Diana Pitts has challenges ahead as the telehealth provider prepares for a post-covid environment.
The incoming CEO of telehealth provider Coviu, Diana Pitts says inequity of access to healthcare is a major challenge that “doesn’t have to be this way”.
Ms Pitts starts in the top role next Monday, taking over from company co-founder Silvia Pfeiffer who announced her departure back in January after nine years as CEO, during a time that saw the business grow 6000%.
A Harvard graduate, Ms Pitts was most recently COO of online will-writing platform Safewill, and before that head of operations at care marketplace scale-up Mable.
“Democratising access to healthcare has long been a passion of mine,” said Ms Pitts in a LinkedIn post.
“Both overseas and here in Australia, I’ve seen firsthand the impact not having access to appropriate healthcare can have, whether it’s children in remote areas falling behind because they can’t access speech and occupational therapy at the frequency they need or people with major health challenges remaining undiagnosed or untreated for their conditions.
“It doesn’t have to be this way. It shouldn’t be this way.
“It’s clear to me that Coviu is positioned to make a significant impact globally.”
She went on to say that telehealth had an important role to play in the future of healthcare.
“When you consider macro environmental trends such as aging demographics worldwide, regional and remote healthcare disparities, and the lessons learned from the covid pandemic, telehealth emerges as a crucial solution,” she said.
“The opportunity to join Coviu, a company that has already made significant strides to democratise and improve healthcare accessibility, is incredibly exciting.”
In a recent interview with HSD, Ms Pfeiffer outlined some of the challenges that face Ms Pitts going forward.
“There are very few investors that have an interest in investing in health tech [in Australia],” said Ms Pfeiffer.
“As you start up, you have to deal with investors that don’t really understand healthcare; they come from other areas such as a software-as-a-service background or deep tech background.
“Fortunately, though, that’s been changing recently.”
