#349 - 🚀 NeoCarePal – The NICU’s New Digital Swiss Army Knife

Hello friends 👋

In this Tech Tuesday episode, Ben speaks with Jason Beyer, Business Unit Leader for the Care Franchise at Chiesi USA, about the development of NeoCarePal, a free mobile app designed to simplify daily workflows in the NICU.

NeoCarePal brings together a curated collection of the most commonly used neonatal calculators and formulas in one easy-to-use platform. Instead of searching across multiple sources, clinicians can access tools for glucose infusion rates, oxygenation index, gestational and corrected age, umbilical catheter positioning, endotracheal tube depth, Sarnat scoring, bilirubin management based on the 2022 guidelines, and early onset sepsis risk — all validated and referenced directly in the app.

Jason explains how Chiesi moved beyond therapeutics to address unmet needs by listening to clinicians, running focus groups, and designing a solution that reduces frustration at the bedside. The conversation also covers the importance of user experience, ongoing updates based on feedback, and why providing NeoCarePal free of charge was central to its mission.

This episode highlights how industry and clinicians can collaborate to create practical, accessible tools that make neonatal care more efficient and reliable.

Link to episode on youtube: https://youtu.be/3JpWTySzygg

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Short Bio: Jason Beyer is Vice President & Business Unit Leader - US CARE. Mr. Beyer joined the company as product manager, neonatology in 2009. Since then, he has held positions of increasing responsibility within marketing, strategy, and corporate development departments, including a strategic role within the Chiesi SpA Global Marketing team based in Parma, Italy. Before joining Chiesi USA, he held multiple commercial positions of increasing responsibility at Sanofi Genzyme.In addition to his leadership experience, Mr. Beyer co-leads a Chiesi Affinity Network dedicated to advancing initiatives and dialogue for individuals with disabilities and caregivers. He is actively involved in many Chiesi in the Community initiatives and patient advocacy partnerships.Mr. Beyer earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Bates College and a Master of Business Administration from Duke University.

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The transcript of today's episode can be found below 👇

Ben Courchia, MD: Hello everybody. Welcome back to the Incubator podcast. We are back today for a new episode of Tech Tuesday, and we are joined by none other than Jason Beyer, who is the business unit leader for the Care Franchise at Chiesi USA. Jason, welcome to the podcast.

Jason Beyer: Thank you so much, Dr. Courchia. So pleased to join today.

Ben Courchia, MD: Call me Ben, please.

Jason Beyer: All right. I've been thinking about that. I figured I'd try, and we can course correct. Do you want to start again?

Ben Courchia, MD: No, no, that's fine. It's a very conversational podcast, so we're going to be fine. A very innovative tool that you guys have been working on is called NeoCare Pal. Can you tell us a little bit about how long NeoCare Pal has been available and how long you’ve been working on this particular solution?

Jason Beyer: It's been in the works for a few years now, and we've been releasing some versions and really building the app so it becomes more functional. I believe that the current version has been online for about a year or so now, available for download in both the Apple Store as well as the Google Play Store.

Ben Courchia, MD: Yeah, and it's completely free. So it's a very exciting project. We'll talk a little bit more about that. Can you tell us about NeoCare Pal and what it offers clinicians?

Jason Beyer: Essentially the NeoCare Pal app is really a curated selection of the most commonly used formulas and calculators that neonatal teams rely on daily to support their patient care. It's not calculators that were created by Chiesi. We just wanted to collect validated calculators that were already available and put them under one umbrella. So it's a simple, easy-to-use tool. Everything's in one place, really just reducing some of the frustrations we heard from many clinicians who had to go to various sources just to access the calculators they needed daily.

Ben Courchia, MD: Yeah, it’s kind of like for people who have had iPhones for a while, you have these pages and pages of apps and you're like, where is the one for this particular process? And when you're at the bedside and you need something, it can be very frustrating.

Jason Beyer: We aim to just put it under one umbrella. So it's one-stop shopping for the majority of things that you'll need.

Ben Courchia, MD: Chiesi is well known for all the different solutions and products it offers to clinicians, but this is a new avenue you guys are exploring. Can you tell us a little bit about what motivated the process that led to NeoCare Pal specifically?

Jason Beyer: Absolutely. For about 25 years, Chiesi has been committed to partnering with the neonatal community to improve the level of care for preterm infants with a focus on pharmacotherapies and companion devices, which is the traditional pharmaceutical approach. But just a few years ago, we accepted a challenge to think more broadly and about how we could really use our resources to address unmet needs that make life a little bit easier in the NICU. In this case, we thought: let’s step away from therapeutics and instead look at the tools you’re using. Can we make bedside care more efficient, remove some frustrations, streamline workflows, and really enhance efficiency overall?

It was a broad approach. We didn’t start out saying, “Let’s create an app.” We wanted to listen, ask questions, and understand the needs before prioritizing how to address them. Not the traditional approach of saying, “We’ll tell you what value we can provide,” but instead, “What value do you need, and how can we best deliver it?”

Ben Courchia, MD: Yeah, and you guys have done a beautiful job with the app itself. I’ve downloaded it myself, and it's very well designed and easy to use. The home screen basically leads you to all the different calculators you can use. It includes the calculations we do day-to-day. Some of these equations we're supposed to know by heart for exams, but, I’ll be very transparent, we forget. And we don’t want to have to recall these equations like the A-a gradient. We can talk about glucose infusion rate. One I use very frequently is the gestational and corrected age when we have to calculate the postmenstrual age of a baby. It also has oxygenation index, positioning of the endotracheal tube, Sarnat scores, position of the umbilical catheters, a bilirubin calculator based on the 2022 guidelines, and the early-onset sepsis risk calculator. And there are more I’m not even listing.

For people who have trust issues and want to know, “How do they use this? How can I verify what these calculators are based on?” how does the app provide that reassurance?

Jason Beyer: I think we've got about 15 calculators currently available in the app. Thirteen of the 15 do not require any internet connectivity. But we did want to make sure that folks could validate the calculators themselves and feel comfortable with the quality. As I mentioned, Chiesi did not create any of the calculators. We curated existing ones and worked on validating them. References are available within the app so people can check where the calculations stem from and confirm they reflect the most relevant guidelines for the NICU.

Ben Courchia, MD: Yeah, that's my favorite feature. Every time you open a calculator, the first thing you see is the input fields to enter your data. But then you have a few tabs – one is the “About” tab, which explains what the formula is based on. Most importantly, right after that is the “Reference” tab, linking to the papers, research, and evidence behind each calculator.

Another thing is the community feedback. In my unit, we've become big fans of the app. The fact that it’s free and downloadable from the App Store by anyone is huge. What kind of feedback have you received from the community about their early use of NeoCare Pal?

Jason Beyer: It’s been very positive. We see the downloads, but our intent was not just to release an app and say, “There’s the version, have fun.” We really want to iterate over time. While we track metrics, we’re also doing listening sessions with clinicians across the NICU team: Is it addressing needs? Could it be simpler? Are there calculators to add? So far, we’ve had great feedback. I think we’ve met the need of simplifying life with a one-stop shop, but we’re eager for continuous improvement, feedback, and ideas for future versions.

Ben Courchia, MD: Yeah, I’m not surprised. Is there a plan to continue expanding the app? For example, people are working on extubation readiness tools. Are you hoping to continue iterating, or will the calculators currently in the app remain the set list?

Jason Beyer: Our hope is to continue looking for opportunities to enhance the app. It’s only as valuable as it is at the bedside. If new tools are a good fit, we would like to include them so it continues to add value over time.

Ben Courchia, MD: What was the reception of this project within Chiesi? When you step outside your usual routine, it’s always an interesting journey. What’s the feedback been like internally?

Jason Beyer: It’s been fantastic. We wanted ideas and opportunities that were actionable, even though we probably bit off more than we could chew at the start. We’re not a tech company. I didn’t even know where to begin developing an app. But the team worked with external vendors and put it into play.

Seeing it hit the market was fantastic, but getting feedback has been extremely motivating. Knowing that we’re putting a free app out there that still offers a lot of value is rewarding. It was never a “check the box” initiative. Positive feedback and app store reviews are heartwarming for the whole team.

Ben Courchia, MD: You mentioned you’re not a tech company, but the app looks like something a tech company would make. Did you involve clinicians in choosing the calculators and guiding development?

Jason Beyer: Absolutely. Every step of the way. Once the idea was formed, we held listening sessions and focus groups with clinicians across the country, including neonatologists, nurses, and respiratory therapists. We wanted to ensure not just the right calculators but also that the app was intuitive and met the goal of making life easier.

We thought like a tech company: is one click too many? Is the interface intuitive? Does it fit into the user experience people expect from their other apps? It had to be clinically valuable, but also easy and efficient from a UX perspective.

Ben Courchia, MD: Jason, can you tell us also a little more about how Chiesi supports clinicians and parents at the bedside with other tools or solutions you’ve developed?

Jason Beyer: NeoCare Pal is just one example of Chiesi’s commitment to NICU teams. We also have another initiative, nicuconnections.com, which offers educational resources for practitioners, patients, and families, to cover the full NICU journey. Through this, we provide staff training and resources like educational textbooks, NICU reunion toolkits, and soft skills modules. For families, there are discussion guides to support conversations during the NICU stay. It’s another example of Chiesi’s co-creation approach and working with providers to ensure resources are usable and valuable.

Ben Courchia, MD: And it’s a beautiful website. It has two portals: one for patients and caregivers, and one for providers. If you’re a healthcare professional, there’s a whole set of tools available for education and beyond. Truly a great website.

Jason, what has been the most gratifying aspect of this experience for you?

Jason Beyer: Bringing it from ideation to execution. It’s always great to have ideas, but executing is hard. Seeing it launch, new versions come out, gaining feedback, and watching downloads spike across the country is rewarding to know it’s in people’s hands and making a difference.

Ben Courchia, MD: I’m so happy to hear that. I’ll recommend people check out NeoCare Pal. It’s free to download from the Google Play Store and Apple iOS Store. Jason, thank you so much for sharing this amazing tool and walking us through the process from ideation to execution. You guys did a fantastic job.

Jason Beyer: Thank you for the guidance and help, and thank you for the opportunity today to talk to your audience. Congratulations again on growing this platform. We’re in awe of what you’ve built from those early discussions to where it is today. Thank you for the service you’re providing to the neonatal community and your colleagues.

Ben Courchia, MD: Thank you, Jason. And thank you to Chiesi for being such an early supporter of the podcast.