The People behind Healthcare Innovation: Interview with Gal Salomon, CEO of CLEW Medical

As part of our work, we have the privilege to speak with many inspiring innovators. Although the business community usually focuses on companies, pitches, and valuations—and less on the innovator—we thought it would be interesting to learn a bit more about the people behind healthcare innovation. In this series, we’re sharing some of our conversations with innovators in a condensed format: with brief questions and answers about their experience, their opinions, and their learnings.

This latest conversation is with Gal Salomon, CEO of CLEW Medical, which offers AI-powered predictive analytics for critical care.

Gila: What’s your story and how did you become an innovator in healthcare?

Gal: My journey into the healthcare industry was one borne out of personal tragedy. My mother was admitted to hospital and developed sepsis during her stay. The doctors were unable to identify what was happening to her and could not act in time. She passed away three days after she was admitted. Sadly, this is all too common and the story of thousands of people worldwide every year.

Doctors can’t monitor a patient 24/7 and, consequently, may miss crucial signs. Could this be avoided by addressing human limitations? Certainly. When it comes to predictive medicine, identifying whether a patient’s condition will deteriorate can enable physicians to intervene in time. Additional factors such as a low doctor-to-patient ratio put pressure on the system. Clew Medical’s goal is to fix these sorts of issues with technology and make stories like my mother’s a thing of the past.

Gila: Where do you see the field of critical care moving to in the next ten years?

Gal: I see critical care transitioning from being reactive to proactive. Rather than reacting to alerts and alarms in the room that tell doctors if a patient is deteriorating, predictive models will enable healthcare professionals to be informed ahead of time. They will be able to intervene in a way that prevents the patient from ever having any symptoms in the first place.

I see critical care transitioning from being reactive to proactive.

Critical care will be based on evidence, data, and predictive modeling algorithms, with patient data being transformed into medical knowledge for clinicians to use. This will help alleviate pressure on healthcare professionals and help them to make the right decisions ahead of time.

Gila: Looking more broadly, what are the biggest opportunities and obstacles you see for innovation in the healthcare environment?

Gal: The obstacles are the same as those in any tech startup, namely revenues and investments. A significant part of the time is spent fundraising. Equally, we need to focus on making our company viable by meeting our customers’ needs and creating value.

The opportunities are endless. We are creating something that nobody has done before; we are building the future.

The opportunities are endless. We are creating something that nobody has done before; we are building the future. The last thing clinical teams need is another report or dashboard, we are going to have predictive analytics that enables us to do new things that we can only dream of today. However, as we innovate, we need to be mindful of fully integrating our solutions into the clinical workflow at the point of care and providing assistive intelligence that enhances clinical work with AI capabilities and informs clinical management of a patient. This will have major benefits for healthcare providers including improvements in patient safety, quality of care, enhanced patient experience and cost savings. Perhaps most importantly, though, is the knowledge that all of the hard work we’re putting in will save lives. You can’t put a price on that.

The knowledge that all of the hard work we’re putting in will save lives. You can’t put a price on that.

Gila: When you look at the health system as a whole (pharma, providers, payers, doctors, patients) who do you see driving innovation the most?

The role of patient experience in the context of healthcare providers is a key element in encouraging innovation—so, in that sense, I would say both patients and providers. To give an example, when patients sleep better in a hospital, they’re more likely to recover. Advanced analytics can be harnessed to improve patients’ experience in the intensive care unit (ICU), offering a better alternative to noisy bedside monitors and nighttime blood-pressure checks. In turn, this improves a provider’s care quality as well.

Gila: How has COVID affected receptiveness for innovation in healthcare? ?

Gal: The impact of COVID-19 on healthcare workers has sharpened the focus on minimizing the risks they’re exposed to as much as possible. Looking ahead, this will mean reducing the share of in-person care when appropriate and turning to remote monitoring systems instead. The pandemic also brought the need to ensure better distribution of medical and nursing resources when they are scarce. This paved the way for greater adoption of AI technology that can identify which patients are most at risk of imminent deterioration and need to be treated soonest.

The pandemic also brought the need to ensure better distribution of medical and nursing resources when they are scarce.

Gila: What do you know now that you wish you had known when you were starting out as an innovator and entrepreneur?

Gal: I think it’s more a matter of what I’ve learned: the difference between focusing on the purely technical aspect, which is all about buzzwords, and the flip side, which is how this technology or innovation will help me do my job better—and in this case, how it saves lives. It’s a completely different language and perspective. I’ve realized how fascinating and important it is to go beyond the technical and become immersed in the subject matter and the actual work process of the industry. To understand the needs of the healthcare industry through the doctor’s eyes is a challenging and important process. There’s no way around learning about an industry’s real-life, and daily complexities—on their turf and in their terms. It’s hard work, time-consuming, and absolutely critical.

There’s no way around learning about an industry’s real-life, and daily complexities—on their turf and in their terms.

For more info see Gal Salomon and CLEW Medical

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and the guest contributor and do not reflect the views of McKinsey & Company.