Healthcare continues to develop and grow and we are learning that a “one-size fits all approach” does not provide enough support to different populations. Specifically, Women’s health issues are unique to that of men, and it is strongly advocated that they require a different healthcare approach. In a women’s life, pregnancy is one the most natural phases because of the beauty of bringing a human to life, but is not always as easy as it appears.
In fact, infertility, or the difficulty in conceiving a child, affects 1 in 8 couples, or 12% of the population. In recent years, it has become more accepted to seek treatment and improvements in technology has increased the ability for these patients to have healthy families.
Boston IVF, understands all these requirements and comes up with unique women’s health solutions for those couples that have a hard time conceiving on their own. Boston IVF, founded in 1986, is one of the first private IVF (In-Vitro Fertilization) centers in the United States. It has helped more than 125,000 babies to be born.
In an exclusive interview with Insights Care, David L. Stern, MBA – CEO of Boston IVF, sheds light on the company’s journey, the current industry scenario, and his vision for the company’s future.
Please brief our audience about Boston IVF, its USPs, and how it is currently positioned as a reliable name in the healthcare space.
Boston IVF is one of the first private IVF (In-Vitro Fertilization) centers in the United States. Affiliated with Beth Israel Lahey Medical and Harvard Medical School, it has an academic focus in a private practice setting.
The companies’ mission is to help people become parents and over the past 35 years has helped more than 125,000 babies be born, which equates to eight babies born per day! Boston IVF, while a private medical practice, invests more than $1 million a year in research on new technologies to improve the success rates of infertility treatment. Our scientists and physicians have published more than 83 papers and abstracts in journals and international scientific meetings over the past four years.
Tell us more about your organization’s offerings and what aspects make it stand out in the healthcare industry.
Quality and patient experience make Boston IVF stand out in the healthcare industry. Boston IVF is the only ISO-certified IVF center in North America. This certification is the highest quality standard, and all our protocols are documented. We review monthly key performance measures as it relates to both medical treatments as well as lab-quality measures.
In 2021, Boston IVF had eight doctors recognized as ‘Best in Boston’ by Boston Magazine. Boston IVF has been represented in this prestigious list for the past ten years in a row.
Being an experienced leader, share your opinion on how the adoption of modern technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) is impacting the healthcare industry and how is Boston IVF adapting to the change?
Boston IVF is currently working with new companies utilizing AI and ML to improve embryo assessment as well as drug protocol development. The current assessment of embryo quality is very subjective and manual – a trained embryologist visually inspects an embryo under the microscope and gives it a score.
AI is being trained to objectively look at an embryo and, based on a learning data set of successful embryos that became babies – score that embryo as to the potential of it becoming a baby. This can improve the outcome as well as free up embryologists for other tasks in the laboratory.
What would be your advice to budding entrepreneurs who aspire to venture into the healthcare industry?
The healthcare industry is so rewarding because you are having an impact on patients’ lives. With new technologies and scientific findings, we are at the point of personalized medicine to improve not only outcomes but also to reduce side effects and target the right drug or treatment to the right patient.
How do you envision scaling Boston IVF’s operations and offerings in 2022 and beyond?
Boston IVF is in the process of improving how we communicate with our patients by launching a new patient app in 2022. This will provide real-time ability to see medication instructions, appointment information and communicate with the clinical team.
In addition, Boston IVF has been growing our network of IVF centers significantly only the past year – adding three new IVF centers to the Boston IVF family in 2021 alone. (Columbus, OH; Salt Lake City, UT; and Newark, DE). Today Boston IVF has nine IVF centers, 30 offices, and 31 physicians across ten states.
Appreciation of excellence:
- “Doctor Nina is the best, and her team is also very helpful, very professional, and friendly. Everything was just as smooth as it could be, and now, I am so happy to be blessed with a 7-month baby boy. And I recommend her and the Boston IVF Quincy location so strongly.”
- Minucha B
- “We can’t say enough great things about Boston IVF, the Syracuse Center. The staff is truly amazing. The process is by far easy, but they are with you every step of the way. We can’t thank them enough!”— Miranda Zimmer
- “Welcoming and informative staff, huge emphasis on patient care”— Michelle Harris
About the Leader
Mr Stern has over 28 years of women’s health experience and has devoted most of his career to the fertility industry. He has held executive leadership positions and built successful teams while launching numerous products in pharmaceutical and biotech markets worldwide.
He has a unique perspective of having run some of the largest US and global women’s health divisions as well as served as a C-level executive at venture-backed start-up companies. Fun fact, Mr Stern started his career as a pharmaceutical drug representative calling on Boston IVF, where he is now the CEO.
