Transforming Value-Based Care Through Design-Driven Innovation

Pearl Health empowers independent primary care providers to thrive in value-based care models, surfacing clinically relevant, actionable insights via a platform that fits seamlessly into their everyday workflows.

When I joined Pearl Health, the company was a small, fast-moving startup with a bold vision: make value-based care work for every independent physician in the country. As one of the first employees (#17) my charge was to bring this vision to life—distilling layers of analytics into tools that clinicians would not only understand, but love. The product needed to break down workflow silos, provide at-a-glance clarity, and inspire trust, both with internal stakeholders and in the field.

• Design Leadership from Day One: As the founding designer, I led collaborative discovery with clinicians, engineers, and business leaders, mapping out core user journeys, requirements, and business needs.

• Inventing the Pearl Experience: I established the initial design language—prioritizing clarity, friendliness, and approachability. I invented the hex map visualization, allowing users to see population risk and opportunity at a glance—a concept that quickly became a signature feature of the platform.

• Prototyping to Accelerate Vision and Growth: With no existing application, I built detailed, interactive Figma and Axure prototypes demonstrating the dashboard, patient flows, and clinical impact. These clickable prototypes became core assets for the sales and growth teams and were instrumental in telling our story to investors.

• Human-Centered Perspective: Early patient stories and feedback loops ensured the interface not only looked good, but solved real-world pain points for clinicians and their patients.

• Investor and Growth Enablement: My design prototypes became the foundation for fundraising and early partner demos. These assets were crucial in securing Pearl’s $7M Series A and forming the narrative for a subsequent Series B.

• Sales & Onboarding: The prototypes were also adopted by sales and growth teams to give prospective clinics a firsthand “look and feel” experience—enabling rapid customer acquisition even before product launch.

• Distinct Identity: The initial design language and hex map visualization set a new, recognizable standard in value-based care tooling and gave Pearl a strong, differentiated brand in the market.

• Clinical Realities: The design system scaled from zero to serving real-world clinicians, leading to more targeted, successful patient interventions and measurable improvements in care quality and workflow efficiency.