Each month, we provide a roundup of news, awards, and features pertaining to symplr and symplr's subject-matter experts.
Large-company Texas CEOs, including symplr’s, get high marks from employees
Texas CEO Magazine featured symplr CEO BJ Schaknowski in an article titled, “Employee-Approved: These large-company Texas CEOs get high marks from their employees.”
Schaknowski shared the best leadership advice he's received—on accomplishing your mission and taking care of people—and cited his leadership philosophy: “Common sense sometimes trumps pure intellect.”
Recent milestones symplr has accomplished were also listed. Under Schaknowski’s strong leadership, symplr:
- Unified seven companies, bringing symplr almost 1,400 new team members and enabling it to become the enterprise healthcare operations category leader.
- Added feature functionality and value drivers for healthcare system, payer, and post-acute facility customers and. enabled them to take better care of patients by making healthcare operations simpler.
How women thrive and succeed in male-dominated industries
symplr ‘s Chief Marketing Officer Kristin Russel was featured in a Q&A in Authority Magazine titled: “Thriving As A Woman In a Male-Dominated Industry: Kristin Russel of symplr On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman In a Male Dominated Industry.” Russel, who oversees all branding, digital and product marketing, sales enablement, public relations, community outreach programs, channel partnerships, and business development at symplr, is a tenured leader and visionary in the healthcare technology industry.
In the article, Russel referenced her role as executive sponsor of a women’s network within symplr. A current topic the group is tackling is identifying concrete measures to create more diverse work environments. She added, “[symplr also] sponsors a team of PGA golfers, and one of our LPGA golfers, Azahar Muñoz, is returning from family leave — she will be sharing her thoughts on what it takes to succeed in a male-dominated environment. Having the freedom to have these conversations at our organization is essential to creating a safe environment and one that ultimately women will want to be a part of.”
According to Russel, “If you want to have a diverse workforce, organizations need to be purposeful when it comes to company culture and how they are presenting themselves to potential candidates and clients. Today, organizations should be appealing to individuals with different perspectives, backgrounds, and life experiences.”
Other advice she shared in the Authority Magazine article was, “It takes a lot of hard work and determination to earn a seat at the leadership table. Recognizing your position, and maybe more importantly, doing something with it, is essential to ensure progress and a more equitable workplace….”
William Blair Private Company Spotlight focuses on symplr
William Blair & Company, an American multinational independent investment bank and financial services company focused on investment banking and investment management, conducted a Q&A with symplr CEO BJ Schaknowski, Chief Product Officer Brian Fugere, and Vice President of Strategy Vijay Jayaraman.
The article highlighted current HCIT market tailwinds that can help healthcare organizations scale, and touched upon symplr’s ability to scale and the market opportunity it brings.
According to the symplr leaders, “Macroeconomic factors will continue to dominate the HCIT market and therefore symplr’s roadmap. Hospital margins are trending toward recovery; however, volumes are still below pre-pandemic levels. Ongoing labor shortages and higher labor costs are still the No. 1 issue for our healthcare clients.” They noted that symplr’s workforce solution will remain highly strategic and timely to capitalize on these trends.
In addition, better weather and pent-up demand are causing a rapid increase in patient
volumes and revenues that hospitals are eager to unlock, they said, adding “Margin compression has further pushed care away from inpatient settings to outpatient, including telehealth.” They said this presents an opportunity to leverage symplr’s GRC and provider data management solutions and services for expansion.
Controlling costs of service: Every dollar counts
Edward Rodriguez, MBA, R.T. (R) (MR)—a clinical expert with symplr who specializes in MRI, SPECT, and molecular imaging—was published in HealthCare Business News.
In the article titled, “The current MR market and outlook,” Rodriguez wrote that MR capital equipment is a technology for which hospitals and outpatient facilities must budget in advance. Factors that make planning for an MR system important include not just pricing but construction needs, logistics, current and future usage plans, cost of ownership, reimbursements, and service contracts. Over the past year, symplr has received over 250 capital purchase quotes for benchmarking analysis related to MR technology.
According to the American Hospital Association, the estimated useful life expectancy of an MR system is five years. However, many clients are retaining their MR systems for 10 to 15 years, and in some cases longer, to maximize their return on investment. Extending the life of an MR system is achievable with a wide range of upgrade options that respective suppliers offer.
Rodriguez wrote that service contracts are often the largest source of profit for manufacturers. Estimates reflect that medical capital equipment is an estimated $3.5 billion industry in the U.S. Key areas to consider when purchasing an MR system service agreement include the term length of your contract; principal coverage period; preventative maintenance (PM); the UPS, chiller, and ACR support; education; software upgrades and support; peripheral units; and coils.
In the article, Rodriguez advises companies to consider adding a requirement to contracts that all PM is conducted during time frames that will not interfere with the facility’s normal patient operation hours.
