(US and Canada) Roger Jansen, Chief Innovation and Digital Health Officer, Michigan State University Health Care, speaks with Jake Dreier, Director Strategy & Growth, HiLabs, about the ideal approach to driving innovation, innovation leadership capabilities, and the role of digital health in addressing health equity.

Jansen explains innovation is the opposite of knowing all the answers. He encourages leaders to talk about context and co-create with intelligent and capable people.

Next, Jansen points out the difference between being a manager and a leader.  He says managers are focused on doing things the right way versus doing the right and necessary things. You must think about innovation to lead transformation and make the most of exponential growth opportunities. 

Regarding digital health, he says it needs to be more than merely digitizing what already is. Instead, leaders must consider digital health as a way to utilize capabilities to gain greater insight and awareness. Then it must be used to help further medication adherence, healthy habits, and mental health.

Jansen credits the pandemic for generating digital health conversations, but he says things have regressed to traditional and physical means of healthcare consultation. This is driving up consumer costs. Digital capability must help people move toward adopting behavioral change, Jansen says.

He believes digital health could equalize health inequities in impoverished or underrepresented communities and rural areas where healthcare access is difficult.