Digital Health and Social Evangelist Ritesh Patel Joins FINN Partners as the Agency's First Global Digital Health Lead

Patel's Hire Further Signals FINN's Growing Collaborative Health and Integrated Marketing Strength

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Aug 04, 2021, 08:00 ET

NEW YORK, Aug. 4, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Global independent marketing and communications firm, FINN Partners, today announced that Ritesh Patel, a pioneering digital health transformation leader, joins the agency as senior partner, Global Digital Health. In this new position, Patel reports to Noah Finn, founding managing partner in charge of Global Integrated Marketing, and will work closely with Gil Bashe, Global Health Chair. Patel will collaborate across FINN Practices and work with the agency's clients at the intersection of health and wellness decision-making and health-professional voice.

Ritesh Patel, Senior Partner, Global Digital Health, FINN Partners

Most recently chief digital officer at Ogilvy Consulting, Patel is a health-technology visionary who has led the move for digital transformation that combines traditional marketing and public relations disciplines and harnesses innovative new technologies including artificial intelligence systems, chat bots, virtual reality and voice-activated systems in order to make brands and services more accessible. During recent news about a series of executive moves, FINN signaled that additional high-level personnel announcements would follow; Patel's hire is among the first of these.

"We are thrilled that Ritesh Patel joins FINN and brings his bold approach that drives access to care through digital technology," said Noah Finn, founding managing partner, Global Integrated Marketing. "Health and Technology are among the biggest practices within FINN and Ritesh brings to the agency and our clients his exceptional track record in building brands and using technology to connect them with customers. When people unite around information, smarter, faster, better-informed decisions are possible."

Patel is a frequent keynote speaker at global health and digital-sector conferences. He is a United Nations Leadership Counsel Award recipient for his efforts in "Media for Social Impact," a Medical Marketing & Media Catalyst, a PharmaVoice 100 Inspiring Leader and winner of the prestigious Clio award. He serves on the boards of the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation and the Asthma & Allergy Foundation of America. Patel is known for his work in digital transformation that opens opportunities for major metropolitan academic medical centers to serve a incubators and accelerators for healthcare start-ups.

"The pandemic has accelerated a long-anticipated process where patients, physicians, payers and policymakers are coming to grips with the understanding that care relationships and brand information can be enhanced by social platforms," said Patel. "Increased competition among drugmakers — there can now be up to 10 competing products for one specific malady — is pressing pharma brands to find other means of influencing doctors; social, digital marketing and targeted advertising inside their work platforms must be part of their strategies."

Before Ogilvy, Patel was global digital and social lead at PR agency Chandler Chicco and then became global head of digital and innovation at its parent company InVentiv Health, where he worked on creating innovative digital solutions for clinical trial recruitment for the CRO, pioneering the use of data and digital/social media to identify and recruit patients for clinical trials.

"People with pressing health concerns must navigate a health system that is highly fragmented and in which information is compartmentalized and often remains out of reach," said Gil Bashe, Global Health Chair. "Leadership agencies must address client business objectives and recognize that our value is measured ultimately in lives improved. Ritesh brings both the knowledge and passion to accomplish both goals."

About FINN Partners, Inc.
Founded in 2011 on the core principles of innovation and collaborative partnership, FINN Partners has more than quadrupled in size over the past 10 years, becoming one of the fastest growing independent, integrated marketing agencies in the world. The full-service marketing and communications company's record setting pace is a result of organic growth and integrating new companies and new people into the FINN world through a common philosophy. With more than 800 professionals, FINN provides clients with global access and capabilities in the Americas, Europe and Asia. In addition, FINN provides its clients with access to top tier agencies around the world through its membership in the global network PROI. Headquartered in New York, FINN's other offices are in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Fort Lauderdale, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Jerusalem, London, Los Angeles, Munich, Nashville, Paris, Portland, San Francisco, Seattle, Shanghai, Singapore, Southern California and Washington D.C. Find us at finnpartners.com and follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @finnpartners.

SOURCE FINN Partners