Primary Care Cures

In this episode Ron chats with Italian entrepreneur Rene Wiertz. Rene is the Founder and CEO of 3T Cycling. Here they discuss how the coronavirus impacted Italy and what it is like living there as well as being a business owner. In the face of the pandemic, Rene retooled some of his factories to produce PPE for Italian healthcare workers. He also gives advice for listners on what Americans can expect in the coming weeks. [...]

In this episode Ron chats with Dr. Brad Younggren, the Chief Medical Officer at 98point6. 98point6 is a text first based Primary Care that meets patients where they are at, on their own phone. Here they discuss the importance of offering a technology like theirs and having it available in non-traditional settings. Brad dives into what differentiates their platform from traditional primary care, especially when it comes to patient convenience and experience. They also talk about mobile medical devices, having virtual doctor visits, platforms like this in the age of coronavirus, and much more. Brad joined 98point6 in 2017, bringing nearly 20 years of experience working as a physician, most recently serving as chief medical officer at Cue. He also served as chief medical officer at Shift Labs and Mobisante. Brad still practices as an emergency physician at EvergreenHealth and is medical director of emergency preparedness, trauma and urgent care. He received his BA from UCLA and his medical degree from the Unifo

In this episode Ron chats with Andrew Poles, Co-Founder of Impact Speaking Lab. Here they discuss communication in the world of healthcare, especially when it comes to the current COVID-19 pandemic. He dives into the importance of communication when we are all stuck at home and the importance of micro-gatherings and human interaction even while remote. Andrew Poles has been a professional seminar leader and is a former senior program leader for one of the world’s largest personal and professional growth, training, and development companies, having coached tens of thousands of people in individual and group settings for over 16 years. He is an expert in empowering people to discover the unique message they have to communicate, and in enabling them to break through the barriers that keep them from fully expressing that message in a way that it gets heard and makes an impact. Andrew has also enjoyed the success of being a small business owner and has managed and grown several multi-million-dollar businesses in

In this episode Ron chats with author, interviewer, and keynote speaker, Cal Fussman. Here they talk about the big questions in healthcare. Cal shares numerous anecdotes about healthcare while sharing stories from is extremely interesting career. He also emphasizes how important it is to take care of the physicians who take care of us. For over four decades, Cal Fussman has interviewed hundreds of the world’s most influential individuals: Muhammad Ali, Jack Welch, Mikhail Gorbachev, Serena Williams, Jeff Bezos, Jimmy Carter, Kobe Bryant, Richard Branson, and the list goes on. Now, as a New York Times bestselling author, keynote speaker, world-renowned interviewer, and host of the Big Questions podcast, Fussman travels the world teaching the world’s largest companies, universities, and associations about leadership, storytelling, innovation, teamwork, and more. When Cal speaks, you’re listening to everyone he’s ever interviewed. Lessons and stories from hundreds of world icons, all coming through one man. O

In this episode Ron chats with Dr. Brian Forrest. Here they discuss the effect coronavirus is having on the healthcare and primary care community. They also discuss what makes Direct Primary Care so special and popular among primary care docs, calue based care, and much more.  Dr. Forrest is the CEO and Founder of the Access Healthcare Direct DPC network. In 2001, he founded Access Healthcare, the first DPC family medicine practice in the country. He is one of the founders of the DPC Summit and has mentored physicians in 34 states to transition to DPC. He has taught “New Models of Care” for the UNC School of Medicine and “Disruptive Innovation in Health Care” for the NCSU MBA program. He has made numerous TV and radio appearances and was named a “ChangeMaker in Medicine” by Medical Economics in 2018. He has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Weekly Standard, Health Affairs, Physician’s Practice, and Kiplinger’s. He was the Founder and first Chair of the AAFP DPC Interest Group. He has helped shape

In this episode Ron chats with Clinton Phillips, CEO of Medici. Here they discuss a wide variety of topics such as why he founded Medici, the evolution of his career, the importance of a second virtual opinion, the importance of technology, and much more. Clinton Phillips is currently the founder and CEO of Medici, a global healthcare communication platform. Medici has raised over $40m dollars, has acquired DocBookMD and Chiron Health and now has over 20,000 doctors communicating on its platform monthly. In 2005, Phillips created the Aspen Back Institute at the St. Regis. Backed by the acclaimed founder of Starwood Hotels, Barry Sternlicht, Aspen Back became a global destination for people from over 40 countries and helped over 1,900 people avoid spine surgery. Prior to Medici, Phillips created 2nd.MD in 2011 after his daughter suffered a stroke and was left paralyzed. 2nd.MD is a virtual 2nd opinion platform that provides video access to the world’s best doctors at the top 17 US hospitals. 2nd.MD now does

In this episode Ron chats with Dr. Bertalan Mesko, PhD. Here they discuss the future of healthcare! They dive into such topcis as wearables, A/I, 3D printing, and more! They discuss how these technologies and more will change the future of primary care and healthcare as a whole. Dr. Mesko is The Medical Futurist and the Director of The Medical Futurist Institute analyzing how science fiction technologies can become reality in medicine and healthcare. As a geek physician with a PhD in genomics, he is also an Amazon Top 100 author. He is also a Private Professor at Semmelweis Medical School, Budapest, Hungary. With 500+ presentations including courses at Harvard, Stanford and Yale Universities, Singularity University's Futuremed course at NASA Ames campus and organizations including the 10 biggest pharmaceutical companies, he is one of the top voices globally on healthcare technology. Dr. Mesko was featured by dozens of top publications, including CNN, the World Health Organization, National Geographic, Forbe

In this episode Ron chats with Dr. Eric Bricker, Chief Medical Officer at AHealthcareZ. Here he discusses the platform of AHealthcareZ, which provides healthcare finance training videos with up to 80,000 views per month. Eric also dives into what is and isn’t working in primary care and how to offer the right financial model. He talks about what makes direct primary care special from the physician, employer, and consumer perspective. [...]

In this episode Ron chats with the brilliant expert in aging Dr. David Sinclair. Here David discusses is work into understanding aging and how to slow it down. He also discusses the safety of different approaches, the importance of eating less frequently, when humans can expect to have their lifespans significantly increased, and more. [...]

In this episode Ron chats with Ashley Bacot and Kenneth Aldridge. Ashley is the President at ProvInsure and Kenneth Aldridge is the Director of Health Services for Rosen Medical Center. Here they discuss RosenCare. Since 1991, Rosen Hotels & Resorts has offered an innovative in-house healthcare program that has saved the company approximately $340 million (as of April 2018), affording the opportunity to provide associates incredibly low premiums and innovative programs. The plan features on-the-clock visits to primary care doctors and a variety of specialists at the onsite. company-owned and operated Rosen Medical Center, A Place for Healing and Wellness; minimal co-pays for office visits and prescriptions; and a focus on prevention and wellness/exercise programs. Although Rosen has never measured the soft cost savings such as increased productivity, reduced absenteeism and improved presenteeism, no doubt the savings are significant. These cost savings are truly astounding considering the diversity of the Ros

In this episode Ron chats with Morris Miller, CEO of XENEX. Xenex is a world leader in automated room disinfection. Through the use of Xenon technology and innovative hospital disinfection protocols, the company has helped hospitals achieve significant infection reduction results. Here they discuss the benefits of automated disinfection, how it can combat antibiotic resistant or rare diseases, reduce hospital contracted infection rates, improve outcomes, and more. As CEO, Morris is responsible for the company’s overall business strategy and oversight of day-to-day operations. Originally from San Antonio, TX, Morris is a graduate of the Dedman School of Law at Southern Methodist University, The University of Texas at Austin, and Phillips Exeter Academy. He is the founder of Sequel and Cutstone Ventures, which invests in/acts as an advisor to numerous start-ups such as Inventables, Adometry, and Golfballs.com. He started Curtis Hill Publishing, the first company to publish Texas case law on CD-ROM, and he was a

In this episode Ron chats with Bill Hennessey. Here they do a deep dive into healthcare price transparency. Healthcare consumers are upset that every year health insurance costs are increasing at an exponential rate, while they get bills in the mail they cannot understand. Consumers feel that their hands are tied! The Pratter Report aims to change that as the ultimate tool in healthcare transparency. As an experienced, practicing MD, and as the owner of a physician billing company, Bill Hennessey has watched the prices that we pay for health care skyrocket. Over the past 20 years, health insurance costs are up 500% yet household salaries are up only 15%.  Bill took his medical, medical billing and medical business background and simplified a complex billing system, making it easy for you to save money. Now you can search and compare medical care costs before you buy your care. Pratter was created to fight for your right to known medical pricing. This referred to as medical cost transparency. Known pricing

This episode features the brilliant Katy Talento. Here she discusses her incredibly fascinating and unique career path. She also dives into what it is like being a healthcare policy advisor and share some fascinating stories from her time in that role. Dark money, big healthcare’s influence on Washington, surprise billing and many more topics are covered in this can’t miss episode. Katy Talento, president of KFT Consulting, is a licensed health benefits consultant, veteran health policy advisor and epidemiologist. She recently left the White House as the top health advisor to President Donald Trump on the Domestic Policy Council, where her job was to advance the president’s agenda to increase health care price transparency and price competition, end surprise medical bills, lower prescription drug prices, expand affordable options in the individual and group/ERISA markets, reduce the burdens of the Affordable Care Act, promote innovative employer sponsored coverage models, expand health IT interoperability, c

In this episode Ron reflects on what he has learned from the first year of the show. This episode is a can’t miss deep dive featuring musings and thoughts from talking to the real change agents in primary care. He digs into subjects such as direct primary care and what it has done for his organization, the future of benefits, driving down costs, patients as consumers, and much more! He even shares some of his favorite quotes from the show so far. [...]

In this episode Ron chats with Dutch Rojas. Dutch is a healthcare entrepreneur dedicated to making medical treatments affordable and accessible to all. Currently, he is the Chief Executive Officer of Sano Surgery, a bundled priced network as well as the Founder of Everyone Health, a consumer marketplace to purchase medical treatments. Dutch immigrated to the United States from the Netherlands and served in the US Marine Corps from 1995 to 2002. Here they discuss nurse and provider retention, direct contracting, proven ways to drive down the cost of healthcare, evangelizing low cost with high quality at fewer locations, why economic issues that are common sense in other industries are not adopted in healthcare, and more. [...]

In this episode Ron chats with Rebecca Love. Rebecca Love, RN, BS, MSN, FIEL is a nurse entrepreneur, inventor, author, TEDx Speaker and first nurse featured on Ted.com. Here they discuss the importance of nurses. Their role can and should be so much more than just a helper to a doctor. They are the end users of many healthcare products and see where they can be improved based on how they are actually used. She encourages nurses to embrace their entrepreneurial side and explore ways they can fix the problems in healthcare. Rebecca, was the first Director of Nurse Innovation & Entrepreneurship in the United States at Northeastern School of Nursing – the founding initiative in the Country designed to empower nurses as innovators and entrepreneurs, where she founded the Nurse Hackathon, the movement has led to transformational change in the Nursing Profession.   Rebecca is an experienced Nurse Entrepreneur, founding HireNurses.com in 2013 which was acquired in 2018, and currently serves as the Managing Director

In this episode Ron chats with Vinay Patel. Vinay is the Founder of Self Insured Pharmacy Networks (SIPN). Here Vinay discusses how he ended up in pharmacy, what a PBM is, how they work, and the pharmaceutical industry. He also dives into the importance of growing from the floor and working their way up to be come a threat to the traditional pharmacy model. The ultimate goal is to drive down the costs of healthcare for consumers. Vinay is a pharmacist executive with a 12 year career focused on population health and community pharmacy operations. His background includes integrating pharmacy programs within multifaceted healthcare teams, engineering effective clinical operations to meet HEDIS program measures, and initiating a pharmacist led hospital discharge medication reconciliation program. In his current role as founder of Self Insured Pharmacy Networks  (SIPN) Vinay is revolutionizing how plan sponsors pay for pharmacy benefit administration. SIPN's simple, clear, value cost plus model allows plan spons

In this episode Ron chats with Dr. Devi Shetty. Devi is the Chairman of Narayana Health and Founder of Health City Cayman Islands. Here he discusses working long hours for a job that you love, technology, volume, and specialization to drive down costs. They also dive into medical tourism as an alternative to having an expensive procedure, with similar outcomes, in the United States. Dr. Shetty is a true visionary and pioneer in healthcare. Dr. Shetty is a cardiac surgeon with around 34 years of experience. After completing his MBBS from the University of Mysore in 1978, he registered with the Karnataka Medical Council in 1979. Thereafter, in 1982, he received a master’s degree in surgery from the University of Mysore. In 2009, he was granted a fellowship from the Royal College of Surgeons of England. He founded Narayana Health in the year 2000. He initiated the concept of "micro health insurance scheme" in Karnataka, which eventually led to the Karnataka government implementing the Yeshasvini scheme, a micro

In this episode Ron chats with Dr. Chris Crow. Here Chris does a deep dive into value based care and all of its different forms. Ron helps Chris to break it down in a way that healthcare outsidser, who only think of "value based care" as a hot buzz word, can understand. This episode seperates hype from reality and what is truely possible.  Christopher Crow, M.D. CEO of StratiFi Health and President of Catalyst Health Network, is a nationally recognized healthcare innovator. Dr. Crow created StratiFi Health and launched Catalyst Health Network after founding Village Health Partners and Legacy Medical Village in Plano, Texas in 2007. He is an award-winning primary care physician and has spent the past 20+ years focused on helping communities thrive through improving the delivery of healthcare. As President of Catalyst Health Network, Dr. Crow has connected and aligned a network of more than 650 Primary Care Providers with nearly 1 million lives across North Texas, to build a better care model for patients tha

In this episode Ron chats with Michael Menerey. Senior Vice President and Benefits Consultant with Alliant Insurance Services and a partner in their Employee Benefits Practice. Here they do a deep dive into the problems with the business of healthcare and on the ground solutions that are actively working to fix them. They touch on a wide variety of topics such as paying primary care docs more, bringing the cost of care down, legacy organizations that may not have the patients best interest in mind, and more. This episode is a must listen between two excellent podcast hosts who regular talk to the brightest and most innovative the industry has to offer. Michael works with a variety of clients from different industries and ranging from a few hundred employees to over 20,000 employees. Michael has a passion for helping businesses find alternatives to the usual health insurance strategies that simply result in higher costs for employers and their employees. He works to educate employers on the misaligned and per