Meet Healthcode’s Product Owner – ePractice and ICE
Tell us about your role and responsibilities at Healthcode?
I’m responsible for driving product development by acting as the conduit between customers and different areas of the business.
That involves communicating with customers about the new features they’d like or bugs that need fixing, working with colleagues to determine where these requirements fit in our development roadmap and monitoring progress at each stage to ensure we deliver first-rate products.
It’s a new role within Healthcode as part of our transition to a more streamlined way of working, and I’m relishing the chance to take it on.
What are you most excited about for the year ahead?
I think our ICE solution will prove to be a ground-breaking moment for the private healthcare sector. For the first time practitioners, hospitals and insurers will be able to connect and exchange real-time information about availability with no manual intervention.
We’ve been busy presenting the technology to insurance companies and hospital groups, and the response has been very positive and we’re making some big announcements very soon. ICE is being built into our new ePractice system so practitioners will be able to benefit from increased bookings. We’re also reaching out to other practice management software providers to encourage them to integrate with ICE so that their customers can also benefit, as they currently do for our Clearing Service.
I think everyone agrees on the need for ICE. The challenge for Healthcode is to work with stakeholders across the industry to ensure we’ll all be ready at the same time.
How is ePractice changing and how will this benefit customers?
We’ve completely rewritten the software from scratch, informed by user feedback about what they did and didn’t like. While ePractice was always great for sending electronic invoices, this version is a complete private practice management system that gives customers powerful tools to run their businesses efficiently and profitably.
When it’s released, customers will immediately notice a lot of big performance improvements. In terms of features, for example, there’s a better diary management section which they’ll be able to link to ICE, better reporting and a completely new word processor and document management system. The user interface is a big break from the past too – the design is more intuitive and brighter, in line with the vibrant Healthcode brand we unveiled in 2022.
You’ve been at Healthcode throughout the Transformation Programme – what impact has this had?
I’ve been working in this sector for 30 years, so I knew Healthcode long before I actually worked here, and I’ve seen huge changes recently.
Before, the company grew year-on-year but it was a case of evolution rather than revolution. Everyone knew what they wanted to achieve but there wasn’t the enterprise-level structure, project management or processes in place to make it happen.
With the Transformation Programme, Healthcode has effectively started again with a “big-company” mindset. The organisation has been restructured to operate more efficiently with better team-working and reporting, so everyone knows their responsibilities. And we’ve adopted a multi-track approach to big projects, splitting them into tasks with defined objectives, rules and oversight to ensure the work gets done on time.
What do you enjoy about working for Healthcode?
Being surrounded by experienced, knowledgeable people that I’ve worked with during my career in the sector, such as Desné Marston, (Product Marketing Manager), Kingsley Hollis (Head of Business Development – ePractice), Ahmed Khan (Service Delivery Manager), and Peter Gregory (Contractor). We all go back a long way and trust each other so it’s a pleasure to be reunited. Their presence is testament to Healthcode’s ability to identify and attract the best talent.
I’m based in our Milton Keynes office, but I regularly visit my colleagues in the Staines Head Office. It’s really nice when everybody gets together for company meetings and events. I missed out on meeting many of my colleagues for two years because I joined just before lockdown, so it was great when they resumed and we could meet for the first time in person. The atmosphere is always really positive and it’s such a brilliant opportunity to celebrate our achievements, assess our progress and talk about what we want to do next.
And finally, how do you switch off outside work?
My wife and I love travelling, music, theatre and our two mini-dachshunds (who get spoilt rotten). We try to combine holidays and concerts, seeing Aerosmith in Las Vegas, Queen in LA, Adam Lambert in New York and a-ha (who my wife loves) far too many times in Oslo.
