Personal experience is the best teacher.
Before he became Chief Executive Officer of Connexall, Sandy Saggar was a Connexall customer for 10 years as he served as Chief Information Officer (CIO) for two health systems.
These experiences gave Sandy first-hand knowledge of the challenges and opportunities that hospital systems face every day. “It allowed me to see what is really happening at the front lines of healthcare,” said Sandy. “It’s not just implementing technology that’s important. It’s really about how we’re making an impact on clinician and staff satisfaction, improving patient experiences, and outcomes.”
His depth and breadth of career experiences also aid him in his role. “I started my career in a variety of different industries – retail, automotive, insurance, financial, and healthcare. And I worked in both the U.S. and Canada.” Once he figured out that healthcare was his passion, Sandy leveraged his diverse professional experience and his MBA as he ascended into hospital leadership.
When Sandy was a Connexall customer, two major hospital expansion projects drove home the impact the connected care platform can make. “One was a new greenfield hospital, and one was an expansion, adding a new tower to an existing hospital. We integrated Connexall to over 25 systems.” The hospital expansion projects involved reviewing and updating most of the clinical workflows impacting patient care along with building and security automation. “It dawned on me, my team, and the whole organization, how critical this infrastructure is to enable the connected hospital environment. It was eye opening for us.”
Word spread, and Sandy and his team’s accomplishments were sought after. “We had institutions from around the globe visit us wanting to learn more about smart digital hospitals. They wanted to learn about our design work from a care delivery perspective, a facility perspective, and a technology perspective.” Often, the interest and questions gravitated toward the connected hospital environment and Connexall.
Sandy’s interest in Connexall grew. “I’ve spoken at multiple WorldConnex conferences as a customer,” he said. WorldConnex is Connexall’s annual customer education, networking and celebration event, to be held this year October 20-24 in Boca Raton, Florida. Sharing his success stories and challenges with fellow Connexall customers was always gratifying.
As Connexall was dealing with the business impacts of the Covid pandemic, Sandy began talking with Connexall about joining the organization. He saw it as an opportunity to make an impact on a grander scale, across many health systems. “I was excited to join the organization in October of 2020, as Senior Vice President of Innovation and Analytics.” Shortly after Sandy joined Connexall, founder and CEO David Tavares passed away. About a year and a half later, Sandy was asked to become Interim Chief Executive Officer and was excited about carrying the founder’s vision forward.
How does Connexall improve hospital communications?
“Communication is complex, and it’s even more complex in a healthcare environment,” says Sandy. “It is key to enabling workflows around patient care. When you look at communication from a healthcare perspective, it must be focused on the intent. There is a tremendous amount of information that’s available for clinicians and providers. So how do you get through all that noise and focus on what you really need?”
That’s where Connexall comes in. “We are really focused on the right information to the right clinician or staff member at the right time.” Hospital beds, medical devices and clinical systems all have alerts and alarms. “When there is a change in a patient’s condition, like their oxygen level goes down or their heart rate goes up, we want to make sure the healthcare ecosystem is connected effectively, and the most appropriate care team members are notified. That’s what we’re constantly looking at, how our solutions can help clinicians, staff and patients. We continue to push on how we can improve workflows and mitigate clinician burnout to really make a difference.”
What are you excited about Connexall contributing to the healthcare industry?
“One up and coming area I’m really excited about is the emergence of artificial intelligence,” says Sandy. “Connexall is at the center of the connected hospital environment. That gives us the opportunity to become a clearinghouse for all sets of data that come through the platform. More importantly, it gives our customers the ability to leverage a wide array of data enabling AI-based use cases.”
As part of a Connected Hospital solution, Connexall has a focus on specific use cases in which we can provide enhanced value, like preventing falls in hospitals. “This is a major – and expensive – issue in hospitals. It is catastrophic when there is a serious fall with injury. The patient may require additional surgery, and an extended hospital stay. There are not only physical and emotional impacts to the patient, but also to their family members and the care team involved. By focusing on reducing these types of incidents, and improving patient safety, we’re pushing to improve outcomes, and I’m really excited about that.”
What makes you proud?
“I am most proud when I hear customers acknowledge how our team went above and beyond to service and support them. This customer-first mindset makes me proud.”
Meet Sandy in person October 20-24 at WorldConnex, the learning, innovation, and networking event that will transform the future of healthcare and give you a competitive edge in the industry. To learn more and to register, click here.
