The Clinton Global Initiative recently hosted its fifth annual Health Matters Activation Summit to identify strategies for systemic health improvement and ways to implement those strategies. The summit opened with a town hall, “Addressing health disparities through technology and innovation,” moderated by former President Bill Clinton.
Topics covered during the town hall included financing innovative, scalable technological ventures in health; improving public health and access to care for Native Americans in rural communities; leveraging health innovation for disease prevention and management; and using holistic approaches to transform the nation’s culture of health and well-being.
Among the distinguished panel was Donald Warne, MD, the Association of American Indian Physicians representative on the AMA Minority Affairs Section Governing Council. Others joining the panel included Vice Admiral Vivek H. Murthy, MD, U.S. surgeon general; Anya Pogharian, inventor and student at Marianopolis College; Nate Gross, MD, co-founder of Rock Health; and Kyu Rhee, MD, chief health officer of IBM Corporation.
Key themes at the two-day summit included communities as centers of health innovation, the quest for longevity and healthy aging, health-tech innovation and addressing health disparities through entrepreneurship. The summit brought together leaders working in health care, technology, business, education, sports and government.