The Woman Designing the Future of Healthcare: Chrissa McFarlane
For individuals around the world, the healthcare industry is under a harsh microscope. A global pandemic has ignited conversations around the handling of public health and the systems that educate, treat, and manage everyday people.
In the United States, in particular, COVID-19 was the leading cause of death in January, ahead of heart disease and cancer, according to an analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation. As of this week, more than 500,000 people have died from COVID-19 in the U.S.
With healthcare top of mind as an industry ripe for innovation, we reconnected with one of the women leading the charge for a new era of healthcare: Chrissa McFarlane, CEO, and Founder of Patientory.
We first met Patientory through our Oregon Enterprise Blockchain Venture Studio (OEBVS), a partnership between R/GA Ventures, Moda, Umpqua Bank, Business Oregon, ConsenSys, Portland State University, OHSU, and Smith + Crown that brought together strategic partners and emerging technology companies. The goal was to nurture a blockchain-based ecosystem to develop solutions to serve local and national US, along with global markets.
Patientory’s blockchain-based token is a digital currency that uses advanced encryption techniques to securely store and manage health information in real-time. Chrissa wants to spur the adoption of emerging technologies specifically for the healthcare industry. Here’s what she had to say:
Give us an update. What has evolved with Patientory since participating in the Oregon Enterprise Blockchain Venture Studio?
Since the Studio in 2019, our team acquired a total of 16 strategic partnerships and has become one of the largest healthcare data banks in the world, with connections to 10,000 hospitals (90% of the hospitals in the United States) through our work with 1UpHealth.
We’ve also partnered with Trialscope for clinical trial recruitment with Moderna, Novavax, and Acleris. To assist with return to work, alleviation of the effects of the pandemic, and preventative measures, Patientory has integrated COVID-19 tracking features and care management into our solutions.
After participating in OEBVS, we finalized a peer-review journal published in July 2020 called Incentivizing Change Within Social Determinants of Health Using Blockchain Technology with Moda Health and the Oregon Health & Science University.
When we last connected with you, you mentioned that “patients are people first.” How has the ideology shifted or even grown now that we’re amidst a global pandemic?
Now, there is more urgency than ever, especially as we see the push for vaccinations and tracking of COVID-19 symptoms. Over the past year, we have heard tons of stories of how this pandemic has not only affected patients’ health but how it’s impacted them as people. We are now even more motivated to continue our work with securely aggregating healthcare and medical data including clinical trials and COVID-19 care.
Even more today the Patientory app is requested by employer organizations (a new pipeline for our company) that are looking for more wholesome wellness solutions that incorporate medical and health data to drive outcomes for their workforce.
Patientory is fulfilling a commitment to diversity and inclusion by being a part of a study of the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine. What are you hoping this study reveals?
We actively tried to enroll at-risk communities and minorities to take part in the Moderna vaccine trial. And we anticipated that we can make healthcare more equitable by working to enroll these communities.
Through the use of our system, you can identify those groups and incentive them directly with tokens at scale which has not been done before as part of the clinical trial process. It’s a real-time transformation at speed solution for enrolling these target groups.
What can you share about your perspective on Digital Health?
Digital Health is the future of healthcare. According to an Accenture 2018 study, 75% of consumers in the United States see technology as a cornerstone of health management. A Deloitte study in 2020 at the onset of the pandemic, demonstrated that AI integration (analytics, etc.) is going to be increasingly important when needing to scale healthcare.
Scaling care digitally can increase patient engagement, and I predict a trend where this engagement will continue to increase with greater innovation in this space. For Patientory, increasing our patient engagement and care management is top of mind especially as we see how people are more aware of their health as a result of the current healthcare climate.
In the future, we will see Digital Health as a flagship feature of the healthcare workflow, especially with regards to patient management. Patients can help decrease healthcare costs just by engaging in preventative measures using digital health systems, software, and devices. During times when in-person is not an option, Digital Health will be vital to managing patient care and improving health outcomes.
What about Health Equity? What does Health Equity in the United States look like in 2021?
Health Equity encompasses disparities from access to the social determinants of health. In 2021 in the US, we have a long way to go, as disparities have gotten worse as a result of the pandemic. In May 2020, NPR reported that in Washington, DC, Black residents make up less than half the population of DC yet 80% of the COVID-19 deaths.
Health Equity in the US must be improved, as this is unacceptable. At Patientory, we are working towards scaling healthcare to everyone and ensuring that all individuals, populations, and communities have access to care.
What has it been like being a woman of color in the healthcare space?
There are many challenges in being a woman of color in this space; however, I am able to lead from a position of passion and insight. Especially from a diversity perspective, I am helping to pave the way for more minority and women representation for the future of the healthcare industry.
Any advice you can share for other Black Founders?
Continue to network. Networking and building relationships should be the core of your business strategy.
Also, continue to uplift as you climb further.
What’s next for Patientory?
Our focus now is on the adoption of our product to our users and identifying/measuring the improvement and cost reduction in the healthcare space. We want to demonstrate this long-term impact immediately with the opportunities we are currently working on.
—
R/GA Ventures helps corporate partners tap into innovation through the startup ecosystem. Over the past six years, R/GA Ventures has facilitated dozens of transformative projects between our portfolio companies and major corporations — all meaningful work that proves new ground and creates lasting business impact.
To learn more and stay in the know, visit ventures.rga.com and follow @rgaventures on Twitter and Instagram.
