Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / BlackDoctor’s Vision for AI, Trust and Health Equity with Aki Garrett

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BlackDoctor’s Vision for AI, Trust and Health Equity with Aki Garrett · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

• 0:02
  - There's a small circle of people who truly
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  - understand what it takes to lead a health
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  - system right now. The decisions are enormous.
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  - The variables are constantly shifting, and the stakes
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  - of getting a call wrong don't stay contained.
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  - Becker's fourteenth annual CEO and CFO roundtable
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  - brings together more than 1,500
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  - executive level attendees
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  - and nearly 400 speakers for four days built
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  - around growth, financial sustainability,
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  - workforce strategy, and the leadership questions that don't
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  - have easy answers.
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  - Join us November second through the fifth in
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  - Chicago.
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  - For the agenda and event details,
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  - visit beckershospitalreview.com
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  - and click on the events tab in the
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  - upper right.
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  - Hello, and welcome to the Becker's Healthcare Podcast.
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  - My name is Chanel Banger. Today, I have
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  - the pleasure of speaking with Aki Garrett, the
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  - CEO of Black Doctor, who joins podcast today
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  - to share insights into his background, health care
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  - trends he's watching, and a bit more. Aki,
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  - thank you so much for joining me today.
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  - Chanel, thank you for having me. It's a
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  - pleasure to be here.
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  - Of course. Of course. Well, it's great to
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  - have you. To get us started out, could
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  - you please introduce yourself and tell us a
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  - bit about your work in health care?
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  - Yes. I'm Akanwole Garrett, CEO of Black Doctor.
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  - Black Doctor is a health and wellness platform
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  - that is focused on connecting,
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  - black communities with trusted culturally relevant health information,
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  - resources,
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  - and health care professionals,
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  - as well as solutions.
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  - We reach about 30,000,000
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  - users every month across our platform.
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  - We have a three pillar strategy where we
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  - engage with both health care practitioners
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  - and consumers across our digital presence, which is
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  - blackdoctor.com
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  - and blackdoctor.pro,
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  - as well as all of our social media
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  - handles and as well and also on YouTube.
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  - And then we also have a whole host
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  - of events that we put on throughout the
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  - year, including a film festival,
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  - an activation
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  - in Cannes,
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  - as well as in Martha's Vineyard, Black Doctor
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  - House.
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  - And we also put on,
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  - an event with our partners at USA Today
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  - called generational health.
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  - And those are just some of the temple
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  - events that we have in addition to dozens
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  - of other smaller events that we do throughout
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  - the country. And last but not least, we
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  - also have a technology pillar where we have
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  - built,
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  - some AI tools to,
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  - help both patients with patient preparedness
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  - and
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  - to help health care professionals,
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  - with cultural competency and cultural fluency as they
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  - engage
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  - with diverse patients.
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  - At our core, you know, we sit at
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  - the intersection of health culture,
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  - media, technology, and community.
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  - We built an ecosystem
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  - that, like I said, reaches millions of consumers
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  - and all while engaging
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  - with health care professionals.
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  - And what excites me about the business today
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  - is that we are really evolving well beyond
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  - being a traditional health media company. We are
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  - truly a health services company where we are
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  - building an omnichannel health platform
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  - that really combines,
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  - you know, the things I just mentioned, which
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  - are content, community, data,
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  - AI, health care, professional engagement,
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  - clinical trial recruitment,
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  - policy and advocacy, and education.
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  - Ultimately, our mission really is to, help black
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  - communities thrive in health by bridging the gap
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  - between
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  - black communities and the health care system.
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  - And we do that by creating and producing
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  - medically verified
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  - and medically reviewed content,
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  - and by engaging our audience in a very
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  - authentic, and culturally competent manner.
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  - That's great. And now that we have a
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  - sense of your background and the mission of
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  - Black Doctor, I'm curious to hear what trends
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  - are you currently watching in health care right
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  - now?
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  - Yeah. Sure. There there's several. I would say
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  - first is the convergence of AI and health
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  - care.
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  - AI is going to fundamentally change how people
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  - find health information,
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  - how they prepare for health, health care encounters
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  - and appointments,
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  - and how they interact overall with, health care
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  - professionals,
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  - navigating, you know, an increasingly complex health care
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  - system. I think the opportunity isn't simply to
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  - introduce more technology.
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  - I really think, you know, the the opportunity
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  - is to introduce technology that is going to
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  - impact have an impact at the point of
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  - care,
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  - and to make that patient and physician interaction,
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  - much more beneficial,
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  - and ultimately drive better health outcomes.
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  - I think second to that is really a
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  - shift from, what we call reach,
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  - in the digital world, to measurable impact. You
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  - know, for years, health care marketing has focused
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  - primarily on impressions,
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  - clicks, and audience size. And I think these
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  - metrics, while they still matter,
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  - clients are increasingly wanting to understand
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  - whether they are reaching the right people
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  - and whether that engagement ultimately changes awareness,
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  - behavior,
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  - healthcare utilization
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  - and outcomes,
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  - on a clinical level.
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  - Third, I would say,
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  - is personalization.
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  - Healthcare
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  - consumers are increasingly
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  - expecting healthcare experiences to reflect who they are,
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  - their culture,
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  - circumstances,
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  - preferences,
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  - and health journeys. And so the era of
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  - this kind of one size fits all approach,
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  - is really starting to disappear, and people want
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  - a customized, more personalized health care experience
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  - that truly reflects who they are at their
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  - core. And I think that that will continue,
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  - to resonate,
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  - as we see the explosion in AI. I
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  - think the winners will be those that can
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  - create experiences that really tap in authentically with,
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  - certain communities and make them feel seen and
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  - heard.
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  - And finally, I think, you know, the,
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  - a trend that we have been on for
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  - the last twenty years, I think, is is
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  - is really starting to resonate a lot,
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  - in this kind of new era of health
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  - care is the idea of trust.
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  - You know, we have, you know, more health
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  - information available than at any point in our
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  - in history,
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  - yet, you know, trust really is one of
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  - those things that is a challenge for for
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  - health care. I think that organizations such as
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  - Black Doctor,
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  - that build authentic relationships with communities will ultimately
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  - become the most important places for brands to
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  - communicate
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  - with consumers,
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  - and also with health care practitioners, to be
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  - quite honest. Trust really,
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  - has you know, it becomes a scarce asset,
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  - you know, when, you know, you look at
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  - AI,
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  - making that volume of information limitless.
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  - Trust becomes scarce. And so how do you
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  - help some how do you build trust such
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  - that a health care practitioner or a patient
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  - can kind of call through
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  - and get to the information that is most
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  - meaningful for them and the information they can
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  - trust
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  - to actually,
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  - impact their journey?
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  - Absolutely. And as we
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  - creep closer to the end of 2026,
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  - I'd love to hear what you're most focused
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  - on and excited about in your role.
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  - Yeah. I continue to be super excited about
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  - the transformation we're having at Black Doctor.
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  - Over the last six to eighteen months, you
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  - know, we've been really intentional about involving the
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  - company from being primarily a digital health media
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  - platform into a much broader
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  - health care ecosystem and technology enabled platform.
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  - We started off the year with, by refreshing
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  - the Black Doctor brand. We expanded our health
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  - care professional network,
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  - through Black Doctor Pro, which is our, HCP
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  - focused,
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  - website. We strengthened our leadership team bringing in
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  - a number of different c suite executives
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  - that had that comprise over a hundred and
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  - twenty years of health media and health services
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  - experience.
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  - We expanded our policy and advocacy work through
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  - our generational health initiative,
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  - and we began building AI power solutions, you
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  - know, that can help patients prepare for health
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  - care,
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  - engagements and encounters.
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  - That can also help health care professionals strengthen
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  - cultural fluency and improve how patients are identified
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  - and recruited for clinical trials.
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  - So we continue to see an evolution of
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  - our platform.
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  - I'm particularly proud that of all the work
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  - that we're doing,
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  - and and how we're doing it while maintaining
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  - the thing that has made black doctor valuable
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  - in the first place, which is the trust
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  - of the communities that we serve. At our
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  - core and at our heart is making sure
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  - that we maintain that trust, and that is
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  - something that is,
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  - embedded in
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  - any in all expansion and and development of
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  - the black doctor platform. It all starts with
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  - how do we embed trust into all that
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  - we do. And really, you know, that matters
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  - because growth for us isn't simply about becoming
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  - a bigger company. You know, it's about increasing
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  - our ability to create
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  - outcomes, measurable health outcomes and impact for the
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  - communities that we serve. And one of the
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  - questions I continue to ask my team really
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  - is if we're successful,
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  - whose life is actually better because black doctor
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  - exists? And so that keeps us grounded.
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  - You know, that helps us to focus and
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  - prioritize all the things that we wanna work
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  - on.
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  - Revenue, audience,
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  - growth, technology, and scale
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  - are really important. But really answering that question,
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  - and making sure that we're crystal clear on
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  - that, whether it be as we're developing our
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  - tools or executing events is really the the
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  - secret sauce and the key for us to
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  - have sustained impact and sustained growth within the
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  - community that we serve.
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  - That's amazing to hear. A lot of exciting
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  - initiatives on the horizon for Black Doctor.
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  - And now that we've heard what you're looking
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  - forward to, looking back for a moment, what
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  - are you most proud of accomplishing over the
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  - last six to eighteen months or so?
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  - I would say developing,
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  - really rounding out and and expanding on on
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  - the core of black doctor,
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  - and being able to to step into to
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  - places and spaces that we have traditionally not
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  - been in. I would say us being able
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  - to execute a stellar black doctor house experience
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  - in Cannes, France
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  - with our partners at Novo Nordisk is something
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  - I'm super proud about. One, because it broadened
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  - our reach beyond just, you know, The United
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  - States. It, was our first international execution. So
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  - our brand got exposed to other black communities,
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  - that are over in Europe. And that to
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  - me is exciting as we look as we
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  - think about how do we expand
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  - black doctors presence and become an internationally known
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  - brand and not just, so North American focused.
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  - I would also say that, you know, it
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  - was exciting for us because
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  - it gave us the opportunity
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  - to really,
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  - engage in a premium environment
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  - with,
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  - so many different creators
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  - and health care professionals and executives,
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  - and kind of convene and bring,
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  - those two, what often seems to be disparate
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  - worlds
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  - together to really focus on how do we
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  - how do we storytell around
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  - health care, how do we storytell around,
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  - chronic conditions, especially within the black community,
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  - and really start to make,
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  - health more relatable. Right? And give face and
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  - give voice
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  - to those that suffer oftentimes in silence. That
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  - was an opportunity
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  - where we had a rap man who created,
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  - Supercell,
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  - the Netflix hit show. We also had,
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  - Ryan Clark,
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  - former Super Bowl champion,
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  - as well as, a big advocate for sickle
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  - cell disease,
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  - talk about storytelling and talk about touching the
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  - community in unique ways to talk about a
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  - condition that, again, a lot of people suffer
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  - in silence with. But how do we bring
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  - that to the forefront and change the narrative,
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  - right, and do it in a creative but
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  - very authentic way. And so that that that
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  - for me is probably the the most,
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  - one of the most proud moments over the
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  - last, you know, six to eighteen months.
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  - That's really incredible. And I could tell from
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  - the short conversation that you're very passionate and
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  - driven
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  - as a leader. And with that in mind,
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  - I'd love to hear the advice you'd give
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  - to
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  - evolving leaders looking to have that same drive
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  - in their careers as you have.
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  - Yeah. I mean, I would say, you know,
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  - first and foremost, you know, I think
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  - you have to treat trust as an operational
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  - asset that you build deliberately.
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  - I think trust is the foundation for any
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  - successful business. I think trust is the foundation
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  - for any great leader. You have, you know,
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  - whether it's, you know, the people that you
• 11:53
  - that work with you or for you, your
• 11:55
  - customers,
• 11:56
  - your partners. I think you have to have
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  - a solid foundation of trust, and that is
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  - something that is built in one interaction at
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  - a time. And, you know, it takes a
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  - long time to build, but it it takes
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  - a very, very short time to tarnish. And
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  - so think about how you're building trust as
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  - a leader so that way people are invested
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  - in what you're trying to accomplish.
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  - I would say second,
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  - you know, become comfortable with being uncomfortable.
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  - I think, every step in my career
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  - has required me to really operate in an
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  - environment where I didn't have all the answers.
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  - There was a fair bit of ambiguity.
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  - But what I realized,
• 12:31
  - in in in being a leader is that
• 12:32
  - leadership isn't about knowing everything. Right? It's about
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  - being able to make, you know, thoughtful decisions
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  - with, you know, imperfect information
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  - and then adjusting,
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  - quickly as you learn.
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  - And you have to get comfortable with that
• 12:46
  - reality and be nimble,
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  - and agile,
• 12:50
  - to make changes, to recognize
• 12:52
  - patterns, to leverage data, and and recognize when
• 12:56
  - adjustments need to be made.
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  - And then I would say
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  - third, you know, is really kind of develop
• 13:01
  - your own point of view. Right? You know,
• 13:03
  - with AI, the proliferation of AI, information is
• 13:05
  - really becoming commoditized. Right?
• 13:08
  - And I think, you know, leaders will increasingly
• 13:10
  - distinguish themselves
• 13:12
  - not by having, you know, access
• 13:14
  - to information
• 13:16
  - because we'll all have it, you know, due
• 13:18
  - to AI. But it's really those leaders that
• 13:19
  - are gonna shine
• 13:20
  - are gonna be the leaders that are able
• 13:22
  - to synthesize
• 13:24
  - the information that they get from AI, exercise
• 13:26
  - judgment, understand,
• 13:28
  - and have a clear perspective about what matters
• 13:31
  - and what doesn't when it comes to making
• 13:33
  - decisions,
• 13:34
  - and being really,
• 13:35
  - really good at honing in on those key
• 13:37
  - factors that allow them and and those key
• 13:39
  - pieces of information that allow them to make
• 13:41
  - the right decisions, to launch the right products,
• 13:43
  - to pivot in the right direction,
• 13:45
  - to execute at a high level. I think
• 13:47
  - those are those are really three things, you
• 13:49
  - know, for me
• 13:51
  - as a leader that I would offer to,
• 13:53
  - an evolving leader,
• 13:55
  - or someone that is, you know, looking to
• 13:57
  - step into a a leadership role.
• 13:59
  - Thank you so much. That's excellent and very
• 14:01
  - actionable advice. Well, Aki, I wanna thank you
• 14:04
  - for your time today. But before I let
• 14:05
  - you go, is there anything else that listeners
• 14:07
  - should know?
• 14:09
  - No. I mean, I think, you know, if
• 14:10
  - if you, you know, wanna follow Black Doctor,
• 14:12
  - we'd love to have you on our journey.
• 14:14
  - We'd love for you to engage with the
• 14:16
  - platform. You can visit us at blackdoctor.com.
• 14:18
  - If you're a consumer or a patient, you
• 14:21
  - can go to blackdoctor.pro
• 14:23
  - if you're a healthcare professional, a doctor, a
• 14:25
  - nurse,
• 14:26
  - a PA. There's tons of information. You know,
• 14:28
  - we are continuing to build this platform.
• 14:31
  - We want our platform. You know, I always
• 14:33
  - tell my team, I envision this platform being
• 14:35
  - the operating system for health equity
• 14:37
  - and leveraging all the content, all of the
• 14:40
  - activations, all the all the technology that we
• 14:43
  - develop to really help close the health equity
• 14:45
  - gap
• 14:46
  - between communities within within this country and and
• 14:48
  - globally. I think it's it's incredibly important,
• 14:51
  - because if we solve
• 14:53
  - the health equity issues of people of color,
• 14:56
  - and in this case black people, I think,
• 14:57
  - you know, everybody will benefit from that, and
• 14:59
  - and the whole entire healthcare system will benefit
• 15:01
  - from that. Right? When you think about it
• 15:03
  - from purely an economic perspective, there's a heavy
• 15:06
  - burden, heavy tax on on the healthcare system
• 15:09
  - and healthcare costs
• 15:11
  - when you look at, health health inequities. Right?
• 15:14
  - And so we can close those inequities
• 15:16
  - by leveraging technology,
• 15:18
  - awareness, content,
• 15:19
  - you know, information, so forth and so on.
• 15:21
  - If we can close those gaps, we will
• 15:24
  - have a better health care system overall for
• 15:25
  - everyone.
• 15:26
  - Health care companies,
• 15:28
  - whether it be hospitals, insurers will have better
• 15:30
  - economics
• 15:31
  - as for profit institutions.
• 15:33
  - And so I think, you know, we are
• 15:35
  - squarely focused on that. We love to, you
• 15:37
  - know, we love when when people come to
• 15:38
  - our platform, engage with our content, come to
• 15:40
  - our events, engage with our events, and engage
• 15:42
  - with our technologies,
• 15:44
  - as we're building.
• 15:45
  - Perfect. Aki, I wanna thank you once again
• 15:47
  - for your time today, all the important work
• 15:49
  - that you do for both the black community
• 15:51
  - and just health care overall,
• 15:53
  - and for sharing your insights on the Becker's
• 15:55
  - Healthcare podcast. Thank you so much. Thank you.
• 15:57
  - Have a good day.