Digital Transformation in Healthcare: Anish Srivastava Of Vinaj Ventures On How Medical Practices Can Use Digital Transformation To Provide Better Care
An Interview With Dan Rodrigues
… Effective Time Management. Virtual healthcare adheres to the individual’s schedule, as most doctor’s appointments are scheduled during business hours on the weekday. In this sense, it allows more effective management for both parties. Practitioners need to utilize their time effectively when scheduling virtual appointments (allowing a buffer between appointments) to give each patient the time and attention they need.
As a part of our series about “Medical Practices Can Use Digital Transformation To Provide Better Care,” I had the pleasure of interviewing Anish Srivastava, Founder & CEO, Telosity by Vinaj Ventures.
Anish Srivastava is the founder and CEO of Telosity By Vinaj Ventures, an innovation and investment services firm based in the San Francisco Bay area. Vinaj Ventures’ consulting arm helps clients build new digital products with excellent user experiences. Its investment services function specializes in market analysis, sourcing, evaluating and investing in startups.
Anish is passionate about investing in concrete, commercially viable solutions that can have a positive impact on society and providing support to entrepreneurs who are looking to make a meaningful difference. A proof point is Telosity by Vinaj Ventures, the fund he founded in 2019 that invests in early-stage companies that provide affordable and scalable solutions to improve mental well-being in young people — especially in underserved communities.
Anish is a member of the Alliance of Chief Executives. He serves as a board member and in advisory roles to a number of organizations. Prior to Vinaj Ventures, Anish led Citi Ventures’ Global Lab Network & Accelerators and was a key leader in JP Morgan Chase’s Digital Customer Experience & Innovation organization. He also held various senior and executive positions at startups such as Egreetings, Geodesic and Lexy, where he pioneered new consumer-facing mobile services. Anish spent six years at Orange, building the mobile innovation practice in Silicon Valley, followed by driving strategic partnerships in London as Director of Business Development. Early in his career, Anish was part of the development team that built Bank of America’s first online banking website, along with its first credit card website.
Anish graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a Bachelor’s of Science in Computer Science and French. His interests include soccer, cooking, running, and traveling with his family.
Thank you so much for your time! I know that you are a very busy person. Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
I’ve spent half my career as an entrepreneur in startups and the other half in corporate venture and innovation in Fortune 500 companies. For the last seven years, I have immersed myself in the health tech space, working directly with payers and providers to innovate and advance digital solutions that help save people time, money or effort.
Can you share the most interesting or most exciting story that has happened to you since you began at your company?
Four years ago, I embraced the opportunity to focus on digital health, specifically mental health startups. One of the most exciting findings in my professional journey was a significant gap in the youth mental health market. It’s been incredibly fulfilling to have a career that allows me to impact younger communities positively directly. In our newest report, we worked with over 700 startups to craft a report on best practices for investing in the mental health space. It’s been fascinating to see young organizations develop and innovate tech-enabled solutions to promote accessibility for high-quality mental healthcare across the board.
It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you first started? Then, can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
I underestimated the time it would take to put together a straightforward contract/consulting engagement with a large healthcare company. I thought it would take one or two months, but it took six months to work with procurement, engage with several stakeholders and field cumbersome processes before completing the contract. As a result, I learned to always plan for agreements to take much longer than you might think and to plan your business, burn rate and milestones accordingly.
You are a successful leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
- Perseverance. I must credit my father for being a role model. He immigrated first to the U.S. and Canada and then to Brazil with no financial support from his family. My father never gave up despite his many challenges, partly shaping my perseverance. In my own life, I, too, have faced many challenges and skeptics stating I couldn’t achieve specific goals or reach certain milestones. Like my father, I have not won every battle I have encountered, but I continue to move forward to overcome as many obstacles as possible.
- Resolve. You need the resolve and commitment to keep going even when things are difficult. First, you need to believe in yourself. No one said life’s obstacles are easy, but giving up prevents you from enjoying some great surprises. Experience, support, and judgment are vital to strengthening resolve.
- Family and friends support. My wife, two children, extended family and friends have been invaluable. My wife is a superhero and is the one who encouraged me to take the risk to start my own business. There can be a lot of uncertainty in your personal and professional life, so a strong foundation is critical to establishing emotional support/strength. Without the support, advice and unwavering belief from family and friends, the journey of building a company would be significantly harder.
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? How do you think that might help people?
We’ve recently launched a market guide for startups and entrepreneurs looking to invest in youth mental health. The report offers tech-focused solutions to address COVID-related demand for mental health resources. As revealed within the report, this space has seen a 15x growth rate over the last four years. Our goal in crafting this report is to encourage key stakeholders to make a measurable impact on the most vulnerable and traditionally marginalized communities who may not have quality mental health sources readily available. In addition, we’ve highlighted vital investment opportunities to provide real-world examples of how these products can scale to reach and positively impact youth mental health in the United States.
For the benefit of our readers, can you help explain what exactly Digital Transformation means? On a practical level what does it look like for a medical practice to engage in a digital transformation?
Digital transformation includes evolving manual processes and paperwork to digital records. Many hospitals require extensive paperwork that overwhelms most patients, providers and caretakers.
Particularly in cases that require immediate attention, time is of the essence.
Digital records allow patients to be treated quickly, transforming the patient’s outcome. However, the manual patient intake process negatively impacts facilities with limited resources. Digital transformation will enable providers to serve patients to the best of their ability while patients receive timely access to the treatment they need.
That brings me to the second factor of the equation, highlighting how technology adoption and excellent user experiences can improve the experience for both practitioners and patients. On a practical level, digital transformation reduces friction for medical practices by streamlining the intake process. That way, it reduces time, money and effort mutually beneficial for all parties.
What are the obstacles that prevent a medical practice from engaging in a digital transformation?
All payers and providers are looking for the latest clinical trials and studies. Startups must have access to a pilot environment in hospitals to produce scientific measurements that show the innovation they’ve created to impact patient health and prove effectiveness positively.
Hospitals and insurance providers should provide an environment to do clinical trials to help validate or invalidate their solutions. That way, startups know if their strategy is effective for patient outcomes and what may need to be adapted. Startups can only learn these lessons through real-time patient interaction. Currently, access to clinical trials is not readily available for startups, which hinders innovation in digital healthcare.
The current pilot process used by most hospitals and healthcare systems must evolve to cater to a broader demographic of startups and stakeholders.
Managing a healthcare facility is more challenging than it has ever been. Based on your experience or research, can you please share with our readers a few examples of how digital transformation can help a medical practice to provide better care? If you can, please share a story or example for each.
- First and foremost, digital transformation can positively impact the burnout that many healthcare workers and nurses face right now.
- One way digital transformation can mitigate some of those challenges is by providing healthcare workers with resources that help detect burnout before it happens. Healthcare facilities can better serve employees who feel burnt out with education and support that provide actionable solutions through technology. To benefit the overall health of these critical workers, we must offer them the resources they need to support their mental health. Facilities must adapt to serve employees before burnout begins, as reactive solutions are only a temporary fix to a systematic problem.
- Many facilities’ staff shortage limits accessibility to tools that will help patients transition back into their daily life after intake treatment. There should be a daily pulse check for nurses and doctors to check with employers on how they feel. If managed well, digital check-in can allow facilities to dedicate patterns and bring attention to resource use. If a department is overwhelmed, facilities can step in with coping mechanisms and mental health resources that reduce burnout and allow them to serve patients to the best of their ability.
Can you share a few examples of how digital interactions or digital intake processes can help create a frictionless patient experience and increase access for patients?
Technology is a critical resource for adapting a frictionless patient experience. For patients in rural or traditionally underserved areas, accessibility to high-quality mental health care and healthcare overall is severely limited. Digital interactions increase accessibility to specialists and high-quality mental health providers that may not be readily available in their areas. Digital intake processes also allow patients to feel empowered in their health journey. As providers continue to adapt to digital check-ins and telehealth access, I’d love to see this area evolve to allow patients visibility to basic blood work, tests and reminders of when they need to see their practitioner next. For older generations, in particular, digital intakes reduce the plethora of paperwork for caretakers that have assumed responsibility for another’s health. I’d like to see the digital intake process adapt to a technology that allows caretakers to access essential health records and facilitates direct communication with practitioners.
Based on your opinion and experience, what are your “5 Things You Need To Create A Highly Effective Medical Practice” and why.
- Adoption of technology
Technology adoption allows providers to serve patients better, while increasing efficiency and visibility.
Doctor’s offices are starting to allow online patient registration to ease some of the paperwork and repetitive information gathered. However, there is much room for improvement in medical practices to better engage with patients online. For example, the user experience and interface are not easy to navigate and cause frustration. Furthermore, after a doctor’s virtual visit, it would be great to have online resources in the patient portals to make it more efficient for doctors and patients. These online resources could include chat sessions with nurses and doctors, educational materials on a patient’s condition and referrals to specialists.
2. Virtual bedside manner
It is crucial for medical professionals to adopt an understanding of virtual bedside manner. Providers can miss patient cues during virtual appointments if they do not take extra care in learning about the individual and building a trusting relationship during telehealth visits.
Some small ways practitioners can create a more trusting space include sharing their screens to discuss medical reports and test results, as well as going the extra mile to understand their patient’s needs on a human level.
3. Effective Time Management
Virtual healthcare adheres to the individual’s schedule, as most doctor’s appointments are scheduled during business hours on the weekday. In this sense, it allows more effective management for both parties.
Practitioners need to utilize their time effectively when scheduling virtual appointments (allowing a buffer between appointments) to give each patient the time and attention they need.
4. Mental health education for investors
To glean an appropriate, high-level understanding of the demand for tech-oriented solutions in the healthcare industry and inform key stakeholders and decision-makers of the lack of current funding in the area. Essentially, to treat mental health with the same vigor we give our physical health, knowing they are deeply interconnected.
5. Collaboration with startups and entrepreneurs
It is essential that funding and attention are directed to transformation in the digital health space by startups and entrepreneurs.
However, these solutions must utilize evidence-based studies to serve the patient best and provide clear outcomes on the risks.
In our recent report, we utilized case studies from over 900 startups in the mental health space to clearly define best practices for investing in the digital mental health space.
We found that many of these young companies start organizations based on the experiences they feel themselves. For aspiring entrepreneurs, I’d like to emphasize the importance of supporting evidence in taking on any health-related business endeavor. If these processes aren’t carefully, there could be a detrimental impact on the population. Stakeholders and investors must have a clinical-based mindset to serve the patient’s health long-term best.
Because of your role, you are a person of significant influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most people, what would that be? You never know what your ideas can trigger.
I’d like to inspire people to self-educate when it comes to their health, both mentally and physically. The Western healthcare system traditionally underutilizes the idea of food as medicine. Practitioners tend to prioritize medication as a first-line treatment method, while the positive impact of daily lifestyle changes is less pronounced. If there is a single factor that could sway the healthcare system towards positive transformation, it would be the idea of how food fuels the body, how sleep impacts your overall health and the importance of mindful movement.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
Our latest report, addressing tech-focused solutions for youth mental health, is available here. The driving mission of Telosity by Vinaj Ventures is to be an impactful thought leader in the youth mental health startup space and investment market. We pride ourselves in our involvement in guiding startups and organizations on how to approach the widespread issue of mental health thoughtfully. We regularly update our website with organizations we are involved with and wish to highlight to bring awareness to this crucial issue. In terms of things to look forward to, we’ll soon release exclusive consumer survey data addressing public sentiment on mental health resources and telehealth experiences.
We look forward to sharing our findings with the community and hope to inspire others to direct funding and attention to the space.
This was truly meaningful! Thank you so much for your time and for sharing your expertise!
About The Interviewer: Dan Rodrigues is the founder and CEO of Kareo, a Tebra company, a leading provider of cloud-based clinical and practice management software solutions for independent healthcare practices and billing companies. Rodrigues is known for his visionary leadership in the healthcare technology industry. Rodrigues’ future-forward expertise has led companies such as Scour and Skematix. He is highly committed to providing patients with a seamless, digital experience in healthcare. Rodrigues’ business insights have been featured in publications including Forbes, Fierce Healthcare, and AP News.
Digital Transformation in Healthcare: Anish Srivastava Of Vinaj Ventures On How Medical Practices… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.