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Early on in his IT career, Nemi George worked in advanced solutions support. As one of only four technicians supporting a sixty-person customer service center, he was overwhelmed. George knew something had to change. He worked tirelessly from start to finish each day but still couldn’t keep up with the seemingly unending supply of service requests that poured in.
After realizing that entry-level help desk workers were routing too many calls to his small team, George took matters into his own hands. He printed and laminated small cards and returned late at night to affix them to each employee’s computer monitor. The cards listed three to five minimum troubleshooting steps the customer services desk was required to complete prior to routing any service call to tech support. He called it Tech the Boxes.
Almost overnight, the number of service tickets dropped while the quality of support increased. George had made a significant difference without taking weeks or months to design and implement a robust corporate training program. “There are often simple fixes for the problems we deal with,” he says. “Finding these real-life answers early in my career set me on a path to solve problems instead of just being a nerd doing tech.”
This problem-solving mindset still defines George’s leadership style. As vice president and information security officer at PDS Health (PDS)—a Nevada-based company offering a range of services to supported clinicians, whether they be in general dentistry, dental specialties, or primary care across twenty-four states nationwide—George encourages his team to focus on technology initiatives that truly matter.
Born in England, George fondly recalls scraping together pocket money to buy and tinker with video games and gadgets. His engineer father encouraged the hobby. After studying in Nigeria, George returned to the UK to launch his career. He worked for major companies like Virgin Media and Vodafone Global Enterprises, where he built global operations in India, Hungary, Egypt and led teams in the United States before transitioning from telecommunications to healthcare when he joined PDS Health in 2016.
“Finding these real-life answers early in my career set me on a path to solve problems instead of just being a nerd doing tech.”
Nemi George
At PDS Health, George oversees information security, infrastructure, technology operations, technology risk management, and IT governance. His team manages the security of sensitive data such as electronic patient health records (PHI) and other sensitive business information. Working in a patient-facing industry has given him a new sense of purpose. “You see technology come to life in healthcare,” he says. “Most people wouldn’t realize how complex it is until they come in and go underneath the covers.”
A peek into the PDS Health system would reveal a strong tech infrastructure that powers 1,040 clinics and serves 16,000 users. While the system is complex, its objective is simple. “We aim to do more than just keep the lights on,” George explains. “We’re also keeping everything secure and introducing automations and other steps that can make what our colleagues and supported clinicians do faster and cheaper without impeding their progress.”
Some days, George is in charge of installing advanced software and components that let dentists capture high-quality 360-degree, 3D images of teeth, roots, and blood vessels. These tools bring better diagnoses and treatment plans, which improve patient outcomes. On other days, he implements the simple solutions he’s known for.
For instance, George is currently implementing technology to eliminate manual passwords to increase care delivery. Instead of removing their gloves to type in a password before washing their hands and applying new gloves, dentists and clinicians will be able to simply tap their badge to log in or use biometrics for fast, frictionless authentication. Driving automation and self-service also enables PDS Health team members carry out certain tasks, such as self-service password reset, software installs, and account unlocks, without the need to send a request and wait for a response from the help desk.
George has also championed proprietary programs like Add Provider and ADAPT to save time for PDS Health team members. Add Provider allows supported clinics to more easily onboard clinicians and independent providers rotating from one supported clinic to the next. Once a provider logs in, the system automatically creates accounts and grants access to necessary apps, enabling them to see patients within minutes.
ADAPT saves time and effort by duplicating IT tasks. When someone contacts an IT help desk agent, ADAPT scans other PCs at the same location. It then automatically deploys the same fix across all affected machines.
When George thinks about the future, his mind goes to talent development. Like most tech leaders, he’s dealing with a talent shortage. To address that shortage, he provides incentivized learning and training opportunities for emerging technologies, like artificial intelligence.
Every company wants to use AI, but industry insiders say only 22,000 highly trained AI experts exist. George knows that part of his job includes getting his team up to speed on these tools. “A commitment to education and development will set your teams apart,” George says. “And strong tech teams will take any business where it needs to go.”
Accutive Security, a cybersecurity center of excellence, empowers leading healthcare executives, like Nemi George, to achieve their vision by providing the technology solutions and technical expertise to implement them. We collaborate as a strategic partner across multiple teams, including security, infrastructure, procurement, and business units, enabling organizations to focus on their core business and strategic priorities. Leveraging our domain expertise, we empower organizations like Pacific Dental Services to realize their cybersecurity and GRC objectives. Accutive Security’s mission is to simplify complexity and help your organization navigate an increasingly challenging cybersecurity and compliance landscape. To learn more visit accutivesecurity.com.
