Improving healthcare through innovation
Episode 16
Thomas Riisgard Hansen is the CEO of Kite Invent. A company focused on improving healthcare through innovation.
Previously, he was the Product Director and part of the executive board at Cetrea (now Maquet, Getinge Group), where he worked with and directed marketing, innovation, design, and development. He co-founded Cetrea in 2006 and have ever since worked on product, sales, and business strategies, designing great products as well as overcoming all the challenges facing start-up companies and learning along the way. In 2014, Maquet, Getinge Group acquired Cetrea. The mission is still the same, but the company is now part of much bigger family with amazing solutions and a true global reach.
Why Healthcare? I never thought of working with healthcare, back in the university, I thought healthcare was boring, it was about sick people and I want to do something fun that working with unhealthy people. By coincidence, I worked with the hospitals and another opportunity came along and I spent 15 years working with healthcare.
Hot Topic that should healthcare leaders agenda: Healthcare moving out of the hospitals is going to be a big challenge for all healthcare providers and suppliers within 5 – 10 years. It’s driven by a number of different technology innovation. Everything is becoming software. Now the doctor’s expertise might be substituted by algorithms and A.I.
Is there any example that you can discuss how this has happened in a disruptive way? One of the examples is what you can see with ultrasound devices. You can see mobile apps where you can take out the patients from the clinic or other places. It’s not just moving the device into the mobile phone, it’s also changing the business model.
Is this the target area for your team and the people that you’re guiding at Kite? They are slowly moving there. It’s always about timing, there’s always a lot of hype around, I think it’s important to have a critical thinking.
How have you created results by doing things differently? One of the best examples is when we started our first company. When we started out our project, the idea was: can we use new technology to actually interact with computers in hospitals better suited to work in the hospitals?
Setbacks that you learned from: One of the hard lessons we learned is how difficult it is to go internationally. Coming in and selling healthcare to other country was really a hard challenge for us. Even though you have a good business case and good product, it can be really hard to sell the product.
What would you differently: It’s one of the challenges with no easy solutions. I think the most important part is in order to get your project on top of the list, you need to sit next to your customers all the time. You need to come to the hospital and make connections with the key decision makers and find ways to move your project on the priority list.
Proudest leadership moment: First, creating a healthcare solution and seeing it being used to improve the work. Second, we were selected as one of top 100 innovating companies around the world in all industries in 2011.
Exciting Projects: Preventing people from getting into hospital is a big case. Preventing people from getting sick. Another thing, using an entrepreneurial approach to healthcare companies and organizations tackle of new opportunities that come with innovation within technologies.
Thomas 101 Course on Outcomes Improvement:
1.What is the best way to improve healthcare outcomes?
It’s healthy living and it’s involving with patients. If you have a patient who understands the treatment they are getting or healthcare concept, I think it’s easier to get them to follow the procedure.
2. What is the biggest mistake or pitfall to avoid?
From a company perspective, if you stop evolving and lose momentum, you will never achieve the goal. It’s about making sure that you design momentum into your organization.
3. How do you stay relevant as an organization despite constant change?
If you try to disrupt yourself, it’s so easy to keep the direction you’re having.
4. One area of focus that should drive everything else is:
Make an impact within healthcare.
Closing Thought: Just keep innovating and making sure that you put the patient in the center.
Recommended book:
Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow
The Best Way To Contact Jeffrey:
Linkedin – Thomas Riisgard Hansen
Twitter – @thomasrdk
Resources:
Healthcare 2.0 Fall Conference
