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TRANSCRIPTION WITH SPEAKERS
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[00:00] SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Canada's podcast, the number one podcast for entrepreneurs by
[00:06] SPEAKER_00: entrepreneurs. Hello everybody it's Bonnie LG welcome to Canada's podcast. Today
[00:13] SPEAKER_00: I'm very happy to welcome our guest Mark Jenis, President and CEO of Health
[00:19] SPEAKER_00: Ice Health System. Mark welcome to the show. I'm so glad you could stop by and chat
[00:25] SPEAKER_00: with us today. Thank you Connie for having me. So why don't we jump right in and
[00:29] SPEAKER_00: can you tell us a little bit about yourself and a bit about your career and
[00:35] SPEAKER_00: when do you discover that you had that entrepreneurial spirit inside you? Well I
[00:42] SPEAKER_01: I'm a psychologist by trade. I love people. I love the concept of knowledge
[00:48] SPEAKER_01: transfer and learning, study and human support and interaction. When I finished
[00:53] SPEAKER_01: graduate school I started immediately. I started a little practice and I started
[00:59] SPEAKER_01: a charitable research foundation as well. I mean to support human Canadians and
[01:03] SPEAKER_01: Canadian families mainly with information from research on what helps to
[01:08] SPEAKER_01: build healthy families and healthy people. So we started there and so I was in
[01:12] SPEAKER_01: my late 20s and that's when it really started for me and I've been working at
[01:16] SPEAKER_00: entrepreneurial activities ever since. And have you always been based in
[01:21] SPEAKER_00: Calgary or tell us a little bit about about your path that way? Sure we
[01:27] SPEAKER_01: finished my doctor studies at the University of Alberta. So we started in
[01:30] SPEAKER_01: Edmonton and we're there for about a year or so after and then from there I moved
[01:36] SPEAKER_01: to Calgary and I've been in Calgary ever since. So Calgary has really been the
[01:39] SPEAKER_00: mainstay class. And you are the co-founder of ICE Health Systems. Can you tell us a
[01:46] SPEAKER_00: little bit about the company and the need or the opportunity that you saw in
[01:52] SPEAKER_00: the market and in each that wasn't being met? Sure. We started ICE Health Systems
[01:59] SPEAKER_01: a number of years ago with a vision to not be an also around just ran just
[02:03] SPEAKER_01: another electronic health record system but to truly build something different
[02:07] SPEAKER_01: to help move health world and health records forward. And so a number of
[02:13] SPEAKER_01: physicians and dentists, I call them people from all different areas, researchers
[02:16] SPEAKER_01: administrators, clinicians got involved a number of years ago formed an
[02:20] SPEAKER_01: international collaboration for health information technology and have been
[02:25] SPEAKER_01: guiding us for a number of years to build a system that is entirely web-based.
[02:30] SPEAKER_01: It was the first one effectively that was entirely web-based has proper
[02:35] SPEAKER_01: security so that we meet ISO standards for security so can serve around the
[02:39] SPEAKER_01: world and then has a process of constant improvement so we can serve the
[02:44] SPEAKER_01: market with one product. So we're serving dentists, we're serving physicians. We
[02:49] SPEAKER_01: have a telehealth built in, it's a more of an inclusive system with more
[02:53] SPEAKER_01: flexibility than you would generally find. And so in the last element one of the
[02:58] SPEAKER_01: largest and most significant issues within the world of health care particularly
[03:02] SPEAKER_01: for health care professionals and patients is the concept of communication.
[03:05] SPEAKER_01: Communication is not what it needs to be and so it's a concept that's been
[03:11] SPEAKER_01: built right through the if you will the framework of the system from day one.
[03:16] SPEAKER_01: And so we connected with Amazon web services from the beginning have been
[03:22] SPEAKER_01: working with them from day one and it's been a really successful project in
[03:27] SPEAKER_01: building and is now doing some wonderful work around the world. So how did you
[03:32] SPEAKER_00: grow and scale a business that you started here in in Calgary to the point
[03:38] SPEAKER_00: where it is a global company and really interested to hear a little bit more
[03:42] SPEAKER_00: about how you were able to build and expand your business. Well in all
[03:50] SPEAKER_01: honesty we're just starting that scale now. So we haven't building so what we
[03:54] SPEAKER_01: did was first we made ourselves a determined decision to be determined to
[03:59] SPEAKER_01: take the time to build the system so it would be able to function properly
[04:03] SPEAKER_01: within the market. We've done that and continue to refine it and then we started
[04:07] SPEAKER_01: to do some test projects. So Alberta Health Services is using part of the
[04:11] SPEAKER_01: system and to support first responders throughout the province. So that's
[04:16] SPEAKER_01: been a wonderful relationship. UCLA is using the system in Dentistry to support
[04:21] SPEAKER_01: community-based clinical education. So they have students going all through the
[04:24] SPEAKER_01: state of California serving underserved patients and now expanding throughout
[04:29] SPEAKER_01: the country. Into Jamaica, dental school in Jamaica is starting to use the
[04:33] SPEAKER_01: system. In India with rotary international we started a project to support
[04:38] SPEAKER_01: a village and I'll say this incorrectly my apologies but the village of
[04:41] SPEAKER_01: Saddlepur for within the lockdown the hospital is shut down everyone has to
[04:47] SPEAKER_01: be at home. Doctors need to be able to communicate and care for their
[04:50] SPEAKER_01: patients and we were able to provide that communication EHR and telehealth support
[04:57] SPEAKER_01: immediately for them and so they've been a wonderful partner to work with.
[05:00] SPEAKER_01: And so we've been trying to build relationships throughout the world as you've
[05:03] SPEAKER_01: been refining the system. It's now quite nicely refined and and
[05:08] SPEAKER_01: fortunately now it's starting its growth throughout the world. Wow and what a
[05:13] SPEAKER_00: variety of organizations that you're working with that's really fascinating.
[05:18] SPEAKER_00: Thank you. I don't think we can talk about about health health care or
[05:22] SPEAKER_00: health records without acknowledging the unique environment that we've been
[05:26] SPEAKER_00: in this year with the global pandemic and I'm wondering have you been forced to
[05:32] SPEAKER_00: either adapt or pivot your business or perhaps change things in order to
[05:37] SPEAKER_00: better support your customers through this last number of months? There've been a
[05:42] SPEAKER_01: few things absolutely. The first is the whole again concept of communication
[05:45] SPEAKER_01: becomes that much more important because people are more isolated and when
[05:49] SPEAKER_01: they're more isolated you need to be able to find different ways to connect
[05:53] SPEAKER_01: and so the concept of pushing the telehealth integrated with the health
[05:57] SPEAKER_01: record has been really important and that's what's really helped the folks in
[06:00] SPEAKER_01: India and then some other things is pivoting as a business. Really we were doing a
[06:06] SPEAKER_01: lot of work in one particular country and they're shut down devastated the
[06:09] SPEAKER_01: country financially the point where they couldn't execute their contract and so
[06:13] SPEAKER_01: we've had to pivot and go into other areas and other markets to try to build
[06:17] SPEAKER_01: relationships there. So most definitely the pandemic has caused challenges and
[06:22] SPEAKER_01: you know the technology is a hot area but that doesn't mean there aren't
[06:25] SPEAKER_01: significant challenges within the other area in the area as well and so we try to
[06:29] SPEAKER_01: adapt and look as hard as we can to serve. Absolutely. Well and a word that we
[06:36] SPEAKER_00: hear often when we talk with entrepreneurs this year is resilience and I'm
[06:42] SPEAKER_00: curious if you might have a bit of a unique perspective on that not only
[06:46] SPEAKER_00: because you've had to be resilient but also just with your psychology background
[06:51] SPEAKER_00: and the knowledge that you would have professionally can you tell me a little
[06:55] SPEAKER_00: bit about maybe how you've had to really build that muscle this year or even
[07:01] SPEAKER_00: what advice you could give to some of our entrepreneurs who are maybe not as
[07:05] SPEAKER_00: far along in their journey but they still have a vision and a dream that they
[07:09] SPEAKER_01: want to execute on. Don't isolate yourself connect with people, speak with people.
[07:16] SPEAKER_01: We all go through periods of extreme emotion particularly people are
[07:21] SPEAKER_01: responsible on the entrepreneurial side have a lot of stake in the game if you
[07:26] SPEAKER_01: will and so it gets more challenging and more emotionally challenging for
[07:30] SPEAKER_01: everyone there's no question about it and so there are a few things but the main
[07:34] SPEAKER_01: main one is keep talking to people and continue to expand the number of people
[07:38] SPEAKER_01: you speak with. There are good people out there there are people like you out
[07:42] SPEAKER_01: there there are people who are interested in your project and in your vision
[07:46] SPEAKER_01: work hard to articulate it communicate it and reach out to as many people as you
[07:51] SPEAKER_00: possibly can. That's great advice and so needed what an extraordinary year it's
[07:58] SPEAKER_00: been. Well I'm wondering when we talk about you know start a start up is there
[08:06] SPEAKER_00: something that stands out in your mind is maybe one of the greatest challenges
[08:10] SPEAKER_00: you had to overcome as you you've tried to execute on the vision of ice
[08:16] SPEAKER_00: health systems and grow your business and I'm just wondering if if you can
[08:21] SPEAKER_00: share a bit of an insight into maybe a particularly challenging component
[08:26] SPEAKER_00: often it can be financial to start when we're talking about young companies but
[08:31] SPEAKER_00: would like to hear a little bit more about your you know personal journey that
[08:36] SPEAKER_01: way. For ours it's too full definitely the financial
[08:39] SPEAKER_01: particularly because with the collaboration that we've worked with the decision
[08:44] SPEAKER_01: was made to build the system up significantly before we went out to the market
[08:48] SPEAKER_01: so that we could demonstrate well what we were doing and we could serve well
[08:53] SPEAKER_01: without limiting our ability to continue to refine and develop. So that was a so
[09:00] SPEAKER_01: capitalizing that and sharing that absolutely wasn't has been a challenge and
[09:06] SPEAKER_01: there've been many good people but it definitely a challenge and one needs to be
[09:10] SPEAKER_01: capitalized properly in order to have a chance to succeed. Then the second
[09:15] SPEAKER_01: thing for us in particular is because the system is complex and so to
[09:18] SPEAKER_01: understand and design understand what the market is doing understand what
[09:23] SPEAKER_01: clients are needing because healthcare changes quickly what are the
[09:26] SPEAKER_01: requirements and how do we design accordingly not only for today but for
[09:30] SPEAKER_01: tomorrow and enable ourselves to have the flexibility within the system to be
[09:34] SPEAKER_01: able to easily and rapidly adapt technologically. So these are some of the
[09:39] SPEAKER_01: real challenges technical and financial administrative that we've had to deal
[09:43] SPEAKER_01: with and they are probably not dissimilar to what many people have but those are
[09:49] SPEAKER_01: some particular items that we've been we've been addressing for a long time.
[09:53] SPEAKER_00: Well and as someone who's been an entrepreneur for a long time what do you find
[09:59] SPEAKER_00: the most rewarding about it? What keeps you going? Last night I received a phone
[10:05] SPEAKER_01: call from a group in Chicago that is doing a project in COVID and they're
[10:12] SPEAKER_01: starting they have access to rapid tests and they're starting an Illinois wide
[10:16] SPEAKER_01: project to do testing for people to report back to them quickly to report to
[10:23] SPEAKER_01: the federal government and they've selected the system as the optimal system to
[10:29] SPEAKER_01: work with in order to do that that's rewarding. When UCLA says this system we
[10:36] SPEAKER_01: have grown two years ahead of schedule and the system is the backbone of
[10:40] SPEAKER_01: everything that we do that's tremendously rewarding to see people
[10:44] SPEAKER_01: benefiting to see patients benefiting to see professionals communicating it's a
[10:49] SPEAKER_00: wonderful wonderful feeling. That's that's tremendous congratulations on your
[10:55] SPEAKER_00: success that's that's incredible and and what a great story for Calgary and
[11:00] SPEAKER_00: for Canada as well to to know that that we're home for you. So I'm curious what
[11:08] SPEAKER_00: are some of the things that you do personally maybe to just kind of help
[11:13] SPEAKER_00: keep up balance we all know that being an entrepreneur can be a 24-7 job and
[11:20] SPEAKER_00: now more than ever it's people are working from home we hear you know the
[11:25] SPEAKER_00: lives become more more blurred and trying to achieve any balance in life can be
[11:29] SPEAKER_00: very difficult but I'm wondering what are some of the things that you like to
[11:33] SPEAKER_00: do to either unwind or or just to to be able to to relax? Relax is an interesting
[11:42] SPEAKER_01: word. The some of the things that I do personally my wife and I Jose and I
[11:48] SPEAKER_01: exercise together every day and again from my perspective it's do things with
[11:53] SPEAKER_01: people so we exercise together every day we do try to get outside take walks
[11:59] SPEAKER_01: every day as well as a community with people and we play a lot of music so
[12:04] SPEAKER_01: just a variety of things we cook together just things and particularly in this
[12:08] SPEAKER_01: pandemic time life changes you're exactly right so these aren't all these
[12:12] SPEAKER_01: things we weren't doing together etc but to help maintain a bit of balance and
[12:16] SPEAKER_01: it one thinks a lot better when one takes little breaks it's important and so
[12:22] SPEAKER_01: we cook we exercise together we're playing music getting outside and just
[12:29] SPEAKER_01: doing as many different things as we can and trying to enjoy. Yeah and I see
[12:34] SPEAKER_00: you have a friend there so obviously pet therapy is good too. Very effective.
[12:40] SPEAKER_00: Yeah first or first or what do you feel at the outlook is for for technology
[12:49] SPEAKER_00: companies or startups in Canada going forward certainly it sounds like you have
[12:54] SPEAKER_00: a wonderful success story here but do you have any sense of what you hope to
[13:00] SPEAKER_00: see in the future or how you think things will start to unfold? Canada is an
[13:05] SPEAKER_01: incredibly talented and resilient place the people are wonderful here. What I
[13:10] SPEAKER_01: hope in the future is that companies in Canada have an opportune access to
[13:15] SPEAKER_01: the global marketplace not only the Canadian marketplace we're a tremendous
[13:20] SPEAKER_01: and wonderful country we're also a smaller country full of great people and so
[13:26] SPEAKER_01: my hope is that entrepreneurs in Canada and technology particularly will
[13:31] SPEAKER_01: increasingly have access to the global market and like I said earlier for us
[13:37] SPEAKER_01: Amazon Web Services has been a really excellent an excellent support in that
[13:44] SPEAKER_01: way because we've with their growth around the world we've been able to open
[13:48] SPEAKER_01: up spots remain compliant with requirements around data storage and hosting
[13:53] SPEAKER_01: etc around the world. It's really helped us be able to say yes to projects and
[13:58] SPEAKER_01: so I hope the same for every entrepreneur in the country. That's wonderful. If
[14:04] SPEAKER_00: people would like to connect with you Mark how how can they find you online
[14:07] SPEAKER_01: where can they connect with you? Really the best way to connect with me is just
[14:12] SPEAKER_01: you can look me up on LinkedIn or you can look me up just you send me an email
[14:18] SPEAKER_01: mark at icehealthsystems.com also at our website icehealthsystems.com there's
[14:26] SPEAKER_01: a contact link for info that will come to me as well so but just mark at
[14:31] SPEAKER_01: icehealthsystems.com people more than welcome to reach out. Well it's been great
[14:36] SPEAKER_00: to chat with you today I really thank you for taking time out of your
[14:39] SPEAKER_00: busy schedule to to share some of your experiences with our listeners and I
[14:44] SPEAKER_00: know that they will get a lot out of it so thank you so much for being a guest
[14:47] SPEAKER_01: today. Thank you for having me.
