Jennifer Capestany: Hello everybody and welcome to another episode of Integration Station. Today we are going to be diving into innovation within an industry that affects, every single individual in every single family around the world. And that’s healthcare. In many ways, barriers to innovation are really just baked right into the DNA of the American Healthcare system. 

And, from boundless, siloed data to communication across disciplines, expertise along with regulations, it just leads to this fortress of legacy systems, manual processes and data that doesn’t move to where it needs to go, that really make it very difficult to introduce new innovations into healthcare and it affects the patient experience in many ways.  

So, joining me today to really take a deep dive into this one is Matin Saiyed. Matin is our Director of Health and Life Sciences Alliances here. And he brings 13 years of experience from the healthcare industry. So, I am really excited to be able to talk to him today. 

Matin, thank you for joining me.  

Matin Saiyed: Thank you, JC. And I just wanted to kick us off by saying that before even I joined MST, I used to watch these podcasts and I was really fascinated the way, these sessions are coming. So, I am really excited to be a part of this. So, thank you for having me here. 

Jennifer Capestany: Welcome. Very welcome.  

Matin Saiyed: I am glad I’m here. I’d love to talk about healthcare and, and just the way the industry has been evolving. But healthcare has dragged speed in innovation. But really after COVID-19, we have witnessed healthcare needs to be able to pivot, and it really needs to pivot fast to be able to meet the rapid changing demands of patient needs. 

So, in a lot of ways the changes we have seen in the last two years compared to the last 20 years I want to say, healthcare has really taken that shift in the innovation space. And I am happy to talk about it more.  

Jennifer Capestany: That’s actually excellent. So, let’s actually take a deep dive into that because I think in many ways, COVID 19 did shine a very bright light and many organizations did put in some really fast answers to meet some of those challenges, but they put them in a way that wasn’t sustainable. So many of those organizations are right back to square one. My first question is why is innovation so important in healthcare and what are those major categories where it’s really important for organizations and these different disciplines to bring innovation into? 

Matin Saiyed: Yeah certainly, health systems are really trying to move into the innovation space to overall enhancement and from moving from a quality-based care to more of a transformational based delivery of care and services and really the five pivoting elements within the healthcare space are focused and the health systems are really investing in how you can make healthcare more accessible. That is really the number one drive driving force to it. The second is how we are able to improve the quality of care which is being delivered. You really want to make sure that there are protocols and things like that followed to ensure that there is a high quality of delivery of care is being delivered. 

The next, I would say is like making healthcare more cost effective for the end user ultimately and how are we able to bring the overall cost of care reasonable enough? And we are seeing this through different disciplines where value-based care arrangements are coming into play and the introduction of technology to better connect patients with provider to stay ahead of, their wellness and the treatment plans and things like that so technology is playing a big role in bringing the overall cost of care. And the fourth item I would say is like improving the operational efficiency- how are we becoming more leaner through innovation to really lower the administrative cost of care, to lower the administrative efficiency and things like that. And lastly and this has been the real buzz, in 2022, which is consumer experience, right? -The patient experience, finding ways to deliver a more delightful consumer experience for our patients and things like that. 

And consumer experience has become a prime focus in every other industry we see around us, and healthcare has a lot to catch up, right? Healthcare interactions and transactions are really slow, things are really outdated, things are not intuitive. 

And we have seen the prime example of banking industry where the banking industry has evolved tremendously in the 10 years, when was the last time we went to a bank to do any transaction? Things are really pretty handy in our mobile phone nowadays. And technology is really taking the pivot there. 

But ultimately, I would say like these are like the five elements. And, to sum everything up I want to say that great user experience could be the way we ultimately improve the health and wellness of our communities. 

Jennifer Capestany: Yeah, that definitely makes sense. And I think tying into that patient experience is also patient empowerment where we are using technology to involve get ourselves more involved in our own care. And I feel like there is a bit of a disconnect and always has been. And there is a push to bridge that gap probably just as you indicated it, we all have stories about you. You go to a bank, and you’ve got this great app, and then you go to the one that your healthcare organization has to ask a question or book, an appointment, and it is just dreadful. It is super clunky. 

So, if you don’t mind, can we take a, like an even deeper dive into some of those unique challenges that make it difficult for the healthcare industry to innovate? What are those real barriers that are unique to healthcare?  

Matin Saiyed: Sure. So, some of the industry barriers, I have come across this is just from experiences, I would say it’s the way things has been done, right? and because of that, a lot of it dives into is basically, decentralization of things. 

And because of that, a lot of organizations have multiple application, portal clutter, application clutter. And, that is primarily due to, like I said decentralization of buying and installing applications and portals. Patient engagement data is being stored in so many different applications and portal. 

And that has become like the biggest challenge for us to really get the right data and there is the other part which is the duplication of data. And where is the data source, right? So, it comes down to, because of these application and port clutter, we run into these data issues and the data issue has its own story of whether that is legacy system or data being siloed or not having enough data or not having data at all. 

So, I would say that one of the barriers is because of this decentralization, of things and purchasing things and buying things and not having a strategic vision around what is the process of getting new technology within the doors of any healthcare organization is the biggest challenge, I would say. 

Jennifer Capestany: Definitely. 

Matin Saiyed: The other thing is like stakeholder engagement. working within the healthcare industry, like I need to connect with the business- to really see what those outcomes are and based on the outcomes I should be able to deliver those technology or help them reach that goal and things like that. 

And, the other thing is like having a greater buy-in right on, on this change adoption. Oftentimes you are trying to really solve for this bigger cause and things, but you don’t have the right buy-in from the right stakeholders. Hence the project doesn’t get prioritized and, then healthcare is always catching up, for example compared to a banking industry. 

So, I think a broader buy-in is a definitely, one of the items I, I would also. 

Jennifer Capestany: Yeah, for sure. A buy in and change management. A lot of times if you don’t have those things really carefully thought out, then it stalls an innovation project, just before it even really gets started. 

So I definitely see the sense of that and I can also see what you mean about data, because not only does that tie into the ability to provide the ultimate best care for a patient, but that ties into the ability to look at community demographics, population graphics, and looking at the trends within the regions that you’re serving and being able to spot those things. You can’t do that without moving that data around to where it needs to go, when it needs to go. So, there’s kind of a lot there isn’t there. And in many ways, it boils down to data, buy-in, change management. It’s really, really interesting stuff. So, here’s what, I’m not going to ask next- how do you overcome those barriers? What are those first steps that you can take to really start jumping over?  

Matin Saiyed: Yep. I’m really having a good time having this conversation, and because this is healthcare, it’s not only my business or your business – it’s everybody’s business. 

So healthcare, that’s why it’s very unique within any other, services because it all, it affects all of us, right? That’s why as an end user yourself, you’re able to connect and talk about it and know all the challenges you would have.  

Jennifer Capestany: Yeah. But it’s very hard for sure, 

Matin Saiyed: Yes, so how do we overcome these challenges? and, just oftentimes what, I see is like health system – They really need to figure out what they’re trying to solve right? Need to have a plan and prioritize basically, sort of a vision, which is really aligned to their business outcomes. 

A lot of health systems are really going after how to make healthcare more affordable, and which is really geared towards having more of a wellness related, initiatives. So, let’s catch that before it gets worse. So, I think that’s all, building that health equity, again where need. They need to have a better vision, which is more aligned to their business outcomes. 

And next thing I see oftentimes is they have those answers by hiring the right talent. And this goes back to eliminating multiple applications and portals, which are doing the same thing and versus having a robust application. 

Because I work in Salesforce ecosystem, I, definitely brag about it. Salesforce is, one of those applications and a platform which is totally scalable, configurable, customizable, right? I mean, I’ve seen health Systems, which has rolled out Salesforce wall to wall, and that has just changed the game the way they do business, right? 

You could also have a mix of Salesforce and Oracle services for both your front end and back office, that’s another way of tackling things. This way health systems are building a concentrated skill set and within their organization, and they don’t have to really go after every single application and then bring on those skillsets. 

So that’s like the other thing I would say. And the other thing which also comes to mind because, like I said I’ve worked as a consultant for a long time, it is so important, like having a right consulting partner. You don’t want just a vendor. You want a partner who wants to help you solve for today and really redefine your digital strategy, whether that is in the payer space, provider space, or you call it, right? 

So, I think you want to. your consulting partner who is an industry and a cloud expert, but at the same time, they can support you with other products and services, right? I want to talk about us, at MST, we brag about ourself that we are a hundred percent Salesforce focused and a consulting partner, which specialize in healthcare. 

But, at the same time now we can also brag about our recent merger acquisition by Mastek, so now Mastek is our parent company who specialize in Oracle and because of that we have the capability not only solving for Salesforce anymore, but also Oracle services. 

And the reason why I brought this up, because this merger and acquisition happened not too long ago, like maybe five months ago, earlier this year, I think in July. And in just few, months, we were able to accomplish, like really go back to our clients and really see like how we can help them through our new capabilities, right? Whether that is Health Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, and Salesforce, or whether that is ERP or any other faucets within the Oracle space. 

Jennifer Capestany: Yeah, for sure. We actually have a checklist kicking around the website somewhere. I should, find it and put it down in the show notes where we advise people what kinds of questions to ask to find the right consulting partner. 

Now, whether that’s going to be us or another organization, here’s what you want to ask, because it’s more than just having expertise in a particular platform or an ecosystem. You want that level, that level of experience where your partner can step in and actually make recommendations and, and help you build that roadmap. 

And even push back a little if something, that you think you want to do maybe isn’t the ideal or that piece of software that you’re hanging onto is, maybe not the ideal tool to go forward, velocity and scalability and, so that’s somewhere, I’ll find it and I’ll put it in the show notes. 

And you’re absolutely right, Salesforce and Oracle both are, as investors as we are in healthcare. They also have invested lot of care and time into building tools that answer some, really major challenges. So, they’re both very, very good choice and they synergize well together. 

Matin Saiyed: Yep. And yeah, that brings one more thought to me, that it’s having the right consulting partner, it’s so important because we should be able to really create a point of view for our customers and have that redefined digital strategy or visual roadmap for them and help them in this journey. 

Like I work with health systems, day in, day out, and, health systems- they have an EMR system and they usually have a CRM system so, through our point of view, are we able to really leverage both of these platforms and create, , new ways of how we can get in front of patients through some unique API exchanges and connectors, right? you have the last time the patient visited the physician or got admitted in the hospital, are we able to bring that data into CRM, that engagement, that interactions, and really go and deliver some relative marketing content and things like that. 

So those are like the game changing avenues we need to look for by helping our, our customers health systems as a consulting partner by this new modern point of views, for example, Salesforce is a CRM. How does Salesforce CRM compliment the EMR systems, whether that is Epic, Athena, Cerner, you name it? How does that transformational transaction look like when you bring these two together? So, I think, that’s sort of a value we need to be able to bring to our customers. It’s very important.  

Jennifer Capestany: Yeah, absolutely. And now, as what we have time for one last thought. 

So, I’m hoping to get your insight into something. I know you’ve been a pretty big pioneer for because you see the power of it, and so you’ve brought this to several organizations as a way. to really, really hone in on solutions that are unique to that organization and drive forward. Change fast. 

We’ve got a few minutes to touch on it. Can I get you to talk about Innovation Labs?  

Matin Saiyed: Yes. Yeah. Innovation Labs, it’s really picked up and, I have some experience that I’ve done some work and you can call it innovation lab, you can call it Innovation studio, Innovation Garage, or Innovation Hub. I mean, they’re all the same thing – empowering your staff internally to become a change agent, to come forward with ideas, to improve the organization whether that is on the administration side of things or whether that is on the care delivery side of things, right? So, I think it’s time for healthcare organization to really take advantage of this program, right? They should develop an internal innovation program that helps advance the overall strategic goal, right? Setting up an innovation program for the staff to really look for opportunities in their areas to help make healthcare more smoother, faster, and efficient right? And, and what it is, is like taking those idea. From like the healthcare workers across the organization and taking those ideas from ideation to execution. And between that ideation and execution the role of innovation lab or hub, garage, you call it is to really validate that idea, through if through a process, right? 

And the process can be mentoring them somehow and taking that the brave step of experimenting, testing the idea and, making it more of an executable. So I think there is we can spend another hour on it, but I think the gist of it is like empowering and creating that culture within the org or healthcare organization for the healthcare workers whether that is on the clinical side of things, administrative side of things, giving them the ability , to really take advantage of this program, to find ways how they can improve the going back to those elements, right? We talked about how they can reduce the cost of care on the administrative side of things. 

Through these innovative ways, how are they able to create a more consumer experience for their patients or members and reduce the operational efficiency, or, have better quality of care right? So those, going back to those elements there. So, I think if they are looking out for those things, they really have some really valuable assets in the organization. 

So, I think they can take really good advantage and, it’s really meaningful. Like when I was doing this, I felt really appreciated. Like whatever I’m saying or whatever I’m submitting my ideas, somebody’s really hearing me. And because of that, I felt more of a valuable player for my organization, right? And getting that recognition and all that stuff is very important. So, I think it just a change in culture brings, a lot of value. 

Jennifer Capestany: It does seem like that. It seems like a driver for change and a way to bring a culture of innovation to, an organization. And so, but there’s kind of a lot to unpack, so I’m hoping I can get you to come back onto the show in a future episode and really dive into that. 

Matin Saiyed: And good luck to that! 

Jennifer Capestany: oh, that would be awesome. That would be absolutely awesome. And in the meantime, for the folks who are listening or watching, if you have any questions for us, for my team, go ahead and find us on website, find us on social media, LinkedIn, and give us your questions. We’ll do our best to answer. 

You’ll also find some resources down below on our dedicated website page. So, look for that one and look for Matin in a future episode. Thank you.  

Matin Saiyed: Thank you, JC.