Webinar: Digital Health Equity: Lessons Learned from COVID-19
Webinar: Digital Health Equity: Lessons Learned from COVID-19
Originally recorded Thursday, June 22 | 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM CST
About the webinar
Healthcare has seen rapid adoption and use of virtual platforms stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. The surge in telemedicine is a prominent example; according to a global study done in 2022 by the Italian Institute of Telemedicine in collaboration with the Yale College of Medicine and Kaiser Permanente, telemedicine visits increased by more than 3,000% during October 2020 compared to 2019 in the U.S. However, the changes in virtual health technology accelerated by COVID-19 extend even further than telemedicine, including novel tools such as artificial intelligence and innovations in data structure and collection, as identified in a Microsoft Research study in 2022. Yet despite the vast potential of these rapidly growing health technologies, challenges to health equity remain. For example, the digital divide represents a significant barrier to equitable care. Research indicates that older Black and Hispanic populations are less likely to have access to and utilize digital health technology. Moreover, the importance placed on health data during the pandemic further illuminated the severity of gaps in health data on race and ethnicity, which disproportionately harms minority groups such as Black, Hispanic, and Indigenous communities. Even with cohesive data infrastructure and artificial intelligence, the lack of representative data collection will continue to perpetuate health disparities. This panel convenes a group of digital health and healthcare experts to discuss COVID-19’s impact on the digital health landscape and the equity challenges it brought to light.
Distinguished Speakers
Ms. La Toya McClellan, MA
Sr. Director and Global Head of EDI, Astellas
La Toya McClellan is the Senior Director, Global Head of Engagement, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (EDI) at Astellas Pharma U.S. since Nov 1, 2021. La Toya first joined Astellas in June of 2020 as a Consultant for the department, focusing on Employee Impact Group (EIG) strategy and structure, building and implementing the D&I curriculum as well as evolving the EDI strategy and related efforts. She was later hired full-time in Oct of 2020 in the role of Associate Director. In her current role, La Toya is responsible for Global Employee Engagement implementation and strategy, Global Diversity, Equity & Inclusion strategy, Employee Impact Groups, D&I curriculum, partnerships with the business to advance Health Equity and Supplier Diversity, and enhancing data driven decision making within HR. La Toya has broad HR experience in learning/organizational development, talent acquisition, HR business partnership and D&I. She started her HR career at the University of Evansville (Indiana) as the Diversity & Equity Officer. There she created the D&I strategy and contributed to embedding these aspects into institutional strategy. The acceleration of her HR and D&I career occurred at Brown-Forman in Louisville, KY, where she spent nearly nine years designing and implementing key initiatives to drive manager cultural competency, design and implement educational programs, improve and harmonize HR systems, and build the business acumen of Brown-Forman leadership and community. Some of her key accomplishments include: operationalization of D&I strategy for 7 Employee Resource Groups; publication of a whitepaper to senior leadership regarding the state of Black female employees and advocating for improvements; creation of a first-ever Career Development Program focusing on Black female employees with a goal of deepening trust between managers and employees and creating individual career plans; and creation of a first-ever global program for high-potential employees. La Toya earned her bachelors in secondary English education from the University of Evansville, her Master’s in Psychology with an emphasis on D&I from Cleveland State University, and her PHR certification.
Dr. Anil Jain, MD
Chief Innovation Officer, Provider Digital Transformation at Innovaccer
Focused on the intersection of clinical informatics, engineering, technology, medicine and digital transformation, Dr. Anil Jain is currently Chief Innovation Officer at Innovaccer, Inc. Previously, he served as Chief Health Information Officer at IBM Watson Health, Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer of Explorys (spun-out of the Cleveland Clinic), as well as Senior IT Executive and Attending Physician at the Cleveland Clinic. He has served on numerous regional and national committees including the HHS/ONC Federal Health IT Advisory Committee. He has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed publications and abstracts and has delivered numerous talks on opportunities and challenges of healthcare innovation focusing on electronic health records, clinical informatics, data governance, advanced analytics and AI with an emphasis on interoperability, adoption and implementation. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine, a Diplomat of the American Board of Preventive Medicine (ABPM) with certifications in both Internal Medicine and Clinical Informatics and a Fellow of the American College of Physicians. He received both his biomedical engineering and medical degrees from Northwestern University.
Dr. Allison Matthews, PhD
CEO, Community Expert Solutions, Inc.
Dr. Allison Mathews serves as Executive Director of the Gilead COMPASS Faith Coordinating Center and Research Fellow in Faith and Health in the School of Divinity at Wake Forest University. She also serves as the founder and CEO of a consulting company, Community Expert Solutions, Inc., which uses technology, social marketing and community engagement to innovate clinical research engagement for underrepresented groups. She specializes in integrating technology, social marketing, community engagement and social science to examine the intersections of race, class, gender, sexuality and religiosity on HIV-related stigma and to innovate clinical research engagement and access to health care for underserved populations. Dr. Mathews has been invited to speak about HIV and COVID-19 on national and international platforms, including TEDxCaryWomen. Dr. Mathews and Ms. Kimberly Knight co-founded and had December 14 officially declared by the state of North Carolina as HIV Cure Research Day to raise awareness about HIV cure research and encourage community involvement in ending the HIV epidemic. During her tenure as Executive Director, she and her team have launched the North Carolina HIV & Faith Ambassador Program, which boasts 50 faith leaders and 10 medical providers and the Black Faith & HIV Initiative, which offers self-paced online educational modules to educate the public about how to implement HIV and faith programming in their communities. They also hosted the inaugural "Proclamation at the Intersections: Faith, Healing, and HIV" conference in June 2022 in Dallas, TX. She earned her BA in Sociology from Howard University and her MA and PhD in Sociology from UNC-Chapel Hill. She completed her postdoctoral work at UNC-Chapel Hill in the Department of Social Medicine and the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Disease.
Webinar Leaders
Sr. Director and Global Head of EDI, Astellas
Chief Innovation Officer, Provider Digital Transformation at Innovaccer
CEO, Community Expert Solutions, Inc.
Joseph Gaspero is the CEO and Co-Founder of CHI. He is a healthcare executive, strategist, and researcher. He co-founded CHI in 2009 to be an independent, objective, and interdisciplinary research and education institute for healthcare. Joseph leads CHI’s research and education initiatives focusing on including patient-driven healthcare, patient engagement, clinical trials, drug pricing, and other pressing healthcare issues. He sets and executes CHI’s strategy, devises marketing tactics, leads fundraising efforts, and manages CHI’s Management team. Joseph is passionate and committed to making healthcare and our world a better place. His leadership stems from a wide array of experiences, including founding and operating several non-profit and for-profit organizations, serving in the U.S. Air Force in support of 2 foreign wars, and deriving expertise from time spent in industries such as healthcare, financial services, and marketing. Joseph’s skills include strategy, management, entrepreneurship, healthcare, clinical trials, diversity & inclusion, life sciences, research, marketing, and finance. He has lived in six countries, traveled to over 30 more, and speaks 3 languages, all which help him view business strategy through the prism of a global, interconnected 21st century. Joseph has a B.S. in Finance from the University of Illinois at Chicago. When he’s not immersed in his work at CHI, he spends his time snowboarding backcountry, skydiving, mountain biking, volunteering, engaging in MMA, and rock climbing.