POSTED BY
Liz Moyles
Cary Vance is a highly experienced, very considered and insightful CEO. I have spoken with many people who know him in the industry, and he commands huge loyalty and lots of respect. Cary has taken on a new challenge working at PhotoniCare as the CEO.
PhotoniCare, briefly, is a company specialising in middle ear issues, primarily in children. In the US approximately $10 billion is spent annually to manage ear infections. That is a shocking figure, as is the 50% misdiagnosis rate which is the norm for primary care physicians when using current tools to diagnose fluid in the middle ear fail.
Anyone who has seen children suffering from the terrible pain which earache can cause will appreciate the severe discomfort and impact it can have on a child, (and the parents !!!!). This is exacerbated when the earache is caused by an infection and leads to prolonged pain.
It was great to hear from Cary about plans for this coming year now that he is at the helm! Thanks, for your time Cary and all your insights!
- I love to ask this question “ Cary, how did you end up in Medical Devices – was it something you dreamt about as a child / teenager or was it more of a chance event? “
My passion for medical devices stems from an early interest in healthcare. I started my education in pre-med. Even though I eventually shifted to degrees in business, I never lost the desire to impact the lives of patients. I also have had several experiences with close family members and their need for interventional medical care, where their very lives were spared by dedicated healthcare providers using the latest in MedTech innovation. Those experiences confirmed that this was the industry I wanted to work in.
- When you left academia, what was your first role? Was it everything you had hoped it would be?
My first role was in sales, and I loved it. I loved the challenge, I loved the competition, I loved getting paid for performance, and loved building trust and solving customer problems. I learned early on that I was most effective when I stopped talking and started listening, and when I resisted the temptation to focus on winning the deal and focused instead on solving problems and exceeding the needs of my customers. Those early commercially-focused, customer centric experiences have shaped everything I’ve done since; at every company and in every role and in every meeting, we have always been about the customer.
- That is a great lesson to have learned so early on- some people never learn it!. So, you went from Sales, gradually taking on increasingly broader and more senior roles before eventually becoming a CEO. I happen to know you had several options and CEO roles open to you when you joined Photonicare. What drew you to this particular technology and company?
I was drawn to the role at PhotoniCare because the technology is so significantly better than the centuries old standard of care. Having started my medtech career in the diagnostic imaging business at GE, I know that physicians can’t solve what they can’t see. Frontline clinicians … in urgent care, family practice and pediatrics … do not have a device they can reliably use to see whether or not there is a problem in the middle ear and make a proper diagnosis. I was also drawn to the role because of the impact it could have on this particular population of patients-pediatric.
The company had just started their product launch, and I thought I could help them ramp commercially in a way that was tactically accelerated and strategically intentional and successful.
When I looked at PhotoniCare, it had been largely derisked … with a 510k FDA approved product, our own reimbursement codes and a strong IP portfolio … there was a tremendous opportunity to change diagnostic healthcare for this vital, small part of the anatomy … in a really big way.
- Where does the name PhotoniCare originate– has it got a special meaning?
The name PhotoniCare was initiated by one of our founders and our current COO, Ryan Shelton. It was a tribute to the technology we use (photonics) and the patients we serve (patient care).
- Why are you so passionate about this team and its technology?
Our team is passionate about our mission, and they show me that every day in the stellar work they perform. Patients deserve the best, and pediatric patients deserve the very best.
5 out of 6 children have an ear infection by the time they are 3 years old. In the US alone, there are 180M ear exams every year … that’s 720,000 ear exams every working day! So, it’s a massive market with a significant problem.
50% of middle ear infections are misdiagnosed by front line providers. The clinical and financial impact is quite staggering, as it results in overprescription of antibiotics and unnecessary surgeries (tympanostomy tube placement). The patients, the parents, the providers and the payers all need a more reliable device, so they be certain what is, or what is not, needed for their treatment.
OtoSight™, our solution, visualizes the presence of middle ear fluid, and the fluid’s density, even in the presence of earwax. As a result, it has a 90+% accuracy in determining the presence or absence of fluid in the middle ear.
- On a more holistic perspective, who or what inspires and energises you- where do you draw your energy from
We will soon be welcoming our 10th grandchild into the family. I don’t need to look any further than my own family to inspire me in so many ways. All those grandchildren are 6 years old and younger, and it can be fun and mayhem all at once when they come over to our house. But I don’t want their primary care to be mayhem … and what is an essential coin flip diagnosis on their ear exams is quite scary and is really unacceptable, especially in the year 2024. Among every other reason I have for bringing OtoSight™ to market and making PhotoniCare successful, it’s my mission to solve this problem for them and everyone else.
Wow that sounds a lovely family Cary – I can just imagine a family get together – noisy and fun! With respect to OtoSight and earache, I hope your grandchildren never have to experience the discomfort of prolonged or even short-lived earache Cary.
- How are medics and the market receiving OtoSight™?
The physicians love it … it gives them confidence in their diagnosis and a platform to communicate in a much better way to patients and to parents when recommending treatment. They find it is easy to learn, and quick and easy to use. They appreciate that the product is reimbursed (the otoscope is not reimbursed) but have told us they would like exams to be paid for more consistently by private payers. We are working on that in earnest, to help us unlock an overwhelming shift in the market to OtoSight™.
- You’ve worked in several segments within the Medical Devices world. What opportunities do you see in the medical devices world to be innovative in offering patients and clinicians a more integrated solution?
As in other medtech spaces, we are currently planning for the incorporation of Machine Learning and additional “smart features” as part of our technology. Software is already an important part of our OtoSight system and will be an even greater part of the progress we make in the future. We are thoughtfully planning how we will use analytics to provide technology that will inform and improve our clinicians and their diagnoses in meaningful ways.
- You’ve had such an interesting career Cary. Looking back, was there any specific defining moment / turning point you or perhaps an opportunity you seized?
After spending nearly 20 years running business units for large companies, I seized the opportunity 10 years ago to take my first CEO role for a small public company. It was a leap of faith I don’t regret. Since then, I have been through mountains of challenges that have led to personal and professional growth.
- What advice would you give to someone who's looking to enter this space-maybe a fresh graduate straight out of university, or someone looking to transition their career?
Know why you’re here. This isn’t just Tech, it’s MedTech. It’s a special space because the technology can save and improve lives. We don’t have to look very far for our purpose, our “why”. We combine a reverence for the patient with an intensity to improve the technology that in turn can improve their lives. There is a purpose to it that you can’t find elsewhere.
- That’s a really powerful and compelling reason to be in this space, and a reason so many share. Do you have any final thoughts / comments you’d like to make?
With that “patient purpose” in mind, we at PhotoniCare are future oriented and are generating growth strategies for future market penetration. Yet while we believe it is important to create and communicate that dynamic strategy, it is the execution of strategic plans in adverse conditions that will truly bring success. We intend to deliver … for our employees, our investors, our customers, and their patients.
Thanks for your time, Cary and enjoy this weekend, at the next family get together you have planned and enjoy welcoming grandchild #10 to this happy environment. I’m sure you’ll know just want to do if any other grandchildren have earache!
Thanks to you and Photonicare for playing such a key role to this population!
