aspects of healthcare are seeing massive increases in post-pandemic demand. Hospital outpatient departments, ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), pharmacies, physician + specialist care offices are seeing double-digit growth projections for the foreseeable future. Meanwhile, the volume growth is predicted to drive down the cost of surgical procedures. Join our panelist as they share predictions for how these dramatic shifts could impact the business of healthcare, and where they think the biggest bets will be placed based on.

During the COVID-19 global pandemic life sciences and pharmaceutical companies faced more challenges than ever when it came to launching new drugs into the market. Reaching customers in the right place at the right time was exponentially harder. Looking at how other industries have leveraged omnichannel customer experiences, pharma has adopted more holistic engagement models that put patients first.

Post-pandemic it’s a proven solution for real-world access to care: social, emotional, mental and physical. Covid-19 revealed deep fractures in society, the inequity of the nation’s social and health safety nets, and the need for a radical transformation of community health focused on treating high-risk, high-needs patients.

With a rising mental health epidemic, has the time finally come for Whole Person Health? Digital solutions can now enable personalized coaching and treatment at the scale and price point that could result in mental health solutions being a ubiquitous part of the healthcare system. This panel will explore what’s different for whole-person, population health approaches now vs. a decade (or more) ago.

Lack of data access left ALL of us handicapped in our ability to combat COVID-19. The need for data sharing is unlike anything we’ve experienced and cross-communication is more important than ever. As we look to our future, what public health-inspired models and platforms are not only important for the greater good, but also critical to our businesses?

This discussion originally aired during the 7th Annual Emids Healthcare Summit in November 2020.

Speakers

Moderator: Kyle Armbrester, Signify Health, CEO
Heather Cox, Humana, Chief Digital Health and Analytics Officer
Bob Darin, CVS Health, Chief Data Officer; CVS Pharmacy, Chief Analytics Officer
Dr. Edmund Jackson, HCA, Chief Data Officer & Chief Data Scientist

About the Emids Healthcare Summit

The Emids Healthcare Summit is an intimate event featuring dialogue and relationship building with leaders from across healthcare tackling our industry’s biggest challenges head-on. This invitation-only summit brings together C-levels and leading executives from the healthcare industry to discuss the future of healthcare consumerism. Learn more here.