Looking a Dangerous Disease in the Mouth

This podcast episode covers 3 entrepreneurial solutions in India and Kenya, and 2 of them have already started seeing very positive results. The first is a rugged tablet named Kio Kits loaded with educational software that are made especially for the climate and electricity availability in Kenya; students and teachers vouch for its efficacy. In Assam, India, where there is very little access to eye care, mobile eye care clinics offer a range of services that are all free of cost to their patients. The clinics have tried a number of strategies to reach patients in need and the results have been impactful.

A health clinic in Minneapolis has played a significant role in combating racial gaps in health by prioritizing community-oriented primary care and recruiting staff – including leaders and doctors – from the local community. This model has not just increased trust between patients and the health care system but has also led to a significantly higher rate of vaccination and health screenings.

The St. Mary’s Legacy Clinic is a mobile health clinic bringing care to uninsured, rural residents in Tennessee. The initiative has reached nearly 250 people since it started, providing care to six different towns once per month. With the costs of health care without insurance being enough to turn people away from seeking it, this clinic provides medical evaluations, medicine, and lab work – all with the hope of rebuilding trust between communities and the healthcare system.

Technology is being used in the medical industry to bridge gaps often created by health insurance companies' reliance on reactive rather than proactive care. From hearing loss to family planning, entrepreneurs are finding success in "walking the line between medical firm and tech start-up."

The homeless do not get enough medical attention and often die without getting proper care. The "street medicine" program at Lehigh Valley Health Network addresses this by having medical professionals go to homeless individuals, even in remote locations, providing healthcare, helping them sign up for insurance, arranging psychiatric evaluations, etc.

Dentists in Multnomah County, Oregon are helping to prevent "doctor shopping", where addicts attempt to get prescriptions from multiple providers. They are doing this by checking a national database that lists all of a patient's current prescriptions, and not prescribing refills on opiate prescriptions without a follow-up visit. This effort has drastically reduced the number of overall prescriptions written, and replaced those drugs with ibuprofen and tylenol, which are both proven to be more effective in relieving acute pain.

In the United States approximately 15% Asian-Americans have no health insurance and have had a difficulty understanding the options available in the Affordable Care Act. Although the White House has reached out to Asian-Americans in video chats, the state and community forums for Asian Americans have proved to be the most successful. Interpreter teams help Asian-Americans with the paperwork and understanding the policies.

Twelve million people are blind in India, and are robbed of their livelihoods as a result. A hugely successful chain of cataract hospitals in India helped its business by treating half its patients for free.

Birth in Color's doulas are filling the maternity care gap as rural labor and delivery rooms close, disproportionately impacting people of color. Doulas provide physical, emotional and informational support before, during and after childbirth, and advocate on the mother’s behalf. Doula care leads to improved birth outcomes and lower rates of C-sections, and in April 2022 doula services were added under the state’s Medicaid program.

Modeled after a similar program in Costa Rica, Neighborhood Nursing has teams of nurses and community health workers who host weekly visits throughout the community to provide free medical care — particularly preventative care — to those who need it. Neighborhood Nursing has helped build trust between residents and healthcare workers and aims to serve more than 4,000 people within the next year.