Matthew Zachary
With a 20+ year career in entertainment, advertising, marketing, nonprofit, digital health, public policy, life sciences, and broadcast media, Matthew is considered one of the industry's most respected, influential, and visionary voices.
He is passionate about putting the patient at the center of every conversation. Why? Because he is one. Diagnosed as a college senior with brain cancer, Matthew wasn't sure he'd make his next birthday. That was 27 years ago.
Matthew has been called "The Podfather," "The Howard Stern," and "The People's Voice" in healthcare. He has been profiled by The CBS Evening News, TIME Magazine, People Magazine, Newsweek, STAT, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, MTV, and others.
Matthew is a recovering ad agency veteran and a Founding Advisor to Google Health. As the Founder of the award-winning nonprofit organization Stupid Cancer, he birthed the Young Adult Cancer Movement, which improved the lives of millions of patients in their teens, 20s, and 30s.
Currently, he is the CEO and Co-Founder of OffScrip Health—a leading digital health media platform—where he hosts "Out of Patients with Matthew Zachary," one of the most prestigious, influential, and coveted interview shows in the sector, and a TOP-10 healthcare podcast.
He lives with his wife and twins in Brooklyn, NY.
Permission To Be Pissed
Ten years after his brain cancer diagnosis, in 2007, Matthew Zachary founded Stupid Cancer out of his second bedroom with a dollar and a dream. Broadband and smartphones were years away, this so-called Facebook raised our eyebrows, and "Young Adult Cancer" did not exist in the lexicon of advocates, researchers, or policymakers. The next generation of cancer patients looked to the past for cues to channel their anger toward action and force the hands of government and medicine to enact critical policy and practice reforms. The Young Adult Cancer Movement was born. In this talk, Matthew takes audiences on a journey back in time to the origins of patient movements that brought us to today's narrative. Now in his 27th year in remission, Matthew shares his personal story and lessons learned by way of his hodgepodge lived experiences, including but not limited to: concert pianist, Madison Avenue exec, Google advisor, nonprofit leader, digital health startup guy, patient advocate, fertility rights activist, futurist, GenX spokesperson, and 80's pop culture nerd.
Patient v Consumer
Trust and empathy are central aspects of improving healthcare. While their importance is receiving recognition, systemic risk aversion and groupthink complacency have impeded implementation. The result is an increasing erosion of trust between patients and "the system," especially in healthcare marketing and communications. The country's topmost honest and ethical professions are doctors, nurses, grade-school teachers, and pharmacists (Gallup,) and yet, 91% of all patients believe industry prioritizes people over profits (Harris). Consumer brands understand trust and empathy as social science guides their tactics with end-user consumers. In healthcare, the provider is the end-user. What if it were possible for healthcare communications to utilize the same tactics as consumer brands? In this talk, Matthew sheds light on how we might innovate our way out of this by learning from CPG use cases, nonprofit communications, digital health solutions, shifting trends in consumer media consumption, shared accountability, and increased federal protections.
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