In today’s episode, co-host Carrie Nixon talks with VEDA Data Solutions co-founder and CEO Meghan Gaffney about the impact of “peripheral” healthcare innovations, those platforms and technologies which were not initially designed for healthcare.  

Listen to discover:

• How a political entrepreneur and an astrophysicist saw an opportunity for healthcare innovation
• Why in-network and out-of-network physician coverage info is so cumbersome to find, use, and update—for all parties involved
• What spurred the “No Surprises” Act in Congress and how it changed VEDA Data Solutions’ business
• How COVID impacted data companies like VEDA Data
• How Meghan embraced her Silicon Valley outsider status to attract the right opportunities and employees 

If you’re wondering how your IP can be used in the healthcare sector, if you are a provider or  healthcare plan leader who wants to reduce the time lag of updating in-network data, or if you’re a female founder or Silicon-Valley outsider looking for ideas on fundraising and key partnerships, then you won’t want to miss this episode!

Quotables

“These amazing ideas come into the healthcare sector from a completely different industry and have a real role to play” Carrie Nixon on Ep15 of @DecodingHealth1 w/ @NixonGwiltLaw https://sliceofhealthcare.com/category/decoding-healthcare-innovation/ 

“a high-paced game of telephone between providers & health plans every day…it can take weeks for patients to get updated info on where to seek care.” @meghangaffney Ep15 @DecodingHealth1 @NixonGwiltLaw https://sliceofhealthcare.com/category/decoding-healthcare-innovation/ 

“Benefits to everyone down the line: patients get the info they need, providers get paid correctly and on time, and health plans are in compliance.” @megangaffney on Ep15 @DecodingHealth1 @NixonGwiltLaw https://sliceofhealthcare.com/category/decoding-healthcare-innovation/ 

“...the way we care for almost 400M people with quality is to reduce the administrative cost as much as we can, and we can use data to do that.” @megangaffney of @veda_data on Ep15 @DecodingHealth1 @NixonGwiltLaw https://sliceofhealthcare.com/category/decoding-healthcare-innovation/ 

Fundraising tips for women-led startups: “there is an advantage when the book wasn’t written for you, and that is that you don’t have to follow the rules because they weren’t made for you anyway.”  @megangaffney of @veda_data on Ep15 @DecodingHealth1 @NixonGwiltLaw https://sliceofhealthcare.com/category/decoding-healthcare-innovation/ 

Recommended Resources

• Find out more about veda here
• Connect with Meghan on LinkedIn and follow veda on LinkedIn
• More on the No Surprises Act, which goes into effect on January 1, 2022

What you’ll get out of this episode

• Why Headspace and Ginger merged into Headspace Health (and how that partnership came to be)
• Why Russ ventured into the digital health space after success in more traditional tech startups like Bizo (acquired by LinkedIn)
• What Headspace Health is doing to improve adolescent mental health—and how it impacts society
• Why Headspace Health decided to target the employer market before payers and direct-to-consumer models—and how those markets are expanding
• What unexpected benefits you’ll get from a mentor if you’re open to it (and other founder advice!)

If you’re a startup founder, investor, mental health advocate, or want to learn more about selling to employers, you won’t want to miss this conversation.

Quotables

“As a society, we have to start thinking about our brain health much earlier” @glassruss of @headspace on Ep13 of @DecodingHealth1 w/ @NixonGwiltLaw #https://sliceofhealthcare.com/category/decoding-healthcare-innovation/ 

“one of those mind-meld moments: clear cultural and mission alignment, fit between their wish/our need” @glassruss on @carebyginger @headspace merger on @DecodingHealth1 @NixonGwiltLaw #https://sliceofhealthcare.com/category/decoding-healthcare-innovation/ 

“Often I’m thinking about a decision & it seems hard until I talk to a mentor. They make it so obvious.” @glassruss #startupadvice Ep13 of @DecodingHealth1 w/ @NixonGwiltLaw https://sliceofhealthcare.com/category/decoding-healthcare-innovation/ 

Recommended Resources

• Learn more about the recent $3B Ginger/HeadSpace merger here
• Follow Russ on Linkedin
• Ginger Partners with AmeriHealth Caritas District of Columbia to Bring Free On-Demand Mental Healthcare to 110,000 Medicaid Plan Enrollees
• [Video] 4X Growth in 5 Years: Why Investment in Mental and Behavioral Health is Exploding 
• Episode 11: Obvious Truths our Healthcare Policy Still Doesn’t Support: Mental Health as Standard Healthcare

Join the Conversation

Are you a digital health or health system innovator? Tell us what topics and people you’d like us to cover in future episodes:

– Website – LinkedIn – Twitter – Instagram – YouTube

Follow our daily updates on LinkedIn:

– Carrie – Rebecca

In this episode, you will discover: 

• How to make KOLs a part of your strategy 
• Why you need short, engaging videos 
• What to budget for marketing 

Key Takeaways: 

• The best way to utilize KOLs when reaching out to CIOS is to have them speak at your events. Part of your social media strategy should also be to boost your KOL’s profile and leverage the content they’re creating. 
• CIOs like videos because they’re short, easily digestible, and engaging. Make short case studies and make your websites and webinars engaging and digestible. Make sure to always demonstrate ROI. 
• 5-10% is the industry standard for allocating a budget for marketing. However, it still depends on what you have to work with or work around based on your company’s size, resources, and how many KOLs you have. 
• The main responsibility of a marketing team is to understand the company’s specific buyer, get to know how they tick, where they get their information from, and how they like to be marketed and sold to. 

“CIOs are humans, and we all have such short attention spans. So if you're going to try to get your information about your technology solution in front of them, you need to do it quickly, and you need to do it in an exciting and engaging way.” - Erin Erban

Resources: 

Tom Rice on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-rice-626717/

Erin Dixon on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erindixonmedia/

Get the 2023 Healthcare Technology Marketing Guide: Marketing and Selling to the Health System CIO : https://www.merrittgrp.com/2023-healthtech-marketing-guide/

Episode 36: Understanding Digital Health's ROI with Charm Economics Founder Adam Block, PhD

Learn more from Carrie and Rebecca: 

Healthcare Insights (a monthly deep dive into specific topics for innovators): https://nixongwiltlaw.com/healthcare-insights

Telehealth/Virtual Care Mgmt Update (a biweekly LinkedIn newsletter tracking legal and policy changes across the nation): https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/telehealth-virtual-care-update-6901900767960068096/ 

Website: https://nixongwiltlaw.com/ 

Carrie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carrienixon/ 

Rebecca on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccagwilt/

NGL on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/nixon-gwilt-law/