Scott Brown of Zipnosis talks about the appeal of health care technology

Scott Brown is leading efforts to scale virtual health care offerings at Zipnosis as the newly hired vice president of product and engineering at the Minneapolis-based health-technology firm.

Brown said his priorities in the new executive-level position include getting new products to market, doing so predictably and developing processes to support Zipnosis' customers and sales organization.

The Zipnosis software platform enables medical providers to conduct online visits for dozens of acute conditions such as conjunctivitis and sinusitis through an evidence-based, adaptive interview, Brown said.

If needed, patients can then take part in a phone or video visit, be directed to a clinic for a lab test or have a prescription filled.

A study found that doctors using the platform adhered to best practices up to 99 percent of the time compared to 70 percent of the time when conducting assessments on their own, Brown said.

Brown, who has a degree in aerospace engineering from Iowa State University, has more than 20 years' experience as an enterprise technology leader and spent more than a decade at Medtronic, where he was senior engineering manager.

He founded his own software company to develop outpatient care solutions to help providers manage complex cases and treatment plans.

A: My passions for health care began at Medtronic. Each holiday season they would invite patients to talk about how Medtronic products had saved or transformed their lives or gotten them back to health. Even though I didn't have a direct connection with those patients, to hear their journey and how without this technology they wouldn't have a full life again, that was very rewarding and motivating.

Q: How do you approach your role at Zipnosis?

A: The analogy that I use is that when I got here Zipnosis had a four-cylinder engine that needed a little bit of tuning. My short-term goal is to tune that engine and then over the next year to start adding cylinders so we can develop more product, get them to market more quickly and maintain our leadership position in virtual care.

Q: What new products is Zipnosis working on?

A: We've been known as a company that offers a virtual platform primarily focused on acute care. We recently launched a product around hypertension, so we're kind of moving into chronic conditions. You can expect more from us focused on chronic conditions, building out the virtual platform for the health care enterprise. We have some very ambitious plans over the next couple years.