Six Success Factors to Improve Access to Healthcare

Authors

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  Cecile Oger

  Managing Director, People and Culture, BSR

  

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  Cecile Oger

  Managing Director, People and Culture, BSR

  

  Paris

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  After nine years of working with BSR members to advance sustainability strategies, Cecile now leads BSR’s global People and Culture team. In this role, Cecile leads all processes related to building and retaining an exceptional global team of sustainable business experts. She works with the People and Culture team on attracting and hiring the best and brightest talents and making BSR a place where people grow, develop, and thrive in our international mindset and culture as well as have an impact on the world.

  Cecile continues to stay close to BSR’s mission and impacts through limited and targeted projects and member engagement, mostly in the healthcare sector. 

  Prior to joining BSR, Cecile served as deputy director for SGS Sustainability Services. Her work involved developing service offerings for sustainable supply chains. Before that, she was executive director of SFSTP, one of the largest associations of industrial pharmacists in Europe. She started her career in the chemicals industry, working for Clariant in the UK and Canada.

  Cecile holds a MBA from Toronto Metropolitan University, a BSc in Chemistry and Business Administration from Kingston University London, and a Life Science degree from University of Angers. She speaks French and English.

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  Jonathan Morris

  Associate Director, Technology Sectors, BSR

  

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  Jonathan Morris

  Associate Director, Technology Sectors, BSR

  

  Paris

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  Jonathan leads BSR’s work in the EMEA region with companies in the Industrials and Utilities and Information and Communications Technology industries. Jonathan also leads BSR’s global sustainability reporting team as part of the Sustainability Management practice.

  His experience in sustainability includes strategy development, reporting execution, and stakeholder engagement for these industries, as well as a focus on transparency and traceability in the supply chain via advanced technologies such as blockchain and artificial intelligence.

  Prior to joining BSR, Jonathan was a packaging developer with Coty US LLC, the world’s largest fragrance manufacturer. Jonathan designed and executed technical packaging specifications for perfume and cosmetics launches, coordinating the needs of internal marketing and sales teams with external material suppliers and manufacturers. This positions Jonathan as BSR’s sustainable packaging contact.

  Jonathan holds an M.S. in Sustainable Development from HEC Paris School of Management and a B.S. in Computer Science and Engineering from Syracuse University. He speaks English and French.

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• 

  Laura Gitman

  Chief Impact Officer, BSR

  

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  Laura Gitman

  Chief Impact Officer, BSR

  

  New York

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  Laura is a global expert on corporate sustainability, with two decades of experience in strategy consulting and has advised senior executives at global companies across a range of industry sectors and sustainability issues.

  As Chief Impact Officer (CIO), the first in the organization’s 30-year history, Laura focuses on maximizing the impact of BSR’s work with its network of over 300 members, both through direct engagement on project work and as a mentor for teams throughout the organization. She also oversees BSR’s collaborative initiatives and the Center for Business and Social Justice, and a recognized thought leader and innovator in strategic business.

  She has been an instrumental leader in BSR’s organizational growth and impact. She launched BSR’s financial services practice and New York office, and she served as Chief Operating Officer for five years, leveraging her strengths in strategy, organizational change, and people management. Laura works with leading global companies to develop and enhance their sustainability strategies to maximize value for business and society, and she is sought after to facilitate senior-level strategy workshops and multi-stakeholder collaborations.

  She previously worked for Deloitte Consulting, where she acquired extensive strategy experience advising multinational financial services companies. She also worked on several community and economic development projects in Latin America.

  Laura holds a MBA from Stanford University and a BS in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University. She is an adjunct professor in the Bard MBA in Sustainability program, a Senior Fellow at the Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship (CASE) at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, and a member of the UN Global Compact Expert Network.

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In December 2013, Jim Yong Kim, president of the World Bank, announced ambitious targets on access to healthcare in recognition of the important role that this plays in “combatting poverty and spurring economic development.” Earlier that same year, the CEOs who signed the Guiding Principles on Access to Healthcare acknowledged that all stakeholders of the healthcare system must work together to seek sustainable solutions to improving access.

One year later—as the Ebola outbreak demonstrates the persistent weaknesses of health systems in many parts of the world—BSR has published a new report examining how companies can address access to healthcare. Our research highlighted six lessons healthcare companies can apply to improve access to healthcare:

1. One size does not fit all. Healthcare companies are approaching access through numerous methods designed to produce just as many different outcomes. There is not just one solution to access, simply because there is not just one problem to be solved. Current and future unmet medical and healthcare needs are diverse and complex. In order to provide solutions, companies must develop initiatives tailored to the problem, and closely linked to their own strengths and capabilities.
2. Collaboration is critical. Companies partner with a broad spectrum of organizations and stakeholders, from NGOs to governments and multilaterals, to companies from other sectors and, increasingly, to peers. This speaks to the complexity of the healthcare sector’s challenges. The level of resources and skillsets required often exceeds the capacity of an individual player. By entering partnerships, healthcare companies can use their partners’ unique expertise, whether it is technological, geographical, scientific, commercial, or logistical.
3. Technology enhances access. Healthcare companies are embracing technology and technological partnerships in a big way, creating innovative solutions to access issues. Some examples include the use of e-learning, social media, and cell phones to increase access to healthcare products and information. One of the biggest opportunities is for healthcare companies to combine innovative technologies with their medicine and expertise to provide access to more information, to train medical practitioners, to perform remote diagnostics, and, overall, to contribute to increased access to healthcare.
4. A focus on global goals promotes collective progress. Companies are working to advance global health agendas, developing approaches to eliminate diseases and meet medical needs, and working toward tackling the increasing threat from noncommunicable diseases. As we look toward the post-2015 development agenda, healthcare companies will be expected to increase their efforts toward meeting global goals—especially in a world that is undergoing considerable growth and, at times, unpredictable demographic changes.
5. Measurement is key. Setting ambitious, clear targets and track results are essential elements, not only to assess annual progress, but also to drive long-term results. Measurement and transparency provide valuable insight to help stakeholders assess whether individual companies are pursuing the right avenues to advance access.
6. Connecting to business drives systemic change. Initiatives that link to the company’s core business operations, products, and/or strategic objectives—and programs that are designed to drive returns for the organization—provide tangible business benefits that are likely to increase the long-term viability of the initiative. More and more, we see healthcare companies seeking sustainable solutions that promote access to care by integrating access to healthcare as a core element of the company’s operations.

Find out more about the opportunity to expand access to healthcare by reading our status report “The Guiding Principles on Access to Healthcare: From Aspiration to Action,” and by accessing 50 individual cases. Please share your views with us: Comment here, tweet using #GPAH, or email us at gpah@bsr.org.