Pharmaceutical manufacturer Pfizer recently asked Wilmington Health CEO Jeff James to participate with other health care industry representatives in a discussion on driving change to bring new medications to market safely and more efficiently.

The panel discussion, overseen by Pfizer Chief Development Officer Rod MacKenzie, included top leaders from Pfizer and also “key healthcare influencers and thought leaders in research, data analytics, patient advocacy, technology, and healthcare delivery systems, which includes organizations like Wilmington Health,” a news release stated.

“It was an amazing opportunity to collaborate with some of the most influential organizations and people in the healthcare arena,” James said in the release. “Every Wilmington Health team member is driven to adapt to a patient-centered healthcare environment that is effectively lowering the cost of care without reducing the value and quality. To be recognized by a global leader like Pfizer as having made real change happen and then asked to participate in the future of healthcare is a humbling and awesome experience.”

James, along with Pfizer leaders and invited guests, participated in “a full-day ideation session” in New York City to develop and refine actions that can improve the patient experience, streamline data capture of drug trials and further embed research practices within the health care delivery system, officials said.

In early March, James also traveled to Orlando, Florida, where he was included in a panel discussion with the top 200 Pfizer developers from around the globe, to discuss ways to drive change and to better understand how to integrate those ideas into future pharmaceutical development practices.

“A driving force in lowering healthcare costs and improving outcomes is the speed with which new medications can safely and effectively get to the patient population,” James said. “If we can assist in creating processes and mechanisms to implement new therapies more quickly, without negatively impacting patient safety, everybody wins.”

James added that patients would get access to medications and become healthier sooner, “and we will be able to remove some of the extremely costly time spent on new drug development from the healthcare system.”