Latest / Coffee Playdate Podcast with Dr. Olga Deengar / Building Telemedicine Platforms at Scale Ep34: How Dr. Suneer Chander is Fixing Healthcare Access
Transcript
- Dr. Olga Deengar: Welcome to the Coffee Playdate podcast. joined by Dr. Suneer Chander. How are you today? Suneer Chander: I'm doing great, thanks for having me Olga. Dr. Olga Deengar: a pleasure. ⁓ like to start off by asking, do you drink coffee? And how do you like your coffee? Suneer Chander: I do, I do. I drink two cups of coffee every morning when I wake up and I have it black. Dr. Olga Deengar: Black? Nothing in it? Suneer Chander: Nothing in it. No sugar, no cream. Dr. Olga Deengar: Wow. ⁓ ⁓ going to play two games. The first one is called a rapid fire questions game. ⁓ I'm going to ask you to choose between one answer or the other, ⁓ you don't have to explain why you just go with your gut instinct. Ready? First question, ⁓ the safe known path or thinking outside the box. ⁓ Suneer Chander: Okay. thinking outside the box. Dr. Olga Deengar: Good. How about better drugs and treatments or better access to health care? Suneer Chander: better access to health. Dr. Olga Deengar: And which one is more energizing for you, seeing patients or creating platforms? Suneer Chander: creating platforms. Dr. Olga Deengar: And the last one, do you like mentoring physicians on how to get started in telemedicine or how to level up? Suneer Chander: how to level up. Dr. Olga Deengar: So the next game is called Take a Sip. It's the same format, but this time we both answer and if our answers match, ⁓ we take a sip from our coffee cup. Suneer Chander: Let me get drink ready. All right, I'm ready. Dr. Olga Deengar: Okay, medical licenses or more clarity about your vision. Suneer Chander: more clarity about your vision. Dr. Olga Deengar: Me too. Which is harder to say no to? A new clinical opportunity or a new business idea? Suneer Chander: a new business idea. Dr. Olga Deengar: Me too. Cheers to that. If you had to choose one, would you rather have more time freedom or more geographical freedom at this point in your life? Suneer Chander: more time freedom. Dr. Olga Deengar: ⁓ I'd have to say more geographical freedom. are so many places I want to be able to visit and haven't had an opportunity to do that yet. Suneer Chander: So I think about this because I have ⁓ a daughter who is in eighth grade. I can't, I could, but ⁓ would like her to complete high school in our geographic location. And ⁓ want to spend time with her. So if was having more geographic freedom, it would be likely without her. ⁓ Dr. Olga Deengar: No, totally get that. That's great. And the last question here is, if you had to pick one word for your next chapter, would it be growth or simplicity? Suneer Chander: growth. Dr. Olga Deengar: Right me too. Cheers. Suneer, I'd love for our listeners to get to know you a little better. Can you tell us about yourself and the work that you do? Suneer Chander: Yeah, so. My name is Suneer Chander. ⁓ I'm a trained ER physician. I had been working in the Boston area for about 20 years before the pandemic happened. And then I transitioned. I actually transitioned into telemedicine because I needed to hustle and make some income during that. But I found that I started to love it. misconception that I had about telemedicine prior to jumping into it was immediately like, gone from my brain. I really loved the way, like I was always an early adopter of technology. So using technology to ⁓ take of patients in new innovative ways, it was cool for me. And then, you know, ⁓ the ER is it's exciting, but I never actually that entrepreneurial itch scratched while working in the ER. So I didn't even know what I was missing until I was working in the space. I wound up growing my licensure from one to 51, so I'm licensed in every state and DC. And since then, you know, I worked for multiple clinical contracts. I serve as an advisor to multiple companies. And it's been really fun. Started a company called AIR Physician Academy, where we teach other doctors how to to be a 51er as we call it. And then also started a staffing company where we matched doctors to jobs with digital health companies. It's been fun. Dr. Olga Deengar: Yeah, that's a lot. And I love how you kind of created those two companies because they go hand in hand. know, the physicians that do get trained are going to go through your program to become incredible telemedicine, either business owners or workers for other companies. They're able to now have that access to the people who need to hire them, who need their services. That's really great. Suneer Chander: Exactly, exactly. Dr. Olga Deengar: I would love to hear about some of those early misconceptions that you had around telemedicine. Suneer Chander: Oh, it's boring. It doesn't pay well. It's just seeing the same type of patients that you see in the hospital setting. It's just doing it remotely. You're going to have to work more to make as much. You can't be fulfilled in this space. I think those are like the biggest misconceptions that I had. Dr. Olga Deengar: And from, let's say one or two of them, how have they been kind of dispelled or how did you dispel those myths? Suneer Chander: Well, so definitely not boring. ⁓ it's actually pretty exciting because you can see what power of technology plus the of being remote. how much more access you can give patients. And you're building, like you said earlier, what excites you more, building platforms or doing the clinical work. And the ability to really take care of large populations at scale and how you strategize to make that happen, that's super exciting to me. It's really what I find the most fun about it all. ⁓ Another misconception that it's not fulfilling, the types of that you see in telemedicine may be more like lower risk type like lower acuity type patients, you're seeing them at scale. You're seeing so many more patients that have lower acuity problems that just simply don't. have access to care. So you might not be dealing with the most complex issues, but you're just helping so many more people. And I find that surprisingly fulfilling. Dr. Olga Deengar: Yeah, especially those patients who are in more rural areas around the country and they are not able to have that access to a physician. Maybe the closest hospital is like three hours away. Suneer Chander: Yeah. I mean, we kind of joke about this, the past, when I was working the brick and mortar setting, was pretty rare that it happens, but patients saying thank you, it doesn't happen that much. ⁓ And telemedicine, it happens every single time I interact with the patient. It's because not only helping them, you're saving them time. And the alternative is them going and sitting in a waiting room for a couple of hours. Dr. Olga Deengar: Yeah, that's something that we take for granted, I think. that's amazing. so, Suneer, mindset shift did you need to have as you were pursuing your entrepreneurial journey? Suneer Chander: suffer from a lot of imposter syndrome. Like, why am I doing this business? Why am I trying? Who am I to teach anyone? For 20 years, I just went to work. ⁓ I patients. I was never an administrator. was never, I ⁓ no in working in hospital administration. I figured that I should just concentrate on the things that I do well, what I know. And then when I started ⁓ business with my co-founder Takashi, there was about like six months to a year of like, should I even be doing this? What's my, ⁓ what's who am I to even mentor anybody? ⁓ like, to get over that. Dr. Olga Deengar: Yeah, I think that's something that we always struggle with, especially being physicians, because this is an area of our expertise. We have to be very knowledgeable. We have to know everything about a specific diagnosis and the treatment plan. And when you're stepping into this new world, and even though you have all this vast knowledge with you, it's hard to make that transition and get over this imposter syndrome. So I can totally relate where you're coming from. Suneer Chander: Yeah, yeah. Dr. Olga Deengar: Is there a specific challenge you can think of that you had to overcome as were growing your business? And how did you go about doing that? Suneer Chander: ⁓ the challenge is I have a pretty big fear of public speaking. ⁓ Like my heart rate goes to the point where like I may run right? So getting up on stage and talking to people was really hard for me. I started trying to use Propranolol I had fidget toys in my pocket. What I think the way I've, I'm still working on it. I don't know I'm all the way there. Dr. Olga Deengar: Really? Suneer Chander: But I think just repetition and doing it over and over again and making a mindset change where, hey, I actually am an expert here and I am providing value ⁓ let me ⁓ go and help people understand what the opportunities are and how to navigate them really did help. I think I'm a couple years away. gonna laugh at me. I have three daughters and I want to make sure that I speak at their wedding. So my is to learn how to do that through my public speaking engagements here so that I don't have to freak out when it's about them. Dr. Olga Deengar: Well, I think you're a great public speaker. ⁓ see any problems with your speaking. I think you're doing amazing. So just keep up the good work. Suneer Chander: Olga, but that's me and you right here, right? That I can do. One-on-one is not an issue. It's when there's 50 people looking at me. ⁓ Dr. Olga Deengar: like to learn little bit more about your program at the AIR Academy. Is it for all physicians or do you focus on physicians from specific specialties like internal medicine, emergency medicine, family medicine? Because I feel like the physicians in areas are ⁓ probably the that lean more towards pursuing telemedicine. Suneer Chander: That is correct. I'd say that about 70 % of the doctors who join our program are that family medicine, emergency medicine, internal medicine from those fields. But 30 % are like specialists. We have anesthesiologists, we have a cardiothoracic surgeon, we have two neurologists, a couple of rheumatologists. The more procedural type of fields, people don't understand there is also an opportunity take care of patients for those non-procedural aspects of your practice. Additionally, there are other opportunities to get double boarded ⁓ that are ⁓ not a barrier to get done. There's getting obesity medicine certified, lifestyle medicine, functional health. There's board certifications on all those. Then a lot of doctors are getting longevity medicine certified as well through A4M or Longevity Docs. So there is definitely opportunity for everyone to participate. It's just matter of whether medicine actually excites you and you're interested in it. Dr. Olga Deengar: Yeah, definitely. biggest question is if a physician comes to you, it's like, are they pursuing telemedicine? Why are they even interested in finding out more information about it? So what do you think are some of the reasons you've seen physicians come into your program for? Suneer Chander: So it's interesting. think that would say that we have physicians who have spanned the entire career spectrum. So people who are a couple of years out of residency and people near the end of their career. And there's about, I'd say 30%, maybe 40 % are interested in going into telemedicine because they're feeling burnt out. I'd say about 10 % are younger and they're seeing their colleagues, our older colleagues getting burnt out and they want to manage that burnout and extend their career. So they're creating like a hybrid model. And then there's like a middle ground of people who are entrepreneurial, just want to try something different and really kind of want more of a... a business experience. had like five doctors come ⁓ of our program and start national telehealth practices. So that's of the gamut. ⁓ There's no one person that's like the other person in ⁓ our community, I think is wonderful. It's great. We get a whole spectrum ⁓ of ⁓ goals desires. Dr. Olga Deengar: exciting. You have so many different people from all walks of life coming through your program and I'm sure you're so proud of all of the success stories that you hear and see them. Suneer Chander: Oh my gosh, yes. It is amazing to see. I try not to take credit because it's not me, it's everyone there. I don't know if I said that right, but like, know, I really am glad I get to participate in their journey and see how they've taken the knowledge that they've gained and are really trying to affect the lives of patients. and then back and they're so grateful to come back and always and help ⁓ as help ⁓ the new class or the new community. It is fun to be a part of. Dr. Olga Deengar: Amazing. Now, I wanted to ask this question. you share a moment ⁓ where you created an unforgettable, extraordinary experience, ⁓ for your team, your clients, or your loved ones ⁓ ⁓ a little bit of extra expenses, but you were still able to ⁓ manage ⁓ majority of your budget on the backend? Suneer Chander: Okay, so after every cohort of people that come through our program, we do a retreat at the end, and we really try to make that special. We to make sure that doctors understand that they are special. So we put on a great event. It ⁓ is, ⁓ I say, premium event, ⁓ and we really to not focus on working while we're there, so there isn't ⁓ stuffy conference rooms and we really make it about networking. It is amazing to me that on the last retreat someone came up to me and said hey, I learned so much on this retreat. And I to myself, huh, I taught you nothing. There was nothing that I did to teach you. It was all about connection and learning from each other. And we just do a lot curate that environment ⁓ to make it really special everyone. Dr. Olga Deengar: Is there a specific activity that you do at the retreat that's like super fun for everybody and they love it like a game or I don't know, water slide or something? Suneer Chander: I can tell you a few things we've done. One year we went and did Goat Yoga. We did indoor skydiving. let's see. We went an basketball game. We went to Lakers game. It was all pretty fun. The entire time, everyone was socializing and wondering what each other's goals were and how they were going to implement their plans and giving each other advice. heard from others. They things that they didn't even think about and then took those learnings and applied that to their goals. So at the end of the day, it's just putting like-minded people in the same room, making them feel comfortable, making them feel special, and then they help each other out. Dr. Olga Deengar: That's amazing. Yeah. Community is so important, especially in the physician world, because sometimes you feel like you're alone out there. And even as an entrepreneur, you're like, I'm doing all these things. I'm chugging along, but is it really making a difference? Like, anyone doing the same stuff? Is it working? And, you know, it's good to bounce ideas off each other once you do find your tribe. Suneer Chander: Yeah. Yep. Yep. Dr. Olga Deengar: So what is one piece of advice that you would give someone who may be starting out in a similar space? Suneer Chander: Honestly, it's just take the first step and try to get your first win. It is okay if you don't get your first win for a while and you fail a couple of times, but you've got to actually over any of perfection before moving forward. I think hardest step is taking that first one. So if you don't procrastinate and do that right away, success follows pretty after that. Dr. Olga Deengar: Yeah, that first action step is really the hardest. And it's the thing that I think people fear the most because you're really putting yourself out there. You're taking the biggest risk you've probably ever taken by starting a new business or doing something that's outside of your clinical duties. But you do it, once you overcome that hump, then it's, kind of momentum. Like things just start flowing. And you start seeking out new opportunities, new affiliations, new partnerships, and really thinking about ways to grow your business. And I love to my guests, is one book that you would give to our listeners today who may be aspiring entrepreneurs? Suneer Chander: Yeah, so I just read a great book and... I made my whole team read it. It's Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara I highly recommend that one. I'm a big foodie. love going out and eating. It doesn't have to be fine dining, but it has to be good food. And just having a business book that also incorporated learnings from the restaurant world, It was fun for me to read. Dr. Olga Deengar: love that book. One of my mentors recommended it. And actually, that's where the question comes in about going above and beyond for someone. It's from Will Guidara's book, Unreasonable Hospitality, talking about that 95-5 rule, where you give the 5 % to this extraordinary, memorable experience while budgeting the other 95 % efficiently. there's so many great lessons there. The book, because it is in a different industry, it's in the food industry and the restaurant business. interesting to see that because you're always kind of focused on the field that you're in, whether it's ⁓ a physician or whether it's building a specific business. ⁓ it's interesting to just see a different perspective, ⁓ still be able to apply the same principles and create similar systems that are put in place. and use that knowledge ⁓ to grow your business and really provide value for your customers. Suneer Chander: Yep. I think that just as a simple thing, I mean, it doesn't even have to be about business. It's just I think the biggest takeaway that I took away from the book and it's like so simple is that make sure that everyone you interact with understands that you think that they are important and you should be authentic about it. And if you can do that, it's best for your soul, regardless if it's good for your business. Right. So ⁓ I think all these principles really work well together ⁓ being a good human as well. Dr. Olga Deengar: Yeah, absolutely. One thing I always like to think about is how can I make the person that I'm working with or I'm interacting with feel cared for? And that book really kind of pushed me to think of that question more often, ⁓ So thing that I like to do for our lovely housekeeper ⁓ is her a cappuccino every time she comes in in the morning. And ⁓ she that. She takes of it. She puts it on WhatsApp and... we have like these cinnamon sprinkles that she puts different shapes of cinnamon sprinkles on the cup ⁓ it shows, you know, when you care for someone and you do something nice, they really it. Suneer Chander: Yep. Yep. Dr. Olga Deengar: Well, thank you so much, Suneer for being with us today on the Coffee Playdate podcast. We had a great conversation and you've given a lot of amazing insights. So thank you for your time. Suneer Chander: Thank you Olga, it was great being here.