Former Ramsay boss Chris Rex’s plan to simplify healthcare by using AI

Former Ramsay Health boss Chris Rex has just thrown his support behind emerging medical tech player and believes AI can improve patient care.

Chris Rex has taken a stake and has been appointed chairman of the Sydney-based Navigator, an injury management system that steers patient recovery. Picture: Britta Campion

Veteran healthcare executive Chris Rex believes the rise of powerful analytical technology will play a big role in the sector, particularly when it comes to improving patient care.

The former long-serving Ramsay Health Care boss has just thrown his support behind emerging medical tech play Navigator Group, a platform designed to help patients speed up their recovery from injuries.

Rex says the healthcare industry has only just scratched the surface of applications like artificial intelligence, particularly for users.

“Everybody wins if somebody is treated correctly using evidence-based medicine,” he tells The Australian.

“Health systems by their very nature are very complex, so it’s difficult for individuals to actually be able to get to a point where they can actually understand what’s best for them. There’s a huge information asymmetry between the individuals and professionals and organisations.”

Rex oversaw Ramsay for more than 13 years, driving the hospital operator’s push into new markets including France. He retired from Ramsay in 2017, handing over the role to the then chief operating officer Craig McNally. Since then Rex has kept a low profile, keeping away from corporate boards.

He wouldn’t be drawn into talking about the KKR’s protracted and ultimately shelved $20bn takeover bid for Ramsay, saying he is no longer involved. However he did acknowledge that the $88 a share offer was “well priced”.

KKR made several attempts to buy out Ramsay but was rebuffed. Shares in Ramsay have fallen sharply since the takeover was pulled late last year. It last traded at $57.74.

Rex has taken a stake and has been appointed chairman of the Sydney-based Navigator, an injury management system that steers patient recovery.

Private equity fund HEAL Partners, which counts Rex as an adviser, remains a cornerstone investor in Navigator. The health tech group was founded by Paul Shmukler and Raymond Wallace more than a decade ago.

The tech group provides patient support for recovery from major injuries and traumatic experiences such as work-related or car accidents.

“It’s not just about physical illness; there’s also a psychological illness,” Rex said. “If you don’t treat both, almost certainly there’s going to be a very delayed recovery period”.

Early results from the Navigator platform show a near 50 per cent improvement in recovery times.

The software guides a patient through a treatment process and exercise programs.

This helps patients quickly get back to their normal lives, and the platform can deliver savings for transport or workcover insurance schemes by securing rapid recovery windows.

“Generally speaking, when you look at people who have got injuries in car accidents or the workplace they have a tendency to sort of bounce the system around a bit. The recovery rates for those sorts of patients are not good generally.”

He says the Navigator platform shows Australia remains a strong breeding ground for healthcare technology.

“If you look at the companies that have started here and then gone and taken on the world and beaten them – dare I say at Ramsay, but Sonic, CSL, Resmed and Cochlear – there’s a long list of them but they all started off like a Navigator.

“I think that this country really does have a very innovative health tech environment. And it’s a great place to learn the business and apply new technology.”

While Rex had left Ramsay before Covid-19 hit, he says there has been a silver lining for healthcare from the pandemic.

It has accelerated change throughout the sector, particularly around digital access to health. And healthcare has also had to adopt technology as part of efforts to confront chronic staff shortages.

Originally published as Former Ramsay boss Chris Rex’s plan to simplify healthcare by using AI