Meet Our Partner Success Managers: Sydney’s Journey to Drive Healthcare Excellence

Quick Facts

• Years at SwipeSense: 3+
• Background: Healthcare
• Recent Achievement: Leapfrog Coach certification
• Notable Impact: 18% compliance increase across 15 hospitals

We’re thrilled to launch a series that shines a spotlight on SwipeSense’s beloved Partner Success Managers (PSMs). Throughout the series, we’ll give you a peek behind the curtain to learn about their journey, their impact, and their vision for the future of healthcare technology. To kick things off, we sat down with Sydney, a Senior PSM who has been with SwipeSense for more than three years.

 

The Path to Partner Success

How did you find your way to the PSM role? 

Sydney’s journey to becoming a PSM wasn’t a straight line. With an educational background in healthcare, she initially planned a career in direct patient care. However, as the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded, she pivoted to healthcare technology, working as an implementation success manager for senior living facilities, where she travelled to facilities to install software and train teams.

This experience proved invaluable, as it combined technical expertise with the human element of healthcare improvement—a combination that would define Sydney’s future role at SwipeSense. For Sydney, the PSM role is all about relationships.

“I really enjoy the customer relationship aspect,” she explains. “I focus on the relationship first and gaining trust, and I think that is huge … I absolutely love continuing the relationship management and furthering [clients’] growth.”

A Day in the Life

What makes a PSM successful in their role?

For Sydney, success as a PSM requires a unique combination of relationship building and technical expertise. “I focus on relationships, but I also have to be the subject matter expert, or they aren’t going to be able to trust what I say,” she explains. This balance of interpersonal and technical skills has been crucial to her success at SwipeSense.

Sydney’s role involves:

• Building and maintaining relationships with healthcare facilities
• Analyzing data to identify opportunities for improvement
• Providing technical expertise on SwipeSense solutions
• Working with facilities to implement lasting behavioral change

Success Stories

What impact have you made with clients?

One of Sydney’s standout achievements has been her work with a network of 15 hospitals that she’s been partnered with for nearly three years. The relationships she’s built there are based on a foundation of mutual trust, which has led to an expansion of SwipeSense technology both within current hospitals and into additional facilities.

Throughout the relationship, Sydney has helped the facilities achieve many notable wins, including:  

• An 18% increase in hand hygiene compliance over three years
• A dramatic two-thirds reduction in healthcare-associated infections (HAIs)
• A 50% reduction in C. difficile infections in Q1 of 2024

These types of successes are what drives Sydney to succeed in her PSM role. “The fact that we’ve been able to decrease HAIs that much, especially with a hospital network of 15 hospitals … That’s very positive to see,” she says. 

This impact is particularly meaningful because it demonstrates how the right combination of technology, expertise, and partnership can drive significant improvements even across a large, complex healthcare system.

Innovation Spotlight

How are you pushing healthcare forward?

While Sydney’s impact on infection prevention is impressive, her innovative use of SwipeSense technology extends beyond hand hygiene monitoring. In one notable example, she helped a facility transform their approach to asset management using SwipeSense’s tracking capabilities in an unexpected way.

When the facility’s management team received requests to purchase additional IV pumps at $2,500 per unit, Sydney suggested leveraging their asset tracking data to dig deeper. “We have a utilization report that the facility can use to see exactly how many devices are available during peak usage,” she explains.

The data revealed that they already had sufficient pumps—they just needed better visibility into their location and usage patterns. This data-driven approach prevented tens of thousands in unnecessary equipment purchases and established a new framework for making inventory decisions.

Professional Development

How do you stay at the forefront of healthcare technology?

Recently, Sydney achieved certification as a Leapfrog Coach, adding a valuable new dimension to her role. The Leapfrog Group’s public hospital ratings, which assess quality of care and critical safety measures like infection rates and surgical outcomes, have become a trusted resource for patients seeking the safest possible care.

This certification builds on SwipeSense’s partnership with Leapfrog. Beyond being a member of the Leapfrog Partners Advisory Committee, SwipeSense’s electronic hand hygiene monitoring data can be used directly in Leapfrog’s safety surveys. 

Sydney’s expertise helps hospitals not just collect this data, but understand how to use it effectively in their safety evaluations. “We can help make sure hospitals are utilizing the surveys and safety grades the way they should, and help them adhere to the policies,” explains Sydney. “It gives us more ability to educate and raise awareness about why each metric matters.”

Future Vision

What do you see on the horizon?

Looking ahead, Sydney sees AI reshaping how healthcare technology and customer success interact. “I think that customer success in healthcare is going to continue to evolve, especially with AI becoming more prominent,” she says. “Even some of our success platforms are starting to utilize AI to help with risk scores, and I think that is going to be very interesting to see.” 

These risk scores could help PSMs identify potential challenges—like dropping compliance rates or underutilized equipment—before they become significant issues, allowing for more proactive partnerships with hospitals.

Sydney is also keeping tabs on broader changes in healthcare technology, noting that some biomedical companies are beginning to explore AI applications, particularly in equipment maintenance and asset tracking. “It’s going to be interesting to see how that new workflow is going to mesh with current roles and current procedures,” she reflects.

However, even with these technological advances, Sydney emphasizes that the human element will remain crucial. “You need a person to have a relationship with and to have as a trusted advisor,” she explains. This balance between technological advancement and human connection defines her vision for the future of healthcare technology.