VOL 10 I ISSUE 07 I 2021
1
Women in Healthcare
Safeguarding Your Future
Ensuring Health and Well-being of People with Efficient Healthcare Systems
Building a Compassionate Culture in Healthcare
E TH
Women Leaders Most Eminent
in Healthcare, 2021
Editor’s Desk Mapping the Framework for Healthcare
F
or years, women leaders in healthcare have aimed to provide high-quality care and exceptional patient experiences in every reciprocal action. However, to achieve this aim in the ever-changing industry landscape consistently challenges their ability to do so. It is where women leaders are critical to address these transformative challenges and drive the healthcare industry forward straightforwardly.
Women leaders are practical and constantly focused on implementing groundbreaking strategies to culture a grounded approach with well-trained clinicians to align the goals and work process. They understand the critical aspect of this approach, which solidifies the organization to impact the patient effectively. The recent surge of the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the healthcare industry on a neverbefore-seen level. However, women leaders were able to develop, achieve, and sustain the outcomes in an effort to prevent and cure the spread of the virus simultaneously. Women leaders always have had a different perspective in the innovation and utilization of various technologies to provide the right metrics to verify vitals and medication dosage, heightened safety precautions, new care measures for specific conditions to optimize healthcare. For greater consistency in the transformative healthcare industry, women leaders have recognized that only communicative and organizational change isn't enough; it is vital to understand the why behind the change. This is why leading women in healthcare invest their time and resources to determine to cultivate a culture based on responsibility. Pioneering leaders often face enormous regulatory pressures, relentless administrative developments, which is why they have to include data for informed decision
making, scalable innovation, establishing organizational alignment, and building suitable governance structures. Time and again, women leaders align their approach to match the increasing demand of healthcare to connect the organizational hospitals and clinicians to deliver exceptional patient care to lay the foundation for the better tomorrow. Therefore, Insights Success embarked on a journey to find leaders who made the most with their proficient knowledge and expertise. In this edition of "The 10 Most Eminent Women Leaders in Healthcare, 2021," we are cherishing the leaders who created their success tales with dedicated efforts, courage, and fortitude. Featured in this edition are the proven women leaders in the healthcare industry who have contributed to the betterment of humankind with their practical expertise and their ability to innovate and improve with the changing times to become ideals for the next generation.
Aditya Gaikar
aditya.gaikar@insightssuccess.com Dive into this edition for inspiring stories of eminent women leaders and spread the word about their contribution to make this world a better place. While flipping through the pages, make sure to scroll through the articles written by our in-house editorial team and CxO standpoints of some of the leading industry experts to have the know-how about the industry. Delve in!
ARTICLES
CxO
20 28
Women in Healthcare Ensuring Health and Well-being of People with Efficient Healthcare Systems
Safeguarding Your Future Building a Compassionate Culture in Healthcare
36 Leader’s Viewpoint Transforming Healthcare in Africa: Efforts Needed By Today’s Business Leaders
08
Alyeah E. Ramjit
Changing the Landscape of Healthcare Industry with Transformational Expertise
12 Denise Juliano & Myla Maloney
The Dynamic Duo Delivering Strategic Solutions in Healthcare
16
Julie Walker
Using Growth Strategies to Effectively Transform Healthcare Operations
24 Norina Alinta Gavan
Improving the Quality of Lives of Diabetic Patients
32
Tito Ovia
Accelerating Africa's Transition to a Technology and Data-driven Healthcare Sector
C O N T E N T S
Editor-in-Chief Hitesh Dhamani Managing Editor Anish Miller
Executive Editor Aditya Gaikar
Assistant Editors Jenny Fernandes Sourabh More
Visualizer
Art & Design Director
Associate Designer
Co-designer
David King
Priyanka Rajage
Kartik Balapurkar
Shubham Dali
Senior Sales Manager
Business Development Manager
Kshitij S
Peter Collins
Marketing Manager
Sales Executives
John Matthew
David, Martin, Sanket
Technical Head
Business Development Executives
Jacob Smile
Steve, Joe, Maneesh
Technical Specialist Aditya
Digital Marketing Manager Marry D'Souza
SME-SMO Executive Amol Wadekar
Research Analyst Frank Adams
Database Management Stella Andrew
Circulation Manager Robert Brown
Technology Consultant David Stokes
sales@insightssuccess.com October, 2021
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Featured Person
Company Name
Brief
Alyeah E. Ramjit Associate Director & Chief of Staff
Mount Sinai Health System mountsinai.org
The Mount Sinai Health System is an integrated health system committed to providing distinguished care, conducting transformative research, and advancing biomedical education.
Cathrin Bowtell President
Candid Care candidco.com
Candid is redefining oral health by using modern technology to help deliver human-focused care.
Carolyn Yarina CEO
Sisu Global sisuglobal.health
Sisu Global Health designs and commercializes medical devices with and for emerging markets.
Denise Juliano Group Vice President Premier Applied Sciences Myla Maloney Chief Commercial Officer Premier Applied Sciences
Premier Inc. premierinc.com
Premier Inc. is a technology platform delivering smarter, faster and better healthcare.
Jackie Fouse CEO
Agios Pharmaceuticals agios.com
Agios Pharmaceuticals is focused on discovering and developing novel investigational medicines to treat genetically defined diseases through scientific leadership in the field of cellular metabolism.
Julie Walker Chief Strategy Officer
symplr symplr.com
symplr enables enterprise customers to efficiently navigate the unique complexities of integrating critical business operations in healthcare.
Linda Miller CEO
PDT Inc pdtdental.com
PDT, Inc. is creating superior quality dental instruments and products with a focus on ergonomics, innovative solutions, and purpose-driven design.
Norina Alinta Gavan CEO & Managing Director
Wörwag Pharma woerwagpharma.com
Wörwag Pharma is a pharmaceutical company with subsidiaries worldwide.
Tito Ovia Co-Founder and Head of the Public Sector Growth Team
Helium Health heliumhealth.com
Helium Health is the largest provider of full-service technology solutions for all healthcare stakeholders in emerging markets.
Wendy Nowokunski President
Northbridge Communities northbridge communities.com
Northbridge Companies is a leading provider of senior housing and services, providing a wide scope of development, operational management, sales management and advisory services.
The 10 Most Eminent Women Leaders in Healthcare, 2021
Alyeah E. Ramjit
Changing the Landscape of Healthcare Industry with Transformational Expertise
I
n recent years, the healthcare industry has transformed into a disruptive pattern. Technological advancements achieved in this field have helped millions of healthcare experts work seamlessly to save countless lives. Industry leaders are improving several technologies to have seamless coordination to develop advanced medicine through collective knowledge. Women leaders in healthcare are dedicating their expertise and providing strategies to help further carry out groundbreaking initiatives.
Suffolk Care Collaborative, Stony Brook Medicine. She oversaw creating an integrated delivery service using PCMH accreditation to create practice transformation, IT/provider integration, community engagement, network development and performance, and quality improvement. In addition, Ms. Ramjit also has experience in Medicare Part D operations, and Hospital and Long-Term Care & Rehabilitation operations. Facing the Challenges
In our endeavor to find the Most Eminent Women Leaders in Healthcare, we came across Alyeah E. Ramjit, who has been leading in the healthcare industry with her expertise and brings structure to the chaos. Ms. Ramjit works as the Associate Director and Chief of Staff to the Chief Transformation Officer at Mount Sinai Health System and President of Mount Sinai Morningside. In this role, she supports key initiatives to transform organizational culture, including patient experience, system learning and process improvement, and overseeing initiatives within operations, hospital strategy, and business development. Up Until Now Ms. Ramjit’s prior experience involves serving as the Administrative Manager for Northwell Health’s Mobile Integrated Healthcare/Community Paramedicine Program. She oversaw the programmatic design and care management of the Advanced Illness population through pre-hospital care providers. Before her time with Northwell Health, Ms. Ramjit gained experience as a Project Manager of Integrated Care with the
08 | October 2021
Throughout her journey, Ms. Ramjit has always found that her biggest challenge to date had consistently been herself. Early on in her career, she wanted others to believe in her, and she thought that being dependent on others’ perceptions of her would help her grow. However, eventually, she learned that she must first work on developing herself, understanding her personality, and how she interacted with others. Then, gain a further understanding of her emotional quotient and how she uses emotional intelligence to help navigate her career path. Ms. Ramjit also understood that knowing her skillsets and speaking to those assists in creating non-traditional career opportunities. In addition, observing others' styles and personalities has helped her improve herself, thereby providing her with the tools to understand her career growth decision-making process. Aligning With Innovative Technologies to Improve Healthcare It is vital to use newer technologies in health care, and Ms. Ramjit thinks Health Systems need to partner with venture capitalists and established community programs. Many
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Alyeah E. Ramjit
Associate Director & Chief of Staff Mount Sinai Health System
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October 2021 | 09
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Providing compassionate patient care with seamless coordination. health systems seek to create their own telehealth platforms or social determinants of health platforms to address patient needs and attempt to recreate the wheel. She says, “If leaders took a step back and viewed healthcare the way I do, which is like a large puzzle with silos that need to be brought together, then instead of recreating the wheel, we would be able to bring groups of experts together and in the long run solve the large puzzle of healthcare.” Ms. Ramjit believes that creating a population of healthy individuals is all about strategic operations and partnerships. It is about patient accountability, caregiver input, interdisciplinary team communication, and advocacy being supported by infrastructure. Repercussions of the Pandemic Mr. Ramjit opines that the pandemic was an experience that today’s healthcare leaders never imagined they would live through; all in all, everyone is still living through it. She thinks that telehealth will be one of the big winners postpandemic. Before COVID, telehealth was used within Healthcare Systems primarily for remote patient monitoring. COVID taught healthcare workers that they could care for patients and seek consultations across State lines. Ms. Ramjit remembers a time where physicians were in such high demand locally organizations had to partner across State lines to provide adequate coverage. Telehealth brought the nation together, even if for a short period.
COVID stopped them in their tracks and has forced them to redesign that thought and those plans. What Future Holds? Mr. Ramjit thinks that the next five years of healthcare will be about recovery and resilience. COVID hit MSHS like a Category 5 hurricane, and once there is an opportunity to take a step back fully, healthcare leaders will need to reassess their views on the future and their views on how care is provided. Organizations, whether those are Health Systems, venture capital-funded or that are community-based, need to reassess the concept of teamwork within healthcare and not just within their mission, vision & values. Healthcare in the US has come a long way through technological advances, advances in population health management, engagement with health insurance companies, Silicon-valley entering healthcare, etc., but those are all under the guise of volatility and being cutthroat. Resilience and recovery take precedent with the underlying understanding that people (employees) drive mission, vision, and values. Precious Advice for Up-and-Coming Leaders The path to healthcare leadership and healthcare administration is no longer what it was just five years ago. Healthcare Systems are the new normal, consistently providing a traditional approach to patient care while ventured backed healthcare continually assesses how to improve care delivery in a non-traditional setting. Mr. Ramjit says, “I have always been intrigued by the way in which venture capitalism entered the healthcare market and identified how to efficiently create targeted care within appropriate care models. My advice is always the same, be kind to yourself on the journey, be kind to those around you, enter healthcare and strive to be a leader because your decisions impact thousands if not millions of people in a singular moment.”. “Leadership is truly about being primarily servant but understanding that transformational leadership and influential leadership create the balance,” she concludes.
Another thing that was learned during this timeframe, especially at MSHS, was how it truly utilizes inpatient beds. In New York, it has been on a lengthy journey to consolidate inpatient beds and focus heavily on ambulatory.
10 | October 2021
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Myla Maloney Chief Commercial Officer
Premier Applied Sciences®
Denise Juliano Group Vice President
Premier Applied Sciences®
Denise Juliano & Myla Maloney The Dynamic Duo Delivering Strategic Solutions in Healthcare 12 | October 2021
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The 10 Most Eminent Women Leaders in Healthcare, 2021
Denise is the Group Vice President of Premier Applied Sciences® (PAS), while Myla serves as the Chief Commercial Officer of Premier Applied Sciences. Premier Inc. is a healthcare improvement company that has created one of the most comprehensive databases of actionable data (the Premier Healthcare Database, otherwise known as the PHD), clinical best practices, and efficiency improvement strategies. Denise is an innovative leader with a strong entrepreneurial spirit and extensive healthcare industry experience. She has led efforts in the development of strategic account management programs and was featured in the book; Beyond the Sales Process: 12 Proven Strategies for a Customer-Driven World by Steve Anderson. In addition, she is known as a mentor and coach and was the first recipient of the Linda A. Rooney Award for Executive Women's Leadership. She is an executive sponsor of the LGBTQ+ Employee Resource Group (ERG) at Premier. Myla is an inspirational leader, thinker and doer with a laser focus on new, out-of-the-box ways to improve the delivery of healthcare. She is not only dedicated to advancing Premier’s mission of improving the health of communities, she’s equally dedicated to developing people both professionally and personally. She developed a training program based on StrengthsFinder which has resulted in the entire Premier organization leveraging a strengths-based approach to individual and team development. She also serves as an executive sponsor of the Military and Veterans ERG at Premier. The Journey So Far Since starting at Premier, Denise and Myla have led the team to transform Premier Applied Sciences, into a doubledigit EBITDA and revenue growth business. They have successfully developed their overall strategic vision and business plan, while creating a culture of excellence. Denise and Myla are developing and implementing innovative, real-world evidence solutions with life sciences organizations to accelerate care alignment with evidence-
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based guidelines and best practices. They are not only identifying and facilitating business development with emerging technology companies to remain competitive, but also leading strategic engagements and developing value co-creation with the highest regarded life science companies. Bouncing Back Strong Challenges are nothing new to Denise and Myla, and they have always risen to the occasion and provided with resolve. Below are some of the challenges that the duo came across in their careers: Ÿ Starting a new business – reshaping strategy, reorganizing and expanding, leading change management, establishing new roles and capabilities. Ÿ Establishing and meeting aggressive business development goals. Ÿ Innovating in a highly regulated market. Ÿ Acquiring new companies and creating strategic partnerships all while managing a P&L. Ÿ Leading homogeneous teams. Ÿ Creating a culture of a business owner mindset while being part of a larger organization. Ÿ Developing strategic account management programs with a client facing mentality.
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At Premier, we’re ushering in the next generation of healthcare, using every tool in our arsenal to lower costs and improve outcomes.
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W
omen comprise the majority of the healthcare industry. Their tremendous decision-making abilities make them vital, and women leaders are a linchpin in the healthcare industry. Their intact determination has always helped them to be dauntless and plunge ahead. One such duo is Denise Juliano and Myla Maloney, who have leveraged their collective experience in developing and implementing innovative strategies in healthcare.
October 2021 | 13
Spearheading Solutions
A Collective Contribution to the Community
Through its PINC AI™ platform, Premier uses technology, data, and analytics effectively to drive value for the organization and its member health systems. Its data-driven, clinically integrated, tech-enabled improvement solutions integrate seamlessly into a health system's electronic health record (EHR).
Premier's mission is to improve the health of communities. Through the collective power of the alliance of approximately 4,100 U.S. hospitals and health systems and more than 200,000 other providers and organizations, the company is leading the transformation to high-quality, costeffective healthcare.
Being powered by artificial intelligence (AI), natural language processing (NLP), and machine learning (ML), these solutions provide real-time information at the point of care. They leverage the largest benchmarking database in the U.S., with 100 Billion points of data from more than 1,100 facilities representing 45 percent of all U.S. discharges.
Premier is committed to making a difference in the communities its members serve by enabling them with the tools and technology to collaborate faster and more efficiently, improve quality outcomes, and deliver better care while safely reduce costs. Alongside its members, they are transforming healthcare together. Pathing the Future
Premier's solutions are helping to remove waste from healthcare, modernize and automate manual tasks, and ensure success in value-based care, including clinical decision support to ensure the highest quality outcomes demanded by payers, employers, and patients alike. The Pandemic Response As the pandemic began, it left clinicians scrambling to find a cure, and life sciences organizations searching for up-todate, real-world evidence. There was a clear need for data to uncover solutions to combat the effects of COVID-19. While hospital data would be ideal, the typical lag time was five months. Denise, Myla and the PAS team knew it was urgent to support the emergency response to COVID-19; thus, the PAS COVID-19 Response Team was assembled. The team developed a Special Release of the PHD (the PHD-SR) that shortened the data lag time from five months to two weeks, creating the ideal dataset for COVID-19 research. The PHD-SR was made available for licensing to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Institute of Health (NIH), life sciences organizations and academia to conduct research studies on COVID-19. The PAS Applied Research Team collaborated with government agencies and academia to conduct essential studies, many of which have been published in top journals, including JAMA. These studies informed healthcare professionals about the risk factors of mortality and clinical outcomes of COVID-19 and helped save lives.
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When asked about the envision of the organization's future, "We're looking to expand our capabilities to continue to address the challenges faced by life science companies in concert with our healthcare systems’ needs. One such challenge, clinical trial innovations is key area of investment for PAS," says Denise. Clinical trials require broad populations of many different types of patients. Finding patients with suitable characteristics is often a challenge, as up to 80 percent of clinical trials fail to meet targeted recruitment timelines. "Using our data and broad provider network, we believe we can identify the right patients to enroll, as well as the providers who can test their use in a real-world environment. This is a tremendous value to life sciences companies that must demonstrate effectiveness using realworld evidence," adds Myla. Advice to the Upcoming Leaders In their advice to aspiring women leaders, Denise and Myla say, "Take calculated risks, don't be afraid to stretch yourself, take on assignments beyond your comfort zone, be a daily learner, don't be afraid to ask for what you want, don't wait until you're completely ready to take on your new role, mentor others, know your own capabilities and surround yourself with people who are smarter than you and can do things you don’t."
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Julie Walker
Chief Strategy Officer symplr
“Fail fast, learn faster, and keep moving forward.” 16 | October 2021
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The 10 Most Eminent Women Leaders in Healthcare, 2021
Julie Walker
Using Growth Strategies to Effectively Transform Healthcare Operations
T
o state that COVID-19 hit the health care industry hard is an understatement. Over the past 18 months, healthcare organizations have struggled to provide care to large numbers of the infected while simultaneously containing costs, maintaining compliance, and increasing efficiency. And the pandemic's not done reshaping healthcare … not yet. Operations solutions that helped hospitals and health systems successfully navigate through the worst of COVID-19 broke down silos, automated processes, and enhanced employee engagement and productivity—all while keeping an eye toward improving patient care and maintaining a safe environment. Payers and provider organizations that relied on symplr received the support they needed to continue on a path toward transforming their healthcare operations to achieve better outcomes despite the hurdles and risks. symplr is a leader in a large and growing healthcare operations and governance, risk management, and compliance (GRC) IT market. It began as a vendor and provider credentialing organization that grew rapidly through product innovation and acquisitions, having made 12 acquisitions in the past 6 years. One of the executive leaders at symplr responsible for defining and implementing strategies that improve healthcare organizations' operations to, in turn, improve their outcomes is its Chief Strategy Officer, Julie Walker. Julie is a key player in symplr's success and growth in the healthcare IT market and leads the company's M&A strategy by coordinating the execution and integration of acquisitions and partnerships. This unique and ongoing program is centered on operating efficiently, effectively, and successfully at scale—and puts customers at the center. In doing so, symplr succeeds in maximizing product and service value for customers so these customers – the healthcare providers – have more time to care for patients.
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Julie's professional journey provides insight into how she successfully identifies and capitalizes on the growth that has contributed to symplr's remarkable success. A Young Entrepreneur and Competitive Athlete Julie began honing her business acumen at a young age in Ft. Madison, IA, a small river town and the home of one of the U.S.'s largest double-decker swing span bridges. As a teen, she and her brother started a lawn-mowing business, which provided her with a genuine appreciation for the universal business fact that if you hustle, work hard, and do a good job, you'll be rewarded. Fast forward a few years to college and post-grad, where Julie played and coached Division I scholarship basketball. By striking a balance between the demands of the sport and being successful in school, she honed the skills that would set her up for success: discipline, dedication, resilience, the ability to learn fast, and, ultimately, how to lead through positive action. Prior to joining symplr, Julie held senior leadership roles at ProviderTrust and the National Healthcareer Association, a division of Ascend Learning—both SaaS healthcare technology companies. Having a strong desire to expand her experience and reach, Julie joined a mid-stage healthcare technology startup to help transform the team and the business, which led her to symplr. In earlier roles in symplr's Workforce Management and Access Management business segments, Julie has successfully led the integrations of multiple healthcare technology businesses into symplr, driving strategy and culture, and ultimately, helping symplr transition to its current enterprise organizational model. Most recently, she was offered the exciting opportunity to lead symplr's Strategy and Corporate Development Team in a newly created role. Hers is a new, small, and mighty team focused on ensuring October 2021 | 17
symplr realizes its short, mid, and long-term strategies as the leader in health care operations and the northstar for healthcare technology.
Culture is forever a top priority and enables symplr to continue to meaningfully effect change in healthcare operations.
The Roller Coaster Effect of the Pandemic When asked about the impact of the current pandemic on the healthcare industry, Julie expresses that COVID-19 has been transformational for healthcare. It has challenged symplr to view, access, and engage in healthcare differently, and has put a spotlight on key vulnerabilities. While it brought paradigm change, the pandemic also serves as a tremendous opportunity to improve and elevate the healthcare industry in her view—putting patients and essential workers at the center. In turn, it has reinforced the critical role information technology plays in the highly complex healthcare ecosystem.
Effective Technological Advancements Returning to one of symplr's central tenets—to keep patients at the center of the company's mission and daily activities—Julie states that it's integral to the way symplr has helped healthcare organizations elevate and deliver care resulting in optimal outcomes. Through continued technological advancements and a keen focus on enabling streamlined, efficient, and effective workflows, connectedness, and transparency, symplr has unlocked its ability to realize mission-driven healthcare operations solutions that advance a healthier population.
The pandemic has also exacerbated the ongoing shortage of healthcare workers. COVID-19 placed extreme duress on already-overstretched physicians and nurses, causing early retirement and prompting others to leave for less demanding environments. Because of COVID-19, healthcare workforce issues can no longer be ignored—or healthcare organizations do so at their own peril. Julie stresses that talent and workforce management solutions once considered a “nice to have” are quickly becoming a necessity for their ability to empower healthcare organizations. Effective use of workforce data aids data-driven staffing decisions that contain and manage labor costs, improve productivity, increase sta ff engagement, and positively affect patient outcomes. Upholding Positive Work Culture Julie emphasizes the importance of cultivating a positive work culture, which, in her view is mission-critical to any organization's success. At symplr, people are the company's most valued asset. Talented, satisfied sta ffplaced in the right positions and given unlimited growth opportunities drive better outcomes for all: for symplr's customers, the business, the employees, and all other key stakeholders. The company recognizes that without a strong culture, achieving its goals and overall mission is not possible. As a result, symplr leans on its cultural values in every internal and external interaction. They're core to the symplr business and are included in its personnel one-on-one meetings, team meetings, executive leadership discussions, and performance reviews. Further, it includes the core values in its interview and new employee onboarding processes and recognizes and rewards cultural ambassadors.
18 | October 2021
An Envisioned Future When discussing the future of symplr, Julie expresses confidence that symplr will remain the clear leader in healthcare operations and GRC. Because symplr will relentlessly champion its customers and lead through equality and integrity to forge a new path for healthcare organizations that struggle with data siloes and inefficiencies in managing their operations. Collectively, symplr employees and leaders recognize that teamwork is their true north and their work is rooted in positive action and outcomes. Julie notes that she is personally invested in ensuring that symplr lives out its core values and realizes its meaningful strategy for the good of all healthcare participants. It is a unique organization with many opportunities, she says, and she looks forward to what the future holds. Lead The Way In her advice to up-and-coming women leaders, Julie says, “Be the change you want to see. Be okay with failing fast, learn even faster, and keep moving forward—embracing others along the journey.” “We all have a remarkable opportunity to make a meaningful impact, and it's the mental mindset, intellectual curiosity, desire, and focus that are foundational to realizing your world-impacting aspirations. Further, find a mentor who genuinely cares about your professional journey. Mentors are worth their weight in gold!”
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& & 20 The
Most
SUCCESSFUL
BUSINESSWOMEN to Watch, 2020
kimberly Khoury
Paving her Way in Sustainability Development
Ensuring HEALTH of People with E HEALTHCARE SYS
T
he most important Sustainable Development Goal set by United Nations is achieving good health and well-being for everyone. This goal is foundational and complementary to many other Sustainable Development Goals. A strong healthcare industry plays an important role in ensuring the good health and well-being of all people and thus, it is most essential aspect for all countries. Any institution or industry is as strong as the leaders in that industry. The greatest leaders are those who serve larger number of people and make a positive difference in their lives with their worthy contribution. In the healthcare industry, it is essential for leaders to lead with a spirit of empathy, compassion, and nobility, as they have to deal with the sensitive health issues of the people. Compassionate and noble leaders want to serve as many people as they can and want to do most for the welfare of the general public. Women are naturally filled with compassion because of their innate nature. Therefore, women leaders with the spirit of compassion for people and nobility are able to make the most valuable contribution to the healthcare industry. Eminent women leaders in healthcare industry are motivated by the desire to contribute to the lives of people by delivering them the best healthcare services. Such leaders with the passion for doing something meaningful in the lives of people would like to implement innovative methods to serve the maximum number of people with evolved solutions in the healthcare industry. They want to deliver best services to the people. They implement latest technologies to upgrade the quality and efficiency of the solutions they provide. They make sure that they are playing a role in giving comfort to the patients, improving their health and well-being, and helping them experience life to their fullest potential. The most competent women leaders in the healthcare industry tap the potential of technologies like Artificial Intelligence and Big Data to deliver the most comprehensive and innovative healthcare solutions. These leaders try to automate the healthcare services and increase
20 | October 2021
the access of latest services to all. They want to be part of the solutions to the challenges in the healthcare industry and make a positive impact on the lives of many people. Eminent women leaders in the healthcare industry lead with emotional and rational intelligence, which helps them make the most significant contribution to delivering advanced healthcare services to all. Eminent women in healthcare contribute to the healthcare industry by delivering most innovative and comprehensive healthcare solutions for ensuring the good health of people. The traits of compassion and sensitivity are quite very normal and obvious in women leaders. They channelize their compassion and sensitivity to deliver best healthcare services and ease the lives of patients by making sure that healthcare systems are strong and have robust infrastructure with modern and advanced technical facilities in them. Women leaders in healthcare optimize the processes in the healthcare systems. The organized approach of women leaders in the healthcare helps them to streamline the processes and systems and deliver much efficiency through these developed and evolved systems. The approach of doing something meaningful for society is very much ingrained in healthcare leaders. Their desire to be part of something that creates a positive impact in the lives of people for a sustainable time period drives them to come up with innovative solutions and make sure that the most advanced healthcare treatments are available to people for ensuring their better health. Eminent women leaders in Healthcare integrate their skills, talents, abilities, and resourcefulness to ensure better healthcare services are available to people. They contribute to the lives of many people and help them attain a happy and healthy life. They tap the potential of all resources for ensuring the good health and well-being of people and contribute much significantly to one of the most important sustainable development goals of the United Nations by strengthening the healthcare systems and improving their capabilities.
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Women in Healthcare
H and WELL-BEING cient STEMS
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October 2021 | 21
Norina Alinta Gavan CEO & Managing Director
Wörwag Pharma Romania
24 | October 2021
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The 10 Most Eminent Women Leaders in Healthcare, 2021
orina Alinta Gavan Improving the Quality of Lives of Diabetic Patients
L
ike every other industry, women have made their marks of excellence in the healthcare industry as well. With their positive outlook, determination, and compassionate approach, they have changed the face of the healthcare industry. Keeping the spotlight intact on such prominent women, we set out on an endeavour to find Most Eminent Women Leaders in Healthcare, where we crossed our paths with Norina Alinta Gavan. Norina is the CEO and Managing Director of Wörwag Pharma Romania, a pharmaceutical company that develops and sells biofactor preparations worldwide. Through Wörwag Pharma, she is making people aware of the importance of their health effective solutions in preventing and treating lifestyle disorders. Norina has been instrumental in the company's growth through her passion for the medical industry and exemplary leadership skills. In an interview with Insights Success, Norina shares her entrepreneurial journey, experiences, and her thoughts on the improvement in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industry.
was working as a Biochemist Specialist at the Dermatology Clinic of the Cluj County Clinical Hospital. I felt the need for a change, but one that would keep me connected to the medical field, as research has always been my passion. Back then, it never even crossed my mind that I would reach a top management position! I sent my CV and cover letter to a medical representative ad and ... in November 1997 I was the first employee of the German company Wörwag Pharma in Romania. At first, I didn't know much about this field, but I was determined, so I learned, discovered, improved, and managed to get where I am now. What were the challenges you came across throughout your personal and professional journey? The years spent at Wörwag Pharma have been fraught with many challenges. Throughout this personal and professional journey, at every step, one makes lots of choices and decisions; for any person with a career, the balance between their professional and personal life is one of the biggest challenges.
Give us a brief overview of your position at Wörwag Pharma, and your journey since inception.
However, I tried to find a balance, and I must confess that I sometimes failed. I am apologetic to my loved ones when my professional time takes up a lot of my personal time, but I think it is important to put it out honestly and fight constantly to achieve this balance.
My journey at Wörwag Pharma began in the late autumn of 1997, when I came back to my home country following a Ph.D. internship at the University of California, San Francisco, at the Dermatology Clinic, specializing in Skin Biochemistry, in Percutaneous Absorption. At that time, I
Being an experienced business leader, what is your opinion on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the pharmaceutical industry? And how has Wörwag Pharma Romania managed to overcome this significant challenge?
Below are the highlights of the interview:
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October 2021 | 25
Progress means movement and must be supported by innovation and dedication, by the intention to do good. It should be supported by ethics, fair business principles, but also by a fair and selfless education of the population in relation to their own health. A society can only develop harmoniously if it is made up of healthy and beautiful people. How do you envision on sustaining your competency in a cutthroat and volatile world of healthcare? What could be the future of the Pharmaceuticals’ companies?
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Margaret Thatcher: "If you want something said, ask a man; if you want something done, ask a woman."
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The pandemic has had a strong impact on the pharmaceutical market, and this has forced pharmaceutical companies to rethink their strategies. Digital trends have helped us keep our customer relationships and maybe even improve them. Wörwag Pharma Romania has kept up with the online environment by organizing different webinars. In 2020, to support Pharmacy students, the company launched a support and career guidance program dedicated to them: WÖRWAG STARTUP. The program aims to give future Pharmacists access to the best quality career guidance programs, experiences that complement the knowledge gained in college, and a complete perspective on this profession. I firmly believe that achieving what one sets out to do takes a lot of work, involvement, dedication, and especially discipline. If given a chance, what is the one thing that you would change about the Pharmaceutical ecosystem key policy initiatives?
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I am optimistic about the future development of the pharmaceutical industry. All the players on this stage will need to adjust. Access has become the front and center topic for the pharmaceutical industry. The majority of Pharma companies now have explicit goals and commitments related to patient access at the executive level and in their mission statements. “Access” is now on the agenda of multiple functions and the role of the market access function, which traditionally focused on technical issues like health economics models, evidence synthesis, and pricing research, is rapidly evolving to become that of an orchestrator of access and product availability across the organization. With the growing commitment to achieve patient access around the world, market access functions are expected to provide broader stewardship on access to the organization, ensuring that access is considered throughout the product life cycle, from early research and development to commercialization, growth, and loss of exclusivity. What have you envisioned for the future regarding your role at Worwag Pharma and for your personal ambitions as well? We want to continue to be focused on our core competence field, in treatment of diabetes and its complications, especially in prevention and treatment of diabetic neuropathy; we want to be present in the patients’ life as an educator, to improve their quality of life. In the next two years, the company will launch three new over-the-counter drugs currently under registration. We are hoping to have the capacity and strength to adapt to all the challenges that will arise to continue our desired development. And at the end of the day, at Worwag Pharma Romania I still have many things to do together with the team I formed and of which I am very proud. www.insightssuccess.com
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Safeguarding Your Future
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he importance of healthcare in our lives has increased in recent times, mainly because of the pandemic. Growing up, we all wished for a better career for ourselves, like becoming a doctor, engineer or a businessperson. Little did we know about leadership in these fields. Above all, achieving anything in life requires dedication, and more importantly discipline. The leadership principles are followed by innovation and ethics to bring change in society to do something good. But what does it take to lead an industry like healthcare which is full of challenges? Of course, good education and knowledge make up a good leader, and today we need the support of healthcare leaders more than at any other time. With the increasing diseases across the world, we need more healthcare leaders to catch up with the growing infections like the deadly COVID-19 virus. Well-Proven Way In this competitive world of innovation and technology around us, women leaders are proving their presence to improve the quality of life. Businesswomen have developed the vision and business plan in creating a culture of lifesaving solutions in healthcare. They are not only leading the healthcare industry but are resolving the critical issues of healthcare. They are always missioned to improve the health of the people around them and transform it into high-quality and cost-effective healthcare solutions. They are committed to make a difference in society by enabling them with better care leadership skills. They take calculated risks and always delivers beyond their comfort zone. The best part of women leadership is they always have learning-attitude and are ready to take on any challenge in their journey. They understand their own capabilities and always keep them surrounded with the industry experts to do things better today than yesterday.
forefront of starting up the business in healthcare with their knowledge and experience. Healthcare is a field where we need such innovative leadership. It also becomes quite natural being a woman, as she takes care of the family. In the same way, she looks after the employees of the company, and indirectly the overall healthcare industry. Now that we know the things that need to be possessed by businesswomen, let’s see what are the things they risk in: The leadership in healthcare demands working in challenging environments. Being a leader, businesswoman understand her need in the place, but too much of the working environment can cause trouble. Taking frequent breaks to not get exhausted by the place is a must. Their decision can affect the lives of many, so businesswomen have to study the minute details of every work. The experience helps and the confidence comes with it, but sometimes things cannot go their way because of a little miscalculation. So, keeping a focused mind is really important at every stage of leadership, as lives are at stake at every moment. Maintaining the work-life balance also becomes a challenge for them. They are involved in dual responsibilities and handle it quite well. Above all, they always maintain the balance perfectly, by proving their worth everywhere they go for that matter. The Final Word
The Demanding Role
They are the real fighter of the industry, leading honestly and becoming the strong force in healthcare. Their contribution is everywhere, and not just healthcare. The thing that we all need to learn from them is their approach to learn new things. These businesswomen have successfully made their mark in healthcare and are ready to take the healthcare industry to a place where everyone is nurtured and taken care of.
Today, we see more and more leaders stepping into the healthcare industry, and their contribution needs to be acknowledged. It is because of their qualities they are at the
We hope to see more women leaders entering into the challenging field of healthcare, to start their careers, as this field offers a lot more opportunities for everyone.
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Building a
COMPASSIONATE Culture in
HEALTHCARE
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Tito Ovia
Co-founder and Head of the Public Sector Growth Team Helium Health
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The 10 Most Eminent Women Leaders in Healthcare, 2021
Tito Ovia Accelerating Africa's Transition to a Technology and Data-driven Healthcare Sector
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dvancements in technology have changed the face of the healthcare industry. It is evident that technological solutions in healthcare have presented numerous opportunities for improving healthcare, reducing human errors, improving clinical outcomes, facilitating care coordination, improving practice efficiencies, and tracking data over time. This all contributes positively to healthcare outcomes. As the healthcare industry is becoming more technologydriven, leaders in healthcare are playing a significant role in accelerating this transformation. The interesting fact is that many women have been seen at the forefront of this transformation and making important contributions to diverse fields in the healthcare sector. They are constantly embracing innovation to provide accessible, affordable, and quality care and positively impacting patient’s lives. One such woman we at Insights Success came across is Tito Ovia.
Tito is the Co-founder and Head of the Public Sector Growth Team at Helium Health, a Nigeria-based health tech company that is building the technology infrastructure driving African healthcare. Prior to Helium Health, Tito was an assistant project manager at Lagos State AIDS Control Agency (LSACA), where she worked with private and public sector stakeholders to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS within the state. At Helium Health, she is using her invaluable
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experience to help the company accelerate Africa's transition to a technology-driven healthcare system. Passionate about Improving the Healthcare Tito’s role at Helium Health allows her to work closely with the public sector and government stakeholders. It is important because a large percentage of the population depends on public healthcare institutions for their health needs. She has always been passionate about healthcare, and this led her to start Helium Health in 2016 as “One Medical” along with other co-founders. With Helium Health’s digitized medical solutions, there is a greater chance of providing the public with access to quality care. Tito wanted to build a system that would increase efficiency and eliminate fragmentation. When Helium Health examined the system, it realized that it could only do this by bridging the data gap in the sector. The company started to do this by providing technology solutions to providers, payers, patients, and partners to access even more data and get a broad view of what is going on in the space. In the early days, Tito would go from hospital to hospital, pitching to doctors and hospital administrators, but there was a lot of skepticism because it was a small company of young people. These facilities knew Helium Health’s EMR was good, but they were a bit hesitant to trust their youth. By December 2016, the company was awarded the Etisalat’s Prize for Innovation and, in May 2017, got accepted into Y Combinator. Today Helium Health is the
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What makes Helium Health No. 1 Tech provider in Africa? Over 470 healthcare providers and 7,000 health professionals in Nigeria, Senegal, and Ghana currently use Helium Health’s technological solutions. From Electronic Medical Records, and Hospital Management Information Systems, to credit and telemedicine products, the company is allowing healthcare facilities to accept payments and issue invoices with ease, access quick funding, and hold televisits with their patients, making it easier for patients to get diagnosed from their homes. However, the company's most popular solution remains EMR, which happens to be the flagship product. This model sought to accelerate or catalyze that inevitable transition of the country from paper-based manual systems to a technology and data-driven system. To stay ahead of the curve, people at Helium Health went from hospital to hospital, understood the struggles doctors were having, and observed how they enjoyed texting. As a result, it created a solution similar to social media platforms which were less complicated and easy to use and manage. Once hospitals saw the intent to ease their stress, optimize efficiency, plug financial leakages, and improve their
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We are building critical infrastructure to strengthen africa's health systems – from outpatient clinics and teaching hospitals, to governments and donor agencies.
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largest EMR provider in West Africa with 470 hospitals using the software to handle over 290,000 patients visits monthly.
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patient’s healthcare outcomes, they started to jump on the solutions and refer the company to other institutions and hospitals. Facing Overall Healthcare Challenges The first challenge Tito and her team faced was with hospital administrators. Many of them were not inclined to accept innovation due to grim experiences with other technology solutions and a general lack of trust. The majority of them were more focused on securing their practice and providing patient care to the best of their knowledge. This was a rational decision that didn't leave room to explore technological solutions that would improve the data management and clinical operations of the facilities. To allay their concerns, Tito and her team built the solution to be user-friendly, less complicated and easy to use and manage. Once hospitals experienced this, they started to refer the company even to their colleagues. Moreover, infrastructural challenges in Nigeria also adversely affect healthcare. Challenges like erratic power supply, poor internet connectivity, and lack of devices in these facilities affected the smooth operations and use of health. To fix this, Helium Health developed an offline solution where the company could work with an on-premise server, only needing the internet to periodically backup the data to the cloud and in cases where providers struggle with electricity and made provisions for solar energy.
able to make informed decisions that will deliver high standards of care with data. The Exciting Future Ahead Talking about the future of medical care post the COVID19 pandemic, Tito mentions that one thing the pandemic has done is accelerate and encourage the rapid growth of technological solutions. Now, there are so many emerging platforms for service delivery and information dissemination. According to the World Health Organization, chronic disease prevalence is expected to rise by 57% by the year 2020. This suggests that the future of care will revolve around solutions that can creatively help patients manage chronic conditions or visit providers virtually. Helium Health envisions this rapid adoption of technology across Africa and is really excited about it. It will continue to contribute and add value to the health tech ecosystem by providing cutting-edge technology to all the stakeholders to bridge the communication gap and reduce data fragmentation across the continent. “The last five years for us here at Helium Health have been mind-blowing and groundbreaking. We have moved into 7 African countries, and we have been recognized as one of the largest HealthTech startups in Africa. In the next five years, I see us expanding globally with newer offerings to leapfrog innovations in those markets,” concludes Tito.
Making Better Quality Healthcare for People One of the major reasons Tito and her team have been able to improve healthcare outcomes is through its solutions. Helium Health drives collaborations with communities that enable to recruit and train local talent. For example, when it was called by the Akwa Ibom State Government to digitize their medical centers, the organization recruited locals within the community, trained them on how to use its solutions, and then sent them to the various medical centers to facilitate training sessions. Tito asserts, “Even as we expand both within and outside the country, we will continue to contribute to those communities by recruiting local talents, equipping and empowering them.” For biomedical services, it is difficult to innovate when there is no access to real-time data, so it is bridging that gap. She believes that stakeholders will be
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Leader’s Viewpoint
Transforming Healthcare Efforts Needed By Today’s in Africa: Business Leaders
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he pandemic unveiled deeper challenges facing Africa’s healthcare system. Stakeholders, decisionmakers, and the elite in various regions were not left out of being stung by the viper of chronic underinvestment, the sole cause of poor care delivery to populations. The crisis hastened several policy dialogues, an increased urgency to strengthen health systems and transform health service delivery in many countries. Fortunately for the African continent, world leaders seem to be giving attention to the harrowing state of health, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. On the 30th of September, The World Bank Board of Directors approved a $400 million credit in additional financing to support the Nigerian government in the safe acquisition and effective deployment of COVID-19 vaccines within the country as part of her COVID-19 Preparedness and Response Project. Zanzibar as well has achieved a pre-elimination malaria status as mortality rates resulting from the disease have reduced dramatically due to the increased level of funding the country has gotten. However, Africa still has a wide gap
to cover, and now, more than ever, it has become imperative for business leaders to contribute efforts, reimagine the sector as health issues have far-reaching and long-lasting consequences on economies and societies, and governments. Health systems in Africa are still underutilizing the wide range of perks digital resources provide. Business leaders should seek to ensure that investments are made into new technological solutions, ridding the system of fragmentation while providing visibility into the entire journey of a patient, which allows stakeholders to make the right decisions and efficiently measure impact. With this nut of a backdated health system cracked, there will be so many opportunities to plug financial leakages, thus making healthcare an asset rather than a liability. A good example is seen with Moscow's Integrated Medical Information Analytical System, which improved operations within the health system leading to the facility saving $63.4 million in revenue annually.
About the Author
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Another huge problem African countries are facing revolves around a critical shortage of health workers. The research of Yohannes Kinfu under The World Health Organization estimated that it would take 36 years for doctors and 29 years for nurses/midwives in Africa to achieve the target already set by WHO, which estimates a rate of 2.28% of professionals per 1000 population. These estimates are not guaranteed, meaning some countries may never hit the target. This clearly shows that the current number of health workers is insufficient to meet population health needs at that point in time. Business leaders must make strategic plans to ensure that a sustainable approach is made to ensure all health workers can practice in their country with adequate access to appropriate tools.
its longstanding strategies of masking, quarantine measures, and contact tracing kept its citizens safe for a lengthened period of time even though they were in close proximity with China, the source of the viral spread. Preparedness is key in battling health challenges, and it is important for business leaders to work with governments and other experts in the sphere to build infrastructures, develop strategic partnerships, and ensure that key enablers such as funding are set in place. By focusing on these areas, business leaders will be able to accelerate the transformation of their health systems, build resilience against future disease outbreaks, and improve general health outcomes for populations.
Finally, business leaders must build resilient systems ready to respond to health emergencies, including pandemics. Although Taiwan did not hold off COVID-19 for too long,
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