[00:00:01] Russell: With the onset of the pandemic in 2020, health care became a lot more complicated, not just in Canada but across the globe. Public health care systems have become overburdened with COVID 19 patients, and a backlog of delayed surgeries have pushed workers to the brink. What's more, mental health concerns have skyrocketed as people cope with the multitude of personal and professional challenges brought on by the pandemic. Recently, companies like Green Shield have stepped up, providing additional support for Canadians, especially in the area of mental health. Today, I'm sitting down with the company's president and CEO, Zahid Salman, to learn more about how Green Shield is helping drive better health outcomes for Canadians. I ask him about some of the great work being done by Green Shield today to support Canadians to increase access to oral care and also to improve mental health for all of us. Enjoy the episode! So hello, Zahid. How are you today? 

[00:01:03] Zahid: I'm very good, Russell. Thanks for having me. 

[00:01:05] Russell: So first and foremost, can you just tell us a little bit about yourself in your own words? 

[00:01:10] Zahid: Yeah. So I joined Green Shield as president and CEO in September 2018. I mean, actuary's my background. So actually, before joining Green Shield, my entire career was spent in the H.R. consulting and services industry. So this is what four years in almost now. But it was new to me at the time to join an insurance company. And my wife, she's a elementary school teacher at a school in Brampton. So she's also had an interesting time during the pandemic, so you can imagine. 

[00:01:37] Russell: It's really challenging. 

[00:01:38] Zahid: Yeah, it has been really challenging. Particularly in Brampton, because it's been so hard hit by COVID 19. And then an odd fact about me, I can share one is I grew up in Montreal. I've lived in Toronto since graduating from university, but I'm still a diehard Vancouver Canucks hockey fan for some reason. 

[00:01:55] Russell: And how did that happen? 

[00:01:57] Zahid: So when I was in Montreal, Guy Lafleur was my favorite player. And then sort of the early 80s, he retired very early and I was a bit upset at the Canadiens for letting that happen. So I decided I need a new team. So this, I think, was exactly in 1982, because that was the year the Vancouver Canucks went to the finals. I think that's my new team. I had no idea how difficult a 30 plus years it'll be after that, but at that time it sounded like a good move. 

[00:02:22] Russell: I'm not sure it would have been any easier to be a Leafs fan. 

[00:02:25] Zahid: There you go. Exactly. 

[00:02:29] Russell: So how did you end up at Green Shield and what drew you to the organization? 

[00:02:35] Zahid: So before joining the company, most of my career was spent working for publicly traded entities. And you know, they all did great work for their clients, but ultimately the main goal was to increase shareholder value. And this often led to a short term financial results focus. But I knew of Green Shield from afar because the industry I was in, we would place business with insurance companies. I got to know Green Shield from that perspective and I knew was structured as a member based not for profit. And then as I joined, I've learned that there's no shareholders. We're better able to focus on the long term. And we also operate as a social enterprise and that we use the proceeds from our business activities to define our social mission. And that mission is improving the health and well-being of Canadians. So for me at that time, having this wonderful opportunity to lead an organization where everyone, employees, management and the board are all focused on a broader social purpose, I found that incredibly motivating. And that's really what drew me to the company. 

[00:03:33] Russell: So I understand that Green Shield Canada has a unique origin story as well. Can you tell us a little bit about that? 

[00:03:39] Zahid: Yeah, I always enjoy telling your story because really speaks to who we are. So our origins started probably almost 70 years ago now, when a pharmacist in Windsor named Bill Wilkinson had a a mother walk into a store and she had two prescriptions to fill. One for herself and one for her young daughter, but she could only afford one. And this social dilemma really impacted Bill. And it ultimately led to the creation of North America's first prepaid drug plan, which is something many of us enjoy today. And it also then led to the eventual creation of Green Shield Canada. And really, for us, this notion of seeking to solve a social issue through a business is at the heart of why we continue to be structured as a social enterprise today. 

[00:04:25] Russell: Yeah, that's inspiring. Tell us a little bit more about Green Shield today. So what do you do and how are you different than other companies operating in a similar space? 

[00:04:35] Zahid: Yeah, so I find that we're very different from other insurance companies, which is primarily the space that we operate in. You know, first and foremost, like I said, we're a not for profit social enterprise. And it's in our DNA to support the communities where we live and work, and also create shared value across both our business and social activities. And if you look at our enterprise strategy at its core, what we're trying to do is expand our financial capacity to advance our social mission. And through 2025, to really back that up, we've targeted through a strategic plan to invest $75 million on oral health and mental health initiatives that will drive improved health outcomes for Canadians. And we're going to put a particular focus on disadvantaged and underserved populations. So that's the driving the social objective. Then to fund this, a business strategy is focused on evolving Green Shield from what we are today, which is Canada's fourth largest health and dental benefits carrier, serving over 4.3 million Canadians into an integrated health services company and the country's only payer provider. So not only will we administer and pay health claims, but will also provide health care services. And then to do this, the Green Shield of tomorrow  will uniquely operate three distinct yet interconnected businesses health insurance, health benefits administration and health services delivery and digital will be a key part of our delivery model, helping to enable a customer value proposition we're trying to bring to life, which will be focused around convenience, accessibility, integration and health outcomes. So I think all of this together really does make us unique in our space. 

[00:06:10] Russell: So your core business is this idea of workplace based health benefits. Health and dental benefits, like you said. Why would why would a company choose you over some of your competitors that I'm not going to name them, but they might be better known? 

[00:06:27] Zahid: Yeah. So I think for someone to really drawn to the fact that we're a not for profit, this that just enables a different outlook, a longer term focus, and that's a reason why some clients choose us. We're also well known for the client service that we provide and then the outcomes we deliver, both to plan sponsors in terms of helping them manage their costs, but then also the services we deliver to members. So some insurance companies only pay the claims and administer the benefits. We also own and have developed internally that the technology platform. So when plan members go into a pharmacy, it's actually our drug card, which is directly connected into our claimed platform whereas many other insurance companies, they outsource their drug card to a different provider, so it's more fragmented of an experience. So those are the some of the reasons why we've done well. And you know, we're the fourth largest, as I mentioned. And all of our growth in the on the insurance side has been organic, whereas the larger players have really grown through acquisition over the last several years. 

[00:07:25] Russell: What was your company's response to the pandemic? 

[00:07:31] Zahid: Yes, I think like many companies, you know, right off the bat, we put health and safety of our employees as the number one priority. So for us, that meant committing up front to no layoffs, no salary reductions. We introduced a number of additional mental health supports pretty early on. And within 10 days we had 90 percent of our employee base working from home, which had asked me a week before the pandemic. Could we have done that? I would have said no way. But we found a way, like many other companies have done. So really, and we would maintain that focus on the health and safety of our employees throughout the almost two years of the pandemic thus far. And in addition to employee, we invest in our clients. So the first three or four months of the pandemic, a lot of health practitioners were shut down, so we just weren't seeing claims. So a number of providers in the industry started to get premium refunds, and we actually gave among the largest premium refunds to really support our clients, many of whom are small businesses that were struggling during the pandemic. And then finally, for us, once we were certain our business footing remains that which fortunately enough for us or an industry where we continued to do OK, we actually advanced our business strategy and closed the first four acquisitions in our company's 63 year history. So kept things going on the business side, and that also allowed us to remain strong and sustainable throughout the pandemic. 

[00:08:55] Russell: By placing a strong focus on underserved populations, Green Shield is developing strategies to improve health care for everyone. I was impressed to learn of the company's strategic plan, which includes a $75 million investment into oral care and mental health initiatives. These lofty goals ladder back to the company's overarching mission to drive better health outcomes and to shift to a patient centered model of care. Unfortunately, there are still many barriers preventing disenfranchized Canadians from accessing the care they need. So it's been encouraging to learn more about what Green Shield is doing. In our next segment, I asked Zahid a little bit about diversity, equity and inclusion in Canada and why more support is needed in areas like mental and oral health. So let's talk a little bit about your larger mission. What are some of the barriers that you see in terms of individuals accessing health care in Canada and how can we start to remove those barriers? 

[00:10:00] Zahid: Yes, I think from my perspective, the health care system is still largely based on a practitioner centered model. And it's pretty fragmented, difficult to navigate the proper position ourselves as a country, I think, to drive better outcomes. This needs to shift to more of a patient centered model. And in fact, when we think about our own business and about the health care services we want to deliver, we're trying to put people who use our health services at the center of our model and drive this value proposition based on four key elements. Accessibility, convenience, integration and health outcomes. And when you think about the access part in particular, I see a number of barriers that collectively, whether it's a private sector, whether it's the public sector, together we to seek to overcome one would be geographic. So it's definitely harder to access health care services if you're in remote locations, if you're outside city centers. And we think digital solutions can help with this. A stigma is another barrier when you think about mental health in particular. Half the battle is getting over the stigma and admitting that you need any help. You need help in trying to seek that help. So education can help with that. Equity is another one. I don't think there's any doubt that, you know, certain groups aren't as well taken care of under our health care system as others. So really focusing on disadvantaged and underserved populations is critical to improving equity in care. And finally cost. Right. So even though we have a publicly funded health care system, not all services are covered. We're already spending a significant amount on health care in the country, so we need more efficient and scalable delivery models to help reduce cost barriers. And there again, I think digital solutions can help. 

[00:11:36] Russell: Let's talk a little bit more about the payer provider model. In my mind, that's really exciting, that's the most exciting element of what you do. So obviously I have workplace based health insurance and not going to name my provider, but it's a famous life insurance company that you would know with offices in downtown Toronto. And when I found my claims, it's effectively like a payment system. So I submit my receipts and check a bunch of boxes and promise I'm not lying. And then eventually I get a file, you know, funds transfer on that. What you're talking about is much more than that. What you're talking about is actually providing the services as well. So that's really different. What made you want to go down that road? 

[00:12:23] Zahid: I mean, there are other examples in different countries where you have, you know, insurance companies, pharmacy benefit managers also delivering certain types of care. And for us, you know, as you said to not only will we administer an insurer and pay health claims, but we also want to provide these services. So the question is why would we want to go about doing that? So what we have been seeing in Canada before the pandemic was as these digital health solutions started to emerge. A number of clients were coming to us and asking us to provide access to their employees to these solutions because of the benefits plans that we managed for them. And initially, what this meant for us is identifying preferred vendors, the many available in the market and then maybe doing things like negotiating preferred pricing. Then the pandemic hit. And then, you know, digital health solutions really exploded. In fact, a recent Benefits Canada survey of Canadian workers showed that 82 percent now think employers should provide virtual health care services for their employees. So a phenomenal C ship, right? So now most of the insurance industry is providing access to some type of preferred digital health partners. But we made the strategic decision to go beyond that and actually acquire some of these providers, starting in the area of mental health. And we believe that by owning digital health services and being able to deliver care on top of everything else that we do, we can provide our members with a better experience that's fully integrated with their benefits coverage and really helps this value proposition. I've been speaking about of convenience, accessibility, integration in health outcomes, where you have much more control of the experience if you own the service rather than just provide access to it. So that's what we're trying to do. 

[00:14:02] Russell: Can you provide a little bit more information on on some of the organizations that you have purchased and what it is that they do? 

[00:14:09] Zahid: Yes, I mean to me exactly how it is on the mental health side. So inkblot and tranquility are two that we purchased. Inkblot is their core mission, if you haven't heard of them, is to build a new model of mental health care delivery. And it's a digital first mental solution, so they use modern technology, network effects and marketplace dynamics. And their goal is to increase access to high quality mental health supports, while also reducing costs and increasing the efficacy of care. So bold ambition. And then when you combine that with our acquisition of Tranquility, the provider that was focused on digital mental health services called Internet-Delivered Cognitive Behaviour Therapy and self-guided or therapists assisted support where you take education models and build resiliency to better positioning for a strong, sustainable mental health. 

[00:15:00] Russell: Fantastic. So thinking outside of Green Shield and looking at the overall landscape in Canada, what do you think needs to change in terms of the support that that is available? 

[00:15:14] Zahid: Yes, I think there's a lot that needs to change for sure. Unfortunately, I think I think the pandemic has really shown that there's a lot of stress that's being put on the system. You think about the backlogs that we're going to have to go through. And we always talk about now an eventual end to the pandemic, which is great, right, that we're starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel when the pandemic turns into an endemic. But when you think about mental health, there's lots of statistics that mental health supports going to the need for that can only continue to increase for the next several years. And we knew mental health was a significant issue before the pandemic began. But then you think about what's happened as a result of pandemic. So we now know that four times as many Canadians are reporting high levels of anxiety. Two times more than before the pandemic are reporting high levels of depression. We in our book is in a 140 percent increase in mental health claims and that recent, very interesting study was really done that showed patients diagnosed with COVID 19. It's not just about COVID 19, but they also showed a 33 percent increase in neurological or psychiatric diagnoses in the following six months. So because of this, experts are now predicting more than three years of elevated mental health impact due to the pandemic. But for two and a half fold increase in demand for mental health supports. So how are we as a health care system going to get ready for this? It's going to consist of, I think, the publicly funded health care system working together with some of these emerging innovative providers to really provide that holistic care that we need. I think we're going to need much more collaboration between the public and private sectors to resolve some of these health issues. I've only spoken about mental health, obviously, but I think there's going to be many other aspects and types of care we are going to need to have that kind of collaboration to really help people as we emerge from the pandemic. 

[00:17:09] Russell: Absolutely. And what happens in your opinion if we don't improve access to health care? 

[00:17:16] Zahid: Yeah, I honestly don't think that's an option. You look at everything that we're facing, you look at increasing drug prices, you look at the aging population. There's no way that we can not go about increasing access to care. So that's a mindset that we need to have. We need to find solutions. I think technology and innovation has presented us with a set of solutions that we've never had before, so we need to take advantage of those. And I've seen the government do that. I think we are already lagging in terms of mental health spending. Before the pandemic, we spend about seven percent of our total health care spend on mental health services. Before the pandemic, the average OECD country spent about 11 percent. Now, two years later, the seven percent has grown to nine percent. So you're starting to see that investment come in and you're seeing studies from organizations like CAMH and Deloitte showing the positive ROI of investing in mental health. So I'm very encouraged by what I've seen. I think we need to do more of it and move as quickly as we can to address these issues. 

[00:18:17] Russell: What do you see as the opportunities for Canada, if we are able to solve this, if we have a bunch of organizations out there doing what you're doing? What's the upside? 

[00:18:27] Zahid: Yeah, I think there's benefits across the board, right? We can have a healthier citizenry. I think we can make the health care system more sustainable if there's better collaboration between the public and the private sectors. Still respecting the adage of, you know, every Canadian has a right to health care, but, you know, delivering it from the best of the best as opposed to just delivering it within an already stressed public health care system. And I think of employers, right? You think about workplace health and productivity, employee engagement, which we know as drivers of business performance. If we have healthier people that I think we'll have better performing companies which will invest in the economy and continue to grow our GDP. So I think there's multiple benefits if we get this right, given health touches really every aspect of the country. 

[00:19:17] Russell: There's a famous adage this idea that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. And think about that. And I'm wondering if we're able to get this right, if we're able to scale this, is there a potential that we could actually bring health care costs down because we'd be spending more on prevention and less on that really expensive hospital stays, cancer treatments cure side? 

[00:19:43] Zahid: Yeah, I think you nailed it right there. That's absolutely the goal. And I think we're starting to show that with some of the digital health solutions where they're delivered at lower cost. There's lower wait times. A lot of these digital solutions are preventative in nature. So we have talked about Internet-Delivered Cognitive Behavioral therapy. This is for mild to moderate symptoms where you want to start building resilience so that when you're faced with bigger issues, you're more prepared to deal with that right? And that stops you having to spend extra dollars on an practitioners like psychiatrist or going to the hospital and experience inpatient care. All these expensive modalities can be avoided by doing some prevention efforts. And then, as you said, scalability. You know, as these digital health solutions start to be more widely adopted, that's the great thing about technology. The unit costs start to come down so we can benefit for that and just start to become more widespread. And that's been one of the advantages. If I can call it that of COVID 19, is it, it forced us to adopt digital health solutions where we were just very reticent to do that on our own before and and we started to see these benefits and not just cost benefits for both patients and practitioners have seen the benefit to them of these types of services. So many practitioners actually embrace in that. It's a better way for them to right care in certain cases where it's not always the best solution, but they have really seen and felt that it's something that they want to continue post-pandemic. 

[00:21:09] Russell: Can we talk a little bit about why is oral health care so important, why is this an important part of overall health care and why do you think it's so overlooked, particularly for underprivileged communities? 

[00:21:19] Zahid: It's just not viewed as big of a social issue as some other thing that we focus on in the health care system. And what we've seen through there is now we are about 30 percent of Canadians based on the estimates that we've seen. We just don't have access to effective dental care. And people view dental care as something that's optional. But what we've seen based on the studies that we've conducted that we've we've reviewed ourselves is that better oral health care contributes to better overall physical health. It can reduce the incidence of oral cancer. It can reduce other physical health issues that are manifested and start with poor oral health. It also really contributes to the confidence of individuals. You know, when you think about going and applying for jobs, the confidence if you don't have good oral health really decreases it. We've seen that people who start to receive care, their confidence increases. They then gain access to employment opportunities they didn't have before. So there's that social benefit beyond just the physical health benefits. And in that regard, you know, from one of our key social impact programs is what we call the Green Door Project. We identified the working poor as a group that's in the greatest immediate need for oral health services. And that group are people who earn a living, as a result, they don't qualify for publicly funded dental benefits. But then they also rarely have any employer sponsored dental benefit. So they typically then go without oral health care altogether because to prioritize things like food and shelter. And we've fully funded three oral health clinics focused on this working poor demographic. And that's where some of these stories where I've actually spoken to people gain the benefit of these oral health services and how that's helped them with employability and things like that. It's been so inspiring to listen to those stories. 

[00:23:07] Russell: Let's pivot to mental health. During the pandemic, one of the things that we've seen is this disproportionately large impact on women. How have you been able to address that at Green Shield? 

[00:23:20] Zahid: Our first I think you're absolutely right that women have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. We've seen over 100000 Canadian women leave the workforce because responsibility for things like child care, elder care largely falls on them. We've also seen an unfortunate increase in spousal abuse while families have been spending more time at home together. So all of this, in turn, has led to a definite impact on women's mental health. And that was the impetus for us to launch Room for Her late last year. Room for Her just like green doors, our signature oral health program. Room for Her is our signature women's mental health program. We're investing over $1 million a year to provide free counseling and other resources from inkblot. Now, I certainly agree that everyone's mental health is important. Absolutely. And there are many public private community resources available to all but women's mental health, I really believe, has been disproportionately impacted during the pandemic. And this disproportionate impact further exacerbates the systemic barriers that women face in the workplace. 

[00:24:22] Russell: Yeah, there's difference, as you know, between equality and equity. 

[00:24:26] Zahid: Exactly. Well said. Well said. Not everyone's fully educated on that. So while it was disappointing to hear some of this this feedback on why are you doing this. I think it's not surprising because I think people don't often understand that differences in equity, inequality. Well said. 

[00:24:43] Russell: If I'm an employer, how does lack of accessibility in the health care options impact me? 

[00:24:51] Zahid: Now, I think a lack of access risks leading to reduced health and productivity. In this risk losing, leading to reduce employee engagement. And these things, we know they have an adverse impact on business performance. There's a really interesting study from Deloitte Canada that showed a median a median ROI of two dollars and twenty cents on every one dollar spent on workplace mental health programs, for example. So I think employers investing in the health of the workplace, it's not just the right thing to do. It's the right business thing to do. So I think if I'm an employer, you know, it's in my interest from multiple perspectives to ensure accessibility to health care for my employees. 

[00:25:31] Russell: What advice do you have for decision makers around kind of how they explore their workplace health care options? 

[00:25:39] Zahid: Yeah, I'm sure the decision makers get a lot of advice. So if I just pile on with a little bit of things that I think would be important. I think for governments, you know, I'd love to see them address the fragmentation within the health care system. I'd love to see them pass a greater collaboration with with private payers. And then, of course, address the unique needs of equity seeking groups for practitioners who are delivering care. You know, let's really start to embrace technology. Let's not lose the momentum we see in that regard during the pandemic. And let's continue on with that type of modality for employers, for patients who would benefit from it. Let's continue on with that well, beyond the pandemic. Employers like we're just chatting about, I think let's really focus on prevention and workplace health as both a business and a societal benefit to doing so. And then for individuals, for the actual patients who are consuming these health services, I'd love to see all of us insist on a greater focus on health outcomes. As part of how we manage our health and the health of our family members really focus on those outcomes and make sure we're getting those and we were not demanding. 

[00:26:48] Russell: Our show is called Contributors. How do you believe that Green Shield is contributing to a better future for Canada? 

[00:26:55] Zahid: Yeah, this is a great question. I think, for us, you know, contributing to better Canada is not just something we do. It's why we exist, right? Goes back to our social purpose and the fact that we're driven by the social mission of improving the health and well-being of Canadians with a particular focus on oral and mental health. 

[00:27:11] Russell: What are your predictions for the next 10 years in terms of the Canadian health care system? 

[00:27:17] Zahid: So, I'm an actuary, I love to make predictions. And we have a nice caveat is actually that we get to use that. You know, these are expectations that will generally work out in the long term. So we're never actually kind of predictions that we make. But you know, some of the predictions that I have is you will see a continual movement of costs from public to private payers. So insurers, employers and employees will start to help with the financial burden that the public health care system faces. I think you'll see increasing consumerism and engagement in health decisions by the users or the patients. I think we'll see a significant increase in digitalization to reduce access barriers as well as reduce cost barriers. And I think we'll see a much greater focus on health outcomes and even some level of practitioner reimbursement tied to value rather than time. The U.S. has started to adopt this within their Medicare system and has shown some really positive benefits. I'd love to see that and think that we will see that eventually come to Canada in some way, shape or form. 

[00:28:16] Russell: So I think one of the things we've seen as well through the pandemic is just how overstretched the Canadian health care system is. So what do you think we can do to address that and create a better system for everyone? 

[00:28:32] Zahid: Yeah, it's a really big question. And I'm not sure there's just one general answer. I mean, if I start a macro level, some solutions I think could include, I've spoken about it a few times, but better integration between the public and private health players to build a continuum of care. There's opportunity for increased the scope of practice for lower cost health providers where appropriate. We've already seen that happen a bit during the pandemic. As pharmacists were given more and more scope of services to keep people out of distressed healthcare system. And greater consistency of care and practice ties between provinces, I think, will be important to build efficiency into our systems at a national level. So I think those are some things at a macro level that we can do. If we speak more granular about this, and maybe I can speak to that from a more of a mental health perspective. What we've seen is the Canadian public health care system is better equipped to deal with acute mental illness than chronic issues, and this is because our system's fragmented, complex, expensive. It just leaves too many patients without effective, affordable and timely treatment for mild to moderate illness. Yet mild to moderate mental illness presents an opportunity for innovation. That's what we've been seeing these last couple of years with this rapid acceleration in adoption of digital solutions by both practitioners and patients focus on mild to moderate mental illness. The solutions they offer greater access, shorter wait times. They come and reduce costs. So there's a benefit that they provide for certain types of issues that I think can allow us to take some of the stress off the broader health care system. So opportunities like that across various types of needs and care, I think, is something that we can look at as well over time. 

[00:30:12] Russell: That's a great point. I have a good friend who is a doctor, and she she likes to say, you know, Canada is a great place to be deathly ill, but not a great place to be somewhat unwell. 

[00:30:23] Zahid: Yeah. Very well said. Absolutely. 

[00:30:27] Russell: What do you see as the the next big trends in health and wellness? 

[00:30:34] Zahid: Yeah, I think we're going to see a shift from practitioners centered to patient centered care. Here, too, I think technology will really enable that consumerism mindset and allow individuals to be more demanding of the sort of health services they receive. I think we're going to continue to see digital health progress as the key method by which Canadians consume health services. I think we're going to see a technology enabled move to what I call a four P model. For the future states of the four P would be predictive, preventative, personalized and participatory. So if I break those down, predictive would be how can we proactively use the various sources of data that exist within our various health care systems today to really focus care on maximizing health outcomes. And I think the power that we now have to actually mine, analyze and act upon data is really going to allow this focus on health outcomes to emerge. Preventative, you yourself have mentioned this earlier. I couldn't agree more. When we can better predict risk and individual level, act differently, act early. This is really going to reduce the strain on the health care system and reduce the costs because we can put it into lower cost modalities where we understand what the issue really is. We don't have to medicalized everything in an expensive way. And last participatory. There's this notion of connected health ecosystems where patients are better able to receive navigation support across multiple providers and therefore take greater control of their health that's going to lead to less waiting time for care, more time to manage health on your own, really care and demand. 

[00:32:14] Russell: So my next question for us is from my mom. She is retired. She worked her entire career at Toronto General Hospitals. I come from a health health care family and something that she wanted to know was what can we as Canadians do to support the health care system? 

[00:32:32] Zahid: Yeah. Oh, that's a great question. I mean, the obvious answer and the universal answer that every individual is told that we can all be more thoughtful about personal health and to the ability we can stay active, adhere to our medications, eat sensibly. And of course, in this time, you know, we can and getting vaccinated where possible to that list. But then maybe think about it more so in terms of the opportunity in front of us, you know, can we ask people to be more curious about the evolution of the innovation in the health care system and really push and advocate for change, right? If all of us do it individually. I think we our voices get amplified right and let's together and be open to new ways of seeking care and receiving care from just the traditional ways to really drive that change we need to see in building a better health system. 

[00:33:23] Russell: Often, when I had the opportunity to interview leaders like you, I will reach out to my professional network and I'll say, what would you ask if you if you had the opportunity to meet with Zahid? And the answer I got this time was, well, Green Shield's really interesting. They're zigging while everybody else is zagging. Everybody else is trying to make their health insurance system as kind of narrow and efficient as possible, right. Like submit those receipts, scan them quickly, get your money back and you're doing something completely different. You're broadening out your service array. You're moving into that payer provider model. So the question for you is what what made you so confident that would be successful? And how did you get buy in from your board and some of your other key stakeholders to do something so different? 

[00:34:20] Zahid: Well, first, it's great to hear that. You know, people in your network are aware of some of the things that we're doing and that they think what we're doing is different. You never know how the market is receiving some things you didn't. So that was and that's good to know. You know, for us, while many of our insurance company competitors are repositioning themselves as diversified financial services companies, we made the decision, as I've talked about, to a very different strategic choice to focus on health. And why do we do that? Well, from a business perspective, it really pleased our strength given our roots in pharmacy, right, founded by a pharmacist, as well as our years of success and health insurance and pharmacy benefits management. And more importantly, even that business strategy is so highly aligned with our social mission of improving the health and well-being of Canadians. So rather than just funding social causes now we can actually use the same services we deliver to clients to support our communities as well as we've done with the room for her, for example. So that's really why we think it makes sense for us and why we ultimately think will be acceptable. And then from a buy in perspective, I don't think that's been really difficult at all. The fact that our business strategy is being driven by market and client needs, we have that validation from from our customers. And the high degree of alignment with our social mission really helped our board and our employees very quickly embraced this vision to. 

[00:35:46] Russell: What's next for you in Green Shield? 

[00:35:49] Zahid: Yeah, I mean, so we're an exciting time in our evolution, right, pivoting from one service focused on health and dental benefits into this broader notion of integrated health services provider and the only care provider in the country. So what's next for us is just continuing on that journey. We were on that journey to expand the financial capacity. We have to deliver more social impact. So what else can we do as part of this $75 million commitment. We're making to improving mental health and oral health. We also want to expand Green Door Room for Her. But what else can we do? We'll be thinking about through? I've talked a lot about technology while we've been chatting today, so we're undergoing our own digital transformation to better enable this customer value proposition that we're so focused on of accessibility, convenience, integration and health outcomes. 

[00:36:35] Russell: So how do our listeners learn more about you in Green Shield? 

[00:36:39] Zahid: Yeah, I mean, we were trying to be more active in terms of sharing the story in the broader vision in the marketplace. You mentioned early on that social impact report. That's a completely redesigned report that we just did, as posted on our website. I encourage people to visit our website, www. greenshield.ca. Access the information that we do, podcast. Like, not as good as you, but we do our podcast. We do research papers. Now, a lot of information on the site where people can learn about not just us, but the broader health care system. Some of these important social impact initiatives. So and we're trying to be more visible and active in sharing their story to help create a better Canada as well. 

[00:37:21] Russell: Fantastic. Thank you for everything you do. 

[00:37:23] Zahid: Thank you. Thank you for having me. A great discussion. 

[00:37:28] Russell: My conversation with Zahid, helped to shed light on some of the incredible initiatives Green Shield is working on. Here are three of my takeaways following our discussion. Zahid noted that the current health care system is still largely fragmented and based on a practitioner centered model of care instead of patient centered. If Canada wants to see better patient outcomes and rebuild a stronger system over time, this is going to require the implementation of innovative digital alternatives, more educational initiatives and a greater focus on equity. In terms of mental health, women were hit particularly hard by the pandemic, which has only exacerbated the systematic barriers that were already faced in the workplace. Many of Green Shield's initiatives, including the Room for Her campaign, are focused on resolving this inequity. Their contribution will ultimately help provide women with the education, resources and support that they need to succeed in their careers and also their personal lives. By looking beyond just health insurance and actually providing patient care, Green Shield has changed the equation and create a scenario in which they can focus more of their efforts on proactive health versus reactive health care. This is a win for patients for Canada overall and for Green Shield's corporate clients. We'll have healthier and happier employees. Don't forget to subscribe, rate and review Contributors on Apple Podcasts. And tune in to our next episode on March 23rd.