Episodes

In a career focused on improving global health value through systems transformation, relationship-based primary care has been at the heart of Dr. Paul Grundy’s crusade. Dr. Grundy is a data transformation advocate, active writer, social entrepreneur, speaker on global healthcare transformation, humanitarian, diplomat, and trusted healer. He has traveled the world more than any other physician that has ever lived and seen how other country’s deliver health care. Dr. Grundy is such a transformatio...

This week we have the great honor of hosting one of the most respected American political leaders over the last few decades, a visionary who ushered in a new era of value-based care in our country during his tenure at HHS. Someone who is known for a strong track record of building collaborative relationships that achieve measurable results, who also is an entrepreneur at heart. Of course, we are talking about no other than the legendary Michael O. Leavitt! As the former Secretary of Health & Hu...

As it is entering its second decade, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) has launched a bold new strategy for achieving equitable outcomes through high quality, affordable, person-centered care. To achieve this vision, the Innovation Center has organized around five objectives: Drive Accountable Care, Advance Health Equity, Support Innovation, Address Affordability, and Partner to Achieve System Transformation. Over the last decade, CMMI has been the driving force for value-ba...

Joining us this week, we have the legendary Dr. Dean Ornish who will be discussing his most recent book, “Undo It! How Simple Lifestyle Change Can Reverse Most Chronic Conditions” which just came out on paperback. Dr. Ornish is “The Father of Lifestyle Medicine” which is the fastest-growing trend in medicine today. With its impact on both health costs and population health, lifestyle medicine is the future of value-based care! For more than four decades, Dean Ornish, M.D. has directed revolutio...

We must remain steadfast in our desire as healthcare professionals to ensure that patients who lack access to safe and stable housing are not forgotten. In this special bonus episode of the Race to Value, you will learn how organizations can build alliances to serve the public good and build hope in marginalized communities through investments in housing. There is strong evidence characterizing housing’s relationship to health. Housing stability, quality, safety, and affordability all affect hea...

In a time of great need for our nation during the pandemic, Americans saw and celebrated an army of physician heroes. And in doing so, they overlooked an unforeseen reality that true heroism by physicians has actually yet to be realized. In the coming years, heroic physician leadership will be the crucible for the kindling of imagination to reshape our nation’s healthcare system through economic reform. However, for physicians to lead they will need an educational guide for navigating the busine...

Healthcare worker burnout has reached crisis proportions, and we must find real solutions to address the intense psychological suffering of our workforce. The seemingly endless intensity of work, the mounting death totals and the indifferent attitudes many Americans display toward COVID safety precautions has caused depression, burnout and moral injury for a growing number of physicians, nurses, and allied health professionals. For those of you out there feeling despair and pain on the frontline...

Sydney Townsend was diagnosed with cancer in June 2018, three months after giving birth to her first child. As a former boxer, she realized she was in the fight of her life and never gave up. After surviving her bout with cancer, her healing journey came full circle by joining the staff of Texas Oncology in 2021 (the practice that treated her cancer) as their Director of Virtual Care so she can provide care to others in the fight. Joining Sydney in this episode is Dr. Kathryn Hudson, her hemato...

Mahatma Gandhi once said, “The true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members.” The same can be said of healthcare organizations serving patients within their local communities. In value-based care, the truest measure of any healthcare organization’s success (from both an economic and a moral imperative) is how it treats its most vulnerable patients. It doesn’t get any clearer than that – serving the underserved…the 5% that drives 50% of medical spend…those...

In recent years, the role of retail in health care has grown beyond the co-location of clinics and pharmacies, with many large retailers now expanding their care delivery practices to include full-service health centers, telehealth offerings, and home delivery of pharmaceuticals. Retailers like Walmart, CVS, Amazon, Walgreens, and Target are all pursuing a healthcare strategy. The opportunity to bring consumerism to the forefront in healthcare has never been more promising, and these retail comp...

A special Thanksgiving message from Dr. Eric Weaver, host of the Race to Value, about gratitude, suffering, and the movement to value-based care.

Grief support and empathy education is so important in the context of value-based health care as it connects us to our own humanity. It speaks to why we entered into the altruistic practice of providing care, yet our fee-for-service model overvalues transactional activities without a whole-person orientation. This leads to medical professionals becoming detached from the grieving process of patients, families, and caregivers and results in our own moral injury along the way. Providers who lack a...

How does a 3-physician practice sell for over $100 million dollars? The answer is simpler than it seems – full-risk contracting is better for providers and patients. Aligned incentives promote better outcomes for patients, and better reimbursement for those providing the care. It comes down to this – full risk unlocks the door to a true relationship with the patient, a relationship that provides more information than sophisticated AI models, risk coding and predictive analytics. And Medicare Adv...

Health care is the largest employment sector in the US, and women account for 75-percent of the workforce. Gender equity in medical leadership is of paramount importance in value-based care to provide more meaningful and culturally-competent care with improved relational and clinical outcomes between patients and providers. Despite a female majority in the healthcare workforce, they are not proportionally represented within top leadership positions, where they account for less than 15-percent of...

The financial stats of healthcare are all too familiar – the 18% of GDP, $3 trillion spend, and the $11k per capita cost are frightening to consider. We are on an unsustainable financial trajectory, as those numbers are projected to increase. The costs for cancer care, which include both medical services and drugs, are no different. In 2015, national costs for cancer care were estimated to be $190 billion and just 5 years later, in 2020, the costs ballooned to $209 billion. The 10 percent increa...

You are about to be inspired and challenged about how you think about value-based care. Since 1991, Rosen Hotels & Resorts has offered an innovative in-house healthcare program called RosenCare that has been improving lives for employees and the community, as well as saved the company approximately $450 million since its inception. Our guests this week are Harris Rosen, businessman, investor and philanthropist who founded Rosen Hotels & Resorts and serves as the company’s president and COO; Ken...

Every year, millions of Americans are overcharged and underserved while the health care industry makes record profits. We know something is wrong, but layers of complexity make it confusing and discouraging to do anything about it – it seems impossible for most. Our guest this week is Marshall Allen, author of Never Pay the First Bill: And Other Ways to Fight the Health Care System and Win. Drawing on 15 years of investigating the health care industry, reporter Marshall Allen reveals the indust...

This week on Race to Value, we are excited to celebrate Pharmacy Week – it is a time to recognize the invaluable contributions pharmacists and technicians make to patient care in hospitals, outpatient clinics, and other healthcare settings, and to raise patients’ and colleagues’ awareness about the vital role pharmacists play on the healthcare team. Our guests this week are mavens in aligning pharmacy and value-based care. In this episode, we discuss the importance of women in leadership, the im...

Our guest this week is Dr. Tamarah Dupervahl-Brownlee, Chief Health Officer for Accenture, and recently, Chief Community Impact Officer for Ascension. A Physician leader with 20+ years of experience practicing medicine, she has served in various healthcare leadership roles that focus on optimizing the physical, mental, and financial health and wellbeing of communities. Dr. Dupervahl-Brownlee is fiercely determined to create and implement strategies for people to thrive and live healthy and well...

Gender-affirming care offers a model for all of health care, one that is patient-centered and based on the human story. In this episode, you will learn about “The Truth and Beauty of Gender-Affirming Care” from a leading transgender health provider and value-based care thought leader. Dallas Ducar is the founding CEO of Transhealth Northampton. In this role, Dallas brings experience constructing clinical, research, and education services in community-based, gender-affirming, healthcare systems....

As one of the leading integrated health systems in the country — serving more than 3 million residents throughout 45 counties in Pennsylvania and New Jersey with 30,000 employees, nine hospitals, 1,600 employed physicians, 13 hospital campuses, 70 primary care sites, two research centers, and a 550,000-member health plan — Geisinger has become a standard for value-based payment innovation and care delivery transformation. Geisinger was also an early adopter of value-based payment as a member of...

In this week’s episode, we spotlight the recently released Future of Nursing report, “Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity.” The report is a landmark consensus study supported by the National Academy of Medicine and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. It charts a 10-year path for the nursing profession, to help our nation create a culture of health, reduce health disparities, and improve the health and wellbeing of the US population in the 21st century. The COVI...

Oak Street Health has an amazing vision to rebuild Health Care as It Should Be: Personal, Equitable, and Accountable. The business was launched with a belief in value-based care that was patient-centered, evidence-based, and ensured equal opportunity for good health outcomes across populations, despite the economics being unproven. The business model depends on global capitation and allows the best service for patients in some of the poorest and most vulnerable communities. The high touch, relat...

Let’s face it – the healthcare system is broken. It will never be fixed unless we fundamentally redesign our industry towards a more consumer-centric model. That will require courageous leadership, and our guest this week provides “the path of hope for human-centered care delivery”. Leaders must overcome the cultural malaise that has been formed after years being conditioned by the current model. We know that our healthcare system causes 200-400k avoidable deaths each year (which is like having ...