4 min read February 2024 — Sally Schufreider, market leader and general manager at Cigna Healthcare, talked to Invest: about the company’s strategy to promote access to healthcare in Philadelphia, the most important healthcare challenges in that region, and the behavioral health initiatives that the company has developed to support youths. “Our younger generations are among the demographic groups that are more dramatically affected by mental health issues,” she said.
How has Cigna grown and what is behind that growth?
Our mission at Cigna is to improve the health and vitality of those we serve. We have spent a lot of time growing our local team and now have over 800 associates in downtown Philadelphia. Our sales and client management team has grown exponentially. Our team includes talent experienced in various areas of healthcare, such as pharmaceuticals, clinical, underwriting and finance, which gives us a different perspective on what healthcare means end-to-end.
Additionally, thanks to our focus on innovation, we have grown our market presence, footprint, and client base in Philadelphia. The Evernorth Health Services division that we launched a few years ago serves as an engine that enables us to create the solutions that tackle the largest challenges in healthcare head-on. It also provides us with a competitive edge in the Philadelphia market because we are not only solving our clients current healthcare needs but preparing for emerging opportunities in the future. Cigna is also taking data insights from its partnership with Evernorth to help develop personalized solutions where impact and value can be measured. Innovation, paired with data driven personalization has helped Cigna Healthcare achieve significant growth and interest in the Philadelphia market.
What is the strategy of Cigna to address the issue of access to healthcare in Philadelphia?
We need to make sure that people have access to high-quality providers regardless of their socio-economic status and the community where they live. Philadelphia has some of the strongest nationally-recognized healthcare systems in the United States, but many people in local communities face access issues due to financial and transportation barriers. Even though great health systems sit on every corner, a lot of people lack access.
Included in Cigna Healthcare plan offerings at no additional cost is our MDLive virtual solution. MDLive is a fully-integrated product that makes care available wherever and whenever our customers need it- at home, at work, or on the go. MDLive is not just convenient, it’s cost-effective, and not only focuses on urgent care but also primary care, dermatology, and preventive care. For those who have access to care issues or scheduling challenges with their provider, they can take a lab prescription to their local laboratory, have their blood work done, and schedule a preventive care visit with MDLive at a time that is convenient for them.
What are the most important healthcare problems that the population of Greater Philadelphia faces and how is Cigna Healthcare addressing those issues?
Based on recent CDC statistics, Philadelphia is one of the most obese cities in the United States with 67% of adults being considered obese. At Cigna Healthcare, we are focusing on what we call cardiodiabesity, which is the impact of obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease on the overall health and vitality of the Philadelphian population. We are bringing various programs and solutions to address these challenges. One of these focuses on raising awareness about new to market GLP-1 medications for the treatment of weight-loss and diabetes. We are launching various approaches to help our clients manage these drugs while ensuring that the right drug is prescribed for the right person at the right time.
What are the overarching opportunities that Cigna Healthcare plans to capitalize on in the Greater Philadelphia healthcare sector?
At Cigna Healthcare we know that behavioral health plays a significant role in the health, well-being, and vitality of the customers we serve. Behavioral health hit a significant spike after the COVID-19 pandemic, with our youngest generations being hit the hardest
We commissioned a survey conducted by Economist Impact that focused on teen mental health- we found that the mental well-being of a child has a distressing impact on parents, and a negative impact on their job performance and productivity. The majority of concerned parents report not having enough support from their employer, and several even report having to leave the workforce to care for their children’s mental health needs. To address this, we have developed various services and solutions based on those needs. For instance, we have digitally-enabled tools that allow parents and teens to be directed toward the right kind of care provider. We also have a fast-access network that helps people get appointments within five days when they face scheduling challenges. Additionally, we are doubling down on predictive analytics to know when someone needs access to behavioral health before even they are aware. For instance, through predictive analytics we can identify sooner when children show signs of autism, which allows for them to be diagnosed and get the therapy they need to help produce better long term outcomes.
What are the most important challenges that the healthcare industry in Greater Philadelphia faces and how is Cigna Healthcare navigating them?
Pharmacy innovation is at an all-time high, with countless clinical trials and diagnostic capabilities being developed. Philadelphia is the birthplace of many groundbreaking therapies. For instance, Luxterna is a gene therapy used to treat inherited retinal disease that was developed by Spark Therapeutics in collaboration with the Philadelphia Children’s Hospital. Philadelphia is considered a top growth market in life sciences, particularly around gene therapy and biotech innovation.
There are more than 900 gene therapies in the pipeline for common conditions. As a result, we can expect these therapies, which come with a significant price tag, to become more common in the future. With new therapies emerging we know how important it is to provide our clients with financial security, that is why we launched the Embarc program, a first-of-its-kind network solution that helps ensure access to breakthrough gene therapy drugs while offering protection from their high costs. This program enables clients to pay a per-member, per-month flat fee that covers the cost of the gene therapy medication.
What kinds of programs or initiatives does Cigna Healthcare have in place to reach out and give back to the community of Philadelphia?
We have a strong collaboration with the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of Philadelphia, which raises money for treatment and innovation around ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. Each year we are proud to be part of one of their largest annual fundraising events called Take Steps held at the Lincoln Financial Eagles stadium. This year, we introduced our Cigna Wellness in Motion mobile clinic to provide free screenings and healthcare intervention for those who attended.
This year we plan to sponsor and provide screenings through our mobile clinic at the Urban League of Philadelphia’s Juneteenth event.The Urban League’s mission is to empower African Americans and other underserved people to secure economic self-reliance, parity, power and civil rights. We are proud to support the amazing work of the Urban League as they work to break down barriers for our local communities.
What are Cigna Healthcare’s top priorities for the next two or three years?
At the top of our mind is always the clients and customers that we serve in every community- and bringing personalized and targeted strategies to meet their needs. What is great about Philadelphia is that we bring a wide variety of industries from life sciences, to social services, to healthcare and education. As every industry and organization are different, they also have very different and unique healthcare needs. It is critically important that we are solving our clients biggest healthcare challenges in a personalized and meaningful way, which starts with data and insights, paired with the right solutions to address the opportunity, wrapped with connection and support. At Cigna, we have a team of engagement consultants who work with clients to review data, look at opportunities, and ensure that solutions are coordinated and executed to deliver the results that they want.
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