About David Schlanger
David Schlanger, executive chairman of Progyny, has discussed the company's approach to fertility benefits for self-insured employers. He stated that Progyny's model aims to provide a comprehensive solution that offers a positive patient experience, superior clinical outcomes, and cost savings for employers. Schlanger described the company's competition as the "status quo" of employers using traditional health carriers, and noted that Progyny differentiates itself through benefit plan design focused on outcomes, patient education and support, and a network of fertility specialists. He said that the opportunity for such services is large and becoming more mainstream across industries, as infertility is increasingly recognized as a common health condition.
Schlanger has also commented on the broader context of fertility coverage in the workplace. He argued that not covering fertility benefits makes a "negative cultural statement" about a company's valuation of its female workforce, while providing robust coverage signals support for families and inclusivity. He noted that a survey indicated two-thirds of employees would switch jobs to secure fertility coverage, and stated that employers are recognizing infertility as a health condition recognized by the WHO and AMA. Schlanger also discussed the role of technology in healthcare, describing it as an enabler rather than a replacement for human care, and emphasized the importance of going beyond regulatory requirements to protect sensitive personal data.
Source: AI-verified profile updated from David Schlanger's recent appearances.
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Transcript (3 segments)
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David Schlanger0:00
My name is David Schlanger, I'm the CEO of WebMD, and it's a real pleasure to be here at Alliance Health.
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Alex0:05
Hi, it's Alex, I'm the president of Organs. It's great fun to be here in Cairns at the Alliance Health Festival. As more and more people adopt wearable devices and track their numbers, whether it be steps, blood pressure, or whatever number is personal to them, we can see them setting targets, setting challenges, changing behavior to lead even healthier lifestyles. I think we're just at the beginning of taking advantage of the potential of data to really change healthcare.
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David Schlanger0:32
The proliferation of wearable devices is an incredible opportunity, and as Alex said, we've really made progress, but I still think we're in the early innings. What we need to do as an industry is take that data, put it into context, make it personalized and actionable so that people don't just have numbers but have insights from the numbers. That's really what we're both working on. I think for me, the pace of change is the most interesting thing. Mobile technology has really changed how people access information and different advice, really owning their behavior and owning the data much more. Other things about getting things wrong in the past, I just think that is modern life that evolves. As people get used to using mobile devices, all of a sudden the world is much broader, much more open, much more accessible. Variable change is about tiny, tiny steps. Really small changes can make a big difference over time. I think that's a big opportunity to work out together how to use creativity in a really positive way to create that small change that makes a big difference for people over time.
