Joachim Werr is the founder of Health Navigator, that is focused on empowering patients with sustainable healthcare. The combination of a data driven health tech company who also have frontline delivery clinical staff is fundamentally what the company provides.
He expressed that the above stated combination is what Health Navigator is primarily offering to the NHS, while the service they are currently delivering to the general public is identifying individuals that are or will become in high need of unplanned care, hospital care. This service also includes contacting and supporting those individuals through a program that is called proactive health coaching.
Werr further stated that Health Navigator first added value to the health industry is undoubtedly empowering patients and becoming independent from unplanned care.
The company gains access to patients through a system that basically identifies individuals that have the highest risk of being acutely hospitalized. These are normally patients that have diseases and chronic conditions where obviously pharmaceuticals and also medical devices play an important role. According to Werr, Health Navigator is currently working with medicines optimization for these individuals. An important aspect for helping the current work being done is the need for more in collaboration or partnership with Pharma. The other aspects are access to information and insights as the company supports these patients.
Regarding possible digital healthcare transformation opportunities, Werr mentioned how COVID-19 is dramatically pushing digital healthcare towards a level that may have not been reached for another 10 years. The external shock of the pandemic is getting into the system and Werr believes this will fundamentally change how healthcare is delivered.
When asked about potential trends in health and pharma for 2020/2021, Werr stated that much more thinking will be applied into areas of rapid development when it comes to fighting epidemics, not only from the vaccine, but also from a therapeutic treatment perspective. He also predicted a probable increase in consolidation of companies.
On the subject of the future of Health Navigator as a company, Werr revealed that the company has been chosen as one of eleven companies to be part of the NHS innovation accelerator. He explained that every year, the NHS holds a competition for companies and innovators. This competition can lead companies to become part of what is called the NHS innovation accelerator. It is basically a central accelerator where you can get support from the various NHS bodies. This is to help your company scale and get in contact with the right people, socialize your ideas and get access to resources. Your company will also be supported by all fifteen academic health and science networks in the UK.
Finally, Werr spoke on surviving crisis as a company using Health Navigator as a case study. He disclosed that right now, they are more efficiently than normal, working with clients to rapidly find solutions. The company as a whole was also adopting very quickly and making the best of the situation. So far, Health Navigator has launched a new service and has two contracts in place for that new service.
Joachim Werr, CEO and Founder of Health Navigator