When COVID-19 struck, CarePort Health was in a unique position to deliver on public appetite for information about the pandemic’s impact on healthcare thanks to its wealth of proprietary data. V2 Vice President Kristen Leathers spoke with CarePort’s Founder and CEO Lissy Hu to discuss the experience of navigating the healthcare technologies industry, particularly over the past year.
V2: As a company operating within the healthcare space, what has the pandemic meant for CarePort?
LH: The pandemic had an immediate, significant impact on our customers—hospitals, payers, post-acute care and community providers. Everyone in the healthcare industry has been challenged to respond, including us as a healthcare software company. The pandemic has highlighted the need for increased interoperability and enhanced care coordination. During all times, but perhaps especially during a pandemic, healthcare providers across the continuum need to be transparent and communicate with one another.
V2: You were recently acquired. How did you determine WellSky was the best partner to move CarePort forward?
LH: Patients and their families are increasingly opting for home-based care services following hospital visits. That need has only been accelerated by the pandemic, and WellSky is a software leader in the home and community-based care space. Our customers are looking for connectivity into that network, and that’s one of the reasons why the alignment between CarePort and WellSky makes so much sense.
V2: What have your unique internal and external communication priorities been over the past year?
LH: Over 1,000 hospitals rely on CarePort to send 20 million referrals annually to more than 110,000 post-acute providers. Because of our expansive network, we were in the position to spot COVID-19 trends across the care continuum as they were occurring. Given the rapidly evolving nature of the pandemic, we felt a responsibility to share this data to help providers inform their COVID-19 response. V2 was instrumental in helping us shape and execute on our strategy to share our findings externally.
V2: How has a having a communications partner helped CarePort navigate these priorities?
LH: V2 has been invaluable in raising CarePort’s profile and increasing brand awareness. When we began working with V2, we had access to novel COVID-19 insights and expertise but had no meaningful relationships with media. V2 enabled us to engage with top-tier media and bring our insights to the public. Beyond our work with V2 on COVID-19, V2 has helped us showcase the value of our platform and position us as a more authoritative voice on industry issues. Overall, my entire team has been very impressed by V2.
V2: You’re a female-founded company, just like V2. What has been the experience of navigating two industries—healthcare and technology—that have traditionally been male-centric?
LH: I think it’s important for women to be realistic and acknowledge the challenges of being a woman entrepreneur and CEO. We can’t address those barriers if we ignore them. At the same time, as a society, we want to make sure that stories of women succeeding in healthcare and technology are also heard. Both girls and boys benefit from growing up hearing these stories and the art of the possible.