Dr Sumit Sinha-Roy – Principal Medical Advisor, State Health Operations Centre – WA Health (L) and A/Prof Michael Franco (R)
Baret Appoints A/Prof Michael Franco as Chief Clinical Officer
Melbourne, Australia – 10 September 2025 – Baret Technologies, an Australian digital health company building secure role-based messaging solutions for healthcare, today announced the appointment of Associate Professor Michael Franco as its inaugural Chief Clinical Officer. The appointment marks a significant milestone in the company’s growth, adding in-house clinical leadership to its senior executive team.
A/Prof Franco brings over two decades of clinical and health technology executive leadership experience to Baret. A nationally recognised leader in clinical informatics, digital health innovation, and care transformation, Michael is also a Medical Oncologist and Palliative Medicine Physician. In former roles as Monash Health’s Chief Medical Information Officer, Program Director and founder of the Electronic Medical Record (EMR) & Informatics Program, he was a key leader in the successful delivery of Monash Health’s major EMR implementations and the opening of the Victorian Heart Hospital. He has also served as National Chief Medical Officer at St Vincent’s Health Australia, and his work has focused on improving clinical communication, care coordination, and the integration of digital tools into everyday health practice – leading groundbreaking work on governance and usage of artificial intelligence in healthcare.
Michael is a Fellow of the Australasian College for Physicians and an Adjunct Associate Professor in both the Faculties of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences and Information Technology at Monash University. He is also a Fellow and Certified Informatician with the Australian Institute of Digital Health.
“I’m excited to join Baret at this pivotal moment in its growth journey,” said A/Prof Franco. “Improving the safety, quality, and efficiency of healthcare by embedding seamless clinical communication into the way care is delivered was one of the reasons I started my journey in digital health. I’ve spent my career exploring how we can better connect patients, clinicians and services in a modern, effective manner – and I’m energised to now be part of a high-growth startup that is building elegant tools that do exactly that, at scale.”
He added “We need tools to make the lives of patients and clinicians meaningfully easier – something that a lot of current health technology has promised but not delivered. There is also a growing appetite across the sector for digital solutions that deliver direct, measurable impacts to patient access and patient flow, while also making healthcare safer and more sustainable. Baret is at the forefront of that shift, and I look forward to contributing to its next chapter.”
Baret Chief Executive Matt Krosch welcomed the appointment as a critical step forward in the company’s evolution.
“We’re thrilled to have Michael join Baret as our first Chief Clinical Officer. His deep clinical knowledge, combined with his national thought leadership in digital health, strengthens our ability to serve health services with a solution that delivers the utmost in impact and value,” said Krosch. “His arrival comes at a crucial time, as we deliver on our recently announced partnership with WA Health to implement a state-wide role-based messaging solution. Michael’s guidance will ensure clinical voices from the entire spectrum of a state healthcare systems are embedded into our solution from the inside out.”
A/Prof Franco’s appointment underscores Baret’s growing role in helping health systems – particularly in regional and rural Australia – to become more interconnected. As hospitals and health services face rising demand and workforce challenges, the need for smart, seamless, and safe communication has never been greater.
“Rural and regional health services are often at the frontline of healthcare complexity,” Franco added. “Digital tools that improve communication between clinicians and across services in hub and spoke models can drive real improvements in access, equity, and the experience of both patients and staff.”
The Baret platform is now extensively used across a growing list of customers, including Austin Health, Monash Health, Western Australia Health (HSS), Mercy Health, Bendigo Health, and several other health institutes and aged care providers across Australia.
About Baret
Baret enables secure, targeted role-based messaging solutions to deliver structured, closed-loop communications across clinical and frontline workers in hospitals and care services. Baret’s messaging, image sharing, and task management system provides assured information handover in urgent and evolving on-staff settings, resulting in highly efficient communications for improved patient outcomes.
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Learn more: www.baret.tech
For further information, please contact news@baret.tech