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In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, our team will be interviewing experts from across the ecosystem to bring the HLTH community timely facts and updates. About William Winkenwerder, MD: Dr. Bill Winkenwerder is Chairman of CitiusTech, a global health information technology services firm. He is Chairman and CEO of Winkenwerder Strategies LLC, a US-based healthcare advisory firm. As one of the most influential and recognized leaders in health care, with broad experience in medical care delivery, population health, healthcare finance, and health insurance, Dr. Winkenwerder is a respected expert on leading large scale organizational change and innovative health information technologies. Currently he works with global private equity firms, and in addition to CitiusTech, serves as director or advisor for healthcare firms – Net Health, Confluent Health, WPS Health Solutions, Elation Health and RxRevu. Dr. Winkenwerder is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, and a Board Certified Physician who has practiced primary care medicine at top medical institutions. He has been widely recognized for his outstanding contributions. Charitable work includes service with the Executive Advisory Board of the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, the CEO Roundtable on Cancer, The Board of Trustees of Davidson College, and The Bob Woodruff Foundation. Dr. Winkenwerder has been an advisor to US Presidents, Presidential Candidates, and many large corporations. He has been a contributor to various national news and media outlets. A graduate of Davidson College, and The University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Dr. Winkenwerder, a board certified physician, received his Masters in Business Administration from The Wharton School and completed a fellowship at The University of Pennsylvania.

COVID-19 Updates with Dr. William Winkenwerder

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Chief Product Officer

“Are we easy to do business with?”  At HLTH, I had the chance to sit down with Juli Galloway, Vice President Global Benefits at AT&amp;T, who shared this quote as a prism for how her team thinks about healthcare benefits. Her belief is that if accessing healthcare and understanding your benefits to get that care is hard, it is unlikely employees will seek that care. “What is my copay?”  “Will my virtual primary care physician be plugged into my in-person specialty care?”  “Where am I supposed to obtain information about my family planning coverage: my health insurance or the company that manages our fertility offering?”  Navigating healthcare is dizzying and America’s workforce is overburdened by understanding their benefits rather than actually benefiting from them. This rang true in the recently released <a href="https://info.includedhealth.com/WC-20231113_WorkplaceVitalsReport.html?utm_source=b2b&amp;utm_medium=Press%20release%20page&amp;utm_campaign=Workplace%20Vitals%20Resource_Press%20Release%20Page" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(17, 85, 204); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Included Health’s Workforce Vitals Report</a>, a data-driven analysis revealing insights into America’s workers when it comes to healthcare. Looking across a diverse cross-section of 2,500 individuals spanning job types and levels, industries, demographics, geographies, and company sizes, the analysis showed that:<ul><li>48% of employees report it is difficult to understand health insurance benefits;</li><li>42% say it is difficult to find a high-quality doctor or specialist; and</li><li>Only 1 in 3 workers say they aren’t confident that they are taking advantage of all their benefits have to offer (31%), or that they know what their benefits cover vs. not (30%).</li></ul> All of this confusion leads to inappropriate care utilization ranging from under- (doing nothing) to over-utilization (treating the ER like your primary care provider). Which probably explains why over half of the American workforce says they have felt in poor physical (55%) or mental health (57%) one or more days in the past month.  Many of the employer partners we work with have long seen and felt this pain and are moving away from what we’ve affectionately called “lighting up the tree of benefits.” By taking a more member-centric view and creating a single access point that integrates their benefits, employers like AT&amp;T have made a huge impact on utilization, quality of care and lowering costs.  Here are a few key principles and assets that employers should put into play when reimagining how they can simplify care. Make Your Data Work Harder for YouData plays a critical role in personalizing the experience for members. How, when and what type of communication you receive about your benefit options and potential care interventions can have a tremendous impact on your care journey, experience and ultimately your clinical outcomes. Every employer should be looking at their benefits and navigators to ask “How are you using data to reach the right members at the right time with language that inspires action?” and “Is it clinically-informed?” A clinically-led navigator knows how to leverage medical claims data, hospital admissions and more to intervene in the right way, at the right time, to drive the right decisions. Clinical ExpertiseClinical expertise is crucial when it comes to healthcare. While obvious on its surface, it is by no means the norm in digital health. Whether it be to maintain a healthy lifestyle or to manage specific conditions having a top clinical expert who practices in a culturally affirming manner alongside you to manage your care leads to better outcomes (ex. Reduced hospital readmissions, hypertension rates, etc.) and lower costs. But what is arguably just as important is achieving trust. Because if someone feels physically and mentally better, saved time and money, and had a positive experience during a trying moment in their life, that individual will more than likely continue seeking care and help from the team that helped them achieve these outcomes. IntegrationThe most innovative employers are deeply committed to ensuring their benefits stack maps back to their diverse workforce’s needs. And diverse can mean a lot of different things. Whether it be rural front line workers or a Manhattan-based corporate office employee, or a baby boomer thinking about retirement or a Gen-Zer in their first or second job out of school, employers who service all 50 states understandably need to serve up lots of options. But that can make it challenging to figure out where to go for what and how to access the myriad of benefits offered by an employer, especially without true integration. “Lazy integrating” — links that bounce a member from portal to portal — exacerbates these frustrations and can lead to suboptimal care. Real, meaningful integration that ensures employees only have to enter their information once, no matter which vendor or service they are interacting with. Juli shared during our session that she likes to think integration is an extension of “how we do business.” By minimizing fragmentation, employees can access the healthcare services they need with minimal confusion to live happier and healthier lives.  Accessing healthcare doesn’t have to be hard. It can and should be simple. It can and should inspire trust. <a href="https://info.includedhealth.com/HLTH-2023.html" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(17, 85, 204); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">During our HLTH session</a>, AT&amp;T shared how All-Included Care™ is doing just that for its front line workers. Since rolling out this service earlier this year and making it easier for AT&amp;T’s workforce to access care during convenient hours that align with their work schedules, AT&amp;T is already seeing an increase in preventative care utilization and lower avoidable emergency room visits. By taking a member-centric approach that emphasizes personalization and puts the care back in healthcare, we can simplify the experience in a way that works for everyone.

Building Better Hallways for Coordinated Care; Improving Outcomes and Reducing Costs

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In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, our team will be interviewing experts from across the ecosystem to bring the HLTH community timely facts and updates. Nancy Brown is Chief Executive Officer of the American Heart Association. Serving as CEO since 2008, Nancy has elevated the AHA as a global leader in heart disease and stroke science innovation. Robert Harrington, MD, is President of the American Heart Association and chairman of the department of medicine at Stanford University.

COVID-19 Discussion with The American Heart Association

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Director

&quot;I&#39;m excited about the science, but if we think about how to keep someone healthy, it takes a massive, multi-disciplinary effort and everyone must do their part. It&#39;s not only development and production, but also understanding who is going to use it and how it’s going to be used.&quot;  -Matthew Hepburn, White House Senior Advisor, Office of Science and Technology Policy at the 2022 BLUE KNIGHT™ Symposium  Global preparedness requires global cooperation. As a global community composed of regional innovation ecosystems, we must work together and lean on each other’s strengths to respond to emerging infectious diseases more readily. Progress continues as we support novel science and technology through our Blue Knight partnership, including the current Blue Knight <a href="https://jlabs.jnjinnovation.com/quickfire-challenges/blue-knight-tm-quickfire-challenge-next-generation-preparedness-solutions" target="_blank">QuickFire Challenge</a> which seeks solutions to leverage the microbiome, scale manufacturing of vaccines and/or therapeutics, and target the host response with the aim to enhance preparedness towards future known and unknown health security threats. There are still important gaps to fill towards health security preparedness solutions, especially as we look to accelerate solutions and invest in technologies that support the needs of diverse populations, including at-risk, immunocompromised, geriatric, and pediatric populations.  Supporting Innovators to “Leapfrog Progress”  In April 2020, our organizations—Johnson &amp; Johnson Innovation – JLABS and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (<a href="https://www.medicalcountermeasures.gov/" target="_blank">BARDA</a>), part of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services— announced the global joint initiative now known as <a href="https://jlabs.jnjinnovation.com/blue-knight" target="_blank">Blue Knight</a>. The partnership is dedicated to anticipating potential health security threats, activating the global innovation community, and amplifying scientific and technological advancements with the aim to prepare for and respond to our rapidly evolving global health environment. Today, the program supports <a href="https://jnjinnovation.com/JLABSNavigator/search-results?isBlueKnight=true&amp;sort=Alphabetic" target="_blank">a portfolio of 23 companies</a> from around the world and accepts applications on a rolling basis.  In June 2022, we hosted the second <a href="https://blueknightsymposium2022.splashthat.com/" target="_blank">Blue Knight Symposium</a> to discuss the potential of partnerships to accelerate preparedness solutions. Throughout the Symposium, the speakers highlighted the importance of partnerships and support for regional innovation ecosystems to innovate and develop equitable solutions. We heard from both the early-stage companies and the organizations supporting them to bring innovative technologies to patients, such as the work of ENA Respiratory, a Blue Knight company based in Australia, with the Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Foundation, to develop pan-antiviral nasal spray.  Thriving innovation ecosystems exist around the world, each region harnessing specific strengths. We have the potential to unlock a global force of preparedness by uncovering and accelerating our regional strengths to operate as one. As Kelly Chibale, Professor of Organic Chemistry at the University of Cape Town, noted during the Symposium, &quot;If we harness local innovators appropriately, those innovations are likely to leapfrog progress. This is not something that any region can do on their own. If we couple incentives to entrepreneurs, this is likely that we can co-create the innovation ecosystem.” Our Blue Knight partnership is working to do just that. Health Equity as a Driver for Preparedness for All  Equitable innovation may be key to shielding global communities from emerging disease threats and eliminating the disproportionate impact of pandemics and emerging infectious diseases on diverse and minority populations. Ensuring that all communities are protected and reaching people as far as the last mile, including rural communities and at-risk populations, is essential when developing potential solutions.  This sentiment flowed throughout the day as was highlighted by Lisha McCormick, the CEO of Last Mile Health, “Innovation without equity is inadequate. The orientation around collaboration really needs to be to scale impact, not an institution or individual innovation. Fall in love with solving the problem, not the specific tool with which you’re committed to solving it.” Through Blue Knight, we aim to support the early-stage companies that have done just that—companies solving a problem to address an unmet need.   Developing Next-Generation Solutions  Leveraging partnerships and collaborative opportunities are keys to moving forward towards global preparedness.  As we search to support the technologies that have the potential to create a more secure future from global health threats, BARDA has released their <a href="https://www.medicalcountermeasures.gov/barda/strategic-plan/" target="_blank">2022-2026 Strategic Plan</a>, which includes supporting an ecosystem of innovation programs, including Blue Knight. The current Blue Knight <a href="https://jlabs.jnjinnovation.com/quickfire-challenges/blue-knight-tm-quickfire-challenge-next-generation-preparedness-solutions" target="_blank">QuickFire Challenge</a> is one way to connect with our organizations and provides an opportunity to receive award funding, access to JLABS through a Blue Knight residency, and mentorship from The Johnson &amp; Johnson Family of Companies and BARDA.  As we look to the next generation of solutions to be accessible to all and help eliminate disparities that may be exacerbated by global health threats, we are seeking technologies that are easy to administer for the intended indications, including orally, nasally, or topically, if applicable; technologies that have the potential as multi-use solutions (indications as medical countermeasures for specific threat areas and for commercial use) or are threat-agnostic; and with a particular interest in technologies aiming to support the needs of diverse populations, including at-risk, immunocompromised, geriatric, and pediatric populations.  Join Blue Knight and the global discussion on how we can collectively come together to develop equitable solutions towards the known and unknown health security threats of the future. If you’re developing a potential solution to solve a problem, <a href="https://jji.jnjinnovation.com/meetwithblueknight" target="_blank">reach out to us</a> and watch the <a href="https://blueknightsymposium2022.splashthat.com/" target="_blank">2022 Blue Knight Symposium</a> on-demand today.

Spurring Global Connections at the BLUE KNIGHT™ Symposium to Develop Next Generation Preparedness Solutions

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