Relentless Health Value

I was thinking about this when reading that Forbes article that came out the other day that 44% of Americans skip doctor visits or medical care due to cost. Here's my point: There could be 2 prongs to this. One of them is that the costs are too high. And yep, they are. Even more distressing when you consider that only a dime on every dollar spent on health care goes to the physician or nurse or person actually providing the care. So much is chewed up by invisible middle people adding questionable value to patient care. But here's another prong that you might not have thought of. I remember in one of my marketing classes ages ago the case study about classified ads. Classified ads that listed the price were something like 50% more successful than those that did not. If there's no price, consumers just assume the price is too high. Consumers are consumers whether they're buying a used lawnmower or medical care, and they simply assume the cost is too high when the price tag is turned under. Buying something and being obligated to pay for it even if you don't know what you're getting yourself into... that's a risk that might be a factor in that 44% not bothering to show up for care they need. Today, I speak about the hidden costs and frictions in health care with Joe Murad, President and CEO of PokitDok. Costs and frictions that make being a health care consumer a less than optimal experience. Joe most recently served as Managing Director and Head of Individual Exchange Solutions for Willis Towers Watson where he was responsible for the largest private health insurance exchange. Prior to WTW, Joe was the COO and a founding team member of Extend Health, Inc. from its inception until its $435MM sale to Towers Watson in 2012. Before Extend Health, Joe was part of the initial team at eHealth (IPO: EHTH) where he served as the Director of Business Development and was instrumental in building the company's early overall success. Before eHealth, Joe held numerous market facing roles at Informix Software, Inc. (acquired by IBM in 2001) by way of its acquisition of Illustra Information Technologies in 1995. You can learn more at pokitdok.com

Employers in every geography in the United States are rewriting the rules of health care, and expanding their influence to be commiserate with their purchasing power. Everyone in the health care industry would be well served to know the what and how behind how employers are rewriting health care.

Renya Spak is on the show today. She leads the health innovation center at Mercer, a world leader globally in the health and benefits marketplace.

Renya is a Partner in the New York City office of Mercer Health & Benefits and leads the Center for Health Innovation (CHI). CHI is a national team, which includes Mercer LABS, focused on driving market change via collaboration with our clients, our colleagues, and thought leaders across the ecosystem to generate unbiased solutions that translate health innovations into relevant and actionable opportunities for employers. In addition, Renya continues to actively participate and lead consulting engagements that focus on strategic planning, population health management, and health innovation. Prior to joining CHI, Renya served as the Total Health Management Practice Leader for the Central Market where she focused on creating health management and well-being strategies for multinational employers. She led efforts focused on designing high performing care management programs, assessing next generation advocacy models, and developing new approaches to drive optimized health engagement through digital solutions. These projects resulted in industry-leading health outcomes—and more importantly—supported her client's broader workforce goals like optimizing productivity and retaining talent. This work spanned many industries including pharma, manufacturing, technology, and academia. You can learn more at mercer.com.

Dr. Lipi Roy is an internal medicine physician board certified in addiction medicine as well as clinical assistant professor at the NYU School of Medicine, Department of Population Health. She is currently the medical director of an addiction treatment center in New York City. In her previous role as Chief of Addiction Medicine for NYC jails including Rikers Island, Dr. Roy oversaw substance use treatment and recovery efforts for nearly 10,000 incarcerated men and women at the nation's second-largest jail. Previously, she was a primary care doctor to Boston's vulnerable homeless population among whom the leading cause of death was drug overdose. She also served as an attending physician at Massachusetts General Hospital and an instructor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Roy completed her medical degree and master’s in public health degree at Tulane University in New Orleans, followed by residency training in internal medicine at Duke University Medical Center. Dr. Roy is a strong advocate for public service. In addition to caring for incarcerated and homeless men and women, she has worked with the underserved in Nicaragua and India as well as New Orleans residents affected by Hurricane Katrina. Dr. Roy has also provided medical relief to earthquake victims in Haiti and volunteered in the medical tent at the Boston Marathon. She currently volunteers with the New York City Medical Reserve Corps.

You find out more information at lipiroy.com.

Dr. Lipi Roy is an internal medicine physician board certified in addiction medicine as well as clinical assistant professor at the NYU School of Medicine, Department of Population Health. She is currently the medical director of an addiction treatment center in New York City. In her previous role as Chief of Addiction Medicine for NYC jails including Rikers Island, Dr. Roy oversaw substance use treatment and recovery efforts for nearly 10,000 incarcerated men and women at the nation's second-largest jail. Previously, she was a primary care doctor to Boston's vulnerable homeless population among whom the leading cause of death was drug overdose. She also served as an attending physician at Massachusetts General Hospital and an instructor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Roy completed her medical degree and master's in public health degree at Tulane University in New Orleans, followed by residency training in internal medicine at Duke University Medical Center. Dr. Roy is a strong advocate for public service. In addition to caring for incarcerated and homeless men and women, she has worked with the underserved in Nicaragua and India as well as New Orleans residents affected by Hurricane Katrina. Dr. Roy has also provided medical relief to earthquake victims in Haiti and volunteered in the medical tent at the Boston Marathon. She currently volunteers with the New York City Medical Reserve Corps. You find out more information at lipiroy.com.

Tatyana Kanzaveli has gone from a programmer to senior executive at Big 5 to founder and CEO of a startup company along her 20-year career. She is recognized as a thought leader and mentor for her ability to guide Fortune 500 and startup companies through business challenges. She’s worked for major companies like PricewaterhouseCoopers and Fujitsu and startups in the early days of the Web.

Tatyana has personally helped companies jump from 0 to millions in revenue, even during the toughest economic times. She has also opened new verticals and markets.

Today, she is the founder and CEO of Open Health Network, a startup in a big data/artificial intelligence health care space. She is a mentor at 500Startups and Richard Branson Entrepreneurs Centre and serves on boards for private companies. She also is licensee and organizer of highly notable TEDxBayArea conferences and is a frequent speaker at United States and international conferences on innovation, entrepreneurship and digital health.

Tatyana has been featured in the White House blog , spoke at the United Nations, and presented at the first White House Demo Day hosted by President Obama. She was recognized as 1 of the Top 10 Influential Women in Health IT 2015.

Tatyana was USSR chess champion an played in the same team with Gary Kasparov. She loves to cook and kayak.

You can learn more by emailing [email protected] or by going to www.openhealth.cc

Tatyana Kanzaveli has gone from a programmer to senior executive at Big 5 to founder and CEO of a startup company along her 20-year career. She is recognized as a thought leader and mentor for her ability to guide Fortune 500 and startup companies through business challenges. She's worked for major companies like PricewaterhouseCoopers and Fujitsu and startups in the early days of the Web. Tatyana has personally helped companies jump from 0 to millions in revenue, even during the toughest economic times. She has also opened new verticals and markets. Today, she is the founder and CEO of Open Health Network, a startup in a big data/artificial intelligence health care space. She is a mentor at 500Startups and Richard Branson Entrepreneurs Centre and serves on boards for private companies. She also is licensee and organizer of highly notable TEDxBayArea conferences and is a frequent speaker at United States and international conferences on innovation, entrepreneurship and digital health. Tatyana has been featured in the White House blog , spoke at the United Nations, and presented at the first White House Demo Day hosted by President Obama. She was recognized as 1 of the Top 10 Influential Women in Health IT 2015. Tatyana was USSR chess champion an played in the same team with Gary Kasparov. She loves to cook and kayak. You can learn more by emailing [email protected] or by going to www.openhealth.cc

Anne C. Beal, MD, MPH, is dedicated to improving health care in the United States, particularly for vulnerable patient groups. Her career is devoted to providing access to high quality health care and has included delivering health care services, teaching, research, public health, and philanthropy.

Dr. Beal is Senior Vice President and Head of Global Patient Solutions for Sanofi, an integrated, global health care company focused on patient needs and engaged in the research, development, manufacturing, and marketing of health care products. In that role, she is supporting a culture of patient-centeredness that ensures patients, their needs and priorities, come first in all of the work of Sanofi.

Prior to that, she was the Deputy Executive Director and Chief Engagement Officer for the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) in the US, which was created by the Affordable Care Act to improve health care delivery and outcomes by helping people make informed health care decisions based on research that is guided by patients, caregivers, and the broader health care community. As PCORI’s first Chief Officer for Engagement, Dr. Beal was charged with ensuring that the voices of patients and other stakeholders are reflected in their research portfolio. In her role as Deputy Executive Director, she helped to see that PCORI worked efficiently and effectively to carry out its mission as the nation’s largest research institute focused on patient-centered outcomes research.

Anne C. Beal, MD, MPH, is dedicated to improving health care in the United States, particularly for vulnerable patient groups. Her career is devoted to providing access to high quality health care and has included delivering health care services, teaching, research, public health, and philanthropy. Dr. Beal is Senior Vice President and Head of Global Patient Solutions for Sanofi, an integrated, global health care company focused on patient needs and engaged in the research, development, manufacturing, and marketing of health care products. In that role, she is supporting a culture of patient-centeredness that ensures patients, their needs and priorities, come first in all of the work of Sanofi. Prior to that, she was the Deputy Executive Director and Chief Engagement Officer for the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) in the US, which was created by the Affordable Care Act to improve health care delivery and outcomes by helping people make informed health care decisions based on research that is guided by patients, caregivers, and the broader health care community. As PCORI's first Chief Officer for Engagement, Dr. Beal was charged with ensuring that the voices of patients and other stakeholders are reflected in their research portfolio. In her role as Deputy Executive Director, she helped to see that PCORI worked efficiently and effectively to carry out its mission as the nation's largest research institute focused on patient-centered outcomes research.

Chief Information Officers (CIOs) are not just "the computer people" anymore. Technology is no longer relegated to the category of operational overhead. Technology is a strategic imperative. It's a competitive differentiator, it's a driver of success in today's connected era, an era increasingly dependent on outcomes-based revenue. On the other hand, when something goes wrong, technology gets blamed even if the real problem is a shabby process or insufficient training. Today, I have a candid conversation with Sue Schade from StarBridge Advisors about the what and how of being a CIO. Sue is the perfect person to have this conversation because she's had the opportunity to serve in the role of CIO or interim CIO at 4 health systems in 4 geographies with 4 different cultures and levels of sophistication and leadership teams.

Sue is a Principal at StarBridge Advisors, LLC. A nationally recognized health IT leader, she recently served as interim CIO at Stony Brook Medicine on Long Island and at University Hospitals in Cleveland, Ohio. Prior to joining StarBridge Advisors, she was a founding advisor at Next Wave Health Advisors.

Sue has more than 30 years’ experience in health care information technology management, and was recognized as the CHIME-HIMSS John E. Gall, Jr. CIO of the Year in 2014.

You can learn more at starbridgeadvisors.com or at sueschade.com.