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Growing Lean
Forging Ahead: Christopher Bromley on Entrepreneurship, AI in Healthcare, and the Impact of Executive Coaching
Unlock the secrets of balancing entrepreneurship with the rapid advancements in AI healthcare through the eyes of Christopher Bromley. In our latest episode, we sit down with this innovative leader who has navigated from the fresh-faced enthusiasm of a medical school graduate to spearheading trailblazing companies like Elate Education and CarePix. Discover the mission that drives Elate Education to transform continuing education for healthcare professionals, making it both accessible and efficient. Learn how Christopher conquered the entrepreneurial challenge of time management, and how executive coaching became the keystone of his enhanced productivity. We also tackle the intricate dance of integrating AI into healthcare, focusing on CarePix's approach in supporting medical decisions while ensuring the human touch remains irreplaceable.
Let Christopher Bromley guide you through the transformative journey of personal and professional growth, underlining the undeniable power of having a coach in your corner. His candid insights on navigating life's hurdles and staying sharp in the entrepreneurial battlefield are something you don't want to miss. As our conversation wraps, Christopher extends an olive branch to those seeking guidance or eager to discuss potential collaborations, underscoring his commitment to fostering community support. To connect with Christopher for mentorship or to brainstorm innovative ideas, he invites you to contact him through his LinkedIn profile or via email at CarePics. Tune in for an episode that is not just informative, but potentially life-altering.
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Hey everyone, welcome back to the growing Lean podcast sponsored by Lean Discovery Group, an award-winning software development company based out of Virginia. This is your host, dylan Burke, also known as Deej. I'm happy to be here with Christopher Bromley, ceo of Elate Education, chief Medical Officer of CarePix, as well as founder and Chief Medical Officer of Amplify. Welcome, christopher.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for having me. It's a pleasure.
Speaker 1:It's my pleasure to have you on here, so can you get us started and give us a little bit about your history and your background and how you got into the business you're in today?
Speaker 2:Long story short. I graduated from medical school in 1990 and went on to do my surgical residency in Baltimore at the Johns Hopkins Teaching Hospital and University of Maryland. I went back to New York and practiced medicine for about 30 years and about 20 years ago I started getting interested in functional medicine, technology and basically thinking outside the box. So I sort of was naturally drawn to teaching and investigating new and evolving fields of medicine, and the process of doing that led me into hospital leadership, finding a large group and always looking to do things that were cutting edge, so I didn't get bored.
Speaker 1:Okay, amazing. And what does each one of these businesses do? Elate, Education, CarePix and Amplify.
Speaker 2:So Elate was founded because we were looking for a way to get continuing education to physicians and this was all pre-COVID in their hands, instead of physicians having to leave their practices and take time away from practice. We figured we could package education and we could make it something they were doing on their smart device. So we formed a platform and it sort of morphed into continuing education. We trained pharma reps, we trained physicians to use new technology, like CarePix, the other company that I work with. So is it a platform that uses an app to push information, either for continuing education or for training for existing technology?
Speaker 1:Okay, amazing, and yeah, I want to know what has been your biggest challenges in terms of being an entrepreneur and running several companies.
Speaker 2:Well, the number one challenge is always time, because there's just not enough of it. As you'll notice, I'm not in my office. I'm actually in my truck going from one meeting to another, so we're using best use of our time. So it's sort of always figuring out how to be the most productive, and I think for me, productivity was always a struggle, and it wasn't really until this year I started working with an executive leadership coach, a guy by the name of Christian Santiago, who came to me and said look, I'm working with surgeons around the world, I can help you, and I was pessimistic, but Christian helped me. Nobody was ever here to help me as a CEO or as a chief medical officer.
Speaker 2:You're typically leading the challenge and it's not popular to say that I need help or to say that I might not be in control of everything. I'm being able to have a consultant that helps me realize that it's okay not to be perfect and that I could use some help in managing what's going on in my head and how I manage my time. So, for example, he taught me to do 60 and 60. So basically, in the morning, the first 60 minutes of the day, I handled the top three things on my priority list, so I've been able to use consultant relationship with Christian to best use of my time.
Speaker 1:Okay, amazing. Yeah, time's definitely the most valuable and scarce resource that anyone has. I also wanted to ask how have you adapted, obviously, being in the tech space over the last couple of years, with AI coming into the picture, the mainstream picture, have you adapted to that? Are you making use of the tools available to you?
Speaker 2:Well, a great question. One of the one of the things I do in my role at care picks is we take data and we work the data into an algorithm to help make treatment choices. So I've been on the forefront of what is the next evolution in healthcare, which is AI generated decision making. So we know that for various practices of medicine, there is a protocol for best practice. So for me, I've been on the cutting edge and working as a subject matter expert in remote therapeutic and remote physiologic monitoring in helping drive the technology.
Speaker 2:The problem that we have in tech is that we come up with ideas, but we have to remember that we're dealing with, like the government and CMS and insurance companies who may not you know, may not understand it. So the biggest, you know, the biggest thing that excites me the most is being able to use AI to improve outcomes and save money and help people. The struggle is, you know, there's always. I mean, for example, I watched the news this weekend, which I never do, but you know, all of 60 minutes was about AI and how it's scary. And you know, yes, there are ports of AI that could be scary, but I'm going to tell you, as a physician of 33 years, ai is something that I can use to improve how I practice and help my patients more.
Speaker 1:Yeah, 100%. I think a common misconception is that it's being created to replace humans, and I think understanding that it's a tool for us to do our jobs more efficiently and faster and better. It's not. It might replace some jobs, but at the end of the day, there's nothing like a human touch. So it's just a tool that helps us do our job faster and more accurately, and I think people need to start understanding that more than being scared of it.
Speaker 2:True, and I think that there's also the government is sort of slow in reference to you know. They throw up some regulations, like, for example, they passed the Curezac in 2016. And one of the things in Curezac said that AI is good, but as an AI company I care about. I can't tell a physician what to do. I can say the metrics of what you've entered would suggest that you do this. Now I can't tell him to do it, but I can make suggestions.
Speaker 2:So we're very careful to make sure that we, you know, abide by the regulations, but also help shape regulations. So, for example, this year, cms was going to administer an LCD. It's what's called a limiting coverage determination, which determines what RTM could be, could or could not cover. So myself and you know many other healthcare experts you know from around the country, testified what our experience was, and the good news was that, based on our testimony, they decided not to issue an LCD. So that helps us. You know, when we get together, you know lots of people complain about the government, but unless you're doing something about what the government knows or is doing, don't complain. So I think what we, what we learn, is that the more we engage on this particular area, the better we'll be able to create better products and drive technology to do good things.
Speaker 1:Yeah, 100%. And do you make use of any like AI tools in your personal capacity outside of business?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think that for me, I think about you know, using chat GTP as an example. You know when we're looking at creating material and teaching. You know we're using that to look at. You know when we, when we did this determination and we run it through chat GTP. You know how does it, how does it, how does it muster out?
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah, 100%. And what are the metrics that you use to measure the success of your businesses? Yeah, 100%.
Speaker 2:Well, like most businesses we have, you know, in the startup environment there's typically a metrics of growth versus the bottom line. So in any startup, you know there's going to be a period of time where you're not revenue, either neutral or making a profit. So you have to look. For me, I look at growth. It's easy in the care picks we look at how many providers that we've signed up to use the tool. Care picks is a tool that is designed around managing wounds and patients with critical and mischemia. So I look at the number of providers that we've onboarded and I look at how they're using the tool. So from behind the scenes, I can tell if we signed up 10 doctors last month, are they using it? Are they using it every day and are they using it to its full extent? And if they're not, that gives me an opportunity to come back and engage with them and say, okay, you used part one, but you didn't use part two or three. What is your? You know what can I help? How can I help you do that better?
Speaker 1:Okay, 100%, and what metrics are you looking to improve?
Speaker 2:Well, I think that in healthcare, for me as a physician, I'm looking to create better patient engagement and also be able to use education and reminders for patients. So, for example, we get reminders if we have a reservation at a restaurant as a text message from open table, or you get a reminder from your dentist that you have an appointment. Well, that's really the tip of the iceberg, because reminders through tech and AI in healthcare can be more interactive, so you could use the technology to check in with a patient who might be diabetic what was your blood sugar this morning? Or communicate with your. The app can communicate with your continuous glucose monitor and if your blood sugar was 300 this morning, instead of just recording that it's 300, do something about it.
Speaker 2:You know, engage the patient what did you eat last night? Did you take your insulin? Did you take your medication? So the future for me and we do this in other places. So we have technology where we have Bluetooth and remote Bluetooth technology to communicate with the patient. We have technology to communicate with their smart devices, so we know if they're doing their physical therapy, we know if they're using their device to prevent dbt. So for me, it's all about you know, driving the ball forward so we can use and merge all these technologies to get better outcomes.
Speaker 1:Okay, 100%. And if I were to ask you to rate your your level of satisfaction within your business on a scale of 1 to 10, what would you rate it?
Speaker 2:Well I would say, if you ask me six months ago, I would probably say a seven because of you know some struggles, but working with you know executive leadership, consulting at peak surgeon, I was able to raise it to probably a 12, because I learned how to adjust my the story in my head right. So there's things that you experience every day and you know 10%. 10% is what happened in 90% of what. What's happening in your head is how you react. So for me, I've changed to think about things that I used to think about as problems and now that I think about them differently, I have a much higher satisfaction rate.
Speaker 1:And if I were to, if we were to sit down again in, let's say, four years time, what would you rate your? What would you want your rating to be then?
Speaker 2:Oh, I would want it to be a solid 100. I, you know, one of my goals is to is to take some of these other companies, one that we're getting ready to start, and drive it forward to, to improve outcomes, to save limbs, to save lives, and then to take, you know, these very successful companies and leverage them into providing free care. You know, in parts of our country where care is suboptimal and places around the world where people aren't able to get basic health care. So I think for me and you know, my five year plan is to, you know, continue to leverage these companies and then figure out, you know, to basically have a billion dollars that I can provide free care to people around the world.
Speaker 1:Amazing. I love that the fashion behind it is. It's amazing. And where do you see your industry heading in the next, let's say, five to ten years?
Speaker 2:Well, I think for me, being in the IT business with Carepix, what we know is that the remote therapeutic monitoring that is, being able to monitor patients in their home and report back to us that business is expected to be 127 billion by the end of 2025. That's not far away. So I expect that there's going to be a revolution in technology in the healthcare space where we can be able to improve the access to good quality care around the world.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I've actually. I've chatted to a couple others in the MedTech space and what's coming out is astonishing. It's amazing, and I'm super excited to see the technology that we'll be able to use in the next couple of years. It's actually insane to think about. I also I wanted to ask have there been any specific partnerships or collaborations that you've formed that have helped you get to where you are?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think for me. You know, I've made so many industry contacts over the years and the interesting thing about healthcare is that people may work for one company one day and then they'd be gone, but they're going to pop up someplace else. So, for example, the previous you know president of 3M North America was a good friend of mine when he worked at another company and then he moved to 3M and that created some strategic relationships for us there, and then he's recently moved to another company. So I think that creating long lasting friendships that are truly based on mutual respect has leveraged itself and, to me, being able to use those friendships and create contacts and drive the ball forward in healthcare excellence.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I always say if someone's reaching out to you that you haven't spoken to in a couple of years and they're asking for advice, or you're able to reach out to them for advice, it means you're doing something right in terms of how you approach people and just how you act. It's the biggest compliment and it's great to hear that. Now, what advice would you give to other business owners looking to succeed in your industry?
Speaker 2:The most significant advice that I would give would be to ask to have somebody that you can ask for help. It's very uncharacteristic for a president or CEO of a founder to actually get help because you're expected to be the master of everything. And for me, being able to have an executive leadership coach that I work with every week that holds that I could say anything to that I wouldn't say to my leadership team, that I wouldn't say in a C suite. My advice would be, if you don't have one, fine one, because that is the key to you. Know you can read self health books. You know you can watch webinars. You can write pot. You know podcasts or some of my favorite. You know, obviously I'm so much respect for you. I love revisionist history and how I built this and all the things that drive me to be an entrepreneur, but having somebody who you, who is your, in your corner as your coach is the most valuable thing I've ever done.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I couldn't agree more. I've actually I've done a leadership coach, but I've got a life coach who helps me in business, in life managing, helps me get the tools I need to manage my day effectively, and it's been such a game changer having this person I can go to with with these issues. That's awesome. Yeah, it's amazing and we are out unfortunately out of time here, but thank you so much for being on the show, christopher. What is the best way for people to reach out to Christopher Bromley If you have any offers for them or if they're looking to follow your journey?
Speaker 2:Well, obviously, linkedin is a great resource. You can find Christopher Bromley on LinkedIn or you can always email me at Chris dot Bromley, which is B R O M L E Y at care pics. It's easy as way to email me. My offer myself always to help anyone who has a question or concern. I believe in my life. The more that I give away, the better my life is, so I'm grateful if anybody wants to collaborate, talk about anything, ask for advice. I'm always free and I'm here to make great friends in great contexts.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much, christopher.
Speaker 2:You're welcome. Have a wonderful day and thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it Anytime. Thank you, you're welcome.