“I think diversity in general is important in terms of representing and catering for everyone in society. In healthcare, it’s particularly critical as women are most often the consumers on behalf of their families and they are most likely to be the caregivers for older/younger family members who are in need.” Today’s woman dreamer, Nicki Macmanus, has had extensive leadership experience in the healthcare industry including at CVS Health and Cancer Care Direct. In her Women Who Win interview, Nicki reflects on how growing up in a family of healthcare workers in Ireland inspired her future passion for the space, how digital tools and AI in improving healthcare access, and her advice to women in leadership. Enjoy her inspiring story!

1. Tell us your story. You are a healthcare innovator and business leader, originally from Ireland. Tell us more about your journey and what inspired your interest in healthcare and entrepreneurship? 

I grew up in a family of healthcare workers – from pharmacists (my parents) to doctors, nurses and occupational therapists. My parents met when my mother interned in the pharmacy that my father’s family owned and ran. She managed that family business and growing up we all helped by working in the front of the store, in the stock room and making deliveries to patients’ homes. My father was the head pharmacist at the Bons Secour Hospital. I spent many Sundays and holidays in the hospital helping him, so healthcare and entrepreneurship were with me from day 1! 

2. You are particularly passionate about digital health and increasing healthcare access for all. What are some healthcare industry trends and shifts you are excited about? 

There is a huge amount of activity in obesity management with the advent of GLP-1 drugs. These new treatment mechanisms in concert with lifestyle changes have great potential to improve obesity care and quality of life for so many. Ideally, better obesity management will lead to a reduced incidence of other chronic conditions that ensue such as kidney disease. There is still a lot to figure out in terms of access and reimbursement. 

I’m also very interested to see how primary care continues to evolve. Demand is increasing as the number of clinicians falls and change is clearly needed. Large retailers have made significant moves into primary care – from direct provision of care models in person and via telehealth to significant acquisitions of companies that support complex, chronic patients such as Oak Street Health (now part of CVS) and Iora (now part of Amazon). There is a lot of early stage innovation targeting specific populations like rural care/seniors and groups are taking more payment risk on these individuals. 

Advances in AI/ML have occurred at lightning pace. I’ve been amazed at what ChatGPT can do when I use it personally and its potential to change healthcare delivery is astounding. Implementation on the front lines has been slow but I can’t wait to see what is around the corner as these technologies are more fully understood and integrated into the care delivery process and systems.

There is still so much to improve in healthcare from cost to access and navigation. Companies like Employer Direct Healthcare offer navigation and cost reduction for patients undergoing surgery and cancer care. There is still no one source of truth or triage when it comes to healthcare versus well known platforms like Amazon in retail. I would like to see more platform approaches and harmonization across platforms to share data. 

3. You have had extensive leadership experience, including at CVS Health where you were the Vice President/General Manager of Kidney Care and currently as SVP, General Manager at Cancer Care Direct. How would you describe your leadership style? And what is a piece of advice you'd give yourself early in your career?  

My style as a leader is that of a coach. I like to set clear expectations, roles and responsibilities for a project and then trust the team members to execute. I will answer questions as they come up and support them prior to and in leadership/client meetings so that they don’t fail in those situations. This could include role playing how meetings are likely to evolve and what questions will be asked. 

A piece of advice that I would give myself early (and now) in my career would be to trust yourself and be confident in your abilities. It’s very easy to second guess yourself, but you have likely been working on your particular project the most, you know it best and can answer most questions. If you can’t answer the question, you can always follow up (and make sure you do!). 

One more piece of advice would be that getting your own work done is important, but you need to pick your head up and meet with colleagues outside of your business unit to understand how your work fits into the broader context and other priorities that the business has. Spending time away from your desk/direct work to get to know your colleagues and learn from them/support them will pay off in spades socially and is an investment in your and their future professional development. 

4. It is exciting to see more equality and representation of women in leadership positions in the healthcare sector, and we've certainly got a long way to go. In your experience, why do you believe it is crucial to have more women leading the way for healthcare system innovation? 

I think diversity in general is important in terms of representing and catering for everyone in society. In healthcare, it’s particularly critical as women are most often the consumers on behalf of their families and they are most likely to be the caregivers for older/younger family members who are in need. They may notice different pain points in a patient or caregiver journey for example.

Women’s health is underinvested in which results in lower levels of innovation and improvement of our experience as patients. We need more female investors broadly and to support sectors like healthcare. 

5. After a long day, how do you relax and unwind? How do you find work life balance?

Spending time with my husband and kids is the most important thing to me. I also love to play tennis and ski with family and friends. After a very long day though, it’s usually dinner, bedtime stories, TV time and bed!

Thank you Nicki for sharing your story with us! We are excited to have you in our global women’s network!