Elizabeth Young

Needed to fill three positions on the marketing team; a web/social media manager, commercial product manager, and strategic marketing director to launch five new product solutions. Hindered by the typically yearlong hiring, onboarding, and training process.

Engaged an external recruiting firm and partnered with internal HR to screen candidates and conduct initial screening interviews. Coordinated calendars for the internal cross-functional interview panels and follow-up debriefs to minimize the end-to-end hiring experience from three months to six weeks. New hires received a two-week intensive training course on product solutions and then were assigned to a new product development team. Hired and team-trained the three new staff members in only six months. The training enabled the team to complete a global voice of customer interview program in five months, work with R&D to make key value-added designs to new product solutions, and finish the new product launch stage-gate process in nine months.

These efforts resulted in the team launching five new products in one fiscal year, delivering 10% growth over the previous year from $162 million to $180 million, adding $1.2 million in topline revenue, and cultivating a pipeline of $15 million.

The corporation acquired a new company, a leader in the hemodialysis catheter market with a brand recognized silicone catheter. Soon after acquisitions, sales of products from the acquired firm declined and long-standing customers stopped purchasing products. Discovered that a new business in the U.S. recently received 510K approval from the FDA for a novel hemodialysis catheter made of a newer material that could deliver dialysis with a smaller patient insertion site and higher flow rates. Customers migrated to the new design. The corporation needed to halt the loss of sales and grow sales of the newly acquired silicone products until the development of a competitive catheter portfolio could be completed. The salesforce lost confidence in the products. Typical development time took three to five years.

Worked with a cross-functional team to conceive a multi-phased business strategy to reach out to existing customers to understand the market. Drafted a business plan to rapidly take the existing silicone catheter design and begin producing it with a new proprietary polyurethane material to compete with the competitive catheter designs entering the market. Completed a VOC with nephrology physicians and nurses to identify challenges with hemodialysis catheter use. Met with nephrologists and interventional radiologists to identify an innovative design to meet the three primary customer challenges of clotting, site infection and recirculation.

In the first 18 months, grew the company from -3.5% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) to -1.5% CAGR with sales of the acquired silicone dialysis catheter. Ultimately launched five new products and an entire new drug-device combo, polyurethane catheter line within four years that addressed the primary customer challenges. The efforts led to a 13% to 15% growth YOY and transformed the firm into the leading dialysis catheter company in the market.

Sales in the spinal implant product portfolio remained divided between two material solutions, a colorless organic thermoplastic polymer and titanium. Both materials had been on the market since 1999 with minimal changes. More than 25 major competitors entered the spinal implant market between 2006 and 2015 with innovative designs and materials. Needed a strategy to update the portfolio’s materials and designs to prevent loss of market share. The average time for internal R&D to design, test, and release a new spinal portfolio took three to five years. Needed a solution to swiftly access existing technology to remain competitive.

Conducted customer interviews, primary and secondary research, and held discussions with key opinion and industry thought leaders to discover customers were split between the two materials based on competing value propositions. Collaborated with the materials engineering director to identify third-party manufacturers with existing innovations and or new materials. Identified a manufacturer with a unique combination product that combined the soft modulus of the thermoplastic polymer and the bone integration of the titanium. This amalgamation reduced the likelihood of vertebral end-plate damage and promoted bone integration that provided spine stabilization. Worked with leadership, legal, and procurement to negotiate a sole-source technology licensing and manufacturing agreement for full lumbar and cervical spinal portfolios.

Launched to market in a mere nine months. The resultant new product lines captured $500,000 in revenue in the first six weeks of sales and $2 million within six months.

The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act passed as a part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. This legislation motivated the introduction of electronic health records and technology and anticipated the expansion in the exchange of electronically protected health information (ePHI) between doctors, hospitals, and entities that store ePHI to minimize healthcare costs through sharing of information. Converting 100 years of healthcare practice to electronic records and migrating physicians from handwritten orders to entering orders and prescriptions electronically was a daunting task. The effort mandated an approach to demonstrate HIPAA compliance, improved workflow, and reduced costs.

Interviewed healthcare clinicians, managers, and staff to garner an understanding of their daily activities and obstacles for all shifts. Observed clinical workflows for all days and shifts. Designed a logistical flow for each clinical area. Developed an ROI/KPI calculator to illustrate the return on investment of using the software solution. Led mobile device implementations for point of care use.

Won new global business consulting engagements with five major health systems around the world, yielding more than $5 million in year-one revenues. The technology provided measurable improvements in patient experience, cost containment, and healthcare workflows that delivered a 200%+ ROI.

The spinal implant portfolio lacked an innovative launch in more than seven years. Tasked with delivering and launching new spinal implants for three product portfolios within 36 months. One of the projects had been in development for five years with no market release. The company lacked product development projects for the other two lines. The internal new product development cycle for one product generally took four or more years.

Pulled marketing, sales, and R&D leaders into a two-day strategy session to review VOC results for strong customer needs with validations from the sales team. Partnered with R&D to determine development time for the top-ranked ideas and worked with clinical affairs and regulatory leaders for input. Presented the top ten concepts to senior executives to narrow the list to five for initiation.

The team successfully delivered five major product solutions to the market in 2.5 years. These generated $9 million in bottom-line profit. One solution experience $500,000 in sales during the first six weeks after release. New product introductions delivered 200%+ growth year-over-year.

The company established a mandatory customer service feedback survey for all interactions through the customer service department. Customer service representatives sent the surveys to customers after every interaction, but returns remained low (less than 40%) and negative feedback of any kind adversely impacted the overall results. Sending a survey request did not guarantee the customer would respond. The customer service team was managed by the applications engineering manager.

Spoke with the customer service manager and each customer service representative to gather input on the situation. Realized the team needed more support. Spoke with the marketing communications manager who oversaw the e-commerce and company websites that drove 70% of customer interactions and realized that this person had high visibility to the customers. Created a new role, customer experience manager, that placed the customer service department within the marketing communications team and out from beneath the applications engineering group. Worked with IT to develop a digital application for the three-question post-interaction customer survey for sales, marketing, and R&D.

The initiative enhanced the customer experience with successful tracking of on-time delivery, shorter lead times, minimum order quantities, and a pay-for-freight program. This and the digital application resulted in tripling customer feedback form returns in three months. Ultimately received a 260% increase in “likely to recommend” scores in 90 days.