The Beat

About Ali Parsa:

Dr. Ali Parsa is a British-Iranian healthcare entrepreneur and engineer. He’s the founder and CEO of Babylon, the revolutionary artificial intelligence and digital health company. Babylon’s mission is to put an accessible and affordable health service in the hands of every person on Earth. 

By combining cutting-edge AI technology and the best available medical expertise, Babylon gives people 24/7 access to affordable, holistic health services. The company is home to a large, passionate team of scientists, clinicians, mathematicians, and engineers—all recruited from over 60 different countries. With over 3 million users,  Babylon is transforming the way healthcare works across Europe, North America, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.  

Before  Babylon, Dr. Parsa created Circle, which became Europe's largest partnership of clinicians, with some £200m of revenue, 3,000 employees, and a successful IPO. The Independent Healthcare Awards presented Dr. Parsa with an Entrepreneurial Achievement award for establishing Circle. He was given the Royal Award for the Young Entrepreneur of the Year for founding his first business, V&G. 

More recently, Dr. Parsa was listed in The Times' 100 people to watch. The Health Service Journal recognized him as one of the ‘50 most influential people in UK healthcare. He was featured in the Maserati 100, a list that recognizes game-changing entrepreneurs who are disrupting the world of business. Dr. Parsa also won the CEO Award from Finance Monthly and ACQ5's UK Game Changer of the Year. He is a UK Cabinet Office Ambassador for Mutuals and has a Ph.D. in Engineering Physics.

Things You’ll Learn:

• Babylon's mission is to put an accessible and affordable health service in the hands of every person on earth by combining AI technology and medical expertise to provide accessible and affordable holistic health services.
• Healthcare should be about continuously collecting data, analyzing it in real-time, and intervening early when possible.
• AI and data analytics can help improve the healthcare system by predicting patterns and automating menial tasks.
• There is almost nothing that your body doesn't send a signal on.
• One of healthcare entrepreneurs' most significant challenges is the need for more capital and investment.
• Knowledge doubles every 2-3 years, so leaders should look to the future more.

Resources:

• Connect with and follow Ali Parsa on LinkedIn.
• Follow Babylon on LinkedIn.
• Explore the Babylon Website.

About Doug Layman:

Doug Layman is the President of Commercial Business for Prescryptive Health. He is a passionate leader that has been focused on uniquely positioning organizations for substantial growth and profitability for decades. As a proven industry thought leader, Doug has been sharing his expertise on employee engagement, creating a culture of health, and population health management at conferences throughout the country for many years. Prior to joining Prescryptive Health, Doug was the Chief Revenue Officer at Wondr Health and also spent 15 years as the CSMO and President of Health & Life at Gilsbar, LLC.

Things You’ll Learn:

• Healthcare is the only industry where the buyer doesn't know the cost of a product or service.
• The pharmacy experience should start at the point of care to engage the patient immediately and create a space for education and discussion.
• Prescryptive Health has a patent on digital prescriptions using blockchain.
• Most people have yet to learn medications can have different costs at different pharmacies.
• As soon as a PMS makes money on the sale or selection of a drug, they're no longer conflict-free.
• Prescryptive Health only charges a Per Member Per Month fee.
• Prescryptive helps clients save from 15% to about 40% in prescriptions.

Resources:

• Connect with and follow Doug Layman on LinkedIn.
• Follow Prescryptive Health on LinkedIn.
• Discover the Prescryptive Health Website!

About Suzanne Kunis:

Suzanne Kunis is the Founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer of NovaWell, an affiliate of Horizon Healthcare Services, Inc. She also serves as Vice President of Behavioral Health Solutions for Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey. She brings over 30 years of experience in the healthcare industry with a significant focus on behavioral health. Suzanne is a registered nurse and moved from care delivery to healthcare management early in her career.   

Suzanne is a nationally recognized industry expert and leads NovaWell, an organization born out of her success at Horizon. She was recruited to Horizon in March 2017 to develop and lead Horizon’s first-ever internal Behavioral Health strategy and team. Suzanne is responsible for all behavioral health strategic development and execution including the organization’s commitment to the integration of physical and behavioral health. Suzanne led the successful insourcing of behavioral health and a cultural and philosophical shift and commitment to integration within Horizon. NovaWell will be helping other health plans to achieve similar results.  Suzanne is the ultimate behavioral health champion – the opioid crisis and continued battle to eliminate mental health stigma are priority items on her agenda and she works tirelessly to drive the message that “mental health is health” nationwide.    

Before joining Horizon BCBSNJ, Suzanne served for 22 years as Senior Vice President of Behavioral Health Services for Magellan Health Services. She was the business owner for Magellan’s health plan (Commercial, Medicare, and Medicaid) and employer-client relationships. She was responsible for oversight and management of nationwide service delivery including member services, clinical operations, network development and management, quality, sales, EAP, and finance. During her tenure with Magellan, Suzanne developed a deep understanding of the behavioral health care issues facing our country and the long overdue recognition of the impact of behavioral health issues on comorbid medical conditions.   

Suzanne also served as Senior Vice President of Account Management and Implementations for ComplexCare Solutions (CCS). CCS provided in-home risk adjustment assessments and care management services for its health plan clients. 

After graduating from Thomas Jefferson University, College of Allied Health Sciences in Philadelphia, Suzanne began her nursing career at the East Orange Veterans Administration Hospital. She then began a 12-year career journey with which was then Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey where she served many roles including Vice President of the Individual Market segment.

Things You’ll Learn:

• NovaWell and Horizon’s alliance seeks solutions to help people access behavioral healthcare when, where, and how they need it.
• Behavioral health can impact more than 20% of the total medical cost, which is why treatments should also include a behavioral health perspective.
• Horizon developed a platform with tools available like educational research, podcasts, a provider directory, and assessments, among others.
• Horizon established a program centered around identifying patients that need different care options. 
• This program works with a community mental health provider that can refer them to get them the care they need.
• Between 40 and 50% of adults have a diagnosable mood disorder.
• 67% of people needing mental health care don’t seek it out because of stigma.
• Stigma has historically prevented patients from accessing care. 
• It doesn’t matter the condition a patient comes in with, we need to view it through a behavioral health lens. 

Resources:

• Connect with and follow Suzanne Kunis on LinkedIn.
• Follow NovaWell on LinkedIn.
• Follow Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey on LinkedIn.
• Discover the NovaWell Website!
• Visit the Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey Website!

Topics Covered

• The challenges facing early-stage health innovation companies and how venture capital can support them
• Strategies for balancing the pursuit of profitability with the need to prioritize patient outcomes in the healthcare industry
• The importance of partnerships between investors and entrepreneurs in driving innovation
• The impact of emerging technologies, such as AI on the healthcare industry
• The benefits and challenges of investing in healthcare startups, from both an investor and entrepreneur perspective
• Lee's vision for the future of healthcare innovation and the role of venture capital in shaping it

Connect with Lee Shapiro

Lee Shapiro on LinkedIn

Connect with Dr. Gautam Gulati & Dr. Jessica Shepherd & Dr. Jessica Shepherd

Dr. Gulati on Twitter

Dr. Gulati on LinkedIn

Dr. Shepherd on LinkedIn

Dr. Shepherd on Twitter

Resources

7wireVentures

Wellvana

ViVE

About Matthew Condon:

As the Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Bardavon Health Innovations, LLC, Matthew J. Condon works tirelessly as a staunch advocate for transparency in healthcare and champions technology innovation within the industry that benefits injured Workers’ Compensation patients. He has been recognized nationally as an entrepreneur to watch by repeatedly forming game-changing companies that bring positive disruption to the marketplace. Bardavon is no different. With Bardavon, Matt has combined his passion for the industry and desire to make a difference with his storied experience of successfully running startups. The resulting effort is an industry-leading, healthcare data analytics company focused on promoting a culture of transparency in the Workers’ Compensation sector.

Matt’s vision for Bardavon is to optimize how patients, therapy providers, employers/carriers, and other key stakeholders interact. Using clinical treatment data gathered through bNOTES®, its proprietary cloud-based clinical intelligence system, Bardavon is succeeding in its mission to change Workers’ Compensation. Combining clinical treatment data with claims data enables key stakeholders to define functional outcomes based on each patient’s health. 

By deploying the Bardavon system, employers/carriers reduce consumption while concurrently improving the quality of physical/occupational therapy treatments. And when these processes are integrated using the Bardavon Digital Health Platform™, regional and national employers/carriers have saved millions.

Bardavon is not Matt’s first foray into the world of healthcare, technology, and Worker’s Compensation. Matt founded ARC Physical Therapy+ (ARC) in 2003. It became one of the Midwest's largest regional physical therapy clinics with 26 clinics in 2021 and over 100,000 annual patient visits. ARC was chosen as a Champion of Business by the Kansas City Business Journal for three straight years (2013, 2012, and 2011), earning a spot in the Hall of Champions. In 2013, ARC partnered with U.S. Physical Therapy Inc. and Matt started Bardavon. His focus was to build a platform where congruent companies could work together to focus on achieving optimized outcomes and returning injured Workers’ Compensation patients to full duty. As we progress, Matt’s vision is to expand Bardavon’s footprint and move into the commercial musculoskeletal healthcare marketplace. 

As a nationally recognized thought leader, Matt is a sought-after speaker and an author in the fields of healthcare, technology, and Workers’ Compensation. He was named a regional finalist for the Ernst & Young “Entrepreneur of the Year” award, business magazine Ingram recognized Condon as a “Rainmaker,” and named him to its list of “40 under 40” high achievers, and since 2014, Condon has been included on the “Power 100” list published in the Kansas City Business Journal, which includes some of the most influential leaders in Kansas City’s business community.

Things You’ll Learn:

• Bardavon Health is an industry-leading healthcare data analytics company focused on promoting a culture of transparency in the worker's compensation sector.
• One way to address the current labor shortage is to make workers feel honored and fulfilled and give them good healthcare access whenever they have an injury.
• Worker's compensation is under the property and casualty section of their company’s insurance plan.
• As musculoskeletal issues continue to be a significant problem in the United States, more and more stakeholders will see it as an entry point for change and improvement.
• Employers are responsible for taking their injured employees and ensuring they get to a quality care provider.

Resources:

• Connect with and follow Matthew Condon on LinkedIn.
• Follow Bardavon Health Innovations on LinkedIn.
• Visit the Bardavon Health Innovations Website!

About Jean Drouin:

Jean is a leader with over 25 years of experience in healthcare management, technology, operations, finance, and cultural change. 

As CEO, Jean focuses on creating the environment that allows Clarify to deliver on its mission by delighting customers and growing a great team. Jean leads the Executive Leadership Team which sets the company’s vision and strategy and is responsible for ensuring the company’s overall success. Jean believes that healthcare has been held back by a lack of actionable insights and that by integrating innovative analytics and incentives, we can power better health and outcomes.  

Prior to founding Clarify, Jean was a Senior Partner at McKinsey, where he led the Healthcare Digital and IT practice. He also built and served as the founding Head of McKinsey Advanced Healthcare Analytics (MAHA), which provided services and products on healthcare reform, consumer analytics, new payment and pricing models, and risk management. Jean spent several years in the UK, where he helped set up the hospital regulator and served as the Head of Strategy for NHS London, a $15 billion organization that oversaw London’s hospitals, primary and social care.   

Jean holds an MD and MBA from Stanford University and an AB in Molecular Biology from Princeton. He is a Trustee of the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University and the former Vice-Chair of the Board of Lester B. Pearson United World College of the Pacific.

Things You’ll Learn:

• Many med school students know they will never practice medicine but dedicate themselves to other branches of the industry.
• Fee-for-service healthcare delivery should layer up with other services to improve care.
• Rewards guide everyone in one way or the other.
• Everyone’s environmental reality affects their health.
• It’s not enough to have data; it must be cleaned and processed to have clear insights.

Resources:

• Connect with and follow Jean Drouin on LinkedIn.
• Follow Clarify Health on LinkedIn.
• Explore the Clarify Health Website.
• Listen to Jean’s episode on the HLTH Matters Podcast.

We know that healthy, fresh food improves health outcomes. But what if you live in a food desert? Or you depend on food stamps to feed your family?

What if you could get fresh produce delivered straight to your door as a benefit of your health plan?

Ashley Turner is Founder and CEO of FarmboxRx, a national brand on a mission to promote health equity through nutrition and health literacy.

Ashley’s experience as a single mom on food stamps drives her advocacy in advancing food security and bringing educational resources to underserved populations.

On this episode of HLTH Matters, Ashley joins host Dr. Jessica Shepherd to explain how the concept of food as medicine inspired the creation of FarmboxRx and explore how the company evolved to focus on patient engagement.

Ashley describes how CMS’s emphasis on health equity helped FamboxRx gain traction and discusses the pilot program that proved its value as a care management intervention.

Listen in for insight on how the FarmboxRx benefit helps Medicare and Medicaid enrollees feel cared for and learn how Ashley’s team provides healthy food and promotes health literacy among its members.

Topics Covered

• The challenges Ashley faced in trying to eat healthy on food stamps in a food desert
• How the concept of food as medicine inspired the creation of FarmboxRx
• How FarmboxRx evolved to become a patient engagement company
• Why it was challenging to get health plans to offer FarmboxRx as a benefit early on
• How CMS’s focus on health equity helped FarmboxRx gain traction
• The pilot program that proved FarmboxRx’s value as a care management intervention
• How FarmboxRx promotes health literacy and drives other healthy behaviors among members
• The benefit of having lived what Medicare/Medicaid members are going through
• How Ashley visualizes herself as a disruptor in the healthcare space
• How FarmboxRx’s call center addresses food insecurity through member engagement

Connect with Ashley Tyrner

FarmboxRx

Connect with Dr. Jessica Shepherd

HLTH

Dr. Shepherd on Twitter

Dr. Shepherd on LinkedIn

Resources

CMS Supplemental Benefits for SSBCI Enrollees

Stores Accepting SNAP Online

Seema Verma

Chiquita Brooks-LaSure

FarmboxRx’s Partnership with Molina Healthcare of NM

HEDIS Health Plan Ratings

Social Determinants of Health

Topics Covered

• Dr. Gupta shares Amazon's focus on making healthcare services convenient and accessible
• The importance of collaboration between stakeholders in the healthcare system
• How to learn from the existing healthcare system to improve the care experience for patients
• The challenge of rebuilding trust in science
• How Amazon is working to build an infrastructure for at-home healthcare to better respond to future crises like the pandemic
• The role of Pharmacists at Amazon Pharmacy
• A BIG problem—how Amazon Pharmacy in improving medication adherence to avoid clinical problems for patients
   

Connect with Dr. Vin Gupta

Dr. Vin Gupta
Dr. Gupta on Twitter

Connect with Dr. Gautam Gulati & Dr. Jessica Shepherd

Dr. Gulati on LinkedIn

Dr. Gulati on Twitter

Dr. Shepherd on LinkedIn

Dr. Shepherd on Twitter

Resources

Amazon Pharmacy
RX Pass
Rx Savings with Amazon Prime
Amazon Pharmacy patients can now automatically receive coupon savings on eligible medication purchases

About Scott Shreeve:

Dr. Shreeve is a board-certified Emergency Medicine physician who has been actively involved in the design, development, and distribution of healthcare technologies that improve the delivery of care and enhance the quality of life. He is the Chief Executive Officer of Crossover Health, a next-generation healthcare delivery, and management services company. As a founder, visionary, and brand strategist for the organization, Dr. Shreeve has been a leading advocate for the creation of a new primary health model and membership-based health services.

Prior to founding Crossover Health, Dr. Shreeve co-founded Medsphere Systems Corporation, the first open-source electronic health record for the healthcare enterprise, where he led the Clients Services team. In this capacity, he led the implementation of large-scale electronic health record implementations at community hospitals, statewide health systems, and networks of primary care clinics.

Dr. Shreeve was also a founding member of the Health 2.0 technology and reform movement, serving as an advisor to the conference and spokesperson throughout the country. His popular Crossover Health blog focuses on the enabling technologies that transform the delivery, financing, and outcomes of high-performance health systems.

He earned his Bachelor of Science in Zoology, with a minor in Economics, from Brigham Young University, is a graduate of the University of Utah School of Medicine, and completed his Emergency Medicine residency training at the University of Arizona Health Science Center. He lives in Southern California with his wife and four children near some of the best breaks on the west coast.

Things You’ll Learn:

• Care before the COVID-19 pandemic was around 95% in-person. 
• During the height of the COVID pandemic, care delivery occurred 95% virtually. 
• Nowadays, care delivery is starting to settle somewhere around the middle between virtual and in-person.
• Establishing deep relationships with patients in primary care will facilitate managing prevention and even chronic conditions.
• Spending slightly more in primary care will allow additional significative services to be provided in this setting, eventually pulling down secondary care costs.
• Crossover Health’s partnership with Aetna allowed them to design a different benefit structure where members get better copays and premiums.

Resources:

• Connect with and follow Scott Shreeve on LinkedIn and Twitter.
• Follow Crossover Health on LinkedIn and Twitter.
• Explore the Crossover Health Website.
• Visit Scott’s Website.
• Read the Crossover Health blog.
• Get your copy of the National Academy of Science and Medicine’s book “Implementing High-Quality Care” here.

About Peter Micca:

Peter Micca is an Audit & Assurance Partner and National Health Tech leader at Deloitte & Touche LLP. He has 30 years of experience serving a broad array of clients in all sectors of the healthcare, technology, and life sciences industries. He has significant experience with health technology organizations, software as a service (SaaS) organizations, pharmacy benefit management, clinical and diagnostic operations, emerging growth, as well as private equity–financed organizations in life sciences and health technology and services. Micca applies a deep knowledge of industry sector business issues regarding the emerging trends surrounding consumerism, convergence, cost considerations, regulatory and compliance issues, and consolidation.

About Navid Farzad:

Navid is a partner with Frist Cressey Ventures. Prior to joining FCV in 2019, he worked with Morgan Noble, an investment firm that focuses exclusively on companies determined to change the future of healthcare. Before Morgan Noble, he was with Enhanced Equity Funds, a healthcare-focused private equity firm based in New York, and has also previously held positions with Lehman Brothers’ healthcare investment banking division, Ernst & Young’s Transaction Advisory group, and Arthur Andersen’s healthcare practice.

Navid has also served as the Chief Strategy Officer of Continuum Health, a physician enablement company providing practice management and population health services to medical groups. He has been an investor and/or served on the board of directors of Mindoula Health, Continuum Health, Captify Health, Privia Health, and Trusted Health Plans.

He holds an MBA from the NYU Stern School of Business and a Bachelor of Arts from Loyola University.

About Marcus Osborne:

Marcus Osborne is the Chief Executive Officer at RightMove Health. He is a leader in healthcare, having served in many positions that include almost 15 years at Walmart, where his last role was senior vice president of Walmart Health. He also served on the board of many companies, including Health Here, ZealCare, WebPT, and many others. Marcus got his Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Government from Transylvania University and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Harvard. 

Things You’ll Learn:

• Digital health can only be successful with brick-and-mortar knowledge and the legacy of delivery systems.
• Collaboration can’t be inconsistent and variable, as it needs to have a defined process that can be reproduced.
• Companies that attempt to control another’s innovation get less of its benefit.
• Technology, people, and physician-empowering solutions are the future of health.
• When collaborating, the two parties should be able to bring their best selves to the table.
• Companies should act more and take risks with innovations, as even the things that don't work bring lessons to move forward.

Resources:

• Connect with and follow Peter Micca on LinkedIn.
• Connect with and follow Navid Farzad on LinkedIn.
• Connect with and follow Marcus Osborne on LinkedIn.
• Follow Deloitte on LinkedIn.
• Discover the Deloitte Website!
• Read this paper from Deloitte about Reimagining Innovation Systems in Healthcare.
• Follow Frist Cressey Ventures on LinkedIn!
• Explore the Frist Cressey Ventures Website!
• Follow RightMove Health on LinkedIn.
• Visit the RightMove Health Website!