Devin: What do you see as your superpower?
Christine: I would say it’s courage.
Dr. Christine Lum Lung, CEO of Origin Healthcare, says up to 5 million people in the United States who are currently in the hospital could be treated at home more effectively and affordably.
“We deploy the expert medical team, the equipment and the technology to patients in their homes so they can actually get all of the care they would receive in the hospital,” she says. “But now it’s in an environment that clearly is much more comfortable.”
AI Summary
Dr. Christine Lum Lung is the founder and CEO of Origin Healthcare, which provides in-home medical care.
Origin Healthcare uses a hybrid model of care that combines in-person visits with remote patient monitoring and telehealth.
This model is 40% safer, 30-40% more affordable, and results in better outcomes.
Providing care in a familiar and comfortable environment can prevent adverse events and complications that occur in hospitals.
Patients often experience better outcomes and are at lower risk of hospital-acquired infections when cared for at home.
Technology like telehealth and remote patient monitoring can make this model of care more efficient.
The cost savings come from avoiding the high fixed costs of a hospital building and from lower utilization of testing and fewer readmissions.
Christine believes her superpower is courage.
She encourages listeners to explore Origin Healthcare and to connect with her on LinkedIn.
Christine says, “As a physician when I would round in the morning, patients would say, ‘I got terrible sleep last night. Somebody next door was yelling. My IV kept beeping.’”
“I would inevitably only be able to say, ‘I know the hospital is a place where you need the best sleep because you’re sick, but unfortunately, you get the worst.’”
Not only is sound sleep difficult, but the sorts of hospital-acquired infections patients contract in a facility are rare at home. Furthermore, data shows there are fewer falls at home.
As a result, outcomes are typically better when treated at home for things that can be treated there—about 30 percent of hospitalizations or about 150 diagnoses can be.
By leveraging technology to provide hybrid care with visiting nurses and technology, patients receive more attention at a lower cost. The patients are fitted with a watch that monitors vital signs every fifteen minutes. Paired with a tablet that connects to doctors and nurses for addressing questions, patients are never entirely alone.
One misperception lay people have is that patients receive 24-hour care while hospitalized. That isn’t the case. “In a 12-hour shift, a nurse is only physically assessing the patient for 34 minutes,” Christine says.
Christine shared the story of the startup’s launch:
We launched we officially opened as a company in 2021 in the middle of a pandemic. So there are a lot of things that went into that, a lot of good things and bad things. We were able to treat our first patient in the spring of ‘21. We're in the northern Colorado area where I worked as a hospital physician. We've actually treated over 1,100 patients in the two-plus years that we've been up and operational.
Throughout her career, Christine has developed and deployed courage as a superpower to achieve success.
How to Develop Courage As a Superpower
Christine describes her courage: “I see something, I believe in it. The path forward may not seem obvious, but I’m going to go charge down that path.”
“Stepping into the venture space,” she continues. “There are fewer females here. And so having the courage to say, ‘I believe in what I’m doing; I know that this is the right thing,’ even when other people may try to get you to doubt it. You just have that sense of conviction that keeps moving you forward.”
Christine offers a prescription for developing courage:
See what needs to be better and believe that you are the person to make it better.
Surround yourself with people who elevate you.
Recognize the power of naivete; you may not know the entire journey, but you can see and take the first step.
Accept that your efforts may fail.
“I don’t want to have any regrets,” Christine says. So, I think that’s what drives my courage: I don’t want to leave anything on the table.”
By following Christine’s example and counsel, you can develop greater courage, allowing it to become your superpower and enabling you to do even more good in the world.
Guest-Provided Profile
Christine Lum Lung (she/her):
CEO/Co-Founder, Origin Healthcare
About Origin Healthcare: Origin Healthcare is a tech-enabled company partnering with clinicians, employers, payers, and hospitals to enable patients to now receive hospital-level care at home. We increase access to care, improve outcomes, and lower healthcare costs through an innovative model that establishes the next generation of healthcare delivery.
Website: www.originhc.com
Linkedin: linkedin.com/company/origin-healthcare
Biographical Information: Christine Lum Lung, MD, MBA, is a physician entrepreneur committed to improving the health of patients and the future of healthcare. Christine received her BA from Stanford University and her MBA from the Yale School of Management. She earned her Doctor of Medicine from the University of Colorado and completed her Internal Medicine Residency at the University of California, San Diego, where she also served as Chief Resident. Christine is a board-certified physician specializing in hospital medicine and has been practicing for over twenty years. She was the solo founder and CEO of a successful, independent hospital medicine company that she ran for sixteen years. She was a 2021 Poets & Quants “Best and Brightest EMBA” and an inaugural Rock Health Summit Fellow.
Christine is currently the CEO/Co-Founder of Origin Healthcare. Origin is a tech-enabled company powering the next generation of healthcare by partnering with organizations to enable patients to receive hospital-level care at home. Origin’s value-based approach improves access and outcomes while lowering the cost of care by thousands of dollars compared to a facility-based admission. Origin Healthcare was the winner of the 2022 Colorado Prime Health Innovation Challenge, receiving a grant to improve health equity, access, quality, and cost for underserved communities.
This Innovative Hybrid Model of Care Improves Patient Outcomes and Reduces Costs