The Beat

Live at HLTH: Leveraging Patient Stories for Policy and Advocacy —Featuring Larissa D'Andrea

Episode Summary

You have every right to access and afford good-quality healthcare. In this episode, Larissa D’Andrea, the Global Vice President of Impact at ResMed, emphasizes the importance of engaging diverse communities in the development and deployment of health technology. She highlights the significance of including patients, clinicians, and caregivers in the healthcare journey, advocating for a more inclusive approach to healthcare. Larissa also shares the inspiring story of a patient who, thanks to data-driven technology, became a champion in respiratory care. She calls on individuals and healthcare organizations to seek education, become empowered advocates, and collaborate to enhance healthcare access and outcomes for all. Listen to this episode and discover how to effectively engage with diverse communities and drive positive changes in healthcare.

Episode Notes

About Larissa D’Andrea:

Larissa D’Andrea is the Global Vice President of Impact at ResMed, an organization striving to improve quality of life, reduce the impact of chronic disease, and lower costs for consumers and healthcare systems in more than 120 countries. Her goal at ResMed is to bring significant leadership experience to the patient-centered healthcare space and advance ResMed’s focus on impacting over 250 million lives through its 2025 strategy. Larissa has spent 25 years in healthcare, and her portfolio encompasses enterprise ESG stewardship, government affairs, clinical advocacy, and patient advocacy. She is a graduate of the San Diego University Law School and completed her Bachelor of Science degree in Biology.

Her professional passion for the patient, health equity, and access led her to start and lead two organizations focused on social impact, Art into Activism and Hard Knock Productions, which have delivered on many projects in the past period and have a full range of activities on the runway for 2023. Larissa believes that storytelling fosters understanding, empathy, and inspires change, whether in self-care, relationships, or policy decisions. Authenticity is key.

Things You’ll Learn:

• A patient-centric approach should include patients, clinicians, and caregivers to provide holistic and effective care.
• Empowering individuals with information and engaging them in their healthcare decisions leads to better outcomes and improved health.
• Patients can drive positive changes in healthcare by sharing their experiences.
• Health involves not only medical care but also the well-being of our physical, mental, and emotional aspects.
• Collaboration between individuals and healthcare organizations is crucial to collectively working towards better outcomes in healthcare.

Resources:

• Connect with and follow Larissa D'Andrea on LinkedIn.
• Follow ResMed on LinkedIn.
• Visit the ResMed website here.