My TEDx Talk: How Healthcare’s Failures Fuel Innovation
“I get angry about things, then go on and work.” -Toni Morrison.
Back in 2018 I was working for a well known academic medical institution in NYC; and the department I was working in at the time was the most toxic and taxing environment for me as a Black woman. So much so, that I was breaking out in hives daily because of the immense stress I felt having to deal with the daily microaggressions and the insidious effects of institutional racism. I was deeply disturbed knowing that an institution esteemed for delivering quality care had people in leadership who blatantly discriminated against people of color (especially Black women).
Whenever I reflect back on that season of my life, I think about how much racism literally affects the health of those subjected to it. During that time, I was going back and forth to see an allergist who ran a series of tests on me, but who couldn’t figure out what was triggering the hives. She ended up prescribing me an OTC medication — two Allegras daily. I knew this wasn’t optimal because I still had unanswered questions about what was going on with my body. But my doctor, who happened to be a white woman, seemed to be ok with the solution she offered me. Not once did she ask me what was going on in my life. She never asked if I was dealing with stress on my job, at school, or at home, but if she did, we might have identified what was triggering the hives a lot sooner. I eventually resigned from that toxic job in May of 2018, and the hive outbreaks immediately stopped. I realized then just how important it is for providers to be more concerned about what’s going on in their patients’ lives as they provide care and give them clinical advice. I took a mental note, and decided that moving forward I would be more forthcoming with my doctor about what was going on in my world. However, I couldn’t help but think that maybe, just maybe, if my doctor looked like me or if I believed she’d be able to understand what I was dealing with at work, I might have shared that information with her voluntarily.
Back in 2018 I was also in grad school pursuing my Master of Public Health. I was reading dense academic papers that made me more aware of racial health disparities. I always focused my attention on the outcomes for Black women — for obvious reasons —and the disparities were jarring. Black women are plagued with higher incidence and mortality rates for various health conditions. Seeing the data, and getting a deeper understanding of the social factors that result in these disparities, angered me to no end. I would read these articles, reflect on my own experiences and the experiences of friends and family members, and at times be overwhelmed with rage and sadness to the point of tearing up. This happened enough times for me to realize, it was time for me to stop just being angry, it was time to get to work.
Black women are three to four times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than white women. Every year, 50,000 Black women in the US die from heart disease, which translates to about 137 Black women dying every single day from a preventable disease. Black women are also more likely to die from breast cancer and cervical cancer than women of other races.
Now, imagine constantly being bombarded with statistics and headlines like these. Headlines that say people who look like you are more likely to die from preventable diseases and complications, only to realize that in a digital age, there are very few spaces online or digital solutions that provide health information, services, and resources that reflect and take into account your unique lived experiences? Well, that is why I launched Health In Her HUE in 2018, a digital platform that connects Black women to Black and culturally competent healthcare providers, and offers health information and content that centers Black women’s lived experiences. We strive to reduce racial health disparities by leveraging the power of technology, media and community to improve health outcomes for Black women. Health In Her HUE was borne out of my frustrations observing how the healthcare system failed and continues to fail people who look like me.
Communities that have been historically disadvantaged bear the brunt of the healthcare system’s failures, and as a result, many of us are well positioned to identify its pain points and develop innovative solutions to address them. In fact, many of us are creating companies that address these failures.
Rubicon MD is a great example. The founders Gil and Carlos both experienced difficulties accessing speciality care. Gil’s grandmother needed neurological care and had to keep flying back and forth from Barbados to Boston for care. This became emotionally and financially draining for the family.
Carlos’ grandfather, who lived in Spain, was losing his hearing, and there were no providers in Spain who could treat him. Doing his own research and due diligence, Carlos found a medical device that could help his grandfather. Both Gil’s and Carlos’ experiences made them wonder why it was so difficult to get access to necessary medical interventions. They met at an MIT hackathon and began to think of ways they could democratize medical expertise to places where specialty care is limited. Together they built RubiconMD — a platform that allows primary care clinicians to easily and quickly consult with top medical specialists so they can provide better care, improve the patient experience, and at the same time, reduce costs and inefficiencies.
Radical Health is another example of a pain point turned into innovation. Radical Health is a tech-enabled company based in the Bronx. It was founded by Ivelyse Andino who was inspired by two major life events: her mother’s cancer diagnosis and the birth of her own son. Despite working in the healthcare industry, Ivelyse found it challenging to navigate the healthcare system as a woman of color. So she founded Radical Health, which works at the intersection of community health and tech. They combine meaningful conversations with AI enabled tech to help people understand their rights during healthcare visits, and develop self advocacy.
Queerly Health was founded by Derrick Reyes after witnessing how difficult it was for LGBTQ+ people to navigate the healthcare system in the United States. Derrick realized how LGBTQ+ people are largely overlooked and underserved in healthcare, and saw the ways in which the digital health industry looked like it was going to overlook the LGTBQ+ community just like traditional healthcare. They decided that wasn’t going to happen on their watch, and that digital health could be leveraged to address barriers to access for this community, and eventually eliminate LGBTQ+ health disparities. Queerly Health’s solution addresses a major pain point in our healthcare system by offering vetted and trained health and wellness providers who are safe and knowledgeable providers for LGBTQ+ people.
Now, you’re probably wondering, “wasn’t this talk supposed to be about healthcare, not political leanings?” You’re right (you can relax). James Baldwin just happens to be one of my favorite writers, and I realized this definition can also be applied to many startup company founders, especially in the healthcare space. The healthcare ecosystem is saturated with so many companies founded and funded by people who believe they have the best solutions for patients, but many of them don’t reflect or understand the experiences of the communities that are impacted the most by healthcare’s failures. And this is not to claim that only historically disadvantaged people have been failed by our healthcare system, because our system is broken and it impacts everyone. However, we need to make sure that people who reflect the communities that are disproportionately failed by our healthcare system have their ideas and companies taken seriously, and more importantly, funded. And I’ll come back to this point, but first I want to encourage my fellow people of color to channel your anger and frustrations at the healthcare system’s failures into activation (if you feel inspired or compelled to do so).
If you identify a pain point in the healthcare system that you personally experienced, you should feel activated to address it. We can see obstacles and failures for what they are at face value, or we can choose to see them as opportunities to improve, to correct, and to innovate. I want more BIPOC, more LGBTQ+ people, who are sitting on great ideas inspired by their experiences, to take the first step in writing down their ideas. They’re not as crazy as you think. Trust me, there are people who’ve had billions of dollars invested in their crazy ideas… (case in point)…
…so don’t sit on yours. If you have the passion and are burdened by a problem, chances are you’re uniquely positioned to address it.
“Changing systems and structures so people can live equitable lives is greater than creating some charitable action. “- Brittany Packnett
Brittany goes on to say, “we need two hands: one hand to build and one to battle. One to tear bad things down and one to build new, good things in its place.” Diverse health tech founders need funding for our companies. And health tech companies need to hire and include more BIPOC in their innovation process.
Most venture-backed startups are still overwhelmingly white, male, and Ivy League-educated. In 2019 only 1% of venture-backed founders were Black. Latinx founders made up 1.8 % of those receiving funding. Recent studies, and specifically one published by Kauffman Fellows, show that ethnically diverse teams outperform homogeneous teams by about 3.5X. It’s more difficult for founders of color to get access to capital, but when we do, we tend to raise more across all rounds compared to all white founding teams. So for those who aren’t moved by moral or ethical imperative, the data clearly shows that it’s time for health tech companies and investors to see the value of diversity.
Now, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I do feel compelled to shake the table with hard facts, so here goes. Our healthcare system will continue to fail and disparities won’t go away if we continue to build and implement cool, sexy technology without addressing the systemic issues that cause health inequities. We need more people who’ve been systematically failed by the US healthcare system to be a part of the innovation that’s taking place in healthcare. We have some of the best solutions.
Technology alone won’t solve healthcare’s issues, and innovative ideas will be limited in their impact if they don’t include the perspectives and experiences of those who know how the healthcare system works and those who understand how it is broken. We need patients and healthcare providers with real experiences, and who know the real problems at the innovation table. Because the people who are closest to the problem are often closest to the solution.
I’d also like to add that pedigree alone doesn’t make someone the “right” startup founder. If VCs can invest in the Elizabeth Holmes and Adam Neumanns of the world, they certainly can fund the ideas and solutions of those who have experienced real pain points and real failures of the healthcare system.
It’s time for healthcare innovators and funders to part with what’s familiar and get with what’s real. It’s not a pipeline problem, it’s a selection bias problem that’s affecting the bottom line of companies, portfolios and slowing down meaningful healthcare innovation.
And finally, to my fellow diverse health tech founders and soon-to-be founders, “may your rage be a force for good, because what you build is infinitely more important than what you tear down.” — Brittney Cooper.
