Dr. Liz Kwo is Deputy Chief Medical Officer at Anthem. She is an experienced healthcare executive specialized in building and scaling digital healthcare products to provide high quality care, leveraging predictive and prescriptive analytics to improve outcomes.
Dr. Kwo continues to champion an open dialogue about leveraging digital tools and frequently presents her work with Anthem clients in addition to working with the government business in Medicare and Medicaid or industry to push the boundaries of digital health.
Especially for the WomenTech Network, Liz agreed to give an interview and share her story.
Watch all Global Awards keynotes on our YouTube channel.
Want to be a part of more events we organize? Join the WomenTech Global Conference 2022 to hear Liz's and other inspiring talks.
Congratulations on winning a WomenTech Network Global AI Inclusion Award of the Year! How did it feel when you found out you had won?
Excited to promote more women in tech and to support the cause of leveraging AI for universal inclusion by reducing bias and increasing access to care.
Tell us about your background, journey in tech, and what inspired you to develop your career in this direction.
I believe academic training, parents who taught me resilience, and a hard work ethic with luck have helped me tremendously as a female entrepreneur and healthcare executive. My parents were two teachers who taught me to dream big and the importance of a good education as a foundation for knowledge and exploration. I also attribute a lot of my fortune to being brought up by them, but also to have created opportunities for myself when they were not there before.
My father owned a retail store in San Francisco and had established contacts that would enable him to purchase clothing, shoes, and tchotchkes at bottom-dollar prices, so he could turn around and retail them for a decent price to customers. This was my first entry into entrepreneurship. My father was smart and always regretted not getting his Ph.D., so after a few years in entrepreneurship, he returned to school at age 40. I remember sitting next to him at night, watching him study while reading my own books. I admired his perseverance, his commitment to reaching his goal. That left a lasting impression on me. He taught me blind confidence which led me to also pursue multiple graduate degrees to achieve an MD, MBA, and MPH. This credibility helped me when I have founded companies so investors don’t just see me as a doctor but someone who can ignite a team, communicate my vision, build a business plan, and execute the operations.
The problem I want to fix is to increase access and affordability for health care in America. I believe data and digital tools are the cornerstones on which we will build healthcare’s future – one that is personalized, predictive, and preventive – and ultimately proactive. I want to provide patients the opportunity to engage healthcare services through a spectrum of care – digital, virtual, then physical/in-person. My dream is to have patients engage in technology, like chatbots, to get information about their situation, engage in virtual care if needed (video visit, texting a doctor, etc.), and select in-person/physical care, when appropriate. Through a holistic approach to meet the needs of the whole person we are creating and delivering innovative, data-driven, and personalized solutions that enhance consumers’ healthcare experience.
Any advice you would like to give to girls in STEM on pursuing their dreams?
I love encouraging women to pursue STEM but I also mentor them to develop softer skills such as how to command a room, build a team, and problem solve while adapting to business challenges. The need for team building, trust, and good communication based on strong relationships is a key to life success.
It’s great to learn from STEM peers to consolidate deep knowledge while practicing authentic communication and teamwork with this group. These softer skill sets that translate from the relationships we build with friends and family to the office can be harnessed in the corporate world and board room.
I believe a good leader creates a good culture but a great leader helps people thrive in their strengths and finds the best way to use talent while maximizing confidence in the team. I believe a good leader focuses either on themselves or their teams to drive results, but a great leader offers both, solving the team's problems in some circumstances and in other areas lets the team have full autonomy. A great leader is able to use data and facts to be armed with details on the industry or market, but also have a soft skill that blends those skills in decision making.
