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🎙 Welcome to Rarified Air: Stories of Inspired Service, a podcast that takes you on a journey into the DNA of InterSystems. I will be your guide as we explore how our unparalleled commitment to customer service fuels limitless human potential.
🤝 Join us as we dive into the culture of InterSystems and share the stories of the people who make it all possible - our customers, partners, and employees. From helping healthcare providers improve patient outcomes to powering the world’s most important institutions, we’ll show you how our dedication to customer service excellence is in rarified air.
John Paladino [00:00:00]:
When I interviewed him, I was wondering, if I put him in a crisis situation, how would that go? And I just asked you directly. I said, mike, I think you're great for the job. I just have this one concern about how you'd behave in a crisis. You said a crisis? My God, I work in a restaurant with my family now.
Mike LaRocca [00:00:19]:
That's a crisis or two there.
John Paladino [00:00:22]:
Yeah, Customers want their meals now. And you told the whole story, and it just amazed me. It was like, okay, this guy can handle a crisis. No doubt.
Intro/Outro [00:00:33]:
Welcome to Rarefied Air Stories of inspired service. Our host, John Paladino, head of client services at Intersystems, will use his 40 years of experience to show you how to build a successful customer service program and highlight stories of innovation with customers. Join us as we explore the past, present, and future of service, from AI's promise to the enduring power of the human touch.
John Paladino [00:01:01]:
Welcome, everyone. Rarefied Air. I like to bring truly inspirational people onto this podcast to share with you some of the things I've learned and also to share why I'm so inspired. With me today is Mike LaRocca. Mike's somebody I've known for quite a while. Mike has a huge heart. He's a smart businessman. He takes care of customers, and I can't tell you enough about it.
John Paladino [00:01:25]:
I guarantee this podcast is going to be a lot of fun. Welcome, Mike.
Mike LaRocca [00:01:29]:
Wow, thanks, John. That's quite an intro. Thank you.
John Paladino [00:01:31]:
Happy to be here. I held back, Mike, thank you. So for the listeners, maybe you could just give us a little bit of background and, you know, you're running your own company. How did you get started?
Mike LaRocca [00:01:41]:
Yeah, so. Well, I'm happy to say my journey started with Inter Systems, as you know. In fact, John, I'm happy to say you as my hiring manager way back when, you know, I joined Intersystems in November of 95, and since then, you know, I've been on quite a journey of it, mostly in healthcare and I'd say Connected Care solutions kind of in general. And after having a long career at intersystems for nearly 16 years, I decided to start Ready Computing. So in 2011, I launched Ready Computing. And ever since, you know, the adventures continued and we've been friends and, you know, family within our systems ever since.
John Paladino [00:02:15]:
That's a good way to put it. I feel like it's family, too. Mike, I do have a funny story about when you interviewed, but we'll come back to that in a minute. Tell us a little bit about Ready Computing.
Mike LaRocca [00:02:23]:
Well, we. We mostly focus on integration in the healthcare sector, although that's expanded a bit. So social care is starting to, in a sense, converge with healthcare. And a lot of the work that we're working on now has to do with this convergence and bridging healthcare and social care together, really, in pursuit of the whole person care initiative and making sure that on the clinical side and on the social care side that we're addressing a patient's needs. So we're about 170 people. We're headquartered in New York. Most of the staff is in fact in New York. We do have a.
Mike LaRocca [00:02:56]:
A small and growing office in the uk. So we're starting to grow internationally, which is pretty exciting. But mostly we're systems integrators that are looking to do good in the universe and connect clinical records and make good use of them. Yeah.
John Paladino [00:03:09]:
And Intersystems is a software company. We're not really a professional services company. So you've really filled a big void and you have a great reputation, not just yourself, but your company as well, Mike.
Mike LaRocca [00:03:19]:
Oh, thanks, John. I really appreciate that. Yeah.
John Paladino [00:03:21]:
So I have to share a funny story. When I interviewed Mike, I know you can't see him, but he's very smart but very relaxed. And when I interviewed him, I was wondering if I put him in a crisis situation, how would that go? And I just asked you directly, I said, mike, I think you're great for the job. I just have this one concern about how you'd behave in a crisis. You said a crisis? My God, I work in a restaurant with my family now.
Mike LaRocca [00:03:49]:
That's a crisis or two there.
John Paladino [00:03:52]:
Yeah. Customers want their meals now. And you told the whole story and it just amazed me. It was like, okay, this guy can handle a crisis. No doubt.
Mike LaRocca [00:04:01]:
I can't believe you remember that after all these years. You know, there's some truth to it. There really is. I feel like everything I learned as a now businessman, I learned making pizzas and serving gelato and Italian ices with my family way back when.
John Paladino [00:04:14]:
You're very service oriented.
Mike LaRocca [00:04:16]:
Yeah, that's what it is. Especially in the food business. You know, you're dealing with customers isn't always easy. Yeah, it's a seven day a week, you know, all holidays kind of job.
John Paladino [00:04:25]:
Yeah.
Mike LaRocca [00:04:25]:
So you get used to sort of working ext hours, you know, always trying to care for customers, keep customers happy, have the best products you can. But growing up in a small family business like that really did a lot. It was the foundation really where the rest was built on hard work and service.
John Paladino [00:04:41]:
Right?
Mike LaRocca [00:04:41]:
Absolutely.
John Paladino [00:04:42]:
So you've had some challenges. I'm sure, every startup has challenges and I can't think of any offhand, but there are a lot of startups that are listening on this and they can learn from Yorkshire experienced. So let's go way back for just a sec. What was the moment you decided to go off and create a new company?
Mike LaRocca [00:05:02]:
Well, I think I was fortunate to be in a position mostly in my home state in New York, where I was part of a technical group of people that would meet around standardizing the way healthcare integrations worked across the state. And it was, I found it fascinating, honestly, because it was a blend of sort of traditional consulting, a bit of development, prototyping. You kind of mix it all together, you know, figuring out what the right use cases are and going after it. And I think as I started to work through that, I started to realize that there was, it was an opportunity, you know, for, for me to become a service professional and to start a services based business, which is where ready computing came from.
John Paladino [00:05:41]:
So that took a lot of courage.
Mike LaRocca [00:05:43]:
Yes, it did. It did, yeah. No, it honestly did. I think it's a matter of sort of jumping into the unknown a bit with a dream and you have to have passion and never say no. I think you do hit a point where you hit some points in those early phases where it could be scary, right. And you don't know and you're sort of fighting for your next customer while you're still working on the existing customer. And I think in a services role that could be really challenging. But I would say it took a couple of years, honestly, for things to stabilize a bit where there was enough of a customer base to kind of bring that foundation to the business business.
Mike LaRocca [00:06:22]:
And then we were able to start to focus more and more. I had a really interesting experience because I had the chance to teach in a joint program between Cornell and Columbia Universities in New York and actually taught Health Share, which is fun. And my first employee is still with me and she came out of that class. She was actually one of my students. So back in 2011, I was invited to teach the Health IT class. There were various tracks, like one was for managers, one was for privacy and security. I taught the programming track and over the course of that year, the students built an HIE using Health Share. And it was really fun.
Mike LaRocca [00:07:01]:
I have to say, it was a ton of fun. It was sort of working in a simulation and building a bit of a test harness around, you know, to simulate the inputs and outputs of the hie. But we went through everything from master patient identity to consent and Terminology management and ultimately creating an aggregate record. And, you know, I was in a unique position to see who the stars were.
John Paladino [00:07:22]:
And that's a great recruiting strategy.
Mike LaRocca [00:07:25]:
Yeah, it was really good. It worked out great.
John Paladino [00:07:27]:
And you get a chance to learn from what the students are building and expand your skill set, right?
Mike LaRocca [00:07:34]:
Absolutely. You learn a ton when you teach. I don't know if everyone realizes that often where the students but not the teachers. But if you ever put yourself out there and teach, it forces you to learn at a different level and to be able to explain things in simple terms and to know what level to sort of direct your presentation at. Right. I mean, you can't just go in full force, fire in your eyes and go right into the details. Right. You have to start at this higher conceptual level and little by little drill down and sort of test your students.
Mike LaRocca [00:08:01]:
And it's a great learning exercise. It taught me a lot. It really did.
John Paladino [00:08:05]:
So true. You learn by teaching.
Mike LaRocca [00:08:07]:
Absolutely.
John Paladino [00:08:07]:
That's a great point. So as your company was growing, you taking on more and more customers, I'm sure there were tough decisions because you want to get every customer you can. Sometimes it's temptation to over commit or take on trouble potentially. How did you maneuver through those early years? Making good decisions? Ready is your baby right? So you want your baby to grow and develop and be healthy?
Mike LaRocca [00:08:32]:
It honestly was challenging. I did, I would say I had a bit of a unique advantage in that a lot of the work I was doing at that time was in areas where I had the technical skills. So as an owner with no employees and just me, you know, initially I had to be everything. The salesperson, you know, I'm the developer, I'm the implementer, the tech support rep. Little by little, I figured out how to replace myself in roles. And I think that that was probably the single biggest thing that I had to learn early. Because in order for me to pursue the next contract and the next job, I had to make sure the existing contract was covered and I didn't leave it in a lurch. Right.
Mike LaRocca [00:09:09]:
And little by little, this concept of replacing myself in a project was really what gave me the ability to go and pursue more things. There were times where it felt like I was juggling too much at once. So, you know, you kind of get into a headless chicken mode at times, but you work through it.
John Paladino [00:09:24]:
Yeah.
Mike LaRocca [00:09:25]:
You know, you might work longer hours than you used to, you may work some weekends, you know, that you're not used to, but ultimately you work through it. And little by little, you build your Team, you build your staff.
John Paladino [00:09:34]:
Yeah, that's a good problem to have.
Mike LaRocca [00:09:36]:
Yes. Yeah.
John Paladino [00:09:38]:
So you're. I know your view on customers and how to treat customers hasn't changed. You know, you have a huge heart and you really care for customers more than anybody I know.
Mike LaRocca [00:09:49]:
Thank you.
John Paladino [00:09:49]:
One of the many inspiring things that I see with you. Share with the listeners. Some of the things you do and, you know, whether it's examples or just how you feel about customers.
Mike LaRocca [00:10:00]:
Well, I mean, your customers are everything. As a technologist serving customers, one of the things I've learned is to make them feel included in projects as early as you can. One thing I have learned in my experience is the last thing a customer wants is to feel as though what you're building is a black box. And then eventually you hand them the keys and say, okay, good luck with it. Having them involved early means everything. I think it helps build the trust between our team and their team. At the same time, they feel part of the design, they feel part of kind of the thinking and all the concepts behind it. They really buy into it, and it facilitates adoption later.
Mike LaRocca [00:10:37]:
It really makes a huge difference when your customers involved in, well, what are the functional requirements? What are the technical requirements? How did we implement things? Eventually, when the project is starting to come to an end, or at least an end of a phase, Right. Maybe there's new work, but at the end of a phase, they become your biggest champions for that solution because they know how to evangelize it. They were part of the team.
John Paladino [00:10:59]:
So it's a one team approach, Mike.
Mike LaRocca [00:11:00]:
It's a one team approach. Absolutely. It has to be. It has to be.
John Paladino [00:11:04]:
That's an excellent point. But the trust works has worked both ways. You have to trust the customer too, because they know their business and they have to trust you because you know how to implement and you know the technology and how it's applied.
Mike LaRocca [00:11:16]:
Yeah, I mean, those are things I think we pick up on early. From our point of view, we're generally the ones proposing something. Right. And during that, there's inherently discovery you do. So you're talking to the other side, getting to know what problems they're trying to solve, what use cases they have in mind, the vision they have. So you already start to get a sense of how kind of dialed in they are to their own vision. And then we tailor the proposal and the solution to that vision. Right.
Mike LaRocca [00:11:42]:
And then we participate in it. Once that trust starts to build, we become an extension of their team. We help them refine the vision, refine the use Cases, especially based on other experiences we've had where we've implemented. And, you know, eventually it feels like one team and the lines get blurry between each side, and that's what you want.
John Paladino [00:11:59]:
So it's not cookie cutter, it's not playbook, it's people to people.
Mike LaRocca [00:12:04]:
Absolutely. There are certain things that are similar in every project, but there are always things that are different. There's always nuances. Right. But that's the nice thing is even if you use the basic 80, 20 rule, you know, 80% of it you've done in other projects. Right. But there's always the 20% that the customer might really have a great idea, a new idea, a new vision. That's what makes it fun for us too, because we could leverage everything we know, and it's just sort of cookie cutter kind of work.
Mike LaRocca [00:12:29]:
And then there's other things where we could really start to get creative too, with the customer and go after the next generation of use cases.
John Paladino [00:12:36]:
So if we think about service going forward, and it's really complicated because there's generative AI, the world around us is changing in many ways. Healthcare, the industry we're both in, is also changing and evolving. If you look ahead five years, how do you think service for the work you're doing, how do you see service changing? Or does it not change? Is it just working with the same principles you have?
Mike LaRocca [00:13:03]:
I don't think the principles change, but absolutely the technology will change. I mean, we see technology's moving at the fastest rate it's ever moved. I mean, it's incredible, really. I mean, with all the advances in AI, you know, we spent a lot of time thinking about how we could incorporate those things into our work. And at least in the healthcare space, I could give you a couple of examples where we see that growing, at least in terms of AI. One of the key things where we can use it for is to help reduce misdiagnosis. Right. In a healthcare setting, one of the worst things that could happen is that a patient's misdiagnosed and maybe goes for months and months on a wrong treatment plan.
Mike LaRocca [00:13:41]:
Right. And using AI to really sift through all kinds of data, whether it's historical, clinical data, maybe data that's been recently assessed with the patient, any new results or, you know, test results that come in, taking all of this and being able to process it with AI is actually pretty incredible, because what you can get out of that is it's amazing and it's fast, and you could at least get an idea of what the Probable diagnoses are for a particular patient based on history.
John Paladino [00:14:12]:
So, Mike, one more time, because you really inspired me in so many ways, but I don't know anybody that has such a big heart as you do. And you project that to your entire company, because I see it with people who work for you, they play off of that, and it's really interesting, and I find it profound. So tell me a little bit about the heart that Ready Computing has.
Mike LaRocca [00:14:34]:
Wow. Well, yeah, I don't know if you know, but we changed our logo recently, and it actually is a heart. Yeah.
John Paladino [00:14:40]:
Really?
Mike LaRocca [00:14:40]:
Yeah, it is. Oh, my God.
John Paladino [00:14:41]:
Well, that was not a setup, people.
Mike LaRocca [00:14:44]:
Yeah. I think I want to feel as though the company and all of its staff, all of its initiatives are sort of oriented at helping people. One thing we even did recently, which is kind of interesting, is we started a foundation, a not for profit a foundation that's a bit of sort of a sister organization to Ready Computing called Ready Cares.
John Paladino [00:15:04]:
Huh. I'm not surprised, but I didn't know that.
Mike LaRocca [00:15:06]:
Yeah, it's focused on elevating underserved communities, and we could kind of do that in a couple of ways. You know, one way is to go directly to individuals in need and provide training in it, help them build a skill, maybe launch a new career, but in a sense, teach a trade, and that could grow into a profession and a career. So there's a lot of things we do directly with individuals, but we also have this idea of caring for those who care for us and giving a bit of respite to the caretakers. So the social care workers, the visiting nurses, the physicians that, you know, are working in underserved communities, and they themselves sort of need a bit of respite and a bit of support and things that we can do with those individuals so that they can, in turn, help others.
John Paladino [00:15:51]:
Mike, that's profound. I am not surprised. Knowing you as well as I do, I am not surprised. That's wonderful. And I applaud. I'm sure people listening are applauding, although we can't hear them. That's fantastic.
Mike LaRocca [00:16:04]:
Oh, thank you. It's sort of a funny story, but Ready Cares was born out of a camping trip I had with my family a long time ago. And I remember we used to go camping in the Catskills in New York. And, yeah, there was a place we would go for breakfast, and there was this guy, Tony, that was the restaurant owner, and he was the host, and he was the waiter, and he was the cook, and he was everything. And I used to see how hard he worked. And I thought, well, there's got to be something I could do to help him or people like him, right, that have small businesses and in communities that are out there and you never know, you could do something small that is something big for them, right, and could really help things. And he, in a sense, became, I don't know, the first test project for Ready Cares. And we worked with him to build new menus that he could control with the backend content management system.
Mike LaRocca [00:16:53]:
And he could not just produce the print menus that would go in his restaurant, but would also serve a website that we built for him. And it really turned into such a fun project that I wanted to find a way to repeat those sorts of things. And the foundation was kind of born out of that work. And now it's been in operation for a couple of years and it's been a ton of fun, even the summer. We're running a couple of different programs, but the one that's related most to, I'd say the IT world is related to training, you know, late high schoolers, maybe recent grads, training in website development and in digital media production and marketing, you know, in a sense to try to catch young adults at a time in their life where they haven't yet set on a career path, and maybe we could influence what that path would be and open up the world of it to them.
John Paladino [00:17:40]:
Mike LaRocca, this has been fantastic. I know our listeners have enjoyed every second of this, and I really appreciate you being here to share your ethos, how you started a business, and how you take care of customers.
Intro/Outro [00:17:54]:
Thanks for listening today. If you have any questions or want to hear from a specific guest, email us anytime at inspiredservice@innersystems.com and when you're ready to unlock the potential of your data and experience the transformative power of support done differently, go to innersystems.com