Meet the Team

Amazing individuals doing incredible things!

Message from the CEO

Welcome to AdviNOW (pronounced “AD-vee-now”). It has been an exciting two years since our inception. I feel the company has accomplished so much in such a short time, and I hope you’ll join us in seeing what lies ahead. I attribute our rapid growth and success to the incredibly talented team we have and the support we are receiving from all levels: public, private, and government organizations. Please allow me share our story.

My prior work experience afforded me the opportunity to live abroad. During that time, I got to see firsthand the healthcare systems of different countries. I saw the disparities between the haves and have-nots for even the most basic healthcare services. Of all the causes I could think to devote myself to, this was the one: to make quality healthcare services affordable and accessible for all walks of life. Whatever the solution may be, it had to be elegant and simple, yet powerful enough to upend the status quo and have the adaptability to integrate into the existing infrastructure and promote change from within. It was a daunting task just to determine where to start.

This life goal of mine lay dormant for many years. Not until two years ago did the opportunity present itself. A physician friend of mine shared how difficult it was for him to help his patients while keeping his primary care clinic afloat and not sacrifice his family life in the process. Also, the technologies needed for the concept I had in mind are now mature enough to make it possible. I set forth to help my friend, and many doctors like him, so they do not have to make compromises between patient care, making a living, and spending time with loved ones. And in doing so, I hope to achieve my own dream of re-inventing healthcare for all of us.

The AdviNOW Medical team is full of bright-minded healthcare providers, scientists, and software developers who are combining their areas of expertise to create something I think is revolutionary. If you are interested in coming on board and joining us on this journey to transform our healthcare system, please reach out to me directly. Or if you found us out of curiosity, please raise awareness of our efforts. Any movement for change starts with tiny ripples that will eventually grow into large wakes, pushing all of us forward. I thank you for your involvement.

Sincerely,

James Bates
CEO & Founder

James Bates

Chief Executive Officer

James is CEO and Founder of AdviNow Medical. James is a seasoned technology executive with over 20 years of experience inventing and managing the development of revolutionary products while leading companies to “best in class” financial performance.

James is a dynamic leader who has demonstrated technological vision and profitable growth in both small and large organizations. Throughout James’s career, he has been involved with almost every major technological breakthrough consumers have experienced, giving him a unique perspective on how AI will change healthcare.

Among his start-up successes is Silicon Labs, where he was Vice President of Asian Operations. As founder of the Silicon Labs Asia organization, James built the infrastructure that enabled growth from near $0 to over $300M in revenue while delivering the technology that shrunk mobile phones to fit into a human hand.

Among his large business management successes is NXP (Freescale) where James was an officer and senior vice president. There he took over the distressed Analog and Sensor group with nearly $1 billion in revenue and 800 employees. Over his tenure, the group enjoyed a turnaround that dramatically increased gross margin, revenue, and EBIT while transitioning to the clear market leader that delivered the technological inventions that enable self-driving and electric vehicles.

James speaks fluent Japanese and holds a master’s degree in electrical engineering from Brigham Young University.

Stephen Thompson

Chief Financial Officer

Steve has over 30 years of financial and business management experience, including serving as a partner with Deloitte & Touche LLP, serving as Chief Financial Officer with both public and private companies, and owning and operating an in-home care services business in the Phoenix metro area. His areas of expertise include accounting, finance, internal controls, and risk management.

Steve is qualified as a financial expert under Sarbanes-Oxley. He has a proven track record of problem solving and managing complex projects, including finance process transformation, implementation of new and/or complex accounting standards, post-merger integrations, and implementation of new regulatory and human resources requirements. He is experienced at managing relationships with both external and internal auditors.

Steve will serve as an advisory board member and CFO, providing oversight and direction as AdviNow Medical builds out its accounting and financial management capabilities.

Chris J. Hill, MHA, FACHE

Chief Marketing Officer

Chris brings a wealth of hospital and healthcare management experience and knowledge to AdviNow Medical. Chris has been a visionary for healthcare transformation and growth over the past 10 years as the former CEO of many prestigious large healthcare organizations. Chris led organizations such as Arizona Spine and Joint Hospital, St. Luke’s Medical Center, and St. Luke’s Hospital. As CEO of a hospital within the Hospital Corporation of America (HCA), he drove technology adoption and unprecedented growth. As CEO of Urgent Care Extra, Chris led the growth and highly profitable sale of over 60 urgent care clinics in Nevada with the HCA, in Arizona with Banner Health, and in Colorado with the Urgent Care Management Services.

Chris retired from the Army in 2006 as a Lieutenant Colonel where he served 20 years in the US Army in a variety of operational and healthcare administrative roles at military bases and facilities in South Korea, Texas, Virginia, California, Georgia, the United States Military Academy at West Point, and Fort Leavenworth.

Chris has a Master of Healthcare Administration (MHA) from Baylor University and a bachelor’s degree from Arizona State University.

Chris is a fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives and serves as a board member for the Arizona State University Alumni Associations. He has volunteered his time and talents to numerous organizations and causes throughout the years, including Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Veteran’s Affairs hospitals, Army Community Service, Army Emergency Relief, Combined Federal Campaign, United Way, March of Dimes, and the Arthritis Foundation.

Dr. David Grayson, MD

Medical Director

Dr. Grayson earned his medical degree from Umea University in Sweden. His clinical training then continued at the neurosurgery residency program at Umea University Hospital. During his practice, Dr. Grayson gained a deep knowledge in the neuroscience field. He has a special interest in, and was fellowship trained in, cerebrovascular and skull base surgery at the Swedish Neuroscience Institute in Seattle, WA.

As a full-time faculty member at the neurosurgery department in Umea, his work was continually recognized for improving health outcomes and making healthcare more effective. By implementing new techniques and methods here at AdviNow, he believes that patient outcomes will improve and the provider’s time will be managed more effectively.

Margot Yann, PhD

Director of Data Science and Machine Learning

Margot Yann, Ph.D. is Director of Data Science and Machine Learning at AdviNOW Medical, where she oversees the development of custom machine learning systems for disease diagnosis and treatment.

Margot did her initial training in Beijing China in Computer Science & Engineering, and completed her doctorate in Toronto Canada. Her specialty is Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. She has extensive experience in research and applications using Deep Neural Networks, Bayesian Networks, Multiagent Leaning, and Game Theory—among other areas and processes at the forefront of artificial intelligence.

She has worked with Academic and Federal institutions in UK, Canada and US acting as Principal investigator (PI) & Co-PI on projects focused on support decision-making processes through improving metrics in healthcare.

Most recently she has applied Natural Language Processing to handle complex datasets of electronic health records in cardiac and cancer research at well-regarded hospitals in both Toronto and the UK.

Margot has taught Computer Science courses at the University of Toronto. She has been a member of Women in Engineering in IEEE, and has been professional committee on distinguished computer conferences such as IJCAI and AAAI.

She brings a wide background and expertise in computing in healthcare to AdviNOW Medical and is striving to help our company reach its goals and fulfil its mission to help physicians make better informed diagnoses, while helping patients achieve better health outcomes.