Focus of alumnus is ‘always on the people’
Lloyd Lyons, BA ’19
Community and Global Public Health
Even while wading through rafts of spreadsheets, profit reports, new digital capabilities, and analyses of competitors, Lloyd Lyons, BA ’19, never loses sight of the real reason he is here, working as a manager of omnichannel customer experience strategy for CVS Health.
“It's ultimately about the people, and everything we can do to improve things for them,” said Lyons, who earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Community and Global Public Health from the University of Michigan School of Public Health. “We look at a lot of areas, but the focus is always on the people.”
Lyons is one of the 95 students who made up the first cohort of public health majors at Michigan Public Health in 2019. He would go on to receive a Health/Health Care Administration/Management (MHA) and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Tulane University before setting out in his career in the health management field.
“I feel that the University of Michigan gave me the foundation I needed to advance my education and then go on to work to make a difference in people's lives,” Lyons said. “Being a part of the first cohort of undergrads gave me an experience that I just couldn’t turn down.”
Lyons said that with older brothers who were University of Michigan graduates, he had a certain level of comfort on the Ann Arbor campus from the start, and he considered joining that first group of students in the public health undergraduate program to be both exciting and challenging.
I feel that the University of Michigan gave me the foundation I needed to advance my education and then go on to work to make a difference in people's lives. Being a part of the first cohort of undergrads gave me an experience that I just couldn’t turn down.”
“It was new, so there were speed bumps and some ups and downs along the way, but the program always provided us with the resources that we needed to learn and to be successful,” he said. “When something is so new, anything can happen, but we were encouraged to use our voices to speak up about any issues that occurred. I really appreciated the leadership team we had. They sat down with us and they listened to us.”
Lyons was often called on to fill the role of liaison between his fellow students and the faculty of the school, a position he grew to appreciate.
“I would get feedback from my classmates and then take it back to the staff,” he said. “I look back on it as a really joyous time of learning, adapting and changing.”
The Farmington Hills, Michigan, native said he did not realize it at the time, but the experience he gained while serving in a leadership role during those very fluid, evolutionary days as an undergrad at Michigan Public Health has served him well in the professional environment.
“You learn how to receive feedback, how to gather and synthesize information and then come across with a clear, concise message,” he said. “Understanding and utilizing that process has helped me in the working world.”
Lyons worked as a digital health strategist and telemedicine program manager for the Tulane Medical Group in New Orleans for two years before joining CVS Health in June 2022.
In his time with the Tulane Medical Group, Lyons was called on to conceptualize, lead and execute the inception-to-launch process of a groundbreaking digital health and telemedicine product that resulted in a significant reduction in emergency room recidivism, a spike in digital engagement and a 10% increase in customer satisfaction over a two-year timeframe.
He also played a key role in the collaborative work between the sales force, clinicians and the digital and IT teams that led to a reduction in costs and an overall improvement in the healthcare capabilities of the group.
Lyons also created a comprehensive three-year strategic digital health plan that brought together key partnerships, innovative technologies and data-driven insights that resulted in a positive alignment of organizational goals and a major increase in operational efficiency.
“I love having the freedom to innovate and think outside the box,” Lyons said, crediting his Michigan Public Health instructors for always leaving that avenue open. “We were encouraged by our professors to do just that. They gave us the space to think and be creative and I thoroughly enjoyed that. It's something I utilize a great deal.”
With CVS, Lyons seeks to put his expertise in consumer insights, e-commerce, corporate strategy and cross-functional collaboration to use while leading broad company strategies that span product development, program management and new ventures. The goal is to drive growth, while ever cognizant of enhancing the customers’ involvement in their own healthcare.
CVS Health is a large American healthcare company that owns the CVS Pharmacy chain as well as health insurance provider Aetna, pharmacy benefits manager CVS Caremark and numerous other entities.
“We look at everything involved with the consumer experience, across all channels—the retail pharmacy, the front of the store, the back store, how people pick up their scripts, and how they interact with the pharmacist,” he said. “We want to learn how we can create a much more personal experience.”
Lyons said one of his goals since his undergraduate days has been to focus his passion for diversity, equity and inclusion in the arena of health management and policy. Lyons has expressed a desire to positively impact people of color and communities that lack access to good health and healthcare throughout his career.
His experience as a diversity peer in housing at the University of Michigan, one of several leadership roles Lyons served in while on campus, has proved to be beneficial in the professional world. He also served for more than two years as the program manager for the Central Student Government AirBus Program, training and leading a staff of 20.
I love having the freedom to innovate and think outside the box. We were encouraged by our professors to do just that. They gave us the space to think and be creative and I thoroughly enjoyed that. It's something I utilize a great deal.”
“I was responding to situations that involved inclusion and equity issues, and I didn't realize at the time how beneficial that role was,” he said. “To have conversations with anyone I come across and break down topics that maybe they were uncomfortable talking about—that has showed up as a real asset in my current job.”
Lyons, who continues to work from New Orleans, admits that even while operating in the realm of advanced competitive analysis, trend-tracking systems, scoping, prioritizing, and pursuing new growth opportunities, and leading strategic development, the primary motivating factor behind his immersion into the internal workings of the healthcare field is that he cares deeply about people and their health.
“I enjoy the consumer side, or patient side, or the shopper at the store who you might impact by the work you do,” he said. “I like seeing that very real impact, such as something we did that created an efficiency for this person, or for this pharmacist, or for this 80-year-old who just learned how to use the app and she loves it. As healthcare professionals, that's what we're here for.”