Facing Healthcare Realities: A Call to Action (ft. Pranam Ben)

Thanks for tuning to Digital Voices Podcast, where we check digital transformation, challenges, and opportunities across healthcare and life sciences. And now, your host, Ed Marcus. Hey, everyone. Welcome to another edition of Digital Voices. Thank you so much for being with us. Thank you for making us number five as of yesterday. It's because great guests like Pranam Ben. Pranam, welcome to Digital Voices. Thank you, Ed. Congratulations on being number five and belated birthday wishes to you. Thank you so much. Yeah, it's really a joy that so many people have found it interesting. I think one of the reasons, first of all, is great guests like yourself with great stories and great things that you're doing to really transform healthcare. And then we have no commercials, no ads, no sponsors. So it's just content. So people love that because I hate that, like, when I'm running and there's a commercial. And even though as much as I might like the podcast or the YouTube video, I fast forward through that. But we don't have to do that today. So we first met really virtually online because I know about the garage and some of the awards that you all have produced. I think winners were announced today for your annual award. So I definitely want to get down into that. But the most important question that we have Pranam is what songs are on your playlist? What kind of music do you like to listen to? You know, I'll tell you my the sounds I typically listen to the sounds I grew up in South India in the 90s. And so none of them would be recognized. But I do tell you my my teenage daughter has already done my playlist with her own, which is filled with Tate McCrae and Taylor Swift. So I listened to a lot of Taylor Swift and Tate McCrae during our car rides. Yeah, that's cool. Yeah, afterwards, just on email, we'll have to get some of your South Indian favorites because we do have a playlist on Spotify. We love to pick it up because we have absolutely around the world. Yeah, that's a lot of what about life message or mantra? Are there sort of words that guide you or words that you live by? Now, one of the things that I said, it's a slogan is the thing that I live by, which is this is just the beginning. You know, regardless of how far we've come, regardless of how much we think we've accomplished, there's always things to learn. There's always things to do, right? So it keeps you humble, it keeps you grounded. And even if you think about the overall, our existence as a timeline of the entire creation of the universe and things like that, you're such a small spec, right? So just to have that feeling to have that humble feeling around, this is just the beginning, right? So that guides me every day that motivates me, that energizes me to want to go and learn more and do more. Pranam, you ready? Sort of told us that you're from India. Tell us a little bit about yourself. And like, so where, what city were you born in? How were you raised? Just tell us all the way to how you got to the United States. Awesome. I was born and raised in a city in South India called Bangalore. And I was one of five in a very, you know, lower middle class family, very humble beginnings. I mean, we were lucky if we could have two meals a day. But that's the kind of life we had. My dad was a very hardworking, you know, counter and my mom was a homemaker. We had an amazing life growing up, you know, just five living in a one bedroom house was the reality for us. And then, you know, when I grew up, I couldn't kill, I was a avid cricketer, right? So I used to play cricket on the street the entire time. That was my thing. In fact, I remember telling my mom that if I didn't become a cricket, I'm going to end my life. That was my thing. So but then, you know, as you grow, life happens. And then and then I went to an engineering school. So I did my engineering in electronics and communication. And then a major life event was the passing of my dad. He succumbed to a cardiac arrest in 1999. And that was an event that changed all our lives. And what it meant to me was a desire and a urge to change my approach and outlook to life, to want to do and achieve some of the things my that my dad always wanted. Those were his ambitions. I made them my own and started defining and chasing new targets in life. And that's what brought me to the US. Wow. Well, I'm sure, you know, he'd be very proud of you, right? CEO now of a company doing great things to transform other people's lives so that they can be well and be healthy longer. I'm sure that's got to be very meaningful. Yeah, yeah. I mean, healthcare is part of all of us. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. So that's how you found healthcare. So you've been in healthcare for a while. So take us through sort of your career to the point of becoming CEO of the garage. Sure. I got into healthcare in 2004. I joined this company, a startup based out of Orlando, Florida. And they were designing the first commercial kiosks for patient check-in in healthcare. Yeah, I found that idea fascinating, right? So if you could check in using kiosks at the airports, why couldn't you check in using kiosks at the doctor's office? So I was employee number five, when that startup, and we were a small team, had a lot of fun building the product at one point, we had 170 hospitals using the product. And that company got acquired. And I had a chance to lead the healthcare division of the company that acquired that business for a couple of years and eventually branched out on my own. And my foreign to entrepreneurship in healthcare ed was born out of a personal experience. We've all been victims of the disdointed process in healthcare, right? There are no exceptions here. I remember distinctly remember it was a Sunday afternoon, I was in my apartment and I had cute stomach pain, right? So I was like, what's going on? First I thought it was something gas, something I ate, whatever, but we kept increasing. So I went to the urgent care and within five minutes of observation, I was sent to the ER. So you kind of realize that it was part of the process. So was sent to the ER, I spent the entire night in the ER, where I was practically a guinea pig for every test that ER could run on me, right? And the next morning, the ER physician comes to me and says, you're good to go son, nothing's wrong with you. To this day, I don't know what was wrong with me that day, right? So walking to the parking lot, I started thinking, this was my experience. Imagine the seniors in the country that have to go through this multiple times in a year, right? And that triggered this urge to want to do something about it. And I said, okay, let's use the asset I know best, which is technology. And I've been a software engineer by profession. So let's use technology and data to bring in real change. And that's how I jumped into this, you know, to become an entrepreneur in 2009. Wow. And so what, what, what is that like? So tell us for the audience that might not know. So you have this compelling, these life circumstances that happen first with your father, then you get to into healthcare, and then this situation gets you sort of into analytics and population health value based care. So what, what happens next? What's the next step that you take? So the next step is to kind of first create, identify a gap, right? Identify a real gap that is validated and mitigated in the real world and come up with a very specific tactical solution that you can operationalize it. The key, the thing in healthcare that I've learned where that I learned very quickly is you cannot boil the ocean, you cannot change the system overnight, right? So what you need to do, the best approach is to fill gaps and speak incremental progress. It does only way healthcare is progressed. If you really think about it, in fact, why do we care as a testament to that approach too, right? So I took the same approach in my entrepreneurial journey as well to identify this one gap with my first venture, built a solution around that gap without any frictions in the world, right? And then found a partner slash customer that was willing to work with us to pilot the product, install the software and benefit from it. And we found one in South Lake in Florida. And at one point we had more than 200 physicians using my product. So the first critical mass of adoption, if you will, and then from there on, we were growing very well and while a publicly traded company based out of Atlanta, Georgia heard about my story, and they were looking to jump into healthcare. So they contacted me and for me as a first time entrepreneur, we lived that American dream, right? So jumped on that opportunity and eventually they acquired my business in December of 2010. So that was my first realization of the dream. And it really was a very, very, you know, important even for me to kind of realize that this is, this is what, this is my thing. This is what, this is my identity. This is what I do best. And that on the same time, the early beginnings of valid based care were beginning to form the country. And I was thinking about, okay, what do we want to do next? Right. And I had this feeling that valid based care is going to warrant, you know, a major disruption, it will warrant groundbreaking innovation, data first, digital first approach. And I wanted to form a creative company that would be the hub for those innovations, right? Which is why I initially called this company the factory. That was the first name I came up with for the garage. So we could be a factory for innovation. And as I was thinking through the process, the name, the garage clicked. And if you think about every innovative company at scale, that started in a garage, Amazon, Microsoft, we named it. So we said, let's all also say the garage and pay tribute to innovation at scale in healthcare. Yeah, I love that. I love the name. It's very clever, but also very indicative of what you're doing. And that is creating solutions for the marketplace in order for us to be more successful and better stewards with older dollars. Tell us about the logo. So for those who haven't seen the logo, although we will have a visual, it's a bright sun with sunglasses. So tell us about that. Yes. That's Blaze. That's our mascot. In fact, Blaze was conceived and designed even before I named the company. I was actually sitting in a coffee shop in India with my creative designer, and I was wearing Oakley sunglasses at the coffee shop. He just saw my face and drew this napkin in the coffee shop. And we said, okay, this has to be the basket. If you look at it, right, it has energy, it has positivity, it has a very, very strong vibe to it. So we said, there's the mascot, called him Blaze, and then everything else followed from there. Yeah, it's great. So we talked a lot about just being an entrepreneur and just sort of what drives you. We talked about the garage, how that was formed and the name and also the logo. So tell us about some of the things that you're really proud of that the garage has done in partnering with health systems and payers and such. Yeah, we've been on this road for 13 years and seven months now. So let's say, that's a lot of them, if you really think about it, we've been very committed to our mission, which is healthcare needs to change. And the only way to change it is one community at a time, one provider at a time, one patient at a time. That's how we've come at it. And we've been very honest about the work that we have taken on, the impact that we have had, the partnerships that we have secured. And that's one thing that's very important to us that we do, we be very honest about our journey and capabilities of the platform and things like that. And along the way, we've been relentless in our commitment to innovate. So it's been a non-stop, absolutely amazing journey. Every day we learn more as a team. Every day we are fascinated by the opportunities and the challenges we face. And both are equally important to us. And we typically work with network providers, regardless of size, specialty or location, that are either participating in value-based care or looking to participate in value-based care, like either looking to shift existing care models, or implement absolutely new care models that are anchored on value. So to enable both, we become the platform and in that sense, we become the operating system for that wire. So that's basically how we come at this and that's been our goal. Yeah. And so if I'm a health system or I could be a large practice and I want to get into value-based care, not only do you provide a platform, but if I know that I need to do that for a wide variety of reasons, I can come to you and you can help me. Absolutely. I think we've built enough experience and domain knowledge in the space that we can go in and say, if you're a health system and you're looking to transform to value-based care for X, Y and Z reasons, right, here's a playbook for it. Here's how you come about it based on our collective experience, working with providers such as yourself. Here's what to watch out for. Here are your opportunities. Here's where you could have potential leakages. And here's a platform that has baked in best practices with a data-first approach that allows you to scale and build new care experiences for your patients. Yes, absolutely. So yes, not only are you helping on a business level, but also on the experience level. Can you share an example? You don't have to give the names because I know sometimes confidentiality agreements will keep you from doing that, but how it improves sort of the patient or member experience. So there's one thing that we all grounded on it and this is something I turn my team as well. Everything we do impacts the patient. Now think about it, right? I mean, if you're building a quality reporting system, just as an exam, right, the reporting of the quality and the consequences of that directly impact access and cost of care for that population. There's nothing that we do that has, that is patient irrele<|vi|>aria, right? Everything we do is patient irrelearia. The question is, basically, we look at it and say, there's going to be things that we do that have an indirect impact on the quality of life of patients and there are things that we're going to do that are going to have direct impact on the quality of life of patients but patients are central they are in the driver's seat for everything that happens in the garage we are absolutely grounded in that in fact I tell my team as well that our responsibility is towards those patients our customers are a conduit for us to deliver that service I have that impact with the patients that they serve and those patients they don't know who you are they don't knowかな they don't know the garage right so your responsibility is to build the right solutions in a responsible way that those patients can get the care they deserve at the time that they need. As an entrepreneur myself or in my background I've had an opportunity to to help found a company what's your preferred method of working with your customers because I'm sure you know I'm sure you accept all of them some of them will be very transactional but what's the ideal customer relationship like for the garage. I always look for a strategic long-term fit long-term alignment because you're not gonna fix health overnight our problems may seem short-term but our solutions need to be long-term right that's something that you're very particular on so if if somebody comes to us saying hey can you help me with this three-month project it's probably something we'll walk away from and we have done that in the past but if somebody comes to me and says hey we want to change healthcare for our patients whatever it takes however long it takes you're in you are my ideal perfect partner customer and we will commit to you we will commit to your mission your experience will be that me and my team are part of your team you want to see us as a vendor you will see us as one of your own and that has been the experience for all of the garage's customers to the point that today every customer of ours can have a direct access to me that text me they call me they bring some with me that was true on April 1 2012 when I started the business that is true today that would be true 10 years from now that that's awesome I really like that approach and I think that all stems from the humility that you talked about in the beginning you know how you were raised and that's the way you lead you haven't allowed the CEO title or the size of your company and your success to to change who you are fundamentally and so that's and a simple thing it when we started when we came to this offices that I'm in right now you know we said we're gonna have an office space that has no walls no cabinets right so I'm sitting in the pod with the crew running up my sleeves doing whatever it takes so everyone can talk to me anybody can come ask questions it's a very the culture is designed to allow for that level of transparency and commitment to play out as well you know yeah I I love that approach I'm always curious like with especially at the speed that technology moves it's always moving so fast and healthcare is moving what parts healthcare move fast other painfully slow but how do you and the garage how do you keep up with all the technology so I hate to throw in the word AI but I might as well you know when all the changes AI you got to be thinking about it all the time so how do you all stay ahead to help your customers we are very grounded in the realities of the workflows that we are engaged in that so there's actually the flip side to what you said we put in more effort to not get carried away by the height yeah right you're very very particular about it we took we took nine months before we even defined our AI strategy we didn't rush into it we were not taken away by the hype there was no chat GPD that you know that part us just say hey this is the direction you go you're already late not gonna happen in our right so for me the AI is applied what is applied is in turn it you know so that's one part of the the equation the other part of the equation is we created this initiative within the company to stay on top of all the technology shifts and all the the latest and greatest models and AI breakthroughs and whatnot we call it Mozart it's kind of like a lab within the garage and we have a very cool group of members in that team I'm involved in that team you know I'm saying so we meet three times a week that's where we brainstorm we talk about things that are happening or there what can we bring into our world while ensuring that it doesn't distract doesn't de-focus and it doesn't create any friction so we have a very grounded a very authentic real approach to adopting AI we have three agents that we've deployed within our platform today and because they're ingrained in that realities of the workflows we are seeing a lot more success where it matters and less hype and more throughput and more outcomes yeah now I love why I worry you when I was in the C-suite of my health systems I love where I prefer the type of partnership that you've been describing as well and I always want to make sure that my partner was like grounded like like you all are but also thinking you know forward so that I could spend more time on the things I needed to do and just know that my partner had some things covered so interesting I want to pivot it into into leadership what what were some things that you think you learned from cricket that help you today that's a great question you have to truly love the game that that's one thing that I've learned like you can't fake it you can't fake your way as an entrepreneur right you have to truly love you have to truly be passionate about the game and that's that was what cricket meant to me you know I was never tired of it I was never bored you know I was always you know energetic and I have played even when I was in your you know so that kind of passion is what drives that level of commitment right so every day I'm very very particular and one is for me to be passionate about what we do the garage right and then how do we ensure that every moving asset in the company is as passionate or more passionate than I am you know that drives the commitment that was number one and number two which is something that I you you got to work hard you got to like practice hard there's no shortcut to it right there's you can't master a craft by just by just you know there's no super bullet to it so sheer hard work and practice and hours and hours of hard work and I remember Kobe Bryant is someone that I have looked up to as an athlete and when he received his ESPN award for sportsmanship award or something and when he was giving a speech he basically said we all know I'm here because of 4 a.m. so 4 a.m. is when he would wake up and go to the gym for his cleaning and workout and things like that right so that 4 a.m. is just a metaphor for what that meant that hard work that I think that coming those two things those two other things that come to my mind when we're picked up from cricket and apply business warrior you're a super creative person everything you know we talked about your logo and the name and just the way you think where do you go for inspiration for creativity I mean do you ever find yourself like in a situation where you might not be creative so do you do something to sort of stimulate creativities or a place or you know something you do I do things to just have a mental reset I work out that's one thing that I'm disciplined about I'm a I'm the crazy softball dad for my daughter when she's playing I'm the one that's yelling so that's me so I do that but very rarely do I get creatively drained to the point where I hit that it there's there's something about the creative aspect of what we do that's so fascinating and so beautiful and so arresting that I don't find myself drained per se but I do look for some research yeah that's good and you know when I was preparing for our podcast I spent some time on the web your website as well super creative I'm sure you have people that help you with that super creative people if nothing else well put in the show notes people should go check out the website I just found it super fascinating because I love creativity myself and I love unique things I love differentiation and the garage teams all about that so that's one thing like I remember April 1 2012 I had no employees I had no solution no customers right but I was stubborn about the fact that we're going to do something big and we're going to do it different so that's been a staple from day one that we are going to be distinct in our expression in our identity in the way we look at things in the way we do things yeah no I'm definitely you're based in our where's your headquarters Orlando Orlando I was just gonna say next time down Orlando I'm definitely looking you up and we'll have some chai or absolutely absolutely yeah but not most you know we talked earlier about your parents was there something your parents forced you to do when you were a kid that you maybe kind of like rolled your eyes not to them but inside your mind and but now you look back and you're like wow I'm glad they made me do that I'm glad they taught me that I've seen there's two forms of inspiration my parents you know growing up especially teenagers you tend to be cocky about certain things you tend to be arrogant about certain things my parents forced a behavior to be kind to everyone regardless of their social status regardless of whether they spoke your language or not regardless of whether they were your same skin color or not regardless of whether they were your neighbor or not whether they were at your same academic level or not that was one protocol we had in the house be kind to everyone right so I think that helped me in a very big way continues to help me even today you know that that's important especially in today's world and and two I've seen my mother deal with situations with no uh like prior skill or capabilities so she is an absolute hustler so she will figure out situations she will come up with solutions that are out of the box creative thinking and how to deal with different kinds of people and things that I've seen her do that in all practical situations right so that kind of gave me this inner confidence that whatever will be the situation you can figure it out right so you just like to like think out of the box think differently approach it differently so those are the two kind of like things that have in a way forced on me growing up that helped me in a very big way as I built my career and my journey yeah so you mentioned already you have two daughters when they one one one daughter one daughter when she graduates from college what's the advice that you're going to give her in terms of her career I think for her I my my advice would be to never stop believing in yourself yeah and don't follow the you know the common path be a trailblazer start your own path you know yeah you're yeah this has been a fascinating conversation you know we talked earlier a little bit about India and some musical influences and we talked a lot about humility and just this is just the beginning as a as a key phrase which I love in many respects we talked about cricket we talked about your parents and how that influenced your career and how you made it to the United States and you've been an entrepreneur at heart and you've you've started a couple companies but the garage you've been it with the garage for a long time now doing some great things in the value-based care space and then we we sort of switched to leadership and talked about things that enabled your your success when you used cricket as a metaphor which is great about being passionate about everything that you do the hard work the 4 a.m. that it takes taking practice being proactive and then you know what what is success and you know telling your daughter which I think is a great message which is why I asked it you know to chart your own path don't follow the status quo be your own person you know live the life that you're meant to have what did what did we miss or is there anything you want to double down on I'll give you the last word no I think though I think as a collective as a community as a society I think sometimes we are we tend to be ignorant to the challenges that healthcare face until it happens to us yes yeah it's not our problem until it's truly our problem right so my only message to your audience is is healthcare is important to call and we are at a point where I think we have to realize a real change in the way healthcare is delivered in this country and all patients deserve better so it will take the collective it is going to take the entire it's going to take a village to drive the outcomes that we all seek that we all deserve so everyone in their own way can't contribute to this movement that has begun with value-based care I think this is just the the tip of what is to what's to come in the next decade or so I believe there's going to be a lot of different variables that will be at play and a lot of things that we can change so that's my messages for all of us to put in the effort together to bring it real change in healthcare yeah Pranam very well said thank you so much for being my guest on digital voices and thank you so much for having me thank you for listening to digital voices podcast with Ed Mark if you enjoyed this episode subscribe on your preferred streaming service and leave a rating and review and most importantly thanks again for listening