Royal will lead technology strategy across the health tech company, with a keen eye toward innovation and transformative patient care.
CHICAGO (January 24, 2024) — Upfront, the health tech provider behind the industry’s leading platform for patient engagement, today announced that Ryan Royal will join the company as Chief Technology Officer. The strategic appointment reflects the company’s dedication to innovation and momentum following recognition on the Inc. 5000 list of the nation’s Fastest Growing Companies.
A seasoned technologist for more than two decades, Royal comes to Upfront from interviewstream, where he provided product and technology leadership behind a number of SaaS-based product lines. Before interviewstream, Royal served as CTO at CellTrak Technologies, where he spearheaded a $7 million investment to re-platform an aged technology stack and introduce automation, and significantly expanded the engineering team during his tenure. He previously worked in numerous IT and software engineering roles. Royal holds a bachelor’s degree in computer information systems from St. Ambrose University.
Royal joins the executive leadership team and will oversee Upfront’s product roadmap strategy, scaling global engineering teams, and pursuing new innovation strategies in support of the company’s overall vision for advancing patient engagement technology to drive transformative health outcomes. His leadership is pivotal, as Upfront invests in next-generation reporting and analytics and advancements in AI.
“I’m honored to join Upfront and am eager to connect with the company’s product and engineering teams to ensure every patient gets the care they need,” said Royal. “I look forward to leveraging innovation to deliver an orchestrated patient journey, scaling our technology capabilities to meet our healthcare enterprise partners’ challenges head-on.”
In an era of healthcare consumerism, pushes for health equity, and demands for improved access, a recent MGMA Stat report found more than a quarter of medical group leaders cited patient communication technology as a critical priority. Patient Engagement HIT, a healthcare trade publication, has predicted a surge in patient communications technology investments — a position that places Upfront squarely ahead of the healthcare curve.
Welcoming Royal to the leadership team further reinforces Upfront’s commitment to cultivating top technology talent and delivering care delivery transformation for the company’s 4,000+ healthcare enterprise partners.
“Ryan is an incredibly skilled and impressive technology leader, and we’re thrilled to have him join us during this crucial moment in healthcare,” said Carrie Kozlowski, COO and co-founder at Upfront. “We’re confident his background in deploying complex technologies and scaling teams will help us realize our ambitious technology and innovation goals in the years ahead, leading us through an exciting phase of profitable growth, innovation, and possibility.”
About Upfront
Upfront is a mission-driven healthcare company delivering tangible outcomes to leading healthcare systems and provider groups. Its patient engagement platform makes each patient feel seen, guiding their care experience through personalized outreach. The backbone of the Upfront experience is its data engine, which analyzes clinical, sociodemographic, and patient-reported data. These insights, along with its advanced psychographic segmentation model, allow Upfront to individually activate patients to get the care they need while building a meaningful relationship between the patient and their health system. Upfront is rooted in partnership, leveraging best-in-class healthcare expertise to maximize the impact of technology and deliver a next-generation patient experience. To learn more, visit https://upfronthealthcare.com.
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