Accelerating The Adoption Of HealthTech In Low-Income Populations Can Close The Racial Equity Gap
And Grow The Economy $135B Annually
A sad reality is that life expectancies can be very well determined by the zip code you live in. The gaps in health and wealth disproportionately affect diverse and inclusive audiences.
Dr. Leana Wen, Health Commissioner for Baltimore City, recently told US News, “It’s been said that the opposite of poverty is health.” Dr. Wen’s statement could describe economic inequities and poor health in any city across the country. According to a 2015 CNN report, life expectancy rates in the Baltimore neighborhoods of Upton and Druid Heights are only 63 years old, compared to the 83-year life expectancy for Roland Park, less than five miles away. The median income of these neighborhoods follows the same trend, $13,388 a year in Upton and Druid Heights, well below the poverty line, compared to $90,492 in Roland Park.
Healthcare alone cannot drive desired health outcomes. One way to eliminate disparities in wealth and surface better solutions is through early adoption of health technology outside of the hospital to some of the poorest Americans.
Companies are realizing the closer you get to where health starts, the more likely you are to have a true impact on health. The end users, typically in overlooked markets, are not often involved in the early solutions to the world’s most challenging health conditions. Accelerating the adoption of health technology in low-income populations will not only improve health outcomes, eliminate racial disparities, but also grow the United States economy on a massive scale. One example of transitioning care away from the in-hospital setting is Iora Health.
“When the end user identifies the problem, participates in building in the solution, and continues to engage during its refinement, adoption is inevitable.” — How to Accelerate the Adoption of Digital Health Technology
Iora is redesigning Primary Care to help patients better manage their health and navigate the healthcare system. Every patient gets a top-notch personal physician as well as a personal health coach who stays in close contact during and between office visits, both of whom are available by email, text, or video in addition to in-person visits.
Iora, which has raised more than $120M, isn’t offering this brand of concierge medicine to wealthy, young professionals from Silicon Valley. Instead, its services are for the sickest and oldest populations, often minorities, who suffer from serious health conditions like diabetes and heart disease.
There is a growing number of visionary entrepreneurs and startups entering this space putting the end user first like Town Hall Ventures portfolio company, Cityblock Health. And it’s not looking like this trend is slowing down any time soon thanks to new government policies (Medicaid & Medicare). As stated by CNBC’s Chrissy Farr, venture dollars are shifting away from health and wellness products that serve urban professionals to a new cohort of startups that invest in healthcare solutions for communities that have been long ignored. The old “fee for service” model hospitals employ don’t encourage innovation and don’t meet the populations where they are and actually needed most.
“Some health experts now believe that the poorest Americans might well get access to innovation before their wealthier counterparts, because of how the government is providing new incentives and rewarding companies for delivering better health outcomes.” — Chrissy Farr, Health startups are finding profits in serving the poor and elderly
It’s promising that the most overlooked markets will soon access new medical innovation first and not last. The economic impact will also be positive because, as some studies have found, health is directly correlated to wealth. According to a new report from Altarum, there’s a potential economic gain of $135B per year if racial disparities in health are eliminated, including $93B in excess medical care costs and $42B in untapped productivity. Additionally, 5G technology could considerably advance digital health, enabling services such as remote patient monitoring through connected devices, generating $305B in cost savings each year. This economic boon would have a dramatic impact on cities across the country like Baltimore.
Ultimately, addressing real-life problems at the root of poor health is about understanding life from a different perspective. CareMore Health System has said that all stakeholders can achieve their goals faster “by placing greater emphasis on the problems of the end user — and less emphasis on the systems themselves.” A refined process towards finding solutions with innovation being a core competency will only add value where they otherwise wouldn’t have exposure to in the past. This starts by meeting the end user where they are, in the community.
