EPISODE 147

Like many healthtech leaders, Walter Jin didn’t start his career in this industry. He began as an investment banker and then joined what was a much smaller Carlyle Group based in Washington DC in the 90’s. The firm had originally focused on aerospace defense but wanted to diversify, and since Walter happened to be doing healthcare deals for them, he was then asked to start their healthcare group. In 2008, he retired from Carlyle and started his own investment firm Three Fields Capital, but after a few years, he decided to take a step back from the finance world when his parents got sick. Walter continued some investing on the side via a family office and was eventually approached by Oscar Salazar (Uber co-founder) about Pager. Originally the “Uber for Doctors and Nurses,” Pager had promise but was plagued by challenges with affordability, supply chain, and access. Walter saw potential though, so he invested in the company, served as Chairman for about 3 years, helped it pivot to a platform focused on access and steerage, and then became CEO, the role he has had for about 3.5 years. Tune into this episode to learn more about Pager’s origins, its new focus and business model, how the company has been able to white-label its platform to embed within many provider/payer stacks, and healthcare’s response to this rapidly growing company, plus Walter’s thoughts on the future of the health system and digital care.

Podcast Guest

Walter Jin
Chairman & CEO
Pager

Walter Jin is the Chairman & CEO of Pager, a leading digital health company that provides a “doctor-in-the-family” experience through AI-enabled technology and concierge clinical services on behalf of health plans and hospital systems. Prior to Pager, Mr. Jin was the co-founder of two startups: Pacific Healthcare Management, a hospital business process outsourcing company, and The Innovation Institute, an innovation accelerator for health systems. Mr. Jin has over 25 years of experience in healthcare, investing over $5 billion across more than 40 companies, through various positions: Co-Founder & General Partner at Three Fields Capital, Co-Head of Healthcare at The Carlyle Group, Managing Director & Portfolio Manager at SAC Capital and M&A investment banker at Salomon Brothers.