Paul Hasbrook, CEO at Seabright Healthcare Solutions

Evolving the Healthcare Supply Chain with Paul Hasbrook, CEO at Seabright Healthcare Solutions transcript powered by Sonix—easily convert your audio to text with Sonix.

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Saul Marquez:
Welcome back to the podcast. Saul Marquez here. Today I have the privilege of hosting Paul Hasbrook. He is the CEO and co-founder at Seabright Healthcare. He’s been a health care industry leader for more than 15 years. He has proven results in both revenue generation and profitability targets and possesses a strong commitment to sustained process improvement. His extensive experience in establishing high-performance sales teams, managing stakeholder relationships and executing strategic plans drives his pursuit of health care technology innovation. Paul and I actually worked together for several years at NuVasive and it’s just so, so great to see him evolve into the leader that he’s become and adding value to providers in the health care system with what they’re doing to help innovate and really be efficient in the supply chain aspect of what we’re doing. Because let’s be honest, health care is way more expensive than it should be. And and Paul and his team are doing their part to make every provider get more value for each dollar spent. So, Paul, such such a privilege to reconnect with you again and to have you here on the podcast.

Paul Hasbrook:
Thanks for having me, so I’m excited so I can share a little bit about what we’re doing at Seabright and catch up a little bit as well.

Saul Marquez:
Yeah, likewise. So. So tell me a little bit about, you know, really kind of let’s share with the listeners. Right. So tell us more about your interest and what inspires your work in health care.

Paul Hasbrook:
Sure. Yeah. I came into it kind of through a side door. I’m an engineer by education. I was kind of a math and science guy in high school and that pushed me to look at life sciences and engineering and ultimately pursued biomedical engineering at Marquette University Jesuit College. Coming from the Jesuit High School until Ohio. And I was inspired when I visited Marquette campus and saw the College of Engineering and met folks in engineering. For me, was was really about problem solving and about technology and improving and iterating technology. And I really can’t think of a better application of technology than in healthcare. And that rings true today. I can tell you in the current environment, seeing what’s happening, we are forced to reflect on what essential personnel means in our day to day lives and to see healthcare workers putting in a shift and a half every day, treating patients, putting themselves and their families at risk. It’s like inspire me all over again. It reminded me, reminded me that going into health care, I made the right choice.

Saul Marquez:
Paul, that’s that’s awesome and I couldn’t agree more, you know, the work is being done out there, right? Especially right now. I mean, every day. But now with Covid-19 and everything we’ve got going on, it’s definitely, you know, a time to say thanks. And I mean, talk about mission driven work. So I totally love where you’re coming from with this. What would you say is the role of Seabright in your perspective and our market? And how are you adding value to the health care ecosystem?

Paul Hasbrook:
We do it in different ways, so I’ve spent a lot of time in hospitals as a medical device rep. But then you go in and out of various institutions since 2003, spending a lot of that time in clinical setting seem the direct application of technology, interacting with various functional groups within the hospital, procedural groups, materials and supply chain and and others. And it blows my mind that the the building process for these high cost physician preference items has remained the same from the day I started at Synthes buying in 2003 to today, where, you know, vendor representatives who play an incredibly important role in the process and facilitate these procedures from an equipment perspective, a support perspective for finishing these procedures. And then they fill out a bill sheet, generally handwritten. It’s on paper. It makes its way through the procedural area, whether it be the cath lab at the O.R. and then down into purchasing goes through different approvals. And the folks that that deal with these charge sheets have a lot on their plate every day and generally don’t really know what they’re looking at. They’re forced to approve things that are constantly changing. So we’re doing a couple different things. Number one, we’re collecting better data at the point of service. So by standardizing data inputs and taking this process digital, we can create better analytics and drive better decision making. We create efficiency, so we reduce the amount of labor required to process the billing associated with these procedures to the hospital and subsequently into the ERP and managing the requisition and BPO process. And we provide an oversight or accountability mechanism that wasn’t previously there. There’s there’s there’s feedback back to the vendor representative as to whether or not their items are contract specific costs that we can publish to the relevant approvals and sort of procedural checks to know that the items the hospital assigned are the things they actually need.

Saul Marquez:
That’s that’s really interesting and fascinating that you decided to hone in on this particular process. Right.. There’s so many processes in healthcare that need fixing or that aren’t efficient, really. And so today in the O.R., people are still writing out their their bills they’re writing amout.

Paul Hasbrook:
Yeah. Absolutely, so. So.

Saul Marquez:
It’s crazy.

Paul Hasbrook:
Some of the companies, some some of the companies said develop their own systems internally to help make make it more efficient on the manufacturers side. But that doesn’t really help the hospital. The only way it helps the hospital is, is sometimes they get a printed version rather than a handwritten version. But either way, it’s on paper. And we we we can make that process more efficient for both sides. So it is focusing on what we call bill only, bill only or the type of charge sheets or bills that we’re talking about. Bill only meaning as opposed to an order or the hospital orders a ventilator, for example, and issues appeal and the ventilator ships and comes to the loading dock. Bill Onlys work a little bit differently. Vendor representative comes with a trunk full of equipment, gets it sterilized, rinse in sterile implants. Those things are consumed during the procedure. And the bill comes after the fact. So they’ve sort of already bought this stuff. And the bill comes later. So we focused on Bill only for for several reasons. Number one. Position preference items are extremely expensive. They can account for 50 percent of the hospital supply budget. So we’re talking, you know. High 7 or 8 figures even for a small hospital. And then it’s one of the last places in the hospital to to really be driven by paper. And we’ve seen everything else go paperless, including the electronic medical record, which has happened over the last 10 to 12 years, has been mandated. You’ve seen the effectiveness of that change. And while that change is difficult. We see that as being a required change for hospitals to survive and cost to come down as we move into the next centric healthcare.

Saul Marquez:
That’s really interesting, Paul. So as a as a vendor, you’re in there. I guess you have to be approved in the system and then you submit your bill through the Seabright system that the hospital. Well, I guess it’s it’s the hospital’s right. So they submit it through you guys and then it gets through the process that way.

Paul Hasbrook:
Yes. So if you think about the way credentialing now works at hospitals. Right. Fifteen years ago, hospitals didn’t have any idea. These folks were coming in every day. And so Right. companies decided that they would create platforms whereby reps would register and kind of housed their information online. And they go to the hospital, they sign in and they print a badge. This is not that different. Reps go in. They sign into our system. They have their own profile. They fill up their charge sheet on our platforms and it routes to the hospital electronically. And then once it’s approved, gets loaded automatically into the hospital’s ERP system to create a P.O.. So the reps at first have some pushback, like that’s one more system. I got to pay this via nominal registration fee, which may not feel nominal before they’ve used it. And then once they see, though, that instead of taking three or four weeks to get their purchase orders, they’re getting them in three or four days. We get buy in from both sides.

Saul Marquez:
Love it. I love it. So it’s really great. I mean, it’s it’s a it’s an opportunity to make this area of care more efficient. This process is obviously antiquated. I mean, gosh, you know, 12 years ago when I was in the O.R., that’s what we were doing. You know, we were doing paper. And when you tell him were telling me that this is still the case. I’m glad you guys are working on this.

Paul Hasbrook:
It is. It has not changed since the day I started. The only difference is in 2003, the forms were still on triplicate. They’re not there anymore, but they are being copied easily. Yeah, it’s still eight and a half by eleven paper floating, floating around through the hospital. A lot of times it’s getting scanned and reprinted in different departments and regardless it ends up in stacks and stacks of paper that makes it onerous from a manual processing perspective. It’s irresponsible environmentally and and creates all kinds of issues ranging from legibility to poor data capture.

Saul Marquez:
Very cool. So tell us about how this platform, Paul has has improved outcomes are really made business better. Right. I think that the sweet spot is making business better on this on this front. Tell us about that.

Paul Hasbrook:
Sure. So it does it does different things. Number one, it delivers seven figure savings to the facility in the first year. So right out of the gate, simply by adding the contract validation product review features and more importantly, the accountability mechanisms as to benchmark pricing and whether or not items belong in a procedure. We can we can demonstrate that individual facility saves anywhere from one and a half to five million dollars in the first year. Just as importantly, we free up significant labor associated with the time spent processing these things, not just down and purchasing, which is significant, but in the procedural areas as well. So somebody in the operating room or other other procedural area is receiving these sheets. They’re validating that things were used in a room. They’re double checking against the EHR are they’re proceeding with patient charges, which are the key activity for the hospital to generate revenue based on those items. And we can demonstrate a fifteen hundred hours savings in labor hours per facility by the installation of our of our platform, so that somebody whose time can be used to work on a different project or free up resources in another way. Also, importantly, it drives better decision making and collaboration. When you think about the interaction between physicians and hospitals, that relationship is often more strained than they’ve seen. These sort of the sort of untrained observer realizes, and the physicians are generally frustrated because they get held accountable for selecting some of these very expensive items that they don’t have data to support good decision making. So our system can empower those relationships and ultimately drive better analytics to determine long term impact on both clinical and business outcomes for physicians and hospitals.

Saul Marquez:
Yeah. Now, that’s fascinating. And that, you know, it’s one of those things that you really need. Take a step back. You the downstream effects of of of streamlining this process is pretty significant. You know, cost savings and and also labor hours time that a nurse spends plugging stuff in that that, you know, the nurse could be with the patient or helping the physician. It’s a significant and you know, at at the front of this, I’m like, okay. Probably more business. But I also see the the the outcomes opportunity here.

Paul Hasbrook:
The clinical outcomes. There’s no… By having by having better data. Physicians can make more informed decisions. It improves the interaction and collaboration between all of the stakeholders. And and let’s not forget about the manufacturers, say we are not in this to take money out of the pockets of the manufacturers and put it in the hands of the providers. We believe that this solution facilitates improved business outcomes on both sides. The simplest way it does it for the manufacturer is in terms of time to cash the frustrations of a medical device company. So they do these high cost procedures and it’s 60, 70, 80 days before they get paid by decreasing the time to p.O. We can take significant chunks out of that time.

Saul Marquez:
That is very good, very, very good. And, you know, in a lot of the solutions that we’ve been seeing, those that are most successful address the needs of all stakeholders involved in the process. And it sounds like you guys definitely have taken that perspective into account and are serving both the device manufacturers and providers. Tell tell us a little bit about a setback that you guys have had and what you learned from that setback that’s made you guys better.

Paul Hasbrook:
Sure, being. Being a startup is tough, and as I think about setbacks, you know, I go back even further than Seabright. And most of my significant setbacks have been personal and not just professional. It’s easy, easy to point to. You know, I can tell you that covid and coronavirus, it’s a setback we’ve experienced and it is. But put in perspective to you know, the health care professionals on the frontline likes this. This is something we can we can weather and learn from. But I think about 2003, not long after I started in in medical device, I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease and ended up hospitalized at UCSF, spent three weeks there and my first of a few hospitalizations secondary to that to that diagnosis. And that’s an opportunity to put things in perspective in a way that, you know, a minor business setback doesn’t doesn’t really do it. It really forced me to think about what’s important and what I value. And today continues to influence the lands in which I look at the importance of technology in health care and the value of physicians and nurses and hospitals and other health care providers. And it’s sort of underscores my respect for health care providers and it really drives my desire to participate in the process.

Saul Marquez:
Man, thank you for sharing that, Paul. When you have something like that happen and you know, you compare it to a business setback, and I think a lot of people today, whether they’ve gone through a health challenge or not today with everything going on, I think that everybody knows health. If you if you don’t have health, you really don’t have anything. And I appreciate that perspective that you’ve shared. And, you know, I can see why it’s made you a stronger leader and a stronger entrepreneur. And obviously you’re able to provide those benefits to that to the customers you serve. What are you most excited about today?

Paul Hasbrook:
I think the most excited about pushing myself to learn new things. A lot of the stuff I do every day, whether it’s interacting with our development team or software development team in India or or building an inside sales team or building an automated outbound marketing program. These are all things I’ve never done before. So learning those skills, interfacing with people I’ve never met to to learn how they’ve done it, build in a solution that didn’t previously exist. But NASA’s building the solution, building up a first class team around that solution, giving people employment opportunities is one of the things I found the most rewarding in my career. And now doing it in building a company has been incredibly fun and want to grow this firm. Right now we have a team of four, I’d say indigenous having a team of 40, you know, three years. So to go out and find those people and bring them in and build a culture and drive success and excellence in outcomes, this is something that I wake up every day pretty excited about men. And then just fulfilling Seabright mission, what we defined when we started this thing, reducing costs, empowering providers, increasing value not just for hospital providers, but some manufacturers, if we can do those things. And the sky’s the limit as to what Seabright does next.

Saul Marquez:
Really appreciate that, Paul. And definitely last to be excited about when you’re learning and growing and especially growing such a niche company that you guys have have have built. What would you say is is a favorite book or a reading that you’d recommend to the listeners?

Paul Hasbrook:
Yes, an interesting question, and I’m a little torn on my response because there are a lot I’m I’m currently rereading a four-hour work week and love Tim Ferris and his work, but I don’t think it it ranks as my favorite. More of a classic guy 7 Habits by Stephen Covey is something that I give to each of my employees and have the poster up in the office. And I talk about the seven habits regularly with colleagues, and it’s been the book that is gifted to me by a mentor. It’s actually a neighbor across the street when I grew up and I couldn’t have been older than six or six or seventh grade at the time, he gave it to me and I think it just sat on my shelf for, you know, six or eight or 10 years before I finally picked it out. And since then, it’s really kind of driven my philosophy in life and in business.

Saul Marquez:
That’s really cool. I you know, I I read 7 habits many years ago, but I do remember it had a huge impact on me. And maybe it’s a good time to dust that one often and take it back up again.

Paul Hasbrook:
I think it’s I think it’s a great read, not just for kind of individual effectiveness, but a way to have conversations about working effectively and building teams and collaboration. And just, you know, going about a day, a week and business in a way that’s productive and promotes good, good communication and interaction.

Saul Marquez:
I love that. Now, it’s a it’s a great one. And folks, you know where to go outcomesrocket.health in the search bar type in Seabright healthcare. That’s Seabright health care. And you’ll see the entire episode there. The show notes, transcripts, links to to their company and and everything that Paul and his team are up to. Paul, this has been such an interesting conversation. And, you know, just the value guys are providing here is exciting. So for four for one, I just would love to hear a closing thought from you to share it with the listeners. And then the best place where the listeners that are interested on the provider side or the med device side that could benefit from this tool where they could reach you and your team.

Paul Hasbrook:
Sure. Thanks Saul. My closing thought is, is this just because something, as always, happened in a certain way doesn’t mean it shouldn’t change. And I think there’s always opportunity in change. And I try to maintain this philosophy in my personal life and in my business philosophy, but in my interactions with with clients as well. And we see resistance to change as being one of the major obstacles in adoption to new technology. But really see for I’d hoped to give providers a look at what’s possible by by automating this part of their supply chain. As far as getting old to me, I’m extremely accessible via linked in. Paul Hasbrook. And of course, email is good as well. And I’m simply Paul@Seabrighthealthcare.com and Seabrighthealthcare.com is also our website, which I encourage you and your listeners to check out.

Saul Marquez:
Outstanding Paul. Man, super, super great to reconnect with you and to hear that you guys are doing so well. And listeners, a great opportunity to check out an innovative way to to tackle your your billing processes inside of the O.R.. Paul, I just want to I want to thank you again for first sharing the insights that you guys are garnering with with what you’re doing at Seabright and definitely looking forward to staying in touch.

Paul Hasbrook:
Thanks, Saul. I’ll appreciate your time today.

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