On Monday, April 24, 2017, Valant announced that Dr. David Lischner will move into the role of President and Chief Medical Officer, and Paul Cook will assume the role of Chief Executive Officer. We sat down with the two executives to understand more about the transition.
What is the announcement and what does it say about Valant’s growth trajectory?
DAVID: I am incredibly proud and humbled by the progress Valant has made in the last 12 years. Our mission, to leverage technology to make quality behavioral health care available to everyone, continues to motivate us to do great things for our customers and those they serve.
Although our mission has not changed, we are at the point of company maturity where we can dramatically expand our reach. Our goal is to utilize the Valant Platform to impact all areas of the behavioral healthcare market. Paul Cook is essential in helping us attain this goal, as he is a proven technology leader who has successfully taken other companies on the journey upon which Valant has embarked, which is to scale while maintaining a very high bar for quality and commitment to customer success.
PAUL: Valant has had tremendous success delivering a great software product for the private practice market. The mission of improving health outcomes through technology permeates all areas of the organization, and the team David built is deeply talented and passionate. I’m very impressed by all this team has accomplished to date.
Our next objective is to utilize the Valant Platform to address all segments of the behavioral health care market. To accomplish this, and deliver the same level of customer care to which our private practice clients are accustomed, takes careful resource planning, company alignment, and good information for decision making. I’m here to help my colleagues build a company of scale while delivering remarkable care for our customers.
My background isn’t health care specific – my experience is in helping companies scale to attain goals. At Valant, I’m delighted to have a team that can help advise me in this market and a partner in David who has proven to be a tremendous strategic thinker.
How will you define the two roles?
DAVID: As President and CMO, I will continue to lead product vision and execution both internally and externally. I will also assist with sales and business development and help build partnerships that align with our mission and add value for our customers. I’ll be especially focused on partnerships and product initiatives that can produce better business and clinical outcomes across the behavioral healthcare market.
My medical background as well as my experience at Valant enables me to create a role set apart from a traditional CMO role. I have always brought my clinical experience to Valant product development, and as President and CMO, I’ll be able to devote more time to that work.
PAUL: As CEO I will set company strategy, build and counsel my Senior Leadership Team, and ensure we are properly resourced. So much of what we have to do is execution driven. I intend to provide a framework to ensure we are getting fast and accurate systems, software, and customer information. Finally, I want to empower all of my colleagues at Valant to make good decisions quickly.
It’s no secret – the behavioral health care market is faced with shrinking budgets and substandard technology solutions. I can’t personally fix the funding challenges for behavioral health care, but as an aligned, nimble, and passionate technology company, Valant intends to deliver solutions that address technology pain points. Our goal is to help our customers become more efficient and enabled to deliver better outcomes for their clients.
What does the future look like for Valant?
DAVID: It’s very exciting to be in a company where every person tries to push the bar in terms of innovation. We will keep building on our solid foundation and will bring new technology to the behavioral health care market at a higher and higher velocity. We have a big vision and much to do in order to deliver on our mission of leveraging great technology to make high quality care available to all who need it.
PAUL: I feel extremely excited about the future of Valant. I continue to be impressed by just how talented and passionate the people of Valant are. We have a great strategy to disrupt a woefully underserved market. We continue to build a culture of action and responsibility. Our board, our leadership and our company are completely aligned. I can’t wait to continue to deliver on our mission.
