Concept to Care Concept to Care, LLC

On the latest episode of Concept to Care, Sandy Huang, a seasoned consumer tech product executive, shares insights on joining a health tech company like GoodRx and the skills and insights she brings from her customer-focused product management background. She discusses the challenges of setting the right user experience bar in health tech and the elements of an effective product strategy. Sandy also shares her experiences in identifying target markets, understanding customer needs, and conducting market research. Sandy Huang shares insights on product strategy, execution, and healthcare innovation. She emphasizes the importance of customer obsession, continuous research, and the balance between science and art in product management. Additionally, she highlights the significance of understanding user needs and leveraging core competencies in building product strategies.
Here's a sneak peek into the discussion:
Sandy’s transition from consumer tech to health tech and the unique insights she brings from companies like Amazon and Shutterfly
The importance of setting the right user experience bar in health tech and strategies to find the right balance
Key elements of an effective product strategy, including a well-defined North Star vision and clear, measurable goals
The necessity of balancing a North Star metric with supporting metrics to ensure holistic success
Innovative approaches to identifying target markets and understanding customer needs through cost-effective research methods
Strategies for effective execution and roadmapping of product strategies, with examples from her work at Amazon Visual Shopping
Communicating strategy effectively using structured documents like Amazon’s six-pagers, tailored for company size and stage
Bringing a customer-obsessed mindset to GoodRx, addressing friction points, and creating win-win solutions for multiple stakeholders
Exciting developments and the need for more research in women's health tech
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Where to find Sandy Huang:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandyhuangproduct/
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Where to find Angela and Omar:
Angela Suthrave
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angela-suthrave/
X: https://twitter.com/ASuthrave
email: angela@concepttocare.com

Omar Mousa
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/omarmousa/
X: https://twitter.com/OmarMHealth
email: omar@concepttocare.com

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Referenced:
GoodRx: https://www.goodrx.com/
GoodRx Gold: https://www.goodrx.com/gold
Product Must-Haves versus Nice-to-Haves: https://medium.com/@vishallayog/must-haves-v-s-nice-to-haves-features-937cc1eb7178
Product Strategy: https://www.productplan.com/glossary/product-strategy/
Amazon Echo Show: https://press.aboutamazon.com/2023/9/amazon-unveils-next-generation-echo-show-8-all-new-echo-hub-and-new-echo-frames
Jive Collaboration Software: https://www.jivesoftware.com/
KPIs & Goal Setting: https://medium.com/@kaustubhkalita_31668/okr-and-kpi-striking-the-right-balance-for-goal-setting-ef8fd39dc06a
Types of user studies: https://www.userinterviews.com/ux-research-field-guide-module/user-research-methods
Amazon’s multi-modal search: https://searchengineland.com/amazon-new-search-functions-mobile-google-431967
Amazon 6-pagers: https://www.larksuite.com/en_us/blog/amazon-6-pager
How Product Discovery saves time and money: https://www.twentyideas.com/blog/how-product-discovery-saves-time-money
How GoodRx is a multi-sided marketplace: https://www.summithealth.io/insights/what-could-a-healthcare-marketplace-look-like-goodrx-is-trying-to-show-us
Product Dogfooding in software development: https://userpilot.com/blog/product-dogfooding/
Women + digital health: https://rockhealth.com/insights/building-comprehensive-women-digital-health-eight-sectors-serving-women-needs/
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Check out our website: https://www.concepttocare.com
Subscribe to our newsletter: https://concepttocare.substack.com/p/episode-9-sandy-huang

Today on Concept to Care, we welcome Smita Nair, Chief Product and Technology Officer at Equip, a pioneering health tech company dedicated to treating eating disorders and related conditions such as anxiety, depression, and OCD. Equip offers virtual, family-based treatments accessible to patients of all ages across all 50 states, leveraging a comprehensive approach to ensure broad reach and effectiveness.
In this episode, we'll delve into the crucial role of clinical expertise in developing and scaling digital health solutions. Smita will share strategies for achieving impactful healthcare outcomes, focusing on aligning organizational tasks with broader company goals and the importance of tying every action to key organizational metrics.
We'll explore Smita's approach to product development and strategic roadmapping, including maintaining flexibility in plans while ensuring stakeholder alignment. She'll explain how to balance strategic planning with the need for agility, especially in the dynamic healthcare sector.
Additionally, Smita will discuss building high-performing teams, emphasizing clear role definitions, collective accountability, and fostering psychological safety. She'll offer advice on addressing cultural and operational misalignments with new hires and promoting a culture where feedback is seen as a tool for growth.
Here are all the highlights of our conversation:
Experience and alignment with Equip’s mission and model
Importance of clinical expertise in developing healthcare solutions
Aligning organizational tasks with broader company goals
Effective application of OKRs (Objectives and Key Results)
Balancing strategic planning with agility
Building high-performing teams
Clear role definitions and collective accountability
Promoting a culture where feedback is a tool for growth
Integrating empathy and lean startup methodologies into product development
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Where to find Smita Nair
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nairsmita/
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Where to find Angela and Omar:
Angela Suthrave
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angela-suthrave/
X: https://twitter.com/ASuthrave
email: angela@concepttocare.com

Omar Mousa
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/omarmousa/
X: https://twitter.com/OmarMHealth
email: omar@concepttocare.com

—
Referenced:
Equip’s Company Website: https://equip.health/
Equip is hiring: https://equip.health/join-us#jobs
Equip was highlighted on Time100 as one of the most influential places to work: https://time.com/collection/time100-companies-2023/6285207/equip/
Equip was highlighted by Fast Company as one of the top most innovative companies of 2024: https://www.fastcompany.com/91040027/equip-most-innovative-companies-2024
Feedback is a gift, how to give and receive feedback: https://buffer.com/resources/how-to-give-receive-feedback-work/
Asana’s guide for creating company wide Objectives and Key Results (OKRs): https://asana.com/resources/setting-okrs
Pingboard’s — How to set up OKRs across departments: https://pingboard.com/blog/how-to-set-up-consistent-okrs-across-departments-okr-template/
Mind The Product’s — How to build high performing product management teams: https://www.mindtheproduct.com/how-do-you-build-a-successful-product-team/
A guide for helping candidates evaluate start-ups before they join the company: https://humaninterest.com/learn/articles/33-questions-help-evaluate-startup-job-offer/
How to build flexible product roadmaps: https://www.chameleon.io/blog/product-roadmaps
Smita’s favorite methodology — Lean Start-up Methodology: https://theleanstartup.com/principles
The importance of 1 on 1s — a comprehensive guide to 1 on 1 meetings: https://www.small-improvements.com/resources/1-on-1-meetings/
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Check out our website: https://www.concepttocare.com
Subscribe to our newsletter: https://concepttocare.substack.com/p/episode-8-smita-nair

Today on Concept to Care, we're joined by Richa Gujarati, the Senior Vice President of Product and GTM Strategy at HeartBeam. HeartBeam is a cardiac technology company that has developed the first and only credit card-sized 3D-vector electrocardiogram platform for home use.
We'll explore the genesis of Richa’s career in product and go-to-market strategy, tracing her journey through renowned organizations such as Johns Hopkins, St. Jude Medical, iRhythm, and Apple Health. You’ll discover the critical role of evidence generation in successfully bringing a healthcare product to market and learn strategies to achieve it.
Richa will delve into the intersection of product development and go-to-market strategy, offering insights on recognizing when these elements are in sync and how to realign your organization if they are not. She will share her expertise on competing with industry giants and maintaining a competitive edge, as well as tips on selling to health systems.
Additionally, Richa will provide her unique perspectives on the evolving role of product management in the health tech industry and advice on becoming a successful product manager in this field.
Here are all the highlights of our conversation:
Richa’s career path in product and go-to-market strategy
Experience at Johns Hopkins, St. Jude Medical, iRhythm, and Apple Health
Importance of evidence generation in bringing a healthcare product to market
Strategies for successful evidence generation
Insights on the intersection of Product and GTM, recognizing when they are in sync, and realigning the organization when needed
Strategies for competing with industry giants in health tech
Tips on selling to health systems
Evolving role of product management in the health tech industry
Deep dive into the hardware product manager role
Advice on becoming a successful product manager in this field

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Where to find Richa Gujarati:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richagujarati/


X: https://x.com/richaguj20


email: rgujarati@heartbeam.com

—
Where to find Angela and Omar:

Angela Suthrave

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angela-suthrave/


X: https://twitter.com/ASuthrave


email: angela@concepttocare.com



Omar Mousa

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/omarmousa/


X: https://twitter.com/OmarMHealth


email: omar@concepttocare.com


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Referenced:

HeartBeam Company Website:: https://www.heartbeam.com/


HeartBeam press release appointing Richa for SVP of Product and GTM: https://ir.heartbeam.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/58/heartbeam-appoints-richa-gujarati-and-pooja-chatterjee-to


Apple Health Website:: https://www.apple.com/ios/health/


iRhythm Technologies Company Website: https://www.irhythmtech.com/


Press announcement that St. Jude Medical is getting acquired by Abbot: https://www.abbott.com/corpnewsroom/strategy-and-strength/st-jude-medical-is-now-abbott.html


Johns Hopkins Bioengineering Innovation and Design, Master of Science in Engineering: https://e-catalogue.jhu.edu/engineering/full-time-residential-programs/degree-programs/biomedical-engineering/innovation-design-master-science-engineering/


Growth of the Evidence Base for Digital Health is Crucial for the Adoption: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/growth-evidence-base-digital-health-crucial-adoption-joseph-kvedar/


Understanding the Role of Clinical Champions and Their Impact on Clinician Behavior Change: The Need for Causal Pathway Mechanisms: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10012807/


Richa’s favorite everyday tooling:

monday.com for task management and some roadmapping functionality: https://monday.com/


Miro for flow diagramming and user journey mapping: https://miro.com/


dragonboat.io: for organizing product portfolios: https://dragonboat.io/



Richa’s favorite books:

Blue Ocean Strategy by Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne: https://www.blueoceanstrategy.com/what-is-blue-ocean-strategy/


The Lean Startup by Eric Ries: https://theleanstartup.com/

Today on Concept to Care, we're joined by Rik Renard.
Rik is the Director of Clinical Strategy at Awell, a low-code platform to design, orchestrate and improve care flows in days, rather than months. He's also the founding force behind CareOps, an initiative from Awell in partnership with the Health Tech Nerds community.
In this insightful conversation, we'll explore Rik's unique journey - from dedicated clinician nurse to health tech operator. We'll dive into how Awell intelligently designs care flows to reduce variability and improve outcomes across the care continuum.
Rik will share candid insights on implementing change in environments resistant to new methods, and how to leverage data to validate whether care flows are achieving the desired results.
Perhaps most exciting, we'll learn firsthand from Rik about the origins of CareOps - the vision behind it and where this movement is headed next.
Here are all the highlights of our conversation:
Rik's transformation from a clinician to a health tech startup operator and essential lessons for navigating a similar journey
A comprehensive exploration of the Awell platform, the market challenges it addresses, and the pivotal role of its low code platform to design, orchestrate, and improve care flows of top-tier care delivery organizations
Exploring the intricacies of crafting care flows and the importance of embracing a mindset of perpetual learning and refinement to ensure continual improvement in care delivery practices
Best practices in care flow implementation, with a detailed examination of the essential change management framework necessary for ensuring successful implementation
Examining the role of data in care flows, including considerations for design, measuring success over time, and implementing data-driven improvements
A story on the inception of CareOps, its mission, and forthcoming endeavors

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Where to find Rik Renard:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rik-renard/
X: https://twitter.com/rikrenard
email: rik@awellhealth.com
CareOps Website: https://www.careops.org/
Awell Website: https://awellhealth.com/
—
Where to find Angela and Omar:
Angela Suthrave
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angela-suthrave/
X: https://twitter.com/ASuthrave
email: angela@concepttocare.com

Omar Mousa
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/omarmousa/
X: https://twitter.com/OmarMHealth
email: omar@concepttocare.com

—
Referenced:
CareOps: https://www.careops.org/
Awell: https://www.awellhealth.com/
Awell Developer Hub: https://developers.awellhealth.com/
Health Tech Nerds (HTN): https://www.healthtechnerds.com/
Hospitalogy: https://hospitalogy.com/
Healthcare Huddle: https://www.healthcarehuddle.com/
XPrimaryCare: https://www.xprimarycare.com/
Clinicians who VC: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/christinafarr_im-starting-a-community-for-clinicians-who-activity-7098361236970471424-Jved/
Using this McKinsey Framework (Situation-Complication-Resolution (SCR)) to create sales enablement: https://www.stratechi.com/situation-complication-resolution-scr-framework/#:~:text=McKinsey %26 Company leverages the Situation,business environment and internal dynamics
Using the OODA Loop to help design care flows: https://thedecisionlab.com/reference-guide/computer-science/the-ooda-loop
The Book of Why: The New Science of Cause and Effect: https://a.co/d/dpGyHha
The Heart of Change: Real-Life Stories of How People Change Their Organizations: https://a.co/d/1FCUl78
Medplum: https://www.medplum.com/
Tava Health: https://www.tavahealth.com/
People mentioned
Thomas Casteele, CEO of Awell: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasvdc/
Blake Madden, Founder and Creator of Hospitality: https://www.linkedin.com/in/blakecmadden/
Jared Dashevsky, Resident Physician at Mount Sinai and Co-founder of Healthcare Huddle: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jareddash/
Kenneth Qiu, MD: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kenneth-qiu-md/
Chrissy Farr, Principal Investor, Health-Tech Lead at Omers Ventures: https://www.linke

Concept to Care speaks to Brendan Keeler. He is the Head of Product at Flexpa. Flexpa is a developer friendly infrastructure that connects applications to identified claims data. Flexpa enables effortless sharing of claims data with your application in seconds. They’ve created the fastest, simplest, HIPAA compliant method for accessing identified claims data from anyone.
You’re going to hear about Brendan’s experience at Epic and the role it played in laying the foundation for his healthcare career. Brendan will give us all a master class in interoperability, the types of problems and an in-depth view on the solutions in the market today. He will walk through his EMR selection playbook and share an intimate love letter to a particular EMR vendor. We will dissect Brandan’s brain for how he thinks about tech start up culture and how that manifests within Flexpa. Lastly, we understand the origin story of the Health API Guy and share lots of laughs throughout the episode.
Here are all the highlights of our conversation:

Brendan's odyssey through the realm of healthcare, and how he culminated his mastery of healthcare interoperability


Explaining the interoperability challenge, navigating the technical solutions available, and strategies for evaluating vendors in this landscape


Epic v Particle, an overview of what happened along with a perspective on potential paths forward


To EHR or not to EHR, how should think about build vs. buy, the len’s of your tech enabled organization, and a love letter to a headless EMR partner


Mastering your career journey: Cultivating your personal product “skill tree”, navigating expectations with finesse, and infusing humor into organizational culture.


Deep dive into who is the Health API guy and what’s next for him?

—
Where to find Brendan Keeler:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendan-keeler/


X: https://twitter.com/healthapiguy


Substack: https://substack.com/@healthapiguy

—
Where to find Angela and Omar:

Angela Suthrave

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angela-suthrave/


X: https://twitter.com/ASuthrave


email: angela@concepttocare.com



Omar Mousa

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/omarmousa/


X: https://twitter.com/OmarMHealth


email: omar@concepttocare.com


—
Referenced:

Flexpa: https://www.flexpa.com/


Flexpa’s Substack: https://flexpa.substack.com/


Brendan Keeler’s Newsletter - Health API Guys Substack: https://healthapiguy.substack.com/


How to identify use cases for interoperability: https://healthapiguy.substack.com/p/how-to-win-friends-and-integrate


Choices for connecting with other systems: https://healthapiguy.substack.com/p/the-only-three-ways-to-integrate


Brendan Keeler’s EMR Playbook: https://healthapiguy.substack.com/p/to-ehr-or-not-to-ehr


Health API Guy’s API Bible: The New Testament - Walkthrough for on-ramp APIs, open-aggregators, and closed-aggregators: https://healthapiguy.substack.com/p/the-api-bibles-new-testament-aggregators


Health API Guy’s API Bible: https://healthapiguy.substack.com/p/the-previously-undiscovered-bible


Epic v. Particle Health - Part 1: https://healthapiguy.substack.com/p/epic-v-particle


Epic v. Particle Health - Part 2: https://healthapiguy.substack.com/p/epic-v-particle-2-the-problem-of


Elion’s Interoperability Guide: https://elion.health/resources/guide-interoperability


Elion’s Headless EHRs: A Primer: https://elion.health/resources/headless-ehrs


Brendan’s Favorite Headless EMR, Medplum: https://www.medplum.com/


Health Tech Nerds is a great resource for crowd sourcing solutions for problems you may have as a PM or Operator: https://www.healthtechnerds.com/


Elion: https://elion.health/


Epic: https://www.epic.com


Particle Health: https://www.particlehealth.com/


Carequality: https://carequality.org/


Redox: https://www.redoxengine.com/


Zus Health: https://zushealth.com/


Canvas: https://www.canvasmedical.com/


Oak Street Health: https://

Concept to Care speaks to Ada Glover. Ada is a Co-Founder and the Chief Product Officer at Zus Health, a patient health data platform designed to help provider organizations drive impact with a comprehensive understanding of their patients and populations. At Zus Health, Ada leads product development and clinical strategy teams. Before the founding of Zus Health, Ada was an Executive Product Director at Athena Health. At athenahealth she was responsible for the revenue cycle, clinical, and value based care products.
In our conversation, we discuss:

Discover Ada's journey transitioning from the field of education tech to health tech, along with her guidance for those contemplating a similar career shift


Delve into the founding story of Zus Health and their overarching product strategy


The customer problem Zus Health set out to solve and the jobs-to-be-done (JTBD) for their customers


Deep dive into Zus Health’s Aggregated Profiles and Zaps


Introduction to healthcare data, their standards, and how Zus Health enables interoperability


Ada’s personal outlook on today’s electronic health record landscape


The sneak peak into the future of Zus Health’s product


Current state of the health tech industry with respect to data limitations, data standards, regulatory/compliance, and technical feasibility

—
Where to find Ada Glover:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ada-glover/


email: aglover@zushealth.com

—
Where to find Angela and Omar:

Angela Suthrave

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angela-suthrave/


X: https://twitter.com/ASuthrave


email: angela@concepttocare.com



Omar Mousa

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/omarmousa/


X: https://twitter.com/OmarMHealth


email: omar@concepttocare.com


—
Referenced:

Zus Health: https://zushealth.com/


Zus Aggregated Profiles: https://zushealth.com/zus-aggregated-profile/


Zus Health & Elation Partnership: https://zushealth.com/elation-health/


Zus Health & Canvas Partnership: https://zushealth.com/canvas/


Zus Health & Healthie Partnership: https://zushealth.com/healthie/


athenahealth: https://www.athenahealth.com/


Jonthan Bush, CEO of Zus Health: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanbushjr/


Commonwell: https://www.commonwellalliance.org/


Carequality: https://carequality.org/


ADT Network - Bamboo Health: https://bamboohealth.com/


ADT Network - Point Click Care: https://pointclickcare.com/


TEFCA: https://www.healthit.gov/topic/interoperability/policy/trusted-exchange-framework-and-common-agreement-tefca

—
Check out our website: https://www.concepttocare.com
Subscribe to our newsletter: https://concepttocare.substack.com/p/episode-4-ada-glover-co-founder-and-cpo
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