Our founder, Robert Palmer, began developing cardiac surgery outcomes models in collaboration with cardiothoracic surgeon, Dr. David Theodoro. Together, they created decision trees to map out how outcomes varied by surgical approach, particularly focusing on minimally invasive versus conventional heart surgery. Over time, the model expanded to cover all adult cardiac surgeries, including economic outcomes. This platform was called PotentiaMED and became a trusted third-party tool for analyzing and reporting outcomes for value-based care, partnering with companies like Covidien, Medtronic, and Sorin.