The pace at which new technology is reshaping our everyday lives is increasing at lightning speeds. The influence of technological innovation continues to grow, changing all industries as it evolves. Out of all of the industries in which technology is responsible for accelerating innovation, healthcare is one of the most important. The fusion of technology with healthcare is responsible for improving and saving countless lives all around the world. Healthcare labs are now outfitted with modern equipment; and diagnostics technologies and devices like smart phones and tablets are starting to substitute traditional monitoring and recording systems. Technological improvements in healthcare have contributed to services being taken out of the boundaries of hospital walls and uniting them with user-friendly, accessible devices.
Title21 Health Solutions is a San Francisco Bay Area-based, woman-owned, healthcare technology company that is bridging the gap between healthcare and the latest technology. Since 2001, the company has been driven by the mission to improve quality, efficiency and patient safety through easy to- use, flexible, integrated technology, helping make the health system work better for everyone. Title21 automates processes, workflows, and manages critical data to help life science firms comply with regulations and gain efficiencies, ultimately supporting improved patient safety and patient outcomes. Their flexible electronic solutions are targeted to the unique needs of firms in the regulated health sciences.
The Leader Guiding Success
Lynn Fischer, CEO of Title21 Health Solutions, leads the overall strategic direction and effective operations of the company. With Ms. Fischer’s leadership, Title21 has successfully expanded beyond the blood business into biotechnology, cellular therapy, regenerative medicine, hospital labs, as well as blood and marrow transplant programs. The company was selected by CIOReview as a Top 20 Most Promising Technologies in Biotech for two years in a row. Ms. Fischer offers a unique perspective based on her many years of consumer packaged goods experience specializing in innovation with new product, brand, and business development. She transitioned into healthcare technology eight years ago after starting her career within the wine and ice cream business. While Vice President of Marketing at the third largest winery in the world, she repositioned Concannon Vineyard to a national brand receiving Gomberg-Frederickson’s ‘Winery of The Year’ award and trademarking Concannon’s place in history as “America’s First Petite Sirah.” Ms. Fischer also launched M&M®, Snickers®, and Milky Way® Ice Cream as General Manager of M&M/Mars® and Dreyer’s® Grand Ice Cream joint venture. She began her marketing career at E. & J. Gallo Winery after earning her MBA from the University of Pittsburgh, Katz Graduate School of Business. Her career has focused on innovation and leadership serving as a corporate entrepreneur.
Comprehensive Spectrum of Solutions with Pathfinders
Title21 has been providing integrated solutions to meet the compliance-driven needs of life science organizations including Document Control, Change Control, Learning Management, Error Management, CAPA, Audit, Equipment Maintenance, Complaint Handling, Supplies Management, Product Inventory and other solutions. The ease-of-use, flexibility and native integration capabilities of Title21’s comprehensive platform helped the company become the go-to enterprise quality management platform for life sciences. In recent years, the company has developed data management solutions for the cellular therapy and regenerative medicine space. In 2014, the company launched its Cellular Therapy Solution, which enables complete electronic data management and automation of the complex workflows of a cellular therapy environment spanning from laboratory processing, inventory management to product release review and clinical data management.
“The opportunity for us to develop solutions to help cell therapy organizations meet their data management challenges and shift into a new market was due to our ability to listen to market needs, think outside the box, and our culture of innovation.”
Having an experienced and passionate team of professionals and high-performing culture are important support pillars to Lynn’s leadership and the business. Both technical and soft skills are valued at Title21 Health Solutions with a requisite belief in the Title21 Culture Code which includes a passion for making a difference, a sense of ownership, the ability to think and perform outside the box, willingness to be a life-long learner, a commitment to excellence, and the mindset to thrive in a dynamic, high-growth environment.
Motivation to Make a Difference
Ms. Fischer’s motivation comes from her desire to make a difference and to continue innovating in order to support and improve the quality of healthcare. “At Title21, we serve our customers with sincere commitment to make their lives easier so that they may focus on providing the best patient care and treatments possible.”
“I am motivated by achieving what others may view as unlikely or even impossible. My passion is to support improved patient safety and outcomes through our innovative technologies,” envisions Ms. Fischer.
A Leader’s Inspirations
“My greatest inspiration is a woman who understood the importance of making a difference and was able to accomplish great things through a lifetime of small acts. Mother Teresa’s selfless service to others is a wonderful inspiration, and she is an exemplary role model for the work that I do at Title21 Health Solutions. I was fortunate to have incredible mentors as parents teaching me strong core values like integrity, optimism, perseverance and maintaining high standards at all costs,” heartily depicted Ms. Fischer.
Attributes of Successful Businesswomen
When asked what she believes makes a successful businesswoman, Ms. Fischer replied, “A positive perspective, excellent judgment, roll-up-your-sleeves grit, the ability to apply new learning, and unwavering perseverance are all indispensable elements for success.” Ms. Fischer explained that one must have the mindset to refine continually and reinvent oneself by pursuing opportunities that may seem at first to be out of one’s comfort zone. “It’s important for a leader to be able to move through the learning curve to a level of unconscious competence so that new experiences and skills can be applied to opportunities real-time,” stated Ms. Fischer.
Lynn also emphasized that it’s important to maintain a healthy balance between personal and professional life. She shared, “many of my best ideas come to me while I am out of the office. My family loves to travel, so we are always exploring other cultures and ideas. Traveling abroad is an excellent way to maintain perspective on what’s important. It is also very helpful that my three children and husband are incredibly supportive of my career and the success of Title21 Health Solutions, so they understand when I have to work instead of play. When one’s personal passions align with the goals and mission of the company she leads, the balancing act is much easier.”
Continued Growth and Innovation
Ms. Fischer attributes Title21 Health Solutions’ success to following their true north of improving patient safety and outcomes through easy-to-use, flexible and integrated technologies. Title21’s team is dedicated to customer centric innovation driven by the long-term partnerships they have with customers. The company’s mission is one that is shared with their partners, and every decision or innovation they put forth has the goal of improving patient quality and care. “Title21 is committed to providing solutions that reduce human errors, promote interoperability, and increase quality,” stated Ms. Fischer.
“The most critical success factors are innovation, building and developing high-performing teams, continuous learning, partnering with leaders, and a steady focus on what moves the needle and has the greatest positive impact on the market.”
Turning Obstacles into Opportunities
While discussing past challenges, Lynn shared, “I have faced and overcome many obstacles in my career. From being laid off from my first job out of college as a copywriter at a well-known advertising agency to pivoting my career from consumer packaged goods into healthcare IT. The former obstacle was the impetus for me to pursue my MBA and the latter has taught me how to transcend a steep learning curve very quickly. I approach obstacles now as exciting challenges where I discover new paths to success through resourcefulness, creative problem-solving and sheer effort. It makes what I do very rewarding, and I am never bored. I have learned that the answer ‘No’ is just the beginning of the conversation when you have a winning mindset. There is always a way to find common ground if you can approach the negotiation with an empathetic perspective and an open mind.”
Long-term Partnerships Founded on Customer-Centric Innovation
For every organization on the globe, maintaining a successful customer base requires determination and excellent caliber. Title21 has proven their ability to cultivate long-term partnerships with their customers by streamlining client processes while supporting the constant of change. This allows their customers to innovate while maintaining compliance with the regulations and standards. Since the company’s solutions were designed with flexibility and long-term requirements in mind, their technologies establish a customer-centric foundation for long-term strategic partnerships. Ms. Fischer says, “Fundamentally, it is important for a company to do what you say you are going to do. The business then builds a credible reputation for delivering on their commitments. One of our commitments is offering flexible technology that can adapt to our customers’ dynamic business and regulatory needs.”
Title21’s Outlook on the Future
When asked about the company’s five-year plan, Ms. Fischer stated, “Title21 Health Solutions will continue to build long-term strategic partnerships with the leading innovators in each sector. The industries we serve are constantly growing and evolving with new scientific breakthroughs and advancements, so it is vital that we continue to deliver technology that evolves and expands with their needs. Title21 will continue to deliver innovative solutions to support cell therapy, biotech, and regenerative medicine organizations as well as focus on growing, specialized areas such as gene therapies. We will continue to support the reduction of medical errors through enabling healthcare institutions to achieve interoperability of their information systems with our solutions, such as EHRs and other clinical systems.”