BYOB: The Healthcare Podcast

In the final episode of the inaugural season of BYOB: The Healthcare Podcast, the team sits down to speak with Brian Washburn, Executive Director of Operations at Humboldt General Hospital. Brian speaks to the crew about his early career pathways and how advanced certifications help leverage young leaders for the next phase of their career. Brian specifically speaks to MGMA’s Certified Medical Practice Executive (CMPE) credential. The CMPE credential is recognized as the professional standard in medical practice management.

Brian Washburn – Executive Director of Operations at Humboldt General Hospital

Brian Washburn is the Executive Director of Operations at Humboldt General Hospital, a critical access hospital located in Winnemucca, Nevada. He graduated from the University of Utah with a degree in Accounting, then went on to obtain a Masters Degree in Healthcare Administration from the University of Pittsburgh. After graduating from Pitt, he secured a business associate fellowship at the Mayo Clinic in the department of Management Engineering and Internal Consulting. After a few years he moved to Montana where he worked with the Billings Clinic in a small hospital as Director of Operations before moving to Nevada.

The crew asked Brian the following questions:

Grab a drink and join us for another episode of BYOB: The Healthcare Podcast!

In the penultimate episode of the first season of BYOB: The Healthcare Podcast, the team sits down to speak with a great friend, Derick Simmons. Derick works as a Strategy Consultant for Rock Health Advisory. Rock Health is a full-service seed fund that supports startups working in digital health. Rock Health offers funding, access to medical, venture, legal and corporate partners, and office space to its portfolio companies. Additionally, Rock Health offers advisory services to clients across healthcare in the advancement of digital health strategies. In his role, Derick aligns with large players across the industry to converge what digital health is advancing with how their clients can move the needle forward in their respective organizations.

Derick Simmons – Strategy Consultant at Rock Health

Derick is a consultant at Rock Health where he supports healthcare, life sciences, and tech clients to develop digital health strategies. Prior to Rock Health, he was a transformation consultant at an integrated health system where he advised senior executives on digital health strategy, entrepreneurial partnerships, and new ventures. Derick earned an MHA from Cornell University and a B.S. in Management and Organizational Behavior from BYU. Before completing his academic training, he worked as a healthcare venture capital associate, researcher, and consultant—and also completed two years of volunteer mission service in Romania and Moldova.

The crew asked Derick the following questions:

Grab a drink and join us for another episode of BYOB: The Healthcare Podcast!

In the 18th episode of BYOB: The Healthcare Podcast, the team sits down to speak with Joanna Ekstrom. Joanna works at La Clinica De La Raza, which serves the East Bay area as a federally qualified health center. La Clínica was founded in 1971 to address health barriers and create better lives for the underserved. Today, La Clínica is the first choice for providing multi-lingual, accessible full-scope health care services in the East Bay, no matter a patient’s income level or insurance status. Joanna details how funding for FQHC’s impacts the programs they implement and how her team makes community-based care a realization for thousands of people in California.

Joanna Ekstrom – Senior Planner at La Clínica de La Raza, FQHC in the Bay Area

Joanna Ekstrom works as Senior Planner at La Clínica de La Raza, a Federally Qualified Health Center in the Bay Area, where she oversees the team responsible for program development, grant writing, and grants management. She also works closely with executive leadership on strategic planning, program planning, and other agency initiatives. Previously she worked at UCSF on a cervical cancer screening project, at another FQHC program serving transgender patients, and at a nonprofit mental health agency. Joanna has an MPH in Community Health Science from UCLA and a BA in Sociology and Women’s Studies from UC Santa Barbara.

The crew asked Joanna the following questions:

Grab a drink and join us for another episode of BYOB: The Healthcare Podcast!

In the 17th episode of BYOB: The Healthcare Podcast, the team sits down to speak with Monica Shah. Monica has spent the better part of her career working in the international areas of major health systems domestically and abroad. Monica spent time working in Singapore for Johns Hopkins International and currently works within the international affairs division of Weill Cornell Medicine. She shares how different business models of international healthcare are seen across academic medicine and how her work today differs from some of her early work in the City of New York.

Monica Shah – Director of the Office of International Affairs for Weil Cornell Medicine

Monica V. Shah presently serves as Director of the Office of International Affairs for WCM. Prior to her role as Director, Monica helped drive Global Initiatives for WCM through project management of WCM’s proposal to build a Greenfield hospital in Shanghai. Before joining WCM, she was a part of the Strategy & Analytics team with NewYork-Presbyterian Global Services, where she managed strategic department initiatives and consulting projects in the Middle East. Monica also served as Project Administrator for Johns Hopkins Medicine International in Singapore. In this capacity, she led strategic and new business planning for the hospital and regional affiliates. Monica has degrees in Cultural Diversity and International Health Studies and Molecular and Cell Biology from the University of Connecticut, along with a Master of Health Administration from Johns Hopkins.

The crew asked Monica the following questions:

Grab a drink and join us for another episode of BYOB: The Healthcare Podcast!

In the 16th episode of BYOB: The Healthcare Podcast, the team sits down to speak with the founder of Ash Wellness. David Stein speaks about what led him to create a company that offered inclusive and accessible healthcare by enabling providers and businesses to provide at-home diagnostics care to their patients. He shares his personal story, experiences of others and how Ash hopes to change the end-to-end experience of at home diagnostic testing.

David Stein – Co-founder and CEO of Ash Wellness

David Stein is the CEO of Ash Wellness, a B2B at-home diagnostic company launching remote care services for healthcare organizations and D2C businesses. Ash Wellness offers white-labeled operations management, testing via a CLIA/CAP certified lab network, kitting and fulfillment, and modern technology infrastructure. In his role, David is responsible for mission vision, strategy oversight, fundraising, and corporate development. He is a graduate of the Cornell Tech MBA program. David lives in New York City, and is passionate about parties and healthcare access.

The crew asked David the following questions:

In this week’s episode of Talking with Nakin, we look back at a previous episode that examined the antiviral pills by Merck and Pfizer. The guys discuss what continued options to combat COVID-19 look like as the pandemic evolves.

As more data has come out there are large discrepancies in the effectiveness of Molnupiravir and Paxlovid. The US government has spent over $2B on Molnupiravir and many hospitals are no longer willing to use it while Paxlovid has a lot of restrictions as to who can take it and what it cannot be taken with.

Grab a drink and join us for another episode of BYOB: The Healthcare Podcast!

In the 15th episode of BYOB: The Healthcare Podcast, the team sits down to speak with the founders of Appcelerator. Chelsea and Inno share what the impetus was for launching an organization that is focused on ushering the next level of leaders in great positions across the healthcare landscape. Appcelerator is a career advancement program that provides exposure, resources, and individualized career mentorship to enhance your job search skills and support job placement. Chelsea Perry – Co-founder of Appcelerator and Senior Manager at CVS Health Chelsea Perry is a Senior Manager of Product Development at CVS Health where she leads product dev for telehealth and eLearning platforms and other stealth initiatives. She is also Cofounder of Appcelerator, a diversity talent development platform connecting users to employers and mentors for career advice, referrals, and professional coaching. Chelsea began her career as an administrative fellow at Kaiser Permanente after graduating with a Master's degree in Health Administration from Virginia Commonwealth University. In 2019, she was recognized as Teladoc Health’s inaugural She Powers Health Under 30 award recipient honoring individuals championing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace. Innocent “Inno” Okechukwu – Co-founder of Appcelerator and Manager at Johnson & Johnson Inno works in strategy at Johnson & Johnson, where he leads work in innovation as a Manager, Business Innovation and Venture Design. He is also Co-founder of Appcelerator, a diversity talent development platform connecting diverse talent to mentors and employers for career advice, referrals and career coaching. Inno's background is in corporate strategy and innovation within healthcare. He also has previous entrepreneurial experience founding a business during college. He holds a Masters in Health Administration and Bachelors of science from the University of Missouri. 

The crew asked Chelsea and Inno the following questions: 

Grab a drink and join us for another episode of BYOB: The Healthcare Podcast! 

Please give us some feedback via our Survey(https://forms.office.com/r/bZ8MHEDXNc).

In the 14th episode of BYOB: The Healthcare Podcast, the team sits down to speak with Morenike Ayo-Vaughan who represents The Commonwealth Fund. Morenike details the amazing origins of the organization as it was among the first private foundations started by a woman philanthropist, Anna M. Harkness, established in 1918 with the broad charge to enhance the common good. The mission of the fund today is to promote a high-performing health care system that achieves better access, improved quality, and greater efficiency, particularly for society’s most vulnerable, including low-income people, the uninsured, and people of color. Tune in to hear from the amazing work that Morenike does at TCF!

Morenike Ayo-Vaughan – Program Officer at Commonwealth Fund

Morenike Ayo-Vaughan, MHSA is currently the Program Officer for the Advancing Health Equity program at the Commonwealth Fund. She is responsible for supporting the Vice President of Health System Equity, who leads the Advancing Health Equity program, and coordinates the overall work and efficiency of the team. Most recently Ayo-Vaughan served as senior manager at Avalere Health, where she was responsible for serving myriad health care clients who sought the advancement of health equity and improvement in patient access to optimal care. She also was responsible for conducting literature reviews and key informant interviews and synthesizing findings and feedback from the advisory committee to inform the goals and strategies of Avalere’s Health Equity Fund. Prior to Avalere, Ayo-Vaughan served as practice operations associate at Privia Health. She has an M.S. in health systems administration from Georgetown University and a B.S. in public health from Temple University.

The crew asked Morenike the following questions:

Talking with Nakin – Expansion of Amazon Care Nationwide

Amazon Care launched primarily as a pilot program in 2019 for employees, designed to provide free telehealth visits and low-cost in-home visits for employees. Amazon Care’s in person offerings exist in 8 cities and plan to expand to 20 more by the end of the year. Even though Amazon Care is entering a crowded market, the news was somewhat bullish for Amazon with competitor Teladoc dropping 6% when the news was announced

The crew debates the impact of Amazon expanding its healthcare presence and what the onslaught of primary care entrants means for patients across the country. Grab a drink and join us for another episode of BYOB: The Healthcare Podcast!

Please give us some feedback via our Survey: https://forms.office.com/r/bZ8MHEDXNc

In the 13th episode of BYOB: The Healthcare Podcast, the team sits down to have a great conversation with the guys behind the Advancement League. The Advancement League describes itself as a social movement and membership organization helping leaders put Health, Everywhere. They are known for bringing leaders inside and outside of traditional healthcare together for the annual Young Health Leader Summit and first-of-their-kind 24-hour Community Impact Competition and "Road Trip" experiences. Tune in to hear from Alex and Dionte on how the Advancement League looks to shift the paradigm on creating sustainable change in the healthcare landscape!

Advancement League

Alex Maiersperger – Consumer Focused Strategy at SAS and Co-Founder of The Advancement League

Alex leads consumer-focused strategy and initiatives as an executive industry advisor to healthcare and life science clients at global analytics "founder and future" SAS. Alex also serves as co-founder of the Advancement League, a social movement and membership organization focused on helping leaders pursue healthcare career happiness & having community impact along the way. Prior to SAS, Alex led consumer experience and value-based initiatives at Blue Cross NC, the provider and payer sides of Geisinger Health, and launch Doxy.me as a telehealth platform as a Lassonde Entrepreneur scholar at University of Utah, where he obtained dual-Master's in Public Health and Healthcare Administration.

Dionte Madden – Enterprise Account Executive at BetterUp and Chief of Partnerships at The Advancement League

Dionte currently works at BetterUp where he partners with C-suite and VP level executives at global enterprise companies to deliver change at scale through world-class coaching, AI technology, and behavioral science experts.  Dionte also serves as Chief of Partnerships for the Advancement League, a social movement and membership organization focused on helping leaders pursue healthcare career happiness & having a community impact along the way. Prior to BetterUp, Dionte spent several years at GE Healthcare in their Ultrasound and Specialty Channel businesses. Dionte obtained his Bachelor of Science in Health Services Administration from the University of Central Florida.

The crew asked Alex and Dionte the following questions:

In the 12th episode of BYOB: The Healthcare Podcast, Freddy and Joe speak with a friend of the podcast and a fellow young professional who has rapidly risen through the administrative ranks to become the Chief Ambulatory Officer at DHR Health. Veronica speaks about her path to the C-Suite, how her familial roots have shaped her career and how she hopes to inspire other young Latina’s who are looking to enter leadership roles across healthcare. Make sure to check out Veronica on LinkedIn as she shares her journey and lessons from the C-Suite through her articles, “Millennial Leadership: Through My Lens.”

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/leading-multi-generational-team-easier-said-than-done-veronica/

Veronica Villareal – DHR Health

Veronica Villarreal is a Chief Ambulatory Officer at DHR Health who oversees 73 clinic locations with over 30 specialty and subspecialty care in the Rio Grande Valley. After spending much of her career in revenue cycle and clinic operations, Veronica knows how every service lines’ success for quality patient care requires the collaboration from numerous clinical and non-clinical departments. Veronica has focused on creating standardized and innovative processes to be able to cut down patient wait times, developing a servant leadership culture and is actively pursuing more training classes for the 1000 employees she oversees. Veronica is a certified medical coder, certified medical office manager and a certified medical insurance specialist. She also holds a degree in Master of Health Administration/Business Administration from the University of Houston – Clear Lake.

The crew asked Veronica the following questions:

Check out Veronica at her LinkedIn.

In the eleventh episode of BYOB: The Healthcare Podcast, the group welcome Erin Sietstra who is the Head of Investments at Hopelab. Hopelab describes themselves as a team of behavioral scientists, designers, impact investors, and digital tech experts who strive to combine the inspiration of hope with the rigors of science Erin shares her journey as a strategy consultant to leading investments for an organization that leads in the behavior change technology space. Join the conversation with the crew as they learn about impact investing from Erin and be sure to follow her on Twitter @erinsietstra!

Erin Sietstra – Hopelab

Erin leads Hopelab Ventures, where she is responsible for Hopelab’s impact investments in companies that aim to improve the health and well-being of teens and young adults. She sources, executes, and manages investments, positioning Hopelab as both a financial and a strategic partner to entrepreneurs, thought leaders, and innovators. Prior to Hopelab, she led Transactions and Business Analytics at Johnson & Johnson Innovation, and she began her career as a strategy consultant at Leerink Partners, a healthcare-focused boutique. Erin holds an MBA with a Certificate in Public Management & Social Innovation from Stanford and a BA in Biology from Harvard.

Hopelab focuses specifically on mental health and well-being outcomes for the BIPOC and LGBTQ+ young community. Through Hopelab’s investment initiative—Hopelab Ventures, invests and partners with entrepreneurs, thought leaders, and innovators who share the commitment that Hopelab Ventures is looking to execute.

The crew asked Erin the following questions:

In Episode 11, Talking with Nakin covers the deal that was announced in December between the EHR giant, Cerner and the multinational computer software conglomerate, Oracle. The deal was announced as an all-cash tender offer for $95.00 per share, or approximately $28.3 billion in equity value. “Working together, Cerner and Oracle have the capacity to transform healthcare delivery by providing medical professionals with better information—enabling them to make better treatment decisions resulting in better patient outcomes,” said Larry Ellison, Chairman and Chief Technology Officer, Oracle. Joe and Freddy answer questions from Nakin on how the continued investment from large technology giants like Oracle will have across healthcare. Join us with your favorite drink for Episode 11!