Leveraging Patient Stories for Policy and Advocacy with Larissa D’Andrea, the Global Vice President of Impact at ResMed

[00:00:00] Hey, everybody. Welcome back to the Health Matters podcast. Saul Marquez here hosting

[00:00:13] today's podcast with an incredible health leader. Her name is Larissa DeAndre, and she's

[00:00:19] the global head of impact at ResMed, a Fortune 500 leader in digital health. Her portfolio

[00:00:25] encompasses enterprise ESG stewardship, government affairs, clinical, and patient advocacy. I'm

[00:00:31] excited to have Larissa with us today. Thanks for joining.

[00:00:34] Thanks, Saul. Appreciate it.

[00:00:35] Yeah, really, before we begin diving into the work that you guys do at ResMed, Larissa,

[00:00:39] tell us a little bit about you and what inspires your work in health care.

[00:00:43] Like many people, I come from my own patient story, my family's patient story, and you

[00:00:50] start to have challenging experiences with health care as a kid, both either being sick

[00:00:55] and not getting the access you need or having doctors not believe you or having emerging

[00:01:00] diseases that is not enough research on. And I really watched my mom become an advocate

[00:01:06] not just for me, but for heart disease and women and other activities. And that's just

[00:01:10] really inspired me to engage in the health care system in a variety of ways.

[00:01:14] That's awesome. Yeah, it's a personal story. Your mom that inspired you. And here you are

[00:01:19] at Health 2023, one of the leaders on panels and on the stage. So you're leading the way.

[00:01:26] Why is it important to engage with diverse communities from development to deployment

[00:01:31] of health technology? Sure. We have to think about people and their whole health. We have

[00:01:36] to understand that whether you're a med tech company, a pharma company, any type of intervention,

[00:01:43] people have to care for their entire health and to really understand and create the best

[00:01:48] both journey, experiences, products, you have to understand each individual who goes through

[00:01:54] and experiences the health care ecosystem. And that's very unique. We often have an opportunity

[00:02:00] to have a sort of a subset of people that you hear from, but that's not really inclusive.

[00:02:05] And when you think about being able to

[00:02:07] is to really evolve healthcare and change it, whether that's policy-based or it's improving with new technology, getting innovative technology out there.

[00:02:15] At the end of the day, you have to be inclusive in that storytelling. And that storytelling in and of itself, patient story, caregiver story really allows the opportunity for folks to have empathy, understanding that can really impart change and others can also see themselves in those stories and then engage in their own care.

[00:02:35] I love that, Larissa, and really it comes down to access and equity and what are we doing to provide opportunities for folks to see themselves in the education that they need?

[00:02:46] Yeah, absolutely. That's really interesting too because you think about the entire journey and you mentioned in your question the development to deployment.

[00:02:54] And I take again that lens of the whole health and whole experience and organizations and healthcare companies really need to, as they develop processing systems, think about and engage and activate people across that entire journey and not just, "Hey, we've developed this great app and now suddenly we're launching it and would like some user feedback," but really to engage people throughout that entire continuum.

[00:03:17] Yeah, and I love that you've made mention of patients, but also clinicians, right, and what are we doing about including nurses as well as physicians?

[00:03:26] Yeah, absolutely. Look, again, I go back to that notion of it's the journey, whether it's the patient, it's the care provider, it's a person, a clinician, different types of clinicians, different types of caregivers.

[00:03:38] Think about in an out-of-hospital or post-acute care facility like a skilled nursing facility, you have a lot of people that are involved in care of an individual.

[00:03:47] How are we thinking about that journey and really enabling it to be as an efficient, effective as possible with little resources that we have today and really deliver the best care that's going to drive quality outcomes?

[00:03:58] Yeah, and that's the question I think we all should be asking ourselves, how are we engaging diverse communities in the development and deployment of our tech in the stories that we tell?

[00:04:08] Why are diverse care journeys important to share?

[00:04:12] Yeah, it becomes not just the --

[00:04:16] that, "Hey, I can see myself in that story," but it also is enabling other people to truly understand, right?

[00:04:21] There's nothing like a policymaker who has someone who has a parent or a family member who's on oxygen

[00:04:27] to really understand that potentially that their loved one can't get access to much-needed care because of policies that exist.

[00:04:35] So you have the sort of full spectrum of people understanding and seeing themselves and saying,

[00:04:40] "Hey, that might be something I need to look into for my own health,"

[00:04:43] all the way to policy makers or key decision makers that can absolutely make that journey more difficult

[00:04:49] or much more streamlined and get people the access to that care, that technology that they truly need for better health, healthier lives.

[00:04:57] Look, you don't have to be doing this.

[00:05:00] So I really want to know more, and I know the listeners want to know more,

[00:05:03] "Why is this such an important topic to you and to ResMed?"

[00:05:07] Yeah, this is a great question.

[00:05:08] I think since a young age, I was really into the creative spaces and doing writing.

[00:05:12] I think I did my first play when I was in sixth grade, and I've outside of ResMed invested in financially

[00:05:19] stories from a diverse population, diverse communities.

[00:05:23] It's not healthcare related, but again, it is leaning towards what really drives me.

[00:05:28] I am just a purpose-driven individual, but it's that access, right?

[00:05:32] And that ability and recognizing that I myself have been very privileged, both having a medically experienced family,

[00:05:40] research scientists, others, having had difficult care my entire life, but had people who know how to do it and recognizing that is unique.

[00:05:47] And access, affordability, people truly being able to live healthier lives means I want to be able to make changes

[00:05:55] because I'm in a privileged position to be able to do that.

[00:05:57] Love that.

[00:05:58] Yeah, it's so key.

[00:05:59] And I really appreciate you sharing your motivation, your why.

[00:06:02] It makes a difference, right?

[00:06:03] It makes a difference for everybody listening, the opportunity is there for you to do the same.

[00:06:08] Why is it important for people to be empowered in their care journey?

[00:06:11] Yeah, it's a really good question.

[00:06:13] And I like to think about this in terms of both empowerment and engagement.

[00:06:18] So if you think about someone who has more insight, and that could be from an

[00:06:23] app, it could be from education on their condition or options that they may have. They're in a much better position to be able to engage with their care team. I think one of my favorite stories of one of the patients, ResMed has worked with and we've put together their story to share. And she always talks about for the first time ever once she had data off ResMed technology and application, she felt more confidence in having a conversation with her doctor just saying, "No, listen to me. Here's the data. You can see the data." And it's made a difference. It means that

[00:06:53] she feels confident and one of my favorite things about her, I love her, she has actually turned that into becoming a state champion in Respiratory Care, really saying, "Oh my gosh, because you helped me tell the story, I'm really excited to use my voice and I feel like I can." It's made her engage and activated in a way that even we didn't think she would think and it's fantastic. It transcends her care and it gets to possibly bigger platform for her to help others. Absolutely. It's powerful.

[00:07:22] It's always so fun because I get messages of, "Hey, this person reached out to me on Facebook and we're so excited. We're changing lives."

[00:07:30] And it's just that just touches me in a place where that's why we do what we do. And from a ResMed standpoint, again, I go back to sleep as a pillar at health.

[00:07:38] Do you think about the core pillars of health? It is that nutrition, that exercise, sleep. All of them are interrelated.

[00:07:45] And as we think about enabling people to live longer, healthier lives, particularly in the respiratory space, sleep apnea, COPD, other chronic conditions, sleep follows you throughout your entire life.

[00:07:56] So making sure that we can even focus on that whole health and be a champion of what patient centricity really means because at the end of the day, if you can take care of the patient and that patient journey, then really we all win.

[00:08:08] And I think I've been blessed and honored that we get to be that focused and purpose-driven at ResMed.

[00:08:16] I think it's fantastic. And you guys are setting an example for the way it should be done. And I want to give you and the ResMed organization major kudos for doing that.

[00:08:25] Look, for everybody listening today, what call the action would you leave them?

[00:08:31] Good question. Whether you have a family that you're concerned about or yourself, I think really trying to feel empowered, meaning if you have a health condition or what have you seek out a patient organization. There are so many different patient organizations for all different types of disease states seek out one that's in your local area, get educated, understand what your options are and how you can actually engage with the health care ecosystem and reach out. And I at the end of the day, I think from a patient standpoint, it is you are

[00:09:01] your own greatest champion and advocate, and you have every right to have access and be able to afford good quality health care. And on the flip side of things, the other advice that I would give to all the tech companies, pharma companies, med tech companies out there is think about that whole health and that patient journey. How do we work together as an ecosystem to really come together and change health care for the better for all those participants involved.

[00:09:26] >> Outstanding, great call to action folks. This is an invitation, right? An invitation to do something about giving opportunities to those communities, to those people that really could benefit from it. And I think what you guys will see is that your business will also thrive as a result of that.

[00:09:43] >> Alerts, I can't think enough for a fantastic interview today. If the listeners wanted to follow you, learn more about ResMed, where can they do that?

[00:09:51] >> Start on LinkedIn. It's one of the easiest places to find us, and I'm always happy to chat patient stories.

[00:09:56] >> Love it, Larissa. Folks, everything will be in the show notes. Make sure you get in touch with Larissa on LinkedIn. Check out ResMed on LinkedIn. All will be in the show notes. Larissa, thanks for your time.

[00:10:06] >> Thanks so much, Sal.

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