Category: Entrepreneurship

We were thrilled to have a distinguished product strategist, team leader, and customer support specialist from the post-acute and long-term care sector join us for today’s episode. 

Our guest, BJ Boyle, holds the position of Chief Product Officer at PointClickCare, a top healthcare technology platform dedicated to improving patient outcomes by fostering collaboration and offering real-time insights. 

In this discussion, we delve into the following: product strategy formulation, effective team leadership, and expert viewpoints on OKRs.

BJ’s Journey into Product Management

BJ has over 20 years of experience in product management, strategy, and development, witnessing the growth of product management as a career path in digital transformation companies within the healthcare sector. BJ didn’t initially plan to pursue a career in product management; instead, they began as an implementation specialist, traveling to skilled nursing facilities to install and train people on software.

 

I found great satisfaction in refining processes and collaborating with customers to ensure the delivery of their required solutions.

During an early experience with a client that decided not to move forward with a deal due to dissatisfaction with the software’s reporting features, BJ learned the importance of improving products based on customer feedback. This realization led BJ to work closely with engineering teams and customers to enhance products and ensure they met customer needs. Eventually, BJ’s passion for making things better and working with customers to deliver the best solutions evolved into a successful product management career.

The Transition to Electronic Health Records & Overcoming the Challenges 

As a director of social strategy development at Cerner, the transition from traditional pen-and-paper methods to electronic health records (EHRs) in healthcare organizations was a fascinating experience.

Initially, there was considerable resistance to transitioning to digital systems. However, over time, people began recognizing the benefits and efficiencies of digitization. 

While that’s true, BJ pointed out that: 

There is still much work to be done in utilizing the data from electronic health records and other digital systems to significantly enhance patient care and outcomes.

In the healthcare and technology space, challenges persist due to the complexity of the healthcare system and the involvement of numerous stakeholders. Implementing technology solutions requires not only the technology itself but also integration with existing systems and processes. Ensuring seamless operation remains a challenge. Moreover, effectively leveraging the vast data collected from electronic health records and digital systems to improve patient care and outcomes is still a work in progress. The focus is on using data to make better decisions and achieve better patient outcomes.

The Role of Product Management in Healthcare Integration

In the coming years, the healthcare system will focus on interoperability and seamless integration of new technologies and processes, with collaboration between organizations being crucial. Product management will play a critical role in understanding the challenges faced by healthcare organizations and identifying technological solutions to address them. By working closely with customers, partners, and internal teams, product managers can drive innovation and develop solutions that improve healthcare delivery and experience.

Entering a new industry with fresh perspectives allows product managers to ask better questions and listen more effectively to users and potential buyers. Instead of seeking affirmation for preconceived answers, focusing on genuinely understanding the customers’ needs helps in identifying the right problems to solve, ultimately leading to better solutions.

PointClickCare’s Success Pillars

At Point Click Care, which holds a leadership position in long-term post-acute care with a 70% market share, the focus is on being the engine that helps customers and future customers thrive in a rapidly changing healthcare landscape. 

Point Click Care recognizes that healthcare is not limited to a physical location and seeks to connect senior care customers to the broader healthcare ecosystem, ensuring a seamless journey for patients from emergency departments to rehab centers, senior living facilities, and beyond.

BJ adds: 

Healthcare is centered around individuals; it was vital for us to integrate our senior care customers into the larger healthcare ecosystem.

How to Reduce Silos and Unnecessary Work in Health Tech Systems

The primary goal is to provide the best possible care and achieve the highest outcomes for patients, while ensuring healthcare providers get paid for their services. As healthcare becomes increasingly complex, especially with value-based care models and multiple stakeholders, it is important to identify and remove friction points in the processes. 

One example is streamlining the flow of information between hospitals and long-term care facilities to avoid medication errors and readmissions. 

By leveraging technology and adopting electronic data transfer, Point Click Care successfully eliminated double documentation and significantly improved the accuracy and efficiency of the process, demonstrating the critical role of product management in healthcare innovation.

Regarding effective approaches, healthcare teams can focus on the following key aspects:

Meaningful Transitions

Improve data flow and validation during patient transfers from hospitals to skilled nursing facilities

Medication Reconciliation

Nurses and admissions coordinators should perform real-time medication reconciliation to reduce readmissions.

Focus on Impact

Product leaders should prioritize making a meaningful impact and measuring it rather than just completing tasks.

Translating Strategy

Understand the art and science of product management to convert solution strategies into tangible actions.

Adapting to Organizational Growth

Recognize that methods used at lower levels may not be as effective as one moves up in the organization.

Aligning Team Mindsets

Communicate the right mindset to different teams with varying goals, using appropriate frameworks and processes.

Enhancing Transparency in Post-Care Facilities Feedback

We have to grasp the personas, roles, and titles of those involved to help create a better connection to their workflow processes. First-hand experiences, such as shadowing staff or observing daily routines, reveal the importance of these interactions in real-life situations.

According to Mr. Boyle: 

Engaging with our customers, partners, and end-users is essential for understanding the personas, roles, and titles of our target audience, particularly in healthcare and health tech product management.

For instance, witnessing a medication nurse being frequently interrupted while administering medications highlights the need for better solutions. Early career experiences with point-of-care kiosks in skilled nursing facilities emphasize the importance of efficiency and user experience. Observing and learning from these situations helps improve health tech products and the overall user experience.

Summary 

As product management continues to evolve alongside the rapid advancements in technology, there are still untapped opportunities awaiting exploration. To ensure ongoing progress and success, product managers must remain mindful of key considerations and best practices in their field.

Here are the key take homes:

• Utilizing electronic health records and digital systems data can enhance patient care and outcomes but requires further development.
• Product management is crucial for healthcare integration, driving innovation, and creating solutions that address challenges faced by healthcare organizations.
• Streamlining information flow between healthcare providers and adopting electronic data transfer can reduce silos and improve efficiency.
• Engaging with customers, partners, and end-users helps understand target audience personas, roles, and titles, enhancing transparency in post-care facilities feedback.
• Observing real-life situations helps improve health tech products and user experiences by understanding users’ needs and experiences.

WATCH ALSO:

PODCAST #11. THE SKEPTICAL IDEALIST: HOW PRODUCT MANAGERS NAVIGATE HEALTH TECH CHALLENGES

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PODCAST #9. HOW TO SUCCEED IN PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT: ADVICE FROM A PRODUCT MANAGER

PODCAST #8. HOW INTELLIGENT PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT CAN IMPROVE INNOVATION EFFICIENCY

PODCAST #7. EXPOSING THE UNREVEALED PRODUCT SUCCESS: WHAT CONNECTIONS ARE KEY?

During this episode of our Careminds podcast, we discuss the complexities of product management and go-to-market strategies with our guest, Donna Cichani. Donna has a background in product management, A/B testing, and data analysis, and has worked with notable organizations such as Johns Hopkins Medicine, KPMG US, and JP Morgan. Currently, she is the lead product manager at Heal.

Our conversation with Donna covers topics like data analysis and strategic product planning, the differing mindsets between 0 to 1 and one to end product development, and methods to increase user engagement and product optimization. Drawing from her diverse experience in industries like healthcare, technology, banking, and finance, Donna shares her thoughts on the importance of strategic planning in product management.

Defining Success Criteria for Product Stages

When determining the success of a product, you consider both the user perspective and the business perspective. Using the example of an RPM solution called Pulse, designed for chronic disease management at Heal, we can explore the key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics that matter most.

Firstly, there are patient-centric KPIs that focus on adoption and usage. Monitoring how often users engage with the solution to record their vitals and biometrics is crucial. The main goal is to encourage patients to stay proactive in managing their chronic conditions by using the solution more frequently.

User centricity is key, focusing on how you are improving life and the experience for the end user.

Secondly, clinical outcomes are also important. By tracking improvements in specific health measures, such as A1C levels for diabetic patients or maintaining healthy blood pressure ranges for hypertensive patients, we can gauge the effectiveness of the solution in promoting better health.

Also, business KPIs, such as attribution, play a significant role. For the RPM solution, it is important to know what percentage of patients using the solution are attributed to Heal for their primary care doctors.

Defining the best approach for optimizing a product depends on the specific product and its maturity curve. Take, for example, the RPM solution mentioned earlier. The primary goal of any RPM solution is to encourage users to engage with it consistently and measure their biometrics routinely.

At one point, the team behind the RPM solution considered expanding its features to include medication refill reminders, envisioning a more comprehensive ecosystem for patient monitoring. However, they quickly recognized the importance of perfecting their core RPM capabilities before adding secondary features. By maintaining focus on their core competency, they ensured they wouldn’t dilute the solution’s main purpose.

Optimization often involves considering the user experience, especially when it comes to healthcare solutions. In the case of the RPM solution, refining its core features contributed significantly to increased patient engagement. This example highlights the importance of prioritizing the optimization of a product’s primary functions before expanding its scope.

When to Focus on New Features or Enhancements in Product Development

You should invest heavily in user research as it’s crucial for driving customer adoption and engagement. During the discovery phase, our team spent considerable time observing patients in their natural environments, using existing products like glucometers, and capturing their day-to-day experiences. This research also included understanding how nurses, doctors, and other providers utilized data points during home visits.

By conducting ethnography studies, user research, and interviews, we were able to identify key pain points, which we then translated into enhancements and feature opportunities to drive engagement. To ensure customer adoption, it’s essential to focus on understanding users’ pain points, observe their interactions with your product or similar products, and avoid relying solely on secondary sources or high-level questions.

I don’t think that user research for usability testing ends during the discovery phase.

It’s important to note that user research and usability testing don’t end during the discovery phase. After creating our first prototype, we went through two additional rounds of usability testing to validate our assumptions, identify any flaws in our user flow, and refine the solution iteratively. This process continued up until the launch of the minimum viable product (MVP).

The ability of product managers to remain detached from their original plans, even after investing significant time and effort, is fascinating. When real data no longer supports the initial plan, it’s crucial to let it go, find a new direction, and create a better product that serves users more effectively. This adaptability is an essential aspect of successful product management.

Effective Optimization Techniques & The Best Ways to Apply Them

Optimization techniques focus on understanding existing processes, examining them through the lens of various stakeholders involved in the end-to-end flow, and identifying opportunities for efficiencies. For instance, by analyzing a process that takes 10 days and involves five stakeholders, you can uncover ways to reduce the number of stakeholders or the time each takes to complete their part.

Process mapping, a technique that visually represents the steps involved in a process, helps identify bottlenecks, redundancies, and areas for improvement. A/B testing is another valuable technique, where two different versions of a feature or product are tested with the target audience to determine which performs better.

In my experience, one of the keys to successful optimization is to involve the entire team in the process.

Involving the entire team, including product, engineering, design, sales, and marketing, leads to a more holistic view of challenges and opportunities, ultimately driving better optimization decisions. Keeping the end user in mind is crucial, as the goal is to enhance their experience.

It’s important to acknowledge that the rapid growth of product management as a career has led to a mix of undisputed go-to practices and those still being defined through trial and error. Sharing experiences and learning from others in the community can help navigate this evolving field and contribute to its development.

What Drives a Product Manager: The Exciting Facets of a PM’s Career

Effective management in product management involves three key aspects. First, tailor your approach to the needs of each individual on your team, recognizing that there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Second, invest in the long-term career growth of your team members, extending beyond the scope of your organization, by providing mentorship and opportunities for personal and professional development.

The third aspect involves being able to oversee the work of your team without micromanaging, while still being prepared to jump in and help when necessary. Balancing trust and autonomy with support is essential for successful management.

It’s an exciting time for all the PMs because we are focusing on doing good and building impactful products and services that can make people’s lives better.

In terms of current excitement in the field, AI and machine learning are opening many doors in product management. There’s a rewarding shift in focus in both healthcare and fintech industries. In fintech, increased emphasis on financial literacy and access to banking products for the unbanked population is driving positive change. Meanwhile, healthcare is moving towards value-based care, focusing on preventative measures and overall population health, which reduces costs and the burden on the healthcare system. This is an exciting time for product managers as they work on building impactful products and services that improve people’s lives.

Wrapping Up

As product managers continue to navigate this rapidly evolving field, learning from industry experts like Donna and sharing experiences within the community will be invaluable in driving growth and creating impactful products that make a difference in people’s lives. Key takeaways from our conversation include:

• Defining success criteria for product stages: It’s crucial to consider both user and business perspectives when determining the success of a product.
• Focusing on core competencies in optimization: Prioritize optimizing a product’s primary functions before expanding its scope or adding new features.
• Conducting user research and embracing adaptability: Engage in user research, usability testing, and iterate on your product based on data and feedback, and remain open to change when necessary.
• Effective management and exciting developments in the field: Tailor your approach to individual team members, invest in their long-term career growth, and maintain a balance between autonomy and support. Embrace the exciting opportunities in AI, machine learning, and the shifting focus of various industries.

WATCH ALSO:

PODCAST #13. The Psychology of Product Management: Unlocking Human Insights & OKRS

PODCAST #12. THE PRODUCT MANAGER’S PATH TO HAELTH TECH INNOVATION: PRODUCT STRATEGY, LEADERSHIP & OKRS

PODCAST #11. THE SKEPTICAL IDEALIST: HOW PRODUCT MANAGERS NAVIGATE HEALTH TECH CHALLENGES

PODCAST #10. WEB 3.0 AND HEALTHCARE: OPPORTUNITIES FOR GROWTH AND COLLABORATION

PODCAST #9. HOW TO SUCCEED IN PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT: ADVICE FROM A PRODUCT MANAGER

Our 15th episode of the Caremind podcast features an engaging conversation with Ali Littman, Head of Engineering at Modern Health. If you’ve been curious about the inner workings of tech leadership, this is an episode you don’t want to miss.

As a respected voice in her field, Ali regularly shares her knowledge and experience in management and leadership at various forums. She stands out for her unique approach, seamlessly combining technical expertise with empathetic leadership, serving as a lighthouse for those finding their way in tech.

But Ali’s role extends beyond her responsibilities at Modern Health. She’s also passionate about nurturing future leaders, offering coaching and mentorship that empowers individuals to set and achieve their career goals, tackle imposter syndrome, and overcome professional obstacles.

In our latest chat, we discuss the multifaceted aspects of coaching, technical product management, and engineering.

The Unconventional Road to Engineering Leadership

Ali Lid’s career path hasn’t been the typical one. It’s characterized by a deep exploration of the healthcare industry and an adept understanding of technology, which has established her as a strategic force within various organizations. This navigation through the sectors helped her accumulate a broad knowledge base, crucial for her to excel in the Technical Product Management (TPM) function and within engineering.

Her responsibilities were diverse, including the design of architecture and organizational strategies. These responsibilities not only drew on her healthcare industry insights but also on her grasp of business operations, fueling the engineering initiatives she spearheaded.

According to Ali:

I definitely have a bit of a nonstandard career path.

As time passed, she was afforded the chance to grow within her roles, gradually taking on tasks that were once the domain of an engineering director. She was entrusted with additional engineering teams, propelling her growth further.

How Technical PMs Can Tackle Career Growth Challenges  in Medium & Large Companies

Ali Lid suggests that roles such as technical project managers and technical product managers can often be less defined in many companies, especially if the teams are small. This can lead to rapid early growth, but as structure is introduced into these organizations, they often remain flat, making further growth more challenging to navigate.

Additionally, if the roles are less defined, or a career ladder is introduced later than when you joined the organization, there may be a lack of alignment around the expectations for each level and what growth opportunities could look like. As such, it’s crucial to establish your growth goals early and communicate them with your manager or mentor to plan your career progression effectively.

It’s really important to as early as possible, establish what your growth goals are and communicate them with your manager or mentor, so that you can start planning for your career progression.

However, in these organizations, you might need to work extra hard to demonstrate your value and impact, especially during the startup phase. This can be even more challenging if you don’t have all the necessary tools to demonstrate your impact, such as product analytics.

Strategic Thinking for Self-Promotion: What are the Core Elements?

Ali believes self-promotion is closely tied to understanding how success is measured in terms of business impact. Aligning your work with business goals demonstrates value, and understanding how success is measured relative to your career ladder can help you have more productive conversations with management about your growth.

The way I think about self-promotion has a lot to do with really understanding how success is measured, which I think a lot of it comes down to impact and what the business is trying to do.

Once you understand these concepts, Ali recommends continually identifying instances where you’re adding value and expressing your skills, and sharing these with your managers. This is the first level of self-promotion: letting your managers know the value you’re adding to the business.

The second level of self-promotion, is at the department level. You should make it clear how your work is benefiting your sub-organization or peers, which makes your value and influence more visible to other management members and peers.

The third level of self-promotion is at the company level. Show how your work drives the company forward and seize opportunities to present this to everyone. This gives you more visibility with senior leadership and the chain of leadership that approves promotions, and it can also help you gain sponsorship and feedback to build your case for growth.

However, when it comes to communicating and influencing upper management or stakeholders, it can be challenging to cut through the day-to-day noise. Aligning your communication with company goals and speaking the language of business value that the leadership cares about can help you stand out and promote your work effectively.

HealthTech Success: Why Technical Product Managers are Essential

Technical product managers are very important for health care because it’s a specialized, highly regulated, and rapidly changing industry. There are all these different recurring players in this complex web of relationships and integrations, and there are constantly new players, resources, and rules. Because of that, we really need people in this role to support the foundations of our systems to meet the needs of the industry and the ability for companies to work within it but also disrupt it.

This requires a lot of focus on ensuring that our systems can integrate with and scale alongside or operate meaningfully differently but still play by the rules. Technical product managers play a crucial role in that, and that’s where you end up getting that same marriage of the techno-functional side of things as well as the health care expertise needing to be well understood. They coordinate across all the different engineering teams and external partners to ensure that our systems operate in a way that scales and makes sense.

Talking about the importance of doing due diligence before going into a new company, career-wise, Ali suggests the following for immersing oneself in the business context:

• The company’s financing situation
• The market and strategic moment the company is in
• Whether the company has achieved product-market fit
• The company’s profitability
• Whether the company has an opportunity or has cornered the market or is in a highly competitive space
• If the company is going through hyper-growth
• The state of the economy in which the company operates

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Factors that Shape Our Choices: Constraints, Values, and More

It’s essential not to overlook the financial aspect of the business you’re involved in. If you’re not familiar with the basics of finance, it’s well worth your time to get up to speed. Start by learning about the customers – who they are and how they contribute to the business’s revenue. Understand how the business earns money and what factors can affect this income.

Make sure to look into the return on investment (ROI) for different business decisions. Identify the areas that consistently bring in money (cash cows) and the ones that seem to drain resources. Get a handle on the company’s budget and runway – or how long the company can keep running at its current burn rate.

When it comes to scaling technical product management teams and engineering teams, combining technology and operations is crucial. The top three components for technology include:

• Deciding what you want to be core to your business and what your team should spend time on.
• Finding technological ways to make development more efficient, such as standardized assets or service templates.
• Standardization across platforms, standards, and processes to ensure consistency and avoid technical debt.

On the operations side, the top three components for scale include:

• Strong people management, including scaling your hiring function, onboarding, and performance management.
• Communication flows to ensure that information is shared effectively as the organization grows.
• Decision-making strategies that allow for distributed decision-making while still maintaining clear accountability and shared processes for cross-functional resolutions.

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How Management Principles Impact Personal Growth

The question of what to optimize for in life is indeed a profound one. It’s important to recognize that work and personal life don’t exist in isolation; they merge together to form the totality of one’s experience.

I don’t view work as entirely separate from my personal life. It’s a happy blend of the two that make up the entirety of my existence.

Through self-reflection and life coaching, you can identify the key values, objectives, and emotions that you wish to prioritize in your life. It’s beneficial to embrace emotions in the workplace, as many of our aspirations are linked to the feelings we desire to cultivate.

This approach can be applied to both professional and personal goals, aiming for specific experiences. For instance, if mentoring and fostering growth in others brings you joy, seek a job that allows you to do this regularly. Outside work, engage in activities that you love, such as rollerblading, which may also provide mentorship opportunities.

By employing the same frameworks to your work and personal life goals, you can devise an optimal plan to become the person you aspire to be.

In Brief…

Below are 3 takeaways from speaking with Ali:

• Non-Traditional Career Paths and Leadership Roles: Ali advocates for the importance of defining growth goals early on, especially for roles like technical project managers and product managers where role definitions may be less clear in smaller companies.
• Strategic Self-Promotion: Self-promotion should occur at three levels – with managers, at the department level, and at the company level. Effective self-promotion allows for more visibility, sponsorship, and feedback, all of which are essential for career growth.
• The Importance of Technical Product Managers in HealthTech: In a specialized, regulated, and rapidly changing industry like healthcare, technical product managers play a crucial role. They support the foundations of the system, ensure it can integrate with and scale alongside others, and help the company operate within industry rules. 

WATCH ALSO:

PODCAST #14. HOW TO EXCEL IN STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR EFFECTIVE PRODUCT MANAGEMENT: TIPS FROM AN INDUSTRY EXPERT & OKRS

PODCAST #13. THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PRODUCT MANAGEMENT: UNLOCKING HUMAN INSIGHTS & OKRS

PODCAST #12. THE PRODUCT MANAGER’S PATH TO HAELTH TECH INNOVATION: PRODUCT STRATEGY, LEADERSHIP & OKRS

PODCAST #11. THE SKEPTICAL IDEALIST: HOW PRODUCT MANAGERS NAVIGATE HEALTH TECH CHALLENGES

PODCAST #10. WEB 3.0 AND HEALTHCARE: OPPORTUNITIES FOR GROWTH AND COLLABORATION

Today’s Careminds series features a special conversation with Russell Taff, the former head of product at Ready. Russell, with his wide range of experience and in-depth understanding, shared his perspectives on the healthtech industry. We had discussions spanning from the granular details to broader insights, as we tracked his journey from being a software developer to ascending to the role of VP of product. The narrative is rich with pointers that could help new engineers pave their path to success. Let’s dive right in.

Choosing Product Development: The Story Behind the Decision

From his formative years at General Assembly in New York, Russell first cut his teeth on web development. His initial technical background was broadened significantly during an apprenticeship at an early-stage EdTech startup, where Russell learned valuable lessons about product management, including the importance of clear communication, vision, and capacity planning.

Russell’s career took a decisive turn when he transitioned into roles as a support engineer and solutions architect at a Series B startup. He found himself at the forefront of the company’s relationship with its user base, effectively translating complex technical concepts into business cases. His experiences there amplified his growing interest in product management.

His first significant role as a product manager was at Rocket Wagon, an IoT consulting firm. A mentor, Alex Casts, provided him with invaluable guidance on incorporating data at the core of their operations. Casts also introduced Russell to powerful project management principles that have since become part of his professional toolkit.

When Russell eventually joined health tech firm Ready, as Director of Product Operations, his key focus was to enhance the product’s scalability and make product feedback more effective. Following a promotion to Vice President of Product at Ready, Russell faced the challenge of steering the company in a new direction as COVID-related demands began to recede. He needed to have both a grand vision for the company’s future and a clear plan for how to get there, requiring precise financial management, astute risk assessment, and a high degree of focused execution.

Transitioning into Product Management: What Qualities Do You Need?

Firstly, having a sense of compassion is key. Having had firsthand experience at the frontline, I’ve developed empathy for users. It’s essential to understand the reasons behind users’ requests for new features or bug fixes. Don’t just see these as new tasks; delve into the core of why these requests are being made. Trust me, this understanding will build trust and create a powerful dialogue with users.

Always be open to learning. Learn from everyone – those above you, those below you. Never shy away from saying, “I don’t quite understand this, could you explain further?” Embrace every teachable moment that comes your way.

Keep your hands dirty. It’s vital to be involved in every step of product development. Before using a new template or an existing one in a new project, test it out yourself. Ensure it’s the right fit. Don’t just try to make things work; ensure they’re the right tools for the job.

Don’t forget to include visual representations of your ideas. It’s not just about words on paper; your ideas need to come to life visually. This approach fosters collaboration and opens up opportunities for feedback.

How Software Engineers Can Get Better at Business Documentation

Trust-building is a must in any work relationship. Be clear about why you’re questioning anything to prevent any misunderstanding about your intentions. It’s all too easy for stakeholders to feel their ideas are being dismissed when they hear “no,” even when the real issue is limited resources.

Communicating with stakeholders to understand their perspective is vital. Gathering insights and helping justify requests ensures a shared understanding.

Cultivate trust by clearly articulating your reasoning, explaining the “whys” and “why nots,” and showing how an idea might work now or in the future. Displaying vulnerability and a readiness to learn can also help create a collaborative environment where everyone feels comfortable admitting when they don’t understand something.

As a leader, it’s vital to create a space where vulnerability is welcome. This kind of open communication can strengthen teams by fostering mutual respect and encouraging learning from each other. Conversely, if communication isn’t transparent, teams can start to fragment.

Product managers need to also demonstrate active listening and meaningful engagement with people’s ideas. Always question and understand the reasoning behind all actions – big or small. This strategy drives progress and helps prevent the team from losing sight of the collective goal.

Consumer Preferences Matter: Why Some Products Win and Others Don’t

In the dynamics of an organization, there can often be misconceptions about the technical or product teams. Particularly among stakeholders, both internal and external, the word “no” is heard frequently. This occurrence is not due to any mistrust or disbelief in the merit of an idea but often arises from the constraints of finite resources and decision-making capacity.

So, it still boils down to trust. Explain why you’re challenging something, so people understand it’s not a distrust in their ideas, but rather a consideration of priorities. Being upfront about your “whys” or “why nots” can help build this trust and foster a collaborative environment.

There needs to be a space where people feel safe to express their doubts, fostering an atmosphere of learning. It’s when communication breaks down and feelings are kept hidden that teams start to falter.

More importantly, you should listen. Understand the essence of people’s ideas, continually questioning why we’re doing what we’re doing. This mindset keeps us focused on our collective goals.

An interesting example from the healthcare sector illustrates how behavioral economics influence consumer decisions. The ‘left digit bias’ concept, where even a slight price difference, like choosing between gas priced at 4.99 and 5.01, impacts choices.

Pre-pandemic, healthcare choices were frequently based on value and accessibility rather than exhaustive comparisons. However, in the post-pandemic world, factors like convenience, safety, and trust in service providers have become paramount. By understanding what elicits positive or negative experiences, we can craft solutions that resonate more effectively with users.

Adding or Improving: When Is the Right Time to Shift Focus in Product Development?

We frequently see companies rush to release new features or products without putting enough thought into tracking their performance or visibility. This common shortcoming can lead to missed signals that are critical to various stakeholders within the organization. It’s crucial to align on the data with all parties involved, ensuring the agreed-upon success metrics are clearly defined and measurable for each project.

Moreover, understanding your audience also helps, whether that’s internal users navigating workflows or external customers engaging with your product. Each product or feature released should cater to a specific cohort and encourage them to perform a well-defined action. This could vary from clicking a sign-up button to entering their insurance information into a workflow. The key is to clearly define these aspects, understand them, and engage in targeted personalization and segmentation to encourage action.

Having a clear vision and articulating it effectively is crucial. Each feature we’re working on must contribute to the meaningful future of the company.

While the idea of testing might conjure images of lengthy processes with numerous steps, the reality is much simpler. By having a defined cohort and a clear action, you can execute simple tests even at the point of release. Changes to words or colors, A/B testing in production, and other modifications can yield insightful data about how to move your target audience over the action line effectively.

This understanding of growth and goal-setting is crucial. Good product management also requires keeping an eye on environmental factors such as economic conditions and current events, which may affect your product or its marketing strategy. For instance, in the healthcare sector, the news cycle can greatly influence public perception. By aligning your message with the current sentiment, you can tap into these fluctuations and use them to your advantage.

Additionally, timing should align with communication, especially in value-based care workflows. The comprehension of environmental factors and patient lifestyles contributes to more meaningful communication. 

The 80/20 principle advises focusing 80% of your time on the most crucial 20% of the work. This strategy guides prioritization and ensures that important tasks get the attention they need.

If you understand your patients or users’ routines, you can communicate effectively at the most opportune times. While it’s essential to grasp the difference between correlation and causation, hypothesizing about potential correlations and reducing noise as much as possible can help you master your data rather than always playing catch-up.

What Are the Essentials of Building a Successful Product Development Team?

The concept of collective ownership is something product managers should be passionate about and strive to bring to each project. Rusell believes that including everyone in the team, from ideation through to solution, cultivates a greater sense of ownership and responsibility. This shared ownership fosters team unity, enhances motivation, and ultimately results in a product that everyone is more emotionally invested in.

For every new project, it’s essential to include everyone in the team from the initial ideation phase through to solution. This approach fosters a sense of collective ownership.

The impact of this approach is significant because teams that feel a sense of ownership, rather than just contribution, are more likely to be driven by empathy for the end-user. This empathy can lead to more user-centric solutions, as team members feel more compelled to question and improve upon aspects of the product that may not provide an optimal user experience, even if they adhere to the original specifications.

Further, incorporating input from stakeholders at all levels and across different teams can strengthen the overall solution. For instance, involving customer service in brainstorming sessions can provide valuable insights from a unique perspective. Such inclusive collaboration not only drives motivation but also ensures a richer understanding of the problem and the proposed solution.

Taking the concept of collective ownership a step further, it’s important to consider the positive habits and associations we want to foster with what we’re building. Using BJ Fogg’s behavior model, which posits that behavior is a product of motivation, ability, and a prompt, we can create solutions that users will find genuinely beneficial and become habitual users of.

A practical application of this model can be seen in the telehealth space, where functionality has been transformative, particularly for those with limited access to healthcare services, such as individuals in rural areas. These tools are especially vital for mental health services, which might be scarce in these regions.

However, while these advancements are promising, caution must be exercised to avoid pitfalls such as overprescribing. In this regard, technology can provide a solution by utilizing artificial intelligence and machine learning to analyze comprehensive patient data. Such insights can lead to personalized treatment plans, thereby reducing the risk of unnecessary prescriptions.

Wrapping Up

In our engaging podcast with Russell Taff, we gleaned vital insights for burgeoning engineers and product managers. Here are three distilled points:

• Product Management Transition: Embrace user empathy, effective communication, and continuous learning when shifting from software development to product management.
• Engineering-Business Documentation: Foster trust and collaboration with clear, concise communication that encourages openness among stakeholders.
• Consumer-Centric Product Development: Understand consumer behavior and needs, incorporate data-driven strategies, and establish clear success metrics for impactful product development.
• Collective Ownership in Teams: Create a sense of shared responsibility to enhance motivation and create more user-centric solutions.
• Behavioral Economics in Healthcare: Consider behavioral economics and adapt to shifting consumer preferences, particularly in light of significant industry changes, such as those induced by the pandemic.

WATCH ALSO:

PODCAST #15. ENGINEERING LEADERSHIP: HOW TO INTEGRATE TEAM COACHING & HEALTHTECH PRODUCT MANAGEMENT & OKRS

PODCAST #14. HOW TO EXCEL IN STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR EFFECTIVE PRODUCT MANAGEMENT: TIPS FROM AN INDUSTRY EXPERT & OKRS

PODCAST #13. THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PRODUCT MANAGEMENT: UNLOCKING HUMAN INSIGHTS & OKRS

PODCAST #12. THE PRODUCT MANAGER’S PATH TO HAELTH TECH INNOVATION: PRODUCT STRATEGY, LEADERSHIP & OKRS

PODCAST #11. THE SKEPTICAL IDEALIST: HOW PRODUCT MANAGERS NAVIGATE HEALTH TECH CHALLENGES

In this episode, our guest was Christoff Heunis, CEO of Flux Robotics. Educated in mechatronic and biomedical engineering, Christoff began his Ph.D. in surgical robotics. He turned his attention to rehabilitation engineering after his friend’s mother had a stroke. Christoff began researching rehabilitation devices that help patients recover by building connections in the brain, similar to how small children learn to sit, walk, and talk. The devices support the patient through this journey anew, returning to an acceptable quality of life.

Read Also: WHAT IS AI IN HEALTHCARE?

Advancing Surgical Robotics with Surgeon Collaboration

The interest in rehabilitative engineering turned into an interest in surgical robotics, and that’s how the Flux One project came about. In discussions with surgeons, Christoff found that most preferred open-body surgery to noninvasive techniques. But for the patient, the second method would be much superior because it greatly reduces the chance of blood loss and potential infections, as well as shortens the recovery period. Not to mention that cosmetically, it avoids unsightly scars.

“You don’t take the surgeons out of the loop; it is that you’re just merely enhancing their skills.”

Redefining Surgery with Magnetic Robotic Innovation

Christoff thought it made sense to create a device that would make no difference if surgeons operated with their hands or medical equipment. This is how the concept of a robotic arm emerged, which has a magnet that moves surgical instruments. A magnet can access the head, heart, and stomach and still avoid a whole operation. At the same time, the surgeon’s hands don’t get tired from work.

Read Also: AUGMENTED AND VIRTUAL REALITY IN MEDICINE AND HEALTH CARE

To develop such a prototype, the Christoff team analyzed all existing medical technologies involving a magnet – their pros and cons. There is no template to follow from a prototype to a certified product ready to be used in a hospital. It’s always cut and try. When you sit down with a team of specialists and think about how the product should look in two months or a year, very often, the vision changes as you go along. It doesn’t matter how good the product or the idea is; it’s how easy the implementation is.

“Always start at the end and ask yourself just what do we want to do, which is the point.”

***

The APP Solutions launched a podcast, CareMinds, where you can hear from respected experts in healthcare and Health Tech.

Who is a successful product manager in the healthcare domain? Which skills and qualities are crucial? How important is this role in moving a successful business to new achievements? Responsibilities and KPIs?

Please find out about all this and more in our podcast. Stay tuned for updates and subscribe to channels –

Spotify: https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/abvcQJFW3tb

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SL9CfKy5ZqM

In this episode, we talk to Martin Högl, a true IT Healthcare professional and a father of 6 children. Martin founder of digital healthcare service providers medworx.io, giniMED, and Teamediothat connects both healthcare providers and patients. But before he got involved in developing this product, Martin worked his way up from an industrial mechanical engineer. He moved to the U.S. in 1993, and in 1999 he started a startup (it wasn’t mainstream then) in the healthcare industry on the Internet. Back then, the Internet was trendy, but enterprises still weren’t sure what the future held for this technology.

READ ALSO:

PODCAST #1. CREATING A FUTURISTIC SURGICAL ROBOT

HOW TO MAKE EHR/EMR EPIC INTEGRATION WITH YOUR HEALTH APP

HOW TO MAKE A MEDICAL APP: THE ULTIMATE GUIDE

Navigating the Complex Health Sector in Germany

Then the company turned into a consulting business – Germany turned out to be too conservative for digitizing the health sector. Then there was a joint telecommunications project with Siemens – hardware & software as a service, which was eventually implemented with completely new partners. So Martin’s company was not only a SAAS, but at the same time, it was running this service as a telecommunications provider. All this experience ultimately helped Martin to beat 130 competitors to a contract with one of Germany’s largest healthcare companies. The nuances of doing business in Germany required Martin to create a second spin-off company.

“I can close the door, and I can leave it. And I can say: “Okay, maybe tomorrow is the next day, and we can make it happen the next day.” Sometimes it works.”

Trust, Technology, and Enjoying the Ride

Martin emphasizes the difficulty of finding a reliable IT partner because you invest a lot of money and work on a solution for 2-3-5 years; by that time, it is already out of date. According to Högl, no one believed launching a cloud solution in the German healthcare sector was possible. But Martin was able to – their solution allows them to work on a central platform rather than providing software code. Based on such a platform, Comjoodoc can deploy cloud services very fast. But the main thing was that healthcare providers trusted Martin with their personal data. The service doesn’t deal with patients but with their identities.

HEALTHCARE CYBERSECURITY: HOW TO PROTECT PATIENT DATA

Embracing Innovation and Rule-Breaking for Success

“You need to have fun, and that’s a big topic even if you’re older. I’m 56 right now, and I’m always keen on topics and the work that enlightens and drives me. And it gives me joy and fun throughout the day.”

Martin says there’s always a big difference between what kind of employee you need and what’s actually on the market. A good CTO is not only a technician but also an entrepreneur, a true rock star!

“All future CEOs who are listening to it, who dares wins, and sometimes you need to play by the rules, but to not play, you need to find the rules.”

The APP Solutions Expertise: Success Story

Case Study: A White-Label Telemedicine Platform

The client is the owner of a medical center in Berlin, Germany. After the COVID-19 outbreak, he faced the need to provide patients with a distance communication solution to decrease the number of offline visits, while enabling doctors to monitor vital patient health data and streamline communication with a laboratory. 

For his goals, the client decided to use a comjoodoc telemedicine app, popular in the German region, that includes: 

• Two mobile apps: one for patients and one for medical professionals, developed on React Native.
• A web application built on Node JS and Typescript. The web app also leverages Doker as app containerization technology and Kubernetes for automated deployment and management. 
  
  
  

After working with us, the client received a white-label telemedicine platform with advanced features that took us two months.

The while-label platform brings benefits to both types of users:

Medical professionals can exchange files with patients via secured live chat, send, and receive laboratory tests in a more streamlined way. 

Patients can receive high-quality medical services in the comfort of their homes, schedule appointments with doctors, attend medical meetings online, get receipts for medication, and medical treatment plans with a daily schedule. The app also allows patients to pay for medical services online. 

***

The APP Solutions launched a podcast, CareMinds, where you can hear from respected experts in healthcare and Health Tech.

Who is a successful product manager in the healthcare domain? Which skills and qualities are crucial? How important is this role in moving a successful business to new achievements? Responsibilities and KPIs?

Please find out about all this and more in our podcast. Stay tuned for updates and subscribe to channels –

Spotify: https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/abvcQJFW3tb

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SL9CfKy5ZqM

How often do you meet clients so inspired by an idea that they can’t wait to start development right here, right now? They are passionate about their project and driven by a natural desire to see the final product as soon as possible. Hence, they constantly push the entire management and development team. And this may seem logical – start earlier, finish sooner; what’s the point of fighting the moonlight?

However, in software development, the primary role is played by preparing the project itself. It is the Project Discovery Phase that is crucial for successful development. After all, if the product doesn’t meet the market demand, it won’t matter how well it is made.

Starting work without proper planning is like putting together a puzzle without having a picture of what needs to be done. Of course, all the pieces will fit in the end, but how much time will be lost? As many developers confess, in almost half of such cases, the development process goes beyond the original financial and time limits, while the result leaves much to be desired. And all because the starting stage was conducted carelessly or even skipped in order to start work on the spot.

The better you prepare for the project, the more likely it will go smoothly. Although it will delay the launch, it is undoubtedly worth it. This preparation is the Project Discovery Phase. Let’s understand what goes into it, and what depends on it.

FUNCTIONAL VS NON-FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS: MAIN DIFFERENCES & EXAMPLES

What Is the Discovery Phase

Usually, the project life cycle includes the following stages: initiation, planning, execution, control, and completion. Of course, the better groundwork you provide for the project at the initiation stage, the smoother the path your team will be able to take later on. 

The Project Discovery Phase is the planning phase of project initiation, when team members gather information about the project, determine a budget, and form precise project boundaries. The purpose of the discovery phase is to be able to make data-driven decisions and reduce all risks associated with product development. 

This includes gathering and analyzing information about the project, its target audience, scope, and objectives. This phase also examines additional information related to the development process, such as primary and secondary functions and measurable performance.

The Discovery Phase can last from a couple of days to several weeks, or even months, depending on the project’s complexity and scope of work. The Discovery phase is usually placed in the first sprint in a modern Agile management system. It helps to determine how well the software development team and  business owner understand each other from the beginning. 

OUTSTAFFING VS. OUTSOURCING VS. MANAGED SERVICES: DIFFERENCES AND BENEFITS

What Happens in the Project Discovery Phase?

HIRING A DEVELOPER FOR YOUR BUSINESS: A SIX STEPS GUIDE

The Step-By-Step Process of the Product Discovery Stage

In the Discovery Phase, it is important to follow a consistent algorithm of actions; modern Agile management framework helps the team in this. If you follow it steadily, then the software development project will become a predictable and pleasant activity for the client, just as a house is built quickly and smoothly according to the drawings of an experienced professional architect.

SHOULD YOU HIRE APP DEVELOPERS NEAR ME OR OUTSOURCE OVERSEAS?

It’s worth talking to clients first, finding out what they already have in their pockets. They may have already done user research themselves, have a software development team but not enough people to manage all the processes. Or, the customers just came in with an idea and very rough budget, and all these “floating” elements need to be put together with a directive strategy that turns into a rock-solid roadmap. So, how do we start project discovery checklist?

This step helps determine the main problem you want to solve with the software. Based on this, decide who will be the primary contact person on the implementer’s side.

The first phase of the Project Discovery Phase involves discussions with the founder or owner of the product. The survey method gathers as much information as possible about the vision and future product, its goals and business needs. The data is then passed to the executing company’s internal use to move on to the subsequent phases.

 

WHAT TECH STACK TO CHOOSE FOR YOUR PROJECT

This list should include product owners, project managers, administrators, end users, developers, investors, and any other categories involved in creating or using the finished product.

Determine who serves as the key facilitator. Provide the manager with any current information or documentation about the project. This person decides what is missing and what is hindering the project.

The project manager, business analyst, and account manager lead in the discovery phase. Sometimes they may be joined by developers and designers. They help with SRS, prototype wireframes, or scope estimates.

The project management role during the discovery phase of a project is extensive, from planning and organizing internal meetings and recording all the details discussed to ensuring productive interaction between developers and the product development team on time and within budget.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT FOR SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT: THE APP SOLUTIONS TIPS

Prepares the project’s usage scenarios and requirements, goals, and target audience. In addition, he/she will be responsible for researching the product’s niche, competitors, and customers. The business analyst decides whether the product is needed in the market as the customer sees it, and whether to make any changes based on the collected analytics.

During the Project Discovery Phase, the developer keeps track of what technologies and languages need to be used, suggests alternative and more appropriate ways to approach the development of core features, or notes the lack of implementation. This person is responsible for creating the architecture and logic of the future software project.

Responsible for creating user experience aligned with project goals: user-friendly navigation, intuitive design, and visually appealing design. Creates sketches, mockups, wireframes, and prototypes to bring the vision to life.

QUALITY ASSURANCE AND SOFTWARE TESTING FOR MOBILE PROJECTS AT THE APP SOLUTIONS

Sometimes gets involved in the discovery process to explore possible problems in the execution phases of the solution.

Selecting such a team and having them work together allows for more than a short list of business and technical requirements and estimates during the Project Discovery Phase. In addition, it provides an incentive for customers and performers to work on the same wave, without asynchrony, as all participants get a holistic view of the project as a whole and, in particular, why a specific feature is needed.

HOW TO OUTSOURCE MOBILE APP DEVELOPMENT

Developing successful software projects requires a complete understanding of the target audience. A market analysis studies its size, amount of competitors, financial and technological features, and trends. The data collected takes into account the needs of the stakeholders, as well as the needs of the product’s end users and competitors’ experience.

Building the user journey and defining the target audience will be vital in creating the product, as it enables the formation of effective marketing strategies. This requires the software development team to analyze how, when and under what circumstances the intended product or solution will be helpful. For example, what will make a user visit a particular site or download a mobile app?

The virtual portrait of the target audience includes information about the likes and dislikes of users, their hobbies, professions, and much more. In addition, we identify the problems our users face and find ways to solve them with the product. Finally, using information from user feedback, we modify the initial plan to reflect real users’ expectations, needs, and pain points.

Through market research, we can understand what the industry is doing concerning similar projects and adopt market best practices. Ultimately, this helps us set realistic expectations for the project, create valuable benchmarks, and calculate the time and cost required to develop a full-scale product or MVP, bringing us to our next point. 

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO DEVELOP AN APP: DETAILED FEATURE BREAKDOWN

Once you understand the competition better, it is time to work on the product specification. At this discovery stage, we form a product requirements document including software requirements – design details, recommended tech stack, feature set, architecture description, and so on.

This document will ensure that development goes smoothly; the product requirements document lists all the planned features and functions. In addition, requirements development defines the complexity of a given functionality. This establishes the effort required in the design, development, testing, and project management phases.

In this step, the information architecture is also developed. It helps to outline the essential elements, how it should all work, what roles exist, what functions you will have, and how they should relate to each other.

Based on the information gathered during the sync of all the participants, the development proposal helps ensure that the project discovery team will create a product that meets all of the client’s requirements and expectations. It also clarifies the project vision and minimizes entire project development risks.

HOW TO MAKE AN APP: LIFE CYCLE OF MOBILE DEVELOPMENT

After forming a product requirements document, we start working on an interactive prototype. Simply put, this is a model of a particular piece of software that functions just like the final product. It helps to test functional assumptions and identify potential technical problems. In addition, a prototype model helps the software development team better understand the project, and you can focus on improving the user experience up front.

A prototype is a demo version of an application design based on a technical specification. It represents how the application should work, not the visual components. It is an integral part of the discovery phase of a software project.

UX/UI-rs work on the project’s design concept and visual representation in the form of mockups or prototypes. Creating clickable prototypes is considered good practice for thinking through how critical features work.

At this stage, developers choose which programming languages, frameworks, and services will be best for the project’s success. They can compare what will work best for certain product parts or think about which web application architecture will be most efficient, saving time and costs.

FEATURE PRIORITIZATION FOR THE PROJECT’S MVP 

The ultimate goal of preparation is to reach a stage where the discovery team can give an accurate estimate of the time and cost required to create the MVP or full-scale product.

This stage includes finalizing the team’s composition, key milestones, and the likely timeline for each step. Based on these, you can create a timeline and calculate the approximate total cost of the project. Ideally, you also map out the project’s success.

Another essential document that the discovery stage leads to is a complete project schedule with specified milestones, deliverables, and timelines.

When the discovery team relies on a clear set of requirements, they can accomplish every task of the development phase without any postponements or changes. All those responsible know the intermediate project goals, deliverables, and deadlines. This is the bottom line by which you can move forward with confidence.

HOW COLLABORATIVE LOGISTICS SOFTWARE IMPROVE SUPPLY CHAIN VISIBILITY

Benefits of the Project Discovery Phase

Project Discovery Stage gives confidence in the stability of the project thanks to the following:

• In-depth niche market research allows you to make decisions based on data, not assumptions. It’s about more than just the proven usefulness of the product but also about refinements based on feedback from potential users.

• A clear framework for the project’s cost at the very beginning due to the strictly defined goals and phases of work avoids surprises. The price is not subject to change at each new stage. In such a situation, finding investors is much easier.

• Saving the customer not only money but also time, avoiding the need to make costly edits in the final stages of the project.

Collaborative work at the Discovery Phase provides a lot of opportunities and avoids misunderstanding and other unpleasant moments, among which:

• A vague idea. Sometimes customers come to development companies with a vaguely formulated project at the idea stage, and the client needs help understanding how to implement the project. What business processes should accompany it, what stack and features the final product will have, and what can be limited to the MVP stage? And finally, does the target audience need the potential product? Without detailed elaboration of all the nuances “onshore,” you should not start “sailing.” In the next step, there will be questions, problems, miscommunications, and inconsistency of expectations and results.

• An undetermined amount of work. Suppose you do not prescribe each step in advance (what should go after what, what is a priority, what can wait, what is the logic of importance). In this case, the amount of work will constantly change, missing deadlines will be revealed, and implementation will be greatly delayed.

• Uncertain budget. This comes out of the previous step. If there is no clear roadmap, the duration of work and goals are constantly changing (upwards), which means the funding costs will also change. Sometimes budgets get so bloated that it’s easier to drop the idea.

• Forced downtime. The steps depend on each other, so if you break one of them, it can stall subsequent efforts. Without clearly defined steps, regulations, policies, and technical documentation, you can’t just change the development team you’re unsatisfied with because no one from the outside will want to get into the mistakes of others; it’s better to start from scratch. So the client also wastes time looking for a “rescue” team and concludes that beginning with the Discovery Phase is necessary.

• Unsatisfactory result. If all the stages of work were done ad hoc, and instead of developing a quality product the team was busy “fighting fires” because of mistakes, it is hard to imagine that the product will be good, in demand, and meeting the expectations of the client and end users.

 

A carefully planned Project Discovery Phase usually takes about 10% of the total duration of a project. So, as you can see, it is not as much as may initially seem, and the benefits far outweigh the costs.

INCEPTION PHASE OF SOFTWARE PROJECTS WITH THE APP SOLUTIONS

The Bottom Line

It is important to understand that the Discovery Phase is not a whim of a development company trying to get as much money from the client as possible. On the contrary, by going through this process, the customer gets a predictable roadmap, in terms of time/stack/finances, for working on the solution. Furthermore, they may save a lot of money through getting market research which confirms that the game is not worth the candle, and the idea abandoned without investing time and resources.

We have our own SWAT at The APP Solutions, who will quickly guide you through the Discovery Phase – we will answer all the questions of interest, give an estimate of the cost and duration of the project, as well as what you can do to improve your product and much more. So contact us if you want a quality analysis and guidance for your idea in the shortest possible time.

The guest of this episode was Nick McKenzie, Group Product Manager at Redox, an orchestra conductor who always finds common ground with investors, techies, and marketers alike to create an amazing workable product: “I just naturally gravitate toward solving hard problems with large folks of smart people and still try to do that.” Nick began multitasking in college, playing sports, editing the school newspaper, studying economics and political science to become a great lawyer, and eventually realizing he wanted to combine healthcare with technology.

Embrace Action and Market Feedback

That led him to Walgreens, and it was an opportunity to see the interplay between the commercial and human aspects of healthcare delivery.

AGILE HEALTHCARE: HOW TO IMPLEMENT THE APPROACH

“I operate under the idea that it’s better to release something from a product and have to tweak it than to over-design and never get feedback on a thing. So I am generally biased toward action and implementing feedback, and sharing decision-making along those lines in a reasonably fast time frame.” 

WATCH ALSO:

PODCAST #1. CREATING A FUTURISTIC SURGICAL ROBOT

PODCAST #2. DISRUPTING HEALTHCARE SERVICES

PROJECT MANAGEMENT FOR SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT: THE APP SOLUTIONS TIPS

Nick is a person who doesn’t get hung up on things for long but tries to make MVPs, tests, and upgrades according to what the market dictates. 

From App Knowledge to EHR Integration Architecture

The next step in his career was working at the famous company Cerner. Nick says the following about his work there: “You learn your app, and then you become the solution architect of that app. So you gain more knowledge than the subject matter expert of that given application. That was my intended path, and my path was exposed to 16 or 17 of Cerner’s applications in my first year.”

Nick went on to work with the EHR integration architecture, which he compares to building a house, where an entire team of contractors, roofers, electricians, and plumbers work cohesively under an architect. 

“I was always fascinated with this idea of being the translator helping clinicians translate their requirements into what they wanted the system to be designed and then translating back to the technical teams how to execute and interestingly enough. It’s all that product management really is.”

THE HEALTHCARE ECOSYSTEMS: A TOUR THROUGH THE HEALTH-INTERCONNECTED WORLD 

Simplifying Healthcare Data with a Personal Touch

The next step in Nick’s career was Redox – a single API for providers and products. Mission – making the world’s healthcare data frictionless for adoption. The mantra for every large team meeting is that we are all patients. We might not be patients today, but at some point, all of us will become. What is Redox doing now? Expanding buyer personas, changing the focus on the product. 

There was also talk about how Nick sees the difference between a startup with 250 people in series D and a Fortune 500 company with 25,000 people. It’s the mechanics of running a business, like HR management, annual reviews, and culture… These things are handled more centrally in a big company, and they’re very personal at Redox. You have a much deeper ability to influence people directly. Nick explains in quite some detail and fascinatingly what he thinks the difference is between product development and the KPI system at a big company and a not-so-big one. 

How to build the right product team? Focus on a diversity of skills to avoid tunnel vision. You need people who can offer different solutions to problems so that you can gather the best of those perspectives and assemble them into a workable strategy for the future. 

HOW TO MAKE EHR/EMR EPIC INTEGRATION WITH YOUR HEALTH APP

The Multifaceted Chameleon Approach

“Product is a complex field. You have to understand the dynamics of the business; you have to work directly with engineers, and you have to interact with customers. You kind of play different roles.” 

Product management as a professional discipline that attracts people who used to write code, do business, and do architecture. Nick thinks of product management as a chameleon. Some days you have to be blue and interact with investors and customers; other days, you have to be green head down and solve engineering team problems; and some days, you have to be a completely different color in market research, interviewing people, and doing podcasts. And it’s all proportionate based on business needs. 

Nick talked about interoperability in healthcare and where it’s headed. We spent the last 10 to 15 years digitizing the U.S., but the problem was they were in different systems that spoke different languages. Now we’re in the throes of unifying into just one language. And we have to get to the point where we can universally translate from one language to another language to provide computational algorithms to provide new clinical therapies.

TOP 10 HEALTHCARE TRENDS EXPECTED TO BE IN 2023

***

The APP Solutions launched a podcast, CareMinds, where you can hear from respected experts in healthcare and Health Tech.

Who is a successful product manager in the healthcare domain? Which skills and qualities are crucial? How important is this role in moving a successful business to new achievements? Responsibilities and KPIs?

Please find out about all this and more in our podcast. Stay tuned for updates and subscribe to channels –

Spotify: https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/abvcQJFW3tb

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SL9CfKy5ZqM

This week our guest is Patrick Cullen, SVP of Engineering at Carrot Fertility – not only an IT expert but a three-time Ironman Triathlon accomplisher! College was also a bit of an obstacle course, as Pat chose to study computer science and business administration, which is not easy to combine when you’re still very young and a member of the track and field team. However, that’s where Cullen learned how to work as a team – how to take responsibility and delegate it to others.

Pat’s Journey: Balancing Innovation and Scalability

After Pat’s studies, he quickly worked his way up from Help Desk to chief software engineer at CommerceHub, keeping his love of sports in mind and founding Hoopdog. This startup organized amateur basketball tournaments.

WATCH ALSO:

PODCAST #1. CREATING A FUTURISTIC SURGICAL ROBOT

PODCAST #2. DISRUPTING HEALTHCARE SERVICES

PODCAST #3. HOW TECHNOLOGY CAN HELP IMPROVE HEALTHCARE OUTCOMES

Working at Carrot Fertility is, first and foremost, about the satisfaction of giving hope and helping families who can’t have children. That in itself is a good motivation. Then, by improving the quality of the product, Pat builds iterations based on user feedback – some teams focus on innovation, and some reinforce what we’ve already done. So 60% is scalability and risk reduction, and 40% is innovation.

“It’s an art, but it’s so complex that I feel like when science has so many variables, then we just call it art.”

Analytics numbers should guide you at any stage of product creation but be prepared that not everything can be confirmed by numbers at once – letting go of the right things at the right time. The perfect product is the enemy of a good product – don’t hesitate to “let out the door” something that doesn’t seem to meet your criteria.

TOP 10 HEALTHCARE TRENDS EXPECTED TO BE IN 2023

Solving Complex Problems and Advancing Healthcare Ecosystems

“There’s something fun to solve whether it’s more like the market fit or architecturally complex; I love all problems like I love all my children equally.”

THE HEALTHCARE ECOSYSTEMS: A TOUR THROUGH THE HEALTH-INTERCONNECTED WORLD 

What does Carrot plan to do next? Investing in the modularity to ensure ease of adoption for companies and health plans; continuing to invest in our data platform to increase visibility in outcomes of journeys; investing in various fertility journeys for improved engagement.

“I am a solver at heart, so I love hearing about a gnarly problem that I can roll my sleeves up and get involved with.”

Shape Product Understanding and Success

Every experience of your career and your journey is something that you can build on and learn from, so always embrace where you are and live in the present because it will help influence your future in terms of product understanding the life cycle and phases of your products and what their place is in that and invest accordingly, whether it’s early innovation or something that you need to start mastering.

FEMTECH IN HEALTHCARE: HOW TO MAKE IT EFFECTIVE

***

The APP Solutions launched a podcast, CareMinds, where you can hear from respected experts in healthcare and Health Tech.

Who is a successful product manager in the healthcare domain? Which skills and qualities are crucial? How important is this role in moving a successful business to new achievements? Responsibilities and KPIs?

Please find out about all this and more in our podcast. Stay tuned for updates and subscribe to channels –

Spotify: https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/abvcQJFW3tb

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SL9CfKy5ZqM

Our guest this time is Paul Norton, Health Tech Product Leader at Oscar Health. Norton’s future choice of profession could not help but be influenced by his physician’s parents. At home after work, they discussed the barriers that prevented them from providing quality care to the population. As a result, Paul grew up with the understanding that he wanted to change that situation. Our guest’s college years came during the Obama presidency and his ObamaCare program. He worked for an economist who worked with national leaders to design health care worldwide and specifically to implement the Affordable Care Act. Paul likes that kind of systems approach but realized that research wasn’t for him; he was focused on action and execution, which can be achieved through technology.

Paul’s Journey to Product Solutions

So Paul ended up at Athena Health, where he focused on strategizing and implementing products related to value-based care, where his “political” background helped him. At that time, medical institutions began actively funding digital projects, such as the introduction of electronic health records, and Paul’s company doubled in size and revenue in 3 years.

Having Domain expertise or background in something that may look slightly different from your peers can help you take on higher levels of responsibility early.

You’d think, what more could you want? But Paul continued to develop himself, earning his MBA and MPH degrees and having had time to work with a unicorn company. Norton noticed that insurance companies desperately needed technology to adequately share medical data. That was exactly what Oscar Health, a tech-driven insurer, was doing. That’s how Paul got into that company and is now the Assistant Director of Product Solutions.

Policy and Regulatory Change Creates Opportunities

The connections and people can come from all kinds of different places.

A considerable challenge is asking a healthcare organization to remove and replace its entire infrastructure. The market has been looking for more modular offerings, so Oscar is moving to a more modular strategy and is about to go to market with a patient engagement tool called Campaign Builder, a user experience you can’t get from an insurance provider. “We sort of have that fully integrated Tech stack enables that because we’re not having to sort of move data around between different systems and sort of piece things together; it all sort of layers on top of things, and it gives us a lot more flexibility with how we sort of surface data to members and providers.”

We often underestimate how policy and regulatory change create opportunities.

Any person who has gone to a doctor in the U.S. has been told that they can’t access some element of their information, whether it’s their medical information, information about the payment to a provider, or the number of times HIPAA has been misused as a reason not to share data with a person.

Navigating Complexity and Learning in Healthcare Evolution

When you look at your technology capabilities, you think about the differentiator of your offering and how that differentiator becomes more robust when the political environment changes, which is essentially a market condition.

There are three key characteristics of product ownership – curiosity, skepticism, and empathy.

You have limited resources at your disposal, and you have a lot of requests from a wide range of stakeholders, and you have to prioritize and understand the motivations. This requires significant skepticism because you often have to say no. You have to have good data skills because how else will you assess priorities?

“I’m trying to get the state of California to spend tens of hundreds of millions of dollars to create a statewide health data network and pass laws requiring it”, Paul advises, “If you’re in doubt about whether you’re right for the product manager role, ask yourself why you were hired for that role. It was for a reason.”

And also explains the difference between a large company and a startup: in a smaller organization, priorities are a problem because resources are limited, but there are also fewer stakeholders making decisions, so it becomes much easier to reach a consensus. On the other hand, in a large team, there are many more people around from whom you can learn.

Every day I learn something new, expect a huge change in healthcare, hopefully in a good way.

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The APP Solutions launched a podcast, CareMinds, where you can hear from respected experts in healthcare and Health Tech.

Who is a successful product manager in the healthcare domain? Which skills and qualities are crucial? How important is this role in moving a successful business to new achievements? Responsibilities and KPIs?

Please find out about all this and more in our podcast. Stay tuned for updates and subscribe to channels –

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