Jiang Li is founder and CEO of Vivalink, a provider of connected healthcare solutions for patient monitoring and telemedicine.
His passion and extensive experience in bringing innovative technology and products into the marketplace positions him as an innovative thought leader in virtual healthcare. An executive with more than two decades of experience across multiple disciplines, including global healthcare IT, medical device, cloud software, and sensor and IoT industries, he is a regular contributor to leading edge media including Forbes and an established industry speaker. Prior to joining Vivalink, he was responsible for new product and technology development as the VP of engineering at Kovio and Thinfilm Electronics, leading printed electronics companies. Prior to that, he worked at AMD and the joint venture between AMD/Fujitsu, Spansion. As the vice president of product engineering at Spansion, Jiang managed the major new product launches at Spansion. Jiang holds 22 US patents, and a PhD degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
OPN: What drove you to choose a career working in medical technology?
JL: I spent many years working in technology product engineering and development, but it was a more personal experience that inspired my work in remote patient monitoring. When in the ER for a misdiagnosed heart attack, I got a personal perspective on the instruments used for monitoring patients. I thought there had to be a better way, one that was less intrusive and more empowering for patients, yet equally as effective at collecting vital data.
OPN: It is clear that the healthcare industry has been greatly impacted by the pandemic, what do you think has been the greatest impact within the surgical industry?
JI: In many cases, the covid-19 pandemic halted surgeries because resources had to be diverted to emergency care. This created a backlog of necessary procedures as well as elective surgeries. It also impacted the time and space available for patients to receive post-operative care in hospitals and rehab facilities. The use of remote patient monitoring technology moved to the forefront of care options. Providers can continue to monitor relevant vitals of ambulatory post-surgical patients while they recuperate at home. Along with basics such as heart rate, clinicians also can also monitor movement, which can be another indicator of progress to help proactively react to any issues.
OPN: What’s the best part of your job?
JI: I enjoy solving challenges. Researching the market landscape to determine the issues faced by both patients and providers, then developing products and technology that offer solid solutions is satisfying. When we can lead the way to innovation that makes a significant impact in people’s lives, that is significant. Understanding that monitoring vital statistics doesn’t have to be a big burden on patients, then finding a way to make the entire process seamless and painless feels good. We can help people through technology to achieve better outcomes.
OPN: … and the worst?
JI: As our company grows and evolves, we continually have to reassess our priorities. Unfortunately, sometimes that means changing our staffing. Laying people off is never easy. We want to advance our technology to best fit the market, so we have to ensure we have the right people on our team.
OPN: What has been the highlight of your career so far?
JI: Our technology is in 32 countries, so I have the opportunity to see how adoption of our solutions has a meaningful impact. As an example, the Veterans Administration hospital in Atlanta uses our t