B-Time with Beth Bierbower

You’ve likely heard of accelerators or incubators – organizations that help entrepreneurs in the early stages of developing their products or services. Once a company begins to raise larger amounts of capital or reach a minimum revenue threshold, the company “graduates” from the accelerator or incubator program. In other words, the company gets resources and assistance for a limited time frame.

There is a unique model that sticks with the entrepreneur well beyond the early stages of formation and growth. It is this latter model that Startup Health embraces. Startup Health serves the entrepreneur at every stage of growth, providing entrepreneurs with guidance resources, networking and more to support them over the long-term. If this model isn’t impressive enough, Startup Health has also launched Moonshots which are initiatives designed to tackle the biggest, hairiest problems in healthcare. If you are a healthcare leader, you’ll want to say tuned to learn more about these Moonshots.

With us is Steve Krein, Cofounder and CEO of Startup Health. Steve will tell us about the Startup Health model, how it is different and why the model is so powerful in aiding the entrepreneur. He’ll also tell us more about Moonshots and how they are transforming the face of healthcare.

Show Notes: Books: Antifragile: Things That gain from Disorder by Nassim Taleb; The Power of Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck and Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business by Gino Wickman

The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland by Jim DeFede is an inspirational book that will leave you feeling all that is good and right in the world. As the title implies, the book recounts the air traffic redirections on 9/11, when 38 planes carrying over 6,000 passengers and 470 crew members were instructed to land in Gander, Newfoundland.

Gander, Newfoundland has long served as a pitstop for planes traveling across the Atlantic Ocean. For many years, planes were forced to stop in Gander as they did not have the fuel capacity to make it across the Atlantic. Once larger aircraft were manufactured, Gander was no longer needed as a refueling station. The city did, however, remain heavily involved in air traffic control.

In the wake of the terrorist attacks on 9/11, the US Department of Transportation ordered all airborne aircraft to land immediately and those planes that were not in the air remained grounded. US airspace was closed for several days.

The Day the World Came to Town tells the story of how the tiny town of Gander jumped into action realizing that they were going to become a landing destination. Not only did the local air traffic controller team anticipate the onslaught of aircraft, the team also realized that, with US airspace shutdown, the passengers and crews would need somewhere to sleep, shower and eat.

The people of Gander stepped into action. They opened their schools, churches, clubs, and homes to the visitors. They prepared food and gave away their towels, sheets, and other linens as well as clothing – anything they could do to help out.

The local retailers chipped in as well. Anything the visitors needed was provided – for free. Clothing, blankets, medication, diapers – even drinks at the bar – all for free. Two women realized that pets were in the planes baggage compartments and crawled into each one to feed the animals until they were allowed to get them out and keep them in a hanger where a veterinarian provided services for free. Neighboring towns helped out by filling in the void when Gander ran out of stock.

What was most touching, was that the townspeople of Gander went out of their way to minimize the visitor’s stress. For example, they brought toys to the children and celebrated their birthdays. They ensured that dietary restrictions were addressed. They prayed with and held the hands of the visitors who were fearful that they lost loved ones.

After the visitors left, the Canadian Government wanted to host a party to honor the townspeople of Gander for their hospitality and generosity. The townspeople politely declined. They weren’t heroes, they were just doing what anyone should do in this situation.

I was in New York City just one block from the World Trade Center on 9/11. The party I was with was going to try to make its way back to Louisville but I wanted to go home to Pittsburgh so we parted company. I walked in silence to Times Square where a colleague of my husband’s opened up her hotel room to share with me until we could find transportation back to Pennsylvania. I will never forget that she greeted me in the lobby with a big hug. When we got to her room, we looked out the window and saw the second tower collapse. I will never forget that image and I will never forget Lucy’s generosity over the next few days.

Those feelings came flooding back to me when I read The Day the World Came to Town. We live in a world full of challenges and unrest, but every once in a while, the human spirit and kindness emerge and prove that we can live together respectfully and peacefully. I highly recommend this book so that we never forget the horrid events of 9/11 along with the outpouring of kindness from our fellow humans. And hats off to the people of Gander, Newfoundland for showing the world what fellowship and leadership really mean.

With us today is Jared Johnson the Founder of Shift Forward Health which is a media company that delivers thought leadership content through the use of podcasts, blogs, videos and more. Each week, Jared talks with individuals to learn more about who is attempting to transform healthcare and how.

Jared’s career experiences have helped shape his thinking and developed his expertise on consumers and digital transformation as he has worked with well-known medical organizations such as St. Jude, W.L. Gore & Associates, and Phoenix Children’s Hospital to name a few. He also serves on several healthcare and digital advisory boards that reach thousands of organizations monthly.  Today, Jared will share his thoughts with us on consumer transformation in healthcare – what it means, why it matters and which companies are embracing this concept as a means to transform their businesses.

Show notes: Favorite Books: Killing Marketing: How Innovatinve Businesses Are Turning Market Cost Into Profits by Jou Pulizzi and Robert Rose; Reframing Healthcare: A Roadmap For Creating Disruptive Change by Zeev Neuwirth, MD

This episode is a copy of the Innovation Accelerator podcast where Beth Bierbower serves as a panelist along with Gary Druckenmiller, Jared Johnson and Steven Ambrose and we discuss the healthcare consumer

What does Value Based Care really mean? Is Value Base Care gaining momentum? Will Value Based Care be effective at improving outcomes and reducing costs? I’ve decided to pose these questions to our guest today because he and his team are in the thick of it.

With me is Dave Mull, CFO of Honest Medical Group, an organization that assists independent physicians in participating in Value Based Care. Dave and I previously worked together at Humana where he had extensive leadership experience in Medicare Advantage operations and finance.

Show Notes: Favorite Books:  When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi; Grit; The Power of Persuasion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth; Atomic Habits: An Easy and Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones by James Clear; and Passionate Action: 5 Steps to Creating Extraordinary Success in Life and Work by Doug Gray.

Collaborative care allows for a principal physician, behavioral health case worker and psychiatrist to work together to manage patients with both behavioral and medical needs. Spencer Hutchins, CEO & Co-founder of Concert Health tells us what his organization is doing to engage primary care and OB/GYN physicians in this process.

Show notes:  website: concerthealth.io.  Books: Aaron Slater, Illustrator by Andrea Beatty and The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs.

With us is Karen Simonton, Director of Strategic Alliances for the OrthoForum, an organization that connects the nation’s largest orthopaedic groups through benchmarking, advocacy, innovation, and networking. Karen shares the provider’s perspective as to how providers are reacting to or driving some of the trends and changes we are experiencing in MSK care delivery. Karen will share some of the challenges that these physicians face today, what their thinking is on value-based care and digital MSK.

Show notes: Books Karen is reading: Thank You For Being Late: An Optimist’s Guide to Thriving In The Age Of Accelerations; CEO’s Guide To Restoring The American Dream by Dave Chase and The Bible.

With me is Dr. Jennifer Schneider, CEO & Co-founder of Homeward, an organization that brings primary and value-based care to rural communities. Dr. Schneider shares information on the lack of access to primary and specialty care in rural America and what her new company, Homeward, is doing to address the issue.

Show Notes: Favorite Book: Long Walk To Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela by Nelson Mandela

Francois de Brantes is a pioneer in measuring and improving healthcare outcomes.

Francois began his career at GE Healthcare which provided him with a solid background in measuring what matters. While at GE, Francois helped create The Leapfrog Group focused on improving quality and safety. From there, Francois spent almost 11 years as the Executive Director of the Healthcare Incentives Improvement Institute before moving to Altarum and now Signify where he continues his focus on payment innovation. On this episode you’ll hear Francois’ perspective on value-based payment models and what we might expect to see moving forward. 

Show notes: To Err is Human: Building A Safer Health System by Institute of Medicine and Committee on Quality of Health Care in America and Crossing The Quality Chasm: A New Health System For The 21st Century by Institute of Medicine and Committee On Quality of Health Care in America

Stress and anxiety levels have risen dramatically over the last few years. Behavioral health providers were overwhelmed with requests over the last two years and utilization continues to be higher than pre-pandemic levels. Initially fueled by COVID concerns, stress and anxiety levels continue to climb due to inflation, supply chain issues and continued global uncertainty. According to a 2021 McKinsey report, psychological distress and substance use reached new levels. How can individuals get help dealing with stress and anxiety when access is challenging and also costly?

Our guest today is going to share how his company is helping individuals manage stress and anxiety and practice overall self-care.  With us is Russell Glass, CEO of Headspace Health, a company that brings together mindfulness tools for everyday life with clinical care in moments of need.

Show Notes: Untangled: Guiding Teenage Girls Through The Seven Transitions Into Adulthood by Lisa Damour, PhD and Premonition: A Pandemic Story by Michael Lewis.