Inside the head of Olivier Thierry, CEO of Qare

 

This article is based on the fourth episode of our What Health podcast, with guest Olivier Thierry. To listen to the episode go to Spotify and don't forget to subscribe to receive a notification when the next episode is released, as well as put 5 stars to help us emerge. 

For our fourth podcast, we had the chance to talk with Olivier Thierry. 

Former COO of La Fourchette, founder of a comic book publishing house and now CEO of Qare, Olivier Thierry describes himself as a multidisciplinary entrepreneur who likes to make the companies he enters grow. 

In this podcast, he talks about chance, luck, opportunity, COVID19 and especially telemedicine. 

Through this article, we share with you Olivier's vision of telemedicine, both now and in the future, punctuated by his experiences, his encounters and his objectives. 

To discover the whole audio podcast episode, it's here. In video, it's here. 

Chance, luck and opportunity 

An entrepreneur at heart, Olivier's first professional experience was in a startup that lasted 5 years. He left this adventure to join SAP, a multinational company that designs and sells software, particularly management and maintenance systems. An opportunity that presented itself to him by chance and that will mark 8 years of his life. 

While working at SAP, he often attends seminars or dinners and it was during one of these dinners that he met the founder of La Fourchette, the Fork today, Bertrand Jelensperger, to whom he first sold the benefits of SAP and the opportunities they could gain from a collaboration. 

It was an initially banal meeting, until Olivier realized the next day that their exchange should not have focused on SAP, but rather on The Fork. 

6 months later, Olivier and Bertrand had lunch together again and agreed that he would join Bertrand Jelensperger in the La Fourchette adventure as COO and right-hand man. 

Through his various positions, Olivier makes it a point of honour to build clear structures with established processes. He is convinced that it is through the quality of personalities and relationships that a company can grow and achieve its goals. 

It is clear from the growth of the various companies in which he has worked that he has been able to make his vision of things shine through. 

5 years later, in 2019, it was through a new meeting that he decided to tackle the healthcare sector and joined Qare.  

A matter of time

Like many, Olivier is no exception to the rule. When Vincent asks him 'Why health?', Olivier answers by mentioning his family environment and the importance of the sector. However, Olivier reminds us that, more than health, he is above all a pure product of technology. 

He remembers one evening when he was working late, as he often does, and he heard his wife say to him, "It's okay! You're not saving lives'. He decided it was time to make a bigger impact, and what could be more important than making a difference in people's health and lives through technology? 

So in March 2019, he officially joined Qare. 

Qare is a company created in 2017 and has the mission to facilitate access to healthcare. The company is now number 2 in teleconsultation in France with over 50 specialties and a service available 7 days a week. This teleconsultation platform allows the greatest number of people to consult doctors or health professionals from anywhere from their computer or phone. 

A pioneer in the field of teleconsultation, Qare has succeeded in attracting more than 130 companies, proof that the need is real. 

Convinced that teleconsultation is a complementary need to the so-called traditional consultation, the company is committed to training the health professionals who join it in the various technologies necessary for the proper functioning of consultations and remote patient care. 

Like any technology, the platform needs to be kept up to date, improved, modified; Vincent then asks Olivier about how this is done at Qare. Olivier explains that customer satisfaction is closely monitored at Qare. Via an NPS score, but also written opinions. He also tells us that today Qare has a 95% customer satisfaction rating, which is impressive for a service platform, especially in the health sector. 

With a view to constant improvement, Qare acquired DoctoPsy, a mental health expert, in 2020. Aware of the challenge that mental health represents, and rather than developing technology and expertise on the subject from scratch, the strategy was to acquire a pioneer in the sector. This strategy will allow the company to better respond to the growing needs of patients and also to strengthen Qare's teams, both on the development side and in terms of support functions. 

2020 is marked by this acquisition, but also by the COVID19 pandemic, a pivotal year for health, especially telemedicine. Vincent asked Olivier about the importance and evolution of telemedicine over the past two years and the place it will occupy in our lives in the years to come. 

  

Telemedicine, reality and future 

While in December 2018, less than 1,200 teleconsultations were reimbursed by Medicare, this figure reaches nearly 1.2 million by March 2022.1 

Obviously, nothing to compare with the 5 million teleconsultations at the peak of the pandemic. 

Indeed, today, the offices have reopened and teleconsultation is not intended to replace a visit to one's doctor, but to be purely complementary. We are fortunate today to have different ways of accessing our doctor, and teleconsultation is one of them. 

Moreover, in 2019, the state is taking a step forward by voting for the reimbursement of teleconsultation. However, Olivier is not 100% excited by this measure, which he still considers insufficient, as it is too restrictive. He also thinks that the reimbursement should be broader, not only apply to certain consultations or that patients should benefit from a fixed price. This would give a real boost to this practice, which has many advantages for both patients and health professionals. 

Olivier is convinced that teleconsultation has a bright future. Not only for consultations with general practitioners, but also with specialists. Vincent then asks him about the way to proceed, because for some it is absolutely necessary to practice through touch, through direct contact. Olivier answers that the solution lies in connected objects. Without revealing the next collaborations or investments of Qare, he specifies that the evolution of technologies will eventually allow the patient to take measurements himself, thanks to the IOT. 

Moreover, the explosion of interest in mental health is also proof that teleconsultation has a definite future. In France, it is still taboo to talk about psychologists, let alone psychiatrists, yet it is now the number one cost of health insurance. Olivier is delighted that more and more top sportsmen and women and celebrities are speaking out on this subject, to raise awareness and free up the floor. Indeed, thanks to teleconsultation, it has never been so easy to make an appointment with a psychologist, for a follow-up or to take stock. This is the aim of the 'My Sherpa' companion, from Qare, an application dedicated to mental health, which allows you to regularly check your energy level, your mood or your motivation. 

At the same time, a part of the population still needs to be convinced. Olivier explains that today Qare's patients are mostly women in their early thirties. This means that there is still a whole potential of patients to bring on board. And when we ask Olivier how he plans to do this, he tells us that health professionals are the best prescribers. He also openly suggests that healthcare professionals and users test other platforms, in order to make an objective and global comparison. It works, the feedback is positive and the patients stay. 

And there is no stopping Olivier and his team. In April 2021, HealthHero acquired Qare, a 'major opportunity' for Olivier, who sees this as an opportunity to go international and further strengthen his presence in France. 

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This podcast is an opportunity to understand the challenges of telemedicine. 

This sector, as Olivier explains, is booming and thanks to the evolution of technologies such as artificial intelligence and algorithms, tends to grow day by day. 

On the other hand, as Olivier tells us on several occasions, digital expertise can only be  effective and promising thanks to human expertise. This is why Olivier reminds us that it is necessary to think before acting, to surround oneself well, to be attentive and to remain constantly vigilant in order to develop these technologies that improve or even save patients' lives. 

To find the podcast in its entirety, go here. To watch the video, go here. Don't hesitate to share your feedback with us.

_{1 Source: SNDS/FNMF data processing}