2023 LA Fika First Look — Healthcare: The Evolution of Care Delivery

Fika hosted its 8th annual LA First Look Retreat on May 4th after a sad three-year hiatus. It was incredible to be back in-person at the historic Ebell for what turned out to be perhaps the best First Look yet, as many proclaimed this to be one of the top tech events in Los Angeles.

The day began with main stage keynote discussions with esteemed industry leaders touching on a wide range of hot-button topics.

Esteemed Axios journalist, Kia Kokalitcheva, guided the healthcare panel, which addressed women’s health and pediatric behavioral health, the impact of the pandemic on healthcare, and the application of venture-backed business models. The panelists, Carolyn Witte, Co-Founder and CEO Tia and Yury Yakubchyk, Founder and CEO of Elemy, first discussed how women’s health faces a “triple threat” of the primary care shortage, the mental health crisis, and the reproductive health crisis. Carolyn emphasized that 50% of women in the United States do not have access to a primary care physician, and that mental health issues are increasingly prevalent among women, with a third of Tia’s patients diagnosed with anxiety or depression disorders. Moreover, the reproductive health crisis includes the worst maternal mortality rates in the developed world, maternity deserts, and OBGYN shortages.

The panel moved to touch on how the rapid growth of telehealth during the pandemic led to questions of its effectiveness in all areas of healthcare. Yury shared his experience of starting his business at the beginning of the Covid and the subsequent explosion of telehealth services, and he cautioned against treating telehealth as a solution for all aspects of healthcare.

“You have to be really tactical about where you use software in healthcare.” — Yury Yakubchyk (Elemy)

Carolyn also emphasized the importance of a hybrid care model, combining virtual and in-person services, and stating that “the future is hybrid”.

“It’s not virtual only or in-person only. It’s about the right care, the right place, the right time, and the right provider.” — Carolyn Witte (Tia)

The conversation concluded with Carolyn and Yury discussing the challenges of managing a venture-backed healthcare business while maintaining a high level of care for patients. Carolyn highlighted the massive responsibility that comes with managing lives in healthcare, as opposed to simply having users for a tech product. And, Yury acknowledged the need to be thoughtful in scaling healthcare businesses, especially when the stakes are so high for patients. Both of them agreed that providing high-quality care and building a company with integrity should be the priority, even if it takes longer to achieve growth and to make an impact in the healthcare sector.