Making Healthcare Sustainable

A member needs a knee replaced. The surgeon everyone in town uses is fifteen minutes away; the surgeon with the best outcomes is two hours away and easy to overlook, so the fund absorbs whatever happens next.

Randy Curry, Business Manager and Financial Secretary of IBEW Local 191, joins Nancy Ryerson and Lindsay Leeder, SVP of Labor, Union and Trust at Lantern, to unpack what pushed his fund toward a quality-first plan design and what it took to get that decision through a trust.

Randy and Lindsay talk through how one bad outcome becomes local news in a small town, why Lantern narrows a referral down to the specific procedure instead of handing over a full list of providers, and why he believes a Taft-Hartley trustee has no room to get this wrong. There's no HR department standing between him and the members who elected him.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why a small-town fund went after quality over convenience in its plan design
• How Lantern narrows a referral down to the top three providers for a given procedure
• What makes a Taft-Hartley trustee's accountability different from a typical HR department

Highlights:

(00:00) Meet Randy Curry and Lindsay Leeder

(02:06) Think, feel, do: why "feel" won for Randy

(05:15) From healthcare worker to electrician to trustee

(08:07) What members in a one-hospital town were telling him

(09:55) Why quality beats convenience in rural healthcare

(13:02) The "telegraph, telephone, telewireman" test for a new benefit

(15:35) From specific-procedure vetting to the one-call navigation experience

(18:54) The travel benefit, and why 98% of members never need it

(20:50) Building trust among fellow IBEW business managers

(22:23) Why Taft-Hartley trustees can't hide behind an HR department

(29:49) Randy and Lindsay's five-year hopes for healthcare

Resources:

Nancy Ryerson’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancyryerson/

Lindsay Leeder’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindsay-leeder-msn-arnp-6a3740146/

Randy Curry’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/randy-curry-a528261b7/ 

IBEW Local 191’s website: https://www.ibew191.com/

The most expensive healthcare problem might not be the one getting the most attention. 

The solution may be in place, the savings may be possible, and the care may be better, but none of that matters if employees aren’t engaging with it. Unlocking that value takes more than administration.

Scott Kirschner, former Senior Director of Global Benefits at Greystar, shares how he increased engagement with Lantern, identified cancer care as a major cost and care opportunity, and shifted from traditional benefits administration to a more proactive strategy. He discusses data-driven decision-making, persistent employee communication, centers of excellence, and why better care and lower costs do not have to be competing goals.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• How better communication and stronger incentives can turn an underused healthcare benefit into a program employees actually understand and use
• Why healthcare data can reveal high-cost opportunities, like cancer care, that traditional benefits reporting may fail to surface clearly
• What benefits leaders can do to move beyond traditional plan administration by using centers of excellence, targeted solutions, and persistent employee outreach

Highlights:
(00:00) How Greystar unlocked more value from an underused benefit

(03:00) The changes that drove a 250% to 300% utilization increase

(06:00) Why the benefits leader role has moved beyond administration

(09:50) The data that made cancer care impossible to ignore

(13:02) Why traditional health plans fall short on cancer navigation

(16:23) The overlooked role of behavioral health in cancer care

(21:33) Why benefits communication needs to shift from pull to push

(27:02) When making centers of excellence mandatory makes sense

(30:21) How Greystar saved about $15,400 per procedure

(35:02) Why modern benefits strategy starts with better data

(37:36) How to prioritize benefits based on impact, not anecdotes

Resources:

Nancy Ryerson’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancyryerson/

Scott Kirschner’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottkirschner/

For three years running, employers have forecast their healthcare costs and been wrong. In 2025 the median forecast was 6.8% and actual costs came in at 8.8%, the widest miss in a decade.

Jim Winkler, Chief Strategy Officer at Business Group on Health, joins Nancy Ryerson to unpack what's behind the miss and what it should change about how benefits leaders plan.

He talks through hospital and outpatient pricing, the pharmacy spend hiding inside the medical plan, why employers keep considering changes instead of making them, and why he believes protecting the current system is more disruptive than changing it.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why a widening forecast miss is pulling CFOs and CEOs into benefits decisions
• How to find the pharmacy and infusion spend sitting inside your medical claims
• What to look at now so a cell and gene therapy claim isn't a 2028 problem

Highlights:

(00:00) Meet Jim Winkler

(03:25) The colored sticker on his brother's folder

(04:59) Where electronic health records still fall short for patients

(06:51) Three straight years of missed cost forecasts

(09:24) What's pushing hospital and outpatient costs up

(10:47) Why cell and gene therapy spend is so hard to predict

(12:58) The gap between what employers consider and what they implement

(15:33) How framing changes employer appetite for limiting choice

(18:07) Why navigation reaches people too late

(28:42) The pharmacy spend hiding inside the medical plan

(31:51) The No Surprises Act and AI-driven upcoding

(35:16) What a benefits leader should do Monday morning

(39:13) Why maternity could be the next cost surprise

Resources:

Nancy Ryerson’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancyryerson/

Jim Winkler’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimwinkler/ 

Lantern’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lantern-specialty-care/about/

A healthcare solution can look successful on paper and still fail the people it was built to help. So how can employers separate real impact from impressive numbers?

Meg Barron, Managing Director of Engagement & Outreach at the Peterson Health Technology Institute, shares how organizations can evaluate healthcare technologies through evidence-based research, meaningful outcomes, and stronger partnerships with vendors. 

She discusses why engagement metrics alone fall short, how performance-based contracts drive accountability, and what leaders should look for when choosing solutions that deliver results.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• How evidence-based evaluations can help employers identify healthcare solutions that deliver measurable clinical and financial outcomes
• Why traditional engagement metrics fall short and what meaningful engagement should look like for different healthcare programs
• Strategies for aligning with vendors upfront through performance-based contracts, clear expectations, and outcome-driven partnerships

Highlights:
(00:00) Meet Meg Barron

(01:32) How PHTI evaluates digital health solutions objectively

(03:36) Why employers need evidence beyond vendor claims

(05:07) The three questions that define a successful solution

(08:11) Why meaningful outcomes matter more than app usage

(11:09) How centers of excellence create predictable healthcare experiences

(12:55) Building contracts around outcomes instead of promises

(15:55) The seven elements of effective performance-based contracts

(23:52) Why communication strategy impacts healthcare engagement

(24:05) How AI and new channels could transform benefits access

(26:11) Connecting fragmented benefits into one employee experience

(30:48) The future of smarter healthcare purchasing decisions

Resources:

Nancy Ryerson’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancyryerson/

Meg Barron’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/megbarron

Lantern’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lantern-specialty-care/about/

What if the biggest barrier to better healthcare outcomes isn’t access but awareness? 

Even the most valuable benefits can fall short when employees don’t know how to use them at the moment they need them most.

Kristin Bacon, Senior Director of Benefits at Brookdale Senior Living, shares how her team moved from voluntary engagement to a guided care approach for high-cost procedures. She discusses the challenges of reaching a distributed workforce, communicating benefit changes, and creating pathways that connect employees with high-quality care while managing costs. Listeners will learn how thoughtful design, communication, and guidance can transform healthcare engagement.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• How guided healthcare pathways can increase engagement with valuable benefits and improve care decisions
• Strategies for communicating benefit changes to distributed workforces and building employee trust
• Why mandatory care pathways can help employees access high-quality providers and better outcomes

Highlights:
(00:00) Why valuable benefits still struggle with engagement
(01:04) How Brookdale supports a frontline workforce across 41 states
(01:51) The healthcare cost challenge behind finding a solution
(03:40) Why voluntary programs were not driving enough engagement
(04:19) How guided care pathways changed employee access
(05:52) Addressing concerns around mandatory healthcare programs
(07:22) How communication helped employees embrace the change
(08:46) Why early health plan coordination matters for success
(10:19) Explaining the value of high-quality lower-cost care
(12:08) How Brookdale increased specialty care engagement
(13:02) Why benefits leaders should rethink voluntary adoption
(13:34) What retirement auto-enrollment teaches healthcare leaders
(14:52) How guided pathways can improve healthcare outcomes

Resources:

Nancy Ryerson’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancyryerson/

Kristin Bacon’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristin-bacon-290a3053/

What does it take to get employees genuinely interested in a benefit they may not understand or even believe is real? At a crowded benefits fair, a flyer is rarely enough.

Jenae Hernandez, Senior Client Executive at Lantern, and Christina Taylor, Client Success Manager at Lantern, share what they have learned from attending benefits fairs across the country. They discuss common employee questions, creative ways to increase engagement, and why real member stories build trust. 

In this episode, you'll learn:

• How face-to-face conversations can overcome employee skepticism and make unfamiliar healthcare benefits easier to understand and trust
• Strategies for using games, giveaways, and proactive outreach to turn a benefits fair booth into a meaningful employee interaction
• Why tailoring the conversation to each employee’s health plan, personal needs, and stage of care can increase benefits awareness and utilization

Highlights:
(00:00) Meet Jenae Hernandez and Christina Taylor

(01:47) Why employees overlook benefits that sound too good

(02:22) The member stories that instantly build trust

(03:38) How direct conversations outperform repeated communications

(04:48) Explaining how free surgery actually works

(07:33) Why high-quality providers create long-term savings

(07:53) Candy, games, and the secret to booth engagement

(08:54) Why stepping out from behind the table matters

(11:01) How proactive outreach reached one family in need

(12:43) Making overlooked benefits feel relevant to employees

(15:40) How employers gamify the benefits fair experience

(21:29) Extending the benefits conversation beyond the booth

Resources:

Nancy Ryerson’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancyryerson/

Jenae Hernandez’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hernandez-relationshipmgmt/

Christina Taylor’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/taylor-christina/

Lantern’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lantern-specialty-care/about/

Is promoting a healthcare benefit the same as advertising jeans? Not really—and at the same time,  yes. It all comes down to reaching people at the exact moment they need something. And not once they’ve already gotten a procedure done or finished up their shopping for the season. 

Kaitlin Quinn, Head of Enterprise Data and Analytics at Lantern, shares how her team uses marketing testing, targeted outreach, and data-driven experimentation to improve benefits engagement, build trust, and connect members with care when it matters most.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• How targeted benefits communications can significantly increase employee engagement by reaching people when they are most likely to need care
• Strategies for using simple marketing experiments to improve benefits awareness without requiring a large analytics team
• Why balancing broad awareness campaigns with personalized outreach builds trust and encourages greater benefits utilization

Highlights:
(00:00) Why "just send another benefits email" doesn't work anymore

(00:46) The test Lantern ran to prove targeted marketing works

(02:03) What it costs to build a real marketing test

(03:56) Lantern's targeted marketing test drove a 20% lift in engagement

(05:55) The jeans example that explains healthcare marketing

(06:49) Why word of mouth beats every other marketing channel

(07:46) The exclusion logic behind every message Lantern sends

(10:08) How sacrificing revenue for one test won over skeptical clients

(10:51) Envelope colors, subject lines, and other tests any team can run

(11:27) Awareness marketing vs conversion marketing, explained

(13:21) Why one coworker's story outperforms a company-wide email

(14:20) Testing subject lines to see what actually gets opened

(15:56) How to tell if your test worked or you just got lucky timing

(16:55) A one click poll that tells you if people are engaged

(18:05) How Lantern tracks whether word of mouth is actually working

(18:30) Why Kaitlin says marketing Lantern is "good for good"

(19:46) The halo effect: why even non-users benefit from awareness

(20:20) What years in retail marketing taught Kaitlin about healthcare

(21:26) Timing outreach around ID cards, deductibles, and open enrollment

(22:19) Why you need both awareness marketing and conversion marketing

Resources:

Nancy Ryerson’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancyryerson/

Kaitlin Quinn’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaitlin-quinn-22514213/

Lantern’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lantern-specialty-care/about/

Navigating healthcare benefits can be confusing, especially when employees need specialized care.

Adrienne Lee-Jones, Director of Payroll and Benefits at Loomis, shares her personal experience using Lantern, how concierge-style healthcare support can improve outcomes, and the communication strategies she uses to help employees understand and engage with complex benefits year-round.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• How personal experience and concierge-style healthcare navigation can help employees feel more confident when making complex care decisions
• Strategies for explaining specialized benefits in simple, relatable terms that drive employee understanding and engagement
• Creative ways to build year-round benefits awareness through testimonials, wellness initiatives, and open enrollment communications

Highlights:
(0:00) Meet Adrienne Lee-Jones
(1:23) Adrienne's Lantern surgery experience
(3:38) The value of compassionate care
(6:16) Why dedicated support matters
(7:07) Building a year-round benefits strategy
(8:49) Communicating cost savings and quality
(9:10) Turning employees into benefit champions
(10:00) Using testimonials to drive engagement
(16:56) Helping employees understand complex benefits
(19:05) Real examples that make benefits click
(24:49) Reaching employees beyond email
(26:26) The rewards and challenges of open enrollment

Resources:Nancy Ryerson’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancyryerson/
Adrienne Lee-Jones’s LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/adrienne-lee-jones/
Loomis’s LinkedIn: https://www.loomis.com/en/

Open enrollment season is coming, and we're spending the summer getting ready for it. All season long, we're bringing in guests who've been in the trenches of OE to share what's actually working, what's flopped, and the creative ideas worth stealing. By the time October hits, you'll have a fresh playbook and a lot less dread. Making Healthcare Sustainable will drop new episodes all summer. Follow the show so you don't miss a single guest!

Most healthcare innovations fail for the same reason: they don't address the underlying incentive misalignment baked into a fee-for-service system.

Omair Ahmed, Principal at Echo Health Ventures, explains why solving that problem first is what separates the solutions that actually move the needle from the ones that just add to the vendor stack.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why incentive misalignment and data opacity are the root causes behind most of healthcare's thorniest challenges
• How pairing quality analytics with benefit design nudges members toward better decisions and not just better information
• Why local networks of high-quality providers outperform traditional center-of-excellence models
• What benefits leaders who are early adopters are doing differently to evaluate solutions before they scale

Highlights:

(00:00) Meet Omair Ahmed

(02:07) Centering the patient experience

(04:14) Key challenges in healthcare incentives and data transparency

(07:00) Distribution and integration matter more than product innovation

(09:36) Lessons from public-private partnerships and Medicare innovations

(11:07) Why cost, quality, and access don’t have to compete

(13:00) Understanding how patients interpret cost signals

(15:43) The power of surgical volume and appropriateness in decision-making

(16:44) Evaluating ROI for high-cost, high-variability solutions

(20:04) Learning from churn and variation across clients

(22:38) Network of Excellence vs. legacy Center of Excellence models

(25:53) How local care improves adherence and outcomes

(27:07) Prioritizing high-impact solutions for employers

(30:29) AI, analytics, and culture driving optimism for healthcare innovation 

Resources:

Nancy Ryerson’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancyryerson/

Omair Ahmed’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/omair-ahmed/
Echo Health Ventures’ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/echo-health-ventures/