The U.S. healthcare system was designed primarily based on our understanding of the biological and social needs of white men. Of course, our current experience tells us that society is far more complex and that the system must recognize and respond to a diversity of gender, culture, language and other biopsychosocial factors to be truly effective.
The fact is, America has become a country made up of many cultures and the fastest growing segment of our country is the Hispanic population, which now represents 17% of Americans. By 2060 it will be nearly 30%. Over 70% of these individuals speak Spanish at home.
An innovator who recognized this as an opportunity very early on is Abner Mason, CEO of telehealth company Consejo Sano. The company serves the healthcare needs of Spanish-speakers through a unique model of clinical access that matches Hispanic clientele in the U.S. with physicians in Mexico who are more accessible, speak their language and are attuned to their cultural differences.
As a black entrepreneur who doesn’t speak Spanish, Abner’s journey to Consejo Sano took him from a small town in North Carolina to the halls of the Massachusetts State Capitol to founding the not-for-profit AIDS Responsibility Project to establishing the first wellness company in Mexico; and then to Consejo Sano – clearly a journey with many twists and turns. We are excited to welcome Abner to Tech Tonics and recognize the importance of what he is doing to serve the Hispanic community.
This episode of Tech Tonics was sponsored by DNAnexus, the secure and compliant cloud platform that enables enterprise users to analyze, collaborate around, and integrate massive amounts of genetic and other health data.
