"I felt like I was putting $10,000 bandaids on someone's diabetic ketoacidosis instead of actually helping them to never be there in the first place." - Tiffany Ryder


Tiffany Ryder, medical physician associate and healthcare advocate, joined me this week to continue the theme of my previous episode: how do we empower patients to make informed decisions, and to advocate for a better system?

Tiffany shared with me her journey to this space, which took her from the world of NFL cheerleading to providing care as a medical physician associate, and why that gives her a unique perspective on the industry.

We talk about the critical lack of awareness that the average American has of how the healthcare and health insurance industries work, why there needs to be much more transparency in these spaces, and what the future looks like for healthcare in America.

Chapters:

00:00:00 Meet Tiffany Ryder


00:00:38 Veterans' Healthcare


00:24:39 Empowering Patients


00:29:08 Healthcare Cost Transparency


00:37:50 Informed Decision-Making in Healthcare


00:40:33 Simplifying Healthcare Communication 


00:45:12 Ethical Dilemmas in Healthcare


00:54:23 Advocating For A Better System

Key Links for Social:

@SelfFunded on YouTube for video versions of the podcast and much more - https://www.youtube.com/@SelfFunded

Listen on Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/1TjmrMrkIj0qSmlwAIevKA?si=068a389925474f02

Listen on Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/self-funded-with-spencer/id1566182286

Follow Spencer on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/spencer-smith-self-funded/

Follow Spencer on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/selffundedwithspencer/

Key Words:

Impact, Patient Advocacy, advocacy, Transparency, Patient Care, education, Effective Communication, fair, provider, Ethical Healthcare, Healthcare Awareness, Veterans Healthcare, Patient Empowerment, affordable healthcare, podcast, benefits, health, healthcare, health insurance, self funded, self funding

#Impact #PatientAdvocacy #advocacy #Transparency #PatientCare #education #EffectiveCommunication #fair #provider #EthicalHealthcare #HealthcareAwareness #VeteransHealthcare #PatientEmpowerment #affordablehealthcare #podcast #benefits #health #healthcare #healthinsurance #selffunded #selffunding

"I think that the general public thinks that health care is just expensive and this is just the way it has to be. It doesn't. And I think if more people knew that they would rise up and fight the system, fight for change.” - Jenni Nolan


Jenni Nolan, Board-Certified Patient Advocate at Clear Healthcare Advocacy, joined me this week to discuss the need for more patient advocacy in America, and how she goes about negotiating medical bills with hospitals, on the behalf of patients.

The number one thing we need in this industry as a whole is more consumer education. As Jenni shares, many people will get a huge hospital bill and assume that the only option they have is to go into a huge amount of debt.

The emergence of patient advocates has helped so many across the country get their bills corrected/lowered, and Jenni and I discussed the sector as a whole and what the future looks like for medical billing in this country.

Chapters:

00:00:00 Meet Jenni Nolan


00:03:23 Advocating For Patients


00:10:01 Correcting Healthcare Billing Mistakes


00:15:39 Understanding Medical Billing

00:23:05 Healthcare Costs' Long-Term Financial Impact


00:29:36 Negotiating Fair Hospital Bills


00:32:09 Fair Hospital Billing Rate Negotiations


00:48:11 Navigating Healthcare As A Consumer


00:53:41 Empowering Individuals through Healthcare Education

Key Links for Social:

@SelfFunded on YouTube for video versions of the podcast and much more - https://www.youtube.com/@SelfFunded

Listen on Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/1TjmrMrkIj0qSmlwAIevKA?si=068a389925474f02

Listen on Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/self-funded-with-spencer/id1566182286

Follow Spencer on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/spencer-smith-self-funded/

Follow Spencer on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/selffundedwithspencer/

Key Words:

Patient Advocacy, Medical Billing, advocate, advocacy, Billing, errors, Hospital Bills, medical bills, Transparency, affordable healthcare, Patient Advocates, Healthcare Literacy, Hospital Billing, Education, Fair Healthcare, podcast, benefits, health, healthcare, health insurance, self funded, self funding

#PatientAdvocacy #MedicalBilling #advocate #advocacy #Billing #errors #HospitalBills #medicalbills #Transparency #affordablehealthcare #PatientAdvocates #HealthcareLiteracy #HospitalBilling #Education #FairHealthcare #podcast #benefits #health #healthcare #healthinsurance #selffunded #selffunding

"Any time you can reward employees for doing the right thing, to me, it's benefiting the employer group, it’s benefitting everybody.” - David Mallen

You can provide employees with the best healthcare benefits in the world, but if they don’t know how to navigate the healthcare system, those benefits aren’t very effective.

David Mallen, EVP of Partnerships at HealthJoy, joined me this week in studio to discuss care navigation and how we make benefits plans more effective for employees. 

Having personally used Healthjoy, I think there’s immense value in a care navigation solution like this; we need to empower healthcare consumers to understand that they can often get the same/better care for cheaper, both to them and the health plan.

Chapters:

00:00:00 Meet David Mallen

Key Links for Social:

@SelfFunded on YouTube for video versions of the podcast and much more - https://www.youtube.com/@SelfFunded

Listen on Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/1TjmrMrkIj0qSmlwAIevKA?si=068a389925474f02

Listen on Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/self-funded-with-spencer/id1566182286

Follow Spencer on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/spencer-smith-self-funded/

Follow Spencer on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/selffundedwithspencer/

Key Words: 

HealthJoy, Healthcare Tech, Care Navigation, Digital Healthcare, virtual care, Wellness, wellness programs, baseball, advocacy, advocate, Healthcare Integration, FitnessJourney, Telemedicine, Member Experience, Future Healthcare, Preventive Health, podcast, benefits, health, healthcare, health insurance, self funded, self funding

#HealthJoy #HealthcareTech #CareNavigation #DigitalHealthcare #virtualcare #Wellness #wellnessprograms #baseball #advocacy #advocate #HealthcareIntegration #FitnessJourney #Telemedicine #MemberExperience #FutureHealthcare #PreventiveHealth #podcast #benefits #health #healthcare #healthinsurance #selffunded #selffunding

"Looking back now, cancer gave me something to fight for at a time when I felt like maybe life wasn't worth fighting for." - Dylan Slattery

Dylan Slattery, VP at ClaimsBridge and motivational speaker at Stage Four 2 On Stage, joined me this week to share his powerful story of beating stage four cancer against all odds, beating it again when it recurred, and how that experience completely changed his perspective on life and healthcare.

Dylan was diagnosed with stage 4 melanoma completely out of nowhere at the age of 23. We discussed the traditional treatment plan that he initially followed, and the somewhat experimental immunotherapy treatment that actually worked. 

We also discussed the impact that diagnosis had on his family, his friends, and him, what kept him fighting in his darkest moments, and why he wants to continue to share his story to inspire others. 

Chapters:

00:00:00 Meet Dylan Slattery

Key Links for Social:

@SelfFunded on YouTube for video versions of the podcast and much more - https://www.youtube.com/@SelfFunded

Listen on Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/1TjmrMrkIj0qSmlwAIevKA?si=068a389925474f02

Listen on Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/self-funded-with-spencer/id1566182286

Follow Spencer on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/spencer-smith-self-funded/

Follow Spencer on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/selffundedwithspencer/

Key Words: 

melanoma, terminal, immunotherapy, cancer survivorship, healthcare journey, healthcare costs, cancer awareness wellness management, patient advocacy, survivor, cancer, stage four, stage 4, podcast, health, healthcare, health insurance, self funded, self funding

#melanoma #terminal #immunotherapy #cancersurvivorship #healthcarejourney #healthcarecosts #cancerawareness #wellnessmanagement #patientadvocacy #survivor #cancer #stagefour #stage4 #podcast #health #healthcare #healthinsurance #selffunded #selffunding

“I’m going to say something that people claim isn’t true, but it is. I’m an ear nose and throat doctor. I don't remember your eardrum from last year. I don't care what people tell you, doctors don't remember 3,000 eardrums.” - Danish Nagda

Danish Nagda, founder of Rezilient, has come up with a pretty unique solution to doctor burnout in primary care: a hybrid model, where patients go in-person to checkups, an attendant takes all of their vital signs, and the data is uploaded directly to a doctor. 

As an ear, nose, and throat doctor himself, Danish understands the importance of the human touch in healthcare, but also sees the future of primary care as data-based: for instance, if a doctor has your exact EKG readings from a year ago, they have a baseline to measure your current data off of. 

Rezilient haș also focused on making all of this appealing to employers, and he shares why this model has positive ROI within the first year for most. 

Join us this week as we explore the future of primary care! 

Chapters:

00:00:00 Meet Danish Nagda

Key Links for Social:

@SelfFunded on YouTube for video versions of the podcast and much more - https://www.youtube.com/@SelfFunded

Listen on Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/1TjmrMrkIj0qSmlwAIevKA?si=068a389925474f02

Listen on Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/self-funded-with-spencer/id1566182286

Follow Spencer on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/spencer-smith-self-funded/

Follow Spencer on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/selffundedwithspencer/

Key Words: 

Obesity Drugs, GLP1s, GLPs, Physician Mental Health, Rezilient, Concierge Medicine, Tech Enabled Care, Healthcare Transparency, Healthcare AI, Healthcare Innovation, Virtual Care Model, virtual care, podcast, primary care, doctor, health, healthcare, health insurance, self funded, self funding

#ObesityDrugs #GLP1s #GLPs #PhysicianMentalHealth #Rezilient #ConciergeMedicine #TechEnabledCare #HealthcareTransparency #HealthcareAI #HealthcareInnovation #VirtualCareModel #virtualcare #podcast #primarycare #doctor #health #healthcare #healthinsurance #selffunded #selffunding

"In what other industry could a purveyor put out 99% bad bills and stay in business?" - Linda Komisak

“They're diagnosing things for things that you don't even have. And that’s scary.” - Kimberly Carleson

Kimberly Carleson, CEO of US Beacon, and Linda Komisak, founder of Upturn Consulting LLC, joined me to talk about two critical ways of increasing healthcare transparency: claims reviews and quality metrics. 

These two topics are key to understanding why the healthcare system is so broken. If you buy any other service, you can (a) expect to only be billed for the services that were performed and (b) have the ability to research the quality of vendors and pick the best one. 

Why can’t we do that in healthcare? 

This is an incredibly informative episode, and we cover more than just those two topics including nurse staffing shortages, how to identify the best hospital systems, and why it’s so important to gather feedback from nurses. 

Chapters:

00:00:00 Meet Kimberly Carleson and Linda Komisak

Key Links for Social:

@SelfFunded on YouTube for video versions of the podcast and much more - https://www.youtube.com/@SelfFunded

Listen on Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/1TjmrMrkIj0qSmlwAIevKA?si=068a389925474f02

Listen on Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/self-funded-with-spencer/id1566182286

Follow Spencer on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/spencer-smith-self-funded/

Follow Spencer on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/selffundedwithspencer/

Key Words: 

Healthcare Quality, Nurse Insights, Patient Experience, Claims Integrity, Quality Metrics, Upcoding Practices, Nursing Shortage, Billing Transparency, Nurse Anonymity, Healthcare Billing, Hospital Quality, Nurse Feedback, insurance, nursing, healthcare, health insurance, podcast, self funded, self funding

#HealthcareQuality #NurseInsights #PatientExperience #ClaimsIntegrity #QualityMetrics #UpcodingPractices #NursingShortage #BillingTransparency #NurseAnonymity #HealthcareBilling #HospitalQuality #NurseFeedback #insurance #nursing #healthcare #healthinsurance #podcast #selffunded #selffunding

"Quit tolerating mediocrity. Go get in action. Find the right broker consultant that will take you to a new place. Don't give up hope." - Scott Conard

Dr. Scott Conard tragically lost 3 patients one summer to unexpected heart problems, and immediately changed how he thought of healthcare.

This week on Self-Funded, we talk about “conscious capitalism”, and by extension “conscious healthcare”, what the 7 numbers that everybody needs to know are, and how we need to change the way we approach health risk.

Chapters:

00:00:00 Meet Scott Conard

Key Links for Social:

@SelfFunded on YouTube for video versions of the podcast and much more - https://www.youtube.com/@SelfFunded

Listen on Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/1TjmrMrkIj0qSmlwAIevKA?si=068a389925474f02

Listen on Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/self-funded-with-spencer/id1566182286

Follow Spencer on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/spencer-smith-self-funded/

Follow Spencer on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/selffundedwithspencer/

Key Words: 

Conscious Capitalism, Employer Driven Healthcare, insurance, healthcare, health insurance, Empowering Employers, Incentive Programs, Risk Management, Alternative Risk, health risk, fixing healthcare, selffunded, podcast

#ConsciousCapitalism #EmployerDrivenHealthcare #insurance #healthcare #healthinsurance #EmpoweringEmployers #IncentivePrograms  #RiskManagement #AlternativeRisk #healthrisk #fixinghealthcare #selffunded #podcast

"It's progress we couldn't have envisioned decades ago." - Oscar

“I felt interested in being part of something bigger than my practice and something that will impact even more people that I was able to in the hospital.” - Carolina

Dr. Oscar Bronsther and Dr. Carolina Escobar from Interlink joined me this week to discuss the exciting and scary world of cell and gene therapy, CRISPR, and how we fund these amazing medical advances. 

In addition to me attempting to act smart enough to be in the same room as these two, we covered their wholistic approach to this emerging scientific field, which promises potential cures for rare and debilitating diseases, but often comes with 7-figure price tags. The rare genetic diseases are known as “orphan diseases”, and there have been some recent incredible advances in detecting them early on in life.

We talked about what this all means for individuals as well as the insurance space as a whole, and how it has the potential to increase medical costs in this country even further. 

Chapters:

00:00:00 Meet Oscar and Carolina

Key Links for Social:

@SelfFunded on YouTube for video versions of the podcast and much more - https://www.youtube.com/@SelfFunded

Listen on Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/1TjmrMrkIj0qSmlwAIevKA?si=068a389925474f02

Listen on Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/self-funded-with-spencer/id1566182286

Follow Spencer on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/spencer-smith-self-funded/

Follow Spencer on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/selffundedwithspencer/

Key Words: 

Rare Diseases, Gene Therapy, CRISPR technology, CRISPR, Healthcare Skepticism, Healthcare Warranties, Medical Revolution, Healthcare Advances, Orphan Diseases, Cell Therapy, Healthcare Innovation, self funded, podcast

#RareDiseases #GeneTherapy #CRISPRtechnology #CRISPR #HealthcareSkepticism #HealthcareWarranties #MedicalRevolution #HealthcareAdvances #OrphanDiseases #CellTherapy #HealthcareInnovation #selffunded #podcast

"If my child needs a gene therapy to live, they should get it and anyone's child should. So let's figure out how to pay for it." - Jake Frenz

On the final of four podcasts filmed at a recent healthcare thinktank I hosted in Frisco, Texas, Jake Frenz, the founder and CEO of SmithRx, joined me to share his journey from the Marine Corps to Pharmacy Benefit Management, and what makes him so passionate about ending prescription drug price gouging. 

Jake and I discussed what some of the core challenges are in the PBM space, why he was so inspired by Mark Cuban’s venture Cost Plus Drugs, and what the “watershed” moment in US healthcare will look like. 

I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to talk to one of the best minds in the PBM space, and I hope you enjoy this week’s episode of Self-Funded with Spencer.

Chapters:

00:00:00 Meet Jake Frenz

Key Links for Social:

@SelfFunded on YouTube for video versions of the podcast and much more - https://www.youtube.com/@SelfFunded

Listen on Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/1TjmrMrkIj0qSmlwAIevKA?si=068a389925474f02

Listen on Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/self-funded-with-spencer/id1566182286

Follow Spencer on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/spencer-smith-self-funded/

Follow Spencer on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/selffundedwithspencer/

Key Words: 

Healthcare Insights, Pharmacy Benefit Managersm, Simplify Healthcare, Watershed Moment, Cost Plus, cost plus drugs,  mark cuban, Big Picture Healthcare, American Spirit, Healthcare Innovation, Affordable Medications, price gouging, self funded, podcast

#HealthcareInsights #PharmacyBenefitManagers #SimplifyHealthcare #WatershedMoment #CostPlus #costplusdrugs #markcuban #BigPictureHealthcare #AmericanSpirit #HealthcareInnovation #AffordableMedications #pricegouging #selffunded #podcast

 "I would say a lot of it is education, helping both the member and the provider realize that it's okay for them to get healthcare in home." - Dan Cochran

On the third of four podcasts filmed at a recent healthcare thinktank I hosted in Frisco, Texas, Dan Cochran, CEO of Cochran Health Ventures, joined me to discuss infusions, in-home healthcare, why the future of healthcare will be personalized, and how we educate consumers.

I, and many others in this industry, consistently advocate that much of healthcare is way too complex for the average consumer and that they don’t know how to utilize the solutions when they are available. Dan and I discussed that problem, ways that people can educate themselves, and how we can push for more healthcare education in America. 

Chapters:

00:00:00 Meet Dan Cochran

Key Links for Social:

@SelfFunded on YouTube for video versions of the podcast and much more - https://www.youtube.com/@SelfFunded

Listen on Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/1TjmrMrkIj0qSmlwAIevKA?si=068a389925474f02

Listen on Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/self-funded-with-spencer/id1566182286

Follow Spencer on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/spencer-smith-self-funded/

Follow Spencer on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/selffundedwithspencer/

Key Words: 

Self Insurance, Cost Management, Healthcare Solutions, Client Retention, Consumer Education, Healthcare Complexity, Care Appropriateness, Plan Design, Payer Insights, Infusion, Home Infusion, Remote Specialty Care, Future Healthcare, Healthcare, Insurance, self funded, podcast

#SelfInsurance #CostManagement #HealthcareSolutions #ClientRetention #ConsumerEducation #HealthcareComplexity #CareAppropriateness #PlanDesign #PayerInsights #Infusion #HomeInfusion #RemoteSpecialtyCare #FutureHealthcare #Healthcare #Insurance #selffunded #podcast