In executive-level searches, what's said in a formal interview is only half the picture. Backchannels - the off-list, candid conversations with former colleagues, mutual connections, and industry peers - are where the real intelligence lives.

Let’s call it out directly: it can sometimes feel unsettling to learn that someone ran a backchannel on you. Partly, it’s because backchannels can be misunderstood as a tool for digging up dirt - but more often than not, they're simply about confirmation: validating the excitement someone already feels, getting a second voice on something that already looks right, and walking into a decision with the confidence that the decision-maker’s gut and lived experience are telling the same story. And let’s remember, they should not be one-sided, nor should they be one-dimensional.

For digital health executives evaluating a new opportunity, backchanneling the company is just as critical as the company evaluating you. Talking to former employees reveals whether a "high-growth culture" is genuinely energizing or a euphemism for chaos. Conversations with industry contacts who know the leadership team can illuminate management style, follow-through, and how executives respond when things go sideways. In a sector where companies pivot fast and burn rates are real, understanding the operating environment before you sign is not optional.

The same discipline applies in both directions. Smart companies and hiring teams are backchanneling you before an offer is ever extended. The innovative healthcare ecosystem is a small world and backchannel conversations will open and close doors in equal measure.

Equally important is backchanneling investors. In venture and PE-backed digital health the board isn't just governance, it's the force that sets runway expectations, decides when to push for an exit, and determines how much rope leadership gets during hard quarters. Knowing how investors operate can save you a lot of headaches in the coming years.

Two considerations on backchannels

• Don’t rely on one backchannel only. We all have people on our lives who have supremely positive or supremely negative opinions of us. Measure who is delivering the message and their potential bias.
• For candidates, don’t reach out to anyone who works with them currently. There’s no need to blow up people’s spots.

• Clarify Health Solutions, a healthcare analytics software company, appoints Todd Gottula as Chief Executive Officer (Source)
• Emad Rizk, M.D. joins Premier, Inc., a technology-driven health care improvement company, as Chief Executive Officer, President, and Chairman of the Board (Source)
• Jonathan Salkin joins LifeScan, a blood glucose monitoring company, as Chief Executive Officer (Source)
• Charles Colligan joins Heartbeat Health, cardiovascular care management company, as Chief Financial Officer (Source)
• uMotif, an electronic clinical outcome assessment platform, appoints James Thatcher as Chief Commercial Officer (Source)
• Matt Hoffman joins Avo, an AI-powered clinical workflow platform, as Chief Commercial Officer (Source)
• Andy Kelly joins Boulder Care, a digital clinic for addiction treatment, as Chief Commercial Officer (Source)
• Mike Miesch joins CareATC, an employee wellness company, as Chief Growth Officer (Source)
• Brandon Russell joins AdvancedMD, a provider of cloud-based healthcare software, as Chief Customer Officer (Source)
• Steven Steinhubl, M.D. joins Eko Health, an AI early disease detection company, as Chief Medical Officer (Source)
• Bicycle Health, a virtual medical group, appoints Dr. Travis Schamber as Chief Medical Officer, Jennifer Haas as Chief Marketing Officer, and Shay Hurst as Chief People Officer (Source)

• Centivo, a healthcare affordability company, is hiring a VP of Reporting & Analytics
• Oasis Health Partners, a primary care company for seniors, is hiring a VP of Software Engineering
• Hippocratic AI, a safety-focused LLM for healthcare, is hiring Head of Regulatory Affairs
• Hims & Hers, a health and wellness company, is hiring a Counsel, Commercial