Bringing Global Health Best Practices to US Public Health Response: Entering the US Market to Meet the Needs of COVID-19 with Carter Powers, Sarah Sagan and Lily Olson

Episode 15  |  52 minutes

“We went from no solution to a fully deployed at scale solution in less than six weeks. And all of that is really a testament to the power of a technology platform.” Sarah Sagan, Senior Director of Delivery

“I felt really patriotic. I felt really proud of my government. I felt really lucky to have the curtain lifted on my healthcare system and the way that state and local government contribute to healthcare in the United States…we had a front row seat to what was a really devastating and also a really important moment in US history and that was inspirational and will remain something that I'm proud of for the rest of my life.” - Lily Olson, Senior Director of Partnerships

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dimagi decided to support pandemic response efforts by building and releasing a free global COVID-19 case investigation and contact tracing solution. We had been working for nearly two decades focused on Low and Middle Income Countries, but when the CDC approached us to support US public health response to COVID 19, we rose to the occasion. This episode tells the story of our entry to the US market and how we leveraged learnings from our global health experience to meet the needs in the US.  Hosts Jonathan Jackson and Amie Vaccaro are joined by Carter Powers, Managing Director of Dimagi’s US Health division, Sarah Sagan, Dimagi’s Senior Director of Delivery, and Lily Olson Dimagi’s Director of Partnerships to share the full story of an intense period of hard work, growth, and learnings. We reflect on the work we have done on the CommCare platform that allowed us to respond to an urgent need incredibly fast, how we approached entering the US market so that we could continue our global work, and the passion and courage of our team stepping up to support the critical work of US public health departments. We also share how this work led to the creation of Dimagi’s US Health division and where we’re headed.

This is part 5 of our 5 part series highlighting pivotal moments in Dimagi's history in honor of Dimagi's 20th anniversary.

Related Resources:

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter

Learn about the latest podcast episodes, partner stories, industry news and upcoming events.