Our Story
How we became patient engagement experts.
Since 2009, Legacy has partnered with leading pharmaceutical, medical device, and healthcare organizations to help guide patients on their treatment journeys and measurably improve patient outcomes and satisfaction.
We believe empowered patients and caregivers deserve individualized guidance and coaching throughout their treatment journey.
Rolf Benirschke
Rolf Benirschke’s third season as a placekicker in the NFL was cut short when he collapsed on a cross-country team flight while battling Inflammatory Bowel Disease. He had to undergo two emergency surgeries within six days, and his life hung in the balance for the six weeks in the intensive care unit. Surviving, he made a miraculous comeback to play seven more seasons with the San Diego Chargers, becoming the first player ever to wear an ostomy bag in the NFL. He earned numerous honors, including the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year, the NFL Comeback Player of the Year, played in the Pro Bowl, and was inducted into the Chargers Hall of Fame. Following his NFL career, Rolf founded Legacy Health Strategies to create innovative programs which help support, inspire, and provide resources to patients, so they feel less alone and overwhelmed.
Programs have included Alive & Kicking, The Ostomy Recovery Program, and The Grateful Patient Project. Over time, Legacy has become a strategic consulting company with a customized approach to client needs, whether a biotech or med-tech company or a global pharmaceutical organization. Serving as the bridge between what patients want and companies need, Rolf and the team partner with colleagues within organizations to elevate the importance of patient engagement at the highest levels. He and Legacy’s patient engagement experts support the development of a strategic roadmap and, where needed, implementation of a wide variety of patient engagement activities across the product lifecycle with measurable results. Rolf is an inspiring and respected visionary who is passionate about partnering with organizations that truly want to improve the patient experience and achieve mutually beneficial outcomes.
Jessica Scott, MD JD
As a teen, Jessica lost her sister to osteosarcoma. The experience ignited Jessica’s desire to help patients and families through illness, including through clinical trials, as partners. She graduated from Tufts University School of Medicine and completed her Family Medicine Residency at the University of Virginia in Roanoke. After practicing medicine for over a decade, Jessica attended Campbell University, Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law, and the North Carolina Physician Leadership Program. She is a trained collaborative law attorney and mediator of over 50 cases and has been certified as North Carolina Superior Court Mediator. As Patient Engagement leader, Jessica brings her combined acumen of medicine and law, together with innovative thinking, to drive the culture change of increasing patient perspectives in medical product development to deliver mutually beneficial outcomes for patients and industry.
She is an experienced ambassador of industry and patient and care partner’s perspectives to multi-stakeholder groups on medical policy issues at a global level. She is known as a credible and trusted thought-leader and collaborator, who brings novel solutions, digital strategies, and patient-centered approaches to biotech, med-tech, and pharmaceutical industries. Jessica has deep knowledge of the pharmaceutical industry from leadership positions at GlaxoSmithKline and Takeda where she focused on building patient perspectives in the process of R&D, with demonstrated experience in shifting the R&D mindset from developing medicine for patients to developing medicines with patients.
Jessica has received awards for innovative and impactful work in Patient Engagement, including the Trail Blazer Award and PharmaVoice100 as one of the top 100 most inspiring leaders in the industry. Jessica is actively involved as a strategic advisor to Bioethics International, Patient-Focused Medicines Development, DIA Patient Advisory Council and remains actively licensed to practice law in North Carolina. Jessica is married and has three children.
Leadership
The Grateful Patient Project is a program on a mission to empower patients. We provide a platform for patients to share their stories of gratitude for the health care providers, medicines, procedures and institutions that supported them through illness and changed their lives.
