The Human Side of Patient CRM Upgrades: Four Choices Tech Cannot Solve

October 28, 2026 - 06:35

Modernizing a patient relationship management system is often framed as a software problem, but the hardest parts are not technical. Jaymin Sutarwala of United Therapeutics argues that four key decisions must be made by people, not platforms, and getting them right cut campaign rework by 45 percent.

The first decision is ownership. Someone has to be accountable for the patient data model and its governance across teams. The second is scope. Leaders must choose what to modernize first and resist the urge to rebuild everything at once. The third is consent and privacy policy. Technology can enforce rules, but people must define what consent means for each patient population and how it will be honored. The fourth is change management. Clinical and marketing teams need clear roles, training, and a shared definition of success before any tool goes live.

Sutarwala notes that skipping these conversations leads to costly rework, stalled adoption, and campaigns that must be rebuilt after launch. When the decisions are made up front, the technology implementation moves faster and delivers measurable results. The lesson for healthcare organizations is simple: buy the software, but decide the strategy yourselves.