When it comes to making an impact, Dr Grace Lomax has been the catalyst and entrepreneur behind technologies that have reached over one billion people worldwide who have had unmet healthcare needs. She has clinically overviewed and designed every patient support program run by Patient Connect, helping hundreds of millions of patients in the process. The physician has used her extensive commercial knowledge of the pharmaceutical industry, health systems, governments and patients to invent a unique method of ensuring the best possible outcomes for patients – at the point of care.
Recognising that far too many patients are not given the information they need to have optimal care, she started looking for ways to change the status quo. Calling on her sister, Zoe – a lawyer – to work with her, they set up Patient Connect, originally in Dorset, to find methodical ways of collecting information that patients need and want. With a natural entrepreneurial talent – she had previously co-founded Doctor Online to provide the first accreditation by Royal Colleges for online courses to physicians – she soon started to gain notice for her visionary and pioneering approach to healthcare. As the significance of their patient-focused materials and communication methods started to create impact, the NHS and insurance companies started to react – offering hospitals that used the material top levels of cover.