Amy Scott Gilchrist – Synthesis Health

Synthesis Health is driven by a mission to provide intelligent software that benefits imaging healthcare professionals and those they serve through cutting-edge technology and strategic partnerships. The company’s legal team, led by Amy Scott Gilchrist, general counsel and VP of legal and compliance, is central to this mission. Her role is foundational to ensuring that Synthesis’s ambitions are realized within a framework of legal compliance, ethical standards and strategic foresight.

Amy Scott Gilchrist | Synthesis Health | General Counsel and VP of Legal and Compliance

As the first general counsel of Synthesis Health, founded in late 2021, Gilchrist is a business-oriented legal executive, indispensable in building and overseeing the legal infrastructure supporting the company’s vast initiatives. In a landscape as complex and regulated as healthcare and informatics, her expertise is crucial in navigating the myriad legal challenges and opportunities accompanying rapid innovation. Whether the task involves ensuring compliance with ever-evolving healthcare-related regulations, protecting the company’s intellectual property, or managing risks associated with new ventures, Gilchrist’s leadership ensures that Synthesis Health can innovate and commercialize confidently.

“I am proud to be helping to lead the growth of a company with a clear mission, solutions that address concrete dilemmas in healthcare delivery, and a culture committed to quality and compliance,” she says.

Leading the way in digital healthcare technology

Synthesis is vertically integrated and has built solutions to ensure seamless workflow continuity in medical imaging. The cloud-native solution runs entirely within the web browser, including speech recognition and AI. The Synthesis platform optimizes efficiency, productivity and standardization for medical imaging professionals. Under Gilchrist’s guidance, Synthesis has embarked on several transformative projects to commercialize this technology and plant its feet firmly in the advanced digital health tech sector.

One key accomplishment was a multi-million dollar licensing agreement for Synthesis’ platform with a prominent medical imaging services provider.  Gilchrist led the negotiations of the definitive agreement and guided management through implementation. The transaction was an important validation of Synthesis’ differentiating technology, opening the door for the current robust customer base.

The ability to commercialize medical devices is a priority of Synthesis, and Gilchrist has contributed her experience in this field to secure Synthesis’s place as a medical device manufacturer. Early in her tenure at Synthesis, Gilchrist saw the need to right-size the Quality Management System to the company’s objectives. Gilchrist led the simplification and roll-out, built an expert team, and oversaw consecutive clean external audits.  With a certified QMS, Synthesis Health has the infrastructure to commercialize the medical devices it develops. Indeed, with Gilchrist’s guidance, Synthesis received approval of two AI medical devices from Health Canada and a diagnostic viewer by both Health Canada and the FDA.

Gilchrist also collaborated effectively with leadership to build and implement the business line to resell third-party AI products on the Synthesis platform and its own approved devices. Synthesis technologies allow efficient and effective integration of machine learning into most parts of the imaging workflow, a benefit and differentiator leadership recognizes. Fostering innovation in imaging by offering a go-to-market channel for top-notch regulated AI medical imaging software is a company priority. Gilchrist is a key enabler, guiding the company through quickly evolving regulations and industry standards while developing strategies for growth and mitigating product and cyber liability risks across business relationships.

“I have ensured that Synthesis’s AI tools and third-party offerings meet regulatory requirements while addressing potential legal risks,” Gilchrist explains.

Apart from these initiatives, Gilchrist has been instrumental in ensuring the Synthesis products and services comply with all relevant laws and regulations, including data privacy and marketing.

“A key priority for me, and a welcome responsibility rather than a legal challenge, is educating my colleagues on the many laws and regulations in developing, marketing, selling and servicing our products. I work collaboratively with business functions to set up practical policies and procedures and develop legal and regulatory strategies for scaling growth.”

Her involvement stretches well beyond compliance. She has played a key role in the company’s explosive growth in booked sales by building efficiencies in contracting and working hand-in-hand with sales and marketing functions. Gilchrist executed the company’s decision to focus 100% on an AI-enabled cloud informatics platform and exit other business lines by timely completing two divestments. Gilchrist is also leveraging her experience counseling global imaging businesses to position the company for growth outside of North America.

“The daily variety of matters and opportunity to work with a mission-driven and brilliant team keeps me motivated and challenged,” Gilchrist adds.

Enabling Opportunities with Lean Legal Team

As a small and young company, Synthesis remains in a very lean operating mode.

“We help each other across functions; my small team feels larger because we all collaborate to identify and meet short and longer-term goals,” she says.

This cohesiveness is critical to effectively operating this fully remote and fast-paced business. Gilchrist is committed to fostering a culture of mentorship and continuous improvement; for her team, this means coaching, having them demonstrate their expertise in meetings and work directly with executives, and advocating for their professional development.

Her emphasis on solving problems practically and enabling opportunities through active and continuous engagement with business functions characterize Gilchrist’s business-oriented leadership style.  Learning all aspects of the business and the technology is vital to this.

“My colleagues are generous with their knowledge and patient with my many questions,” she says.

As this trusted business partner, Gilchrist has been instrumental in new product introductions, formulating new business partnerships, and resolving complex challenges.

Through creative and proactive consideration of the company’s legal posture, Gilchrist contributes to the broader culture of innovation that defines Synthesis. In an industry as competitive and fast-paced as health tech and informatics, Gilchrist’s ability to lead a dynamic legal function while managing the complex legal challenges of an evolving industry is a significant asset to Synthesis Health. Her strategic vision, coupled with her deep understanding of the legal intricacies involved in healthcare and medical imaging, ensures that Synthesis Health is well-equipped to continue its trajectory of growth and innovation. Through her work, Gilchrist is helping to shape the future of imaging and digital healthcare, driving forward projects that have the potential to transform the industry and improve the lives of countless individuals around the world.

Decades of healthcare law expertise

Gilchrist’s path is rooted in over three decades of healthcare law, regulatory compliance, and risk management expertise. A graduate of Middlebury College with a degree in History, she advanced her legal studies at Case Western Reserve University School of Law, where she was an Editor of the Journal of International Law and a member of the Order of the Barristers.

Her legal career began at Squire, Sanders & Dempsey, focusing on litigation and administrative law. She then built a strong healthcare and risk management foundation during her tenures as corporate counsel at two insurers, where she excelled in operational contracting and regulatory compliance, driving significant process improvements and revenue growth.

At Philips, where she served for 11 years, Gilchrist became a key legal business partner for several imaging systems businesses. She managed the legal integration of 3 acquisitions, partnered in the commercialization of many successful imaging systems products and services, and built a robust and global collaborative research program that fostered the development of many of the imaging and healthcare informatics innovations we see today.

In June 2022, Gilchrist joined Synthesis as its first General Counsel. Synthesis is well-positioned to be the vendor of choice for healthcare organizations looking to solve the critical radiology shortage through productivity gains and lower costs.

“The ride has been exhilarating, expanding my knowledge of imaging and healthcare informatics and challenging me to learn new disciplines while allowing me to work with a stellar group of individuals all dedicated to building and producing safe, secure and effective groundbreaking imaging technology,” Gilchrist notes.