SATHISH KUMAR
CITO at CarePayment
Can you please provide a little introduction about yourself
I am the CIO/CTO of CarePayment a healthcare finance company based in Nashville, I manage all areas of technology including application development, database development, data science, Infrastructure, Security, Project management, QA, and helpdesk.
What has your journey to your position been like? What path have you taken?
My journey is a bit unique – my passion was electrical and electronics engineering and that’s what I majored in at first. My love for microprocessors and semiconductors turned into an exploratory path into computer science engineering which turned out to be my second major in engineering. I spent time at Warner Music Group as one of their lead engineers, and then as a solutions engineer at Macys. These both eventually lead to my role as an SVP/CTO at Medalogix before transitioning into my CIO/CTO role at CarePayment.
Has it always been your vision to reach the position you’re at? Was your current role part of your vision to become a tech leader?
I never really planned or had a “vision” to reach the position I am in today. That being said, the experience I had at various firms as a consultant presented me with unique opportunities that helped pave the way. I had many people during my career that would push me to expand my limits past what I thought was possible. I’ve always been up for a challenge, no matter how daunting – so a position like my current one that allows me to solve tough problems with my team and grow together as a department has always been something I’ve sought out during my career. One of my favorite things about my role is supporting my team members so I can help them be the best version of themselves so they can climb the career ladder and create a path to success for themselves.
Have you had a role model or mentor that has helped you on your journey?
How do you see the role of the technology leader evolving over the next 5 years?
I believe the technology leader position is evolving into a role that is more tightly integrated with the business…one that works in tandem with the daily business operations and maintains an intimate understanding of the business data to help shape the technology landscape of the entire company and the business roadmap. Technology leaders should profoundly influence the innovation, growth, and profitability of the business, as well as influence their customers and be a thought leader in their industry. So, I think over the next five years, we’ll see more tech leaders occupying that role. I think leaders will shift a heavy focus and have an emphasis on the security landscape of the company as well.
What skills do you think leaders of the future will need in order to thrive?
From what I’ve seen, I think these skills are needed for future leaders to thrive in the technology space:
- Explaining technology challenges or hurdles to both internal and external customers so everyone can understand issues better and subsequent improvements can be made.
- Being empathetic towards their team and their customers. Nothing gets done if we can’t understand each other’s needs and support each other when it’s needed the most.
- Getting out of the tech silo and becoming more collaborative with peers and cross-functional leaders.
- Gaining a holistic understanding of all things, technology and business. A leader of the future should know how every single function works instead of a singular focus or speciality.
How do you keep current with new skills, technologies and personal development?
I place an emphasis on networking so I can get to know different tech leaders in the US and around the world. Also, I’m currently in school for learning about modern technology and the security space. I attend a lot of industry webinars, keep up with events in the space, and read whitepapers and newsletters from industry leaders and their organizations.
What do you see as the next leap in technology that will impact your business or industry in particular?
The most important thing I see in our Healthcare business space is a combination of security, interoperability, agility, and adaptability. Patient needs have changed drastically over the years, and so has the entire healthcare landscape. There’s been an increased emphasis on security efforts and new legislation that impacts how care providers can interact financially with their patients. Tech advancements in healthcare need to meet new patient needs, while maintaining compliance and ensuring all measures are risk-free and fraud-proof. It’s a challenge, but employing this combination of security, interoperability, agility, and adaptability at CarePayment allows us to equip our provider partners with the right technology and more to help their patients afford the care they need when they need it.
"I think an important thing is to remember to be an active listener, whether it be with your team, peers, or boss."
If you were mentoring a leader of the future, what advice or guidance would you give to help them on their way?
There are few things that I wish I knew when I stepped into management. I think an important thing is to remember to be an active listener, whether it be with your team, peers, or boss. People can tell when they aren’t being heard out. Another is that it’s okay to be transparent. If something isn’t working, speak up (respectfully, of course)! The focus of a problem should be on the problem, not the person. When it comes to building your team, make sure to provide them with opportunities to learn and implement new technologies. Putting this trust in them is key to building a strong, reliable team. And of course, try to create a strong relationship with peers outside of your team and role, and treat them as if they were your team.
Is there anything in particular that you would still like to achieve in your career or what is the next step on your journey?
For CarePayment, my priority is to focus on expanding the technological and product capabilities of the organization to always be the vendor of choice in healthcare payments, collections, and patient engagement while exceeding the expectations of our customers and enabling the organization to scale and achieve future growth.
On a personal level, my next step is to finish my JD and become an Intellectual Property lawyer. My main goal with this is to use my technology skills in conjunction with my legal education to advise companies on their data privacy, protection, and security.
If you could change one thing in the world, what would it be?
I have so many things that I could add here, but the one thing that I personally want to change if I could is the COVID pandemic and the irreversible impacts it had. The pandemic affected too many people in too many ways, and we’re still feeling the draining effects of that, as a workforce and just as human beings. I obviously can’t wipe COVID off the face of the earth, but as someone in a leadership role I try to keep these things in mind and express that much-needed understanding and empathy when my peers or team are needing it. A little bit of empathy goes a long way in life and in your career.
Other details that you’d like to add:
I am always looking to partner with other innovators and leaders in the healthcare industry especially providers who want to explore out-of-the-box approaches to solve today’s countless challenges. Please reach out to me at skumar@carepayment.com
A big thank you to Sathish Kumar from CarePayment for sharing his journey to date.
If you would like to gain more perspective from Tech Leaders and CIOs you can read some of our other interviews here.
