I Don't Care

The landscape of employee benefits has undergone a seismic shift in the last decade. From the rise of telemedicine to the introduction of lifestyle spending accounts and stipends for services like DoorDash and HelloFresh, employers are reimagining how they support workers in a post-pandemic, inflation-conscious world. With healthcare costs rising and talent competition intensifying, the stakes for innovative benefit design have never been higher. According to SHRM’s Employee Benefits Survey, 88% of employers rated healthcare benefits as “very important” or “extremely important” to their workforce—underscoring the central role benefits play in retention and satisfaction today.

So, what does the future of employee benefits look like—and how can employers balance cost containment with employee satisfaction?

On this episode of I Don’t Care, host Dr. Kevin Stevenson welcomes Bret Brummitt, founder of Generous Benefits, to explore the evolving trends shaping how companies support their workforce. Together, they unpack the shift toward virtual care, cash-based allowances, and new models of cost control that both meet employee expectations and protect employer budgets.

Key Takeaways from the Conversation…

Virtual healthcare is now mainstream: From tele-mental health to virtual physical therapy, COVID-era innovations have permanently reshaped care delivery models.

Cash-based and lifestyle accounts are booming: Employers are moving away from rigid perks toward flexible stipends for wellness, meal delivery, gym memberships, and more.

Cost containment strategies are evolving: Direct contracts, bundled surgical pricing, and innovative pharmacy models are helping employers save without alienating employees.

Bret Brummitt is the founder of Generous Benefits, a consultancy focused on reimagining employee benefit structures to meet modern workforce needs. With over a decade of experience in insurance and benefits, Bret transitioned from traditional product sales to a mission-driven approach centered on creativity, flexibility, and cost control. He is recognized as a thought leader in benefit innovation, regularly advising organizations on how to balance financial sustainability with employee well-being.

With the healthcare landscape seeing many evolving changes, employee engagement is no longer just a buzzword—it’s now a business imperative. Amid rising turnover and persistent staffing shortages, organizations are under pressure to build resilient, engaged teams. According to Gallup, 70% of the variance in team engagement is tied to one factor: the team’s manager. As post-pandemic workforce challenges persist, this stat underscores the critical, yet often overlooked, role of middle management.

So, how can healthcare leaders harness the influence of middle managers to build a stronger, more engaged workforce?

That’s the question at the heart of the latest episode of I Don’t Care, hosted by Dr. Kevin Stevenson. Joining him is Burl Stamp, President and Founder of Stamp & Chase, a consultancy focused on transforming workplace culture in healthcare. Drawing from his background as a former CEO of a hospital, Stamp shares insights into what truly drives engagement and why the real solution lies in supporting those caught between the C-suite and the frontlines.

The key topics of conversation are…

Burl believes that middle managers are more burned out than frontline workers, yet they hold the key to stabilizing teams and reducing turnover.

From patient experience to staff satisfaction, communication remains the single most impactful skill in healthcare settings, and middle managers have to lead the charge.

Burl addresses how generational changes and post-COVID values are reshaping expectations, making it vital to rethink management development and engagement strategies.

Burl Stamp is the President and Founder of Stamp & Chase, a firm that helps healthcare organizations improve patient and employee experiences through leadership development and communication training. Prior to founding the company in 2003, he served as the CEO of Phoenix Children’s Hospital and held leadership roles within BJC HealthCare in St. Louis. Today, his work centers on helping healthcare organizations navigate workforce instability by empowering middle management, a focus born from both personal experience and industry need.

As healthcare continues to evolve in response to post-pandemic challenges, workforce shortages, and an ongoing mental health crisis, the institutions that support the backbone of healthcare—hospitals—are under immense pressure. In Texas, where geographic and demographic diversity create unique complexities, the role of hospital associations in steering policy and support services is more vital than ever. With over 9,000 bills filed in the last legislative session, the stakes for hospitals couldn’t be higher.

What exactly does a state hospital association do—and how does it shape the future of healthcare access, funding, and staffing in Texas?

On this episode of I Don’t Care, host Dr. Kevin Stevenson welcomes John Hawkins, President and CEO of the Texas Hospital Association (THA), for an insightful conversation that breaks down the THA’s multifaceted mission. From advocacy and workforce development to behavioral health infrastructure, John shares how the organization serves as a policy convener, education hub, and essential ally to hospitals across the state.

Key Takeaways from the Conversation:

Statewide Advocacy and Policy Development:

THA represents 85% of acute care hospitals in Texas, navigating the unique needs of urban and rural institutions alike. John emphasizes the association’s proactive approach to advocacy—engaging members to identify issues, form policy recommendations, and present unified solutions to the state legislature.

Workforce Crisis and Pipeline Solutions:

Hawkins underscores the ongoing crisis in healthcare staffing, especially nursing and allied health roles. THA is tackling this head-on by supporting performance-based funding for community colleges, promoting healthcare careers early, and expanding behavioral health workforce initiatives.

Behavioral Health, Violence, and Access Challenges:

With increasing demand for behavioral health services, John discusses how THA is pushing for more funding, better discharge solutions, and telehealth expansion. He also addresses workplace violence, noting THA’s legislative wins in requiring hospitals to implement both preventive and reactive safety measures.

John Hawkins became President and CEO of the Texas Hospital Association in January 2022, becoming only the sixth individual to lead the organization since its founding in 1930. With a background in government and public policy from the University of Texas, John spent nearly two decades leading THA’s government relations team before stepping into the CEO role. His deep policy experience and commitment to healthcare advocacy have made him a pivotal voice in Texas health system strategy and reform.

Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming healthcare diagnostics, with some of the most promising breakthroughs happening in cardiology. Structural heart disease affects millions and frequently goes undiagnosed in its early stages, leaving patients vulnerable to serious complications. One such condition, severe aortic stenosis, often remains unnoticed until it becomes life-threatening—carrying a two-year mortality rate worse than many cancers if left untreated. As AI tools become more accurate and accessible, they offer a vital opportunity to detect these conditions earlier and improve outcomes across the board.

So, can AI actually help cardiologists catch what they might otherwise miss—and what does that mean for the future of diagnostic care?

On this episode of I Don’t Care, host Dr. Kevin Stevenson sits down with Don Fowler, President of Echo IQ USA, to explore how Echo IQ is using AI-driven decision support to aid cardiologists in identifying structural heart diseases like aortic stenosis. They discuss how the tool works, why AI won’t replace doctors, and how it could level the playing field between rural clinics and top-tier academic centers.

Key highlights from the conversation…

AI as an assistant, not a replacement: Fowler emphasizes that Echo IQ’s AI tool doesn’t replace physicians—it enhances their diagnostic capabilities, particularly for hard-to-spot cases like low-flow, low-gradient aortic stenosis.

Equity in diagnosis: The technology helps address diagnostic disparities, particularly for women and rural populations, by providing consistent, phenotype-based analysis drawn from the world’s largest echocardiographic dataset tied to mortality.

Workflow integration is key: For AI to be adopted widely, it must fit seamlessly into existing clinical workflows. Echo IQ is designed to run within a cardiologist’s normal environment, minimizing friction and improving efficiency.

Don Fowler is a seasoned healthcare executive with over 35 years of experience leading global sales, marketing, and commercial strategy in medical imaging and diagnostics. He served as President and CEO of Toshiba America Medical Systems and spent more than two decades at Siemens Healthineers, holding key leadership roles including VP of Global Sales and Marketing for the MR business. Currently President of Echo IQ USA, Fowler is known for driving enterprise value through strategic execution, building high-performance teams, and serving as a trusted advisor across the healthcare and private equity landscape.

Enrollment in Medicare Advantage plans is projected to reach about 35.7 million, according to a 2025 Senate Finance Committee report. Yet, many startup and midsize organizations face steep technical and regulatory hurdles when launching or scaling operations. As part of the broader healthcare payer enterprise landscape, these plans must manage compliance, claims adjudication, risk adjustment, and reporting. This requires robust software systems that can handle increasing complexity without driving up overhead.

How can small and midsize organizations offering Medicare Advantage plans compete and scale effectively in a highly regulated, data-heavy environment?

On this episode of I Don’t Care, host Dr. Kevin Stevenson welcomes Chris Stanley, CEO and founder of Strategic Healthcare Management Systems (SHMS), for a deep dive into the software and operational needs of the healthcare payer enterprise. They explore how the company helps payer organizations manage everything from enrollment and risk adjustment to claims automation and regulatory reporting through a vertically integrated platform that scales fast.

Key Highlights

• Automating Compliance and Operations: SHMS enables 90% reductions in staff needs for adjudication by automating plan operations, CMS risk submissions, and audits.
• Supporting Startup and Mid‑Sized Organizations: The company specializes in guiding small and midsize organizations within the healthcare payer enterprise from licensure through go-live, often within four months.
• Future‑Proofing with AI: Stanley outlines plans to integrate AI for fraud detection, contract optimization, and risk adjustment—moving from proof of concept toward scalable innovation.

Chris Stanley is the CEO and Founder of Strategic Healthcare Management Systems, where he has spent nearly two decades building scalable software solutions for Medicare Advantage and payer operations. His career spans roles in software engineering, product management, and healthcare IT at organizations including WebMD, RATA Associates, and Informa. He specializes in helping healthcare payer organizations streamline operations and meet compliance standards, with deep expertise in data systems, claims processing, and regulatory reporting.

CEO turnover across U.S. hospitals is accelerating. Hospitals and health systems announced 146 CEO changes in 2023—a 42% increase over the 103 exits recorded in 2022, according to a Challenger, Gray & Christmas report. As more leaders transition into new roles, the importance of making a good first impression has intensified. The early days of a hospital CEO’s tenure can define their long-term effectiveness. Amid this dynamic, HealthSearch Partners launched a leadership insights series focused on how top executives navigate their first 90 days to build trust, demonstrate presence, and spark institutional change.

So what strategies set successful CEOs apart in the first 90 days and how can future leaders learn from their playbook?

On this episode of I Don’t Care, host Dr. Kevin Stevenson speaks with two industry icons, Neill Marshall, Chairman and Co-Founder of HealthSearch Partners, and Kurt Mosley, Association Practice Leader at the same firm. Together, they reflect on key lessons from their 90-Day CEO series, built on interviews with hospital leaders nationwide.

Key Takeaways from the Episode:

• Symbolism Matters: Small, visible actions—like replacing mattresses or rounding on holidays—can signal deep values and create lasting goodwill.
• Listen First, Act Intentionally: The best leaders don’t rush decisions. They prioritize trust-building, cultural alignment, and understanding root issues before implementing change.
• Relationships Are Career Insurance: Leaders must proactively maintain professional relationships—even when secure—to weather transitions and drive long-term success.

Neill Marshall is a veteran healthcare executive search leader with nearly 30 years of experience and over 600 senior-level placements. He co-founded HealthSearch Partners—now the fifth-largest healthcare executive search firm in the U.S.—after leadership roles at firms like Witt/Kieffer and Marshall Koll & Associates. His career has focused on recruiting CEOs, COOs, CFOs, and other top executives for hospitals and health systems nationwide.

Kurt Mosley is the Associations Practice Leader at HealthSearch Partners, bringing over 30 years of experience in healthcare workforce strategy and executive placement. He previously served as Vice President of Strategic Alliances at AMN Healthcare and Merritt Hawkins, where he built partnerships with 25 state hospital associations and numerous healthcare organizations nationwide. A nationally recognized speaker and published expert, Mosley has advised thousands of healthcare leaders on physician supply, workforce trends, and executive recruitment.

Economic mobility is often portrayed as a straight climb. In reality, it’s shaped by adversity, identity, and access to opportunity. As research from the University of Michigan notes, mobility requires not only income, education, and employment, but also more intangible resources such as social inclusion and power—the ability to make choices and exert influence. According to the United Nations, it takes four to five generations for children in low-income households across OECD countries to reach their nation’s average income. Yet in rare cases, individuals shatter that trajectory, demonstrating a form of leadership resilience that redefines what is possible across generations.

What qualities enable someone to harness adversity—not just overcome it—but to thrive and lead with empathy, courage, and conviction?

On this episode of I Don’t Care, host Dr. Kevin Stevenson welcomes Norberto Orellana, author of Meteoric: A Memoir Against All Odds, for a moving conversation about resilience, identity, and building a life that challenges generational limits. From a turbulent childhood to public speaking stages and emerging healthcare leadership, Norberto’s story unpacks how defining yourself by your vision—not your environment—can unlock lasting impact.

Key Takeaways from the Episode:

Orellana recounts the pivotal night on a late bus that redefined his identity, not as a victim of his circumstances, but as someone capable of more.

He explains how “positive audacity” helped him land a hospital leadership role despite lacking traditional credentials, after a TEDx talk caught the attention of a COO.

His memoir Meteoric outlines the four essential traits that shaped his journey: ambition, persistence, decisiveness, and leadership resilience.

Norberto Orellana is a healthcare leader, author, and speaker whose career defies the odds. Originally trained as an organic chemist, he transitioned into healthcare administration after completing a Master’s in Healthcare Administration. He has delivered multiple TEDx talks and recently published Meteoric: A Memoir Against All Odds, which explores how he broke generational cycles and built a life defined by service, leadership, and impact.

The U.S. healthcare system is strained by rising costs, uneven quality, and fragmented care navigation. Employers are bearing the brunt, spending more without always securing better care for their teams. According to the RAND Corporation, one effective strategy is to “change their network and benefit designs to encourage patients to use lower‑priced, higher‑value providers (where provider quality and convenience are comparable).” This strategy enables companies to save thousands of dollars per patient annually while enhancing the quality of care. As generative AI transforms industries, the question is no longer whether to adopt it, but how to do so ethically and effectively in healthcare.

Can AI help people find the right doctor—not just any doctor—while saving employers money and simplifying decision-making?

This episode of I Don’t Care, hosted by Dr. Kevin Stevenson, features Dr. Daniel Stein, internal medicine physician and CEO of Embold Health. Together, they unpack how Embold’s AI-powered platform is redefining care navigation through clinical logic, natural language processing, and massive datasets, guiding patients to high-performing providers matched to their needs and preferences.

Key Highlights from the Conversation:

• AI That Guides, Not Replaces: Embold uses generative AI to replicate a physician’s triage logic and connect patients with the most appropriate, clinically validated provider, without needing a medical degree to navigate the platform.

• Cost Savings Through Quality: Employers using Embold’s navigation tools have seen care costs drop 3–5% annually by steering employees to top providers, without relying on pricing alone.

• Guardrails and Transparency: Backed by Microsoft’s responsible AI standards, Embold's platform is bias-tested and built on a foundation of over 230 million medical records, ensuring recommendations prioritize outcomes and trust.

Dr. Daniel Stein is a physician and healthcare executive with deep experience across clinical care, health policy, and corporate leadership. He is the founder and CEO of Embold Health, where he leads efforts to improve care quality through data-driven physician performance analytics. Previously, he served as Chief Medical Officer at Walmart Care Clinics and held policy roles with the U.S. Senate and CMS, bringing a unique blend of clinical insight and system-level strategy to healthcare reform.

Generative AI has captured the public imagination, but its most transformative use cases may lie far from flashy consumer tools. In healthcare operations, where complexity, inefficiency, and fragmentation remain persistent challenges, AI is now driving measurable improvements. Research suggests AI-enabled healthcare systems could cut administrative costs by up to $360 billion in the U.S. alone.

So, how can health systems move beyond experimentation and adopt AI in ways that deliver real operational value?

In this episode of I Don’t Care, host Kevin Stevenson welcomes Quentin Fisher, founder of Aidan Systems, for a grounded and insightful conversation on AI’s practical impact on healthcare operations. Fisher explains how AI-driven analytics, process automation, and predictive models are helping community health centers and midsized systems simplify workflows, reduce reporting burdens, and make more informed decisions.

Key Takeaways from the Episode:

Evolution of Healthcare AI – Healthcare AI’s evolution has moved from rule-based systems to predictive models powered by organizational data and cloud computing.

Strategic AI Adoption in Health Systems – Aidan’s “AI Fit Assessment” helps health systems identify low-risk, high-value AI use cases to improve productivity and care delivery.

Responsible and Ethical AI Use: Ethical AI deployment depends on the use case, data governance, and constant retraining to prevent model degradation and bias.

Quentin Fisher is a seasoned technology leader and founder of AIDAN Systems, where he leverages AI and machine learning to streamline business operations and reduce inefficiencies, particularly in healthcare and manufacturing. With over two decades of experience, including senior roles at HCL and CSC, he has led global analytics initiatives across industries such as aerospace, automotive, and public sector, focusing on strategy, solution development, and partner enablement. His core expertise includes generative AI, global strategy, data science, and delivering enterprise AI platforms that prioritize real-world business outcomes.

Healthcare organizations have faced significant challenges over the last five years due to the lasting financial and operational impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, widespread labor shortages, and rising costs of care delivery. The pandemic forced hospitals to prioritize crisis response over long-term strategy, leading to deferred investments, workforce burnout, and financial strain. Now, with many institutions regaining stability, the question arises: what are the biggest healthcare trends for 2025? Issues like workforce shortages, evolving competition, and rural healthcare access are driving critical conversations in the industry.

So, how are healthcare leaders approaching these new challenges? What innovative solutions are emerging to redefine patient care, workforce management, and industry competition?

On this episode of I Don’t Care, host Dr. Kevin Stevenson sits down with David Willis, Principal in the Strategy Practice at ECG Management Consultants, to discuss the key healthcare trends shaping the industry in 2025. Their conversation delves into the resurgence of strategic planning in hospitals, the pressing issues facing rural healthcare, and the evolving workforce dynamics that are reshaping the future of patient care.

The main topics of conversation…

The Return of Strategic Planning: After years of crisis management, healthcare organizations are re-engaging in long-term planning. But the metrics of success are shifting away from traditional inpatient market share.

Rural Healthcare Challenges: With hospitals closing at alarming rates, access to specialty care—especially OBGYN services—is becoming a critical issue in underserved areas.

The Healthcare Workforce Shift: The experience gap between seasoned clinicians and new professionals is growing, requiring innovative retention and training strategies.

David Willis is a seasoned healthcare strategist and management consultant with nearly 30 years of experience advising leading healthcare organizations on strategic planning, mergers and acquisitions, and system integration. As a Principal at ECG Management Consultants, he specializes in helping executives navigate industry disruptions, develop competitive differentiation, and drive organizational transformation. Previously, he held leadership roles at The Health Management Academy and the Advisory Board, where he played a pivotal role in executive education, market strategy, and business growth initiatives.