TThe Covid-19 pandemic has made problems with access to medical care evident. At the Time100 Summit on Wednesday, three health officials discussed how the concept of meeting people where they are could help improve the entire sector.
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. each pointed out their own versions of bringing healthcare to people in a moderated conversation by TIME senior health correspondent Alice Park. (Merck is a partner of the Time100 Summit 2024).
Panjabi ended his term at the White House 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 people home tests and expanding telehealth capabilities — could be applied to help with maternal treatment. birth outcomes and opioid dependence.
“This mantra that really emerged during the Covid-19 pandemic, ‘meet people where they are,’ was responsible for helping to ensure that hundreds of millions of shots got into the arms of Americans, three million deaths were prevented, a trillion dollars of economic losses were avoided,” Panjabi said.
Ajayi also built Cityblock Health based on these principles. She noted that the traditional model of patients going to the doctor’s office during the workday doesn’t work for many people with inflexible work schedules, traffic restrictions or parental responsibilities. At Cityblock, doctors make multiple home visits to patients, establishing trust and being available for early interventions for any health conditions.
“Imagine what a doctor would feel like if you completely flipped the paradigm,” Ajayi said. “The respect you instill in that relationship is really powerful.”
The business model works, she explained, by reducing healthcare costs related to these patients in the future – expensive emergency room visits that often become the only option for people who were unable to see a doctor sooner. Panjabi pointed to Cityblock Health as the type of organization the industry and government need to prioritize expansion.
Clark also highlighted the benefit of community involvement during the research and development of new drug therapies.
“One of the areas of focus is bringing the voice of patients into the work we do,” Clark said. “Patients are the beneficiaries of any new medical interventions, so involving them in these decisions – bringing their knowledge, their perspectives, what is important to them – into our work is incredibly important. This helps us develop more patient-centered and patient-friendly therapies.”
This way, pharmaceutical companies can not only make treatments more representative of different communities, but also overcome barriers they face in reaching these communities, such as a lack of trust.
“When you bring patients into this process, they not only contribute to the advancement of science, but also to the development of health care solutions that improve health care and that, ultimately, can promote equity,” Clark said.
The TIME100 Summit brings together 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 diverse sectors, including politics, business, health and science, culture and more.
TIME100 Summit 2024 speakers include actor Elliot Page, designer Tory Burch, Olympic medalist Ibtihaj Muhammad, WNBA champion A’ja Wilson, author Margaret Atwood, NYSE President Lynn Martin, comedian Alex Edelman, the 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.
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
