The product operating model that’s driving transformation at Modivcare

Modivcare, which provides services to better connect people with care, is on a transformative journey to optimize its services by implementing a new product operating model. With such a shift, Modivcare and its CIO Jessica Kral aim to create a comprehensive and shared view of the company’s processes. This transition also supports a more strategic roadmap for growth and innovation.

What’s the context for the new product operating model?

Our goal is to maximize service value, deeply understand client needs, ensure exceptional quality, and deliver impactful solutions. We believe the product operating model will allow us to be most effective in implementing the changes needed to achieve this strategy.

One example of the product operating model in action is in our Personal Care Services line, which helps people with non-clinical daily living tasks. These services are delivered primarily by small independent businesses that have a relationship with the local community, but we implemented a common platform used across markets to foster greater visibility and effectiveness.

Another example of the model in action is in our Non-Emergency Medical Transportation (NEMT) service line, which has enabled us to put technology in the hands of our clients to manage their own experiences. Our clients can use our APIs to share eligibility or integrate our ride booking service into their own portal or apps.

What was the model you were using before?

Modivcare has grown through acquisitions, and because many of our service lines weren’t integrated, they each had their own technology and models. The technology team was often in an order taker role, and our business leaders were buying their own software or contracting directly with a development firm. Because everyone was working independently, we had been building the same capability in multiple areas, and our technology footprint was getting more complex. We weren’t aligning on overarching strategies or collaborating well, and we knew we needed something different.

Why did you select a product operating model?

I see this as the next evolution of the partnership needed to drive strategy. In my first CIO job, my team was down in the weeds, and I wanted to find a way to ensure the projects we were doing in technology were helping us achieve the vision for the company. I started to work with my business partners to define our capabilities at an aggregate level and ask some foundational questions: How do these capabilities interact? Which do we use as a company to make money? How do we drive common capabilities among so many stakeholders?

In my next CIO role, I inherited an enablement team, which really was product management as we know it now. I was thinking about how to combine agile development with a capability focus, and that’s when I started to hear about product management as a discipline and realized it was exactly what we needed.

When I was interviewing for the CIO role at Modivcare, our CEO Heath Sampson talked about his vision for a product operating model. That vision is part of why I was hired and why I took the job.

How did you approach the product operating model build?

Soon after I started, Heath was ready to move forward with implementing a common product operating model. Parts of Modivcare were using product management best practices, but not everyone was. I presented a proposal with two options: a federated or centralized model, with the pros and cons of each. We went with a federated model where each senior executive would have a product leader, and the product leaders would create a center of excellence (CoE) so we could work toward a standard process for engagement and delivery.

Leaders who already had a product leader were happy because little would change, and leaders who didn’t were happy that a CoE would give their new product leader a support structure.

At first, progress was slow but steady because product leaders were in high demand across multiple initiatives, making it difficult for them to fully focus on building the new model. Their strong systems thinking skills meant they were frequently sought after for various priorities, which contributed to the challenge of maintaining momentum. Six months later, the organization made the decision to move to a centralized model, consolidating the product teams under my organization. When we made that change, there were concerns the product team wouldn’t maintain their independence and importance when they moved to an organization led by a CIO. I worked to address those concerns head-on by clearly communicating that product isn’t joining technology; Product and Technology is a new organization, with a new culture, structure, and goals.

With a strong foundation in place, we’re now seeing the impact of this model as the Product and Technology team leads the charge into intelligent automation with generative AI and a digital-first mindset. This approach is shaping the ways we interact with those we serve, ensuring that our solutions aren’t only effective but also forward-looking and adaptive to the evolving needs of our stakeholders.

What advice do you have for CIOs looking to get a product operating model off the ground?

Implementing one successfully requires strong partnerships and collaboration. Driving meaningful change in isolation is difficult, and every time I’ve led this transition, I’ve had the support of sponsors and engaged partners who were instrumental in making it a success. Without that alignment, it’s much harder to embed new ways of working and sustain momentum.

Clear communication is also essential. People often equate product management with project management, so it’s important to clarify how they differ. I’ve found that using the term ‘capabilities’ helps convey that product teams focus on the entire ecosystem rather than isolated projects. Over time, this has become part of our common language, helping people across the organization align around this shift.

Another challenge is managing expectations when using a strategic lens to prioritize initiatives. Not every project can make the cut, which can be disappointing for those invested in them. Transparency around decision-making and expectation management is crucial to maintaining trust and engagement. Open communication ensures that even when tough calls are made, people understand the reasoning and see how these choices benefit the company as a whole.

Finally, pace the evolution of the model. When we first implemented it at Modivcare, we tried to integrate our financial management processes immediately. However, we weren’t mature enough for that step, and it slowed us down and created frustration. Instead, focus first on solving immediate pain points before layering in more complex integrations.