Nawal Roy, founder and CEO of Holmusk, on advancing behavioral health with real-world evidence-based analytics and decision-making

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Our guest on this podcast episode of The Pulse by Wharton Digital Health is Nawal Roy. Nawal Roy is the founder and CEO of Holmusk, a company that specializes in real-world evidence, AI-powered analytics, and digital solutions to solve the evidence gaps problem in mental health. With a background in finance and consulting, Nawal was drawn to the healthcare industry due to its complexity and the potential for meaningful impact. He founded Holmusk in 2014 to organize and analyze data in the mental health sector, similar to what the Bloomberg Terminal has done for the world of finance. Nawal is passionate about leveraging data to drive evidence-based decision-making and improve patient outcomes in mental health.

Last year, Holmusk raised a series B funding round of $45M, led by Veradigm, a leading provider of healthcare data and technology solutions. Powered by this investment, Holmusk’s NeuroBlu database recently reached a pivotal milestone of 4 million patient lives, becoming the largest NLP-enriched, de-identified real-world data platform designed for behavioral health and mental health research.

Nawal and I discussed:

• Holmusk’s founding story, how Nawal connected his background and skill sets in finance to healthcare, and where he saw opportunities in building a “Bloomberg Terminal” for behavioral health
• Holmusk’s flagship platform, Neuroblu, which organizes and analyzes a large volume of real-world data to provide insights for research, care improvement, and marketing purposes
• Generative AI and natural language processing (NLP) and their the potential to revolutionize mental health care by enabling precision psychiatry, improving the standardization of treatment protocols, and bridging the evidence gap
• Holmusk’s active partnerships with healthcare systems, pharma companies, and government organizations to expand its data set and drive meaningful change in the industry

Beginning to 9:45 — Nawal’s early career and inspirations behind founding Holmusk

Nawal’s journey into the healthcare sector began with a background in finance, where he witnessed the transformative power of data in the financial industry. Inspired by this, he recognized the immense potential for data-driven approaches in healthcare, particularly in the complex and often overlooked field of behavioral health.

“My intent was to organize as much data as possible and remove the system of expert decision-making in healthcare and replace that with a very data-driven approach to thinking, debating.”

When Holmusk started, the availability of data on behavioral health was limited. Nawal recognized the need for a data-driven approach to assess mental health conditions and bridge the evidence gap in the field. Holmusk acquired an electronic health record system from Duke University, which provided a significant amount of longitudinal data. The company then built a platform called NeuroBlu to organize and make this data available for research, analysis, and decision-making.

9:45–17:02 — “Discover the unlocking asset” Nawal shares his approach to finding valuable opportunities and executing innovative solutions as an entrepreneur

When Nawal first entered the field of behavioral health, he quickly realized the lack of comprehensive and accessible data. Obtaining longitudinal patient data was a significant challenge, and the existing data was often limited to structured fields, neglecting the valuable insights hidden within unstructured notes. Holmusk sets out to address this gap by acquiring a vast amount of data and developing a state-of-the-art data curation platform called Neuroblu.

Nawal shared his insights on entrepreneurship, emphasizing that there’s no one-size-fits-all formula for success. He underscored the importance of a deep understanding of the problem, developed through months of contemplation and research. Nawal also highlighted the value of engaging with a broad spectrum of individuals for diverse perspectives. He pointed out that while discovering an innovative idea is crucial, the real challenge lies in the execution phase. Nawal’s journey is characterized by his readiness to seize opportunities and his commitment to growth, illustrating that the essence of entrepreneurship extends beyond the initial breakthrough to the ongoing effort to deliver a product that the market loves.

“Having a predefined way of thinking around a problem is one thing. Having the ability to talk to as many people in the market and the industry gives you additional data points. Serendipity happens when both of these things happen, in combination. If serendipity happens, then the only risk at that particular time is, are you ready to take it and run with it?”

17:02–25:30 — Holmusk’s recent milestone of a total of 4M patient lives ingested, Nawal’s vision for AI in healthcare, and Holmusk’s proprietary NLP model in optimizing its EHR data

Holmusk has successfully ingested data from over 4 million patient lives into its proprietary database, with plans to expand this number further. The company’s focus on natural language processing (NLP) has allowed it to extract valuable information from clinical notes, enabling a deeper understanding of patient conditions and treatment outcomes. By enriching the data with additional layers, such as claims data, Holmusk aims to provide a comprehensive view of mental health and its intersection with other medical conditions.

While AI holds great promise, Nawal acknowledges its limitations in healthcare, particularly in terms of data availability and privacy concerns. The healthcare sector lags behind other industries in terms of data use cases, and striking a balance between data utilization and privacy is a critical challenge. However, Nawal believes that a healthy debate and collaboration between healthcare systems, technology companies, and policymakers can lead to meaningful advancements in the field.

“I would like to put in 10X more investment behind it [AI] to really take it to the level it deserves. There are still a lot of issues with missing data, quality of the data, density of the data. Those are the core fabric of the problem that is still unsolved, and I would love to go there.”

25:30-end — Reflecting on the first ten years of Holmusk, future partnership roadmap, and trends to follow in the behavioral health space

Holmusk has already established partnerships with pharmaceutical companies and healthcare systems, but Nawal envisions even greater collaboration in the future. He highlights the importance of working with healthcare systems, such as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Veterans Administration (VA), to drive change at a federal level. By leveraging Holmusk’s data and analytical capabilities, these partnerships can lead to improvements in quality metrics, evidence-based care, and payment models.

Nawal also emphasizes the potential for collaboration with technology giants such as Microsoft, OpenAI, and Nvidia. These companies are at the forefront of AI development and can bring cutting-edge technologies to the field of behavioral health. By leveraging their expertise with Holmusk’s data and insights, together companies in the space can drive advancements in precision psychiatry and the development of world-class mental health hospitals.

As the industry continues to evolve, aspiring founders and healthcare professionals must stay informed about the latest trends and innovations. By embracing the power of data and AI, healthcare professionals can unlock new possibilities in behavioral health and pave the way for a future where mental health is given the attention and resources it deserves.

“A thing that is very close to my heart, that I personally am very keen to pursue, is there is not a single world-class mental health hospital in the world. At least every big city has one for cancer but one doesn’t exist in mental health. I would love to build that so that 20 or 30 years from now, the next generation doesn’t have to worry about where the center of excellence is when it comes to mental health.”

As Holmusk continues to grow, there will be great opportunities to join the team. To see the roles that Holmusk is currently hiring for, check out their careers site.

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