Julie Kling
As a former registered nurse and diabetes nurse educator, Julie Kling saw firsthand that patients weren’t always receiving the kind of care they deserved. That’s what drove her to the business side of healthcare as director of mHealth product management at Verizon Wireless.
Kling will share her insights as part of a discussion on the opportunities and challenges in digital health at the MidAmerica Healthcare Venture Forum, to take place April 22-23 in Chicago.
The event unites active investors with corporate business development executives to facilitate investment opportunities with promising Mid-America based startups. It also showcases emerging innovation and technology dealflow originating in the Midwest.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
To get to know the speakers a little better before the conference, we asked them each the same four questions below.
Be sure to register for the event — there’s still time — and join our LinkedIn group for the event.
Who influenced you to get involved in healthcare and/or investing?
I know, firsthand, the impact that health and illness has on a family. That is what drove me to work in healthcare. I am an RN by background and worked as a diabetes nurse educator for more than ten years. I regularly observed healthcare “in action” and saw the failure of patients, who were receiving the “standard of care.”
Motivated by what I saw, I decided to take on the business of healthcare. My mission is to build and develop products and services that improve health, provide better access to care, drive down the costs of healthcare and build revenue for business.
What do you think is the most important change happening in healthcare today?
The Affordable Care Act is obviously the biggest driver of change in healthcare today. The Act is bringing healthcare insurance to millions as well as significantly changing alignments in incentives for providers. This will dramatically change the way providers work day-to-day. For example, we’re seeing providers becoming health plans and vice versa. The business and clinical implications of this legislation will be significant.
There are other important regulatory and governmental impacts on healthcare today such as the FDA mobile medical apps oversight, ICD-10 and Meaningful Use. These areas are driving healthcare organizations to make changes as well. Some regulation will drive innovation, while others may decrease the opportunity to quickly respond to the growing needs of the market.
Telemedicine and remote health monitoring, for example, are tools that can be used to drive down the costs of healthcare and some of the regulations are providing more opportunity for these services to be delivered to patients.
What is your biggest pitch pet peeve/what’s the most bizarre press pitch you’ve ever received?
I don’t know about most bizarre experience but I can tell you a personal pet peeve – reporters that focus on product features and benefits instead of addressing the healthcare issue. Verizon does not develop products just to create “cool” technologies; Verizon is looking at critical healthcare challenges (e.g., health outcomes, access, and connectivity) and applying its mobile leadership and innovation to accelerate access to care, help improve connectivity and enhance the relationship between patients and clinicians.
What’s one piece of advice you would give to an entrepreneur?
First ask yourself this question: “What would you do if you were not afraid?” Risk more than others thought safe. Expect more than others thought was possible. Spend your time and resources on things you believe in.
As it relates to the mobile health industry, make sure you have experienced healthcare people on your leadership and advisory team who really understand healthcare and can drive change in the industry. Find those that have been accountable for the “impossible dream,” like improving health, lowering the costs of healthcare and creating revenue to boot. Bring your team from different segments of the industry (e.g. disease management, medical device, payer, provider, pharmacy, wellness, product development, etc.) to balance technologists and entrepreneurs.
It’s not about the technology first… it’s about solving problems using mobile technologies. Healthcare is a people business first. It’s easy to forget that when creating digital health technologies, it’s ultimately about helping individuals lead healthier lives.
