Illustration: Gabriella Turrisi/Axios
If you're not waking up every day thinking about health care, that's a big problem, according to Geeta Nayyar, the chief medical officer of Salesforce. "Every business is a health care business now," she tells Axios.
Why it matters: Salesforce's roughly two-decade history in health care notwithstanding, the pandemic has vaulted the company's role in keeping employees safe and healthy to new heights.
- The company recently raised the curtain on its latest product, Safety Cloud, which gives companies a platform to manage COVID-19 testing and vaccine history, worker re-entry and event planning.
- Two large companies are currently using Safety Cloud: Accenture and Traction on Demand, a dedicated Salesforce consulting firm and app developer, Nayyar said.
Driving the news: On day 694 of the pandemic, businesses are beginning to transition back to in-person environments, infectious virus be darned.
- "There’s a lot of anxiety out in the world and embracing health care is now everyone’s business," Nayyar said.
- "I think that’s the next step in pandemic — how do we lead through it, put it kind of on the side, and go about our lives?" she adds.
The intrigue: Several large, non-healthcare businesses have made big bets in the sector of late, only to exit soon after (cough, cough: IBM), so is Salesforce playing a long game, or placing a series of shorter-term bets?
- Salesforce is "in it to win it," Nayyar said. "We're very much committed to continuing to invest in health care."
- To be clear, Salesforce isn't just placing a few bets in health and safety: Several high-profile payers, providers, and medical device makers use its customer relationship management (CRM) platform, and it also has a cloud offering specific to health care.
What's next: As the transition "back to normal" begins, tools for vetting people's vaccination history and conducting and recording regular tests will become table stakes.
- Virtually every business with plans to return to some kind of in-person environment will need integrated systems for securely collecting, storing, and updating health data.
- "I’m sure we’ll talk again when there’s a new variant," Nayyar added.