Adimika Arthur (she/her) is the founder and executive director of HealthTech 4 Medicaid (HT4M), a nonprofit that brings a range of stakeholders to a communal table to discuss and solve the real problems impacting Medicaid enrollees and the networks that support them.

Founded in 2018 by more than 40 healthtech CEOs interested in innovating in the Medicaid space, HealthTech 4 Medicaid has continued to grow its community and its capacity to ensure that health innovation improves access and quality of care to those who need it most.

From her insights working with HT4M and throughout the health care industry, Adimika shares how health innovation must consider the needs of Medicaid users in order to be truly equitable.

In Full Health (IFH): What drove you to found HealthTech 4 Medicaid? What challenges were you noticing or what factors were motivating you?

Adimika Arthur: To me, from what I was seeing at those different levels, it was really clear that a huge percentage — nearly a fifth of Americans at that time were enrolled in Medicaid — were being cut from important decisions and developments.

I was really concerned specifically around populations that — from a health equity perspective — were more likely to die. I saw it as an opportunity to converge my passion for innovation and technology with my background and skills as a public health leader. My experiences have given me a deep understanding of data, health policy, and also how the systems work.

​​HT4M is also uniquely positioned as a nonprofit to do this work. Our purpose is to improve the quality, equity, and access to care for Medicaid recipients, their families, and their community. I think if I hadn’t understood the continuum of public health from prevention to treatment and also how payers, providers, and policymakers work together within Medicaid’s system, I wouldn’t have been able to understand the leverageable points for unlocking innovation.

IFH: Part of HT4M’s approach is to bring those payers, providers, patients, policymakers, and innovators, investors, and advocates to a communal table — why is it important for this table to include all of these different stakeholders?

Adimika Arthur: Before I started HealthTech4 Medicaid, I had been in health care for a couple of decades, so I had seen firsthand that many health equity conversations were happening, but they were happening in a very siloed way. The only way we really were gonna truly save individuals’ lives is if we weren’t talking to ourselves.

Our system is synergistic — a decision here creates a decision there. Sometimes decisions have unintended consequences. You do something over here, and it will actually hurt the very people you’re trying to support. Seeing that, I felt like a convening table was the best way — the only way — for this organization to cite and influence policy.

IFH: Why did HT4M choose to be a founding collaborator for the In Full Health initiative?

Adimika Arthur: Another important thing about HT4M is that we are huge amplifiers. We want to amplify anyone doing incredible work in health equity.

We have had long-standing relationships with the AMA, and we see collaboration with In Full Health as a great example of that amplification and partnership. It is a way to make sure that voices that may be a little bit different are being heard at the table.

IFH: What are 2 to 3 things you think people should know about the intersection between healthtech and Medicaid?

Adimika Arthur: One thing I would want people to understand is that the largest economic indicator in this country is health. If you’re not healthy, you can’t contribute. So, I always start there, because this is not a partisan argument by any means.

If you want to solve the world’s most promising challenges in order to investigate, inspire, and innovate, you have to understand your impact. You have to understand where health equity and tech equity meet together.

Adimika Arthur
Founder and Executive Director, HealthTech 4 Medicaid

IFH: HT4M hosts many events like round tables, Q&As, and other educational programs — how can someone get involved with that work?

Adimika Arthur: One, we have a very active mailing list that has a little over 20,000 individuals on it, so you can always stay informed. That will unlock all the insight to the work that we do.

If you’re just interested in our events, that’s another way to support our work, either by attending or sharing them with others who can benefit. Our events are always free, and they are always open to the Medicaid community.

Another way you can support HT4M is to volunteer. We are a nonprofit — we take time, treasure, and talents of individuals seriously. We would deeply love anything that anyone has that they could bring to the table of our organization.

We believe strongly in collaborating. We can’t save lives by ourselves. We don’t want to — we want to work with others. Personally, I believe very strongly in family. And so this is the HealthTech4 Medicaid family, and everyone’s welcome to our barbecue.