Becker's Hospital Review interviewed Myndshft's CEO and Founder Ron Wince for his perspective on current healthcare trends and what technologies will disrupt the industry.
Myndshft is working to change the paradigm of how organizations conduct business through the pragmatic application of process automation, artificial intelligence and blockchain technologies.
Note: Responses were edited for style.
Question: How have your priorities changed as your organization has grown?
Ron Wince: We started the company with two things that have not changed — we are laser focused on our purpose and our culture. Despite the tight labor market, we have a very high bar in terms of cultural fit to be a 'Myndshfter' and we are unforgiving in sustaining our focus on our 'why?'
What has changed at Myndshft is we have a narrower focus on our products and solutions and more rigor around how we bring a product to market. Of course, there are challenges that even mature companies face such as infrastructure, finding the right talent and staying grounded when things are hectic but our purpose and our culture have gone unchanged.
Q: What do you look for in potential partner organizations?
RW: Cultural fit. We’re fortunate to get to work in some really cool areas of technology in healthcare and that affords us opportunities to work with some real great partners. What excites us the most is a partner organization that shares the same values and passions.
Q: What healthcare trend or challenge keeps you up at night?
RW: The pace of change. There is not a single company that we talk to — big or small — that the pace of change inside their organization is not falling behind the pace of change outside the organization. We can and must do better for those who rely on the care that the health system provides but that can only happen if we ratchet up the pace.
Q: What healthcare trend most excites you?
RW: There are many but blockchain and artificial intelligence are two trends that are also our two areas of specialization.. There are very exciting things happening in biotechnologies and drug discovery that will have the same impact on treatment, but our focus is on disrupting the plumbing that makes healthcare work. A lot of the processes in healthcare date back nearly a century and these new technologies have boundless potential to change them within the next decade.
Q: When communicating with clients, what concerns come up most frequently?
RW: The technology we are working with is still a black box to a lot of the healthcare industry. So, we get a lot of head tilting as clients try to get their mind around how technologies that until the last couple of years were only found in the movies or were overhyped with cryptocurrencies. We are — by design — investing a lot of time in educating our clients and partners and helping them to relate these technologies to cases they are working on today. It’s actually a ton of fun.
Q: What do hospitals and health systems need to be better supported in their transition toward value-based care?
RW: Nearly every process and every technology was designed for a fee-for-service world. You’re not going to simply rip and replace those in the near term. There needs to be a way to leverage data, technologies and personal engagement to transform the industry incrementally while bringing immediate and measurable value. That’s a fine line to walk but we are seeing it happen with clients every day.
Q: How will industry changes affect the role of patients in the coming years?
RW: The biggest one is the shifting of the economic responsibility for services from employers and payers to the individual. This will incentivize patient-members to become consumers who don’t want to have to go through the current landscape riddled with middlemen to make important decisions about their care, it’s cost and their expectation that there is a measurable result.
Q: What is one actionable step organizations can take to reduce clinician burnout?
RW: Technology can be helpful in augmenting the work that clinicians have on their plate. In our business, for example, we believe it is our responsibility to use technology to free-up the time clinicians spend being accountants, lawyers, contract managers and risk managers and allow them to spend that time with patients. No doctor or nurse I know became a clinician because they wanted to do more paperwork and in the current world it steals millions of hours and nearly a trillion dollars that can better be spent on providing care and keeping people healthy.
Q: What technology has the potential to most greatly disrupt the healthcare industry today?
RW: AI. In our business we’re focused on leveraging what really is a collection of technologies on the administrative part of healthcare, but that same technology has vast potential in every other aspect of the healthcare system — treatment, drug discovery, patient and provider engagement. I can’t think of another technology that has the potential to touch so many aspects of the industry.
Q: What's one piece of advice you wish you could give your past self at the beginning of your career?
RW: You’re going to make mistakes — get over it and focus on moving forward. I’m probably not alone but in my early days I would obsess over every mistake I made. Having the clarity of hindsight, I can see that those mistakes were my best learning opportunities. Learn from them and get on with it.
Q: What are you most proud of your team for?
RW: There are so many, but I am most proud of them for participating every day in helping to build our culture. It takes a ton of work that can distract from getting code written or paying a bill or servicing a client, but our team willingly shows up to make sure we are hiring the right team and we are holding each other accountable to our core values the Myndshft Ground Rules. It’s hard to find that in a young company with a young team but we are blessed to have that at Myndshft.
Q: How do you keep your team motivated when tackling a project with a seemingly insurmountable goal?
RW: Everyone is aware we are striving every day to make a difference for a person who is undergoing care in the healthcare system. An extra 10 minutes with a doctor may be all that is needed to make a difference for that person and we have the ability to make that happen. That is really what motivates the team. They really don’t need much influence from me. They are a truly amazing team.