Digital Health Hype Vs. Reality: How KLAS Cuts Through With the Voice of the Customer

Investments in digital health hit an all-time high in 2020, only
to surpass the new record within the first six month of 2021.
Needless to say, there’s never been more attention placed on
digital health innovation. But it makes for a crowded market,
putting providers and health system CIOs in a challenging
position where it’s impossible to vet the wave of new
technologies and determine what will really help reduce costs and
improve care.

For 25 years, KLAS has helped providers navigate the increasingly
complex healthcare IT landscape through research that’s focused
on amplifying their voice in the market. With a rigorous process
of collecting and assembling feedback from the people who
actually use healthcare technology, KLAS forces technology
vendors to face, act on, and improve from critical feedback, and
gives providers a venue to seek advice from their peers.

In this episode of Healthcare is Hard: A Podcast for Insiders,
Keith Figlioli talks to the CEO and co-founder of KLAS, Adam
Gale. They discuss his firm’s role in the digital health industry
over more than two decades, and touch on topics important for
providers, vendors, investors and others playing a role in the
industry’s future. They cover a number of issues, such as:


 The beginning of health tech innovation. KLAS
was established at what might feel like the beginning of digital
health innovation – even before Meaningful Use was implemented –
but once again Adam feels like things are just getting started.
He talks about being in the right place, at the right time, to be
a trusted voice during the nationwide rollout of electronic
health records, and the uncertainty KLAS felt for the future once
EHRs were in place. But he also talks about how being at the
front edge of technology right now reminds him of those early
days, and the limitless possibilities that lie ahead.


Forcing change through public policy or private markets.
Touching on a theme from the last Healthcare Is Hard podcast
with ONC’s Steven Posnack, Keith and Adam discuss the levers
for implementing change in healthcare IT. Adam shares a
conversation he once had with Secretary for Health and Human
Services, Mike Leavitt, where they both expressed envy for the
other’s ability to help implement change. While Adam pictured
government as a body capable of setting the course, Secretary
Leavitt revealed how difficult this actually is. A slight move
in any direction, according to Leavitt, creates waves of
pushback from multiple angles. But as a private organization
with influence over both vendors and providers, KLAS is in a
unique position to drive change and improvements across the
industry.


Advice for entrepreneurs. Adam shares insights
throughout the interview that are valuable for digital health
startups and entrepreneurs, while providing direct advice at
times too. For example, he talks about the strategic importance
for early-stage companies to invest in their first customer
relationships to develop one or two health system customers
that will become good references. He says this might be a
slower path to success, but stresses the power that
word-of-mouth has in the healthcare industry and how this
approach builds real value.



To hear Adam and Keith talk about these topics and more, listen
to this episode of Healthcare is Hard.