Risk Never Sleeps Podcast

Episode #151: Cracking the Hypertension Code: One Patch, No Limits
Guest: Jay Heimsoth, National Director of Sales at Biobeat
Host: Ed Gaudet
Date: December 3, 2025

Episode Overview

In this engaging episode, Ed Gaudet sits down with Jay Heimsoth, National Director of Sales at Biobeat, to discuss breakthroughs in hypertension monitoring and their impact on patient safety. The conversation explores Biobeat’s innovative cuffless, FDA-cleared blood pressure patch, patient compliance challenges, Jay’s transition from NFL to healthcare, lessons in leadership and resilience, and advice for breaking into healthcare technology. The two also share lighthearted moments, touching on music, movies, and personal risk.

Key Topics & Insights

1. The Hypertension Challenge and Biobeat’s Disruptive Solution

• Hypertension: The Silent Risk

  • 120 million US adults have hypertension; 74% are uncontrolled (01:07)
  • Traditional 24-hour cuff monitors are rarely used — cumbersome, low compliance, and poor data capture

• Biobeat’s Innovation

  • Biobeat developed the first and only FDA-cleared, cuffless, 24-hour blood pressure patch (01:02, 02:19)
  • The patch is worn on the chest, syncs to a mobile app, and includes a digital diary for medications, symptoms, and activities, making data actionable for physicians (02:19–03:11)
  • Clinical validation: In an ICU study by Mayo Clinic, the patch achieved 96-99% agreement with arterial line measurements, within 1 mmHg variance (04:29)
  • Patient benefits: Improved comfort, compliance, and seamless data capture — described as “set it and forget it” (04:00)

• Why Target Hypertension Now?

  • Existing market guidelines and reimbursement are in place, but traditional tech is inadequate, creating a prime opportunity for disruption

Quote:
"What was needed was a disruptive technology to come in. So Q BioBeat. And so that alone is just the opportunity that we have to really change that curve of healthcare for these patients is really remarkable."
— Jay Heimsoth (01:36)

2. Clinical Implications: Beyond Measurement to Management

• Continuous monitoring allows physicians to adjust hypertension management, not just diagnosis — potentially optimizing medication dosing and timing (05:48)
• Groundbreaking studies show that nocturnal blood pressure (measured during sleep) is six times more predictive of cardiovascular death than daytime or office readings (06:10)
• Biobeat’s patch enables around-the-clock, real-life monitoring, even during sleep, filling a critical data gap (06:58)

Memorable Moment:
Ed realizes the conversation is hitting close to home:
"I don't want to be right here because I'm talking about me now, right? Oh my God."
— Ed Gaudet (07:09)

3. From Football to Healthcare: Jay’s Journey

• NFL beginnings: Jay was a defensive tackle, NFL free agent for the Kansas City Chiefs, played in NFL Europe, and had a stint in Nashville (08:32–08:50)
• Lessons from elite sports translate to leading high-performing teams in healthcare: film study, effort, and the “10,000 hours” commitment (12:07–13:50)

Quote:
"At that level, everyone has talent... The ones that separate themselves are the ones that are going in... finding the little things that they could identify... to just get a step faster."
— Jay Heimsoth (12:07)

• Importance of patience and grit — Jay reflects on career pivots, recovering from injuries, and learning the value of persistence (16:32)

4. Building Teams and Company Culture at Biobeat

• Jay emphasizes the importance of building culture and processes from the ground up in a startup (25:03)
• He wants Biobeat to be a place "people are fighting to get into, versus one they’re fighting to get out of" (25:53)
• Advocates for living company values daily and supporting team member growth, even beyond the company (28:48, 29:50)
• Measures personal success by the achievements of those he leads

Quote:
"I like to recognize the success that my team is having, not the success that I had with my team."
— Jay Heimsoth (29:56)

5. Advice for Breaking into Healthcare and Sales

• Network intentionally — find mentors, attend conferences, learn the technology, and seek out entry-level opportunities (31:47)
• Demonstrates the value of hustle and grit through a story of hiring and promoting a nontraditional candidate who became the top sales rep (35:48)
• "You can teach skill, but you can’t teach desire" (37:16)

Quote:
"At some point someone's going to say, you know what? I see you hustling... I'm going to take a chance on you."
— Jay Heimsoth (34:57)

6. Jay Beyond Work: Music, Risk, and Life Lessons

• Balances work with health, fitness, and family (14:20)
• Music for a desert island: Billy Joel (especially An Innocent Man), Guns N' Roses' Appetite for Destruction, classical compilations; favorite movies include Step Brothers, Chariots of Fire, and Flash Gordon (18:04–20:54)
• Risk highlights: Multiple major surgeries, clinical trial participant for artificial discs, motorcycle enthusiast — and the risks and rebuilding required both personally and professionally (22:15–24:07)
• Wouldn’t change much about his journey, valuing lessons learned and the opportunities they brought (24:15)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote | |-----------|---------|-------| | 01:07 | Jay | "Hypertension, it's the number one risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Nearly 120 million adults in the US suffer from high blood pressure and even according to the American Heart Association, 74% of those people are over uncontrolled. So huge unmet need..." | | 04:29 | Jay | "The technology has been utilized in 26 clinical publications... the device showed the amount of data was remarkable... BioBeat device was 96 to 99% in agreement to the measurement on a beat by beat basis." | | 06:10 | Jay | "A very interesting study... the nighttime blood pressure, that nocturnal blood pressure was six times more informative on that patient's risk for cardiovascular death." | | 13:50 | Jay | "The 10,000 hours to become—yeah, there you go—glad you brought that up—that you need to put into becoming an expert in whatever you do." | | 16:32 | Jay | "Honestly, the biggest thing is work on building patience." | | 25:53 | Jay | "He wants to build an organization that people are fighting to get into versus one that people are fighting to get out of." | | 29:56 | Jay | "I like to recognize the success that my team is having, not the success that I had with my team." | | 34:57 | Jay | "At some point someone's going to say, you know what? I see you hustling... I'm going to take a chance at you." | | 37:16 | Ed | "You can teach skill, but you can’t teach desire." |

Recommended Listening Segments (Timestamps)

• Biobeat’s Cuffless Patch Intro – [01:02–03:11]
• Clinical Impact and Studies – [04:29–07:09]
• NFL to Healthcare: Lessons in Grit – [08:32–13:50]
• Building Biobeat’s Team and Culture – [25:03–30:46]
• Advice for Entering Healthcare – [31:47–38:17]
• Jay’s Desert Island Picks – [18:04–21:35]
• Personal stories of risk and resilience – [22:15–24:52]

Tone and Style

The episode blends professional insight with personal warmth and humor. Jay’s candor and humility make the discussion accessible, while Ed’s conversational style brings out stories and advice valuable to anyone interested in healthcare innovation, team leadership, or navigating career transitions.

Takeaways

• Next-gen remote monitoring, like Biobeat’s patch, stands to radically transform hypertension care by boosting patient compliance and giving clinicians powerful new insights.
• Building patient safety hinges not only on innovation but on leadership, adaptability, and meaningful organizational cultures.
• Perseverance, grit, and the willingness to do the hard work — whether in sports, sales, or startups — pave the way for success.
• Breaking into healthcare requires hustle, networking, mentorship, and a commitment to learning.

For more risk, safety, and digital health discussions, visit www.censinet.com.