There is a lot of work to be done to reform health care in America today. From health insurance cost and accessibility to creating and scaling innovative practice models and beyond, no single approach to reform the system can solve all the problems. Divide and conquer is the best approach here, and philanthropy plays a unique role.
“I believe one key role of philanthropy is to focus on the beyond,” Leck Shannon, Director of Health Care for Stand Together Trust says. “It’s critical that other institutions solve the problems of today, but philanthropy should focus on pushing the boundaries of what’s next.”
Shannon took this perspective into a panel discussion at John Hopkins University in Washington D.C. and moderated by Ge Bai, Professor of Accounting at Johns Hopkins Carey Business School and Professor of Health Policy & Management (joint) at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Joined on stage by Cynthia Fisher, Founder and Chairwoman of PatientRightsAdvocate.org and Mairin Mancino, Senior Advisor, Policy at the Peterson Center on Healthcare, Shannon applauded the direction the health care market is moving, with more direct options for patients — like direct care and direct pharmacy – becoming available.
Shannon said the next step is to empower patients with more control over their health care dollars, so they can choose these or other exciting options that are more personalized to their needs. Funding more patients directly, said Shannon, will lead to more “value based” health spending decisions in the future.
“The beauty of philanthropy, and probably why philanthropy and academia partner so often are the freedoms we have to take time to get out of the weeds and focus on the future,” Shannon elaborated. “For philanthropies engaged on the social-sciences our focus should be on making breakthrough advancements in health economics, business models, and policy.”
Shannon cited VSee Health, a Stand Together partner that recently launched a new virtual care product in Wichita, Kansas, called Aimee, with membership prices as low as $5 per month.
“People are capable of deciding what’s best for themselves,” said Shannon. “In health care, it’s about putting the patient back in control of their health and empowering them with knowledge, dollars, and all the tools necessary to improve their lives.”
Learn more about Stand Together’s health care efforts and explore ways you can partner with us.
Aimee is supported by Stand Together, a philanthropic community that tackles the root causes of our country’s biggest problems. Alongside inspiring partners, we drive solutions on education, economic opportunity, health care, bridging partisan divides, and dozens of other pressing issues. We can all make a greater difference by uniting on areas of common ground than we can by acting on our own. Learn more at www.standtogether.org . Join us on Facebook , Twitter , LinkedIn , Instagram , and YouTube.
