Read the Conversation
EF: What does it mean to you to represent Brazil as a successful local company that has significantly contributed to the Brazilian healthcare system?
FC: I love this position because it places me at the intersection of several different fields. Although I am a mechanical engineer, which is not a typical background for someone in healthcare, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to impact many lives by creating better healthcare outcomes. Over the past 20 years, I have dedicated my career to this sector and plan to continue doing so until I retire.
The social aspect of my work is also very important to me. My family founded APAE in São Paulo 63 years ago, and I have been a volunteer there for the past 20 years, serving as president, executive president, and now as a board member, always in a volunteer capacity. Balancing a successful professional life by positively impacting others is crucial to me. Being part of a national company that can improve the lives of people in Brazil is something that resonates deeply with me.
EF: What tools did you gain throughout your career that you are now leveraging at Pixeon?
FC: Three key aspects stand out. First, my engineering background instilled a strong understanding of mathematics and efficiency. Knowing that one plus one equals two, for instance, and not three or four. This was a fundamental base and contributed to our search for efficiency, which is fundamental to our work at Pixeon.
The second key aspect I learned, especially during my MBA and while working abroad, is the importance of understanding diversity. People come from different backgrounds, and they think differently; these differences do not make anyone better or worse—just different. By putting yourself in someone else's shoes and seeing things from their perspective, you can often find better solutions. This skill has been crucial in understanding and bringing together various stakeholders for more effective outcomes.
The third aspect involves understanding the diverse stakeholders in the healthcare industry. Principles of game theory can apply to our industry: different parties’ interests are rarely aligned, or at times, are adjusted according to what we perceive to be the interests of others. However, if you can figure out how to align these interests, you can create significant value. It is about bringing the right team together, recognizing the different roles and objectives of each player, and finding ways to align their incentives. By focusing on these three areas—efficiency, understanding diverse perspectives, and aligning stakeholder interests—I believe I can drive Pixeon toward greater success. At the same time, these principles help us bring better care to patients.
Given the challenges in Brazil and many other parts of the world, this approach is both necessary and impactful. You have a lot of new technologies available that bring much better care for people, especially those who are getting older. With better health, there is a better quality of life. However, the cost of these treatments is skyrocketing. We are on the verge of having a non-sustainable healthcare system. If we do not make changes, we might end up with very good healthcare accessible only to a small portion of the population.
In Brazil, only 25% of the population has access to private healthcare, and this number is likely to decrease significantly soon if we do not realign interests and improve healthcare management in the country. This issue is not unique to Brazil; it is happening in many parts of the world.
EF: What value do Pixeon’s software solutions add to hospitals? What sets you apart from your competitors?
FC: One of our biggest competitive advantages is that we are large enough to have the resources to invest in and support big operations in Brazil, yet we are also small and local enough to stay very close to our customers and understand their reality. Our goal is not just to have the best technology, but to enable the best technology and tailor it to the specific needs of our customers.
Availability is not just about cost or price; it is about making technology easy for customers to adopt and use. For example, in the past five or six years, there has been a significant focus on using AI to recognize images, particularly in identifying cancer or other diseases. However, no single AI can recognize every type of problem in every image. Today, there are over 2,000 specialized solutions globally that can identify issues in images. Imagine a doctor looking at 200 different types of images from various parts of the body. Each image requires a different tool, and the majority of these tools record their findings directly on the image, making it difficult to retrieve this data later. This creates a chaotic situation for the doctor, who must understand how each tool works while also focusing on the patient.
Despite having advanced technology, the value is lost because the process is inefficient and overwhelming for the doctor. Our solution at Pixeon is to act as a middleman with our own artificial intelligence, called Lumia, which integrates these different AI tools. Our orchestrator helps doctors by organizing and presenting the information in a consistent way. Each AI tool sends its findings to Lumia, which then presents the information uniformly to the doctor. This system prioritizes images that show potential issues, allowing doctors to review high-priority cases first. The doctor can then decide whether to accept the AI’s findings, and all this information is recorded for easy retrieval and analysis later.
This approach allows us to bring real value from advanced tools. By organizing and standardizing the way information is presented, we make it easier for doctors to use the technology effectively. Our deep understanding of the market and the operations within hospitals and clinics allows us to package these technologies in a way that provides the best value for our customers. This focus on aligning advanced technology with the practical needs of healthcare professionals ensures we are truly enhancing patient care and system efficiency.
EF: What do you think Pixeon will look like in five to ten years? Are you identifying any trends that are guiding your decisions about which priorities to follow?
FC: We are focusing on three main areas to achieve our goals. My primary objective is to bring more efficiency to our customers, reducing costs while maintaining quality. This ensures the system remains cost-effective and affordable for more people in the future. We aim to achieve this not only in the private sector but also in the public sector. As a Brazilian company, we want to give back to the market, and we see that sometimes we can have a bigger impact in the public sector due to existing deficiencies. Our software can prevent a lot of waste in the public sector. Our goal is to bring more efficiency and achieve cheaper and better outcomes with technology.
We are pursuing three main strategies to accomplish this. Firstly, integrating Artificial Intelligence. We aim to make AI accessible and efficient for our customers by embedding it into our tools. For example, many reports generated during patient attendance could be handled by AI, saving time for doctors to interact with patients while AI manages the bureaucracy. Additionally, AI can analyze patient information within the organization and present meaningful data to doctors when needed, improving patient care.
Secondly, the main value in the future will be managing data across the organization and the market to reduce patient care costs. We are helping our customers organize their data for easy use and providing tools to assist in decision-making. For instance, we recently launched a new Business Intelligence tool that identifies areas where money is being lost and provides recommendations to prevent it. It can send real-time notifications, about things like long patient wait times, prompting immediate action to improve efficiency and patient experience.
Thirdly, we aim to improve communication between different systems to enhance the healthcare system as a whole. Today, many systems, like ERP or Hospital Information Systems, do not communicate with each other, leading to inefficiencies. We are developing APIs to facilitate these connections and encourage data sharing among our customers. This interoperability will streamline processes and reduce the time spent transferring information manually. By focusing on these areas, we strive to leverage technology to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and ultimately provide better care to patients.
EF: Do you find that chief technical officers in hospitals are receptive to this technology? Is it easy to convince them of its utility, or do you encounter some resistance to change?
FC: There is always resistance to change. Fortunately, we are currently in a favorable moment to instigate change because moments of crisis, such as the escalating costs of healthcare outpacing inflation, often serve as catalysts for adopting new technologies. This period mirrors the dynamics seen during the pandemic, where traditional face-to-face interactions transitioned predominantly to virtual platforms. For example, while previously 80% of my meetings were conducted in person and only 20% online, the current landscape has reversed, demonstrating the efficiency of virtual collaboration.
I have found that I am more productive now that the ability to conduct business virtually is accepted by society, even though I have had to adapt to this change. Without the pandemic, this shift might not have been as drastic. This opportune moment in the economy, coupled with the pressing issue of rising healthcare costs, underscores the need to prioritize essential changes. However, it is worth noting that many healthcare managers still lack adequate management and economic skills, especially those who ascended from clinical backgrounds like nursing or medicine. Despite their knowledge of medicine, goodwill and dedication to patient care, they may not possess the necessary tools to optimize operational efficiency. As a result, there is an imperative for organizations to invest in training and equip their leadership with the requisite skills for informed decision-making.
EF: How do you make Pixeon an attractive place for potential employees, when both healthcare and information technology are incredibly competitive fields?
FC: One of our core principles at Pixeon is a commitment to diversity. Regardless of religion, race, or background, we prioritize merit and talent, ensuring that everyone has an equal opportunity to contribute and be heard within our organization. While we do not actively advertise our commitment to diversity, it's reflected in our internal surveys and net promoter scores, consistently ranking high among our employees. Diversity and inclusion are not just marketing campaigns for us; they are fundamental beliefs that shape our company culture.
Another aspect of our culture is our open communication policy. We encourage both good news and bad news, understanding that challenges are opportunities for growth. Rather than blaming individuals for setbacks, we focus on addressing the underlying issues and adapting accordingly. We believe that early awareness of problems allows us to take corrective action before they escalate, fostering a culture of transparency and accountability. Furthermore, we maintain an open-door policy regarding our company's performance metrics. Our employees have access to these numbers, empowering them to understand our goals and contribute to achieving them. If we encounter setbacks, we openly discuss them, seek input from our team, and pivot as needed. This level of transparency fosters a sense of ownership and belonging among our employees.
In terms of career progression, we prioritize internal promotion whenever possible. We have established clear paths for advancement, outlining the skills and knowledge required for each role. Rather than seeking external candidates, we prefer to invest in our existing talent pool, providing opportunities for growth and development from within.
Our efforts to create an inclusive workplace have not gone unnoticed. Platforms like Glassdoor consistently rank us highly in our industry segment. Unlike traditional workplace awards, Glassdoor provides unfiltered feedback from current and former employees, offering valuable insights that guide our ongoing efforts to improve. We take these reviews seriously and try to improve wherever we can.
EF: Why is one dollar invested in Brazilian healthcare more valuable than anywhere else in Latin America or the world?
FC: I believe that the primary reason lies in the significant untapped potential of each dollar when invested wisely. If you allocate it towards addressing the current problem of escalating costs by introducing a solution that can connect stakeholders and align their interests to provide a more cost-effective outcome for patients, that dollar could yield far greater returns than anywhere else. This perspective resonates with me, especially considering the substantial demand for such solutions in Brazil. While acknowledging the challenges, I am confident that if executed correctly, it could lead to substantial returns.
In Brazil, healthcare consistently ranks among the top 3 priorities for families' investments, reflecting a significant portion of their financial allocation. There exists a sizable population capable of affording more cost-efficient solutions, despite not being covered by healthcare plans. This segment represents a substantial market opportunity since 75% of Brazilian families do not have a healthcare plan nowadays.
We must address this need, as providing solutions aligned with the preferences and financial capabilities of the populace is essential. Companies that can bridge this gap and offer accessible healthcare plans linked to comprehensive solutions stand to grow rapidly and make a significant impact on society.
