Podnosis

Elevated medical costs and policy turmoil continued to affect the financial performance of payers and providers in the second quarter. Providers are still feeling the sting of fluctuations in ACA plan enrollment, while payers pointed to the No Surprises Act’s arbitration process as a major challenge.

Fierce Healthcare editor Dave Muoio and senior writer Paige Minemyer sit down for another deep dive into the biggest trends emerging from second-quarter earnings calls.

To learn more about the topics in this episode: 

• Insurers see positive results in managing health costs in Q2
• Ardent Health offsets Q2 volume stumble by tightening costs, renegotiating contracts
• CVS enhances supports for patients taking GLP-1s
• Universal Health Services tops Q2 expectations, but dials back full-year earnings
• Tenet Healthcare shrugs off ACA headwinds with sweeping Q2 outperformance, boosts 2026 guidance
• HCA Healthcare's H1 ACA volume dropoffs 'almost one for one' shifted to uninsurance
• UnitedHealthcare exec says 'ineffective' No Surprises Act IDR process demands reform

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Multiple sclerosis is a chronic autoimmune disease that requires proactive early intervention and treatment to achieve the best long-term outcomes. But recommendations for MS patients who are pregnant can be murky.

Driven by knowledge gaps and concerns about the effects of disease-modifying therapies on the fetus, providers have often advised MS patients not to become pregnant. However, emerging research shows that patients can safely continue certain MS medications during pregnancy.

Katrina Bawden, a family nurse practitioner and MS-certified nurse at Rocky Mountain MS Clinic, is working to fill the research gap by tracking pregnancies among women with MS. She discusses the outcomes she is seeing with Senior Writer Anastassia Gliadkovskaya.

To learn more about the topics in this episode: 

• 'We want to feel heard': Jamie-Lynn Sigler on how pharmas can better serve patients
• As Roche eyes busy 2026, Vabysmo undershoots targets and Tecentriq fails early lung cancer study 
• Fewer than 1% of clinical trials in the US include pregnant patients, study finds

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s no secret that healthcare is complicated. Patients face escalating costs and significant complexity as they try to navigate their own health journeys.

That’s why CVS Health is making significant investments to improve the consumer experience and simplify patients’ interactions with the healthcare system. Amy Compton-Phillips, M.D., the company’s chief medical officer, joins senior writer Paige Minemyer to unpack initiatives such as CVS Health 100 and discuss what the ideal patient experience might look like.

To learn more about the topics in this episode: 

• CVS unveils Health 100, its new Google-powered consumer engagement platform
• A look at how CVS is leaning on 'agentic twins' in developing consumer tech
• Inside Aetna's investments to build provider trust
• Consumers' satisfaction with health plan apps improves with familiarity: JD Power

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this sponsored episode of Podnosis, host Irena Luo speaks with Patrick Velliky, chief external affairs officer at HaloMD, about the No Surprises Act and the ongoing challenges surrounding the independent dispute resolution process.

Velliky reflects on the original expectations behind the legislation, including the goal of creating a fair arbitration framework where insurers and providers could resolve payment disputes in good faith. He discusses concerns that have emerged around arbitration award payments, highlighting how delayed or missing payments can affect providers despite favorable rulings.

The conversation examines potential enforcement pathways, including regulatory oversight and bipartisan legislative proposals intended to address compliance gaps and establish clearer penalties. Velliky also shares his perspective on the financial pressures facing physician practices and how reimbursement challenges may influence healthcare consolidation trends.

Listen in for an expert discussion on the evolving implementation of the No Surprises Act, the future of IDR enforcement and what these developments could mean for providers, payers and patients.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Despite the importance of prenatal care, recent CDC data show that access is declining. Fewer women are beginning prenatal care in the first trimester, while the share starting later in pregnancy or receiving no prenatal care is rising.

Unified Women’s Healthcare supports women’s health practices and provides fertility services, maternity analytics, care coordination and other technology-enabled services. The company is exploring how those tools can help patients enter care earlier and receive more tailored support throughout pregnancy.

Unified Chief Medical Officer Elizabeth Cherot, M.D., joins Senior Writer Anastassia Gliadkovskaya to discuss the company’s approach, the barriers keeping patients from prenatal care and the role technology can play in expanding access.

To learn more about the topics in this episode: 

• Family health provider Nest Health launches in-home prenatal services 
• Why UnitedHealth Group is betting big on doulas
• Wavelet Medical, Aegis Ventures partner on first AI non-invasive fetal EEG monitoring platform
• New Medicaid-focused doula provider Malama launches with $9.2M 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As healthcare organizations look to ease clinician burden and improve care delivery, health IT is becoming a strategic lever, not just an operational tool. In this episode of Podnosis, Chad Dodd, vice president of product management at Athenahealth, shares a practical perspective on how technology can address some of the industry’s most persistent workflow challenges.

Dodd explains how AI-powered documentation, automated insights and emerging agent-based tools can help reduce administrative friction while giving clinicians more time to focus on patients. He also outlines where technology has limits, including workforce shortages, reimbursement pressures and other systemic issues that require broader industry action.

A central theme is the importance of clinician-led innovation. Athenahealth’s development model brings clinicians, engineers and data scientists together to build tools that reflect real workflows rather than adding complexity to them.

The conversation also explores why trust, transparency and optionality are essential to AI adoption. For healthcare leaders, technology stakeholders and anyone shaping the future of care delivery, this episode offers a grounded look at how health IT can move from promise to practical impact. Click play to hear how clinician collaboration is redefining the next era of healthcare technology.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For millions of people, AI chatbots have become a new front door to health information. More than 230 million people use ChatGPT each week for health and wellness questions. With healthcare now OpenAI’s biggest and fastest-growing use case, the company is making a major push into the sector, rolling out enterprise tools for hospitals and personal health assistants for consumers.

OpenAI has set a bold goal of ensuring that AI “improves health for all humanity,” and Karan Singhal is driving that work. A leading artificial intelligence researcher who previously worked at Google, Singhal joined OpenAI two years ago as head of Health AI and Artificial General Intelligence. His team is focused on improving the quality of ChatGPT’s health-related responses.

In a wide-ranging interview with Executive Editor Heather Landi, Singhal shared his perspective on why healthcare is a strategic priority for OpenAI and how the company is rapidly improving its health capabilities. He makes the case for AI becoming a “silent background companion” for clinicians and patients and explains how it can serve as a bridge in a fragmented healthcare system.

To learn more about the topics in this episode: 

• OpenAI launches ChatGPT for Clinicians, a free AI tool for physicians, NPs and pharmacists
• OpenAI acquires healthcare startup Torch to build out ChatGPT Health
• OpenAI launches ChatGPT Health to connect data from health apps, medical records
• AI chatbot use for health information up 16% from 2024: Rock Health survey
• 40M people use ChatGPT to get answers to healthcare questions, OpenAI says

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Artificial intelligence is here to stay, and physicians should be learning how to use it thoughtfully. That’s the argument Shawn Martin, CEO of the American Academy of Family Physicians, makes in a conversation with Senior Writer Anastassia Gliadkovskaya.

Martin discusses the findings of a recent AAFP survey on clinician AI use, why primary care is especially ripe for tech disruption and what physicians should be doing now to understand and responsibly deploy AI.

To learn more about the topics in this episode: 

• Primary care doctors say AI saves time and helps them provide better care: survey
• AI playing a major role in consumers' healthcare decision-making, survey finds 
• Perplexity rolls out AI-powered medical records search; Doximity survey examines how docs use AI

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A new value-based care program for chronic condition management begins July 5.

The Advancing Chronic Care with Effective Scalable Solutions Model, or ACCESS, offers vendors outcome-aligned payments for managing qualifying chronic conditions.

In total, 150 digital health companies are participating, including some in the behavioral health track. How does behavioral health fit into ACCESS, and what types of services are participants offering?

Senior Writer Anastassia Gliadkovskaya talks with two behavioral health companies about the elements needed for success and what the model signals about where payments for these services could be headed.

First, you’ll hear her conversation with Wes Knepper, vice president of clinical excellence at SonderMind. Then, you’ll hear her conversation with Jenna Glover, Ph.D., chief clinical officer at Headspace.

To learn more about the topics in this episode: 

• A deeper dive into the ACCESS Model—Who’s participating, potential headwinds and how it could spur h… 
• CMS taps 150 digital health companies, providers for ACCESS Model 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cybersecurity has long been a priority for hospitals, but the risks are shifting as AI, biometrics and digital identity tools become more deeply embedded in care delivery. For health systems, the challenge is not just keeping hackers out. It is making sure clinicians can quickly access the tools they need while guarding against new threats, including AI agents that can move through systems at machine speed.

Senior Writer Anastassia Gliadkovskaya talks with Sean Kelly, M.D., chief medical officer of Imprivata, a digital identity security company, about why hospitals need to rethink access management, treat AI as a high-risk third party and build stronger guardrails around the vendors and tools connecting to their systems. 

To learn more about the topics in this episode: 

• An emerging cyberthreat: vishing 
• ECRI flags misuse of AI chatbots as a top health tech hazard in 2026
• How healthcare ransomware attacks shifted in 2025 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.