Blog
Hiring the Right Leaders with Direct Retention Search
It’s no secret that leaders can make or break companies’ and organizations’ success. Hiring the right leaders is proving to be a challenge for a majority of companies in the United States. A Harvard Business Review article, “When Leaders are Hired for Talent but Fired for not Fitting in” said, “Based on a recent McKinsey report, fewer than 30% of organization can find the right C-suite leaders, and that newly appointed executives take too long to adapt.” Although there is a vast array of reasons why a new leadership hire may not work out, Harvard Business Review shared three errors organizations should fix to upgrade their selection of leaders:
- Organizations need to understand the leader’s motives and values
- Organizations need to understand their own culture
- Organizations need to be realistic about the new leader’s ability to drive change within the company culture
At Direct Recruiters, Inc. and Direct Consulting Associates (DCA), we also noticed the growing problem of leadership retention, and companies’ ability to hire the right fit. Our solution for this is Direct Retention, which enables small to midsize companies to hire the best executive talent and leadership with confidence and reduced financial risk. Fully vetting candidates with our independent consultants gives us the ability to monetarily guarantee your key professionals will be retained for 1 to 2 years. Below are the following challenges organizations face and the solutions Direct Retention offers.
The Challenge: Finding Top Talent
- Companies need talented individuals to fill key roles, but this talent is hard to find.
The Solution
- DRI and DCA will source and recruit high-impact talent to fill your key positions. To do this, DRI and DCA will provide a consultative team approach through 5 phases including profiling client company to clearly understand business culture and the position, reviewing the ideal candidate profile, finding and providing clients with candidates to interview, assisting with the hiring process of chosen candidate, and finally following up after the hire.
The Challenge: Culture Fit
- Companies know which skills and traits are needed to be successful in their organization. Finding professionals that match those skills may not be entirely clear through an interview process.
The Solution
- DRI and DCA’s independent consultant, Pradco will conduct skills and cultural assessments backed by science and analytics to evaluate the candidates’ culture fit to the company, making it more clear who the best fit for the company will be.
The Challenge: Compensation
- Salary and compensation is a large part of a candidates’ decision to accept a new job offer. If companies aren’t offering the right package, it could result in the loss of a great candidate.
The Solution
- Organizational Consulting Group specializes in compensation studies to ensure offers and benefits packages or competitive and that the client is offering the candidate a reasonable compensation for the position.
The Challenge: Legal Restrictions
- In the recruiting process, it is common for candidates to have contracts or legal restrictions that could prevent them from changing jobs.
The Solution
- DRI and DCA’s independent Direct Retention Consultant, Dinn, Hochman & Potter LLC provides legal support to establish legitimacy and enforceability of any contractual, statutory, or common law restrictions from previous employers.
The Challenge: Relocation
- Top candidates oftentimes need to be relocated to their new position. Clients need to offer the candidates a way for them to make a smooth transition for themselves and their families.
The Solution
HR & Relo Advisors provides relocation assistance and planning to companies to ensure smooth onboarding and transition of the new candidates.
Working Remotely Has Advantages & Disadvantages…Is it Right for You?
June 7, 2017
Last year, it was estimated that almost 45% of US employees worked remotely, mostly from home. By 2020, it is estimated that about 50% of the workforce will be working remotely. Cloud services, mobile platforms and video conferencing have made remote work possible and very acceptable to both employees and employers.
Many industries are making it known that they are friendly to telecommuting including IT, HR/Recruiting, Education, Accounting, Health, Law, Marketing, Nonprofit, News/Media, Sports, and Travel. In addition, the site FlexJobs.com was created to help those seeking telecommuting opportunities connect with companies and jobs that offer remote work, flexible schedules, part-time hours, and freelance assignments.
However, with everything, there are pros and cons. So before you make the change from working in an office to working at home or from another location, you might want to first consider these advantages and disadvantages:
Advantages
Work from anywhere and anytime. No longer are you limited by a geographic location or a clock. Thanks to telecommuting, employees are now able to work from pretty much anywhere at any time of day. The traditional 9-5 working day no longer applies.
No daily commute. Most people don’t enjoy their daily trek into an office. Working remotely allows you to avoid a lengthy commute by car, train, or bus which enables you to start your workday earlier and calmer.
Flexibility. You would be in charge of your own schedule and possibly more efficient. Working from home and the flexibility it offers may also suit your family life. You would have the freedom to run errands, take the kids to school, attend school or sports functions, etc. as long as you get the job done and meet any pre-established deadlines.
Less costly. Working from a remote location or from home, means you save money on transportation costs, eating lunch out, and purchasing a business wardrobe. Unless you do video conferencing, you can wear informal clothes and no longer need to budget for that work wardrobe.
Better health. Remote workers say they have more time to incorporate physical exercise into their day. In addition, they are not exposed to sick co-workers. On the flip side, if you’re the sick person, staying home allows you to take care of yourself while still being productive.
Fewer interruptions. Working remotely allows you to focus on the job at hand without the distractions of socializing and office chatter. You have the ability to get into the zone and buckle down to complete your assignment.
Disadvantages
Need for high self-discipline. It takes a lot of dedication and self-control to work at home and not succumb to distractions. It’s easy to lose motivation and focus which are pitfalls to your success. Therefore, it’s important to be intentional about how you’re using your time. You need to structure your environment in such a way that keeps you engaged.
Lack of workplace social life. You can easily interact with co-workers and clients via technology but it’s not the same as face-to-face meetings, lunching together or just everyday banter. Remote workers often feel isolated. To counteract isolation, try going into the office now and then or schedule lunch dates with bosses and colleagues.
Overlooked for promotions. There’s a danger of being overlooked for promotions or career development opportunities when working remotely. Those visible employees in the office who are aggressively campaigning for the position will probably have the edge. You can try and counter with regular visits to the office and open lines of communication. You need to express your interest in the upward mobility you want.
Total dependency on technology. As a remote worker, you have to rely on email, smart phones, laptop, etc. to stay in contact with the office and clients. You are totally dependent on the right technology to be in business. It’s also up to you to keep up with technology that evolves so rapidly.
Blurred lines. You would think that working remotely would allow you to enjoy more of a work/life balance but actually, it doesn’t. When you don’t have a clear separation of workplace and home space, they can blend together. You might not be able to just switch off from work and find yourself constantly checking your smartphone and emails.
There’s no doubt that remote work is on the rise. It’s easier than ever to stay connected in our era of email and smartphones and many employees believe it increases their quality of life.
Please let us know if you work remotely and if there are any other advantages or disadvantages than listed. You may comment below.
Norm Volsky Interviews Evie Jennes, President & Chief Commercial Officer, swyMed
June 6, 2017
Norm Volsky, Director of Mobile HIT at DRI recently had the chance to interview Evie Jennes, President & Chief Commercial Officer, swyMed. Evie shared information about swyMed, their latest solutions, her career, and insights into the telemedicine industry.
Tell us a little bit about yourself and swyMed.
As the President and Chief Commercial Officer, I am ultimately responsible for the sales, partnerships and marketing direction at swyMed. When it comes to working with a company, I am particularly attracted to young organizations that need to grow. I also love to travel and have been working internationally for more than 20 years including 7 years in Eastern Europe and more specifically, Russia. My time there included working at a number of start-ups in that region as well as for larger multi-nationals in the early 1990’s. In terms of my career, I have spent about half of my time in Healthcare, and the other half in FMCG, VC Funding, and various manufacturing projects.
As far as swyMed goes, a major barrier for telemedicine to date has been the bandwidth, or I should say the lack thereof. More specifically, there is simply often not enough, in both rural and urban settings, to reliably conduct video encounters for real-time telemedicine outside the four walls of a hospital. At swyMed our whole business was built around solving this problem. We believe that we have addressed these issues head on with our truly unique video software which has a patented data transport protocol that overcomes latency, and our latest solution, the DOT Telemedicine Backpack, which leverages this software. Between the two technologies, we are able to deliver reliable connectivity, and a video encounter from basically anywhere which is a huge differentiator in the market.
What is swyMed’s key differentiator in the Telemedicine market?
I think what people need to realize, and they slowly are as telemedicine moves outside of the hospital, is that even if you are the most sophisticated telemedicine vendor in the marketplace, with the most robust virtual care platform, if the end user doesn’t have the bandwidth to reliably conduct video encounters outside of a hospital or clinic, the technology is limited. When we founded swyMed, we made the decision to focus specifically on providing the necessary solutions to make telemedicine possible in rural areas as well as urban areas with congested networks. Today, our patented data transport protocol allows users to get around traditional networking challenges, to deliver on-demand video telemedicine encounters in even the most rural and remote locations, where they need telemedicine the most. Day in and day out we work with our clients offering a Mobile Integrated Healthcare solution that enables them to reach places and patients where it was never before possible.
Tell us about your DOT Telemedicine Backpack.
The DOT Telemedicine Backpack is swyMed’s most recent and largest product launch to date, which we scheduled around this year’s HIMSS 2017 conference. The offering is the industry’s first lightweight, mobile telemedicine solution that truly gives care providers the ability to connect to doctors for real-time video encounters-- anytime, anywhere, even in the most remote areas, or on the go. Truly, a “Doc-on Tap.”
For example, say you live in a rural area where communications infrastructure is limited or in a city where networks get congested -- telemedicine will likely be challenging, potentially having a significant impact on the speed and quality of care and ultimately outcomes. Not to mention it is extremely frustrating not to be able to connect when we want to. We have likely all experienced this with our home internet, Skype, FaceTime, etc. But in this situation, these challenges can ultimately lead to care-givers choosing to forgo using the telemedicine technology they have, which in turn limits care.
Armed with swyMed’s DOT Telemedicine Backpack, users can now leverage even the faintest whiff of a network signal and elevate it to a level where high quality, reliable, virtual care is possible regardless of location or infrastructure challenges. And for the areas that have zero networks, we have satellite built in, thus offering a connection literally everywhere on earth. The DOT Telemedicine Backpack is an ideal solution for mobile telestroke programs, community paramedicine, remote triage, disaster response, and critical transport as it extends the reach of providers and care-givers.
What are the biggest challenges on your plate right now?
As a leader at a young company, driving visibility and sales of our software and the DOT Telemedicine Backpack will of course remain a top priority for me throughout 2017. One of the biggest challenges right now is that our prospective customers need to find a way to pay for the DOT Telemedicine Backpack. The excitement around the DOT Telemedicine Backpack is palpable in virtually every meeting we have. Our customers very quickly see the many challenges we solve, but purse strings remain tied, and budgets tight. Health systems need to change the dynamic in how they view the price for our (and other) solutions. It would be helpful if the ROI, which in our case is quite significant, was weighed against the initial investment in the DOT Telemedicine Backpack a bit more. It is being done, but not consistently as of yet. We as an industry need to continue educating our customers on how we are ultimately saving them money and improving patient outcomes.
The pace of telemedicine adoption can also be a challenge. The industry recognizes the obvious benefits and value that telehealth brings to care, but these findings need to be backed up by legislative changes that reimburse for telemedicine visits. The good news is that every day telemedicine is growing in terms of reach and impact, and with this success we do see some movement on that front. We hope to see that trend continuing.
Other than ATA, what conferences and trade shows do you attend?
Besides ATA, HIMSS is another big event for us obviously as it’s the biggest healthcare IT show of the year. We also make the EMS State of the Sciences Conference (dubbed by media as "A Gathering of Eagles") a priority as it has become one of the most progressive and important EMS conferences nationally. Given our business model, the emergency management community is a top target for us so it’s great to be able to be part of the conversation related to the most cutting-edge information and advances in EMS patient care.
In the coming year we will also focus on particular states that would be best served by our solution and attend conferences there.
How do you manage your geographically dispersed team?
We get asked this question a lot despite all the technology we have at our disposal today, many people still feel as though you should be in the same room or same building to be successful. At swyMed we challenge this belief by having a team that’s dispersed over two continents. And it works because first and foremost we have colleagues that work exceedingly well together. I have been part of many organizations and this is one of the absolute best teams, if not the best, that I have been a member of. We complement each other’s skill sets, we are completely frank with each other so there are no politics, and we genuiunely really like each other as people, which is so important. We also use our own video software platform for weekly management meetings, sales meetings, and spontaneous meetings. The technology allows us to still have the ‘watercooler chat’, but on video vs. in person. Then of course we do see each other at customer visits, conferences, etc., which is always fun, and fruitful.
On your LinkedIn page, you mention having the entrepreneurial spirit. Since this isn't something you are taught, how did you develop it within yourself?
I think that I was born with an entrepreneurial spirit and it was then encouraged by my parents, and especially my father. I was the kid with the lemonade stand, who was canvassing the neighborhood for babysitting jobs until I turned 16 and could get a ‘real’ job.
The seven years I spent in Russia and other Eastern European countries really developed my ‘entrepreneurial spirit’ as it was the ‘Wild, Wild East’. If you were not creative with problem solving, resourceful, and entrepreneurial you were not going to make it even with large multi-nationals budgets.
What are the traits or qualities of a great leader?
I managed fairly large groups of people when working for multi-nationals and this is when I developed my management skills. As a leader I had a few rules that served me well and I still follow them today. Hire people that are smarter than you are, ask good questions, and listen to the answers. Treat the people you work with, and those that work for you with respect. The people that work for you should feel and know that you have their back. Do what is ‘right’ even if in the short term it is not in your best interest.
Norm Volsky
Director of Mobile HIT
Direct Recruiters, Inc.
440-996-0059
nvolsky@directrecruiters.com
Rachel Makoski Recaps NRA 2017
May 31, 2017
By Rachel Makoski, Director of Food Service Equipment & Supplies
Walking into McCormick Place in Chicago last week was a food-lover’s dream. Attending the 2017 National Restaurant Association (NRA) show, I was immediately hit with so many delicious smells. After a 5-hour flight delay on Monday, you can imagine how agonizing it was to not have time to stop and taste some of the incredible food that was served at each booth! Even still, in the face of it being a quick visit, I was able to squeeze in some insightful conversations with folks in the Food Service Equipment industry and was captivated by some of the exciting innovation in the market and what that innovation necessitates for 2017 hiring within the industry.
For those that aren’t aware, the annual NRA show offers a chance for professionals in the Food Service market to attend educational sessions, view the latest innovations and technologies from over 2,200 exhibitors, and network with other professionals in the industry. As my first time attending the show, I was impressed by the show’s traffic, especially after being warned by other industry professionals that it may not be as crowded with it being a NAFEM year. Below are just a few of the interesting companies I saw at the NRA show that stood out among the rest.
RATIONAL
With one of larger displays at the show, RATIONAL certainly stood out, showcasing their NRA Kitchen Innovation Award Winning Self Cooking Center XS Model with celebrity chefs using the equipment to cook on-site in their RATIONAL restaurant space that they set up for the show. This combi boasts a 60% smaller unit than the full size with all of the full size functionality. With more than 40 years in business, and over 750,000 appliances produced, RATIONAL has been a pioneer in hot food preparation for professional kitchens. Another big hit at the show was their Connected Cooking, featuring cloud-based networking solutions for kitchens.
Micro Matic
With quite the growth trajectory over the last 5 years, Micro Matic is a global supplier of dispensing systems and solutions for draft beer, cocktail, water, and wine in over 120 countries. Founded in 1953, Micro Matic provides not only technology and solutions, but what stands out is their on-site dispense training programs and education to ensure customers deliver the highest draft quality. In addition to on-site training, they also offer online training and advanced training at their regional facilities in FL, IL, PA and CA.
Marra Forni
If you popped by Marra Forni’s booth, you were sure to be greeted by a slice of creatively conceived pizza made in their brick ovens– the Nutella-topped slice was incredible! In addition to delicious food produced by their make-to-order ovens, Marra Forni’s booth was exceptional in that their team’s energy was hard to match. It’s no wonder they’ve grown so quickly since they started manufacturing less than 10 years ago. While they’re known for hand-made Neapolitan ovens for commercial kitchens, they also have their own line of prep tables and dough mixers.
After seeing what these companies are offering, my takeaways are that the Food Service Equipment industry continues to become more innovative each year, creating growth in their engineering departments that trickles down to every other division. This increased need for talent, especially in the engineering field, was echoed by many of the companies I spoke with at NRA this year.
What were your thoughts on this year’s NRA show? Please reach out to me if you’d like to discuss!
*For more information on our Food Service Equipment practice area, see https://www.directrecruiters.com/food-service-equipment/
Norm Volsky Highlights Companies at ATA 2017
May 8, 2017
By Norm Volsky, Director of Mobile HIT
As an executive search consultant in the Healthcare IT space, it is my job to be able to identify emerging technology companies that are poised for significant growth. Since I am specifically focused on Mobile Technology and Telehealth, I have plenty of companies from which to choose. I do research daily and during my discussions with industry thought leaders, I make it a point to ask them what companies in the space they find intriguing and unique. I feel it is my job as a member of this industry to share this knowledge/information with my network so that you could be exposed to these organizations too.
Below are companies I have had my eye on all year that I met with in person at ATA to learn more about their story and vision.
TruClinic- Cloud-based Telemedicine platform that easily connects patients and providers inside their existing workflow. Their hardware agnostic approach enables their customers to launch a telemedicine program with zero capital expense. TruClinic allows patients to schedule appointments and pay bills online to enhance the patient experience. TruClinic is also focused on improving clinician satisfaction and reduce the total cost of healthcare which is perfectly geared towards the value-based care model. Security of the platform is unparalleled being compliant with: HIPAA, HITECH, COPPA, PIPEDA & SSAE 16-II. Simply put, TruClinic helps increase accessibility to healthcare by providing a consistent patient experience regardless of the modality of care delivery, whether traditional face-to-face or virtual.
Pera Health- Clinical Surveillance solution that identifies at risk patients using predictive modeling and real time vital sign data. The founders created an algorithm called the Rothman index that uses Vital Signs, Lab Results and Nursing Assessments. Pera Health’s solution reduces Alarm Fatigue, the number of False Positives, Code Blues, unplanned ICU transfers and Sepsis Mortality. In January, the company raised $14M in funding. Pera Health helped both Houston Methodist and Yale New Haven to reduce their mortality rate 30% in nine months and twelve months respectively.
Cloudbreak- Originally a remote interpretation service company that was founded 14 years ago. Since then, they have transitioned to not only provide interpretations services in over 200+ languages but to also provide telemedicine capabilities to its over 650+ hospital customers. Cloudbreak facilitates over 70,000 interpretations monthly. This unique platform allows doctors to be able to bring in an interpreter and a specialist anywhere in the world onto a tele-consult with a patient to provide world class care.
Grand Rounds- Enables patients to get World Class second opinions by leveraging telemedicine. They have been able to attract some of the world’s top specialists on the platform by exposing them to the most complex and intellectually stimulating cases. Grand Rounds helps its customers improve employee/patient satisfaction, reduce absenteeism and improve clinical outcomes by giving their employees/patients access to the top specialists in the country. Grand Rounds now has 50 state coverage and recently just opened their Maine office.
Fitango Health- Care Management and Patient Engagement vendor helping its customers move towards value-based care. Their HIPAA compliant solution enables all the stakeholders to communicate including: Care Managers, Care Givers, Providers, Network Managers, the Patient and their family. Fitango’s approach is preventative in nature and is geared towards the post-acute setting. The goal is to reduce readmissions and improve adherence to the patient’s care plan.
Azalea Health- EHR, PM and RCM vendor that uniquely has telehealth imbedded into the EMR which solves the reimbursement issue. The solution suite includes patient portal and scheduling capabilities. Due to the fact that many of Azalea’s customers are Rural, there was a need for telehealth which gives physicians access to additional patients.
Cohero Health- Chronic Disease Management app focused on Asthma and COPD. Cohero’s mission is to transform respiratory care through smart mobile devices to enable real time monitoring and adherence. By leveraging Cohero’s devices that send patient data via the cloud, Nurses, Pharmacists and Pulmonologists can intervene when necessary when a patient is at risk. The solutions Cohero provides allow the patient and their care team to monitor the use of their inhaler (both daily use and emergency) and test for lung capacity.
Sensely- Developed a nurse avatar powered by AI named Molly that communicates with patients via their mobile device. The disruptive platform was built to improve the patient experience by focusing on empathy and clinical support. All the data collected is sent to the patient’s clinician so they can monitor risk factors and adjust clinical protocol. Sensely raised $8M in series B funding. Sensely already works with the Mayo Clinic and is launching a program with NHS in the UK.
Carena- Carena is a software-based virtual care provider for health systems. Carena started as a primary care house call service in 2000 and has since evolved into a telemedicine company. Carena works with more than 120 hospitals including Ascension, Catholic Health Initiatives, and University of Washington Medicine. They focus on helping health systems get better connected to consumers in their local markets by providing an easy and convenient way to access the health system anytime, anywhere, and navigate cases more appropriate for virtual care out of the ED and urgent care. Carena works with hospitals and health systems to supplement the services they have and resell the virtual care product to employers and health plans—not competing with the health system by taking patients away (like some telemedicine companies do that work with Health Plans and Employers).
Wellpepper- Patient Engagement platform that improves patient satisfaction, clinical outcomes and access. Wellpepper completed a Parkinson’s study at Boston University and the patients saw a 9% increase in mobility compared to a 12% reduction in the control group. They also have research studies with Harvard, Brandeis and UW Medicine. Their CEO, Anne Weiler was asked to speak at ATA on a panel for Tele-rehab for total joint replacement recovery.
Vivify Health- Remote Patient Monitoring Platform helping move the industry toward value-based care. Helping its patients manage their chronic disease, Vivify is one of the leaders in mobile population health management. In 2016, Vivify not only signed UPMC as a customer, but the health system also participated in their recent $17M Series B investment round. Vivify, along with Iron Bow Technologies were awarded a $258M telehealth contract by the VA in 2017.
Avizia- Robust end-to-end telehealth solution suite that connects any doctor to any patient at any time. Avizia as a company has made it their mission to advance healthcare by helping all patients have the ability to get top quality healthcare regardless of their location or situation. In October of 2016, Avizia wrapped up a $18M Series A funding round led by NY Presbyterian and Northwell Health.
Zipnosis- Provides its customer a significant ROI which has been proven to convert 25% of patients from the telemedicine platform to in person customers with an average spend of $3K per year. The providers that were using the Zipnosis platform met guideline adherence up to 95%. Key customers include: Baylor Scott and White, UCLA Health and Mission Health.
Medici- Created WhatsApp for healthcare with an emphasis on user experience. Medici built a business platform for providers to communicate HIPAA compliantly with their patients. While attending SXSW, they had 1500+ app downloads and 17% of people did a consult using the app which is unheard of in the telemedicine space. The text, phone and video capabilities allow for seamless communication, e-prescribing and referrals. Providers can also bill via the app which caters to patients with high deductible plans. Medici is launching in South Africa in May and is looking to expand their international footprint.
I remember going to this show three years ago in Baltimore and I am amazed at how much the industry has moved towards being software focused. The software vendors are definitely trending up as they had the largest and shiniest booths. I always come back amazed at how passionate and innovative this industry is as a whole. All of the companies above are helping drive change towards value based care and I feel so lucky to be able work in this industry every day.
Norm Volsky
Director of Mobile HIT
Direct Recruiters, Inc.
440-996-0059
nvolsky@directrecruiters.com
Aaron Kutz Reviews The Best of ISC West
April 12, 2017
By Aaron Kutz, Executive Recruiter of Government Technology and Electronic Security
I recently had the opportunity to attend the ISC West Conference in Las Vegas for the fourth year. ISC West is the largest security industry trade show in the U.S., and gives professionals opportunities to network, attend educational sessions, listen to keynote speakers, and see all the new and innovative technologies throughout the exhibit hall. With every year that I visit ISC West, I realize how much growth and progress the industry is experiencing. Companies who had small booths in previous years now have grown into a larger presence at the conference, while other familiar faces are staying strong. Here are my thoughts on the best of ISC West:
ISC seemed even bigger than last year. As a show that is said to have over 29,000 professionals in attendance throughout the conference, the trade show floor was packed. The exhibitors I spoke to seemed to be very happy with the traffic and chance to showcase their products and technologies to a large volume of attendees.
Aside from the traffic levels of the show, each year at the conference there seems to be a buzz about certain topics. Last year at ISC, I noticed the emergence and focus on the “Internet of Things” (IoT). Following that theme, this year there were more partnerships apparent to allow devices to be connected in the home and across the enterprise. Almost everyone I stopped to speak with was focused on having their technology connect to a variety of other solutions. In addition, these companies highlighted how end users can utilize the cloud to help their clients with a more affordable, reliable service.
One company that I was very impressed with at ISC West was BriefCam. BriefCam provides users the ability to rapidly review video and take action as needed. I spent some time speaking to members of their team about their one-of-a-kind solution. I was lucky enough to be provided a live demo to see firsthand the capability their solution provides including its unique video layering and search capability. It was like nothing I saw throughout the show anywhere else and I was very impressed with their product.
Overall, ISC West was a great event for my fourth year attending. I would love to hear your take on the show if you were there or more about your take on the industry in general. Please feel free to reach out directly to me to discuss further.
Aaron Kutz
Executive Recruiter of Government Technology & Electronic Security
440-996-0869
akutz@directrecruiters.com
David Peterson Recaps the Plastics News Executive Forum
April 11, 2017
By David Peterson, Managing Partner and Director of Plastics and Flexible Packaging
At the end of March, I had the great opportunity to attend and speak at the Plastics News Executive Forum at the Naples Beach Hotel & Golf Club, Naples, Florida. As it was my first time attending, I want to note that Plastics News did a great job coordinating this conference, which offered strategies, presentations, and networking opportunities for leaders of top plastics processing companies.
Aside from the sunshine and beautiful scenery, the Plastics News Executive Forum impressed me from the speakers, to the great conversations about the industry. The theme of the conference this year was “Engage. Inspire. Lead.” and the agenda stayed consistent with that, buzzing with conversation regarding the Plastics workforce, retention, and talent in the industry. For example, Laurie Harbour, President/CEO of Harbour Results Inc., shed a light on the top challenges for Plastics Processors in 2017, sharing that 92% say their top challenge is recruiting, training and retaining employees. Part of the reason for this could be the decrease of Plastics Engineer professionals. This is something that was discussed often throughout the conference, along with the ways companies can contribute to solving that issue. For example, the Best Places to Work Panel gave great ideas for retention, with one being a “bring your parents to work day.”
For me, the conference was especially exciting as I had the honor of presenting! My topic was “How to Attract and Retain a New Generation of Workers” and primarily focused on Millennials and what we can do as companies to bring them into the Plastics Industry and keep them there. Again, this fell in line with most of the buzz at the conference. It was a great experience to speak at this event! Plastics News wrote an article highlighting my presentation here: Solving the Millennial Riddle
Finally, I want to congratulate to the Processors of the Year finalists, and the Best Places to Work Award Winners!
The Plastics News Executive Forum was a great event and a great experience this year. I’m looking forward to next year’s event! If you were at the event, what did you enjoy the most?
David Peterson
Managing Partner and Director of Plastics & Flexible Packaging
dpeterson@directrecruiters.com
(440) 996-0590
Norm Volsky, Director of Mobile HIT Recaps HIMSS 2017
March 14, 2017
By Norm Volsky, Director of Mobile HIT
As an Executive Search Consultant in the Healthcare IT space, it is my job to be able to identify emerging technology companies that are poised for significant growth. I do research daily and during my discussions with industry thought leaders, I make it a point to ask them what companies in the space they find intriguing and unique. I feel it is my job as a member of this industry to share this knowledge/information with my network so that you could be exposed to these companies too. Below are companies I have had my eye on all year that I met up with in person at HIMSS to learn more about their story and vision.
Envera Health: Managed Services company helping healthcare systems unify their interactions with consumers to improve engagement. They offer providers CRM-enabled call center support that enables a 360-degree view of consumers to allow seamless communications and connectivity for scheduling, care coordination and post discharge communication. Envera has been in business for a little over a year and already has over 125 employees.
Healthfinch: Practice Automation and Pre-Visit planning solution that helps healthcare organizations automate, delegate, and simplify routine busywork so its clinicians can spend more time treating patients. It saves providers, on average, 30 minutes per day. It helps increase staff efficiency at least 4X, resulting in faster turnarounds on patient requests. Average implementation is 3-5 days in athenaClinicals, and approximately 30 in Epic and Allscripts TouchWorks.
Proskriptive: Analytics and Data Science company utilizing vendor agnostic machine learning. Proskriptive can give their hospital customers actionable data using a turnkey solution that helps them reduce length of stay, reduce readmissions and increase coding accuracy, among many other things.
Validic: Health Data Platform that enables access and integration to patient-generated data from mHealth apps, devices and wearables. They have connected to over 400 clinical and consumer-grade health devices. Released Vital Snap solution last year which uses OCR technology from smart phones to digitize data from Glucometers, Blood Pressure meters, Weight scales, heart rate monitors, pulse oximeters, and thermometers.
CareSync: Chronic Disease Management/Care Coordination solution with over 100,000 patients using their solution/service. Their goal is to allow collaboration between every stakeholder in the care continuum and help get the right information to the right care team member at the right time. In helping their patients navigate their way through the Health System, they improve the quality of care and patient experience drastically. CareSync recently launched a new product named Scribe that allows a physician to record a conversation with a patient HIPAA compliantly on his or her Apple Watch. They have 97% customer retention rate which is nearly unheard of.
LifeMed ID: Patient Identification solution at the point of registration. Once a patient is identified accurately, he or she can travel throughout the continuum of care seamlessly. In the current healthcare landscape, identifying and validating patients at the point of check-in is more important than ever. LifeMed reduces fraud and duplicate patient records while at the same time improving collections and patient safety in an area of Healthcare IT that has been largely unaddressed.
Vivify Health: Remote Patient Monitoring Platform helping move the industry toward value-based care. Helping its patients manage their chronic disease, Vivify is one of the leaders in mobile population health management. In 2016, Vivify not only signed UPMC as a customer, but the health system also participated in their recent $17M Series B investment round. Vivify, along with Iron Bow Technologies were awarded a $258M telehealth contract by the VA in 2017.
Jellyfish Health: Patient Experience platform designed to reduce wait times and improve patient satisfaction. Their mobile app allows patients to see available appointments and estimated wait times, then schedule and confirm – all from the convenience of their mobile device. By increasing patient satisfaction, the provider groups are able to keep their patients (on average, practices turn over 25% of their patients per year). The tool helps drive revenue by increasing patient traffic, reducing staff interruptions, streamlining physician schedules, and improving patient throughput. At HIMSS, Jellyfish launched a new product named Bloom that helps customers recruit and enroll patients in health and wellness campaigns.
Propeller Health: FDA-cleared asthma and COPD management vendor that helps patients and physicians better manage chronic respiratory conditions. They make digital products that have therapeutic benefit. Propeller Health won the 2016 Innovation in Remote Healthcare Award at the ATA conference. In late 2016 Propeller also got another FDA clearance for its Smart Inhaler.
Healthloop: “Patient Experience” company in regards to its high-touch, cloud-based, episodic patient engagement platform. The goal was to develop technology that had the ability to deliver empathetic instructions. Healthloop sends educational content to the patient to not only answer any questions that the patient currently has, but more importantly to anticipate questions he or she might have in the future, with instructions in care plans. This empowers the patient and makes him or her confident with what to do for the best outcome. Their solution results in a 35% decrease in complications and 30% reduction in readmissions.
Intelligent InSites: Real-Time Operational Intelligence vendor that focuses on RTLS/RFID, Asset Management, Workflow Management, Environmental Monitoring, Patient Safety and Infection Control. Having both a mobile and desktop platform, Intelligent InSites provides its customers with second to none analytics and dashboards to improve financial and operational efficiency, quality, regulatory compliance and patient satisfaction. InSites helps its hospital customers improve their operating margin, bed occupancy rate, asset utilization rate, patient satisfaction and physician performance while reducing hospital incidents time to service and length of stay. InSites was recently picked to be part of HCA’s Hospital of the Future program in which it picked some of the most cutting edge technology companies in all of HIT to participate.
Saturn Care: CDMP (Chronic Disease Management Program) that enables primary care teams to better engage patients in clinical and behavioral aspects of chronic disease management. CDMP allows the care team to be in control and educate patients properly, specifically geared towards diabetes. Saturn Care boasts 97% patient engagement and 100% doctor satisfaction. In a major NIH-funded randomized controlled study their solution has allowed their patients to decrease their A1C by 1%.
DSHI: Physician-led clinical content and technology with AI driven workflows (50 conditions) for CCM, Post Discharge Follow-up and patient education. They have hospitals and other healthcare organizations, including the VA, who use these to more effectively identify patients at risk where an early intervention can avoid an unnecessary readmission. These workflows can be implemented in a variety of ways, including: direct to the patient in a web app, chatbot, IVR, voice assisted device (Alexa and Google Home), or integrated with CRM or care coordination software that the care team to use in outbound calls. Regardless of the method, key metrics (including readmission risk and disease control score) and valuable data are auto-generated for the provider as well as a care plan and education for the patient.
PreparedHealth: Building a social network that rallies the large spectrum of healthcare providers in and around the home, helping them work together to more-timely identify interventions, manage transitions and communicate upstream.
Phynd: Provider Data Management vendor that is helping its hospital customers improve clinical outcomes and decrease delay in collections. By improving the accuracy of physician data, Phynd helps its customers drive more referrals and minimize compliance risk.
PokitDok: API platform that helps enable other software platforms to gather information easier. This solution allows its customers to do transactions easier and have access to powerful data. PokitDok has built an operating system behind the business of healthcare. Their API’s enable a one-click purchase which could be described as a PayPal for healthcare. PokitDok has forged ahead and built all of this technology upon blockchain technology called DokChain.
Wellsoft: Emergency Department Information System vendor that has won Best in KLAS 6 years in a row. Wellsoft helps its customers optimize efficiency and patient throughput which include Hospital Emergency Departments and freestanding ED’s.
Solera Network: Chronic Disease Management Marketplace that points patients, payers and physicians in the right direction when the treatment options seem endless. Solera helps patient identify the best program for them, enables easy reimbursement and regular reporting to all of the stakeholders. Last month, Solera achieved HITRUST CSF Certification.
SwervePay Health delivers the convenience patients seek in their day-to-day lives by presenting frictionless payments via text with no mobile app to download or username and password to remember. Patients have the ability to pay their co-pay or balances via text before, during or after their appointment. They simply respond to a text message.
Orb Health: Intelligent Care Collaboration platform that has EMR connectivity and workflow tools. Helps Health Systems and PCP practices maximize patient engagement, reimbursement, and value-based care collaboration. Currently managing over 100,000 patients.
SocialWellth: Focused on Prescriptive Digital Health by providing access to over 100,000 apps and helping Providers, Employers and Payers prescribe the appropriate apps to the consumer based on their condition. Helps facilitate communication between consumers and their healthcare sponsors at the point of care. SocialWellth is launching a new intelligent curation and mobile security threat prevention solution to increase consumer confidence.
i2i Pop Health: The 2016 Best in KLAS award winner for Population Health Management. i2i boasts a 99% customer retention rate and a 25% reduction in avoidable inpatient admissions. Helping Providers and Payers manage over $20M lives.
Welldoc: Founded by an endocrinologist, Welldoc has a built a mobile platform to transform the treatment of chronic disease. While specifically focusing on Type 2 Diabetes, they were able to help their patients drop their A1C by an average of 1.9% in two clinical trials by supporting their day to day management of their condition. Welldoc sends patient generated data to their physicians so they can make more informed decisions in a space where there is no uniform care plan for all Type 2 Diabetes patients.
Wellbe offers a cloud-based platform that facilitates connected care between patients and providers across an episode such as a total joint replacement, empowering patients as active participants, and giving providers the ability to efficiently coordinate care. Wellbe Connected Care enables high-performing health systems throughout the U.S. to transform care delivery by improving patients’ experiences, satisfaction, and outcomes while reducing costs. With these smart patient workflows, customers improve results such as LOS, skilled nursing facility utilization, and readmissions.
Pieces Technologies: Predictive Analytics software vendor that helps improve patient outcomes and reduce hospital costs. The founder is a physician who, with his team, built a better solution for case management using its Iris solution and Decision Support.
This was my fifth HIMSS show and I always come back amazed at how passionate and innovative this industry is as a whole. All of the companies above are helping drive change towards value based care and I feel so lucky to be able work in this industry every day.
The next trade show I am planning on attending is ATA in Orlando…if you are interested in having your company highlighted in my next blog, please let me know.
Norm Volsky
Director of Mobile HIT
Direct Recruiters, Inc.
440-996-0059
nvolsky@directrecruiters.com
Brian Silverstein Interviews Kimberlie Cerrone, Founder and Executive Chairman of Tiatros
Direct Recruiters, Inc. had the opportunity to interview Kimberlie Cerrone, Founder and Executive Chairman of Tiatros, a digital therapeutics company that offers online, clinician moderated, peer group psychotherapeutic programs for patients with treatable mental illnesses. Kimberlie shared about her interesting background, advice for entrepreneurs, the digital health industry, and more.
Please share a little about your background and the company you founded, Tiatros. What was your inspiration behind this endeavor? What was your “aha” moment?
I’m a Silicon Valley dealmaker and IP strategist by background. I’ve made hundreds of deals for technology companies around the world over the past 35 years, many of which helped tiny startups grow into very large companies. I founded Tiatros after my sons came home from military service with PTSD. I saw that they both needed the community and support of other veterans. The only people that they would share their stories with were other veterans, who shared their military values and understood their stories because they had also served. My “aha” was that healing is a social activity – that the therapeutic power of peer groups to support healthy behaviors and to improve patient compliance could be harnessed using social media-styled tools inside secure private social networks. That led me to found Tiatros.
What is the origin behind the name “Tiatros”?
Tiatros’ first engineer came up with “TIATROS.” Being an IP attorney, I had a list of specific requirements including that the name had to be a completely made up word that didn’t already exist in any language; it had to be 5-7 letters long; spelled phonetically; look spatially balanced; and be available as a primary .com URL, a corporate name in California and Delaware, and for use as our primary product name and trademark. He made up a new word based on a Greek word that derived from an ancient Sumerian word, IATRO, which refers to "physician, medicine, and healing”. He added a “T” for technology and “S” for Social, both of which are concepts key to our mission, and voila, it met every one of my requirements. I loved it immediately, and still do.
You are an extremely accomplished entrepreneur. What drives you to succeed?
It’s really simple: I want to see Tiatros’ products widely available in the marketplace, providing safe and affordable evidence-based treatment to every patient with a treatable mental illness that seeks help.
What are your goals for Tiatros in the next 5 years?
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is the gold standard for the psychotherapeutic treatment of most major mental illnesses. It’s used all over the world to treat anxiety, depression, trauma, panic, and even eating and sleep disorders because it consistently works very well provided patients complete it to the best of their ability. UCSF psychiatrists piloted the first programs for sexual assault- and combat-related trauma, with everyone of UCSF’s first 300 patients showing post traumatic growth and recovery. My colleagues and I are now working with our business partners and collaborative customers to leverage cognitive computing and AI to see if we can make effective peer group psychotherapeutics available to tens of millions of Americans and ultimately to hundreds of millions of people around the world that have treatable mental illnesses. That's a big ambition, but we believe it's possible to achieve. I particularly want every veteran who is struggling with PTSD and TBI to have access to effective treatment starting now, because I saw in my own family that it is life-changing. These are my 5-year goals for Tiatros.
With your experience as an entrepreneur, and being involved as judge for Cartier Women’s Initiative, which supports and encourages projects by women, what advice do you have for young women entrepreneurs?
When asked, I tell women entrepreneurs to work on solving a problem that is important to them, that they care about and know about, and that a few other people that they think are smart are already working on. I give myself as an example. My original thought process in deciding to work on developing scalable therapeutics for behavioral health was that a handful of companies were already focusing on the market opportunity, but with different proposed solutions; that I am deeply concerned about preventing another generation of homeless veterans and destigmatizing mental illness; and that healthcare is the responsibility of women around the world. That’s what made Tiatros a good fit for me.
What interesting new projects are you currently working on? Or would be interested in exploring?
I recently started to serve on outside corporate boards, which I am enjoying very much. Last year I joined the Board of a premiere engineering design and consulting company that has a significant focus on the healthcare sector. I bring an important and different perspective to its Board, and I’ve learned a great deal. I’d like to do more of this type of work with other companies in the global healthcare sector over the next several years.
What challenges do you currently see in the digital health industry?
The United States needs to innovate business models for reimbursing digital health as much as we need new digital health products and services. I would go anywhere, anytime, to participate in meaningful discussions about how the broad healthcare sector and the government can collaboratively develop innovative revenue models for digital health.
What or who do you attribute your success to?
I have broad interests and a multi-disciplinary educational background. I’m often the only person at the table that understands the science, the legal, the business, the IP, and the international aspects of a proposal. I write very clearly, and have become a better speaker. That’s created a lot of opportunity for me to work on great projects with excellent people, and to get useful experience in complex and important projects.
Have you had a mentor(s) throughout your career?
After 40 years, I consider my husband to be my most important mentor. He’s a psychiatrist who is one of the country’s leading experts on trauma in adolescent and young adult populations. It’s an amazing thing that after all these years our professional interests have aligned and we can collaborate now.
Your background is very diverse. How have you balanced your roles as a Founder, an attorney, IP Strategist, entrepreneur and more?
I don’t try to balance them. I try to integrate them, using them all in combination. Tiatros is a great project for me because I get to use pretty much everything I know, and I still need to learn a great deal more.
What advice do you have for up and coming HIT professionals?
The great American philosopher Cyndi Lauper says If you learn, you earn. She’s right. My advice is work on learning continuously, acquiring whatever knowledge, skills, and credentials you need to get the chance to work with good people on great projects. That’s how you get valuable experience that enables you to advance in your career. You need to bring something to the table. At various points in my life, I taught myself to code, about trademark law, Norwegian-styled knitting, neuropeptide chemistry, and a wide range of international business practices. Now I want to learn about Chinese history. I expect that this knowledge will somehow qualify me for an interesting opportunity at some point. It certainly gives me pleasure. Keep learning always.
What strategies do you rely on to retain and attract top talent at your company?
Hiring is always a challenge for startups. I think that I’m better at motivating and retaining great people than I am at hiring them. I do work hard to ensure that everyone who works with me understands how important it is that our mission succeeds, and that they are respected and appreciated for the role they’re playing in our company’s progress.
If you could have dinner with anyone from Present or Past, who would you want to dine with and what would you eat? Why?
Fun question! I like people who show vision, ambition, leadership, and a high tolerance for ambiguity and change. Pearl Buck, Shirin Ebadi, Jeanne Bare, Nellie Bly, Thomas Jefferson, Ann Richards, Cardinal Wolsey, Winston Churchill, Peter the Great, Gertrude Bell, Rosalind Franklin, Richard Engel, Justice Ginsburg, Janet Napolitano, Teddy Roosevelt, Sinclair Lewis, and Grace Hopper all come quickly to mind. Since this is my fantasy, my wonderful husband will join us and we’ll eat my father’s pasta Bolognese and drink good wine.
What are your interests outside of healthcare?
I have a young grandson who is very interesting. I’m a big sports fan who feels very lucky to live within walking distance of the San Francisco Giants and the Golden State Warriors’ stadiums. I am a world class knitter and am fairly accomplished at crochet. Studying needlework has been a fascinating lens to seeing the creativity of generations of women and their unique contributions to societies around the world. I’ve gotten very interested in the worldwide supply chain for the yarn and other materials that are used in needlecraft. It is not a remunerative skill set, but I am known for the handmade gifts that I give my friends and it gives me great pleasure.
Brian Silverstein
“The Headhunter for Digital Health Innovators”
Healthcare IT Project Manager
440-996-0877
bsilverstein@directrecruiters.com
Since 1983, Direct Recruiters, Inc. (DRI) has been recognized as the relationship-focused search firm that assists top-tier organizations with recruiting, acquiring, and retaining high-impact talent for mission-critical positions.
Norm Volsky Recaps Connected Health Conference
January 10, 2017
By Norm Volsky, Director of Mobile HIT
Last month, I attended the Connected Health Conference in Washington D.C. for the fourth consecutive year. There is always a lot of excitement leading up to the show with emerging companies eager to show off their innovative technology. This year there were mostly young, high growth companies in attendance. Of the many companies that were in attendance, the following caught my eye:
CareWire - Patient Engagement solution that uses text messaging communication exclusively. This vendor agnostic platform is a combination of episodic engagement (before and after an encounter) and wellness/population health communication. Unique offering since it is mobile secure but not an app that a patient or caregiver has to download onto their phone or tablet.
MedStack- Healthcare platform company that specializes in helping mobile health companies achieve privacy compliance and seamless integration/interoperability. MedStack helps its customers achieve HIPAA compliance and allows them to focus on what they are passionate about which is healthcare. This allows healthcare apps to make it to market faster.
Vitalitics- Data analytics vendor founded by former Intel employees that takes all of the data generated from wearable and connected devices and makes that data actionable. The company’s mission is to allow patients to better understand their health.
Iggbo- Uses on demand technology and a flexible workforce to solve some of the biggest challenges in healthcare. The Iggbo platform allows providers and patients the ability to schedule lab testing anytime, anywhere. Iggbo has an appointment compliance rating of 98.2%, compared to the industry average of 70%, as well as 99% patient satisfaction.
Validic- Digital Health Platform that allows accessibility and integration to patient recorded data from mHealth apps, devices and wearables. Recently named the Fastest Growing Digital Health Company in 2016 by Rock Health. They also were recognized by CIOReview as the Most Promising Healthcare Solution Provider of 2016.
Medssenger- Combining messaging and workflow to connect everyone involved across the entire continuum of care including Hospitals, Primary Care Practices, Nursing Homes, Acute Care Facilities, and ER’s and Surgery Centers. Their HIPAA-compliant app facilitates more efficient care delivery and allows the entire care team to know how a patient is doing following their care plan, leading to better outcomes.
Hale Health- Multi-modal Telemedicine platform that allows its 350+ clinics to increase their practice capacity by 30% by leveraging remote care interactions. Hale allows its clinicians to interact with their patient using: messaging, photos, videos, questionnaires and health education materials all in one place.
Early Sense- Sleep Monitoring app focused on elderly care that measures: Heart Rate, Respiration, Movement, Stress and Sleep. This info is sent in real time to family members and caregivers. The sensor is positioned under a patients bed and enables real time alerts to be sent to the care team with the goal of optimizing sleep and predicting readmissions.
Overall, I came back from the Connected Health Conference energized to get back to work in this great industry. Based on the impressive technology I saw, I am confident the mobile HIT space is thriving and poised for more growth. I feel so lucky to be able to work in a space where people are so passionate about improving patient care and hospital efficiency.
The next trade show I am planning on attending is HIMSS in Orlando…if you are interested in having your company highlighted in my next blog, please let me know.