Latest / The Advancing Healthcare Innovation Show / E189: George Hsu Quit Building For Others. Then He Took On MedTech Giants

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E189: George Hsu Quit Building For Others. Then He Took On MedTech Giants · The Advancing Healthcare Innovation Show

0:11
Hello and welcome back to the Advancing
0:12
Healthcare Innovation Show. I am your
0:14
host, Michael Stantinos, and if you're
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new to us, welcome. It's great to have
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leaders that are painstakingly reshaping
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We're passionate about access. We're
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interviews come directly to you. So you
1:29
know what I love about this next guest
1:31
is actually he did not set out to
1:34
disrupt an industry. He actually just
1:37
refused to accept a broken process. He
1:40
looked at urology procedures that have
1:43
been done the same way for decades.
1:46
Equipment that's cobbled together from
1:48
different companies, metal devices that
1:50
are sterilized and reused over and over
1:52
and over again and setup times that
1:54
actually eat into everyone's day. And
1:56
then they said, you know what, there's
1:58
got to be a better way to do this. This
2:01
kind of thing and this approach is
2:03
actually what changes healthcare. George
2:05
Sue is the founder and CEO of Olaya
2:08
Medical. Before he started Olaya, he
2:11
spent I think it was just north of 15
2:13
years deep in the R&D trenches at some
2:15
of the most respected early stage
2:17
medtech companies in the business,
2:19
including Thoritech, which was acquired
2:21
by Abbott, and Outset Medical, which
2:23
went public. So, he's not the kind of
2:26
guy that talks about building things. He
2:28
actually builds them. So, what he built
2:31
at OA is something called Veloxion.
2:34
We'll talk about it a little bit more
2:35
today. The first and only all-in-one
2:39
system for urological procedures. One
2:42
device, no assembly, no sterilization
2:44
between patients, same day procedures,
2:47
less infection risk, better outcomes.
2:49
And urologists who say, "Look, when I
2:52
use Voxion, like I just know it's going
2:54
to be fast."
2:56
That quote tells you everything. So the
2:59
condition that they're going after, BPH,
3:01
affects half of all men in their 50s and
3:04
up to 70% of men in their 60s. So we're
3:08
not talking about a small niche here.
3:11
We're talking about millions of people
3:13
whose quality of life depends on whether
3:17
the health care system can deliver a
3:19
better answer. And remarkably, George is
3:23
building that answer uh one physician
3:25
relationship at a time. So, I'm fired up
3:27
to have him on the show. George, great
3:30
to see you. Welcome to the show, man.
3:33
>> Hey, Michael. Thank you for an
3:34
introduction. That is one of the best
3:37
introduction I've ever heard. I don't
3:39
think I do anything better than that.
3:42
>> Well, we we strive to go high, make
3:45
people feel really good. Um, before we
3:48
get into OA and and and all of it, I
3:51
want to kind of go back
3:52
>> because you spent 15 years as like an
3:55
R&D guy
3:57
>> and I guess some could say that hey
3:59
that's like not necessarily the founder
4:01
type on paper.
4:03
>> Seems like you were the person who made
4:05
the technology work. So like like what
4:09
happened? What was the moment where you
4:11
looked at
4:12
>> like what you had to build for other
4:14
people and said, you know what,
4:15
>> screw it. like I need to kind of go and
4:17
do this for myself.
4:18
>> Yeah. Um so yes, I spent I think uh ever
4:22
since 2007 I've been in R&D field. Um
4:27
exactly that. Thorac was one of the
4:28
company I was at. Also CI1 before that
4:32
was a a little X-ray company called
4:35
X-ray was acquired by Carl Zeiss. So I
4:37
always drawn to the product what's
4:40
complex what's complicated. When people
4:42
say it cannot be done, I have just a
4:45
feeling I want to prove you wrong just
4:46
because you say so. I'll make it work. A
4:49
little bit like FU kind of personality
4:51
right there. I enjoy the engineering
4:55
part. One thing I know for sure is
4:57
engineering product development is not
4:59
one man show. It requires a team. As
5:02
much as I want to claim that I invented
5:04
everything that I touch, no, it's not.
5:06
It's always a team effort. As I went
5:10
through my career, two events sort of
5:13
shaped it. The first one is I graduated
5:16
in 2007 and there was an immediate 2008.
5:20
There's a a crash, right? The great
5:21
recession where the sub market happened
5:24
>> and I I watched how the company react to
5:28
the employees when things happen. the I
5:31
felt at the time the people who did not
5:33
make the mistake the wrong decision is
5:35
the one who got caned and that feeling
5:37
stay with me that basically tells me
5:39
that I want to be the one who can
5:41
protect them say they did their job well
5:43
and then they follow exactly what the
5:45
decision made but at the end of the day
5:47
they are the one who who uh took the hit
5:50
so that at that point I realized that I
5:52
want to be a leadership role not because
5:55
the power the money come along with it
5:57
because I don't want to feel that way
5:58
again for the morale the morale of a
6:01
team took.
6:02
>> So that's one event. The second event
6:05
was in the larger organization where I
6:07
start realizing
6:09
there are too many red tape of politics.
6:11
I like it's and I realized it's about
6:14
people protecting their own interest not
6:18
the company interest not the community
6:20
interest definitely not the interest of
6:21
the healthcare. So that that sort of I
6:25
struggle with that feeling and the good
6:27
days thing is I got really angry my
6:30
girlfriend at the time not wife uh she
6:33
saw it and she's like you need to do
6:36
something different
6:37
>> and those three events were shaped say
6:39
okay not just a product development I
6:42
want to build a community I want to
6:43
build a company I want to build a team
6:46
>> that can change how things are done
6:49
>> how much how much of uh the fact that
6:50
you're in the Bay Area and you're in
6:52
sort of I will call like the epicenter
6:54
the the just the where things ultimately
6:59
were birthed from
7:00
>> that change the world is there like an
7:02
aura around that that also kind of helps
7:05
you kind of move towards
7:08
product to all right I can now found my
7:11
own company like tell me about that
7:12
because it just seemed very very
7:14
interesting in terms of proximity
7:16
>> yes I think proximity helps I mean
7:18
there's that quote I forgot who it is a
7:21
man wiser I He said like you're the
7:23
average of five people around you and it
7:26
is like the Bay Area there are you know
7:29
people are thinking about what can we do
7:30
better you know everyone's think what
7:32
can we do better the whole entrepreneur
7:35
environment is there everyone trying to
7:37
find the next big thing um but what I
7:40
realized is there are always two there
7:42
are two group of people there are people
7:44
who want to break the rules and there
7:46
are people who follow rules
7:47
>> and one thing I've noticed at least for
7:49
me part of the Asian culture Right? It's
7:52
about conformity, you know, the harmony
7:55
of the community, right? So,
7:57
>> right as as that we sort of got pushed
7:59
into say let's follow rules, let's
8:01
figure out what things are done and then
8:03
we don't break off that. The other part
8:05
is a lot of uh uh and this is come from
8:09
academic careers all that is if you're
8:12
doing well in school you're trained to
8:15
follow the rules because
8:17
>> right
8:17
>> you are you figure out what the best
8:19
answer the the proctor want to say the
8:21
test wants you to give you give those
8:23
you never think about maybe I can do
8:25
something different so because of those
8:27
two I sort of fell into that but there
8:30
was always this uh in inner conflict I
8:32
say I I I feel comfortable people follow
8:35
the rule but everyone is doing something
8:37
else and that looks very exciting and so
8:40
slowly that sort of like you like a
8:43
rubber band getting stretched the two
8:45
points getting stretched more and more
8:46
and ultimately I got Silicon Valley one
8:50
uh basically got pulled into that um
8:52
that realm rather than staying where I
8:54
felt comfortable is it also an aspect of
8:58
you know sort of fear of missing out
9:00
you're like hey look at all these shots
9:02
people are taking they're winning and
9:03
I'm
9:04
Is there an aspect of just fear of not
9:07
doing something and and just saying, "F
9:10
it. I'm going to go for it just because
9:12
if I don't, I'm probably going to regret
9:14
it for the rest of my life."
9:16
>> Yeah. I I Yes, that definitely is there.
9:21
Um you just look at how what what people
9:23
can do. You look at you know when I was
9:26
at tail end of my career at Thor attack
9:28
I was looking around just say there are
9:30
people younger than me that are doing a
9:32
lot more than I I'm doing you know money
9:34
power is one thing but just be able to
9:36
really put their fingerprints on
9:38
products really really affect how things
9:41
are done u and that's where the inner
9:44
struggle and the anger comes from why am
9:45
I not there uh am I not good enough and
9:49
I think that it's nothing like a real
9:52
trauma But psychologically speaking is
9:55
sort of messaged with my own
9:56
selfidentity. I'm s of me being you know
10:00
you know a bit have a little ego about
10:02
myself is about I'm so be the best right
10:04
but I'm not. What's wrong?
10:06
>> And that struggle basically you know led
10:09
me to realize is um there's so much more
10:13
I can do and there's so much things in
10:15
life you know there's there's things we
10:18
can do differently uh to get to the same
10:20
goal. uh and sometimes it's like the
10:22
path that was laid out whether the good
10:24
path is
10:26
>> uh may not be the path I want to take
10:28
>> and then you start taking that risk you
10:29
start stepping away from it
10:33
>> and you started to kind of consider
10:35
moving out of the the R&D role and you
10:38
started investigating
10:40
>> how did you land on neurology? Was this
10:42
something that was already previously on
10:43
your radar? Um did it take you some time
10:46
to kind of really stumble on it? Uh I
10:50
joke around I start from X-ray which is
10:52
you look at all the bones you look at
10:54
the thing you look at the hearts with
10:55
tech you go to the kidney with dialysis
10:58
I just moving down my next part looking
11:00
at your foot right just keep on going
11:02
down the uh the human body uh I think
11:05
it's just uh it's by chance serendipity
11:08
I guess I was looking around what next
11:10
to look at and then a a uh a recruiter
11:14
contact me about a interesting product
11:17
that is not quite there yet not quite
11:19
ready for market and they are in need
11:21
for product development uh from both the
11:24
uh technical side and also building
11:26
their team and I just took the chance at
11:29
that time was again struggling with my
11:30
own identity and fin realize I I want to
11:34
to do more um and then also realizing
11:38
all the preconceived notion about work
11:40
life balance about paying
11:43
>> there's no such thing there's no such
11:45
thing as work life balance work life
11:46
harmony it's a total myth
11:49
Right? You have to be real cyclical to
11:51
to do this. Uh you just have to
11:53
understand what what the tradeoff is. So
11:56
and it just happens, right? Then that's
11:57
why then on urology and once I get into
11:59
urology, I realized this is
12:01
something I'll use one day. So might as
12:03
well make the best there is.
12:06
>> So let's switch gears for a minute. Walk
12:08
me into an O.
12:10
>> Don't give me the polished version. Give
12:12
me the real version.
12:13
>> Sure. What does the urology procedure
12:16
look like right now before you know
12:19
Voxion is in the room? Like what is the
12:22
circulating nurse doing?
12:24
>> What's the setup like? What's the
12:26
urologist dealing with before they even
12:29
start? Like walk me through existing
12:31
state.
12:32
>> Okay. So the the the day actually starts
12:36
for the O starts much earlier than
12:38
everyone thinks. Right. First thing they
12:40
do is at the beginning of the week they
12:42
look at how many patients they have and
12:44
how much how many equipments they have
12:45
sets of equipment they have. Then they
12:47
can start putting on the day. So maybe
12:49
like four days before that surgery
12:51
everything is being planned out and the
12:53
central steriles or whoever's control
12:55
the equipment the circulators are going
12:57
to be scrambling
12:59
what's broken what's being clean and
13:02
what's coming back
13:03
>> and they plan all of that out. So think
13:05
about uh half a week before that ever
13:08
happens. All this work goes in and the
13:10
stress levels start building and right
13:12
before the procedure the circulator
13:14
comes in they say okay the room is clean
13:16
the previous patients all out we did
13:18
everything now let's go fetch your
13:19
equipment they'll bring trays uh they're
13:22
moving towers of equipment into the room
13:24
you start crowding everything around
13:26
they start opening up and they check
13:28
make sure everything is clean correctly
13:30
they take this little film like a flimsy
13:32
paper they look through it and see if
13:34
there's any hold to know that if the
13:36
serization was run correctly
13:38
and there's no drop of water because if
13:40
there is then it's not sterile. Uh and
13:43
all that happened before the patient
13:45
even say yes we need to move the patient
13:47
in and when the patient got moved in of
13:50
course and then sees shock uh sanitizing
13:53
the areas and then start putting the
13:56
equipment together and during all that
13:58
time understand in US every minute in
14:01
that o cost you 36 half minutes national
14:04
average in New York it's $120 per minute
14:08
so all those work
14:10
>> 120 bucks per minute is what it costs
14:13
Yes. In the lower. I think that's the
14:15
major hospital.
14:16
>> So the clock So the clock is ticking.
14:17
You're going in there, you're the more
14:19
inefficient you are. What you're saying
14:21
is that like it's
14:23
>> the bill just continues to stack.
14:25
>> That's right. So the act of putting
14:27
valve together, connecting the tubes,
14:30
all those actions, there's a dollar
14:31
amount. And that's why all the cu hustle
14:34
bills are so expensive. You know, it's
14:35
like every minute that happens in there,
14:37
you have se they have well-trained
14:40
professionals in there. the the the
14:42
lights, the air, everything everything
14:44
that's applying all those cost money.
14:46
All right. So I remember this one case
14:48
when we were early on we're watching
14:50
when the case were done. Uh this was
14:52
after CO and then there's high turnover
14:55
all the all the uh hospital staff are
14:58
stressed a lot of early retirement
14:59
during CO. So now you're really strapped
15:01
for u the human elements of it the
15:04
people who actually do the job. uh the
15:07
person taking care of the ster
15:09
sterilization
15:11
he or she was new. So the first tray
15:14
comes in the physician ready the patient
15:17
was under ready. So understand they're
15:19
ready to go. They open a tray the the
15:22
doctor look at it and say you didn't
15:24
take the inner sheet the outer sheet
15:25
apart. That means there's in between and
15:28
that journey all right bring me the
15:30
second tray they pack it up that goes
15:32
out. It's pretty it's as simple as
15:35
saying bring me a second tray. That
15:37
means the person who's using the second
15:38
tray now has a weight. Right? So that's
15:41
a the that's the next person's problem.
15:44
So
15:44
>> it's basically compounding.
15:45
>> That's right. The second trick comes
15:47
out. Here's a problem. It's still clean
15:49
by the same person. Same issue is still
15:51
there. Open it up. This is exactly the
15:54
same thing. Give me the third tray. That
15:56
goes away. The tray third tray comes in.
15:59
At that point, everyone in that room is
16:01
stressed and the physician was not
16:03
happy. Right? Okay. This doesn't work.
16:06
Now take this, go clean it, and do a
16:08
flash cleaning. That's a 45 minutes
16:10
process. So think about it. 45 minutes
16:14
that means a patient is under for 45
16:16
additional minutes. Second part is
16:18
remember I say like $100 a minute that's
16:21
$4,000 out the door.
16:23
>> And we're just saying there all right
16:25
this is the issue you know and that
16:28
happens everywhere. You talk to every
16:30
hospital uh uh staff this happens all
16:34
the time. It's not a oneoff thing. this
16:36
this hospital I was at was um was well
16:39
funded very well-run has lots of history
16:42
you know it's not it's not unique and
16:46
that's when we saw it's like yeah it's
16:48
not great for the people working there
16:50
it's not great for the patients and
16:52
that's why we come up with this
16:53
disposable device every time you open up
16:55
it's brand new it's clean it's ready to
16:57
go you know just save all those little
16:59
minutes so at the end of the day the
17:01
physician are not stressed the the
17:03
staffs are not overworked that means way
17:06
better result for the patient.
17:09
>> Look,
17:11
been in medtech for a bit, right?
17:14
Does Does everyone usually say that
17:16
their product is simpler and safer?
17:19
>> Everyone says that. Yes.
17:22
No, no, no. I think intuitive people
17:25
don't say that, but then they charge you
17:27
$2 million for that robot.
17:29
So what makes
17:31
what makes you so confident that you've
17:34
solved it to be able to say with such
17:37
conviction?
17:39
>> So I would say I solve it because we
17:41
figure we work with the physician to
17:43
understand all the workflow
17:45
>> they use. We look at all the pain points
17:47
basically together everything.
17:49
>> Uh so when we start designing it is we
17:51
design with the physician how they use
17:53
it in mind. Um so we simplify the idea
17:57
simplify. How do we simplify it? You
17:59
know, having 10 connectors, if you we
18:01
need 10 connector, what do we do with
18:02
two? Uh why do we make it all, you know,
18:05
square shape and round shape, so there's
18:07
no way you can make it round. How do we,
18:09
you know, we say, all right, instead of
18:10
using valves and the height of a setting
18:13
back, why don't we give you pressure
18:15
sensors and CPU? Now, all of that is not
18:17
working in the background. So, it just
18:19
it just feels like a natural
18:21
progression, right? It's talking about
18:23
driving a Model T back in the day versus
18:26
driving Ferrari. Just imagine how much
18:28
electronic now can pack in and then now
18:30
it's doing everything. So what a
18:32
physician is like a driver is a focus on
18:34
the road, focus on the patient and not
18:36
to worry about it. So we're not making
18:39
something that is you know like a rocket
18:42
ship I can fly to the moon. But we just
18:45
simplify everything so you focus on
18:47
what's important which is the patient.
18:50
>> Yeah. You know, you mentioned physicians
18:52
and you know, listen, you've trained
18:53
physicians on this and you've been in
18:55
the room when when the surgeon is using
18:58
your device for the first time.
19:01
Like, just tell me about those moments
19:03
like
19:04
>> what does that actually feel like?
19:07
>> It's I think no matter how many times
19:09
done, it's always nerve-wracking. It's
19:11
always about it's like about to give a
19:13
big speech because I think there's a
19:16
patient on the table who's about to re
19:18
receive this and there's this really
19:21
seasoned train well-trained physicians.
19:23
Uh so that first is like a first by the
19:26
first vocal first everything first step
19:29
is always nerve-wracking uh but then it
19:32
goes away really quickly because it's
19:33
intuitive. The device is intuitive.
19:36
uh we designed the device such a way
19:38
that we take advantage of what they're
19:39
used to which is a turb which has a very
19:42
specific hand motion you go back and
19:44
forth we added the the the second most
19:48
common uh uh equipment they use which is
19:51
laser which is left and right
19:52
>> so both motions in there so no matter if
19:55
you're a turpp user which account for
19:58
about 60% of the physician out there or
20:00
a laser user which about 30% of patient
20:03
uh uh physicians out
20:05
there is an element of this control that
20:08
you're used to. Then we build on top of
20:10
that. Then they'll realizing that all
20:13
the little things that they struggle
20:15
with, they thought this is natural. This
20:18
always will be there. We automate it for
20:20
them. Something as simple as setting the
20:23
right pressure so you don't over fill
20:25
the uh the bladder. Uh making sure the
20:28
fluid flow is coming out all the time
20:29
when you need it. uh something about
20:32
simple notification when something
20:34
happens. So what the next step is so
20:36
that's the things that we take care of
20:38
for them and but the first cut that was
20:41
made is nerve-wracking
20:43
then everything just settles down it's
20:44
like oh okay now this is the way we can
20:47
do it.
20:49
>> Yeah. It's like all right it is working
20:50
the way that we designed for it to work.
20:53
A little bit of a little bit of an
20:55
exhale.
20:56
>> It is. And like I said, no matter how
20:58
many times I done it, the first cut is
21:01
always like you hold your breath and
21:03
then do it and then get this. Yep.
21:05
That's exactly what we we planned. Um
21:08
but like I said, it's at the end of the
21:10
day there's always a patient. There's a
21:12
there's a someone human on that table.
21:14
So that pressure is always there. And I
21:16
think that's good thing. We we we
21:19
respect the the the work they do and
21:23
respect the patient we're trying to
21:25
help.
21:26
I want to talk about pressure for a
21:27
little bit because there's different
21:29
types of pressure
21:31
>> when you when you raise money
21:33
>> when you are running a company. You've
21:36
got a lean team
21:37
>> and I think you had written something
21:39
somewhere I just about I think it was
21:42
about you know what is it what's it like
21:44
to run a company
21:46
>> and
21:48
what is like a part of building aa
21:52
>> that you could not have prepared for
21:54
like you obviously been a lot of in in
21:56
front and around a lot of entrepreneurs
21:59
>> and they talk about it but what's the
22:02
part that you just weren't prepared for
22:08
>> that is a good question. I think it is
22:11
circle back to the whole pressure thing.
22:14
I think when you're running a startup um
22:18
there's no there's no downtime there's
22:20
no off switch every single aspect of a
22:24
work no matter what it is from
22:27
uh product development to to sell to
22:32
clinical tr uh clinical training
22:34
regulatory filing to fundraising
22:38
when you're running the company
22:40
especially for a smart small team you're
22:43
it there's no offloading. Uh even if you
22:47
do uh have team that support you at the
22:50
end of the day, you are still
22:51
responsible for it. Uh there's no
22:54
passing the buck. You are the buck stop
22:56
with you. It's over there. Uh and the
22:58
pressure it just doesn't go away. It's a
23:01
little bit like having a kid, right?
23:04
Once you have a kid, there's no off
23:06
switch. I have a four-year-old. So, and
23:09
I started my company around the time he
23:11
was born. So there's a double whmy
23:15
there. I need to take care of my my
23:18
little guy. Uh my wife is an angel. So
23:20
of course she allows me to do the things
23:22
I do. But there, you know, like middle
23:26
of night, you wake up, you feed the kid.
23:27
The same thing with me. Like the middle
23:29
of night, I wake up and think about my
23:30
next meeting is uh who do I need to talk
23:32
to? Do I have enough money to pay
23:33
everyone? Um uh I have three sites uh
23:38
that need to be going at the same time.
23:41
uh do I need to fly out to support it
23:42
because my sales guy are flying to
23:44
different locations. Um and all that and
23:46
of course the human elements of it. How
23:48
do I make sure the the team jobs well I
23:51
think uh what is hard for people to
23:54
understand is how to deal with all of
23:58
that pressure because very easily it
24:00
turns it can turn into stress which is
24:02
bad for your health.
24:03
>> Yeah. Yeah. Well, it's like you're
24:06
you're you're applying this pressure in
24:08
a constructive way. You're like, "All
24:10
right, I can sit here. I can let it eat
24:14
away at my soul, which obviously isn't
24:15
going to help anybody,
24:17
>> or I can use it as fuel to kind of
24:20
propel me and push me forward." That's
24:22
kind of what it sounds like, what you're
24:24
really getting at.
24:24
>> Yeah, exactly. It's um you just have to
24:27
point the right direction. Just hey,
24:28
just make sure that it doesn't slow you
24:30
down, but point in the right direction.
24:32
Um and like like I said, there are so
24:35
many things to worry about. Uh my
24:37
thought was like there's no reason to
24:39
sit there and worry. There's you know if
24:41
something is uh getting me down there's
24:44
another thing I need to pick up and just
24:46
start doing. So distract distract myself
24:48
that okay if this is stressing me out
24:51
turning to stress just do something else
24:53
and that's that's something else just as
24:55
important. um this morning was you know
24:59
doing processing the sales order then
25:01
getting ready for AUA looking at the
25:04
logistic of shipping right then that get
25:06
stress like okay I need to put together
25:08
brochures that I can start handing out
25:11
and to schedule the trial that is all
25:13
these are important all these are
25:15
important so whenever something is
25:17
getting to too much shift over to the
25:19
next thing and get that one out of the
25:21
way
25:23
>> I kind of think about what OA is doing.
25:26
>> It's like David versus Goliath
25:30
>> precision in terms of what you're doing
25:33
because you're in the market with some
25:35
this is some pretty big players, you
25:36
know, Olympus, Boston Scientific
25:39
Striker.
25:40
>> Mhm.
25:40
>> Does that
25:43
How does that sit with you that you're
25:45
kind of the the underdog? How do you
25:48
carry that? M
25:50
>> I it makes um like I said there's all
25:53
the little FU personality in me right
25:56
have this billion dollar company who
25:58
cannot do what I do and that feels
26:00
really nice but of course you ever look
26:02
back it's like they fly private jet and
26:05
I'm trying to stock myself in this uh
26:07
this economy seat in a backup plan I
26:09
want to save a few bucks u I think that
26:12
feels nice to prove to people that you
26:14
don't need to spend that much money to
26:16
get the results you want Yeah.
26:18
>> Yeah.
26:19
>> And also it's a lot of what we do is we
26:21
want to make sure our product and that's
26:23
main focus is access access to the care
26:27
>> and I joke around we are not intuitive
26:30
putting out $2 million robots and that
26:32
is exactly what we we don't want to do.
26:34
We don't want all things to be tied up
26:36
into academic centers wellunded
26:38
hospitals city center that they can
26:40
actually afford it. We want everyone to
26:42
be able to afford it. So a lot of our
26:44
hospitals we travel to surgery center
26:45
central travel to our rural communities
26:48
and it humbles you a little bit right
26:50
it's it tells you these are the way
26:52
people live and we still want to deliver
26:54
care we want um we will not see a
26:58
Olympus um sales guy there they say not
27:01
worth it they have distributor local
27:02
distributors so sometime they don't get
27:04
the best pricing they don't get the best
27:06
support and we hear about that it's like
27:08
are you guys trying to replace XYZ
27:11
company we say yes it's like okay please
27:13
do because they're not getting the
27:15
support they need and I think I believe
27:19
there's value in every all everyone like
27:23
no matter what part of your population
27:25
you are
27:26
>> um there is value talent everywhere and
27:29
healthc care is to make sure that
27:31
everyone has ability
27:34
>> to uh to reach their full potential and
27:36
that's better for everyone involved
27:40
>> you know you think about where your
27:43
beach head is, where you're going after.
27:45
I mean, BPH affects
27:47
>> tens of millions of men.
27:48
>> Yep.
27:50
>> You know, most of them
27:53
don't know they have options beyond
27:56
medication or major surgery.
28:00
Is the problem I'm trying to put my
28:04
finger on like is the problem the
28:05
technology or is it the awareness? Like
28:08
where's the actual bottleneck? Right now
28:12
>> I I believe
28:15
depending on what part of the world you
28:17
are in u I want to say take u this this
28:23
focus on BPH the enlarged prostates
28:25
right uh half of men will have it by the
28:28
age of 50 that's a given fact uh but it
28:32
comes with the aging population the
28:34
older you get uh the more likely you're
28:36
going to get it and that's just uh
28:37
because our
28:39
>> our genetics fix our uh lifestyle uh
28:43
diet that so if you look at Asia Asia is
28:46
growing about 8 to 10% per year about
28:49
>> really
28:49
>> yeah because they're much older right
28:52
Japan is much much higher than that very
28:54
>> population is more advanced
28:56
>> but if you look at Asia right the issue
28:59
for them is access to technology is cost
29:02
>> they just don't have the
29:04
>> uh they have probably more population in
29:06
US but they only account for 25% of the
29:09
sales in in the world but the sales is
29:11
not based on number of cases it's based
29:14
on uh the price point
29:16
>> so you can say they just don't have uh
29:18
access to the technology because it's so
29:20
expensive for them right so we want to
29:22
reduce that we make sense
29:25
>> for us I think it's about education
29:27
awareness and man is really bad I mean I
29:31
understand why we refuse to go see a
29:33
doctor ah it's okay I'll wait till later
29:36
it's not bleed why do I want to see So a
29:39
lot of that unfortunately is by the time
29:42
they see the patient like you should has
29:45
come to see me about five years ago
29:47
right when your bladder is not stretched
29:49
out so far hygienist for recovery.
29:53
uh but it comes down to education right
29:55
how do we teach uh the community say you
29:58
know preventive work prevent is good it
30:02
increases your uh the likelihood of a
30:05
good outcome and reduce the cost of your
30:08
um uh treatment
30:10
>> and the other thing was like the rural
30:12
community most of the people like a lot
30:14
of people in US are still living like
30:16
hour away from the the medical centers
30:20
so having to travel that are uh
30:23
basically keep them from doing so uh
30:25
doing so frequently early enough. Um one
30:28
of the hospital we open up in Ohio uh
30:32
the the physician who work for us is the
30:34
only male ur urologist for male
30:37
population in the town. there's a female
30:39
counterpart
30:41
and before they start using our system
30:44
they need to bring the phys the patient
30:46
40 minutes away from the town to do to
30:49
do the surgery to do the treatment and
30:51
what's really inconvenient so for a lot
30:53
of people they say if I need to travel
30:54
40 minutes and I may have to stay
30:56
overnight that's a big
30:58
>> that's a big deal
31:00
>> so if you can just do it at a surgery
31:02
center locally within five 10 minutes
31:03
from your home the the usage rate goes
31:06
up the more patient get treated and
31:08
guess where outcome uh get improved and
31:11
everyone wins because the ultimately the
31:13
insurance company don't have to care to
31:15
pay for additional care because you have
31:17
good outcome. So I think at the end of
31:20
the day I think it's access is it
31:22
because of education uh patient
31:24
education distance of travel or cost
31:27
over
31:29
>> I want to I want to touch on cost
31:31
because you mentioned a couple times I
31:33
mean look health systems I mean just
31:35
providers in general they're under
31:38
incredible pressure right now on cost.
31:41
>> Yes. And
31:44
it I just think sometimes I want to
31:46
think through the logic on this, but
31:47
like single-use devices,
31:50
>> at least oftentimes have a reputation
31:53
>> for being more expensive upfront,
31:56
>> right?
31:56
>> How do you how do you have that
31:58
conversation with like a CFO or or a
32:03
supply chain director?
32:04
>> Sure.
32:05
>> Who's like already stretched thin,
32:08
>> right? Uh it comes down to the total
32:11
cost of care, right? We're not talking
32:13
about
32:14
uh you're right. So for a for a single
32:18
use device versus spending $20,000 to
32:20
buy this equipment that you can use it
32:21
for like a thousand times, right? It a
32:24
lot of those are built into say who's
32:26
controlling the the budget and which
32:28
budget is coming out of. So a lot when
32:32
we approach them, we say let's look at
32:33
your total cost of care. What does it
32:36
look like? Sure, you have all the
32:37
equipments in place already. What's your
32:39
service contract? Usually about 10% of
32:41
what the cost of that equipment is per
32:43
year.
32:44
>> How many times you send it out for
32:46
repair? Uh how much delay you have in
32:50
your O and our money. Who's cleaning it?
32:53
Right? What's that service like?
32:56
All of our you add up very quickly is
32:58
going to start rivaling or even exceed
33:01
the cost of just hey buy disposal. It's
33:04
brand new every time. I don't have to
33:04
worry about all this stuff. And guess
33:06
what? uh now you can pack your patients
33:09
at the end of the day, beginning of day
33:11
in the middle because you don't have to
33:12
worry about access to the equipment.
33:14
>> Now you talk about efficiency in the in
33:17
the O plus you now have more patient
33:19
that can be treated at the same time. So
33:21
that's the way we like to do uh a lot of
33:24
hospitals we sit down with them once the
33:26
physician are happy we sit down with the
33:28
hospital administrators and walk through
33:31
all the math with them to show them the
33:33
economic that they actually comes out
33:35
ahead. The next part about a little bit
33:38
about cost is but how about
33:39
environmental impact? Uh people are say
33:42
hey if it's disposable wouldn't I have
33:44
create a lot of trash that's a more
33:45
environmental impact uh it's also not
33:49
true and the reason how do they clean a
33:52
device they use high heat that's a lot
33:55
of energy which cost a lot of money so
33:58
you can equate cost of cleaning to to
34:01
environmental impact energy generation
34:03
is not free but the next part is the
34:06
toxic chemical that's used which is good
34:08
you want them to clean all the germs But
34:11
afterwards how do they what do they do
34:12
with the chemical especially process or
34:15
it's buried somewhere and that is also a
34:17
high environmental impact. So when we
34:19
looking at this is we want a net
34:21
positive outcome uh for once we work out
34:25
the equation right either from the
34:26
financial part
34:27
>> or from the environmental part and
34:29
that's where it's a bit contrary to D
34:31
you're absolutely right disposal should
34:33
be higher cost on both but when you work
34:35
out the whole system impact it's end up
34:38
being a a better alternative
34:41
>> thanks for answering it that was
34:42
actually really really well done
34:45
curious before we kind of go to our
34:48
close. What is I just want to make sure
34:50
before I forget like
34:52
>> give people a snapshot like what is the
34:54
best way for them to follow your work
34:57
and the work that Olay is doing like
34:59
give us a give us a commercial.
35:01
>> Sure. So Olay medical we focus on
35:04
improving the urology care how it's
35:06
delivered while core three tenants are
35:08
making it safer for the patient simpler
35:11
for the physician and the clinician and
35:13
very last one more affordable for the
35:15
whole community as a whole.
35:17
uh we have product in multiple states
35:20
right now and we are uh introducing
35:23
slowly conquering the rest of the US
35:25
before we go into outside US markets. We
35:28
have a website at olemed.com.
35:30
A lam.com.
35:32
If you search for olemed on YouTube,
35:35
you'll see our YouTube channel is very
35:37
new. It has a couple animations, some
35:39
clinical case. So, you can check it out.
35:41
Uh we have LinkedIn. You can find us
35:43
there. And very excitingly, we are at
35:46
AUA in May 15 to 17. So, if you are
35:49
there and are interested in urology, all
35:51
the innovation we do, please come and
35:54
visit our booth. And that's uh that's
35:56
the best way to to find us and reach us.
35:58
>> Awesome. We'll make sure we put all
36:00
those in the description below. And just
36:01
last question, um and I asked this
36:04
because I I generally want to know um if
36:07
you could go back and sit across from
36:10
the, you know,
36:12
>> 32year-old George, the R&D engineer,
36:15
>> right?
36:16
>> Uh who had no idea would end up here.
36:20
>> What do you What do you tell him?
36:23
What do I tell him? I'm a strong
36:26
believer of this one idea. The concept
36:30
is I am who I am today because
36:32
everything I experienced.
36:34
So I would tell I would probably tell
36:37
you know everything will work out just
36:38
fine. Just keep on doing what you do. um
36:42
you know without the without the the
36:45
success without the the uh detours
36:49
without the learning experience without
36:50
all this heartaches without everything
36:52
that's happened before then I wouldn't
36:54
have the skill set and temperament I
36:57
have today so if I go back 10 years from
37:00
now for 10 go back 10 years and talk to
37:02
that person just keep on doing what you
37:04
do but understand this everything will
37:07
just work out just fine as long as you
37:09
keep on doing what you
37:12
Yeah, J, I got to say this. I mean, I've
37:14
really enjoyed this conversation.
37:16
Enjoyed getting to know you off camera,
37:17
too. The values and the principles that
37:20
you carry and what, you know, everything
37:21
that you sort of embody. You came to the
37:24
show on, you know, you came on the show
37:25
as a founder. Uh, but I think what I
37:27
really heard today was was something
37:29
different
37:30
>> and hearing a builder that's going about
37:33
his work diligently, consistently, and
37:36
steadfast. you know, you're watching a
37:39
system that in many instances is very
37:40
fragmented. It's very fractured and
37:42
you're like, "Look, there's a better way
37:44
to do something and you had enough guts
37:48
to go out and say, "Yeah, I'm going to
37:50
do something about it." Like, that's
37:53
like really rare. It's not easy to do
37:56
that. So, I just got to tip my cap to
37:59
you for doing that. And for those if
38:00
you're listening right now, if anyone's
38:02
listening and you're on the cusp of of
38:04
wanting to do something like use this
38:07
conversation as a benchmark, use it as a
38:10
data point. Use George as a reference.
38:13
And if you found this conversation to be
38:15
useful and practical, the one thing that
38:17
you can do that would be really, really
38:19
helpful if you don't mind, share it,
38:22
make sure you like it, make sure you
38:23
comment on it, subscribe. These things
38:26
absolutely help the community of
38:28
innovators that we have in it. So um
38:31
thanks again George for coming on and if
38:33
and for those again if you do have a
38:34
topic that you want us to explore or
38:36
even a leader that you want to have come
38:38
on to the show you know drop drop a note
38:40
leave a comment and just remember this
38:42
platform it it is about community it is
38:46
about that living breathing ecosystem
38:48
you give and you take. So, thank you for
38:52
listening. Keep building with purpose
38:54
and we'll see you next time on the
38:56
Advancing Healthcare Innovation Show.