The Future of Healthcare: “Electronic Health records need to speak to each other” with Joe McErlane, Founder and CEO of NeoPath Health

Electronic Health records need to speak to each other. The world is changing and although some connectivity with EHR systems is taking place, the reality is most medical records are siloed and reside in a single system. Patients move from clinic to clinic, they cross state lines. Our pets and vehicles have better record keeping systems than we do. It needs to change.

As a part of my interview series with leaders in healthcare, I had the pleasure to interview Joe McErlane, NeoPath Health Founder and CEO. Joe has worked to improve employee health for companies looking to control the spiraling cost of employee medical plans since 2007 with NeoPath Health, a Minnesota based onsite clinic provider.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I began my career working in the employee benefit industry. I can say that it is not the most glamorous business, but it was a great place to start after college. In the benefits industry they tell you that you are in healthcare and you believe that you are. Over time I realized I was on the finance and “policy” side of healthcare.

About 5 years into my career, I was preparing for an enrollment meeting and my client asked me to wait in the lobby of their clinic. The clinic was an Indian Health Service (IHS) clinic as my client was a tribal community. As I am sitting in the lobby with a pile of forms for the enrollment meeting, I watched as the physician would casually walk from the back directly into the waiting room and greet his patients. I distinctly remember the look of appreciation on the patients face as they were brought back to the exam room. That is when it hit me: I wasn’t in healthcare. I decided at that moment a career change towards care delivery was my next step.