John de Souza recently joined Physicians Interactive’s (PI) board of directors, bringing a solid background of technical experience as a former manager of technology practice for Goldman Sachs, director and co-founder of Smartleaf, a financial software company and co-founder of Flash Communications, which developed a two-way messaging system. He also has experience in robotic surgery and virtual reality systems.
Reading, Mass.-based Physicians Interactive provides marketing, customer support and eLearning solutions for the healthcare industry. The company has three other offices in the U.S. and one in India.
PI’s Mobile media solutions allow doctors who are too busy to stay at a desk to access reference material from mobile devices. Content for sales reps allows businesses offering healthcare products to connect better with physicians. Sampling solutions make the process of distributing samples more efficient. Other solutions help companies develop and manage marketing campaigns to physicians.
PI’s strategy could best be described in one word: mobile. The company cites several statistics in an infographic that it published that make it hard to argue with focusing on mobile technology. The U.S. has about 219 million smartphone subscribers out of a population of 330 million. Digital media revenue is expected to grow from $34 billion in 2013 to $60 billion in 2017. Over that same period, mobile digital media revenue will grow nearly four-fold, from $7.6 billion to $28 billion.
At first glance, adding de Souza to its board seems to be a smart decision for PI. The company is all about mobile technology and de Souza has a rich background in different technologies like software, networking and robotics.
Anyone who has not been marooned on a deserted island the past five years knows that the world is going mobile; healthcare technology is no different. Several factors including the addition of tens of millions of people to health insurance coverage under the ACA will leave doctors stretched thin. Doctors stretched thin spend less time at their desk and more time on their feet treating patients and performing other duties. With a niche market in physicians, who likely use mobile technology more than the general public does, PI may be in a position for financial success.
Edited by
Rachel Ramsey
