Scaling Access: Innovations in Healthcare Deserts

More than 80 percent of counties across the United States lack adequate access to healthcare, with a third of the U.S. population living in a healthcare desert, an area with insufficient access to primary care providers, pharmacies, hospitals, trauma care centers, optometrists and more. While access has been scaled broadly in the last decade across multiple industries, including banking, entertainment, fashion and food, it has remained elusive in healthcare. However, in recent years, products, services and models that have been driving access and growth in other industries are finally beginning to find traction in healthcare.

Join VSP Global Innovation Center Head Ruth Yomtoubian, PlenOptika CEO and Co-founder Shivang Dave, Homeward SVP of market strategy and development Stephanie Gutendorf, and Deloitte Center for Health Solutions and Deloitte Health Equity Institute Executive Director Jay Bhatt for a panel discussion on the innovations, trends, technologies and startups transforming both access and how people in healthcare deserts receive care.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Ruth Yomtoubian, Head of the VSP Global Innovation Center

With her deep knowledge and wide-ranging experience as an innovation expert and leader, Ruth joined VSP Vision to launch the VSP Global Innovation Center as an important innovation player and disrupter in the healthcare and technology industries.

Previously Ruth worked as a global consultant, with clients from the Bay Area to Latin America, facilitating their innovation initiatives, creating and supporting thought leadership and generally combating “faux-innovation” in its many forms. As director of the AT&T Foundry, she drove the adoption and alignment of numerous startup solutions across various lines of business. Ruth introduced and produced two distinct thought leadership platforms, Futurecast tech salon series and The Future According to AT&T Foundry report series, designed to move our collective technology future forward. She is recognized for her fearless ability to fuse unexpected elements into bold new work.

Jay Bhatt, Managing Director, Center for Health Solutions and Health Equity Institute, Deloitte

Jay Bhatt, DO, MPH, MPA is a physician executive, primary care physician and public health innovator. As managing director of the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions (DCHS) and the Deloitte Health Equity Institute (DHEI), Dr. Bhatt directs the research and insights agenda across the life sciences and healthcare industry while working with community organizations on high-impact collaborations to advance health equity. He is a prominent thought leader around the issues of health equity, health care transformation, public health and innovation. Passionate about patient care, Dr. Bhatt practices medicine at local community health centers in the Chicagoland area while serving in his leadership role at Deloitte.

Shivang Dave, CEO and Co-founder, PlenOptika

Shivang R. Dave, PhD, is CEO and co-founder of PlenOptika, which designs and produces tools to vastly expand access to vision care globally. As CEO, Shivang led PlenOptika’s growth from startup to an international company with products in global distribution, improving vision for millions of patients worldwide. A passionate advocate for technology innovation to address care disparities, Shivang has positioned PlenOptika as a thought leader in vision health research, optical care and global health policy with strong strategic partnerships in academia, industry and public health. He earned his undergraduate degree from UC Berkeley and doctorate in bioengineering and nanotechnology from the University of Washington, and completed an advanced research fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A veteran of two commercial startups prior to PlenOptika, Shivang mentors rising entrepreneurs by sharing his experiences and insights regarding innovation, translational medicine and leadership.

Stephanie Gutendorf, SVP of Market Strategy and Development, Homeward

Stephanie Gutendorf is the SVP of market strategy and development for Homeward, a technology-enabled healthcare provider delivering care to those who don’t have it, starting in rural America. Previously, Stephanie served as the SVP of partnerships at Grail, a biotech company focused on early cancer detection, and the SVP of health services at Livongo.