We recently sat down with Katie Beaton, Product Manager at Phlo Connect, who manages a team of four Product experts across Phlo. Coming from a marketing background, she brings a people-centric approach to product development, always keeping the big picture in mind. She's excited about the future of pharmacy in healthtech, and is passionate about building partnerships that prioritise patients and prescribers. Learn more about Katie in this interview.
I came into product from a marketing background and I bring that into my approach to product management. Marketing centres around really understanding people and communicating value. Building great products centres around really understanding users to build and deliver value. Both also need a core understanding of business strategy and vision.
Every day is too short! I have a to-do list that I won’t be seen without and I start my day with my focus and forecast list – one priority that needs my focus that day and many other to-do’s. I then review user feedback and support communications, alongside our datasheets; that gives me as a real temperature check and any priority needs. I usually attend one stand-up of our user focused product teams. It is important to keep close to our day to day, to work in progress and any questions teams have about requirements.
I am on a lot of remote calls most days across the business, making sure we are understanding and supporting immediate and longer-term needs and across product teams to align vision and work to any dependencies. Then across my week, I like to have a combination of build team sessions, user focused sessions and product team workshops that focus on Product Management at Phlo, everything from vision mapping, prioritisation frameworks to core KPIs.
I have this poster in my office with my mantra “see the big picture; take the next step”.
If I could sum up what you need to lead product in any company, it is that. You need to make some big calls and the way to be confident in those calls is continually building and maintaining a big picture view of your product vision, the market, your strengths as a company, risks, and the rewards that are on the horizon.
As health technology develops at pace, pharmacy has the responsibility of being an everyday patient contact point. With this responsibility comes the opportunity to develop that patient relationship and the digital services offered by pharmacy.
In that developed future, I believe a personalised digital pharmacy can be people’s first contact for prescribed care, triage, referral, mental health support and in some areas, diagnostics.
The Phlo Connect products allow healthcare providers to realise and complete digital pathways to their patients.
I am most excited, that our products have been built and designed, to enable digital prescribing across healthcare companies of every size, stage, and discipline vertical. For existing providers, with their own systems to startups needing off the shelf tools to get started.
I love this about my job and prioritise building partnerships on a solid understanding of the vision and specific discipline challenges our partners face.
When we say “our team are your team, your patients are our patients” that really is the mindset we have.
The nuances are important to understand when building frictionless patient and prescriber experiences and impactful products.
Integrated, personalised, equitable care.
In the current hyper growth ecosystem of transformative healthtech, there is the danger of a dispersed, detached, duplicated innovation network.
Everyone working in the healthtech space must be mindful to what exists now, what is working now and always approach transformation with a deep understanding of the person at the end of the pathway.
When skindoc integrated with the Phlo Connect prescribing API and Advanced Digital Signing.
I have been speaking to the skindoc team over a couple of years, and they were a big part of our development of paperless prescribing for private healthcare.
So, supporting them integrating and going live with our digital prescribing, was a standout highlight and I am excited to see all they do as an innovative dermatology platform.
I have three sons, so anything with my family, usually sport related - I am just back from a basketball game as we speak! I like to run but I’m swapping my running shoes for walking shoes to take part in the Glasgow Kiltwalk next month.
Also, music, movies and art. I have revisited a love of listening to vinyl - my youngest likes Elvis, my oldest Fleetwood Mac and Pink Floyd. My middle son is more into films, and he stayed up to watch the Oscars with me.
Contact us to discover more about Phlo Connect and how we can work together to create integrated digital pathways for your clinicians and patients.
