00:00
Having a deep understanding of what's going on in the market. Super important. I feel like the
perception of CEO is, once you've reached that position, it's sort of hands off. A lot of cases,
what you see with companies that execute on acquisition strategies is a lot of times it's like
everything changes day one. This is it's our way. I mean, it's funny, because I think most people
would say you're a CEO. You should be, you know, operating at 20,000 30,000 feet, the way the
market and the environment has evolved, it's almost imperative to come down a level or two.
00:41
Welcome back to CEO behind the scenes. I'm Laura necessian, and today I'm joined by Pat
Lenard, CEO of coro health, operating at the intersection of healthcare, clinical expertise and
technology, corro health has grown rapidly in recent years, completing multiple acquisitions
whilst helping healthcare providers improve accuracy, efficiency and outcomes through
clinically led automation and AI. In today's episode, we'll explore what it takes to lead through
disruption, scale a global organization and build innovation that truly impacts patient care.
Please enjoy Pat. Welcome to the show. Thank you for having me looking forward to the
conversation. Likewise, I'm so looking forward to having this conversation with you, and where I
really wanted to start things off is the fact that you stepped into a major leadership role during
the pandemic, one of the most disruptive periods that healthcare has ever faced. How did that
experience shape your leadership approach? No, it's a great question. I think the first thing I'd
say is, if I knew all that was going to happen. I'm not sure I would have, would have done this,
but, but that being said, it was a great opportunity, really, to be able to kind of test leadership
and how you're able to bring a team along through a crisis and operating in an environment
that, candidly, nobody had really operated in that environment previously. And so, we've been
very fortunate as an organization, because we started on January 120, 20, so two and a half
months prior to covid, and we were able to navigate through the challenges of covid in terms of
working from home, the technological challenges, the challenges our customers went through
in terms of just volumes being down at hospitals and challenges on the payer side, but really be
able to thrive through that period. And so when we started, we were about 2500 employees,
and today we're 17,000 strong. And so I think you know, really the again, it's kind of a test to
the leadership in terms of being able to show what the end goal is, and staying consistent from
that standpoint. And really as a company, we've held the three kind of guiding principles in
terms of how we look to provide exceptional value to our customers, and that that's really
showing competency in or excellence in technology and automation,
03:26
data driven analytics and clinical expertise, and we've stayed true to that, and I think that's
been very important as we've navigated through growth environmental challenges, to really
put the company where it is today. And I want to go back to something which you said at the
beginning, which is, had you known that you are about to step into what you did? You may not
have chosen to opt into something like that. It's an enormous undertaking, but I do believe that
there is value. And when we go through really difficult moments in business and in life, if you
can have that degree of resiliency, then there's almost this mindset of, if we could do that and
get through that and come out and be successful on the other side of it, what can't we do? So I
wonder, how did that really shape the leadership and the vision and the pathway moving
forward? No, it's a great analogy, I think, in terms of what we experienced with covid and how
we kind of applied those learnings to the growth of Koro. And what I mean by that is just most
companies don't go through the accelerated growth that we experience. We started, you know,
when we formed core with three companies. Since then, we've done 12 acquisitions. And so I
think, you know, most organizations, you know, kind of will do two or three.
05:00
Or acquisitions, and kind of be That's enough, and kind of take a pause from that standpoint.
But I think we were able to develop this resiliency through what happened with covid, that
nothing was insurmountable. And so there were times when we were looking to bring other
companies onto the platform that I think our team's like, oh my gosh, not another one. But I
think everybody kind of looked at as a challenge, like we figured this huge challenge with covid
out, executing on this growth and how we build this platform that truly creates differentiated
value for our provider and payer customers was, was really, you know, catalyzing from that
standpoint. So it was definitely a motivator in terms of guiding us during our growth. And I want
to go back to something that you touched on, which was the growth from 2500
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team members to 17,000 team members in a relatively short period of time that is a significant
amount of growth. How have you really kept your people aligned when that change has been
so constant? I know you touched on these three principles and three areas of focus, but is there
anything else that you can think of that really helped support that, that growth and that
alignment, the guiding principles of kind of where we saw our competencies was our North Star.
But really, I think
06:33
a lot of people underestimate the effort in terms of bringing organizations in and making them
feel like they're part of a new organization, driving culture integration, and I think probably
most importantly, is learning not how to break something or screw something up. Because
every one of these companies we've acquired, we had a playbook that we used in terms of
companies we look to bring on the platform, and it was around differentiated technology. It
was, could it bring scale to the business, or would it open new markets? But every one of those
companies was thriving in their own right, and they had a good model, but we felt they could
be better if they're part of the broader platform. That being said, what we did want to do is
upset the growth trajectory that they were on. And so we were very thoughtful in terms of how
we navigated through the integration of these companies. And I think there was a couple of
things that kind of come to mind from my standpoint. First, I think consistency in terms of what
you do and being intentional. So there were certain things that a lot of these companies in
terms of, like Back Office services and things like that, that were kind of a no brainer to move
over and have supported by the core team. There are other areas, I think, just around growth,
where they knew the markets. And I think what we took the opportunity was, let's learn from
them what's working, and then let's figure out how that fits in our platform and how we can
adapt to make them successful versus forcing our ways upon them. And I think the other was
really just, you know, this willingness to learn and understand kind of what was important to
them and making sure we're thoughtful. From that standpoint,
08:26
that being said, we still kept to the same guiding principle that ultimately, we want to be
integrated. We want to have one brand. We want to have one voice in the marketplace. And it
was very Yeah, we've been very successful in doing that. In fact, a lot of the leaders that came
over, CEOs from those companies, from the acquisitions, are still with us today, which, to me is
it's a lot of what I say to when I talk to customers or investors and they're like, Well, how
integrated are you and how successful? And my comment is more look at the team, talk to the
team, understand where they came from, and a lot of them came over through that acquisition
and have been able to provide for broader contributions to what we're doing as an
organization, which, to me, speaks volumes in terms of what we've been able to do. And I want
to touch on the strategy behind growing at the pace that you have, because you said that, you
know, a lot of organizations might look at two to three acquisitions and sort of hang up their
boots. From that perspective, they've had enough, but you've done 12 in just six years. What
was the thought process and the strategy behind that decision? Yeah, we did see an
opportunity in the market, and that was really focusing in these areas that for both providers as
well as payers that were highly complex, that would require accommodation of tech.
10:00
Technology, analytics and expertise to solve these problems. And where I'm you know what I'm
referring to, these areas around clinical documentation, and when you look at like medical
charts and things like that, they're extremely comprehensive. The rules in which you need to
apply in terms of being able to get paid on claims extremely confusing and complex. And so we
saw an opportunity in the market that was not being served, you know, from that standpoint.
And really thought that if we're going to serve this, let's do this in the quickest possible
manner. And so that was through a combination of inorganic growth as well as organic, the
inorganic. We were fortunate that, given the experience we've had in the market, we knew
companies out there that we thought would be a great part of great addition to the platform at
some point, and was just always an active conversation. But the other thing I'd say too, we are,
we do have our primary investor during like the first five years, we've brought in a second
investor, but the support of our investors was incredibly important. The other thing that goes
without saying, to a certain extent, is really performing on those acquisitions. So we identify
great companies. We say these can be great additions to the portfolio. We build a business
case around that, but our ability to execute on that and show that actually, yes, that that view,
that vision, was executed on, because ultimately, our investors, you know, they're only going to
support so many acquisitions if we're not performing at the level. So
11:42
performance is certainly kind of fundamental component to that acquisition strategy as well.
And speaking about the success of that acquisition strategy, acquisitions often fail or succeed
based on things like culture and integration. How have you brought the teams together whilst
maintaining that alignment piece as well as performance culture is something that you got to
live every day. You know, it's not words on a slide or anything like that. And I think we take that
to heart through all levels of the organization. And personally, you know, I have a mantra that
it's really kind of rolling up the sleeves and understanding, getting out, meeting the team,
meeting customers, understanding the issues, understanding what's important, and really
making sure we're doing our best to address those opportunities, any concerns that are out
there from a business standpoint. And the reality is, we're a very diversified business. We're
17,000 team members today. We're in the US, we're in India, we're in United Arab Emirates,
we're in the UK.
12:51
And so those needs and requirements are going to be different based on those geographic
markets. And so really understanding the differences from that standpoint, that it's not while
we're headquartered or centered in the US, it's not us LED. So we're very thoughtful in terms of
organization as well, in terms of it's one team. It's not the US team versus the team in India
versus the team in the United Arab Emirates, making sure that the leadership is a good mix of
our geography, and that leadership is embraced throughout. So it's an ongoing process and
very thoughtful. But without that focus, I don't think we'd be anywhere where we are like we
are today. And how have you learned to discern between rolling up your sleeves and having the
big vision. How do you zoom in and zoom out, so to speak? I mean, it's funny, because I think
most people would say you're a CEO. You should be, you know, operating at 20,000 30,000
feet. What I would say is the way the market and the environment has evolved, it's almost
imperative to come down a level or two, you know, in terms of, if you think of things like just
the pace of what's happening with automation, and without really kind of rolling up your
sleeves and just understanding what's happening in the market. In my, you know, mind, it's
really hard to provide leadership in terms of where we're going if you don't have that
fundamental understanding. From that standpoint, I think it's the same thing with acquisitions,
you know, understanding connecting with those teams that are coming on or that are new to
corro super important, I think, in terms of being able to demonstrate that. You know, this is a
team. We embrace, you know, culture throughout the organization. We embrace leadership,
and we're not asking people to do things we wouldn't ask ourselves to do the expectations we
have, the bars we set, all that's consistent throughout, but it's important for not only.
15:00
Myself, the rest of the leadership team, to be able to kind of walk the walk, you know,
throughout the organization, it's such an interesting perspective, because I feel like the
perception of CEO is, once you've reached that position, it's sort of hands off and and losing
that connection, I think, is something that you've really touched on, it's been really imperative
to culture and performance. What advice would you have to CEOs that are going through a
similar change or growth journey and perhaps struggling with the whether you want to call it
identity or the responsibility that comes with that CEO position in balancing those two? No, it's
great question. I think a lot of it gets into like, know your environment, know what you're
getting into. And what I mean by that is,
15:53
you know, not all CEOs could be a CEO for any company, right? And there's CEOs that are very
well suited for multi national organizations, and there's others that are well suited for startups.
And that CEO for a startup may not be the best CEO for that company as it starts to reach its
growth trajectory, but I think for myself, having worked in both environments worked for large
companies, and knowing how to navigate there, but really understanding where I when I came
into coro, which essentially was a startup. I mean, it was we brought three companies together.
Those companies had some history, but what we're trying to create is, this is a new company.
This is a new culture, and we're going to embrace that identity as an organization. And so I
think knowing your surroundings in terms of what we're trying to accomplish was super
important. I think the other is, I mentioned we have private equity as investors in core today,
and I think that does create a little bit of a different dynamic. I mean, private private equity,
you know, generally, has a whole period of anywhere from three to five, or, you know, seven up
to seven years. But you're working on a shorter time frame in terms of results. And so that's
another thing that's important. Is like, who, who are the stakeholders, and how are you
operating? What's the expectations around that, and really being able to be adaptable to that?
And I think I'm very thoughtful when we bring new team members into the organization,
explaining that, that in terms of how we operate, we operate on we think of six month nine
month intervals, versus two year, three year type intervals. We are in a fast paced environment
that your job could change at six months, nine months, 12 months. If that's not for you, then
this is probably not the right place. So I think understanding that environment, being able to
articulate kind of how you operate, making sure that's embraced throughout the organization.
All all critical. You know, from that standpoint, I'm curious, at what point did you realize that
core health was becoming something so much bigger than perhaps what was initially
envisioned? Yeah, I'd almost say, like, every day, right? I mean, it's, it's, you know, when we
started, or we formed core, I don't think we ever thought we'd be where we are today. I don't
know that we thought we'd do 12 acquisitions, but to me, that that's kind of the interesting,
kind of cool aspect of what we're doing is we're very nimble. We're very aggressive from a
market standpoint. We have high aspirations from a growth standpoint, and we don't set
barriers or ceilings in terms of where we want to be. And so even today, I mean, we talk about,
how do we double the size in the next two years, three years timeframe, right? And I think
creating that type of culture and making getting the team to be inquisitive about that, I think
just creates this atmosphere that nothing is impossible from that standpoint. But I think once
you start to set those boundaries, set those ceilings, in terms of like, Oh, we've accomplished
amazing things. We have celebrate, but let's look forward and continue to focus on the future.
And we'll do we'll continue to do amazing things. Healthcare, technology has become an
increasingly crowded space, what do you believe truly differentiates core health from other
providers? I think it gets back to kind of those competencies that we talked about right? It's it's
the combination of automation technology, data driven analytics and clinical expertise.
20:00
So, you know, it's interesting automation is, you know, it's just the way it's evolving. It's just so
fast paced right now, and I think there's great aspirations about how it can be utilized for the
betterment of healthcare, and I fundamentally believe that's happening, and that'll continue to
happen, but also believe that there's probably some aspirational expectations out there, that a
lot of people think that'll solve everything. And so what we've done at coro, I think, is taken a
very practical approach, that it's really the combination of the three that are going to solve
these incredibly complex problems. And I like to equate it to, you know, we we kind of think
we're looking to solve the entire problem, not just a part of the problem. And what I mean by
that is, there's a lot of great technology out there that is very effective at solving like, 80% of
the day to day. And that's significant. It's high volume, but that 20%
21:03
is typically very complex, very meaningful in terms of financial return and things like that. And
that's where it's not just technology, it's the technology, it's the clinical expertise, it's the
analytics that you really need to deploy to solve those problems. And I think once you do that,
that really fundamentally creates a different partnership with your customers. I really look at it
to see that I'm not going to have to go to look, you know, look to multiple vendors to help solve
these problems, or be disappointed that I invested in this technology and it's only solving 80%
of my problem. The other thing I'd say too is
21:44
we use our technology. So our technology that we put forth in a customer's environment is
informed or shaped by our own operations. And so we do things at incredible scale within the
organization, and so our users, whether they're coders, physicians or other team members that
are working on our technology, they're informing our developers as at how to best optimize the
results. Because ultimately, I look at it and say, with if you look at healthcare today, it's one of
the problems it's faced with is really a resource problem, right? There's not enough physicians,
there's not enough nurses. Clinic physicians need more time to spend with a patient. If you
think about the administrative side, it's often understaffed, and so to me, that's a role that I
think we're also trying to resolve. Here is how do you close those gaps from a resource
standpoint through the combination of the technology, the analytics and the clinical expertise?
Because ultimately, that's going to drive better outcomes for the customer. It will provide for
better experience for patients, and it will also free up clinician time to allow them to spend
more time with patients versus on the administrative side of healthcare today,
23:12
absolutely, I want to talk a little bit about culture, leadership, People, because core health has
built a reputation for strong culture alongside innovation. How have you effectively
communicated culture and set those expectations and standards across such a large global
workforce? Yeah, it's it's combination, I think, of a lot of things we've talked about. I think when
it comes to
23:45
acquisitions and bringing companies onto the platform, it's being clear in terms of what the
goals are and how we operate, but it's also listening, because every every organization that
we've brought into coro, we've learned something from, and we've applied that to the broader
organization. I think that's super helpful when you're bringing new team, team members on,
because a lot of cases, what you see with companies that execute on acquisition strategies is a
lot of times it's like everything changes day one. This is it's our way, and that does not create
the most endearing Welcome to the organization. So I think that's first and foremost. I think a
little bit of it also gets back to kind of this roll up the sleeves type of mentality, right? This is
hard work. It's complex work. It's ever changing, and so being inquisitive, being out, meeting
with team members, understanding kind of what the challenges are, making sure they feel
we're listening, and, more importantly, making changes to make sure we're addressing any
opportunity.
25:00
That may be out there. Same applies to our customers. And then the last thing I'd say too, is
it's hard work and it's ongoing, you know, constant work, but taking time to celebrate success,
which a lot of organizations don't always do the best job of, and it's something that we always
have to keep ourselves honest in terms of what we're doing, is really taking time out and
saying, Hey, we did this really well, and let's celebrate it. You know, calling out team members
teams to celebrate those successes are important, because otherwise, like I said, it's hard
work, and if it's just, if it's always hard work that becomes taxing and that does not create the
best environment, there's such a distinction between listening to respond versus listening to
actually listen. What have you learned about that in your own leadership journey? Yeah, results
matter, right? I think it's if I listening, whether it's, you know, recommendations from an
employees, from customers. What are we doing about that? Right? Are we just documenting
that and nothing changes? But we're very intentional about how we measure our results, and
that adheres to how we run the organization, how we think about culture, even the technology
we deploy. I mean, it's, it's very focused on results driven. These are results we achieve in our
environment. These are the same results you should achieve and expect. And so that's
fundamental is, is results matter? And I think that that goes a long way in terms of the teams
understanding and hearing that this is an organization where I want to spend the rest of my
career, versus just making this another job. And we may have touched on this in other parts of
our conversation, but I would love if you could share the role of things like value and culture
and how that the role that they have played in sustaining performance and motivation through
rapid change, we wouldn't be where we are today if we weren't good at value and culture. And
what I mean by that, I mean every one of these organizations that we brought in, or just new
team members that that we've added to the team is it's critical that, you know, we're driving
the right culture for the right results, you know, from that standpoint. And so it's just, it's
something that's embodied in everything we do, day in, day out. And if you think about these
companies that we acquire, they have developed, they've been successful in their own right,
right and and so how do you make sure you're continuing that continuity? Because a lot of the
cases, it's relationships that matter. There's there may be underlying technology, but it's
relationships and what's important for us. I mean, if we're bringing companies in to be as part
of the platform, you want to make sure, if you've brought that business on, you're retaining
customers, and what's important to those customers is not only the underlying technology that
they're relying on, as well as the people. It's want to make sure we're doing that as part of our
integration, our acquisition strategy, that's a very important part, and a lot of that gets down to
creating an environment that, in my mind, is coro a better place for me than where I was
previously. Because if we're the same, I think there's a good chance that team member may
not be with us, and so we need to be better than where they were before. And a lot of them
were great. So it's, I mean, it's a high bar to achieve from that standpoint, but if you have that
mentality, I think you know you're going to be more successful than not. And I read that you
like to understand people's lives outside of work, their interests and their passions and what
lights them up. Why do you believe that's so important in leadership? Well, I mean, I do think
just being authentic and just having interest in people's lives outside of work is extremely
important. We work hard. In my mind, it's like, when does the work day or the work week stop?
It's like, it's almost, you know, 24/7 especially a global organization like us, we have, we, there
are core team members that are working some hour of the day, right? And so I just think it's
important to, you know, similar to what I said earlier, about like, celebrating success. It's like,
you know, let's pause. It's like, what you do for the weekend, right? Or what's your interests
outside of work? You know? What are your hobbies? Ask about family and things like that.
Extremely important. Because I think ultimately our team members spend a majority of their
time at work. And.
30:00
Trying to create an environment to be more than just work. Think of it as a family, right? And so
how would you want to build your family Now, granted, it's not the same as my family at home,
but I mean, ultimately, it is a family. And want to make sure we're not only working hard, but
we're, you know, compassionate. We understand kind of what drives our teammates where
their interests are, and things like that. All that's extremely important. And I think does another
driver of like, what makes our culture successful, and why people want to stay at core for a
career versus a job? And on that vein, I have to ask you, what do you do for fun outside of
work? What do you enjoy?
30:46
That's, that's the loaded question. It is the latest,
30:50
yeah, so,
30:52
so I do, like, I'm a big bike bicyclist enthusiast, and so I use that for kind of the download
outside of work, right? I mean, at some point you just, like, with everything going on, you just
need a couple hours to get out on the road and ride a bike and kind of clear your head. Family
super important. And so spending time with family. More importantly, we love to travel. So
we're
31:18
always taking trips and different places like to explore do things like that is extremely
important as well, so but it's important, and it's hard to make sure you're taking that time for
yourself and the family, absolutely. And that's something that I hear a lot of CEOs and leaders
talk about, is there is no such thing as balance, and it can be difficult with the pressure and
responsibility that comes with CEO to prioritize things like health and family and things that you
really enjoy outside of work. Are there any secrets or any tips, or anything like that, that you
really learned along the way that have really help to create as much balance, if you will, if you
if you as much as you can. Well, I think it's making that commitment that you do need to take
time for yourself, for your family. I think that's kind of first and foremost, because it is
extremely hard. And I would say it's only getting harder with just kind of how the market's
evolving and the pressures associated with it. So I would argue it's, it's, it's almost easier to get
lost in your work these days than it was, you know, five years ago. And so you got to be very
intentional about that. The other thing I would say, and, and if you ask my wife about my
commitment outside of work, you may get a different answer than myself. But asking for
feedback in terms of, how am I doing on this? And I I do okay, I shouldn't say I'm getting like, A
grades from that standpoint, but, but we're working on it. But the feedback is important,
because what you think may be happening isn't necessarily what others may think. And so
that's extremely important. And if your goal is to spend time with family and do the right
things, should be asking them, I want to touch on healthcare transformation and some industry
shifts that you're seeing, because healthcare systems globally face growing pressure to
improve outcomes whilst controlling costs. You've spoken about the need for outcome results
focused care. What does that transformation look like in practice? I actually think it's an
extremely exciting time within healthcare today. I mean, it is an industry that continues to be
challenged from a cost standpoint. And how do you take the right cost out, which is extremely
difficult because you're dealing with patients at the, you know, at the end of the care spectrum,
right? And so how do you, how do you manage costs from that standpoint? So it's not easy for
sure, but what I would say is, there's a couple things you know, particularly, what's happening
within the US? Well, I'd say globally, first is what's happening with automation, I think is super
exciting for what's what that can do for healthcare, because what it's allowing for is solutions
that are being brought to market in a much more expedient manner than they have ever been
previously, and they're solving bigger problems than they ever have previously. And a lot of
those problems around, you know, opportunities to take, you know, additional cost out of the
system, or whether it's optimized revenue and things like that. But we're allowed, it's allowing
us to do a lot more with less, from that standpoint. So that's going to be good or great. I think
there's some other trends too.
35:00
Uh, around, you know this notion of fee for service and shift to value based care, and it's
something that's been around for the past 1015, years, and certainly in the US, has not really,
you know, it's, it's caught traction, but not in a significant way. And what I would say is there is
more momentum behind that right now than there ever has been before. Personally, we're very
excited at core, because we're very well skilled in navigating that transition from fee for service
to value based care. But what makes, I think that trend really important is ultimately value
based care is focused around making sure we're doing the right thing to manage the care for
that patient, which in a lot of cases, becomes more proactive than what you see on traditional
fee for service, and so that's going to be super helpful, I think, in terms of helping manage
costs from that standpoint. But the other thing I'd say about that is
36:11
you've always had this friction between providers and payers. Right? Providers always think
payers are making things a lot more complicated for them in terms of how they seek
reimbursement, making rules overly cumbersome. And so there's always kind of this, you know,
friction between the two.
36:32
What happens with value based care is you get almost perfect alignment between those two
stakeholders. And so there's this willingness to work together versus kind of be at odds in the
past, and what makes I think, what I where I get excited about that is, I think that's where you
get both stakeholders focused on, how do we start to think about eliminating some of the
36:58
cost drivers in the system that are just related to unnecessary processes and things like that.
So it gets the two parties talking, and I think that's going to drive that's going to be super
helpful as well. I also think, you know, there is certainly with current administration in the US,
you know, just this focus on using analytics to look at healthcare spend and look at
opportunities around that now that needs to manage be managed appropriately, and so forth.
But there is, I would say, this environment and this enthusiasm, I think, around change and
what technology is able to do. How do we create better alignment, which to me, is probably
more evident than I've seen, you know, in the past 510, years. That makes me excited. It
makes again, very excited for core because I think we're well situated from that standpoint. But
ultimately, I think, and most importantly is it'll be good for the industry. It'll be good for the cost
of healthcare. I think it'll be good for the clinicians, be good for patients. Hopefully everybody
wins in that type of scenario. But we got some work to do, but encouraged. It's very exciting
indeed. And there is enormous excitement around AI in healthcare right now. What should
leaders focus on, beyond the hype to create meaningful impact? You know, it's
38:35
it's really hard. I think if you're
38:39
a provider or you're a payer, and you listen to everything that's happening with automation,
because there's such hype behind it, it's really hard to filter through kind of what's real and
what's not real, or what's visionary or ready now. And I think the approach that we've tried to
take at core is being transparent, being authentic about what automation can do and what it
can't do and how we're using automation. I think the general notion, from a market standpoint,
is automation should eliminate work, or that's the hope, right is I have these tasks today, if I
deploy automation, those tasks are gone. And what I would say is, the way we deploy
automation, there's multiple different use cases. In some cases, there's areas where we have
high volume transactions, low complexity, where you can deploy automation, and what you're
doing is essentially eliminating work. So we have a platform called Pulse, which is a coding
automation and that's the job there is like, how do I eliminate the need for anybody to have to
touch that? And the reality is, the where the market is, you can get about 80% of that work no
longer to be touched, but you still have to touch one.
40:00
80%
40:01
there's other areas or use cases, when you think about the work we do around clinical
documentation for inpatient visits. Now, some of these medical charts can be anywhere from
800 up to 10,000 pages long, right? So to think that you can take automation today and
leverage that to read a chart and do everything that's necessary in terms of from a
documentation standpoint, from a coding standpoint, is unrealistic, and that's probably not
going to happen in the next five years, six years. Who knows. But really, the job of automation
there is to supplement the work that's being done. You have clinicians that are reviewing
charts, whether it's in the hospital setting or in our office, and what you're doing is deploying
automation to say these are areas of the chart where we think you should focus your attention,
versus having to page through an 800 page chart. So I think knowing the use case behind
automation, what the role is, the type of automation that you're using, is also extremely
important. And I think being able to we see that as kind of our role at corro, with our partners,
be it payers providers, is really providing kind of that perspective as to this is how it's going to
be used. It's the use case. These are the types of automation. This is the job that it will solve.
And I think you do establish a level of credibility from that standpoint that is proven to be very
effective from our standpoint. And so I think it's a combination, really, of those items that really
looks is, is how we look to differentiate ourselves in the market. And candidly, you hope the
market, from a holistic standpoint, would operate that same way. But given the hype, it's hard
to remove some of the the hope that you know of what automation could do. But we feel we're
doing our part, and we've been quite successful with our journey around automation. And how
have you been able to communicate that to your team in terms of managing perhaps some of
their expectations of the capabilities of AI and the practical realities of what that looks like? So I
mean, that's another area where, like, culture matters, change management is important.
Because ultimately, I mean, a lot of your team, our team members would look at it is this
means job elimination, right? Is you're deploying automation, and the work I was doing today is
no longer going to be there. And so clear communication about what the role is, what the
expectation is. I think providing the right mechanisms in terms of providing Up skill training, as
we redeploy those resources to other
42:56
more complex tasks that automation may not solve is all super important. There are things
around just incentives and things like that, like if there's productivity incentives, and being
thoughtful about that, because try and impress upon our team is we're we're bringing
automation in to help with the work that we're doing, which is going to provide for better
results. It's also going to help supplement some of what we're doing. But some of those same
resource challenges I referenced earlier that are evidence in the health system as well as in the
payer environment, we have those same challenges too, right? There's this, it's, it's hard to find
team, you know, members at scale, and so automation does play a role from that standpoint.
The other thing is, you know, being clear in terms of, as you deploy automation, we're not
building automation to fit the current process. We're going we're building automation, and
there will be some adaption of your processes to the automation if ultimately you're going to
optimize it, which that brings in kind of the change management. Because a lot of people will
be like, well, this is my process today, and so the automation should fit that process
44:19
nine times out of 10. That's why automation fails, is because you're trying to take it and fit it to
a process that's probably not optimal, not scalable today. So all those are factors, I think, in
terms of getting employee buy in, making sure what you're rolling out is successful. And what I
will tell you based on experience, is where we've rolled out automation. If you look at like our
employee retention statistics, they're actually highest where we roll out automation,
44:51
which is counterintuitive to what you're saying, right? Because you would think employees
would think, Oh my gosh, I should start to look for a new job. Because automation.
45:00
Is going to eliminate the work I have and all this other stuff, but that's where the messaging
being clear, supporting from a training standpoint, providing right incentives, all that is
important, and ultimately the results matter, because when we start to look at it and say, Our
retention is higher here, this is actually creating a better work environment for our team
members.
45:23
The results support that, and that provides great proof points as we roll out additional
automation in other areas across the business. Looking ahead, what excites you most about
core Health's future? Yeah, it's a little bit of what I said before. It's, it's, you know, we we have a
strategy, right, and we're executing on that strategy, but we don't put boundaries on that
strategy. And so I think just continuing to embrace that entrepreneurial spirit that we've that's
existed within the organization for the last six years, and it's kind of got us to the point where
we are today is extremely important and super exciting, I would say, back to my earlier
comment, just the market dynamics. I think there's more tailwinds out in the market in terms of
what's happening with automation, the collaboration between providers and payers, all that is
super exciting, I think, for the future. The other thing I'd say, which we didn't talk too much
about, and I think is really exciting for coro, is the problems we face in the US, around
healthcare and the administrative side, where we you know, where coral plays right, are not
dissimilar to the challenges that are seen elsewhere. So I mentioned we have employees in the
United Arab Emirates. So some of the problems that they're facing with their health systems
over there very similar to what we see in the US. In some cases, they may be a couple years
behind. And more importantly, though, what I would say is, what they, I think, are trying to do
is learn from what we did wrong in the US and try not to repeat that. And so they're very
focused on the role of technology and things like that. But where I'm going with that is, I think
that's super exciting, because what we're doing and the success we've had in the US I think,
has great implications beyond the US market, and we're early stage in terms of exploring those
opportunities, but I think that's that's really exciting as well. And Pat here at CEO behind the
scenes, we have a closing tradition. We always wrap up with the final, same final two questions.
So the first question I wanted to ask you is, what is one thing you've changed your mind about
recently, and why? I think it's a little bit of what we talked about earlier. It's kind of the, you
know, the the CEO in the corner office, or is the CEO out on the floor? And you know, certainly
that evolved. You know, I kind of expected a little bit that day one coming into coro, but I think,
you know, going back to the challenges that we faced with the pandemic, I think just how the
market has evolved since the pandemic, with the advent of automation and things like that. It's
just things are moving so fast that and our growth has been at such an accelerated pace. It's
one of these things that I feel like getting brought in a little bit more into the details, versus,
you know, that corner office, and so I'm super mindful of that, I mean, you know, and also
mindful of, I think, in terms of building great teams, right? You got to make sure you're giving
the latitude to those teams and so forth. So we're, we're doing the right things. But I would say
that's the one thing that I think a lot of people say is, you know, the CEO the corner office
operating at 30,000 feet. I just don't know that that holds as much in healthcare today.
49:10
We'll see five years from now, but not today. And the second question is, what is one thing
you've not changed your mind about a belief you'd want to share, to help others lead or live
better. I think it's the learning, being inquisitive, you know, not setting boundaries, super
important, right? Because this, you know, as I said, the market is changing so rapidly, so being
inquisitive about what's happening with automation. I think having a deep understanding of
what's going on in the market super important, you know, from that standpoint as well. And so
the you know, the intensity of the job, I think, is something that just remains, you know, kind of
consistent. And.
50:00
Important. I think where your focus is changes from time to time, but I don't know that the
overall intensity necessarily moderates as much just giving everything that's happening within
healthcare today, absolutely and thank you so much for joining us. It has been such a pleasure
and privilege to have this conversation with you, and hearing about your leadership journey
and and the exciting trajectory that core health continues to go on is something that I know a
lot of our audience will be following with interest. So thank you so much for joining me, and
thank you so much to our listeners. If you enjoyed today's episode, then please be sure to
subscribe, rate and leave us a review, and be sure to share this episode with someone who you
know would really value Pat's incredible insights and wisdom that he has shared with us today.
Thank you so much for joining us, and we'll see you next time on CEO: Behind the Scenes.