Transforming Global Healthcare with Telehealth Ft Sharon Allen

Transcript 

Nicole Guevara

Welcome to the Digital Health Transformers podcast series. This podcast explores the dynamic world of healthcare innovation, 1 conversation at a time. I’m your host, Nicole Guevara, and today we have an inspiring guest at the forefront of transforming the healthcare landscape. Today, we have a remarkable person with us. Someone whose work shapes the global healthcare sector. I’m thrilled to introduce our esteemed guest, Sharon Allen. Sharon is the co-founder and chief executive officer of the World Telehealth Initiative, an organization she co-founded in 2017. Under her leadership, WTI developed an innovative model that leverages remote humanitarian physicians and nurses to provide sustainable medical expertise to vulnerable communities worldwide via telehealth. Under Sharon’s guidance, WTI has successfully implemented remote specialist care and training in over 45 under-resourced clinics and hospitals worldwide.

She’s also a prominent speaker at global health conferences, including the White House Telehealth Innovation Summit and Nigeria’s Healthcare Today Forum. In 2023, the United Nations Associations awarded her with a prestigious Peace Prize for her outstanding contribution. Sharon’s commitment extends beyond WTI as it currently serves with the World Health Organization, Digital Health Board of Advisors, and rosters of experts. Her collaboration with the World Health Organization and the telehealth roadmap for the underserved underscores her dedication to advancing healthcare accessibility globally. In today’s episode, we’ll explore Sharon’s journey in this space and her thoughts on global health equity and advancements in healthcare. Thank you for joining us today, Sharon. Thank you. It’s my pleasure, Nicole. Wow, you have such an amazing experience with that. I can’t wait for this podcast. So let us start. Can you share a pivotal moment or experience that inspired you to co-found the World Telehealth Initiative?

Sharon Allen

I would say the pivotal moment was really when I met our other co-founder, Dr. Yulin Wang. I had just left my multi-decade career as a CEO of a for-profit company. I left because I was in search of something more fulfilling that I could apply my skill set and passion to. And when I was introduced to Yulin, he had this idea. He’s a forefather of telehealth if you will. And he had this idea, seeing how accessible, quality healthcare could be via telehealth, but those that maybe need it most would never be able to afford it. So was there a way that we could start a non-profit? So that pivotal moment was really that first discussion with Dr. Yulin Wang.

Nicole Guevara

Wow, that’s also in 2017, meaning it’s before COVID, where telehealth during COVID blossomed. So you were way ahead of your time together with him. So how has this journey shaped your perspective and global health equity?

Sharon Allen

Before founding the World Telehealth Initiative, I wouldn’t have assumed that half of the world’s population lacks adequate healthcare access. And much of that is simply determined by where you’re born. So global healthcare is certainly not equitable. And the amazing finding on this journey is that there is a solution. We can make an incredible impact.

Nicole Guevara

Sounds great. Absolutely. I remember when I did my medical training in the Philippines, there were definitely some outskirts in the communities that do not receive medical treatment, solely because they are very remote. So this is actually a great initiative to launch in underserved, under-resourced countries. And I’m so glad that you started this. Speaking of telehealth technology, as the CEO of WTI, you have been in the forefront of implementing telehealth solutions. How do you envision emerging technologies further revolutionizing telehealth in the coming years?

Sharon Allen

So first of all, we are extremely fortunate at WTI to partner with Teladoc Health, who donates their advanced telehealth technology that we in turn use for our programs. But in addition to that, I’m aware of their deep dive now into AI. And with that, the World Telehealth Initiative would hope to leverage that technology into the future. So that’s very exciting. The other novel technology that’s not seen in the nonprofit sector is the matching platform that we’re developing. And it will seamlessly match a low resource clinic or hospital request with the ideal medical provider that can fill that need.

For example, if a provider in Malawi, you know, maybe it’s a GP and a patient comes in and has an ectopic pregnancy, and they’re not sure what to do, they can put that request into the platform. And then that goes through the algorithm we’ve developed to find an OBGYN experienced with ectopic pregnancies that is available at that time, you know, speaks the local language if necessary. Most of them speak English. And then a session is scheduled so they can collaborate together and make sure that patient gets their appropriate health care.

Nicole Guevara

Wow, that’s actually very advanced in its years, because right now, if you have questions clinically, sometimes you go to your leader or your consultant, but having that in the grasp of your fingertips, just a few hours within seeing the patient is definitely lifesaving. That’s such a great initiative.

Sharon Allen

Sorry, I was just gonna say one more thing about the platform. It’s kind of synonymous with Uber, you know, if you need a ride, you just go to Uber and you get a driver. Same thing with global health care. If you have a health care need, you just enter our platform, express that need, and you’ll get the expertise you need. So that’s, you know, the eventuality of this technology that we are building. And it’s not seen in the nonprofit sector, because it does take resources, of course, to develop, but we have committed to that, and it’s well on its way, and we’re using it already in the early stages.

Nicole Guevara

That’s just great. Are there any specific telehealth technologies or innovations that have shown some notable success in under-resourced clinics, and how have they impacted patient care?

Sharon Allen

So in our programs, we use the Teladoc, it’s called an RP light, and the RP stands for remote presence. And that indicates that it’s as if the provider, wherever they are in the world, is as if they’re in the room. The devices are, you know, purpose-built, medical-grade equipment. And the amazing thing is they can also be diagnostic enabled. For example, if the local provider places a stethoscope on the patient they’re with, that can be heard through the headset, you know, continents away, so they can collaborate, you know, on what does this regular heartbeat mean, or the heart sounds, the bowel sounds, the lung sounds. We also use ultrasound devices that are connected to the telehealth device.

We’re doing this amazing program with Butterfly IQ as a portable ultrasound device and relatively inexpensive. And then a group of our volunteer physicians, this particular group is out of Orlando Health, they are going to be teaching a POCUS, point-of-care ultrasound training, to many of our site partners. We think of ultrasound primarily for OBGYN, but now it has become like a diagnostic tool of choice in the US for everything from vascular conditions diagnosing pneumonia, you can see a detached retina, it is super powerful. And our partners haven’t necessarily been exposed to that training, so we will combine it with telehealth and do this amazing training program for, you know, partners across the world. So technology is definitely a game changer and it will advance the healthcare quality for our partners.

Nicole Guevara

Having the expertise and knowledge and the training that’s coupled with those expertise will definitely teach and educate a lot more of the doctors who are not used to using this technology. So such a great initiative that you actually include training and you include speaking engagements with different experts around that field in order to teach these individuals in their own countries and not having to go to conferences or go to meetings or setups or seminars for those, but really, really good. Thank you for sharing that. My next question is about access to care. WTI has successfully provided remote specialist care in over 45 under-resourced clinics globally. How do you believe telehealth can continue simplifying the access to specialized healthcare in underserved communities?

Sharon Allen

So the whole premise of telehealth is to deliver that care where and when it’s needed. So our job is to continue forming partnerships in underserved communities so that healthcare access and appropriate expertise is always available to those that need it. Typically, we start, like when we form a partnership, we start with a referral hospital in a low-income country.

And then as those providers acclimate to the technology and bring it into their workflow and begin to see the value of it, they begin to imagine extending access to their outlying health centers. And so we often create what’s called a hub and spoke model where we started the hospital and lots of international expertise is available when they need it and when they request it. But then they can push out that further knowledge and expertise to their referral centers or their outlying health centers. So, and they can, it’s kind of like the trainer model. They’re getting all this expertise at their hub, but they can disseminate it further into the community. So it’s incredible how it will kind of take off. And we’ve done that in several sites and look forward to growing our current sites even further.

Nicole Guevara

I love that model, a train, a trainer or hub and spoke model. I understand when I was doing a medical career in the Philippines, most teaching hospitals have outlying clinics all over the country as well. So it’s great that you’re not only delivering healthcare through the teaching hospitals, but as well as the different spokes of those training hospitals. So that’s actually a great business model to have. So you could multiply your reach within the community. That’s absolutely amazing. My next question is, what challenges have you encountered in implementing telehealth solutions in diverse healthcare settings? And how were these challenges addressed?

Sharon Allen

So there are challenges. One of them is the internet, you know, as more pervasive as it is becoming, not everywhere has adequate internet. And the, one of the amazing things about this technology, even for as robust as it is, it’s designed in such a way that it uses very low bandwidth. So even when a video conferencing platform would work, our technology does. So that’s, you know, we’re lucky to be able to get around low bandwidth with that. But also the internet, for example, in Ukraine, when their infrastructure was, you know, deeply damaged and Starlink came to Ukraine and provided internet access.

So we were able to, you know, use that as a way to overcome the internet challenge in Ukraine. I would say another challenge is really the logistics. You know, we ship this device to our site partners and, you know, every country is different and just, you know, getting it, you know, to our site in a very remote place can be challenging. An example is in one of our early programs in Nigeria, the device landed, you know, at the airport, it cleared customs. And then, you know, we kept checking in, you know, are you ready to start? And they’re like, no, we can’t get the device.

There were too many robbers and bandits on the road. And they were, they really wanted and needed that device. And so they didn’t want to risk it. So they worked with the Nigerian army who did this covert operation at 2am in the morning, they camouflaged the device in a truck and armed guards transported it to this very remote, humble clinic, in a very, you know, kind of off the beaten track area. But we do have challenges. But so far, we’ve always been able to overcome them.

Nicole Guevara

That is such a unique story. I’m just getting goosebumps hearing about that. And the way that you found logistics to work with the army of the country to make it work was just outstanding. That’s definitely great. Thank you for sharing that story. My next question is, how do you see telehealth impacting the role of healthcare professionals, especially in resource country constrained environments?

Sharon Allen

Right, which addresses all of our work, and our site partners are always, you know, the driver of our engagement. So programs are designed based upon their unique needs. Every program is different, because every partner is different. But our underlying goal is always to upskill those local providers in the way that they request. So you can imagine that healthcare professionals in those settings become, you know, empowered with knowledge and skills and confidence that they need to serve their community. It’s as if they had a staff of medical specialists under their roof, but they just come in virtually.

So that’s been, you know, incredible to see. And then on the other side, the volunteering medical professionals, it’s been found that their value is really personal fulfillment. And especially since after COVID, they’ve done studies about, you know, clinician burnout, and x amount of doctors and nurses are said to be leaving the profession. But a small amount of meaningful volunteerism actually reduces burnout and ignites that passion for medicine. So, so really, there’s value on both sides of this exchange, which is, you know, incredible. And that’s one of the reasons why it works. And we have such a robust pool of providers on both sides that want to do this.

Nicole Guevara

That’s a really good point, especially on burnout too. I understand that with the advent of EHR, it’s even supposed to help us with documentation. Sometimes there are a lot of pajama times for physicians, but at the same token, it’s great that they don’t have to worry about documentation for this, I’m guessing.

So they don’t have the additional administrative commitment, commitment, but at the same time, they’re sharing their clinical expertise. So it’s just a great model overall. It’s very, it’s very rewarding. I bet to see that the fruits of your labor have come into successful implementation. My next question surrounds telehealth and health equity drives transformation. Your collaboration would well have the organization and the telehealth roadmap where the underserved is noteworthy. How does telehealth contribute to bridging healthcare accessibility gaps globally? And what are the key strategies outlined in this roadmap?

Sharon Allen

So, the roadmap is broad and it really addresses everything from health data concerns to funding models to cross border credentialing, and also, you know, the standards of care and equity concerns. And it’s been great to work on that. It just highlights things that we need to pay attention to. And one of the things we always share is that WTI operates at the highest standards, whether or not they’re required by the country’s regulations. But, you know, all of our work is HIPAA compliant, HITRUST certified, and patient safety is, you know, always, always at the forefront. And then, you know, when we think about funding models, you know, it’s obviously often a hurdle. In our situation, due to the donated technology from Teladoc compounded with the donated time and expertise from our medical experts, we’re able to offer programs, obviously, at a very minimal cost. So I think that is probably, you know, unique to our situation. And another thing that, you know, I found in the work with the WHO is that, you know, we have to be careful not to increase the digital divide with, you know, with increasing technology.

And most of our partners do not have experience with telehealth. And it’s part of our job to educate and support to ensure that our partners are comfortable and proficient so that this technology kind of melts away and a human encounter, you know, then can transpire. And to address that, you know, the digital divide, we also assist with community engagement efforts. So patients are more excited than fearful if they were to come in and, you know, at a vulnerable time when they’re not feeling well, and, and some doctor is appearing in a robot-like device, you know, that might be very uncomfortable. So we do community engagement and education so that they’re excited, you know, to come in, and experience this technology. So it’s, lots of learnings have come with, you know, working with the WHO.

Nicole Guevara

That, that’s, that’s such a good point, because technology for us is very given here in the United States, and we take it for granted, but there are some parts of the world that are not used to video, having a live doctor talk to you on video. So it’s great that you speak about the patient on a holistic level, as well as the different clinics and not just, you know, here’s the technology, use it. So there are implementations and programs and teachings surrounding it. So it’s quite a very holistic program. That’s quite exciting. My next question is, in your experience, how has telehealth played a role in transforming healthcare delivery to prioritize health equity on a broader scale?

Sharon Allen

So there have always been, you know, incredible healthcare efforts. Many of which were based on the medical mission concept. But that requires, you know, providers to take days off work and maybe expensive flights and find accommodations, get vaccinations, you know, all of that. So that only allows maybe, you know, one or 2% of providers to participate in that way. But now studies show that 80% of healthcare professionals would want to engage in volunteerism in this manner. So now through, through organizations like WTI, these much, much greater percentage of clinicians have an opportunity to do this. And that can raise the standard of care throughout the world. So, so it really does, does allow such a broader scale than has previously been done.

Nicole Guevara

That’s a good point. Because for instance, is if a physician just wants to do it in one weekday or two weekdays a month, then she could still volunteer her time and not having to take a lot of traveling to different countries and whatnot. So it’s great that you have that availability open for them. Could you share a specific success story or impact of WTI’s telehealth initiatives that has particularly highlighted the transformative power of telehealth in achieving health equity?

Sharon Allen

There’s so many, so many I could share which one. So one of them just that really does speak to health equity is a young baby girl, you know, was, was born in Bangladesh and she had very edematous legs. And her parents didn’t think they could care for her and she became an orphan. So at some point, you know, she was months old at this time and her caregiver brought her to one of our partner’s sites and they weren’t sure what her condition was. So they requested a dermatology consultation. The dermatologist beamed in and said, no, I would recommend an infectious disease expert. So then they beamed in, they thought it was a rare condition, Milroy’s disease, but they said, do you have other infectious disease experts? We like to collaborate. So we connected them to, you know, more of our network providers.

And there was this amazing collaboration and they thought, oh, it could be Gravesend. They were sharing research. And these are world-class experts that are all collaborating on an orphan baby girl in Bangladesh. Then there was a pediatric surgeon that said, you know, the, the best outcome would be vascular node transplant, but it requires digital health instrumentation that they don’t have in, in that area of Bangladesh. And it all boiled down to the best quality of life would involve a simple, you know, compression, compression wrapping and, and a massage technique, lymphatic massage, and her quality of life would be dramatically increased. The local providers didn’t know how to do that. We got an expert on that to train them via telehealth. And so it just blows me away that, like I said, you know, this little orphan baby girl in Bangladesh had world-class care. And then her local providers up their skill level to where they can maintain, you know, a much higher quality of life for her.

So that’s, that’s one example.

Nicole Guevara

That’s just such a compelling story. And, you know, you save the quality of life of that little girl who is an orphan as well, who would draw, who probably won’t have this opportunity without this initiative. So that is amazing. Thank you for sharing that. So sharing my final thoughts, looking ahead, what trends do you foresee in the telehealth landscape and how can these trends contribute to advancing global health equity?

Sharon Allen

So it’s been predicted, you know, I’ve heard that all healthcare encounters, you know, when you aggregate them all, half of them will become virtual in the not so distant future. And so as innovation in digital health becomes more pervasive, I think the whole world will benefit from that. If we look further out into the future, the co-founder Dr. Yilin Wang is working on an amazing, you know, it’s remote surgery where a surgeon anywhere in the world can actually operate on a patient in anywhere in the world. And the efforts are really going quickly. And it’s amazing that that will become a possibility. So there’s lots and lots to come with all of this incredible innovation going on. So, yeah, stay tuned. And I think healthcare will become definitely more equitable.

Nicole Guevara

That is an amazing way to look forward to the future. Thank you. I’m so excited that, you know, you have this initiative, that this is world-class and for the world. Think, you know, think globally, act locally sort of idea. So since we’re closing this podcast, I’ll give you the floor to talk more about your initiative, to call for action if you have any invitations for physicians who want to volunteer or other volunteers that you need in your program. This is your time, Sharon, to share whatever you want else to share about this perfect initiative.

Sharon Allen

Thank you, Nicole. So as you can tell, you know, we are so excited and that’s because we are seeing successes. And even though, you know, we’re seven years into it, we know that this is just the tip of the iceberg. So much of what we need to do is grow this platform and the site partners, there’s no shortage of global health needs. So we are also building the provider side. So yes, any physicians and now we’re starting to incorporate nurses as well.

If you’re interested, you know, go to our website, which is world telehealth initiative.org and you could contact us through there. So that is one area of need. And then even though our costs are relatively low, we do need to keep this operation moving. There’s lots and lots of work and we’re a small but mighty team that does all of this. And so if you’re able to contribute to those efforts, you can also do that on our website. And, you know, we love partnering with anyone who’s aligned with this global health care mission.

Nicole Guevara

Thank you so much. You heard it, folks. If you want to contribute in any way, any form by volunteering your time or your resources, please go ahead and visit their website.

So this is the end of our podcast,.Thank you, Sharon, for sharing your invaluable insights on global health equity and advancements in telehealth in this podcast. (4:48) Your work and dedication are truly inspiring and we look forward to witnessing the continued positive impact of telehealth under your leadership. Congratulations and such an amazing initiative, Karen Thank you so much for talking with us today. Thank you, Nicole, It’s my pleasure.