Category: Entrepreneurship

In our CareMinds series, we’re all about showcasing the many paths to success in health tech product development. Today, we have the pleasure of sharing Laura Furman’s unique story. Laura, currently a senior product manager at Oura, kicked off her leadership journey with Students Agencies.

Laura opens up about her everyday work. She emphasizes the importance of AI and machine learning tools in her role, particularly during the product discovery phase, contributing significantly to the product’s development.

We hope you find Laura’s story as captivating as we did. Happy reading!

Is Product Development a Bold Claim or a Logical Step?

“The student agency’s experience is something that keeps coming back and keeps coming up as something that was really unique and an interesting foundation.”

Laura Furman – Senior Product Manager at Oura

Conventional wisdom may suggest that early experiences become less relevant as a professional journey progresses. However, Laura finds that her involvement with Student Agencies continually resurfaces as an integral part of her career. Student Agencies is a non-profit educational institution that provided Laura with first-hand business management experience during her college years. It comprised several diverse, student-run businesses, offering services from real estate property management to tutoring, marketing, and even a full-service moving company.

In this unique setting, Laura served as the general manager of one business for a year before stepping up to become the corporation’s president. Although not directly related to product management, this entrepreneurial experience provided Laura with an invaluable perspective on running a business from top to bottom, including direct customer interaction and budgeting.

In her role as president of Student Agencies, she created the first CTO role, utilizing the skills of the engineering students to enhance business performance. Despite the annual turnover inherent to the student-run structure, Laura credits an experienced CEO’s guidance for the continuity of the businesses. This end-to-end entrepreneurship experience, she believes, is a great asset for anyone entering product management, as it provides a comprehensive understanding of business strategy.

Transitioning to Product Management: A Personal Account

“I think a lot of people when they’re transitioning have a hard time, sort of filling the gap between where they are now and the skills they need to have as a product manager.”

Laura Furman – Senior Product Manager at Oura

Laura embarked on her career journey with uncertainty, opting for the retail industry as her starting point. She joined Gap’s management rotational program, and was tasked with e-commerce merchandising. Her role entailed strategizing the customer experience on Gap’s website, from product discovery to checkout.

As she delved deeper into her role, Laura identified a problem within one of the categories she was managing. This challenge provided an opportunity for her to explore business analytics extensively. She carefully examined every SKU, tracked trends across the assortment, and used this data to analyze the state of the business.

The most significant shift in her career occurred when she led a design sprint to rectify the problem in her managed category. This experience lit up her path towards product management, leading her to investigate job descriptions and key skills required for a product manager role. With several skills already under her belt and a drive to fill the gaps in her resume through projects and side assignments, she was ready to transition into product management.

The Evolving Role of a Product Manager

“My belief is we will produce the best ideas if we collaborate, I don’t think the PM should be coming up with all the solutions themselves, the solution should arise out of collaboration with the team”

Laura Furman – Senior Product Manager at Oura

The core of a product manager’s role is being the voice of the customer. It’s about understanding their needs, not just through face-to-face discussions but also through data analysis. As you step into it, remember that it’s not only about the customer’s desires, but also about striking the right balance with the business’s expectations.

When you craft your strategy, your ability to bring people onboard will be invaluable. Drawing from Laura’s experiences and skills in debate and negotiation, you’ll find that seeing multiple perspectives and effectively persuading others to join your journey can be a game changer. Additionally, remember that growing to be a product manager involves constant learning and iteration. You’d have to negate lengthy product road maps and promote a culture of continual testing and analysis.

Tools and Resources for Aspiring Product Managers

Taking the reins on your professional growth can be an empowering experience. One effective strategy to foster continuous learning is to dedicate each quarter to a specific focus area. This could start with understanding data analytics, mastering SQL, and becoming adept with tools such as Google BigQuery and Looker. This disciplined approach provides an opportunity to delve deeper into each field, enhancing your overall skillset.

Secondly, the value of mentorship in your journey cannot be overstated. A supportive and knowledgeable mentor can accelerate your growth, guide you through uncharted territory, and provide you with essential industry insights. Building connections within your organization is a beneficial way to learn from others and gain diverse perspectives.

Lastly, don’t let the fear of appearing unknowledgeable hold you back from asking questions. It’s a common misconception that asking basic questions exposes a lack of knowledge. In reality, it often leads to constructive conversations and enhances understanding. It’s essential to comprehend the bigger picture, particularly in understanding the system architecture. Spending time with engineers to grasp how different components of the system interconnect can provide invaluable insights. This broader understanding will be key in interpreting project estimates accurately.

How AI and Machine Learning Are Impacting Product Development

“The AI and machine learning tools that you use in your day to day…it provides an uncanny ability to tap into a problem, a domain that you don’t necessarily know a lot about. And it could quickly kind of guide you towards some potential solutions that could be applied to a certain identified problem if you don’t have a deep enough context to it.”

Laura Furman – Senior Product Manager at Oura

Mercari, a popular Japanese peer-to-peer marketplace akin to eBay, has an intriguing blend of challenges and experiences. The platform accommodates a broad array of categories, including clothing, technology, home goods, and handmade crafts. With this vast spectrum of products, one interesting challenge is managing User Generated Content (UGC). The diversity in UGC listings and searches can lead to discrepancies and inconsistencies due to differences in syntax, which in turn could reduce the visibility of items in search results, thereby affecting sales.

One notable project tackled at Mercari was enhancing the search and listing experience based on the brand and category of an item. The goal was to pre-populate custom attribute fields specific to the item type being listed. For instance, if a user is listing an iPhone, they could specify the model and size, allowing potential buyers to filter down their searches effectively. This approach was particularly useful in more subjective categories like clothing, where the search could be as specific as ‘straight leg jeans.’

To add another layer of sophistication, machine learning was brought into the mix. This technology helped predict necessary custom attribute fields based on the brand and category. It also fed these attributes into Mercari’s search taxonomy to optimize search results. Towards the end, the project began to utilize computer vision to guess the category and subcategory of clothing based on the photo. While this presented new challenges due to the variety of user-submitted photos, it also offered a fascinating direction for further enhancing user experience on the platform.

Sure AI and ML Complement Product Development, But How Can Managers Put Them to Effective Use?

First, from a day-to-day operational perspective, AI could serve as a sounding board, albeit it may not replace the nuanced understanding and context that comes from someone deeply familiar with the product. The idea here is that AI tools might not fully grasp the complexity of the product and its dynamics like a human member of the team who is immersed in the project.

The second application is more exciting: using AI tools to create prototypes. This could be especially beneficial for non-technical PMs who don’t have coding skills. They could potentially leverage AI to write code and thus develop prototypes, enhancing their ability to demonstrate their ideas beyond mere words. While there’s skepticism that AI could generate a feature-ready piece of code given the uniqueness and standards of any given codebase, using AI to create initial prototypes could be an innovative approach that empowers PMs to delve more into the technical side.

It is also believed that AI could streamline the process of creating a prototype, saving valuable time. This makes AI an attractive tool in the product management space, not just for its potential to enhance the overall workflow, but also to empower product managers with new capabilities.

From Novelty to Necessity: Does a Fresh Perspective Matter When Companies Hire?

Laura’s journey to AA three years prior was primarily driven by a long-standing personal passion for health and wellness. After reading “Why We Sleep” by Matt Walker, she developed an interest in the importance of sleep for mental performance and overall wellbeing. Tracking sleep with an “Oura” ring and studying the data became an obsession, eventually leading her to a position within the company. Her shared vision with the company’s CEO, who viewed sleep as the foundational pillar of health much like personal training, created a strong connection.

Her career transition strategy involved balancing industry experience and role skills as two vital variables. Initially, she drew upon her retail industry experience while developing necessary product skills. In the next move to AA, she utilized these newly acquired skills despite not having prior industry experience. Laura believed that possessing either industry experience or role-specific skills could facilitate a successful transition.

Laura’s perspective emphasizes seeing personal strengths as valuable contributions to her role and not being discouraged by perceived shortcomings. This outlook, particularly essential in product management, is about leveraging unique experiences and skills to meet new challenges in different industries. She also understands the importance of this mindset in successfully navigating work within a remote team, such as the Finnish-based company AA.

Understanding and Improving Predictable Delivery

Working across different time zones and geographies is challenging. While Laura has experience in this from her time at Merri, dealing with a 10-hour time difference at her current company has brought new challenges. She has realized the importance of well-prepared and efficient meetings, especially given that her early morning is the end of the workday for her colleagues in Finland. A critical success factor in such settings is robust asynchronous communication, making sure everyone is fully prepared and discussions are fruitful. In addition, they have implemented a system of reviewing and improving their workflow at the end of every cycle, accepting the reality of time differences but striving to make it better with each iteration.

One key learning Laura shared is the downside of over-relying on Slack for communication. It can create confusion, lead to critical information being missed, and ultimately decrease overall happiness within the team. Instead, they have focused on making communication more structured and traceable, using tools like Sigma, Jira, and Confluence to comment directly on project documents, ensuring a clear source of truth. If there is an excessive use of Slack, it’s often a sign that the project is experiencing chaos and needs attention.

When it comes to product improvement, Laura’s approach is guided by lessons from her mentor from Google. Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) should be ambitious, and achieving 70% of an OKR is a commendable feat. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are used more at the feature level, measuring specific outcomes. She emphasizes the importance of treating the development of a feature as a hypothesis – if they do X, they should see Y outcome in the data. This approach then allows them to review and learn from the outcome, guiding the development of future features.

Conclusion

Here are the most important points from our conversation with Laura Furman: 

• Early experiences matter

Laura’s involvement with Student Agencies during her college years, a non-profit educational institution that provided first-hand business management experience, played a crucial role in shaping her professional journey.

• Transitioning is possible with the right skills and drive

Despite starting in a seemingly unrelated field (retail industry), Laura managed to transition to product management by building on the skills she had and bridging gaps through projects and side assignments.

• Adaptability and continual learning are key in product management

The product manager’s role is not stagnant; it evolves with customer needs and business expectations. It also involves continuous learning, testing, and analyzing to stay ahead.

• AI and ML are powerful tools in product development

These technologies not only assist in operational efficiency but also empower product managers, especially those with limited technical skills, to visualize and prototype their ideas.

• Personal strengths and unique perspectives are valuable asset

Even if you lack industry experience, personal strengths, skills, and a fresh perspective can be instrumental in succeeding in new roles and different industries. 

WATCH ALSO:

PODCAST #16. BEHIND THE SCENES OF HEALTHCARE: HOW DOES PRODUCT MANAGEMENT DRIVE CHANGE?

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

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In this episode, we had a chat with Rany El Diwany, who’s the Director, Product Management at Athena Health, about handling payments from patients and dealing with insurance issues. 

Rany told us about how problem-solving and managing products are related. He also talked about the usual hurdles he comes across in his job managing products. 

The article below presents a summary of our conversation.

Companies’ Endless Pursuit of Solutions without Problem Clarity

In product management, the focus is not solely on building software but rather on solving business problems. As a product manager, your role is to lead a team in understanding and addressing these key problems. One effective approach is to explain the problem in a simplified manner, ensuring everyone involved shares a common understanding of the issue.

“Always start by making sure you have a full understanding of the problem before even getting to the very first solution that you want to think through.” 

Rany El Diwany – Director of Product Management at Athena Health

However, it is crucial to remember that before jumping into solutions, you must thoroughly understand the problem. Take a step back and examine the problem from different angles, exploring its nuances and complexities. This is where the double diamond principle comes into play.

Exploring the Double Diamond Principle

The double diamond principle is a framework that consists of two diamonds, each representing a specific phase: discovery and definition. 

The first diamond, the discovery phase, involves gathering a wide range of qualitative and quantitative information. You’ll want to collect customer feedback, stay informed about industry trends, and analyze relevant data. This phase aims to provide you with a comprehensive understanding of the problem space.

During the discovery phase, patterns and recurring themes will emerge from the gathered information. These indications of convergence signal that you are getting closer to identifying the core aspects of the problem. It’s important to pay attention to these signals as they will guide your next steps.

Convergence leads you into the second diamond, the definition phase. At this point, you organize the collected information into different work streams, horizons, or categories. With a clearer picture of the problem, you can begin prioritizing the identified areas. Prioritization is especially critical in complex domains like healthcare, where limited resources must be allocated effectively.

Once you’ve prioritized the areas, you transition from the discovery phase to the definition phase. You select the highest priority item for further analysis and solution development during this stage. While other areas are temporarily set aside, they remain in your peripheral vision for future consideration.

How to Navigate the Problem Space

“If you haven’t aligned with what you’re trying to solve and agreed on what the definition of success is to start, you’re certainly gonna arrive at an end state where not everyone is happy.”

Rany El Diwany – Director of Product Management at Athena Health

Mr. Diwany understands the significance of grasping and aligning with the problem at hand. He believes that measuring success and achieving alignment among team members heavily relies on a solid understanding of the problem being solved. Moving forward as a cohesive unit is challenging without a shared comprehension of the problem and its definition.

At Athena, Rany‘s preferred method for building alignment is by utilizing pitch decks. These decks serve as comprehensive presentations that outline the why, how, and overall plan for addressing a specific problem. They provide a foundation for sharing information and conducting readouts with stakeholders, including leadership, customers, and partners. 

In Mr. Diwany‘s view, alignment is not a one-time event but an ongoing effort throughout the product development journey. Regular check-ins, discussions, and feedback loops are essential to maintaining alignment and adjusting the course if needed. By continuously revisiting and refining the understanding of the problem, the product team can stay on track and adapt as necessary to ensure that their solutions effectively address the needs of the business and its stakeholders.

By thoroughly understanding the problem space before diving into solutions, you establish a solid foundation for your work as a product manager. This approach allows for a more focused and effective product development process. You can confidently explore solutions, knowing that you clearly understand the problem you’re trying to solve. This ultimately increases your chances of developing a successful product that addresses the needs of your customers and your business.

Strategies for Analyzing and Understanding Complex Problems

From Mr. Diwany‘s perspective, objectivity is a key principle when making decisions. Emotions should not drive choices; rather, data should be the guiding force. To achieve this, asking the right questions and gathering qualitative and quantitative data is crucial. 

Identifying the broad categories of the problem is only the initial step. Delving deeper and analyzing the underlying layers is equally important. This can be achieved by utilizing well-known practices such as the “five whys” technique, which helps uncover the root causes and significance of the problem. Product managers can gain a clearer perspective by breaking down complex issues into simpler components and developing an intimate understanding of the problem’s intricacies.

Effective communication is paramount throughout this process. As a product manager, you are responsible for conveying the problem to various stakeholders, including customers, leaders, and team members such as engineers and UX professionals. The goal is to ensure everyone involved shares a common understanding of the problem. Any misalignment in problem perception can lead to challenges and hinder efforts to solve the problem effectively.

Product managers should actively evangelize their comprehension of the problem space to promote a shared understanding. Even in their absence, others discussing the initiatives should be able to explain them consistently and accurately. Ron emphasizes the importance of maintaining a shared language and perception, as it ensures everyone is on the same page and facilitates effective collaboration in solving the problem.

How to Unravel Bias and Build Effective Roadmaps

“Your roadmap should be problem-focused and not solution-focused, especially because you don’t know what you’re going to learn between now and something that you might have queued up.”

Rany El Diwany – Director of Product Management at Athena Health

Maintaining a problem-focused approach is crucial once the discovery and definition phases are complete and pitch decks and roadmaps are being developed. Ron believes that roadmaps should revolve around the problems that need to be addressed rather than being fixated on specific solutions. This is because, throughout product development, new learnings and insights may emerge, potentially rendering previously planned solutions obsolete.

While it is possible to anticipate future problem areas and prioritize them in the roadmap, the exact solutions may not be known at that stage. As the work progresses and solutions are developed, Mr. Diwany emphasizes the importance of measuring their impact and assessing if they effectively address the critical aspects of the initiative. Defining appropriate metrics to validate the impact and success of the solutions becomes crucial in this context.

“Human bias is there, and it’s easy to get attached to a solution… you need to remove that layer of emotion from the equation and be confident in the metrics that tell a successful story.”

Rany El Diwany – Director of Product Management at Athena Health

Rany believes that within the realm of product management, it is essential to constantly remind oneself about human bias. It’s natural to become attached to a particular solution and emotionally invested in its success. However, he emphasizes the need to remove emotion from the equation and instead focus on finding the right metrics to gauge success. If a solution fails to yield the desired results, it becomes necessary to pivot and adjust based on data-driven insights.

Similarly, Rany notes that while the agile framework is valuable, it is not a rigid recipe but rather a flexible framework that should be adapted to suit the unique needs of each project. These challenges highlight the complexities inherent in product management. He believes that by recognizing these challenges and remaining open to continuous learning and adaptation, product managers can navigate the dynamic landscape of their role and strive for success.

What Are the Main Drivers of Lack of Transparency Costs in Healthcare?

One of the significant challenges in the healthcare industry revolves around understanding how different insurance companies handle various scenarios. Mr. Diwany acknowledges that each insurance provider has its policies and rules, which adds complexity to building software solutions based on logical patterns. The diverse approaches required by different insurance companies make it difficult to achieve consistency. To tackle this issue, Ron emphasizes the importance of promoting transparency, especially for patients who often have limited visibility into the internal workings of healthcare.

“We want to get to the point where we have transparency… helping patients understand what costs may occur before they actually see the provider.”

Rany El Diwany – Director of Product Management at Athena Health

Transparency is pivotal in helping patients understand and appreciate the information typically hidden from them. It involves providing patients with upfront cost information, enabling them to make informed decisions. Ron notes that healthcare’s lack of cost visibility sets it apart from other aspects of the US economy, where prices are known before purchasing a product or service. Building trust through transparency becomes crucial, as even professionals within the healthcare industry may have doubts about their healthcare bills.

Trust can be fostered by being clear and upfront with patients about the potential costs associated with their medical encounters. Establishing transparency and trust creates an environment where some of the challenges faced by healthcare practices can be addressed. Overcoming these barriers and transitioning to a system where patients are willing to make payments or down payments for services rendered requires a significant journey.

While progress and efforts are being made to establish transparency and trust, Rany acknowledges there is still a long way to go. 

Mr. Diwany explains that several functional aspects are being improved within the focus area of cost transparency. 

• One of these areas is insurance selection, which can be challenging due to the many insurance companies and the wide variety of insurance packages. Accurately identifying the appropriate insurance for each patient is crucial to ensure successful claims submission and payment. 
• Patient eligibility is another key component of cost transparency, involving understanding copayments, coinsurance, deductibles, and out-of-pocket limits. Having this information is essential for estimating costs accurately.

In addition to cost transparency, Rany emphasizes the importance of enhancing payment options. This includes exploring various methods such as digital wallets and platforms like PayPal and introducing automated payment plans. Offering flexible payment options is particularly important for patients facing financial difficulties, allowing them to pay outstanding bills over time without significant financial strain.

Opportunities and Qualities for Success in HealthTech Companies 

As a PM, you’ll collaborate with diverse teams, including developers, user experience experts, analysts, customers, and leadership. 

The success of a product hinges on aligning all stakeholders toward solving the identified priority problem and achieving the desired metrics. Building strong relationships and working collaboratively with people from various backgrounds and roles are crucial skills for a PM. 

At Athena, the company values respect and intelligence, regardless of cultural, ethnic, or sexual orientation differences. Therefore, having strong communication skills and the ability to work with diverse groups of people are vital in this role.

“Being a PM and then being a PM in the enterprise B2B space and healthcare, there’s definitely some additional work that goes into play. And it’s hard; it’s a hard job, but it’s rewarding.”

Rany El Diwany – Director of Product Management at Athena Health

Rany highlights that introducing the healthcare dimension adds complexity to the PM role. Unlike the focus in some PM literature, which is often business-to-consumer (B2C), healthcare often involves business-to-business (B2B) interactions. PMs with experience in B2C and enterprise B2B environments understand the thoughtful coordination required when planning, building, and developing solutions.

Athena Health serves a significant number of healthcare providers, and any changes made to their workflows can substantially impact their business operations. Coordinating deployments and providing thorough training and insights to customers is critical to minimizing disruptions and ensuring smooth transitions. Being a PM in the enterprise B2B space within healthcare demands diligent efforts to ensure that solutions enhance workflows rather than hinder them.

While being a PM, particularly in the healthcare industry, comes with challenges, Ron also emphasizes the rewarding aspects of the role. Being a PM in the healthcare industry requires unique skills and a deep understanding of the importance of effective communication and collaboration in driving successful product development.

As a product manager at Athena, Rany is invested in driving company initiatives promoting healthcare transparency. He believes leveraging technology, data, and collaboration can make significant progress in this area. Athena is about creating a system where patients have full visibility, enabling them to make informed decisions and engage in proactive planning.

You Can Foster Psychological Safety With These Two Essentials

Psychological safety is crucial for effective teamwork and innovation. Creating an environment where everyone feels safe to contribute ideas, whether good or bad, fosters creativity and innovation. Mutual respect is key. Rather than an “us versus them” mentality, the focus should be on solving problems collectively. 

“One of the most important things is psychological safety, right? No one is bringing a bad idea to the table.”

Rany El Diwany – Director of Product Management at Athena Health

Building motivated and cohesive teams that enjoy working together and are enthusiastic about tackling challenges is essential. Encouraging open dialogue, valuing diverse perspectives, and creating a culture of psychological safety lay the foundation for successful problem-solving and driving innovation within the team.

Which Future Changes Should We Expect in Consumer Cost Management?

When it comes to healthcare practices, understanding and navigating costs can be complex. Practices have contracted rates with payers, but these contracts often involve intricate stipulations. For example, different charges may have different reimbursement percentages, or certain charges may not be reimbursed at all. 

Helping practices gain a clear and simplified understanding of the contracted rates in various scenarios is a crucial first step. Currently, efforts are underway to provide practices with easier access to published information from payers. 

While Medicare and Medicaid present additional complexities, simplifying the process for practice users to have transparent insights into contractual rates is considered a critical foundational milestone. This step will assist practices in managing costs more effectively and making informed decisions that will sustain them in the future.

Bottom Line

Below are three major takeaways from our chat with Mr. Diwany:

• Thoroughly understand the problem before diving into solutions: Product managers must invest time in understanding the problem space from different angles before developing solutions. 
• Transparency and cost management in healthcare: Cost transparency benefits patients and healthcare practices, leading to better financial experiences and streamlined operations.
• Psychological safety for effective teamwork and innovation: Creating an environment of psychological safety, encouraging open dialogue, valuing diverse perspectives, and fostering collaboration are essential elements of effective teamwork.

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PODCAST #18. AI’S INFLUENCE IN VIRTUAL HEALTHCARE AND HOW PRODUCT MANAGERS CAN HELP IN THE REVOLUTION& OKRS

PODCAST #17. CHARTING A COURSE IN HEALTH TECH: FROM STUDENT ENTREPRENEURSHIP TO ADVANCED PRODUCT MANAGEMENT & OKRS

PODCAST #16. BEHIND THE SCENES OF HEALTHCARE: HOW DOES PRODUCT MANAGEMENT DRIVE CHANGE?

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

Welcome to our podcast! Today, we chat with Tamara Snow, who went from working on cancer research clinical trials to being a Director of Product Management at Flatiron Health. We’ll talk about how she moved into product management and how she helps big pharma companies.

Tamara’s wide range of experiences gives her a special viewpoint on these areas, showing us the nitty-gritty of the pharmtech and business worlds.

This article concisely captures key points from our lively dialogue.

A Career Path from Clinical Trials to Leading Pharma Product Management

Tamara has spent over ten years in the healthcare industry, making transitions as she encountered new problems and challenges. Initially, she aspired to be a doctor, gaining exposure to patient care and clinical work as an EMT and clinical research coordinator. She discovered her passion for solving operational and strategic challenges in healthcare environments. One area that surprised her was the manual and expensive nature of clinical trials despite being crucial for innovation in drug development.

After graduating, Tamara pursued a career in life sciences consulting to better understand the economics and strategy behind drug development. During this time, she learned about Flatiron Health, a company working on data sets to streamline decision-making in cancer research. Intrigued by the mission and vision of making clinical trials more efficient, she joined the company in 2017 in a partnership role. While she gained valuable sales and negotiation skills, she felt it took her away from solving the operational and strategic challenges she was passionate about.

“I definitely think the product hat is the one I love the most, and I will definitely continue wanting to play that role in the future.”

Tamara Snow – Director of Product Management at Flatiron Health

Recognizing that the product management role aligned with the problems she wanted to solve, Tamara pivoted to become a product manager at Flatiron Health. She initially focused on scaling one of their real-world data products linked to external genomic data for precision medicine. Seeing the impact of these data products on customers’ clinical and drug development decision-making was rewarding. However, a recurring issue was customers lacked the internal resources and skills to analyze the data products effectively.

In response to this need, Tamara seized the opportunity to expand her scope and build a team to develop dashboards and analytic tools on top of the data products, providing customers with valuable insights. Building and managing this new team has brought fresh challenges, focusing on the user interface and delivering insights alongside the underlying data.

After spending several years in the healthcare industry, Tamara firmly believes that the product management role is the one she loves the most and intends to continue playing in the future. She finds joy in solving operational and strategic challenges and appreciates the ever-changing nature of product management.

The Key Tips for a Successful Transition in Pharma Industry

According to Tamara, there are various ways for individuals to transition into a product role. While it may not be the standard path, she personally achieved it through an internal transfer, a route she has observed others taking as well. Successful internal transfers have come from diverse backgrounds, including business (such as sales and finance) and technical roles (like engineering and data science).

Some major tips for a successful transition into the pharma industry include

• Identify a product role or team that aligns with one’s existing skill set.
• Seek advice from experienced PMs.
• Volunteer for challenging tasks, network, and ask the right questions.

Identifying a product role or team that aligns with one’s existing skill set.

“I also just took the time to teach myself things like Python and just took the liberty to dig into Flatiron and the products on my own and was able to demonstrate my ability to learn a new skill set and willingness to do it.”

Tamara Snow – Director of Product Management at Flatiron Health

Tamara believes the key to a successful transition is identifying a product role or team that aligns with one’s existing skill set. This reduces the risk for the company when transferring an employee to a new function. In her case, coming from a sales and partnerships role, joining an external-facing product team made the most sense. It required a strong understanding of the company’s customers, products, and business model. 

However, she also recognized her lack of technical skills, so she took the initiative to teach herself Python and familiarize herself with the company’s products. By demonstrating her willingness to learn and bridging the gap in her skill set, she differentiated herself from others and showcased her abilities.

Seek advice from experienced PMs

Tamara acknowledges that there is no perfect science to this transition process. She advises aspiring product managers to seek advice from experienced PMs in roles they are interested in or individuals who have gone through a similar career evolution. Learning from their experiences and strategies can be valuable.

When reaching out to PMs for guidance, Tamara recommends avoiding cold outreach and instead making warm introductions. Personalizing the outreach and offering something in return, such as industry insights or skills, can increase the likelihood of PMs wanting to assist and provide advice.

Volunteer for challenging tasks, network, and ask the right questions.

Tamara appreciates the emphasis on volunteering for challenging tasks, networking, and asking the right questions. These qualities are often associated with successful product managers. She also highlights the importance of building strong relationships and trust with customers, as it facilitates sharing information and understanding their needs. Asking open-ended questions during user research helps uncover the root of the problem and avoid biases. Active listening and focusing on important insights gathered from responses are vital in solving the core problem.

Strategies for Streamlining the Process in Challenging Circumstances

According to Tamara, when it comes to their customers, particularly in the context of a complex linked clinical plus genomic data set, clear training and documentation are crucial for understanding and interrogating the data. It is important to give customers a well-defined understanding of the data product. Additionally, having a robust process for addressing customer questions and resolving issues promptly is essential. 

Tamara suggests recognizing when a customer’s question requires more in-depth support, such as scheduling a call and screen sharing to collaboratively work through the problem. The goal is to unblock customers and enable them to conduct effective research using the data product.

“I think having really strong customer support and customer guidance is definitely core.”

Tamara Snow – Director of Product Management at Flatiron Health

Tamara emphasizes the significance of strong customer support and guidance. Providing examples of how others have utilized the data product to answer similar questions, whether through publications or key studies, can be immensely helpful. Sharing these use cases with customers helps them see the practical applications and possibilities of the data product.

The Journey to Becoming a Successful Product Manager

“In those first few months, really build strong trust with your core stakeholders and take the time to have them explain to you how they operate and what their pain points are.”

Tamara Snow – Director of Product Management at Flatiron Health

According to Tamara, being a product manager (PM) involves constant learning and encountering new challenges. Embracing this aspect is part of the fun of being a PM. One important advice Tamara offers to new PMs is to build strong trust with core stakeholders in the first few months. 

Understanding their operations and pain points allows the PM to identify tasks they can take off their plate or collaborate on to achieve quick wins. Tamara shares an example of how she learned basic R programming to handle easy client requests, which relieved her data science stakeholders and allowed her to better understand customers and data products.

Tamara also recommends finding a committee of advisors early on, including mentors and other PMs within the organization. These advisors can help tackle issues, provide guidance, and offer insight into the new role and function. Celebrating both wins and failures is another crucial aspect highlighted by Tamara. Acknowledging accomplishments, no matter how small, is important, but it’s equally important to learn from failures and treat them as opportunities for growth.

In the discussion, Tamara mentions that PMs can positively redefine the concept of failure, transforming it into a learning experience and an opportunity for product improvement. This mindset shift can be particularly impactful in the health tech industry. Additionally, the importance of empathy in interactions with stakeholders is highlighted, emphasizing the need to understand their perspectives and needs.

What Businesses Truly Want from Product Managers

“Regardless, I think there are a few key roles or tasks that I think the business will probably want regardless.”

Tamara Snow – Director of Product Management at Flatiron Health

According to Tamara, the role of a product manager (PM) can vary depending on various factors within a company. These factors include whether the product is internal or external-facing, the stage of the product (early concept or mature business line), and its significance to the company’s overall economics. However, a few key roles and tasks are generally expected from PMs.

Firstly, PMs are responsible for owning the vision and strategy of their product. They need to develop and articulate a compelling vision that justifies the company’s investment in the product. Additionally, PMs should create a strong roadmap aligned with the overall company strategy and vision.

Secondly, PMs act as the voice of the customers, both internally and externally. They must deeply understand the customers and advocate for their needs and insights during product development. PMs are crucial in making challenging product and resource tradeoff decisions, using customer insights to guide their choices.

Thirdly, stakeholder management and collaboration are essential for PMs. They must effectively work with various stakeholders, such as engineering and design teams, to build the product efficiently. In health tech, where a mix of experts like oncologists and clinicians collaborate with engineers, managing stakeholders and consolidating different perspectives into a cohesive vision is particularly important.

Challenging the Problem Space and Unveiling Opportunities to Drive Product Success

According to Tamara, when looking for new opportunities as a PM, it is crucial to engage with stakeholders. The first and most powerful stakeholders to approach are the customers. By actively listening to customers and understanding their needs and preferences, PMs can identify pain points and opportunities for improvement.

In addition to existing customers, expanding to new customers or segments requires consideration. Monitoring competitors’ product offerings and partnerships can reveal potential gaps to address. Staying up to date with industry trends can generate new ideas. Conducting lightweight market research and seeking time with target customers enables direct conversations and a deeper understanding of their requirements.

Tamara suggests clearly defining the problem and opportunity when rallying the team for the job. It is essential to motivate the team by presenting a compelling vision highlighting their work’s impact. Early and regular engagement with stakeholders, including engineers, is crucial to gaining their buy-in and involving them in shaping the project. 

Leveraging Data Awareness to Address Pushback in Problem Solving

According to Tamara, data awareness refers to having a solid set of objective data that supports your argument and clearly defines the opportunity and problem space. While data is important, Tamara believes it only takes you so far. 

It is crucial to drive the vision and demonstrate why your team is well-positioned to execute the solution. This involves explaining why the problem needs to be addressed now and highlighting the qualitative aspects of the opportunity, not just the numbers.

“Yeah, in my opinion, if there is a pushback, there is a level of interest.”

Tamara Snow – Director of Product Management at Flatiron Health

As challenges and opposition are expected, anticipating pushback and objections and preparing responses in advance is also important. Tamara emphasizes the need to go beyond a rosy picture and be transparent about the risks, assumptions, and potential challenges associated with the opportunity. You must acknowledge the unknowns and openly discuss the potential bumps along the road. 

From her personal experience, Tamara has learned the value of transparency and managing expectations. She further opines that if the opportunity requires collaboration with other parties or forming partnerships, it’s essential to consider company fit and strategic alignment. The terms of the agreement should be carefully evaluated to ensure that collaboration makes sense for the envisioned opportunity.

Defining Product Management and Keeping Abreast of Current Trends in the Health Tech Industry

According to Tamara, staying on top of industry trends involves reading newsletters, participating in industry-specific conversations on social media platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter, attending conferences and speaking events, and networking with professionals in the industry. These activities help her stay informed and identify new opportunities.

“The role and the skill sets you need as a PM and how you would define that role, I think, definitely differ depending on where you really sit within the organization and what your product looks like.”

Tamara Snow – Director of Product Management at Flatiron Health

When it comes to defining product management, Tamara believes it is not a one-size-fits-all role. The responsibilities of a product manager depend on the specific needs of the product line. For external-facing products, the PM must be able to pitch, sell, understand customers, filter feedback, and guide and influence the team accordingly. For internal-facing products, the focus is identifying and prioritizing platforms that benefit the broader organization and gathering feedback from various teams.

Tamara emphasizes that a product manager’s role and required skill sets vary based on the position within the organization and the nature of the product. Adapting and shaping oneself based on the product’s needs is important. She mentions Bruce Lee’s quote about being like water, which can take any shape depending on the container. While martial arts and product management may not directly correlate, the idea of being adaptable and flexible resonates with the role of a product manager.

Tamara also notes that the role of a product manager evolves over time. As the product and business line mature, different skills and activities become relevant. The role of a product manager constantly changes, presenting new opportunities and challenges, which Tamara finds exciting.

In Summary

Below are the major takeaways from our chat with Tamara:

• Transitioning into Product Management: Tamara’s career journey from clinical trials to product management highlights the importance of identifying a product role that aligns with one’s existing skill set and passion for solving operational and strategic challenges.
• Strategies for Success: Building strong relationships with stakeholders, actively listening to customers, and asking the right questions are crucial for successful product managers. Seeking advice from experienced PMs and making warm introductions can enhance networking opportunities.
• Key Roles and Skills of Product Managers: The role of a product manager can vary depending on factors such as the product’s nature, stage, and significance to the company. However, PMs generally own the product vision and strategy, act as the voice of the customers, and collaborate with various stakeholders. 

WATCH ALSO:

PODCAST #19. WHERE DOES PROBLEM SOLVING AND PRODUCT MANAGEMENT INTERSECT? HEALTHTECH PM SHARES SOME INSIGHTS & OKRS

PODCAST #18. AI’S INFLUENCE IN VIRTUAL HEALTHCARE AND HOW PRODUCT MANAGERS CAN HELP IN THE REVOLUTION& OKRS

PODCAST #17. CHARTING A COURSE IN HEALTH TECH: FROM STUDENT ENTREPRENEURSHIP TO ADVANCED PRODUCT MANAGEMENT & OKRS

PODCAST #16. BEHIND THE SCENES OF HEALTHCARE: HOW DOES PRODUCT MANAGEMENT DRIVE CHANGE?

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

Welcome to our podcast episode where we’re delighted to feature Falko Buttler, the Senior Vice President of Engineering at Accolade Inc.

Falko illuminates his unconventional and diverse background, revealing how it has sculpted his unique approach to product development.

We delve into his early entrepreneurial ventures, his encounters with both failure and success, and his proficiency in managing health tech products with aplomb. In addition, we discuss the vital aspect of employee management and the best ways teams can implement Scrum.

A Journey of Entrepreneurship From Freelance Agency to App Development

Mr. Falko Buttler begins by discussing how he started an agency in the early 2000s to connect tech talent with companies. He recognized the need for such a service while working for a company himself. Mr. Butler acknowledges the abundance of great talent available but highlights the challenges companies face in finding the right individuals, and freelancers struggle to find suitable projects.

He describes his agency as his first venture into building his own business, which he initially pursued as a side gig. While he managed to place a few professionals, the venture ultimately did not succeed. Nevertheless, he considers the experience valuable, as it taught him a great deal about running a company and adopting the mindset of a business owner rather than an employee. Despite the failure, he views this chapter as an exciting one.

Mr. Buttler then discusses the period around 2008, when Apple released the iPhone. At that time, he was contemplating his next entrepreneurial endeavor. Recognizing the potential of mobile platforms and wanting to explore new technologies and programming languages, he began tinkering with flip phones. However, he soon shifted his focus to the iPhone, seeing it as an excellent platform for building something innovative.

During this time, his wife was pregnant and monitoring her diet diligently by manually recording everything she ate. This inspired the idea of creating a mobile app to simplify the process. They named the app Calorie God, which became one of the earliest health and fitness apps in the App Store. Mr. Butler clarifies that his motivation for developing the app was not solely driven by monetary gain but rather by the desire to bring a product to the market, gain user feedback, and create a positive user experience.

To his surprise, Calorie God received a warm reception from early iPhone adopters, leading to viral growth without any marketing efforts. Users enthusiastically shared the app with their friends, doctors, and patients. Mr. Butler found the feedback from users particularly valuable and discovered that many were utilizing the app not just for weight loss but also for maintaining specific diets, including athletes, marathon runners, and bodybuilders. The users’ suggestions and input helped shape the app, leading to the development of new features.

One noteworthy feature was the app’s cloud-sourced food database, allowing users to submit new food items that were initially absent from the database. Mr. Butler’s wife oversaw the quality control process, and approved items were distributed to all users, effectively expanding the database and enhancing the app’s value. As the user base grew, Calorie God gained attention from the media, including press coverage in newspapers and even television appearances.

The success of Calorie God marked a significant turning point for Mr. Butler and his wife as small business owners. They experienced rapid growth and acclaim, which ultimately paved the way for their current endeavors. Mr. Butler emphasizes that without the success of Calorie God, he wouldn’t be where he is today. The app’s journey from a passion project to a viral sensation allowed them to achieve substantial success in a short period.

Bridging Experience through User-Centricity and Product Management in Health Tech

“Realize that not everything you do is going to be a success. Sometimes you’re rolling out a feature, and either your users don’t understand it, value it, or don’t need it.”

Falko Buttler – Senior Vice President Of Engineering, at Accolade Inc.

In Mr. Falko Buttler’s opinion, providing a great user experience is crucial for the success of any product or software. Whether it’s the user downloading an app or the buyer interacting with the software, ensuring a pleasant experience is paramount. Design plays a significant role in this, as Mr. Butler has learned from his experiences in venture-backed startups and mentoring early-stage companies. 

Having a dedicated product designer and focusing on user feedback and research goes a long way in creating an intuitive and impactful experience, regardless of whether the product is consumer-oriented or targeted towards enterprises, particularly in the healthcare industry.

When it comes to driving a product forward and ensuring its success, Mr. Butler emphasizes the importance of having a clear strategy and effectively communicating it across various functions like product, engineering, and marketing. Defining success metrics, such as customer acquisition or net promoter score (NPS), helps measure the impact of the product and the features being developed. 

Understanding user expectations and making adjustments based on feedback is crucial. Mr. Butler also recognizes that not every feature or initiative will be successful, and it is important to be open to trying new approaches and being willing to adapt and iterate based on results.

The Power of Diverse Roles and Its Impact on Product Interactions

“These different stages require different ways of communicating, interacting, and working together, and being able to have gone through all these changes is like learning.”

Falko Buttler – Senior Vice President Of Engineering, at Accolade Inc.

Mr. Falko Buttler shares his extensive experience in various stages of company growth, from the early stages with only a few team members to scaling up to accommodate a large workforce. He emphasizes the importance of adapting communication and collaboration methods based on each stage. Through these experiences, he has gained valuable insights and knowledge.

In terms of software development, Mr. Butler recognizes the significance of creating a pleasant user experience. He believes that design plays a crucial role in achieving this goal. Designing intuitive and user-friendly interfaces is essential for success.

Additionally, it is crucial to have a clear strategy and effectively communicate it across different departments, such as product, engineering, and marketing. Mr. Butler emphasizes the importance of alignment and establishing shared expectations to drive the company toward its goals.

Acknowledging that not every endeavor will be successful, Mr. Buttler encourages embracing failures as learning opportunities. It is important to be adaptable and responsive to user feedback and needs. This flexibility allows for iteration and improvement.

Lastly, Mr. Buttler acknowledges that each stage of company growth requires different approaches to communication, interaction, and teamwork. Navigating and learning from these changes is invaluable for personal and professional growth.

Optimizing Frameworks, Enhancing Structure, and Validating Technical Estimations

Mr. Falko Buttler expresses his perspective on the flexibility of the Scrum framework and its adaptability to different organizations and teams. He highlights that each organization has its own unique characteristics and requirements, necessitating adjustments to fit the specific context. For example, in a medical device company, regulatory processes and external approvals may impose constraints on the frequency of software releases.

Moreover, Mr. Buttler emphasizes that individual teams within an organization may have varying preferences and needs. Some teams may find in-person daily stand-up meetings effective, while others, especially those working remotely, may benefit from virtual meetings. The frequency of stand-ups and grooming sessions may also differ based on factors such as the product manager’s technical expertise and the team’s seniority.

As teams gain experience and become more familiar with the Scrum process, certain aspects of the framework can be streamlined or modified. Mr. Butler shares his own experience of initially guiding the team through Scrum and gradually transferring ownership of the process to the team members as they become proficient. Retrospectives and feedback sessions were conducted regularly to continually improve the process.

Furthermore, Mr. Buttler underscores the importance of having a technically inclined person on the team, such as a product manager with a deep understanding of the technology involved. This person plays a crucial role in effectively communicating and explaining technical aspects to ensure smooth collaboration within the team. He also emphasizes that cohesive teamwork and communication are paramount to achieving success.

Achieving Every PM’s Dream by Empowering Teams to Own the Process

“The PM and the Scrum Master actually need to be in close touch, so they actually need to communicate a lot.”

Falko Buttler – Senior Vice President Of Engineering, at Accolade Inc.

Mr. Falko Buttler emphasizes the importance of close communication between the product manager (PM) and the Scrum Master. He believes that when this communication is lacking, it can lead to misunderstandings and misalignment within the team. To address this, he advocates for frequent meetings and discussions, particularly during the retrospective process after each sprint.

During these retrospectives, Mr. Buttler actively encourages team members to share ideas for improvement. When engineers or team members propose alternative approaches or solutions, he supports their initiatives and suggests piloting those ideas to see their effectiveness. If successful, he suggests sharing these insights with other teams during team meetings, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and knowledge sharing.

In situations where the team is experiencing significant growth, Mr. Butler believes it can be beneficial to bring in external expertise. In his own experience, he recounts how his team, after doubling in size, invited a Scrum trainer from an external company. This training session included not only engineers but also product managers and designers, providing a diverse perspective on the Scrum process. He acknowledges the value of learning from someone who trains numerous companies and gaining insights into new ideas and practices.

Mr. Buttler concludes by highlighting the importance of periodically seeking external perspectives. While this may not be a regular practice, he believes inviting external experts to provide fresh insights and challenge existing norms is valuable. This allows the team to avoid becoming insular and encourages them to explore different approaches and methodologies.

Navigating Team Scaling: Insights from the Remote Work Era

According to Mr. Falko Buttler, prior to 2020, he had experience working with distributed teams, although they were co-located in different locations. However, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, his company was in the process of expanding to Vancouver, Canada. Due to the circumstances, they fully embraced remote work and hired team members from various locations, including Brazil, Argentina, Canada, the US, and Ukraine.

“What we’ve learned very quickly is that it’s actually easier when everyone is remote than if you have teams that are co-located.”

Falko Buttler – Senior Vice President Of Engineering, at Accolade Inc.

Surprisingly, Mr. Buttler found that working with fully remote teams was actually easier than working with co-located teams. While physical proximity facilitates communication, remote collaboration tools such as Zoom, online collaboration platforms, and specialized tools like GitHub and Jira enable effective communication and productivity. Mr. Butler even observed increased productivity compared to pre-COVID times, as remote work eliminated commuting and provided greater flexibility in reaching team members.

The nature of engineering work, which involves knowledge-based tasks and extensive written communication, lends itself well to remote collaboration. Mr. Butler admits that he previously held the belief that people needed to be physically together in a room for effective teamwork. However, his experience during the pandemic completely changed his perspective, as he witnessed the success of fully distributed teams and their ability to adapt to the challenges of remote work.

Defining and Exploring the Remarkable Aspects of the Wow Factor

According to Mr. Falko Buttler, their company aims to provide a “wow experience” for users, focusing on delivering the best possible experience throughout their healthcare journey. This customer-centric approach has been ingrained in the company’s culture since its inception. Their goal is not just to offer healthcare services but to ensure that users have an exceptional and phenomenal experience.

“We don’t just want to provide you with health care. We want you to really have an absolute phenomenal experience while you’re going through your healthcare journey.”

Falko Buttler – Senior Vice President Of Engineering, at Accolade Inc.

The company strives to change that perception in the healthcare industry, where people typically associate negative experiences with being sick or unwell. They aim to eliminate unfair treatment, reduce waiting times, and simplify the process for users. They want to provide a wide range of services, akin to having a personal concierge for all healthcare needs, without the exorbitant costs associated with such personalized attention.

“We want to provide a wow experience for users as well as all the employees at the organization.”

Falko Buttler – Senior Vice President Of Engineering, at Accolade Inc.

This commitment to the “wow experience” extends beyond primary care and mental health services. It encompasses aspects such as advocacy, where they assist users in finding the right care and providing expert medical opinions for severe diagnoses. Their focus on delivering exceptional experiences is not limited to patients or consumers alone. They also measure employee Net Promoter Score (NPS) to ensure a positive experience for everyone within the organization. Additionally, they aim to provide a “wow experience” for buyers, as Accolade operates in the enterprise business, where health plans or employers purchase their services for their employees.

Preparation for Smooth Transitions and Navigating the Acquisition Process

“Given that I’ve gone through multiple of these transitions and seen things that work and don’t work, I feel what’s important is that before you try to integrate products, fully understand both your existing product as well as the product and the company that was acquired, and see how they actually fit together.”

Falko Buttler – Senior Vice President Of Engineering, at Accolade Inc.

According to Mr. Falko Buttler, based on his experience with company acquisitions and product integrations, he believes it is crucial to thoroughly understand both the existing product and the acquired product, as well as the company behind it. Building trust between the teams is essential, allowing time for them to familiarize themselves with each other’s products, functionalities, and potential overlaps. It is important to deeply comprehend the use cases and explore how the integration can be optimized.

Mr. Butler cautions against rushing the integration process, which often leads to negative outcomes. Acquisitions should not be hurriedly pushed into the product to satisfy shareholders or customers. Instead, a thoughtful approach should be taken, allowing for an extended integration timeline. Trying to expedite the process without proper understanding and alignment between teams results in difficulties in maintenance, longer-than-expected timelines, and overall dissatisfaction among stakeholders.

In his company’s case, they followed a strategic approach during the first 12 months after the acquisition. They continued with their independent roadmap while fostering regular check-ins and interactions between the different teams. This enabled a deeper understanding of each other’s capabilities and products. Eventually, they successfully launched their first integrated solution in January, which was well-received. Despite the challenges and stress involved, the integration was deemed a success due to the trust, careful thought, and planning invested in the process.

Mr. Butler acknowledges that full integration is a long-term endeavor, but he emphasizes that a thoughtful and patient approach significantly increases the chances of success. Allowing teams the necessary time to understand each other, build trust, and plan integration steps carefully makes the overall outcome more likely to be positive.

The Power of Autonomy: Balancing Product Development Processes in Bigger and Smaller Companies

Mr. Falko Buttler believes that when integrating teams from different companies, it is important to recognize and appreciate their slightly different processes. Each team has developed its own processes independently, and understanding the reasons behind these variations can be enlightening. Mr. Butler suggests that there may be benefits in maintaining some of these differences, at least for a period of time, rather than forcefully imposing a single set of processes. 

The acquiring company may even learn valuable lessons from the company it acquired and choose to adopt certain practices from them. The acquiring company may have more technical depth due to its longer market presence, but the acquired company’s processes may have unique insights from its history. Mr. Butler emphasizes the importance of learning from each other and creating a combined set of processes that works well for the newly merged company.

In terms of product development, Mr. Buttler highlights the different approaches between his company, Plus, as a consumer brand, and Accolade, a more traditional enterprise company. He suggests that finding a balance between these two approaches is crucial. It’s not about favoring one over the other but rather selecting the most effective elements from each to create a process that suits the combined company’s needs. 

This process of marrying different approaches is an ongoing endeavor for their company, and Mr. Butler believes that this principle applies not only to healthcare but to any company merging with another.

Analyzing the Pace of Health Care and Factors Affecting Tech Adoption

According to Mr. Falko Buttler, who has been working in the industry since 2005, health care is generally slower to adopt new technology compared to other industries. This is partly due to the highly regulated nature of the field. Patient safety and privacy are paramount concerns that often come into conflict with the implementation of new technologies.

However, there has been a significant shift in the healthcare industry in recent years. The COVID-19 pandemic has played a crucial role in accelerating the adoption of certain technologies. For instance, video conferencing, which was not widely used before, has now become widely adopted for remote healthcare consultations.

Sometimes, a significant event like a pandemic acts as a forcing function to drive legislative changes and change people’s perceptions. In the case of healthcare, COVID-19 has helped people recognize the value and convenience of virtual care. Virtual care provides a solution for individuals living in rural areas with limited access to quality healthcare. It allows them to connect with experts in the field, regardless of their geographical location, in a short amount of time.

Spotting the Recipe for Success: Common Denominators of Thriving Companies

According to Mr. Falko Buttler’s opinion, he considers several key aspects when evaluating startups. Firstly, he looks at the leadership team and whether they possess deep knowledge and understanding of the specific field, including its challenges and opportunities. Additionally, having connections and knowledge of how to effectively sell the product or service to potential customers is crucial.

Moreover, he emphasizes the importance of great execution skills, especially in managing limited funds. It used to be relatively easy to raise a large amount of money based on a promising idea, but the real challenge lies in utilizing that capital to launch a product, achieve adoption, and avoid constantly relying on raising more funds.

He also stresses the significance of staying laser-focused on the customer and the product. Rather than attempting to build a full solution from the start, finding the minimum viable product (MVP) and iterating on it with clear goals in mind is crucial. This iterative approach allows for incremental improvements while conserving resources.

In conclusion

During our captivating podcast featuring Mr. Falko Buttler’s entrepreneurial journey and insights, we acquired invaluable wisdom specifically tailored to aspiring entrepreneurs, engineers, and product managers. Below are five valuable takeaways from our enlightening conversation:

• Recognizing market needs: Understand the challenges companies and freelancers face in the tech industry.
• Embracing failure and learning: Embrace failures as valuable learning opportunities and experiences about running a business and adopting a business owner mindset.
• User-centric product development: A product’s success depends on its positive user experience, viral expansion, and user feedback-inspiring new features.
• Importance of effective communication and strategy: Mr. Butler emphasizes the significance of clear communication, alignment, and a well-defined strategy across product, engineering, and marketing teams for driving product success
• Adapting to change and continuous improvement: Be responsive to user feedback and adaptable to iterate and improve products and processes.

WATCH ALSO:

PODCAST #20. HOW PRODUCT MANAGEMENT IS MIRRORED IN THE PHARMA BUSINESS AND TECH DIVISIONS

PODCAST #19. WHERE DOES PROBLEM SOLVING AND PRODUCT MANAGEMENT INTERSECT? HEALTHTECH PM SHARES SOME INSIGHTS & OKRS

PODCAST #18. AI’S INFLUENCE IN VIRTUAL HEALTHCARE AND HOW PRODUCT MANAGERS CAN HELP IN THE REVOLUTION& OKRS

PODCAST #17. CHARTING A COURSE IN HEALTH TECH: FROM STUDENT ENTREPRENEURSHIP TO ADVANCED PRODUCT MANAGEMENT & OKRS

PODCAST #16. BEHIND THE SCENES OF HEALTHCARE: HOW DOES PRODUCT MANAGEMENT DRIVE CHANGE?

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

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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 –

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.

WATCH ALSO:

PODCAST #1. CREATING A FUTURISTIC SURGICAL ROBOT

PODCAST #2. DISRUPTING HEALTHCARE SERVICES

PODCAST #3. HOW TECHNOLOGY CAN HELP IMPROVE HEALTHCARE OUTCOMES

PODCAST #4. BOOST BUSINESS WITH ITERATION: QUICKER TIME TO MARKET, BETTER PRODUCT

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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 –

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

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@careminds4634/ 

Our new episode features Lindsay Dornfeld, MBA, Sr. Manager Veradigm – Bachelor’s in Rehabilitation Psychology, Masters in Business Administration, and she’s also a certified health information technology specialist. It’s hard to find a more appropriate education for what she’s doing now. Lindsay began her journey in medicine, working with children with autism. Even though her work is no longer directly related to patients, their happiness with the product is always at the forefront of her mind.

Lindsay Dornfeld’s Journey in Healthcare Management

One of her first jobs as a manager rather than a therapist was involved in leading platform migration training for end users for the climate education process. Here Dornfeld not only taught but also learned how to listen to users and try to consider their wishes and further improve the results.

When you know what you’re doing or why or how you are doing it, but to be able to explain it to someone else is a really invaluable skill.

In her next position, Lindsay is already managing program KPIs, better performance, patient progress metrics, and client portals: “Driving greater transparency starts with everyone agreeing that it’s okay to have roadblocks, it’s okay to refine the data if you’re working on project management, but you’re stuck in thinking it has to be a certain way.”

To account for KPIs, Lindsay uses the colors of a traffic light, where green means all is well, yellow means you may be at risk and red means you are already at risk (of deadlines, budgets, etc.) And green all year round doesn’t mean that by the end of the year, red won’t suddenly show up somewhere, so it’s better to use yellow as a safety net, and you don’t end up in the red zone. After all, always being on your guard is justified for work and your personal life.

Breaking Barriers for Team Success

Lindsay stresses the importance of communicating with end users to clearly understand their work: “If I’m talking to someone in a nursing home, I might want to speak to a charge nurse. I wasn’t even aware of that detail that would impact her workflow, so looking for that strategic partner and getting the whole team’s buy-in and responsiveness will be beneficial for the whole team needed.”

If you say: “I need this signature by the end of the month because it is 2-5 million dollars,” and it’s critical to the success of our product, that’s a little bit easier to say: “I need this now, I need this right now” all the time.

If I can’t explain why it’s important and urgent, then it probably is something that can wait until tomorrow.

Lindsay shared how she selects people for her team, what a stopgap is, and why. She also shared her vision for her role: “My team is smarter than me. So I’m here as a manager and a leader to break down those barriers for them to get the roadblocks out of the way so that they can come through and do their job, and they do it the best.”

NPS and the User Experience

Our guest also explained why she considers NPS (not profit or margin) the main indicator of success. You can’t think you’re doing well if people don’t recommend your product to people they know.

I want to be able to make a doctor’s appointment in less than one minute, and that’s my measure of success.

This means paying attention to the critical errors that get in the way of making a doctor’s appointment in one minute. At the same time, don’t focus on the flaws that don’t affect the inconvenience of the appointment in any way. In this way, the 20 root causes eliminate 80 percent of errors. Involve people, talk, ask questions, and interrogate. So you end up with a car that can go from point A to point B, and whether it has heated seats and a sunroof is secondary.

I keep the business lens, and I see the dollars and the numbers, but I also see the people and the families. The joy, the pain, the reason you know why we do what we do.

WATCH ALSO:

PODCAST #3. HOW TECHNOLOGY CAN HELP IMPROVE HEALTHCARE OUTCOMES

PODCAST #4. BOOST BUSINESS WITH ITERATION: QUICKER TIME TO MARKET, BETTER PRODUCT

PODCAST #5. EMPOWERING EXPERTISE: HOW TO THRIVE AS A SCARCE SPECIALIST IN B2B

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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 –

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

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@careminds4634/ 

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.”

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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 –

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. 

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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 –

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

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