For greater consistency in the transformative healthcare industry, women leaders have recognized that only communicative and organizational change isn't enough; it is vital to understand the why behind the change. This is why leading women in healthcare invest their time and resources to determine to cultivate a culture based on responsibility.
The 10 most eminent women leaders in healthcare, 2021
1. VOL 10 I ISSUE 07 I 2021
1
Women Leaders
Most Eminent
in Healthcare, 2021
THE
Safeguarding
Your Future
Building a
Compassionate
Culture in
Healthcare
Women in
Healthcare
Ensuring Health and
Well-being of People
with Efficient
Healthcare Systems
4. Mapping the
Framework
for Healthcare
or years, women leaders in healthcare have aimed to
Fprovide high-quality care and exceptional patient
experiences in every reciprocal action. However, to
achieve this aim in the ever-changing industry landscape
consistently challenges their ability to do so. It is where
women leaders are critical to address these transformative
challenges and drive the healthcare industry forward
straightforwardly.
Women leaders are practical and constantly focused on
implementing groundbreaking strategies to culture a
grounded approach with well-trained clinicians to align the
goals and work process. They understand the critical aspect
of this approach, which solidifies the organization to impact
the patient effectively. The recent surge of the COVID-19
pandemic disrupted the healthcare industry on a never-
before-seen level. However, women leaders were able to
develop, achieve, and sustain the outcomes in an effort to
prevent and cure the spread of the virus simultaneously.
Women leaders always have had a different perspective in
the innovation and utilization of various technologies to
provide the right metrics to verify vitals and medication
dosage, heightened safety precautions, new care measures
for specific conditions to optimize healthcare.
For greater consistency in the transformative healthcare
industry, women leaders have recognized that only
communicative and organizational change isn't enough; it is
vital to understand the why behind the change. This is why
leading women in healthcare invest their time and resources
to determine to cultivate a culture based on responsibility.
Pioneering leaders often face enormous regulatory
pressures, relentless administrative developments, which is
why they have to include data for informed decision
Editor’s Desk
5. making, scalable innovation, establishing
organizational alignment, and building suitable
governance structures. Time and again, women
leaders align their approach to match the increasing
demand of healthcare to connect the organizational
hospitals and clinicians to deliver exceptional patient
care to lay the foundation for the better tomorrow.
Therefore, Insights Success embarked on a journey
to find leaders who made the most with their
proficient knowledge and expertise. In this edition of
"The 10 Most Eminent Women Leaders in
Healthcare, 2021," we are cherishing the leaders
who created their success tales with dedicated efforts,
courage, and fortitude.
Featured in this edition are the proven women
leaders in the healthcare industry who have
contributed to the betterment of humankind with
their practical expertise and their ability to innovate
and improve with the changing times to become
ideals for the next generation.
Dive into this edition for inspiring stories of eminent
women leaders and spread the word about their
contribution to make this world a better place.
While flipping through the pages, make sure to scroll
through the articles written by our in-house editorial
team and CxO standpoints of some of the leading
industry experts to have the know-how about the
industry.
Delve in!
aditya.gaikar@insightssuccess.com
Aditya Gaikar
6. ARTICLES
20 Women in Healthcare
Ensuring Health and Well-being of People
with Efficient Healthcare Systems
28
Safeguarding Your
Future
Building a Compassionate
Culture in Healthcare
CxO
36
Leader’s Viewpoint
Transforming Healthcare in Africa:
Efforts Needed By Today’s
Business Leaders
08
Alyeah E. Ramjit
Changing the Landscape of Healthcare
Industry with Transformational Expertise
7. 12
Denise Juliano &
Myla Maloney
The Dynamic Duo Delivering Strategic
Solutions in Healthcare
16
Julie Walker
Using Growth Strategies to Effectively
Transform Healthcare Operations
24
Norina Alinta
Gavan
Improving the Quality of Lives of
Diabetic Patients
32
Tito Ovia
Accelerating Africa's Transition to a
Technology and Data-driven
Healthcare Sector
C
O
N
T
E
N
T
S
9. Brief
Company Name
PDT
Inc pdtdental.com
Linda Miller
CEO
PDT, Inc. is creating superior quality dental instruments and
products with a focus on ergonomics, innovative solutions, and
purpose-driven design.
Mount Sinai Health
System
mountsinai.org
Alyeah E. Ramjit
Associate Director &
Chief of Staff
The Mount Sinai Health System is an integrated health system
committed to providing distinguished care, conducting
transformative research, and advancing biomedical education.
Julie Walker
Chief Strategy Officer
symplr
symplr.com
symplr enables enterprise customers to efficiently navigate the
unique complexities of integrating critical business operations
in healthcare.
Denise Juliano
Group Vice President
Premier Applied Sciences
Myla Maloney
Chief Commercial Officer
Premier Applied Sciences
Premier Inc.
premierinc.com
Premier Inc. is a technology platform delivering smarter, faster
and better healthcare.
Helium Health
heliumhealth.com
Tito Ovia
Co-Founder and
Head of the Public
Sector Growth Team
Helium Health is the largest provider of full-service technology
solutions for all healthcare stakeholders in emerging markets.
Norina Alinta Gavan
CEO & Managing
Director
Wörwag Pharma
woerwagpharma.com
Wörwag Pharma is a pharmaceutical company with
subsidiaries worldwide.
Cathrin Bowtell
President
Candid Care
candidco.com
Candid is redefining oral health by using modern technology to
help deliver human-focused care.
Carolyn Yarina
CEO
Sisu Global
sisuglobal.health
Sisu Global Health designs and commercializes medical
devices with and for emerging markets.
Wendy Nowokunski
President
Northbridge
Communities
northbridge
communities.com
Northbridge Companies is a leading provider of senior housing
and services, providing a wide scope of development,
operational management, sales management and advisory
services.
Jackie Fouse
CEO
Agios Pharmaceuticals is focused on discovering and
developing novel investigational medicines to treat genetically
defined diseases through scientific leadership in the field of
cellular metabolism.
Agios Pharmaceuticals
agios.com
Featured Person
10. Alyeah E.
Ramjit
Changing the Landscape of
Healthcare Industry with
Transformational Expertise
n recent years, the healthcare industry has transformed
Iinto a disruptive pattern. Technological advancements
achieved in this field have helped millions of
healthcare experts work seamlessly to save countless lives.
Industry leaders are improving several technologies to have
seamless coordination to develop advanced medicine
through collective knowledge. Women leaders in healthcare
are dedicating their expertise and providing strategies to
help further carry out groundbreaking initiatives.
In our endeavor to find the Most Eminent Women Leaders
in Healthcare, we came across Alyeah E. Ramjit, who has
been leading in the healthcare industry with her expertise
and brings structure to the chaos.
Ms. Ramjit works as the Associate Director and Chief of
Staff to the Chief Transformation Officer at Mount Sinai
Health System and President of Mount Sinai Morningside.
In this role, she supports key initiatives to transform
organizational culture, including patient experience, system
learning and process improvement, and overseeing
initiatives within operations, hospital strategy, and business
development.
Up Until Now
Ms. Ramjit’s prior experience involves serving as the
Administrative Manager for Northwell Health’s Mobile
Integrated Healthcare/Community Paramedicine Program.
She oversaw the programmatic design and care
management of the Advanced Illness population through
pre-hospital care providers.
Before her time with Northwell Health, Ms. Ramjit gained
experience as a Project Manager of Integrated Care with the
Suffolk Care Collaborative, Stony Brook Medicine. She
oversaw creating an integrated delivery service using
PCMH accreditation to create practice transformation,
IT/provider integration, community engagement, network
development and performance, and quality improvement. In
addition, Ms. Ramjit also has experience in Medicare Part
D operations, and Hospital and Long-Term Care &
Rehabilitation operations.
Facing the Challenges
Throughout her journey, Ms. Ramjit has always found that
her biggest challenge to date had consistently been herself.
Early on in her career, she wanted others to believe in her,
and she thought that being dependent on others’ perceptions
of her would help her grow. However, eventually, she
learned that she must first work on developing herself,
understanding her personality, and how she interacted with
others. Then, gain a further understanding of her emotional
quotient and how she uses emotional intelligence to help
navigate her career path.
Ms. Ramjit also understood that knowing her skillsets and
speaking to those assists in creating non-traditional career
opportunities. In addition, observing others' styles and
personalities has helped her improve herself, thereby
providing her with the tools to understand her career growth
decision-making process.
Aligning With Innovative Technologies to Improve
Healthcare
It is vital to use newer technologies in health care, and Ms.
Ramjit thinks Health Systems need to partner with venture
capitalists and established community programs. Many
08 | October 2021 www.insightssuccess.com
The 10 Most Eminent Women Leaders in Healthcare, 2021
12. health systems seek to create their own telehealth platforms
or social determinants of health platforms to address patient
needs and attempt to recreate the wheel.
She says, “If leaders took a step back and viewed
healthcare the way I do, which is like a large puzzle with
silos that need to be brought together, then instead of
recreating the wheel, we would be able to bring groups of
experts together and in the long run solve the large puzzle
of healthcare.”
Ms. Ramjit believes that creating a population of healthy
individuals is all about strategic operations and
partnerships. It is about patient accountability, caregiver
input, interdisciplinary team communication, and advocacy
being supported by infrastructure.
Repercussions of the Pandemic
Mr. Ramjit opines that the pandemic was an experience that
today’s healthcare leaders never imagined they would live
through; all in all, everyone is still living through it. She
thinks that telehealth will be one of the big winners post-
pandemic.
Before COVID, telehealth was used within Healthcare
Systems primarily for remote patient monitoring. COVID
taught healthcare workers that they could care for patients
and seek consultations across State lines. Ms. Ramjit
remembers a time where physicians were in such high
demand locally organizations had to partner across State
lines to provide adequate coverage. Telehealth brought the
nation together, even if for a short period.
Another thing that was learned during this timeframe,
especially at MSHS, was how it truly utilizes inpatient
beds. In New York, it has been on a lengthy journey to
consolidate inpatient beds and focus heavily on ambulatory.
COVID stopped them in their tracks and has forced them to
redesign that thought and those plans.
What Future Holds?
Mr. Ramjit thinks that the next five years of healthcare will
be about recovery and resilience. COVID hit MSHS like a
Category 5 hurricane, and once there is an opportunity to
take a step back fully, healthcare leaders will need to
reassess their views on the future and their views on how
care is provided.
Organizations, whether those are Health Systems, venture
capital-funded or that are community-based, need to
reassess the concept of teamwork within healthcare and not
just within their mission, vision & values. Healthcare in the
US has come a long way through technological advances,
advances in population health management, engagement
with health insurance companies, Silicon-valley entering
healthcare, etc., but those are all under the guise of
volatility and being cutthroat. Resilience and recovery take
precedent with the underlying understanding that people
(employees) drive mission, vision, and values.
Precious Advice for Up-and-Coming Leaders
The path to healthcare leadership and healthcare
administration is no longer what it was just five years ago.
Healthcare Systems are the new normal, consistently
providing a traditional approach to patient care while
ventured backed healthcare continually assesses how to
improve care delivery in a non-traditional setting.
Mr. Ramjit says, “I have always been intrigued by the way
in which venture capitalism entered the healthcare market
and identified how to efficiently create targeted care within
appropriate care models. My advice is always the same, be
kind to yourself on the journey, be kind to those around you,
enter healthcare and strive to be a leader because your
decisions impact thousands if not millions of people in a
singular moment.”.
“Leadership is truly about being primarily servant but
understanding that transformational leadership and
influential leadership create the balance,” she concludes.
“
Providing
compassionate patient
care with seamless
coordination.
10 | October 2021 www.insightssuccess.com
14. Denise Juliano
&
Myla Maloney
The Dynamic Duo Delivering Strategic Solutions in Healthcare
Denise Juliano
Group Vice President
Premier Applied Sciences®
Myla Maloney
Chief Commercial Officer
Premier Applied Sciences®
12 | October 2021 www.insightssuccess.com
15. Women comprise the majority of the healthcare
industry. Their tremendous decision-making
abilities make them vital, and women leaders
are a linchpin in the healthcare industry. Their intact
determination has always helped them to be dauntless and
plunge ahead. One such duo is Denise Juliano and Myla
Maloney, who have leveraged their collective experience in
developing and implementing innovative strategies in
healthcare.
Denise is the Group Vice President of Premier Applied
Sciences® (PAS), while Myla serves as the Chief
Commercial Officer of Premier Applied Sciences.
Premier Inc. is a healthcare improvement company that has
created one of the most comprehensive databases of
actionable data (the Premier Healthcare Database,
otherwise known as the PHD), clinical best practices, and
efficiency improvement strategies.
Denise is an innovative leader with a strong entrepreneurial
spirit and extensive healthcare industry experience. She has
led efforts in the development of strategic account
management programs and was featured in the book;
Beyond the Sales Process: 12 Proven Strategies for a
Customer-Driven World by Steve Anderson. In addition,
she is known as a mentor and coach and was the first
recipient of the Linda A. Rooney Award for Executive
Women's Leadership. She is an executive sponsor of the
LGBTQ+ Employee Resource Group (ERG) at Premier.
Myla is an inspirational leader, thinker and doer with a laser
focus on new, out-of-the-box ways to improve the delivery
of healthcare. She is not only dedicated to advancing
Premier’s mission of improving the health of communities,
she’s equally dedicated to developing people both
professionally and personally. She developed a training
program based on StrengthsFinder which has resulted in the
entire Premier organization leveraging a strengths-based
approach to individual and team development. She also
serves as an executive sponsor of the Military and Veterans
ERG at Premier.
The Journey So Far
Since starting at Premier, Denise and Myla have led the
team to transform Premier Applied Sciences, into a double-
digit EBITDA and revenue growth business. They have
successfully developed their overall strategic vision and
business plan, while creating a culture of excellence.
Denise and Myla are developing and implementing
innovative, real-world evidence solutions with life sciences
organizations to accelerate care alignment with evidence-
based guidelines and best practices. They are not only
identifying and facilitating business development with
emerging technology companies to remain competitive, but
also leading strategic engagements and developing value
co-creation with the highest regarded life science
companies.
Bouncing Back Strong
Challenges are nothing new to Denise and Myla, and they
have always risen to the occasion and provided with
resolve. Below are some of the challenges that the duo
came across in their careers:
Ÿ Starting a new business – reshaping strategy,
reorganizing and expanding, leading change
management, establishing new roles and capabilities.
Ÿ Establishing and meeting aggressive business
development goals.
Ÿ Innovating in a highly regulated market.
Ÿ Acquiring new companies and creating strategic
partnerships all while managing a PL.
Ÿ Leading homogeneous teams.
Ÿ Creating a culture of a business owner mindset while
being part of a larger organization.
Ÿ Developing strategic account management programs with
a client facing mentality.
At Premier, we’re
ushering in the
next generation of
healthcare, using
every tool in our
arsenal to lower
costs and improve
outcomes.
‘‘
‘‘
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16. Spearheading Solutions
™
Through its PINC AI platform, Premier uses technology,
data, and analytics effectively to drive value for the
organization and its member health systems. Its data-driven,
clinically integrated, tech-enabled improvement solutions
integrate seamlessly into a health system's electronic health
record (EHR).
Being powered by artificial intelligence (AI), natural
language processing (NLP), and machine learning (ML),
these solutions provide real-time information at the point of
care. They leverage the largest benchmarking database in
the U.S., with 100 Billion points of data from more than
1,100 facilities representing 45 percent of all U.S.
discharges.
Premier's solutions are helping to remove waste from
healthcare, modernize and automate manual tasks, and
ensure success in value-based care, including clinical
decision support to ensure the highest quality outcomes
demanded by payers, employers, and patients alike.
The Pandemic Response
As the pandemic began, it left clinicians scrambling to find
a cure, and life sciences organizations searching for up-to-
date, real-world evidence. There was a clear need for data
to uncover solutions to combat the effects of COVID-19.
While hospital data would be ideal, the typical lag time was
five months.
Denise, Myla and the PAS team knew it was urgent to
support the emergency response to COVID-19; thus, the
PAS COVID-19 Response Team was assembled.
The team developed a Special Release of the PHD (the
PHD-SR) that shortened the data lag time from five months
to two weeks, creating the ideal dataset for COVID-19
research. The PHD-SR was made available for licensing to
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the
National Institute of Health (NIH), life sciences
organizations and academia to conduct research studies on
COVID-19. The PAS Applied Research Team collaborated
with government agencies and academia to conduct
essential studies, many of which have been published in top
journals, including JAMA. These studies informed
healthcare professionals about the risk factors of mortality
and clinical outcomes of COVID-19 and helped save lives.
A Collective Contribution to the Community
Premier's mission is to improve the health of communities.
Through the collective power of the alliance of
approximately 4,100 U.S. hospitals and health systems and
more than 200,000 other providers and organizations, the
company is leading the transformation to high-quality, cost-
effective healthcare.
Premier is committed to making a difference in the
communities its members serve by enabling them with the
tools and technology to collaborate faster and more
efficiently, improve quality outcomes, and deliver better
care while safely reduce costs. Alongside its members, they
are transforming healthcare together.
Pathing the Future
When asked about the envision of the organization's future,
We're looking to expand our capabilities to continue to
address the challenges faced by life science companies in
concert with our healthcare systems’needs. One such
challenge, clinical trial innovations is key area of
investment for PAS, says Denise.
Clinical trials require broad populations of many different
types of patients. Finding patients with suitable
characteristics is often a challenge, as up to 80 percent of
clinical trials fail to meet targeted recruitment timelines.
Using our data and broad provider network, we believe we
can identify the right patients to enroll, as well as the
providers who can test their use in a real-world
environment. This is a tremendous value to life sciences
companies that must demonstrate effectiveness using real-
world evidence, adds Myla.
Advice to the Upcoming Leaders
In their advice to aspiring women leaders, Denise and Myla
say, Take calculated risks, don't be afraid to stretch
yourself, take on assignments beyond your comfort zone, be
a daily learner, don't be afraid to ask for what you want,
don't wait until you're completely ready to take on your new
role, mentor others, know your own capabilities and
surround yourself with people who are smarter than you
and can do things you don’t.
14 | October 2021 www.insightssuccess.com
18. “Fail fast, learn faster, and
keep moving forward.”
Julie Walker
Chief Strategy Officer
symplr
16 | October 2021 www.insightssuccess.com
19. Julie Walker
Using Growth Strategies to Effectively Transform
Healthcare Operations
o state that COVID-19 hit the health care industry
Thard is an understatement. Over the past 18 months,
healthcare organizations have struggled to provide
care to large numbers of the infected while simultaneously
containing costs, maintaining compliance, and increasing
efficiency. And the pandemic's not done reshaping
healthcare … not yet. Operations solutions that helped
hospitals and health systems successfully navigate through
the worst of COVID-19 broke down silos, automated
processes, and enhanced employee engagement and
productivity—all while keeping an eye toward improving
patient care and maintaining a safe environment. Payers and
provider organizations that relied on symplr received the
support they needed to continue on a path toward
transforming their healthcare operations to achieve better
outcomes despite the hurdles and risks. symplr is a leader in
a large and growing healthcare operations and governance,
risk management, and compliance (GRC) IT market. It
began as a vendor and provider credentialing organization
that grew rapidly through product innovation and
acquisitions, having made 12 acquisitions in the past 6
years.
One of the executive leaders at symplr responsible for
defining and implementing strategies that improve
healthcare organizations' operations to, in turn, improve
their outcomes is its Chief Strategy Officer, Julie Walker.
Julie is a key player in symplr's success and growth in the
healthcare IT market and leads the company's MA
strategy by coordinating the execution and integration of
acquisitions and partnerships. This unique and ongoing
program is centered on operating efficiently, effectively, and
successfully at scale—and puts customers at the center. In
doing so, symplr succeeds in maximizing product and
service value for customers so these customers – the
healthcare providers – have more time to care for patients.
Julie's professional journey provides insight into how she
successfully identifies and capitalizes on the growth that has
contributed to symplr's remarkable success.
A Young Entrepreneur and Competitive Athlete
Julie began honing her business acumen at a young age in
Ft. Madison, IA, a small river town and the home of one of
the U.S.'s largest double-decker swing span bridges. As a
teen, she and her brother started a lawn-mowing business,
which provided her with a genuine appreciation for the
universal business fact that if you hustle, work hard, and do
a good job, you'll be rewarded.
Fast forward a few years to college and post-grad, where
Julie played and coached Division I scholarship basketball.
By striking a balance between the demands of the sport and
being successful in school, she honed the skills that would
set her up for success: discipline, dedication, resilience, the
ability to learn fast, and, ultimately, how to lead through
positive action.
Prior to joining symplr, Julie held senior leadership roles at
ProviderTrust and the National Healthcareer Association, a
division of Ascend Learning—both SaaS healthcare
technology companies. Having a strong desire to expand
her experience and reach, Julie joined a mid-stage
healthcare technology startup to help transform the team
and the business, which led her to symplr. In earlier roles in
symplr's Workforce Management and Access Management
business segments, Julie has successfully led the
integrations of multiple healthcare technology businesses
into symplr, driving strategy and culture, and ultimately,
helping symplr transition to its current enterprise
organizational model. Most recently, she was offered the
exciting opportunity to lead symplr's Strategy and
Corporate Development Team in a newly created role. Hers
is a new, small, and mighty team focused on ensuring
The 10 Most Eminent Women Leaders in Healthcare, 2021
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20. symplr realizes its short, mid, and long-term strategies as
the leader in health care operations and the northstar for
healthcare technology.
The Roller Coaster Effect of the Pandemic
When asked about the impact of the current pandemic on
the healthcare industry, Julie expresses that COVID-19 has
been transformational for healthcare. It has challenged
symplr to view, access, and engage in healthcare differently,
and has put a spotlight on key vulnerabilities. While it
brought paradigm change, the pandemic also serves as a
tremendous opportunity to improve and elevate the
healthcare industry in her view—putting patients and
essential workers at the center. In turn, it has reinforced the
critical role information technology plays in the highly
complex healthcare ecosystem.
The pandemic has also exacerbated the ongoing shortage of
healthcare workers. COVID-19 placed extreme duress on
already-overstretched physicians and nurses, causing early
retirement and prompting others to leave for less
demanding environments.
Because of COVID-19, healthcare workforce issues can no
longer be ignored—or healthcare organizations do so at
their own peril. Julie stresses that talent and workforce
management solutions once considered a “nice to have” are
quickly becoming a necessity for their ability to empower
healthcare organizations. Effective use of workforce data
aids data-driven staffing decisions that contain and manage
labor costs, improve productivity, increase sta ff
engagement, and positively affect patient outcomes.
Upholding Positive Work Culture
Julie emphasizes the importance of cultivating a positive
work culture, which, in her view is mission-critical to any
organization's success. At symplr, people are the company's
most valued asset. Talented, satisfied sta ffplaced in the
right positions and given unlimited growth opportunities
drive better outcomes for all: for symplr's customers, the
business, the employees, and all other key stakeholders. The
company recognizes that without a strong culture, achieving
its goals and overall mission is not possible.
As a result, symplr leans on its cultural values in every
internal and external interaction. They're core to the symplr
business and are included in its personnel one-on-one
meetings, team meetings, executive leadership discussions,
and performance reviews. Further, it includes the core
values in its interview and new employee onboarding
processes and recognizes and rewards cultural ambassadors.
Culture is forever a top priority and enables symplr to
continue to meaningfully effect change in healthcare
operations.
Effective Technological Advancements
Returning to one of symplr's central tenets—to keep
patients at the center of the company's mission and daily
activities—Julie states that it's integral to the way symplr
has helped healthcare organizations elevate and deliver care
resulting in optimal outcomes. Through continued
technological advancements and a keen focus on enabling
streamlined, efficient, and effective workflows,
connectedness, and transparency, symplr has unlocked its
ability to realize mission-driven healthcare operations
solutions that advance a healthier population.
An Envisioned Future
When discussing the future of symplr, Julie expresses
confidence that symplr will remain the clear leader in
healthcare operations and GRC. Because symplr will
relentlessly champion its customers and lead through
equality and integrity to forge a new path for healthcare
organizations that struggle with data siloes and
inefficiencies in managing their operations. Collectively,
symplr employees and leaders recognize that teamwork is
their true north and their work is rooted in positive action
and outcomes.
Julie notes that she is personally invested in ensuring that
symplr lives out its core values and realizes its meaningful
strategy for the good of all healthcare participants. It is a
unique organization with many opportunities, she says, and
she looks forward to what the future holds.
Lead The Way
In her advice to up-and-coming women leaders, Julie says,
“Be the change you want to see. Be okay with failing fast,
learn even faster, and keep moving forward—embracing
others along the journey.”
“We all have a remarkable opportunity to make a
meaningful impact, and it's the mental mindset, intellectual
curiosity, desire, and focus that are foundational to
realizing your world-impacting aspirations. Further, find a
mentor who genuinely cares about your professional
journey. Mentors are worth their weight in gold!”
18 | October 2021 www.insightssuccess.com
21. kimberly Khoury
Paving her Way in Sustainability Development
The
20
BUSINESSWOMEN
to Watch, 2020
SUCCESSFUL
Most
22. Ensuring HEALTH
of People with E
HEALTHCARE SYS
The most important Sustainable Development Goal
set by United Nations is achieving good health and
well-being for everyone. This goal is foundational
and complementary to many other Sustainable Develop-
ment Goals. A strong healthcare industry plays an important
role in ensuring the good health and well-being of all
people and thus, it is most essential aspect for all countries.
Any institution or industry is as strong as the leaders in that
industry. The greatest leaders are those who serve larger
number of people and make a positive difference in their
lives with their worthy contribution.
In the healthcare industry, it is essential for leaders to lead
with a spirit of empathy, compassion, and nobility, as they
have to deal with the sensitive health issues of the people.
Compassionate and noble leaders want to serve as many
people as they can and want to do most for the welfare of
the general public. Women are naturally filled with
compassion because of their innate nature. Therefore,
women leaders with the spirit of compassion for people and
nobility are able to make the most valuable contribution to
the healthcare industry.
Eminent women leaders in healthcare industry are moti-
vated by the desire to contribute to the lives of people by
delivering them the best healthcare services. Such leaders
with the passion for doing something meaningful in the
lives of people would like to implement innovative methods
to serve the maximum number of people with evolved
solutions in the healthcare industry. They want to deliver
best services to the people. They implement latest technolo-
gies to upgrade the quality and efficiency of the solutions
they provide. They make sure that they are playing a role in
giving comfort to the patients, improving their health and
well-being, and helping them experience life to their fullest
potential.
The most competent women leaders in the healthcare
industry tap the potential of technologies like Artificial
Intelligence and Big Data to deliver the most
comprehensive and innovative healthcare solutions. These
leaders try to automate the healthcare services and increase
the access of latest services to all. They want to be part of
the solutions to the challenges in the healthcare industry
and make a positive impact on the lives of many people.
Eminent women leaders in the healthcare industry lead with
emotional and rational intelligence, which helps them make
the most significant contribution to delivering advanced
healthcare services to all.
Eminent women in healthcare contribute to the healthcare
industry by delivering most innovative and comprehensive
healthcare solutions for ensuring the good health of people.
The traits of compassion and sensitivity are quite very
normal and obvious in women leaders. They channelize
their compassion and sensitivity to deliver best healthcare
services and ease the lives of patients by making sure that
healthcare systems are strong and have robust infrastructure
with modern and advanced technical facilities in them.
Women leaders in healthcare optimize the processes in the
healthcare systems.
The organized approach of women leaders in the healthcare
helps them to streamline the processes and systems and
deliver much efficiency through these developed and
evolved systems. The approach of doing something
meaningful for society is very much ingrained in healthcare
leaders. Their desire to be part of something that creates a
positive impact in the lives of people for a sustainable time
period drives them to come up with innovative solutions
and make sure that the most advanced healthcare treatments
are available to people for ensuring their better health.
Eminent women leaders in Healthcare integrate their skills,
talents, abilities, and resourcefulness to ensure better
healthcare services are available to people. They contribute
to the lives of many people and help them attain a happy
and healthy life. They tap the potential of all resources for
ensuring the good health and well-being of people and
contribute much significantly to one of the most important
sustainable development goals of the United Nations by
strengthening the healthcare systems and improving their
capabilities.
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26. Norina Alinta Gavan
CEO Managing Director
Wörwag Pharma Romania
24 | October 2021 www.insightssuccess.com
27. Alinta Gavan
Improving the Quality of Lives of Diabetic Patients
orina
Like every other industry, women have made their
marks of excellence in the healthcare industry as
well. With their positive outlook, determination,
and compassionate approach, they have changed the face of
the healthcare industry.
Keeping the spotlight intact on such prominent women, we
set out on an endeavour to find Most Eminent Women
Leaders in Healthcare, where we crossed our paths with
Norina Alinta Gavan.
Norina is the CEO and Managing Director of Wörwag
Pharma Romania, a pharmaceutical company that
develops and sells biofactor preparations worldwide.
Through Wörwag Pharma, she is making people aware of
the importance of their health effective solutions in
preventing and treating lifestyle disorders. Norina has been
instrumental in the company's growth through her passion
for the medical industry and exemplary leadership skills.
In an interview with Insights Success, Norina shares her
entrepreneurial journey, experiences, and her thoughts on
the improvement in the healthcare and pharmaceutical
industry.
Below are the highlights of the interview:
Give us a brief overview of your position at Wörwag
Pharma,and yourjourneysinceinception.
My journey at Wörwag Pharma began in the late autumn of
1997, when I came back to my home country following a
Ph.D. internship at the University of California, San
Francisco, at the Dermatology Clinic, specializing in Skin
Biochemistry, in Percutaneous Absorption. At that time, I
was working as a Biochemist Specialist at the Dermatology
Clinic of the Cluj County Clinical Hospital. I felt the need
for a change, but one that would keep me connected to the
medical field, as research has always been my passion.
Back then, it never even crossed my mind that I would
reach a top management position! I sent my CV and cover
letter to a medical representative ad and ... in November
1997 I was the first employee of the German company
Wörwag Pharma in Romania. At first, I didn't know much
about this field, but I was determined, so I learned,
discovered, improved, and managed to get where I am now.
What were the challenges you came across throughout
your personal and professional journey?
The years spent at Wörwag Pharma have been fraught with
many challenges. Throughout this personal and professional
journey, at every step, one makes lots of choices and
decisions; for any person with a career, the balance between
their professional and personal life is one of the biggest
challenges.
However, I tried to find a balance, and I must confess that I
sometimes failed. I am apologetic to my loved ones when
my professional time takes up a lot of my personal time, but
I think it is important to put it out honestly and fight
constantly to achieve this balance.
Being an experienced business leader, what is your
opinion on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on
the pharmaceutical industry? And how has Wörwag
Pharma Romania managed to overcome this significant
challenge?
The 10 Most Eminent Women Leaders in Healthcare, 2021
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28. The pandemic has had a strong impact on the
pharmaceutical market, and this has forced pharmaceutical
companies to rethink their strategies. Digital trends have
helped us keep our customer relationships and maybe even
improve them. Wörwag Pharma Romania has kept up with
the online environment by organizing different webinars. In
2020, to support Pharmacy students, the company launched
a support and career guidance program dedicated to them:
WÖRWAG STARTUP. The program aims to give future
Pharmacists access to the best quality career guidance
programs, experiences that complement the knowledge
gained in college, and a complete perspective on this
profession. I firmly believe that achieving what one sets out
to do takes a lot of work, involvement, dedication, and
especially discipline.
If given a chance, what is the one thing that you would
change about the Pharmaceutical ecosystem key policy
initiatives?
Progress means movement and must be supported by
innovation and dedication, by the intention to do good. It
should be supported by ethics, fair business principles, but
also by a fair and selfless education of the population in
relation to their own health. A society can only develop
harmoniously if it is made up of healthy and beautiful
people.
How do you envision on sustaining your competency in
a cutthroat and volatile world of healthcare? What
could be the future of the Pharmaceuticals’ companies?
I am optimistic about the future development of the
pharmaceutical industry. All the players on this stage will
need to adjust. Access has become the front and center topic
for the pharmaceutical industry. The majority of Pharma
companies now have explicit goals and commitments
related to patient access at the executive level and in their
mission statements. “Access” is now on the agenda of
multiple functions and the role of the market access
function, which traditionally focused on technical issues
like health economics models, evidence synthesis, and
pricing research, is rapidly evolving to become that of an
orchestrator of access and product availability across the
organization.
With the growing commitment to achieve patient access
around the world, market access functions are expected to
provide broader stewardship on access to the organization,
ensuring that access is considered throughout the product
life cycle, from early research and development to
commercialization, growth, and loss of exclusivity.
What have you envisioned for the future regarding your
role at Worwag Pharma and for your personal
ambitions as well?
We want to continue to be focused on our core competence
field, in treatment of diabetes and its complications,
especially in prevention and treatment of diabetic
neuropathy; we want to be present in the patients’ life as an
educator, to improve their quality of life.
In the next two years, the company will launch three new
over-the-counter drugs currently under registration. We are
hoping to have the capacity and strength to adapt to all the
challenges that will arise to continue our desired
development.
And at the end of the day, at Worwag Pharma Romania I
still have many things to do together with the team I formed
and of which I am very proud.
Margaret Thatcher: If you want
something said, ask a man; if you
want something done, ask a
woman.
‘‘
‘‘
26 | October 2021 www.insightssuccess.com
30. The importance of healthcare in our lives has
increased in recent times, mainly because of the
pandemic. Growing up, we all wished for a better
career for ourselves, like becoming a doctor, engineer or a
businessperson. Little did we know about leadership in
these fields. Above all, achieving anything in life requires
dedication, and more importantly discipline. The leadership
principles are followed by innovation and ethics to bring
change in society to do something good.
But what does it take to lead an industry like healthcare
which is full of challenges? Of course, good education and
knowledge make up a good leader, and today we need the
support of healthcare leaders more than at any other time.
With the increasing diseases across the world, we need
more healthcare leaders to catch up with the growing
infections like the deadly COVID-19 virus.
Well-Proven Way
In this competitive world of innovation and technology
around us, women leaders are proving their presence to
improve the quality of life. Businesswomen have developed
the vision and business plan in creating a culture of life-
saving solutions in healthcare. They are not only leading the
healthcare industry but are resolving the critical issues of
healthcare.
They are always missioned to improve the health of the
people around them and transform it into high-quality and
cost-effective healthcare solutions. They are committed to
make a difference in society by enabling them with better
care leadership skills. They take calculated risks and always
delivers beyond their comfort zone. The best part of women
leadership is they always have learning-attitude and are
ready to take on any challenge in their journey. They
understand their own capabilities and always keep them
surrounded with the industry experts to do things better
today than yesterday.
The Demanding Role
Today, we see more and more leaders stepping into the
healthcare industry, and their contribution needs to be
acknowledged. It is because of their qualities they are at the
forefront of starting up the business in healthcare with their
knowledge and experience.
Healthcare is a field where we need such innovative
leadership. It also becomes quite natural being a woman, as
she takes care of the family. In the same way, she looks
after the employees of the company, and indirectly the
overall healthcare industry.
Now that we know the things that need to be possessed by
businesswomen, let’s see what are the things they risk in:
The leadership in healthcare demands working in
challenging environments. Being a leader, businesswoman
understand her need in the place, but too much of the
working environment can cause trouble. Taking frequent
breaks to not get exhausted by the place is a must.
Their decision can affect the lives of many, so
businesswomen have to study the minute details of every
work. The experience helps and the confidence comes with
it, but sometimes things cannot go their way because of a
little miscalculation. So, keeping a focused mind is really
important at every stage of leadership, as lives are at stake
at every moment.
Maintaining the work-life balance also becomes a challenge
for them. They are involved in dual responsibilities and
handle it quite well. Above all, they always maintain the
balance perfectly, by proving their worth everywhere they
go for that matter.
The Final Word
They are the real fighter of the industry, leading honestly
and becoming the strong force in healthcare. Their
contribution is everywhere, and not just healthcare. The
thing that we all need to learn from them is their approach
to learn new things. These businesswomen have
successfully made their mark in healthcare and are ready to
take the healthcare industry to a place where everyone is
nurtured and taken care of.
We hope to see more women leaders entering into the
challenging field of healthcare, to start their careers, as this
field offers a lot more opportunities for everyone.
Safeguarding Your Future
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34. Tito Ovia
Co-founder and
Head of the Public
Sector Growth Team
Helium Health
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35. Tito Ovia
Accelerating Africa's Transition to a Technology and
Data-driven Healthcare Sector
Advancements in technology have changed the face
of the healthcare industry. It is evident that
technological solutions in healthcare have
presented numerous opportunities for improving healthcare,
reducing human errors, improving clinical outcomes,
facilitating care coordination, improving practice
efficiencies, and tracking data over time. This all
contributes positively to healthcare outcomes.
As the healthcare industry is becoming more technology-
driven, leaders in healthcare are playing a significant role in
accelerating this transformation.
The interesting fact is that many women have been seen at
the forefront of this transformation and making important
contributions to diverse fields in the healthcare sector. They
are constantly embracing innovation to provide accessible,
affordable, and quality care and positively impacting
patient’s lives. One such woman we at Insights Success
came across is Tito Ovia.
Tito is the Co-founder and Head of the Public Sector
Growth Team at Helium Health, a Nigeria-based health
tech company that is building the technology infrastructure
driving African healthcare.
Prior to Helium Health, Tito was an assistant project
manager at Lagos State AIDS Control Agency (LSACA),
where she worked with private and public sector
stakeholders to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS within the
state. At Helium Health, she is using her invaluable
experience to help the company accelerate Africa's
transition to a technology-driven healthcare system.
Passionate about Improving the Healthcare
Tito’s role at Helium Health allows her to work closely with
the public sector and government stakeholders. It is
important because a large percentage of the population
depends on public healthcare institutions for their health
needs. She has always been passionate about healthcare,
and this led her to start Helium Health in 2016 as “One
Medical” along with other co-founders. With Helium
Health’s digitized medical solutions, there is a greater
chance of providing the public with access to quality care.
Tito wanted to build a system that would increase efficiency
and eliminate fragmentation. When Helium Health
examined the system, it realized that it could only do this by
bridging the data gap in the sector. The company started to
do this by providing technology solutions to providers,
payers, patients, and partners to access even more data and
get a broad view of what is going on in the space.
In the early days, Tito would go from hospital to hospital,
pitching to doctors and hospital administrators, but there
was a lot of skepticism because it was a small company of
young people. These facilities knew Helium Health’s EMR
was good, but they were a bit hesitant to trust their youth.
By December 2016, the company was awarded the
Etisalat’s Prize for Innovation and, in May 2017, got
accepted into Y Combinator. Today Helium Health is the
The 10 Most Eminent Women Leaders in Healthcare, 2021
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36. largest EMR provider in West Africa with 470 hospitals
using the software to handle over 290,000 patients visits
monthly.
What makes Helium Health No. 1 Tech provider in
Africa?
Over 470 healthcare providers and 7,000 health
professionals in Nigeria, Senegal, and Ghana currently use
Helium Health’s technological solutions. From Electronic
Medical Records, and Hospital Management Information
Systems, to credit and telemedicine products, the company
is allowing healthcare facilities to accept payments and
issue invoices with ease, access quick funding, and hold
televisits with their patients, making it easier for patients to
get diagnosed from their homes.
However, the company's most popular solution remains -
EMR, which happens to be the flagship product. This model
sought to accelerate or catalyze that inevitable transition of
the country from paper-based manual systems to a
technology and data-driven system.
To stay ahead of the curve, people at Helium Health went
from hospital to hospital, understood the struggles doctors
were having, and observed how they enjoyed texting. As a
result, it created a solution similar to social media platforms
which were less complicated and easy to use and manage.
Once hospitals saw the intent to ease their stress, optimize
efficiency, plug financial leakages, and improve their
We are building
critical
infrastructure to
strengthen africa's
health systems –
from outpatient
clinics and teaching
hospitals, to
governments and
donor agencies.
“
“
34 | October 2021 www.insightssuccess.com
37. patient’s healthcare outcomes, they started to jump on the
solutions and refer the company to other institutions and
hospitals.
Facing Overall Healthcare Challenges
The first challenge Tito and her team faced was with
hospital administrators. Many of them were not inclined to
accept innovation due to grim experiences with other
technology solutions and a general lack of trust. The
majority of them were more focused on securing their
practice and providing patient care to the best of their
knowledge. This was a rational decision that didn't leave
room to explore technological solutions that would improve
the data management and clinical operations of the
facilities.
To allay their concerns, Tito and her team built the solution
to be user-friendly, less complicated and easy to use and
manage. Once hospitals experienced this, they started to
refer the company even to their colleagues.
Moreover, infrastructural challenges in Nigeria also
adversely affect healthcare. Challenges like erratic power
supply, poor internet connectivity, and lack of devices in
these facilities affected the smooth operations and use of
health.
To fix this, Helium Health developed an offline solution
where the company could work with an on-premise server,
only needing the internet to periodically backup the data to
the cloud and in cases where providers struggle with
electricity and made provisions for solar energy.
Making Better Quality Healthcare for People
One of the major reasons Tito and her team have been able
to improve healthcare outcomes is through its solutions.
Helium Health drives collaborations with communities that
enable to recruit and train local talent. For example, when it
was called by the Akwa Ibom State Government to digitize
their medical centers, the organization recruited locals
within the community, trained them on how to use its
solutions, and then sent them to the various medical centers
to facilitate training sessions.
Tito asserts, “Even as we expand both within and outside
the country, we will continue to contribute to those
communities by recruiting local talents, equipping and
empowering them.” For biomedical services, it is difficult
to innovate when there is no access to real-time data, so it is
bridging that gap. She believes that stakeholders will be
able to make informed decisions that will deliver high
standards of care with data.
The Exciting Future Ahead
Talking about the future of medical care post the COVID-
19 pandemic, Tito mentions that one thing the pandemic has
done is accelerate and encourage the rapid growth of
technological solutions. Now, there are so many emerging
platforms for service delivery and information
dissemination.
According to the World Health Organization, chronic
disease prevalence is expected to rise by 57% by the year
2020. This suggests that the future of care will revolve
around solutions that can creatively help patients manage
chronic conditions or visit providers virtually.
Helium Health envisions this rapid adoption of technology
across Africa and is really excited about it. It will continue
to contribute and add value to the health tech ecosystem by
providing cutting-edge technology to all the stakeholders to
bridge the communication gap and reduce data
fragmentation across the continent.
“The last five years for us here at Helium Health have been
mind-blowing and groundbreaking. We have moved into 7
African countries, and we have been recognized as one of
the largest HealthTech startups in Africa. In the next five
years, I see us expanding globally with newer offerings to
leapfrog innovations in those markets,” concludes Tito.
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39. Transforming Healthcare
in Africa: Efforts Needed By Today’s
Business Leaders
The pandemic unveiled deeper challenges facing
Africa’s healthcare system. Stakeholders, decision-
makers, and the elite in various regions were not
left out of being stung by the viper of chronic
underinvestment, the sole cause of poor care delivery to
populations. The crisis hastened several policy dialogues,
an increased urgency to strengthen health systems and
transform health service delivery in many countries.
Fortunately for the African continent, world leaders seem to
be giving attention to the harrowing state of health,
especially in sub-Saharan Africa. On the 30th of September,
The World Bank Board of Directors approved a $400
million credit in additional financing to support the
Nigerian government in the safe acquisition and effective
deployment of COVID-19 vaccines within the country as
part of her COVID-19 Preparedness and Response Project.
Zanzibar as well has achieved a pre-elimination malaria
status as mortality rates resulting from the disease have
reduced dramatically due to the increased level of funding
the country has gotten. However, Africa still has a wide gap
to cover, and now, more than ever, it has become imperative
for business leaders to contribute efforts, reimagine the
sector as health issues have far-reaching and long-lasting
consequences on economies and societies, and
governments.
Health systems in Africa are still underutilizing the wide
range of perks digital resources provide. Business leaders
should seek to ensure that investments are made into new
technological solutions, ridding the system of fragmentation
while providing visibility into the entire journey of a
patient, which allows stakeholders to make the right
decisions and efficiently measure impact. With this nut of a
backdated health system cracked, there will be so many
opportunities to plug financial leakages, thus making
healthcare an asset rather than a liability. A good example is
seen with Moscow's Integrated Medical Information
Analytical System, which improved operations within the
health system leading to the facility saving $63.4 million in
revenue annually.
About the Author
Leader’s Viewpoint
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40. Another huge problem African countries are facing revolves
around a critical shortage of health workers. The research of
Yohannes Kinfu under The World Health Organization
estimated that it would take 36 years for doctors and 29
years for nurses/midwives in Africa to achieve the target
already set by WHO, which estimates a rate of 2.28% of
professionals per 1000 population. These estimates are not
guaranteed, meaning some countries may never hit the
target. This clearly shows that the current number of health
workers is insufficient to meet population health needs at
that point in time. Business leaders must make strategic
plans to ensure that a sustainable approach is made to
ensure all health workers can practice in their country with
adequate access to appropriate tools.
Finally, business leaders must build resilient systems ready
to respond to health emergencies, including pandemics.
Although Taiwan did not hold off COVID-19 for too long,
its longstanding strategies of masking, quarantine measures,
and contact tracing kept its citizens safe for a lengthened
period of time even though they were in close proximity
with China, the source of the viral spread. Preparedness is
key in battling health challenges, and it is important for
business leaders to work with governments and other
experts in the sphere to build infrastructures, develop
strategic partnerships, and ensure that key enablers such as
funding are set in place.
By focusing on these areas, business leaders will be able to
accelerate the transformation of their health systems, build
resilience against future disease outbreaks, and improve
general health outcomes for populations.
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