Q&A With John Gray, Population Health Product Manager

Since joining Graphnet in June 2021, John Gray has been instrumental in shaping our Population Health solutions, ensuring they help healthcare providers make data-driven decisions that improve patient care and system efficiency. With a strong focus on innovation and collaboration, John works closely with customers to address some of the biggest challenges in healthcare today.

We caught up with him to learn more about his role, what drives his passion for digital health, and his thoughts on the future of healthcare technology.

Q: Can you tell us a bit about your role at Graphnet and what a typical day looks like for you?  

My role at Graphnet is Product Manager in the Population Health Analytics team. My role in a nutshell is taking the work we do from inception to delivery. We’re very ambitious and there’s always so much on at Graphnet, my day can involve working with our development teams to understand and move forward some of our deliverables, some project planning for our larger and more complex programs of work, with our deployment teams to get our releases and functionality to our customers or planning our future work and direction. 

Q: What excites you most about working in digital health? 

The opportunity to do something that makes an improvement to people’s lives, whether that’s someone’s working life as a practitioner or for someone who is receiving care. 
 
Q: How does your product help to improve healthcare outcomes and efficiency? 

I would hope it cuts through the noise for our customers, it provides them some clarity through all the information and systems they are given to use. Maybe it is as simple as identifying those most at risk or those who will most benefit from an intervention, for the people who can do something about it. Our work with customers on Elective Recovery is a great example of this, bringing together data from various systems to give a clear view of the risk status and complexity of patients on a waiting list, to support the management of their pre-operative and perioperative care. 

Q: What’s been the most rewarding project you’ve worked on so far? 

I would say the National Immunisation Service (NIMS) around COVID time. It was certainly exciting, and even an honour, to be part of something that was nationally significant. I came on board when we were looking at call and recall for the booster doses, so building upon the foundations already laid down by my colleagues in the initial phases of the vaccination program.

Q: If you could give healthcare providers one piece of advice about adopting digital solutions, what would it be? 

To work in close partnership with digital solution providers. As a provider we have good intentions, but we won’t get it right on our own. We’re reliant on, and really do value, our customers voice to help us get there. Our best work has always been delivered in partnership.

Q: How do you like to unwind outside of work? 

I most enjoy time around my friends and family, really, whatever we end up doing. We’ve recently got an allotment so we’re spending a lot of time digging, getting our hands dirty, and complaining about our sore backs.

Q: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received? 

That’s a tough question! I am very grateful to have had some good mentors in my career and to have worked with some brilliant people in and outside of Graphnet, but what has influenced my professional life more than anything is: “not to do something if it’s not worth doing”. Which is to focus on what value or benefit our endeavours bring, to keep questioning ‘why are we doing this?’, and to make sure we’re working as lean and efficiently as possible. We can only do so much, so let’s make sure it’s worthwhile. 

Q: If you could have dinner with any historical or influential figure in health or tech, who would it be and why? 

Wes Streeting – just to see if I can get a scoop on the 10-year plan! It’s no secret the NHS faces some great challenges. It would be fascinating to understand how he intends to make sure the healthcare provision for our country is fit for purpose now, and into the future. There are so many important historical figures in healthcare and technology that would be fascinating to meet, but he’s the person in the driving seat right now.