Delivering on the promise of technology can be an arduous one for health systems. Few understand how to navigate from innovation to consistent clinical and operational performance as deeply as Sarah T. Khan. With more than 15 years of experience leading at the nexus of technology, health care delivery, and customer strategy, Khan has earned a reputation as a trusted expert in building scalable solutions that deliver quality, financial and service impact.
Her background includes executive roles across enterprise health systems, Fortune 200s, and growth stage SaaS and AI startups alike. From managing strategic initiatives at Kaiser Permanente and DaVita to leading post-sales transformation at a B2B2C SaaS company, Khan’s work consistently bridges the gap between innovation and impact. “I specialize in scaling health tech solutions that don’t just look good on paper, but actually work at the frontlines of care delivery,” says Khan.
Innovation Needs Operational Roots
One of the most common mistakes health tech leaders make is failing to align their innovations with real-world operations early in the process. When solutions are developed in isolation from the clinical frontlines, they often fail to gain traction. “The best tech means nothing if it doesn’t work at the front lines,” she explains. “Solutions have to be grounded in real use cases and pain points.”
Khan points to her experience at DaVita, where a patient engagement platform had initially failed in the Northwest U.S. states. Rather than shelving the solution, Khan’s team reapproached the rollout with a provider-first mindset. By adjusting the implementation strategy to reflect actual workflows, adoption tripled within a year using the same product and the same user base. “We didn’t need a new product. We simply needed to meet providers where they were,” she shares.
Scaling Is Not The Same As A Bigger Pilot
While pilot success can feel like a breakthrough, Khan emphasizes that real impact – and satisfaction of improving lives – comes when companies build the infrastructure needed to scale. For technology companies that means establishing clear customer journeys, onboarding pathways, strong post-sales support systems, and feedback mechanisms that link back to product teams.
“Too many companies stall in pilots and never advance to enterprise-wide integration,” says Khan. “Scaling is different from the simple linear expansion of a pilot program. To scale, you need infrastructure and systems in both technology and care delivery to support complex operations and nonlinear growth. That’s how outsized impact in quality, financial and service improvement are achieved”.
She speaks from experience. As Chief Clinical Transformation and Client Success Officer at a SaaS chronic care early stage health tech serving provider organizations in 33 states across the US, Khan led the development of a supply-side commercial operation and scalable value-based care solutions to delivery outcomes improvement for risk-bearing provider organizations. This foundation enabled both deepened customer partnerships and measurable impact in clinical metrics (e.g. HEDIS, HCC, NPS and others).
The ROI Has To Be Meaningful
Khan believes that simply proving clinical or business value is no longer enough. In her view, the solutions that scale most successfully are those that lend transparency to the value they are creating and also humanize their impact. “Business and clinical impact have become table stakes,” she says. “The solutions that scale fastest are those that humanize the value they’re delivering.” She advocates for data storytelling that translates business value into narratives that are tangible and memorable for all stakeholders – clinicians, care teams, business leaders, and board members alike. “It’s magical when clients and their stakeholders understand the real value they’re creating using technology, the story makes the numbers meaningful and then they want to share that success with all their patients.”
Every Great Tech Needs People
For all the emphasis on artificial intelligence and automation in healthcare today, Khan remains clear on one thing. No technology, no matter how advanced, can succeed without genuine partnership between the tech innovators, care provider teams, and the patients or consumers. “No matter how amazing your technology is, success cannot be achieved without partnership with your clients and patients,” she says. “Collaboration is the foundation of all transformation.”
From her early work in clinical trials across Boston Children’s, Brigham and Women’s, and Dana-Farber, to multi-$100M enterprise-scale system redesigns, Khan’s career has been defined by the ability to connect across disciplines and build trust. Partner with her to scale technology across the care delivery frontlines, build for scale and impact, and create partnerships with empathy. The result is not just better adoption, but better care.
Follow Sarah T. Khan on LinkedIn or contact her through her website.
