Q&A: Joshua Titus, CEO and Founder of Gozio Health

RamaOnHealthcare June 18, 2024

Engaging Patients Where They Are – Anywhere

Today, RamaOnHealthcare, talks with Joshua Titus, the CEO and founder of Gozio Health, an industry-leading, customizable, location-aware mobile engagement platform focused on helping health systems improve customer experience and engagement.

Joshua Titus, CEO and Founder of Gozio Health

RamaOnHealthcare (ROH): Welcome to our Thought Leadership series, Joshua. Can you tell us about yourself and Gozio Health?

Joshua Titus (JT): I am the CEO and Founder of Gozio Health. I came into healthcare after spending a couple of decades at high-growth technology companies like NVIDIA. There I spent a lot of time in consumer tech and mobile. It was a combination of skill and blind luck made me successful in that space, but I wanted to leave a legacy that was more meaningful.

In 2013, a neighbor suggested if I wanted to use my technology toolbox to do some good, I should look at healthcare. It turned out there were a lot of very juicy problems in healthcare. The idea of helping people, or their loved ones, feel more at ease traversing their healthcare journey really resonated with me. I founded Gozio Health to serve as a digital companion for patients. Our technology provides a hand-holding experience throughout their care journey, from wayfinding assistance to the ability to schedule an appointment, access lab results, ask a question and get answers in real time—all from a patient’s smartphone.

Since its founding, Gozio’s clients have amassed millions of users who rely on the mobile apps we’ve built for them. As we pass milestones like 500 million mobile interactions, I find great satisfaction in knowing we’re making the care experience better for large numbers of people, every day.

ROH: We frequently hear patients express the difficulties they encounter with health systems’ digital experiences. What are some of the challenges the industry is facing when it comes to providing an easy-to-use interface for patients?

JT: Patients want a digital experience in healthcare that matches the level of digital service they’ve come to expect in other industries, but healthcare providers often struggle to meet these expectations. That is because most providers offer too many tools across too many platforms and prioritize web-based offerings over mobile solutions. Given that the device patients typically use most is a smartphone, emphasizing web-based options over a mobile app fails to meet patients where they are. That’s a detriment to the experience of care and, ultimately, their ability to manage their health.

It is not uncommon for hospitals and health systems to face challenges in providing an easy-to-use mobile interface for patients. It’s why so many healthcare apps fail when it comes to engagement as measured by downloads and regular use. Exacerbating the situation is that many healthcare organizations struggle to manage the tools and devices they already have, especially amid a shrinking IT workforce.

One of our clients is working to understand which of their solutions work well with others and which help to meet larger business goals. They anticipate this will reduce their technology stack from over 300 solutions to around 100. When you combine challenges like this with low-to-negative margins coming out of the pandemic, some leaders find it difficult to determine where to focus digital investments and how to optimize return on investment.

The most successful organizations make mobile part of their business strategy. They leverage their mobile app to improve both the patient and employee experience and drive new revenue with services that meet the evolving needs of their market. In doing so, they create a tool that strengthens connections and loyalty with patients, staff and their communities and improves their bottom line.

ROH: Gozio recently released the findings of a survey which found a disconnect between patients’ digital preferences and what CIOs are offering. Why is there such a disconnect?

JT: Healthcare has been behind the curve in delivering the digital experiences patients demand.

In today’s tech-driven world, it is nearly impossible to leave the house without a smartphone which people use for everything from turning on their car to ordering their morning coffee to monitoring their children’s location or paying their bills. Gozio’s consumer survey indicates patients want to a digital healthcare experience: 89% of patients say a single platform is crucial to managing their healthcare, while 50% want this platform to be accessible from their mobile devices. Nearly 40% also want access to tools that aren’t commonly available in a patient portal, like live chat, real-time updates on wait times, education and wayfinding.

Yet the primary tools offered by healthcare providers tend to favor website-based services even when mobile devices are the preferred choice for accessing healthcare services digitally. Healthcare CIOs report offering up to 40 different patient engagement tools, but patients aren’t aware of them. The data shows they are not using them because they are too hard to find. What is needed is a single platform that not only addresses what patients want, but also helps increase engagement with tools like online scheduling, supporting key business goals.

ROH: What novel approach is Gozio taking to help health systems create engaging and easy-to-use digital experiences for patients?

JT: Gozio empowers hospitals and health systems to create the digital experiences patients crave by enabling organizations to put all their consumer-facing digital tools onto a single mobile platform. This simplifies the mobile experience for all who engage with the organization. It also helps reduce the administrative aspects of care by putting information at patients’ fingertips and allowing them to self-manage as much of their experience as possible.

In the past year, we’ve been building out new capabilities for our mobile engagement platform that allow hospitals and health systems to provide mobile experiences that have been personalized by user type or group. This gives organizations the ability to develop unique digital experiences that address the specific needs and expectations of a wide variety of stakeholders. At a time when two out of three consumers expect healthcare digital experiences to mirror the quality of in-person encounters, customization such as this has become increasingly vital to gaining and maintaining market share and patient loyalty.

ROH: Tell us about your background and how it has helped you develop digital experiences that prioritize patients’ preferences.

JT: Before I founded Gozio, I worked for a variety of fast-moving Silicon Valley tech companies. For more than a decade, I led teams at NVIDIA, the first company to introduce graphics processing units (GPUs), a key component of PC and gaming architecture, and a critical contributor to advancements in artificial intelligence and deep learning. My focus on products to strengthen the consumer experience ultimately led me to design a healthcare mobile platform that could serve as a companion for consumers at each point of their healthcare journey. I’m excited by the advancements we’ve made and the growing recognition among healthcare providers that mobile is essential to great care experiences and outcomes.

ROH: What do you think it will take to get health systems to prioritize patients’ digital preferences?

JT: It is clear healthcare organizations understand the importance of deploying digital functionality for patients and consumers, yet they struggle to deliver the experiences people want and the functionality they need. As the emphasis on the patient experience intensifies, prioritizing patients’ personal digital preferences will ultimately become a business imperative.

It is clear the ability to successfully deliver mobile experiences that healthcare consumers crave is a competitive differentiator. Fifty percent of patients say a bad digital experience can ruin their entire care experience, many of our clients are winning awards and recognition for their digital patient experience. Moreover, 70% of our mobile app users are return users, on average. With the right approach and the right digital partner, healthcare organizations can reach beyond their four walls to meet people where they are, creating engaged and loyal consumers.

More about Joshua Titus

Joshua is the CEO of Gozio Health. He is passionate about creating mobile technology that informs and delights users. This passion led him to co-found Gozio after spending 12 years in management and technical leadership positions at visual computing company NVIDIA.

At NVIDIA, Joshua helped grow the chipset business unit from $200M to $870M in annual revenue before switching focus to mobile processors in 2010. There he helped drive revenue from $150M to $590M in just two years. During this time NVIDIA chips powered products ranging from Microsoft’s Xbox to Apple’s MacBook Pro, to high-end smart phones and the celebrated Tesla Model S center console.

Prior to NVIDIA, Joshua served in ASIC design, system engineering and management roles at a handful of computer technology companies including Dell Computers, Ross Technology and networking startup Xpeed. He has authored 11 patents and holds an Electrical Engineering degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

In the rare moments where he’s not working, Joshua unwinds by piloting his meticulously restored Cessna Skywagon to destinations across North America.

Joshua’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jtitus1/

Gozio Health: https://www.goziohealth.com/