Join Gayle and Joyce as we talk with Deb Gordon, author of The Health Care Consumer’s Manifesto: how to get the most for your money. Deb’s research starts with the observation that Americans consume health care differently than we consume other goods and services and seeks to understand why. Deb explained the genesis of her research, which involved a trip to Australia, New Zealand and Singapore to learn how healthcare consumers in those systems behave. Manifesto is full of f...

Dr. John Goodman of the Goodman Institute for Public Policy Research joins us for an insightful conversation on healthcare economics, which he states virtually no one understands because of its complexity and disconnect from normal market forces. He submits that one cannot approach healthcare delivery with supply and demand curves so instead, he focuses on incentives. Indeed in his acclaimed 2012 book entitled "Priceless - Curing The Healthcare Crisis," he suggests that our current syst...

Greg Fann returns for more ACA discussion. He explains why he favors further improvements to ACA rather than destroying it by offering a public option designed to pull enrollees from the individual market. Greg explains how a “Platinum Public Option” could provide a new option to certain enrollees while giving politicians a win in a way that does not threaten the health and stability of the individual market. Further information can be found in Greg’s latest article, “Actuar...

Dr. Kashyup Patel is CEO of Carolina Blood and Cancer Associates. As a Medical Oncologist, Dr. Patel has worked hard to institute care initiatives that foster ease of access for patients suffering from cancer while improving metrics that save time and money. He is a leader within his specialty and has fearlessly tested and implement alternate payment models. As a patient advocate, he has worked tirelessly to define and create "patient-centered care." His strategic thinking is notable, and thi...

Dr Keith Smith, anesthesiologist, managing partner and co-founder of the Surgery Center of Oklahoma (surgerycenterok.com), and co-founder of the Free Market Medical Association (fmma.org) believes that providing medical care should be a mutually beneficial exchange between the physician and the patient. That’s how transactions work in other sectors of the economy. But being employed by a hospital pits the physician against the patient; they become financial adversaries. The Surgery Cent...

Prominent health actuary Greg Fann joined Descant for our first conversation with an actuary. After the Affordable Care Act passed, Greg kept hearing economists say that the ACA exchanges would attract young people. He understood the math of the subsidies and knew this was wrong. When he saw that no one was talking about this, Greg decided that he had to speak up. Actuaries should be objective truth tellers, and if we want ACA markets to work, we have to be truth...

Today I, Joyce L, interview Carla Balch - founder of Spesana (Spesana.com) a data and services platform designed to unlock greater efficiencies in physician workflows. Driven by machine vision technology Carla and her team hope to equip physicians with easy access to the world’s latest science, knowledgebases, and real-world evidence to make the optimal choices for each patient. Spesana includes a virtual collaboration space for providers, pharma, payors, and scientists. Instantly referr...

In this episode, Joyce and Gayle are joined by Dr. Tony Dale, founder and chairman of the medical cost sharing company Sedera. We discuss Sedera’s model of health cost sharing and their approach to personal responsibility, high value care, and the doctor-patient relationship. Find out more at Sedera.com.Dr. Dale shares how his views were shaped by his experiences as a family physician in the U.K. and as a patient and entrepreneur in the U.S. We delve into the transfer of value bet...

In this episode, Dr. Kevin Knopf discusses the challenges of delivering value-based care despite recent advancements in cancer treatment. Complexity in our healthcare model can drive disparate outcomes and price inflation due to competing interests amongst a plethora of players. We discuss the role of insurance and alternate means of financing healthcare to drive efficiency and proper incentives - all of which are so essential when thinking about cancer as a catastrophic risk.

John Chamberlain, former executive in hospital management and physician practice management discusses why he left hospital employment and started Citizen Health to reconnect physicians and patients and simplify health care transactions. Citizen Health is one of thirty organizations that comprise Free2Care. John says that with Free2Care’s 8.5 million patient and physician members, “We now have a voice.” He says that the most important thing for the average Joe to understand about h...