Jeanne Hecht joined Median Technologies as Chief Operating Officer and member of the Board in 2016, bringing more than 20 years’ experience of the healthcare industry. She is responsible for driving the company’s global strategy, including management of operations, sales as well as new product development. Prior to joining Median, she held many senior roles at the industry-leading contract research organization, Quintiles. Most recently, she held the position of Senior Vice President, Site & Patient Networks, responsible for patient and physician driven operational and engagement programs. Jeanne also served as SVP and Global Head of Sales from 2012 through 2014 where she led a global team delivering on over $5B in new business wins and supporting the company’s IPO filing. Jeanne spent part of her career in Asia establishing the commercial aspects of the business as the VP and Head of Sales and Strategic Planning for Quintiles across all major regions of Asia.
Earlier in her career Jeanne was a founding member of a biomarker-based companion diagnostic company. She earned her Master of Business Administration and Bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Michigan. Jeanne is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP).
Sajid Khan: Jeanne, Thank you very much for taking the time out of your busy schedule for this Interview. Can you please begin by sharing your perspective on the role of COO at Median Technologies?
Being the Chief Operating Officer at Median is an exciting and rewarding job. I have the pleasure of working alongside over 120 professionals who work tirelessly to bring meaningful products to the market to address key challenges impacting patient lives. Being a global company, my days often start early and end late. I travel extensively to ensure I am ‘’leading from the front’’ and learning from customers, patients, investors, and industry leaders. I spend a lot of time working with teams to address opportunities and challenges. I also spend a lot of time looking at numbers, industry reports, and reading about the key challenges impacting clinical care and the pharmaceutical industry. One could say I spend a lot of time ensuring our strategy is market leading and that there is no confusion in the company about where we are going and how we are going to get there.
SK: Would you like to share some of your demanding initiatives at Median Technologies as Chief Operating Officer?
We are first and foremost a technology company. We focus on using the latest science to drive how medical image analysis can revolutionize the way we do drug discovery, diagnose disease, and screen patients for cancer. Our biggest opportunity is to take something that is inherently complex and explain it in a way that excites and inspires providers, biopharma and payers.
Lately our efforts have focused on our MediScan®, iSEE®, and iBiopsy® products. Namely, ensuring these products that are established are evolving to meet the feedback from our end users and our new products are on track to achieve our projected timelines. This is no easy task and I am very thankful for the committed team we have at Median. They do great work.
SK: How effective is Median technologies in innovation and where do you see your company by the year 2020?
Median has been innovating in Healthcare for over ten years. We have brought some very meaningful products to our end users and continue to invest in tools, processes, and people to drive a fast paced and high-quality development process. Within the next three years we will continue to develop new technologies that align with us being the Industry Leader in Imaging Phenomics®.
We have embarked on an ambitious goal to drive global launches of several of our products and to continue to progress our AI activities for our new Biomarker Phenotyping System, iBiopsy® which we are developing initially in NASH.
By the end of 2020 I would see our three key products well under way and launched commercially in most major markets. I would see us having some positive results as it relates to making an impact in lung cancer and NASH.
Lastly, I believe our current offices in Japan and China will have expanded to support the scaling of our business.
SK: What are some of the biggest challenges faced by healthcare services industry for the last couple of years?
In our business we have seen challenges, which create opportunities, in several areas. Some that come to mind are the use and the reimbursement of the use of technology to drive patient care. Technology has far exceeded the standard of care/regulatory requirements and the marketplace is often slow to catch up; limiting improvement in outcomes and undermining public health. Right now, innovative technology is primarily relegated to research. We want to change that.
SK: What trends do you see ending their life cycle, what are some trends that you see for the future, for your industry?
Ending: Technology unassisted assessment of radiographs, CT and MRIs in day to day patient care settings; drugs discovery that isn’t focused on personalized/precision medicine, i.e., using the patients’ genetics and inherent immune response to cure itself.
Starting/Accelerating: leveraging technology in ways that improves outcomes and ultimately lowers costs.
SK: What has been your greatest achievement in your career thus far?
This is a tough question. First, because I am a Midwesterner who does not like to boast. Second because my accomplishments have never been achieved on my own, it has always been because of the team effort and the amazing professionals I have worked alongside.
Something that I look back on fondly has been the risk and reward that I took when moving to Singapore to set up sales and strategic planning for a prior organization. It was a fast-paced experience and one that afforded me many ‘’firsts’’ and as such kept me challenged which for me, led to tremendous job satisfaction. In the end, the results were in the numbers and we far exceeded expectations.
SK: What is your leadership style? Does it vary within the role?
I was raised in a middle-class family in Michigan. I started early on at the age of 13 with my first job and I worked my way through college and graduate school. So, I would say my style is first and foremost, direct and I lead from the front. I believe in being hands on but not micromanaging. Furthermore, I believe in three key tenets. Namely, empowerment, accountability and excitement. I do my best to ensure that these resonate throughout my engagements with my team.
SK: What advice would you offer to our readers who aspire to follow in your footsteps?
I believe that there are several things that have supported me in my career. First, I am very curious and am an avid reader. Second, I believe in leveraging the power of my network and invest in building and maintaining a very productive network. Lastly, I believe in being prepared and doing my homework before attending meetings. This way they are productive and are more about action and less about reporting.
SK: Is there anything else you would like to share with other fellow c-level executives?
This may be obvious, but I believe that as the demographics of our workforce change so should our style. This means using new APPs for communication, engaging in social media, and understanding how the new members of the workforce respond to messages and the company’s vision. We cannot rest on our laurels and think that it is the same as it was 15-20 years ago.
