Speaking Of Show & Making Healthcare Work for You

For Pharmacist Ritesh Shah, not much fuels him more than serving those in need. Twice named Pharmacist of the Year, he is constantly striving to do more to increase his impact. 

After tragically losing his sister during the pandemic, he was inspired to create Ritesh Shah Charitable Pharmacy in NJ in her honor. Ritesh tells us that running the pharmacy is a family affair - he, his wife, and his children all volunteer time to keep the pharmacy running. Equally impressive, the charitable pharmacy is personally funded by Ritesh and his family, as well as donations from family and friends. 

Since opening in April 2022, they’ve provided more than $250,000 in free medications. Because Ritesh lives by the “Platinum Rule” - which he explains in the interview - he not only provides medications to patients, but also partners with other community organizations to help meet other basic needs of his patients - providing the help before they need to ask for it.

This is one of the most inspiring stories we’ve shared on our show, and it’s a can’t-miss! 

https://youtu.be/lE47w6AXXMs  

Learn more about Ritesh Shah Charitable Pharmacy: https://rscprx.org

Connect with Ritesh Shah: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ritesh-shah-08998993/ 

You can also listen to the interview in podcast form:

Apple podcast link: 

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/speaking-of/id1549592446  

I Heart podcast link:

https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-speaking-of-76708275/#  

Spotify podcast link:

https://open.spotify.com/show/1g2LUGr0SzxbBmSHB3FHyL?si=PNO79sBOReGXQJu_CrsJEg

Topical time codes:

00:44 - Founding the pharmacy 

2:33 - Losing his sister

5:39 - Opening on Good Friday and the stars aligning

9:44 - Helping people in the community 

13:33 - 2x Pharmacist of the Year

15:55 - Saving a patient’s life

20:01 - The Golden Rule vs The Platinum Rule

24:24 - Community impact 

__________________________

Thanks to the following organization for supporting the Making Healthcare Work for You mission.

Informed Consulting works with insurance carriers, digital health companies, insurtech organizations, and venture capital firms to drive distribution solutions in the employee benefits ecosystem.

They help companies reach revenue potential, confidently navigate a complex ecosystem, and position benefit ecosystem innovations for more efficient growth.

Visit https://www.informed.llc to learn more.

For decades, Quint Studer, Co-Founder of Healthcare Plus Solutions Group, has successfully lead healthcare organizations, and worked with other healthcare leaders to help them reconnect to their purpose, and improve outcomes. 

Quint says often inexperience and being asked to do too much can be big concerns for those in healthcare leadership. He told us that around 25% of healthcare leaders are relatively new to their roles, while the hourly hires have been in their positions for a longer duration - and have seen several leadership changes - making buy-in challenging. 

By providing training to these leaders on how to narrow the scope and make things doable, helping them with replenishment exercises, as well as harnessing the leaders’ self-awareness, empathy, and accountability, remarkable things are possible. 

Check out the full interview with Quint to hear more about how his approach is helping to transform healthcare.

Connect with Quint Studer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/quint-studer/

Learn more about Healthcare Plus Solutions Group: https://healthcareplussg.com 

Link to Quint’s books, including The Calling: https://healthcareplussg.com/resources/books/ 

Topical time codes:

00:53 - Misdiagnosing leadership

5:03 - Narrowing the scope, making things doable

12:50 - Battery level/replenishment

14:23 - Assessment tools for what is doable

18:21 - Outcomes

22:53 - Expectations 

24:26 - Self-awareness of senior leaders 

26:39 - Recognition in day-to-day work

__________________________

Thanks to the following organization for supporting the Making Healthcare Work for You mission.

Informed Consulting works with insurance carriers, digital health companies, insurtech organizations, and venture capital firms to drive distribution solutions in the employee benefits ecosystem.

They help companies reach revenue potential, confidently navigate a complex ecosystem, and position benefit ecosystem innovations for more efficient growth.

Visit https://www.informed.llc to learn more.

In this inspiring interview, Marc Schiffman, MD, Co-founder of VoiceLove and Co-Executive Director WCM Fibroid Center, Weill Cornell Medicine, shares the story of why and how he co-founded #VoiceLove during the #covid19 #pandemic. 

VoiceLove is a HIPAA compliant walkie-talkie with an accompanying app that allows family and friends to securely communicate with their loved ones who are hospitalized.

The mission is deeply personal to Dr. Schiffman, who lost his mother to covid. While hospitalized, she also experienced #delirium, something he says 75% of ICU patients experience. 

One of the best ways to treat delirium is through #familyengagement. But, during the pandemic, especially in the early days, many patients were isolated in the ICU. It was devastating for the patients and their families.

Delirium is also tremendously costly to the healthcare system.  

Check out this interview with Dr. Schiffman to learn how VoiceLove is simultaneously connecting patients and families, while also control healthcare costs. 

https://youtu.be/EdAnIFCARvs

Connect with Dr. Marc Schiffman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marc-schiffman-md-81943615/ 

Learn more about VoiceLove: https://www.voicelove.com 

Topical time codes:

1:03 - Creating VoiceLove

5:04 - The technology

7:26 - The power of voice to heal

9:16 - Communicating/the user experience 

12:11 - Delirium and family engagement 

15:00 - Using NIH grant to combat delirium

16:29 - What is VoiceLove communicating

18:06 - The hope for VoiceLove’s legacy

__________________________

Thanks to the following organization for supporting the Making Healthcare Work for You mission.

Informed Consulting works with insurance carriers, digital health companies, insurtech organizations, and venture capital firms to drive distribution solutions in the employee benefits ecosystem.

They help companies reach revenue potential, confidently navigate a complex ecosystem, and position benefit ecosystem innovations for more efficient growth.

Visit https://www.informed.llc to learn more.

There’s only a 1 in 34-million chance that you and those around you will have the same top 5 in the same order on Gallup’s CliftonStrengths assessment. 

Knowing and understanding how to use those strengths to bring out the best in you, while also giving your strengths away to benefit others, is tremendously useful. 

The ability to capitalize on your strengths and the strengths of those around you can help you build relationships, trust, and collaboratively find success. 

In this enlightening interview, we talk to Mike McDonald, Senior Workplace Consultant at Gallup, about a spectrum of things, including: 

• How to use data once you have it
• How the strengths assessment can lead to success
• Create meaningful work
• How having a best friend at work leads to better workplace engagement

Don’t miss this interview, it’s a great one! 

Connect with Mike McDonald: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-mcdonald-ph-d-4838211/ 

Learn more about the CliftonStrengths assessment: https://www.gallup.com/cliftonstrengths/en/252137/home.aspx 

Learn more about Gallup: https://www.gallup.com/home.aspx

Topical time codes:

00:35 - Data - what are you doing with it

2:05 - CliftonStrengths assessment

5:00 - Optimizing strengths

8:02 - Growth mindset and strength

10:58 - Is there an equation for strengths success

14:28 - Meaningful work

18:46 - Strengths as a relational shortcut

23:07 - Strengths and engagement - having a best friend at work

26:57 - Trust 

__________________________

Thanks to the following organization for supporting the Making Healthcare Work for You mission.

Informed Consulting works with insurance carriers, digital health companies, insurtech organizations, and venture capital firms to drive distribution solutions in the employee benefits ecosystem.

They help companies reach revenue potential, confidently navigate a complex ecosystem, and position benefit ecosystem innovations for more efficient growth.

Visit https://www.informed.llc to learn more.

Chaitali Sinha joined Wysa after spending years as a psychologist working in childhood trauma. She says she was looking for a way to continue her work, but outside of a clinical setting. 

Wysa is an AI-based mental health app that support its 6-million users across 95 countries through a chatbot that uses free text to understand the users’ concerns and help them work through the issue in a conversational way. 

Chaitali says Wysa is like a friend at 4am - always there and ready to help. 

In this enlightening interview she shares how the app supports its users, shares how it builds trust, and talks about some of the outcomes and guardrails in place to ensure proper care in an anonymous and empathetic way.

*note that at the time of recording, Chaitali was the Head of Clinical Development and Research, but recently became the SVP of Healthcare and Clinical Development.

Connect with Chaitali: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chaitali-sinha-43667527/ 

Learn more about Wysa: https://www.wysa.com 

You can also listen to the interview in podcast form:

Apple podcast link: 

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/speaking-of/id1549592446  

I Heart podcast link:

https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-speaking-of-76708275/#  

Spotify podcast link:

https://open.spotify.com/show/1g2LUGr0SzxbBmSHB3FHyL?si=PNO79sBOReGXQJu_CrsJEg

Topical time codes:

00:30 - About Wysa

1:45 - Joining Wysa

4:52 - How AI is a friend at 4am

6:20 - Patient story

7:49 - Therapeutic alliance between user and Wysa

10:43 - Building trust 

13:48 - The Wysa technology

16:27 - Sharing data about employee wellness 

19:18 - Improvements in depression and anxiety

20:51 - Empathy, prioritizing what to respond to

21:59 - Conversational testing

22:39 - Wysa is an adjunct to therapy

24:15 - Personal satisfaction from the work

__________________________

Thanks to the following organization for supporting the Making Healthcare Work for You mission.

Informed Consulting works with insurance carriers, digital health companies, insurtech organizations, and venture capital firms to drive distribution solutions in the employee benefits ecosystem.

They help companies reach revenue potential, confidently navigate a complex ecosystem, and position benefit ecosystem innovations for more efficient growth.

Visit https://www.informed.llc to learn more.

Tom Dahlborg has worked in healthcare for more than 40 years, and says he has seen the power that compassion, empathy, and love have to positively transform care.

As the President and CEO of Dahlborg HealthCARING Leadership Group, he’s teaching leaders how to use love and compassion alongside science and evidence. 

In this interview we talked to Tom about how compassion and love became such an important part of his mission, about relationship-centered care, values-centered care, and how to avoid making processes meant to improve healthcare from becoming just another box to check.

Connect with Tom: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasdahlborg/

Learn more about : https://dahlborghlg.com

You can also listen to the interview in podcast form:

Apple podcast link: 

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/speaking-of/id1549592446  

I Heart podcast link:

https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-speaking-of-76708275/#  

Spotify podcast link:

https://open.spotify.com/show/1g2LUGr0SzxbBmSHB3FHyL?si=PNO79sBOReGXQJu_CrsJEg

Topical time codes:

00:49 - Where Tom’s passion for compassion originated

4:34 - How the provider benefits by providing compassionate care

7:11 - Why love and compassion aren’t present in healthcare

10:12 - Relationship-centered care has become transactional

13:56 - Was there ever humanity in healthcare?

18:37 - Values-based care

22:26 - Most important thing needed for change

__________________________

Thanks to the following organization for supporting the Making Healthcare Work for You mission.

Informed Consulting works with insurance carriers, digital health companies, insurtech organizations, and venture capital firms to drive distribution solutions in the employee benefits ecosystem.

They help companies reach revenue potential, confidently navigate a complex ecosystem, and position benefit ecosystem innovations for more efficient growth.

Visit https://www.informed.llc to learn more.

Tim Barry, Co-founder and CEO of VillageMD grew up in a small community, where he says he saw people caring for one another. It’s a vision that stayed with him, and  turned into a mission at VillageMD.  

VillageMD works to provide high-touch, 24/7 primary care, meeting patients where they are - both in the healthcare journey and literally where they are through home-based care when needed. 

Tim says just 1 in 5 Americans who have chronic diseases are responsible for 85% of the medical spending, but he tells us better outcomes are  possible by:

*Fostering healthy relationships with primary care providers who provide value-based care

*Using data/technology to better predict who will have adverse health reactions *Creating a team-based health ecosystem where providers are supported and encouraged to do the right thing for their patients.

Check out the full  interview to hear more from Tim about how VillageMD is transforming care.

Learn more about VillageMD: https://www.villagemd.com

Topical time codes:

1:16 - Eliminating “medical misery”

4:27 - Healthy relationships w/ PCP

5:57 - Meeting people where they are on the healthcare journey 

7:23 - Keeping chronic diseases from progressing

8:37 - Helping the “1 in 5” thrive

11:57 - Collaborative relationships 

15:36 - Balancing patient care and support for providers

18:37 - Personal mission

__________________________

Thanks to the following organization for supporting the Making Healthcare Work for You mission.

Informed Consulting works with insurance carriers, digital health companies, insurtech organizations, and venture capital firms to drive distribution solutions in the employee benefits ecosystem.

They help companies reach revenue potential, confidently navigate a complex ecosystem, and position benefit ecosystem innovations for more efficient growth.

Visit https://www.informed.llc to learn more.

Brothers Akash & Aman Magoon co-founded Adonis with the mission to improve healthcare net collection rates and reduce the cost of collecting. 

They say 1 in 7 of the $4.3-trillion spent on healthcare is related to the cost of collecting revenue from patients and payers. 

What’s more - they say that due to rejection and denials, healthcare organizations leak 10%+ of revenue.

Adonis sits on top of clients’ existing tech, and uses AI/machine learning to make denials less and less likely, which in turn reduces admin burden, and frees up time and money to focus on patients.

Check out the interview with Akash and Aman to learn more about their work, and how Adonis will be using their recently-announced Series A funding.

Learn more about Adonis: https://www.adonis.io 

Connect with Akash Magoon: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akash-magoon-148a3029/ 

Connect with Aman Magoon: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanmagoon/ 

Topical time codes:

00:41 - About Adonis

1:47 - Automating the process and decreasing costs

3:10 - Reasons for denials

5:31 - Using data to reduce denials

7:31 - Eliminating admin burden 

8:55 - Ensuring payments process

11:54 - Experience of those using Adonis

14:01 - Series A funding 

16:37 - Importance of core values at Adonis

17:55 - Why they’re tacking this area of healthcare

__________________________

Thanks to the following organization for supporting the Making Healthcare Work for You mission.

Informed Consulting works with insurance carriers, digital health companies, insurtech organizations, and venture capital firms to drive distribution solutions in the employee benefits ecosystem.

They help companies reach revenue potential, confidently navigate a complex ecosystem, and position benefit ecosystem innovations for more efficient growth.

Visit https://www.informed.llc to learn more.

After realizing there was a big gap in compassion in healthcare, Pantea Vahidi merged her background as an engineer and hospice nurse to reverse-engineer compassion. 

It lead her to found The Compassion Clinic, through which Pantea teaches people a replicable framework for a compassion mindset. 

Pantea says compassion is empathy plus action, and says there are 3 tools of compassion: respond, relieve, or resolve. 

To hear more about Pantea’s work and framework, check out the full interview.

You can also listen to the interview in podcast form:

Apple podcast link: 

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/speaking-of/id1549592446  

I Heart podcast link:

https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-speaking-of-76708275/#  

Spotify podcast link:

https://open.spotify.com/show/1g2LUGr0SzxbBmSHB3FHyL?si=PNO79sBOReGXQJu_CrsJEg

Connect with Pantea: https://www.linkedin.com/in/panteavahidi/ 

Learn more about the Compassion Clinic:  https://www.linkedin.com/company/compassion-clinic/ 

Topical time codes:

00:41 - What is compassion 

2:34 - Compassion as healing 

3:16 - Compassion framework 

5:54 - Lack of compassion in healthcare

9:56 - Is compassion contagious

11:37 - Reverse-engineering compassion

14:51 - Responding with compassion 

21:31 - Words matter: how you speak to people  

25:52 - Considering context

28:13 - Empowering people to make a difference 

__________________________

Thanks to the following organization for supporting the Making Healthcare Work for You mission.

Informed Consulting works with insurance carriers, digital health companies, insurtech organizations, and venture capital firms to drive distribution solutions in the employee benefits ecosystem.

They help companies reach revenue potential, confidently navigate a complex ecosystem, and position benefit ecosystem innovations for more efficient growth.

Visit https://www.informed.llc to learn more.

Patient PAL is a confidential, HIPAA-compliant concierge service that supports patients through the healthcare journey. 

At Patient PAL, founded and lead by Jack London, they work to advocate for the patient for everything from finding a primary care provider, to claims support, and more. 

Currently serving self-funded employers, Patient PAL is able to reduce the healthcare of headache and scale back costs by proactively working to ensure that patients get the care they need, are compliant to the care for chronic conditions, making sure they’re getting care in-network and more. 

Check out our interview with Jack to learn more about Patient PAL, and how they’re working to improve healthcare costs and outcomes. 

Learn more about Patient PAL: https://www.patientpal.org

Connect with Jack London: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-g-london/

You can also listen to the interview in podcast form:

Apple podcast link: 

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/speaking-of/id1549592446  

I Heart podcast link:

https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-speaking-of-76708275/#  

Spotify podcast link:

https://open.spotify.com/show/1g2LUGr0SzxbBmSHB3FHyL?si=PNO79sBOReGXQJu_CrsJEg

Topical time codes:

1:05 - About Patient PAL

2:00 - The most powerful part of Patient PAL

3:55 - Support that patients request

5:26 - Difference between Patient PAL and case management

7:07 - Working with, and supporting, the caregivers

8:58 - Working with self-funded employers

10:11 - Relationship building

11:08 - Outcomes

12:40 - Example of the process

14:36 - Improved outcomes equal cost savings 

16:19 - Hiring for compassion

18:06 - “Make your work your hobby”

__________________________

Thanks to the following organization for supporting the Making Healthcare Work for You mission.

Informed Consulting works with insurance carriers, digital health companies, insurtech organizations, and venture capital firms to drive distribution solutions in the employee benefits ecosystem.

They help companies reach revenue potential, confidently navigate a complex ecosystem, and position benefit ecosystem innovations for more efficient growth.

Visit https://www.informed.llc to learn more.