Innovation in the Private Outpatient Setting - mobile and more

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Any views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and/or participants and do not necessarily reflect the views, policy, or position of the Wound Care Learning Network or HMP Global, their employees, and affiliates.

HealPrecisely is a start-up finding traction by rapidly adopting innovations in wound care and pioneering mobile technologies. 

Transcript:

John Garrettson, CWCA:
I'm John Garrettson and I'm happy to be here today with both founders and chief medical officer of Heal Precisely, an advanced wound care network based in Florida. The founder and CEO, Tim Rivard, has a history of initiating endeavors in electoral politics and private enterprise, spanning across multiple industries, the United States, and abroad. So Tim, for the audience, please explain, why did you enter the wound care space, and what exactly encouraged you to establish a network of private practices?

Tim Rivard:
I wish I could say that there was some kind of magic grand plan. But, as I know now, the success of Heal Precisely was a low probability event. It turns out that really innovating healthcare and especially in advanced wound care, those are 2 difficult propositions, much more so than I originally envisioned. 

But we made some good moves. We got fortunate in the beginning. We had excellent medical leadership from day 1. We started at the end of COVID when I think it's fair to say that the medical establishment was exhausted and everybody was open to initiative and good ideas, we simply became a beacon repeating a very simple message. Over the last 5 to 10 years there's been advances in wound care that improve patient outcomes. And Heal Precisely turn out to be a 1-stop shop where you can get providers that had access to those technologies, those promising therapies. It turns out that if you put new, improved tools in the toolbox, you can achieve better patient outcomes. 

Garrettson:
Thank you, Tim. That's an impressive comment. Heal Precisely is definitely making a splash in the mobile wound care space. Where do you see the mobile wound care space going in the future?

Tim Rivard:
Necessity is the mother of invention. But that's the delivery of healthcare. It's important, but the emphasis needs to be placed and kept on healing. Brick and mortar clinics still play a very important role in our business model. There's over 6.5 million Americans that are suffering from chronic wounds. Perhaps many of them are suffering needlessly. That's what we should focus on. 

Garrettson:
Thank you. Excellent again. Also joining us today is the chief medical officer, none other than Dr. Ali Saberi, a primary care physician and internist, with experience working in the hospital setting. So, Dr. Saberi, please explain for the audience what factors went into your decision to join Heal Precisely. I'm sure it was no small decision that you made.

Ali Saberi, MD:
Yeah, so working in a hospital-based clinic for about 8 to 9 years there was a number of challenges and issues that we ran into specifically dealing with compliance. and these issues range from the inability of the patient to get to the clinic to the lack of time we had to spend time with them in the clinic, as we're seeing 20 to 40 patients in a hospital-based clinic, you can imagine there's no time to really get to know your patients and for their concerns to be reviewed and for them to trust you, right? There's other aspects of time constraints, which limit our ability to assess the kind of support system they need and the environment they live in along, with the stress they may be experiencing. The other aspect of hospital-based clinics, there tends to be a lower level of advanced diagnostic tools and treatment modalities. And then add on the bureaucracy of the hospital system,
which just slows everything down when you're looking at the rapid changing landscape of wound care. And so these challenges are extremely frustrating for clinicians and patients alike.

Garrettson:
Well, that's a fantastic point. How has your experience been different in this endeavor, Heal Precisely, than it was in that hospital setting? 

Dr. Saberi:
With Heal Precisely, we're able to tear down the barriers I just mentioned by spending time with our patients in their own environments. And that's so vital. Our model of care lowers the compliance concerns, allowing us to truly understand our patients and build that trust, which is so important. I'm proud of our patient advocacy and the proactivity we embody to help care for and heal our patients.

We incorporate advanced diagnostic modalities and treatments, which are supported by industry-leading data. Now, our leadership team goes above and beyond with passion and commitment to patient care and with our model of care and corporate structure, we're able to rapidly adopt to and innovate policies required to be ahead of the ongoing growth and challenge of wound care that occurs in the landscape that we're dealing with.

I'm proud and humbled to be a part of our team and, honestly, to have the opportunity to provide a holistic approach for our patients, which deserve nothing less.

Garrettson:
Wow, thank you, very compelling, Dr. Saberi. And also we're joined here today by Jennifer Rivard, the co-founder and CFO of Heal Precisely. Jennifer previously owned and operated a variety of other medical ancillary businesses in California and Florida. However, Heal Precisely is Jennifer's first exposure to ownership of a clinical practice. So Jennifer, Now that you have 24 months behind you, how's your experience with Heal Precisely? Has it been everything that you've expected? 

Jennifer Rivard:
Well, this reminds me of what Mike Tyson is so famous for saying, that everybody has a plan until you get punched in the face. So, nothing ever goes the way that you expected,
however, that's part of the fun. So, foundationally, it's hard not to notice that there's a deficiency in all things that support the providers in healthcare. I firmly believe that in order to put patients first, we have to go back to putting the providers first. So, my focus has become to remove all obstacles that stand in the provider's way.

So, that's what I enjoy, that's what I'm good at, and that's my contribution to achieving positive patient outcomes. Now, I did not expect such widespread innovation. So, it's contagious, because everyone on the team has really bought into the Heal Precisely way. A team mission has taken hold. You know, words like “passion” and “mission” are overused, but in our case, it gives us the reason and the motivation to jump out of bed in the morning. 

Garrettson:
Wow, that's fantastic. So, Jennifer, where exactly do you see Heal Precisely going over the next several years?

Jennifer Rivard:
Yes. So, we've expanded our service area in Florida rapidly, and that rhythm has been largely based on simply filling a need and gaps in service. So, we're opening our first service area outside of Florida in August in Missouri. And so we're evaluating a handful of other markets as well that will follow suit. So, if I had to guess, based on how the phones are ringing, Heal Precisely can scale out to many, many service areas over the next few years. So when I think about that, I feel really excited, filled with meaning, and I think of all the people that we can really help and how much of a blessing that really is.

Garrettson:
Wow, wonderful. So, Tim, Jennifer, Dr. Saberi, thank you very much for sharing your vision with us. It appears that you're certainly making fantastic changes in how quality care is actually delivered in our community today. Thank you.

Dr. Saberi:
Thank you. Thank you for having us. 

Garrettson:
And thank you all for viewing and spending time with us today. If you want any more information on Heal Precisely, please look us up on the web at healprecisely.com.