The Gary Bisbee Show: Recent Episodes

Think Medium

The Gary Bisbee Show is a weekly podcast discussing how leading health system CEOs and healthcare leaders are navigating the evolving healthcare landscape while leading high-performing teams and driving innovation across the industry.

Meet Elazer Edelman

Elazer R. Edelman, M.D., Ph.D., is the Edward J. Poitras Professor in Medical Engineering and Science at MIT, Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and Senior Attending Physician in the coronary care unit at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

Key Insights:

Dr. Edelman works at the intersection of the physical sciences and medicine to improve healthcare.

Key Intersections. Dr. Edelman believes that clinical work, scientific research, and engineering must all come together to keep the medical profession on track.

Explaining and Receiving Feedback. Physician-scientists have an obligation to explain their methods and then to listen carefully to feedback to ensure widespread understanding.

How to spur Innovation? Create communities where people feel safe and secure saying that they don’t know—and then let them investigate.

This episode was made possible by our partnership with Edwards Lifesciences.

Relevant Links:

Read more about Dr. Edelman

Learn about the Brigham and Women’s Hospital

Meet the Guests:

This episode features three leaders previously interviewed on The Gary Bisbee Show. John Glaser, Ph.D., is an Executive in Resident at Harvard Medical School and recently published “Advanced Introduction to Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare.” Kevin B. Mahoney is chief executive officer of the University of Pennsylvania Health System, a pillar of the Penn Medicine enterprise. Sean Lane is the CEO of Olive and CEO of Circulo Health. Previously, he was an Intelligence Officer for the National Security Agency.

Key Insights:

Many of healthcare’s key leaders are making a deliberate effort to understand the uses of A.I.

• No Gimmick. In the race to produce technology that “wows,” the market may be flood with flashy products that don’t produce better results. Leaders need to be discerning about A.I.

• Who Buys A.I.? According to John Glaser, nobody buys A.I. – instead, people buy products that have been made more reliable and effective by their incorporation of the new technology.

• What is A.I. for? Ultimately, A.I. is useful to the extent that it frees up human capacity, so that healthcare can be more human than it ever has been.

Relevant Links:

Listen to John Glaser’s full episode

Listen to Kevin B. Mahoney’s full episode

Listen to Sean Lane’s full episode

Meet Warner Thomas

Warner L. Thomas is president and CEO of Sutter Health, a Northern California based not-for-profit integrated health system that cares for more than 3 million patients in one of the most diverse and innovative regions of the country. A grounded-yet-visionary leader, Thomas has demonstrated the capability to navigate the dynamic healthcare landscape at every level — from outstanding patient care to organizational strategy to public policy at both the state and national levels.

Key Insights:

Warner Thomas believes that communication and transparency are key to an organization’s success.

Can we prepare for everything? Warner Thomas worked in a leadership position during Hurricane Katrina and concluded: “there will always be things you don’t anticipate.”

New Leadership. When starting a new leadership position, make an effort to communicate with every level. Talk to nurses, to clinicians, to support staff.

Training is key. Mr. Thomas believes the workforce challenge facing healthcare can only be solved by creating a dependable talent pipeline.

This episode was made possible by our partnership with Edwards Lifesciences.

Relevant Links:

Read more about Sutter Health

Read about Warner Thomas

Meet Dan Brillman

Dan Brillman is the Co-founder and CEO of Unite Us. Dan graduated from Yale University in 2006 and worked in finance and consulting before joining the Air Force Reserves as a combat pilot, where he still serves today. Dan Co-founded Unite Us in 2013.

Key Insights:

Dan Brillman Co-founded Unite Us in 2013, and has a decade of success to show for it.

Create the Standard. In a chaotic field, innovators have to be the agents who bring order.

How to Overcome Fragmentation? Unite Us put years of work into understanding various sectors and systems in order to make access close to effortless for individuals.

Blurring Boundaries. Dan says our understanding of “Health” is blurring, as we come to better understand social determinants – and this is progress.

Relevant Links:

Read more about Dan Brillman

Read about Unite Us

Meet Amir Dan Rubin

Amir Dan Rubin has focused his career on transforming health care. Through One Medical’s human-centered and technology-powered model, he serves on a team dedicated to delighting members with better health and better care, while reducing total costs. Previously, as an EVP and divisional CEO at UnitedHealth Group’s Optum division, he oversaw a number of areas focused on helping to make the health system work better. Amir also previously served as president and CEO of Stanford Health Care in Palo Alto.

Key Insights:

Amir Dan Rubin is leading the way as Amazon’s One Medical forges new paths in the healthcare economy.

Customer First. One Medical brings Amazon’s strategy of “working backwards” to the medical economy.

Integrated Support. Amir suggests that it’s crucial to make the patient feel supported, but it’s equally important to make clinicians and team members feel that they are supported.

Is there Market Opportunity? There’s “total unmet need” – from questions of access to managing chronic disease, there are many places to improve healthcare.

Relevant Links:

Read more about Amir Dan Rubin

Read more about One Medical

Meet Kevin B. Mahoney

Kevin B. Mahoney is chief executive officer of the University of Pennsylvania Health System, a pillar of the Penn Medicine enterprise. He leads health system operations, spanning six hospitals, 11 multispecialty centers and hundreds of outpatient facilities in Philadelphia, Delaware and New Jersey.

Key Insights:

Kevin Mahoney’s decades of leadership in healthcare have taught him the importance of innovating.

Fearless Convictions. If you stand by your principles, as you continue to listen to others, people will naturally pull towards you.

How to Keep Innovating? Be clear about how things are working in the present, but always be reassessing and asking, “Could we do it better? Is there another way?”

Collegial Competition. The presence of just one innovative thinker can be contagious, and often encourages others to attempt innovation themselves.

Relevant Links:

Read more about Kevin B. Mahoney

Follow Kevin on Twitter

Meet Russ Richmond

Russ Richmond is a physician entrepreneur with experience building digital health companies such as Laudio, Advanced Practice Strategies (APS), Objective Health, Verisk Health, and D2Hawkeye, as well as counseling large payors and health systems while with McKinsey & Company.

Key Insights:

Dr. Richmond’s company, Laudio, brings all of the major hospital workloads together for frontline health system managers.

Solving Labor. Dr. Richmond understood, early on, that labor and labor productivity would be the major issue for health systems.

A Workflow Interface? Laudio brings 7 or 8 major workloads together, and also suggests the next best actions, to help guide managers.

Start Early. Dr. Richmond suggests that if you have an idea for an entrepreneurial venture, it’s best to start as soon as possible.

Relevant Links:

Read more about Russ Richmond

Learn more about Laudio

Meet Sina Chehrazi:

Sina Chehrazi is an entrepreneur and business executive with experience across the various stages of the entrepreneurial process. Sina serves as the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Nayya, a platform that uses AI and data science to personalize the way people choose and use their benefits.

Key Insights:

Sina Chehrazi advocates for a leadership that is genuine with the team and with customers.

● How to Improve Healthcare? Sina explains that if you want to change healthcare, you have to start by following how the money flows.

● Confidence. Customers who know what they’re investing in are more likely to jump in with an innovator.

● Integration. Nayya aims to be the hub that connects and personalizes a consumer’s health life.

Read more about Nayya

Follow Sina on Twitter

Meet Richard Winters

Dr. Richard Wintersis a practicing emergency physician and executive coach at Mayo Clinic. As director of Leadership Development for the Mayo Clinic Care Network, Dr. Winters facilitates retreats and delivers programs that train leaders at healthcare organizations worldwide.

Key Insights:

Dr. Winters practices Emergency Medicine and coaches leadership in the medical industry.

Uncertainty. Dr. Winters says healthcare is volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous – and leaders must become adept at thriving in such situations.

Why Physician Autonomy? As organizations scale, agility is required. Trusting employees to make the right call based on their own judgment improves overall quality.

Nuance and Compromise. Unlike in the ER, the board room requires constant negotiation and compromise. Making change is a process and requires careful language.

Relevant Links:

Read more about Dr. Winters

Order a copy of “You’re the Leader”

Meet Josh Makower

Josh Makower, M.D.,is the Boston Scientific Applied Bioengineering Professor of Medicine and of Bioengineering at the Stanford University Schools of Medicine and Engineering, and is the Director and Co-Founder of the Stanford Byers Center for Biodesign, and Founder of Stanford’s Biodesign Policy Program.

Key Insights:

Josh holds over 300 patents, and believes that innovation is a process than can be taught.

How to improve global health? Josh believes that innovation can be learned deliberately, and that those who practice it according to his process, will get good at it.

Two Modes. The innovator must first consider all possibilities, even “wild ideas,” and then switch gears, to identify dead ends as rapidly as possible.

Teaching Policymakers. In addition to teaching aspiring innovators, Josh believes that educating the next generation of policymakers is a crucial undertaking.

This episode was made possible by our partnership with Edwards Lifesciences.

Relevant Links:

Read more about Josh Makower

Read more about Stanford’s Biodesign Policy Program

Meet the Guests:

This episode features three leaders previously interviewed on The Gary Bisbee Show. Listeners will hear from: Pete McCanna, CEO, Baylor Scott & White Health; Steve Glass, President and CEO, Medical Mutual, and Richard Pollack, President and CEO, American Hospital Association.

Key Insights:

Our guests offer commentary on how new, for-profit entrants are changing the health economy.

What Do Consumers Demand? Legacy systems must evaluate the prospect of building partnerships with the new large-cap entrants to provide customers with what they demand.

Capital and Profit. New entrants are finding market inefficiencies, which brings innovation. The danger is disintermediation and fracturing of the care continuum.

Predatory Practice. Mr. Pollack sees promise in the potential for partnering, but he warns that for-profit models neglect poor and under-insured populations.

Relevant Links:

View Pete McCanna’s full episode

View Steve Glass’s full episode

View Richard Pollack’s full episode

Meet Scott Sowle

Scott Sowle launched Muir Wood Adolescent and Family Services in 2013. Muir Wood is the culmination of his personal and professional experiences and has become recognized nationally as a gold standard in adolescent behavioral health care.

Key Insights:

Scott Sowle is an expert in creating treatment programs that emphasize kindness and compassion.

Urgent Work. Professionals are tracking higher use of cannabis, alcoholism and stimulants—and are especially concerned with fentanyl use among teens.

Gender-separate Treatment? The Muir Wood facilities separate residents by gender, which allows great trust to emerge, facilitating vulnerable sharing throughout recovery.

Twin Keys. The two biggest components of successful treament are length of stay, and parental involvement.

Relevant Links:

Read more about Muir Wood Adolescent and Family Services

Read about Scott Sowle

Meet Paul Generale:

Paul Generale is a healthcare executive bringing nearly two decades of experience in the fields of finance and administration to his role as a senior executive with CHRISTUS Health.

Key Insights:

Mr. Generale believes that effective healthcare leaders must be able to adapt and pivot when new strategies are needed.

What Recent Trends are Here to Stay? Innovation in digital, the care continuum, and Medicare and other regulator payers moving things to outpatient—these are here to stay.

Integrated Health Plan. Instead of being fee-for-service, offering an in-house health plan allows healthcare systems to attack some of the social determinants.

Continue Learning. Paul remarks, “Take some risk, learn. Try to evolve. There's not a path. If you find that opportunity, take it.”

This episode was made possible by our partnership with Citi.

Relevant Links:

Learn more about Paul Generale

Read about CHRISTUS Health

Meet Richard Edelman

Richard Edelman is the CEO of Edelman, a global communications firm, and Chairman of Daniel J. Edelman Holdings, the firm’s holding company. Now in his 26th year as CEO, Richard is one of the longest tenured agency leaders in the marketing services industry.

Key Insights:

Richard Edelman oversees international polling on personal and institutional trust.

Where does Political Dialog Occur? The most believable place to have a quality conversation on politics is at work. It's not in your neighborhood anymore. It's in the workplace, because people now have transferred so much of their psychic energy to work.

How to Address Misinformation? There is a continued need to supplement information on social. I think companies have to participate in social put good facts in there. If they have quality information, sharing through newsletters, I just don't think media can do it alone

How to be Trustworthy? It used to be that 75% of trust score was related to ability. Now that's taken for granted almost the other 75 has to do with who you are. Do you have a mission?

This episode was made possible by our partnership with Edwards Lifesciences.

Relevant Links:

Read more about Richard’s career

Read about Richard’s company, Edelman

Meet Richard Pollack

Rick Pollack is president and CEO of the American Hospital Association (AHA), the nation’s largest hospital and health care system membership organization with nearly 5,000 member hospitals, health care systems, networks, and other providers of care. Serving as the AHA’s top leader since 2015, Rick is widely recognized for his strong, effective advocacy and leadership on behalf of our nation’s hospitals, the patients and communities they serve, and the health care professionals those organizations support. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Rick built a coalition including the American Medical Association, the American Nurses Association, state and regional hospital associations, and other leading health organizations to support efforts in following public health guidelines, promoting vaccination, with a focus on vulnerable communities, and successfully obtaining the financial resources and regulatory flexibility to keep our hospitals open to care for their patients and communities during the most challenging public health crisis of our time.

Key Insights:

Mr. Pollack is an experienced leader and expert in health policy, health financing, and advocacy.

Unifying Issues. In spite of diversity of concerns among members, certain issues draw all together: financial challenges, workforce challenges, cybersecurity, etc.

Bipartisan Advocacy. The AHA has been intentional about working across the political divide, developing close relationships with both Trump and Biden administrations.

Consolidation Advantage. The shift to value based care involves managing risk, and larger organizations can typically handle more risk: consolidation often makes sense.

Relevant Links:

Read more about Mr. Pollack

Read about the American Hospital Association

Meet Elizabeth Fowler:

Dr. Elizabeth Fowler is Deputy Administrator and Director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation at CMS. Dr. Fowler previously served as Executive Vice President of programs at The Commonwealth Fund and Vice President for Global Health Policy at Johnson & Johnson. Before that, she was special assistant to President Obama on health care and economic policy at the National Economic Council. From 2008 to 2010, she was Chief Health Counsel to Senate Finance Committee Chair, Senator Max Baucus (D-MT), where she played a critical role developing the Senate version of the Affordable Care Act. She also played a key role drafting the 2003 Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act (MMA). Dr. Fowler has over 25 years of experience in health policy and health services research. She earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania, a Ph.D. from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and a law degree (J.D.) from the University of Minnesota. She is admitted to the bar in Maryland, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Supreme Court. Dr. Fowler is a Fellow of the inaugural class of the Aspen Health Innovators Fellowship and was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2022.

Key Insights:

Dr. Fowler is committed to the goal of reducing healthcare spending on a net basis into the future.

Efficiency. Part of the ACA passed in 2010, the CMS Innovation Center aims to reduce barriers to care delivery, making healthcare more affordable and efficient.

Long Term Plans. Dr. Fowler suggests that changing our healthcare system for the better is a project of immense scope. Prepare to measure progress on a scale of decades.

Realism and Risk. Value-based care remains the goal, but Dr. Fowler understands that many organizations still face challenges that prevent them from adopting value models.

This episode was made possible by our partnership with Edwards Lifesciences.

Relevant Links:

Follow Dr. Fowler on Twitter

Learn about the CMS Innovation Center

Meet Steve Glass:

Steve Glass is CEO of Medical Mutual and a member of the company’s board of directors. An experienced healthcare executive, Steve joined the Cleveland Clinic in 2002 and was named the organization’s CFO in 2005. In that role, he was responsible for the overall financial operations of the Cleveland Clinic and its subsidiaries worldwide. Mr. Glass earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Towson University in Maryland and is a Certified Public Accountant. He is on the board of directors for the Greater Cleveland Partnership, as well as a member of the American Institute of Certified Accountants, Ohio Society of Certified Public Accountants and Healthcare Financial Management Association.

Key Insights:

Steve Glass believes that providers and payers can work together to minimize friction in healthcare.

The CEO Role. Stakeholders inside and outside of the company look to the CEO to be the voice of the organization, and establishing trust is key.

Managing Risk. Insurers understand the benefit of moving to value-based care, but it’s important to monitor and manage financial risk as health systems move in that direction.

A Capitalist Society. Steve remarks, “If somebody’s coming into your market, it’s because they see an opportunity.” Providers and Payers need to innovate to meet the challenge.

This episode was made possible by our partnership with Citi.

Relevant Links:

Read more about Steve Glass

Read about Medical Mutual

Meet Dr. Andy Anderson

Dr. Andy Anderson is Chief Medical Officer and Chief Quality Officer for RWJBarnabas Health. He oversees the clinical activities of one of the largest academic health systems in the nation. Dr. Anderson guides medical professionals through new models of health care delivery and reimbursement, with a focus on transformative health care and population health to achieve the best possible outcomes in quality, safety, and service. He brings broad experience in health system leadership and physician practice management to his role, having formerly been the CEO of the combined Medical Group at RWJBarnabas-Rutgers, and the Chief Medical Officer at Aurora Health Care in Wisconsin. Dr. Anderson continues to see patients and teach in addition to his leadership responsibilities. An internist by training, Dr. Anderson is a graduate of University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where he earned his bachelor’s degree and medical degree. He earned a Master of Business Administration degree at Marquette University.

Key Insights:

Dr. Anderson has years of experience practicing medicine and is an expert in healthcare leadership:

Outcomes-Driven. Dr. Anderson believes that using data to set and reach to achieve clear outcomes can inspire better care, and bring joy to healthcare employees.

Integrated Care. The days of the shingled private practice may be drawing to a close: larger systems, offering integrated care, are a more effective place of employment for physicians.

Master the Craft. Dr. Anderson encourages aspiring healthcare leaders to master their craft first—read voraciously, and practice consistently. Knowledge makes a leader effective.

Relevant Links:

Read more about Dr. Anderson

Read about RWJBarnabas Health

Meet Dr. Steve Hester:

Dr. Steven T. Hester is Senior Vice President, System Chief Clinical and Strategy Officer, Norton Healthcare. He joined Norton in 2004 as chief medical information officer, and has served in a number of medical staff and leadership positions in his time since. Prior to joining Norton Healthcare, Dr. Hester practiced emergency medicine full time, working for Kentuckiana Emergency Physicians to improve quality and volume. Dr. Hester hold’s a bachelor’s and medical degree from the University of Louisville and an MBA from Bellarmine University. He serves on multiple national committees and boards focused on improving the delivery of health care for patients. He also serves on the board of directors of the Christian Academy School System and Leadership Louisville.

Key Insights:

Steve Hester discusses his work and experience as a physician-leader.

Parallel Priorities. In his role as Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Hester believes quality care arises when leaders do the right thing for both patients and employees.

Optimizing Workflow. It’s crucial to maximize the time physicians spend with patients: this is the goal of division of labor in a health system.

New Work. The pandemic reset the way people think of employment, and many are re-considering what a successful work life looks like.

Relevant Links:

Read more about Norton Healthcare

Read more about Dr. Hester

Meet Peter McCanna:

Peter McCanna is chief executive officer (CEO) at Baylor Scott & White Health, the largest not- for-profit health system in Texas. Through 51 hospitals and more than 1,200 access points, including flagship academic medical centers in Dallas, Fort Worth and Temple, the system offers the full continuum of care, from primary to award-winning specialty care, as well as an array of virtual and in-home services. Previously, McCanna served as Baylor Scott & White’s president. Now, in his role as CEO, McCanna is leading the health system’s transformation to deliver experiences that go beyond customers’ traditional expectations of healthcare.

Key Insights:

Peter McCanna believes it is not enough to preserve legacy systems; healthcare must evolve:

Customer Centered. The intersection of consumerism and new technological tools demand a new destination for healthcare where the customer must be at the center.

Addressing Injustice. McCanna points out that there are big gaps in care for different populations—he describes these gaps as a public health problem.

Diverse Thinking. According to McCanna, the executive of the future must be comfortable with diverse thinking, and must have a diverse skill set to implement change.

This episode was made possible by our partnership with Citi.

Relevant Links:

Get to know Pete McCanna

Read more about Baylor Scott & White Health

Meet Ceci Connolly:

Ceci is a recovering journalist who now is in passionate pursuit of a better, more equitable, more affordable health system. She is President and CEO of the Alliance of Community Health Plans, a national organization of leading nonprofit, provider-aligned plans. Ceci is also the host of the Healthy Dialogue podcast. After 25 years in the news business – at outlets such as the Washington Post, the Associated Press and Congressional Quarterly – she worked at both McKinsey and PwC in health care thought leadership and consulting. She is a founding member of Women of Impact for Healthcare, co-author of Landmark: The Inside Story of America’s New Health-Care Law and What It Means for Us All, and serves on the advisory board of Fannie Mae’s Sustainable Communities Initiative.

Key Insights:

Ceci Connolly is a thought-leader who has years of experience advocating for better healthcare policies:

Value Based. Ceci argues that the fee-for-service model has substantially hampered the effectiveness and affordability of the health system.

Leveraging Influence. As the largest payer, the federal government has significant opportunity to modernize the healthcare economy while keeping it relevant.

Recent Successes. Under Ceci’s leadership, the ACHP has helped to normalize telehealth and successfully encouraged greater transparency in drug pricing.

Relevant Links:

Read more about Ceci

Follow Ceci on Twitter

Read about the Alliance of Community Health Plans (ACHP)

Meet Howard Kern:

Howard P. Kern is among the most innovative healthcare leaders in the country. Throughout his 42 years of health care management, he has a strong track record of executive leadership success. He served as President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Sentara Healthcare, from 2016 through August, 2022 and now serves as CEO Emeritus, advising the CEO and Board of Directors on strategy and policy issues and programs. Mr. Kern has led numerous strategic initiatives to achieve performance goals relating to significant organic and merger/acquisition enabled growth and financial success as well as improvement in clinical care, consumer experience, and operational outcomes at Sentara.

Key Insights:

Howard Kern’s executive experience has led him to some important insights on leadership:

Think Ahead. Kern suggests that the role of a CEO is comparable to a chess game: one must think ahead—not just one move, but five or six moves in advance.

Plan Ahead. Aspiring leaders must plan their careers intentionally. Kern suggests that young people can keep the idealism as long as they understand the trade-offs.

Diversity of Thought. It’s crucial for any sizeable company to have leadership that is willing to give voice to a variety of different and even divergent perspectives.

Relevant Links:

Read more about Howard

Learn more about Sentara

Meet Shellye Archambeau:

The former CEO of MetricStream, author Shellye Archambeau is an experienced CEO and Board Director with a track record of accomplishments building brands, high performance teams, and organizations. Ms. Archambeau currently serves on the boards of Verizon, Roper Technologies, and Okta. She is also a strategic advisor to Forbes Ignite and the President of Arizona State University, and serves on the board of two national nonprofits, Catalyst and Braven. Her book, Unapologetically Ambitious: Take Risks, Break Barriers and Create Success on Your Own Terms, will inspire you and provide the tools to enable you to fight the battles, make the tradeoffs and create the life you want.

Key Insights:

Shellye Archambeau offers important advice for aspiring leaders, based in her experience, on recognizing opportunities, finding mentors, and creating effective networks.

Helping Others. Shellye’s path to leadership began when she noticed that helping others led them to respect her as a person, and as an effective organizer.

Stick to the Plan. Very few people have a plan and make a consistent effort to orchestrate every day in accordance with the plan. Shellye believes this is the path to power.

A Good Director. Having served on a number of boards, Shellye advises board members and directors to contribute in their own expertise, and to speak up to raise important questions.

Relevant Links:

Check out Shellye’s website

Follow Shellye on Twitter

Order a copy of Shellye’s book

Meet the Guests:

This episode features three leaders previously interviewed on The Gary Bisbee Show. Listeners will hear from: Howard Kern, Former President and CEO, Sentara Healthcare; Sandra Fenwick, Former CEO, Boston Children’s Hospital; and Bill Zollars, Former Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, YRC Worldwide Inc.

Key Insights:

Our guests offer valuable insight and advice on how to make the best transition to retirement.

Pursue Your Interests. Retirement allows an active person to be more selective about how and where they can continue to contribute.

Be Choosy. Recent retirees should not say yes to every opportunity; instead, find the balance that works best. Drop some of the old obligations; explore new avenues.

Take time. Bill Zollars recommends taking up to six months to “reset” before committing to anything. This allows people to make wise decisions about how to allocate their time.

Relevant Links:

Read about Howard Kern

Read about Sandra Fenwick

Read about Bill Zollars

Meet Ben Lytle:

Ben Lytle is Advisor to Lytle Healthcare and Author of “The Potentialist.” He is the former Chairman and CEO of Anthem, Inc. He received a Bachelor’s in Psychology from Texas A&M and a JD from Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis.

Key Insights:

Ben Lytle explores the potential healthcare has for change.

Anthem’s Story. Ben Lytle was CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield Indiana when they faced an existential threat from UnitedHealthcare. He helped diversify the company by founding an insurance brokerage business and grew the company by merging with other state Blue Cross Blue Shield groups.

Room for Innovation. America has an aging population and healthcare staffing shortage. There is great opportunity for entrepreneurs who can develop technology that makes existing healthcare staff more productive.

The Potentialist. Ben is a “potentialist,” meaning that living up to his full potential is how he defines success. He encourages leaders to reflect on their lives and examine who they are and if what they are doing positively impacts the people they love.

Relevant Links:

Check out Ben’s website

Read about his book “The Potentialist”

Meet John Phipps, M.D.:

Dr. John Phipps is an internist and endocrinologist, currently serving as the Chief Care Transformation Officer at Inova Health System, where he is accountable for quality, safety, patient experience, care design, virtual care delivery, enterprise care management, and other areas critical to care delivery. He has 20 years in clinical practice and has spent 15 years as a health system leader and physician executive, including roles as President of one of the largest integrated medical groups and CEO of one of the largest independent specialty practices. John's personal mission is to lead leaders towards the quadruple aim, at scale, with urgency.

Key Insights:

This episode is part of our Excellence in Leadership Series, presented by Citi. Dr. John Phipps is an expert in improving patient care.

Always Improving. The key to improving health systems is to identify excellent performance and make it the norm. A Care Transformation Officer leads the journey from inconsistently great to consistently great.

An Exhausted System. COVID stretched the limits of the system and of caregivers. In order to maintain high quality care going forward, health systems must first look after the well-being of caregivers.

Humility and Learning. John reminds administrators and caregivers alike: there is always more to learn. An advanced degree is merely a starting point; serious leaders continue learning throughout their career.

This episode was made possible by our partnership with Citi.

Relevant Links:

Read about Inova Health

Meet David Marchick:

David Marchick is the Dean of American University’s Kogod School of Business and the former Director of Partnership for Public Service's Center for Presidential Transition. He is co-author along with Alexander Tippett, and collaborator A.J. Wilson, of The Peaceful Transfer of Power: An Oral History of America’s Presidential Transitions.

Key Insights:

David Marchick discusses his tenure as director of the Center for Presidential Transition.

An intense transition. A Presidential transition is the period between the November election and the subsequent January inauguration, during which phase President-elects must make numerous key appointments.

Historical Depository. The Center for Presidential Transition keeps records and suggests helpful strategies for negotiating these crucial moments in the democratic process.

Governing Business. Business leaders must understand government—how it operates, what it requires, and how to negotiate.

Relevant Links:

Read more about David Marchick

Read about the Center for Presidential Transition

Buy The Peaceful Transfer of Power

Meet Alexis Stiles:

Alexis Stiles leads Spencer Stuart’s Global Healthcare Practice. She is also a member of the Firm’s CEO and Board Practices and currently chairs the firm’s Nominations Committee. Prior to Spencer Stuart, she was an Engagement Manager for McKinsey & Company. She received a Bachelor’s in Psychology and an MBA from the University of Michigan.

Key Insights:

Alexis Stiles discusses career progressions and the CEO recruitment process.

CEO Selection. CEO candidates are evaluated on track record and results. Alexis also utilizes an “executive intelligence assessment,” which measures potential. The assessment measures conceptual and analytical thinking, and decision making with limited information.
Supporting Women. Alexis shares that men can support young women leaders by serving as active mentors and sponsors. You can break down barriers and perceptions to promote the next generation of leaders.
Career Agency. You own your own career. Think purposefully about your career goals. However, don't be so stuck on those goals that you don't seize unique opportunities that come your way.

Relevant Links:

Read more about Alexis Stiles
Read “Spotlight on Innovation at the 2022 Health Evolution Summit” By Alexis Stiles

Meet the Guests:

For this special Thanksgiving episode, we reached out to leaders from all three of our Think Medium shows. Leslie Norwalk is a Strategic Advisor at Epstein Becker & Green. Stephen Beeson, M.D. is the founder and CEO of Practicing Excellence. John Halamka, M.D., M.S. is President of Mayo Clinic Platform.

Key Insights:

For this holiday episode, we asked leaders what they are thankful for this Thanksgiving.

Thankful for Family. Leslie Norwalk is thankful for friends and family. She recently lost her father, and that event has highlighted the importance of her sisters and other family.

Thankful for the Journey. Dr. Beeson is grateful for the pain points and rollercoaster that is founding a company. It provided perspective on what is important in life and family.

Thankful for Young Leaders. Dr. Halamka is thankful to be able to mentor and pass on knowledge to the next generation of healthcare leaders.

Meet Carladenise Edwards, Ph.D.:

Carladenise Edwards, Ph.D. is a Strategic Advisor. Previously, she was the EVP and Chief Strategy Officer for Henry Ford Health System and Providence St. Joseph Health, as well as Chief Strategy Officer for Alameda Health System. Dr. Edwards serves as a board member for Heluna Health, RAND Health, American Board of Internal Medicine, University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, and Healthcare Financial Management Association. Dr. Edwards received a bachelors in Sociology and master’s in Education and Counseling Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. She received a Ph.D. in Medical Sociology from the University of Florida.

Key Insights:

This episode is part of our Excellence in Leadership Series, presented by Citi. Carladenise Edwards, Ph.D. is a healthcare strategy expert.

Mission Creep. Health systems try to be all things to all people all the time. Health systems need to refocus on their goals in the community and do a few things exceptionally well, rather than many things inadequately.
Public Health Infrastructure. We need to invest in public health, rather than expect health systems to manage it. Public Healthinfrastructure will enable more people to get the fundamental care they need to be healthy and secure.
Hard Work. Work is not easy. It is hard and takes energy, but if you’re pushing uphill that means you are producing something of value.Nothing is insurmountable if we collectively work towards change.

This episode was made possible by our partnership with Citi.

Relevant Links:

Follow Dr. Edwards on Twitter
Read more about Dr. Edwards

Meet John Glaser, Ph.D.:

John Glaser, Ph.D. is an Executive in Resident at Harvard Medical School and recently published “Advanced Introduction to Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare.” Previously, Dr. Glaser joined Cerner Corporation as an Executive Senior Advisor, due to their acquisition of Siemens Health Services, where he was CEO. Prior to that, he served as the CIO for Partners HealthCare, now known as Mass General Brigham. Dr. Glaser sits on multiple boards of directors including the Scottsdale Institute, NCQA, and Forbes Health Advisory Board.

Key Insights:

John Glaser is a thought leader in the field of healthcare IT. He explores what leaders must know as AI becomes more prevalent in the healthcare industry.

Defining AI. Dr. Glaser defines AI as a machine that perceives its environment, and based on that perception, takes steps to maximize chances of success. One type of AI is deep learning, which is when a machine is fed large amounts of data and can then output an interpretation of new data.
Data Challenges. AI rests on data. Data may need to be cleaned before use, adding extra steps. Data may be skewed or biased, potentially introducing ethical concerns. Healthcare adds an additional challenge of validation as doctors don’t always agree on diagnosis given the same data.
Implementation. Dr. Glaser recommends the CIO or CDO put together a multidisciplinary AI committee that evaluates potential AI products and selects a certain number to pilot. The committee can define who is accountable for conducting and tracking the pilot, but ultimately the entire C-suite is accountable for AI support and implementation.

Relevant Links:

Check out Dr. Glaser’s book “Advanced Introduction to Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare”
Check out articles written by Dr. Glaser in the Harvard Business Review

Meet James Staten:

James Staten is the Senior Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer for the University of Southern California (USC). In addition, he serves on the Board of Directors for the Keck Medicine of USC and USC’s three captive insurance companies. Prior to USC, James serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Yale New Haven Health System. James received a bachelor’s degree in business and economics from the State University College of New York.

Key Insights:

USC will be leaving the Pac-12 conference to join the Big 10. In this focused conversation, James Staten explains the factors behind the decision.

Background Factors. Like many big college athletic programs, USC had run into deficits over the last few years, which negatively impacts facilities and recruitment. Additionally, this decision came at a time when the conference was about to soon enter media rights negotiations.
Why the Big 10? USC decided to join the Big 10 because the increased media exposure would benefit student athletes as well as the university’s national exposure and revenue. Additionally, it is a better academic conference.
Healthcare vs Higher Ed. Higher education is favoring more partnerships and affiliations, rather than the consolidations seen in the healthcare sector.

Relevant Links:

Learn more about James Staten
Read “Not your conventional chief financial officer”

Meet Nick Turkal, M.D.:

Nick Turkal, M.D. is CEO of the Center for Health Education and Access. He is also a practicing palliative care physician. Dr. Turkal serves on several Boards of Directors including the Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine, the Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine, and the Crisis Prevention Institute. Previously, he was President and Chief Executive Officer of Aurora Health Care. Dr. Turkal received a bachelor’s in Biology and an M.D. from Creighton University.

Key Insights:

Nick Turkal, M.D. and the Center for Health Education and Access is tackling the provider shortage.

Building a Pipeline. The Center for Health Education and Access is creating a pipeline to recruit underrepresented minorities to medical schools to become providers in underserved communities. The center is starting with osteopathic medical schools but envisions expanding to other patient care providers.
Focus on Primary. Historically, osteopathic doctors (OD) go into primary care at higher rates than allopathic doctors (MD). Additionally, the medical schools are selecting students that have a higher interest in primary care, and training them in smaller, rural communities with more exposure to primary care.
Nursing Burn Out. Nurses today have a greater desire for flexibility, and health systems need to adjust. The trend of nurses joining staffing agencies was accelerated by the pandemic, but already existed due to generational differences.

Relevant Links:

Read “The Rise Fund Invests in The Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine and Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine; Launches Center for Health Education and Access”

Meet the Guests, Jay Campbell and Jim Hobart:

Jay Campbell is a partner at Hart Research Associates. He has been quoted on politics and public opinion in national publications and has appeared on National Public Radio, MSNBC, CNBC, and C-SPAN discussing politics and polling. Jay graduated from the College of the Holy Cross with a degree in political science.

Jim Hobart is a Partner at Public Opinion Strategies. He regularly appears on NPR, CNN, HillTV, and the BBC to offer political analysis. In 2013, he received the prestigious Rising Star Award from Campaign and Elections Magazine. Jim received a bachelor’s from Wake Forest University.

Key Insights:

Healthcare may feel separate from politics. However, politics impact the regulations, payments, and trends in the healthcare sector. Leaders need to be aware of what changes may be on the horizon.

Macro Trends. Historically, midterms tend to favor the political party out of power; this election is likely to favor Republican candidates. However, results will be impacted by voter mobilization, ad spending, other political issues, and the candidates themselves.
Top Issues. Inflation is at the top of voters’ minds, especially for independent voters. Democrat candidates are focusing on abortion rights, climate change, and threats to democracy, while Republican candidates are focusing on border security, immigration, and crime.
Healthcare in the Polls. According to polls and television ad spending,healthcare does not seem to be a top issue for voters or candidates. However, both guests view decreasing prescription drug prices as a popular and bipartisan political issue.

Relevant Links:

Follow Jarrett Lewis on Twitter
Follow Jim Hobart on Twitter
Learn more about Jay Campbell

Meet Joe Moscola:

Joe Moscola is the Executive Vice President of Enterprise Services for Northwell Health. He also serves on the Board of Directors for Farmingdale State College and Nassau Community College, and is a trustee of the 1199 Pension Fund. Previously, he was the Senior Vice President and Chief People Officer of Northwell Health. Joe received a Bachelor’s in Biology from St. John’s University, an MBA from Adelphi University, and a Physician Assistant certificate from Catholic Medical Centers-Bayley Seton Campus.

Key Insights:

This is the first episode of our Executive Leadership Series, presented by Citi. This series will explore groundbreaking leaders who are envisioning tomorrow’s healthcare. Joe Moscola explores top issues and creative solutions for human resources in healthcare.

Addressing Physician Burnout. Northwell Healthcreated Lavender Rooms where employees can take a moment away from work and decompress. They also created the Center for Traumatic Stress and Resiliency, an area staffed 24/7 with behavioral health specialists for whenever clinicians need extra support.
Solving Staffing. Northwell Health had previously created its own staffing agency to reduce the cost of contingent workers. During the pandemic, the organization also joined Evolve Health Alliance, a staff exchange program that could shift employees based on the shifting needs of health systems.
Fundamental Values. In a large organization, you are never going to make everyone happy. However, Joe points to being fair and consistent as fundamental leadership values, especially for HR leadership.

This episode was made possible by our partnership with Citi.

Relevant Links:

Learn more about Joe Moscola
Read “Nurturing Talent, An Interview with Joseph Moscola, PA, Senior Vice President and Chief People Officer, Northwell Health”

Meet William D. Zollars:

William D. Zollars is the former Chairman, President, and CEO of YRC Worldwide. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for Cerner Corporation, ProLogis Inc., C2FO, Restone Logistics, and Main Street Data, an Agtech company. William received a bachelor’s in Economics from the University of Minnesota.

Key Insights:

William D. Zollars’ focused conversation explores retirement, board membership, and leadership during an acquisition.

Different Types of Board. Public companies have a straightforward fiduciary duty for their shareholders. Not-for-profit and government boards are more complicated. There are more political implications and more potential stakeholders.
Qualities of Good Board Members. Different skill sets are needed for different boards. However, Williams shares the qualities board members consistently need: to be engaged, have a high level of integrity, and the ability to work well on a team.
Acquisition. William has been a part of multiple acquisitions and knows that there is no substitute for clarity. Asking detailed questions prevents misconceptions and sets clear expectations.

Relevant Links:

Learn more about William D. Zollars

Meet Peter Fine:

Peter Fine is the CEO of Banner Health. Prior to Banner Health, he was executive vice president and COO of Aurora Health Care. He also served as CEO of Grant Hospital and Senior Vice President of Operations at Northwestern Memorial Hospital as well as Assistant Administrator of Porter Memorial Hospital. Peter received a bachelor’s from Ohio University and a master’s in healthcare administration from George Washington University.

Key Insights:

Peter Fine has 22 years of healthcare leadership experience as Banner Health’s CEO.

Evolution. Peter describes how Banner Health has evolved over time through acquisitions and partnerships in health delivery and insurance. As the organization grew, Peter recognized the importance of integration as well as creating convenient outpatient touch points for the consumer.
The Wise Guide. During the pandemic, Banner Health developed the “wise guide,” providing the Arizona public with up-to-date information about COVID-19 from a trusted medical source: Banner Health’s Chief Clinical Officer, Marjorie Bessel.
Affordability. Health systems tend to have operating margins around 2-3%. Additionally, Peter shares that Medicaid and Medicare tend to pay out less than the cost of a service, and the number of consumers with government health insurance is growing. As inflation rises and the cost of labor increases, healthcare affordability is a developing issue.

Relevant Links:

Read “Peter Fine on his two decades of 'seeking disruption'—and what's next for Banner”
Read more about Peter Fine

Meet Keith Pitts:

Keith Pitts is the Operating Advisor for Clayton Dubilier and Rice. Previously, he was the Vice Chairman of Tenet Healthcare Corporation and the Vice Chairman of Vanguard Health Systems. Prior to Vanguard Health Systems, Keith served as the Chairman and CEO of Mariner Post-Acute Network as well as the Executive Vice President and CFO for OrNda HealthCorp. He received a Bachelor’s in Business Administration from the University of Florida.

Key Insights:

Change in healthcare is evolutionary, not revolutionary. Keith Pitts explores the progression of healthcare from the 90s to today, and provides insights to where the industry is headed next.

Healthcare Evolution. Consumers have changed their healthcare preferences. More than ever, patients accept virtual care and receiving health in non-hospital environments, such as at-home care. Keith predicts there will be a trend towards the “de-institutionalization” of low-acuity care.
Government’s Role in Healthcare. The U.S. government is the largest payer in healthcare, and plays a role in innovating payment models. CMMI is constantly testing new models, such as the recent ACO REACH. Keith sees the government as leading the way in pushing providers into value-based care models.
The Cost of Standby. Healthcare operates on slim margins. A problem with this financing is that ER’s and ambulatory services are needed 24/7, but few want to pay the standby costs of having those services always available.

Relevant Links:

Learn more about Keith Pitts

Joanne Conroy, M.D. is the CEO and President of Dartmouth Health. She was also recently elected by the American Hospital Association (AHA) to be their chair-elect designate. Prior to Dartmouth-Hitchcock, Dr. Conroy served as CEO of Lahey Hospital and Medical Center (formerly the Lahey Clinic). She also served as Chief Health Care Officer of the Association of American Medical Colleges. Dr. Conroy received her undergraduate degree in chemistry from Dartmouth College and an M.D. from the University of South Carolina.

Key Insights:

Dr. Conroy discusses her new role with the American Hospital Association and her overarching vision for leadership in healthcare.

Work Force Challenges. One of the AHA’s top issues is the work force. There has been a significant decrease in healthcare workers across the country and we need to be creative about building pipelines for new workers as well as initiatives for retention.
COVID-19’s Lasting Impact. There are two silver linings from the pandemic. First is the expansion of telehealth. COVID-19 vastly accelerate the timeline for telehealth adoption and use. Second is the growth in remote work. Remote options give organizations a recruiting advantage, allowing them to select from a national pool of applicants.
Equity of Opportunity. To develop the next generation of women leaders requires developing leadership training and programing to identify future leaders, as well as creating opportunities for those people to demonstrate their leadership. Training isn’t useful with the opportunity to apply it.

Relevant Links:

Follow Dr. Conroy on Twitter
Read “AHA Board Names Joanne M. Conroy, M.D., as Chair-Elect Designate”

Meet Dan Liljenquist:

Dan Liljenquist is the lead architect and Board Chair of Civica Rx. His also Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer for Intermountain Healthcare, where he also oversees Intermountain’s Enterprise Initiative and Market Intelligence & Planning Offices. Prior to Intermountain, Dan served in the Utah State Senate. He is a former strategy consultant with Bain & Company, Inc. Dan received a bachelor’s in Economics from Brigham Young University and a JD from The University of Chicago.

Key Insights:

Dan Liljenquist knew the pharmaceutical industry needed to change. He helped establish a nonprofit drug company to reduce generic drug shortages and price gouging.

Market Forces. Huge price increases on generic drugs are only possible under certain market conditions: there is inelastic demand, economies of scale are necessary for manufacturing, and only one manufacturer is required to meet market demand.
Changing Insulin. The price of insulin has gone up by an average of 11% a year for the past 20 years. CivicaRx will be bringing 3 insulin molecules to market, which collectively make up most of the insulin prescriptions in the U.S., for a retail price of no more than $30 per vile.
Transparency. If Dan could change one aspect of the pharmaceutical industry it would be to make it more transparent. He points particularly to the confusing and opaque practices of pharmacy benefit managers and rebates. The high prices for pharmaceuticals have a real, negative impact on patients.

Relevant Links:

Learn more about CivicaRx
Read “CivicaScriptTM Announces Launch of its First Product, Creating Significant Patient Savings”
Read Dan’s commentary on generic drug market issues, published in the New England Journal of Medicine

Meet Ben Horowitz:

Ben Horowitz is Co-founder and General Partner at the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). He is the author of “The Hard Thing About Hard Things” and “What You Do Is Who You Are.” Prior to a16z, Ben was Co-founder and CEO of Opsware (formerly Loudcloud). When Opsware was acquired by Hewlett-Packard, he became their Vice President and General Manager of Business Technology Optimization for Software. Ben received a Bachelor’s in Computer Science from Columbia University and a Masters in Computer Science from UCLA.

Key Insights:

The vision for Andreessen-Horowitz derives from Ben’s own experience as a software founder.

Lessons For CEOs. Ben has two main leadership lessons. One is to seek the truth: about the product, company, and everything you do. Two is to remember you are always talking to the whole company. Every brainstorming session, conversation, and raise can impact the politics and culture of your organization because you speak for and as the company.
Are CEOs Made? Ben posits that CEOs are more made than born. Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, and Jeff Bezos are so different from each other, yet are the CEO-founders of successful companies. Truth starts with being true to yourself and your own leadership style.
What a16z Does Different. Andreessen Horowitz is a venture capital firm designed to help the founder become an effective CEO, rather than replacing them. This is done by providing founder-CEOs with a network of powerful industry experts, executives, and advisors. Additionally, a16z is transparent about their investing decisions by publishing articles on their website.

Relevant Links:

Learn more about a16z
Read Ben’s most recent article “a16z is Moving to the Cloud”
Check out Ben’s books

Meet Jeanine Turner, Ph.D.:

Jeanine Turner, Ph.D. is a Professor for the Communication, Culture, and Technology Program and an Affiliate Professor for The McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University. She is the author of “Being Present: Commanding Attention at Work (and at Home) by Managing Your Social Presence.” Professor Turner received a Bachelor’s in Communication Management and Masters in Organizational Communications from the University of Dayton, and a Ph.D. in Communication Studies from Ohio State University.

Key Insights:

Professor Jeanine Turner, Ph.D. is an expert on the intersection of communication and technology.

What is Social Presence? Social presence is the feeling of connection when communicating with another person. This is heavily influenced by format of communication such as face-to-face conversations, email, and texting.
Don’t Multi-Communicate. You’ve heard of multi-tasking; multi-communicating is similar and people are just as bad at it. It’s communicating with multiple people at the same time, such as having a face-to-face conversation while texting someone else. The best practice is to focus on one conversation at a time.
Implementing Social Presence. When thinking about different communication strategies, Professor Turner recommends reflecting on who is your audience, what is the content, and what is your message. These variables will help you decide the right type of presence to engage in.

Relevant Links:

Check out Professor Turners’ website
Check out “Being Present: Commanding Attention at Work (and at Home) by Managing Your Social Presence.”

None

Meet Paul Mango:

Paul Mango is the former Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy at Health and Human Services and was part of the leadership for Operation Warp Speed. He is the author of “Warp Speed: Inside the Operation That Beat COVID, the Critics, and the Odds.” Previously, he was the Chief Principal Deputy Administrator and Chief of Staff at Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Paul received a Bachelor’s in Engineering from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Key Insights:

Paul Mango shares first-hand insights into Operation Warp Speed (OWS), which got a COVID-19 vaccine to the American people in less than 10 months.

Keys to Success. Paul points to 5 key factors that led to OWS’s success: the historical development of mRNA technology, understanding the pharmaceutical industry, a venture capital mindset, bypassing bureaucracy, and public-private partnerships.
Fail Fast. While problems occurred, few challenges significantly delayed OWS. The team had many seasoned logistics, manufacturing, and vaccine development experts that were able to predict problems before they happened.Leadership also had the philosophy of “fail fast,” figure out the issue quickly and solve it.
Advice for Up-and-Coming Leaders. Leadership is not about being on top, it’s about being out in front. Understand how the world is changing so your organization can adapt and survive. Additionally, the value of the team is always greater than the value of any individual.

Relevant Links:

Check out “Warp Speed: Inside the Operation That Beat COVID, the Critics, and the Odds”
“Former Warp Speed official reflects on triumphs, tribulations of COVID vaccine rollouts”

Warp Speed: Inside the Operation That Beat COVID, the Critics, and the Odds

Ep 73.The Gary Bisbee Show Notes

“Conflict, Courage, Regret” with Amy Gallo, Jim Detert, Ph.D., and Daniel Pink

“The single biggest thing a leader can do: talk about one of our regrets. Don't just leave it there though, explain what you learned from it and what you're going to do about it.”

– Daniel Pink

Meet the Guests:

This episode features three leaders previously interviewed on The Gary Bisbee Show. Amy Gallo is a Contributing Editor for the Harvard Business Review and co-host of the “Women at Work” podcast. She is also the author of forthcoming book “Getting Along: How to Work with Anyone (Even Difficult People).” Jim Detert, Ph.D. is a professor of Business Administration and Public Policy at the University of Virginia and author of “Choosing Courage: The Everyday Guide to Being Brave at Work.” Daniel Pink is a five-time New York Times bestselling author. His latest book is “The Power of Regret: How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward.”

Key Insights:

Authors can provide new perspective and framing on traditional leadership ideas.

Better at Conflict. When conflict arises, we tend to go on the defensive and lose sight of the other person. Instead, try to think about the other person in an empathetic way. Additionally, do preparation for the conversation. Ask yourself: what are the facts of the situation, what assumptions am I making, and what don’t I know? And, what if I’m wrong, what would I do differently?
How to Lead Courage. Leaders must acknowledge that fear exists and work towards a culture that promotes and protects courage. This includes modeling courageous actions, defending employees that are courageous, and examining potential barriers to bravery like financial and promotion incentives.
How Leaders Can Use Regret. Daniel encourages leaders to share their regrets and mistakes. It creates an opportunity for powerful conversations about what can be learned from regrets and how to prevent future ones. It also helps normalize regret, which is important because regret is normal.

Relevant Links:

Listen to Amy Gallo’s full episode
Listen to Professor Jim Detert’s full episode
Listen to Daniel Pink’s full episode

Ep 72.The Gary Bisbee Show Notes

“A Guide to Fixing American Health Care” with David Nash, M.D.

“We find the black box and, no surprise to hardened investigators, it's a multifactorial.”

– David Nash, M.D.

Meet David Nash, M.D.:

David Nash, M.D. is the Founding Dean Emeritus and the Dr. Raymond C. and Doris N. Grandon Professor of Health Policy, at the Jefferson College of Population Health.He also serves as a Special Assistant to the Chief Physician Executive of Jefferson Health. He is a prolific author, with a forthcoming book, “How Covid Crashed the System: A Guide to Fixing American Health Care.” Dr. Nash received a Bachelor’s in Economics from Vassar College, a medical degree from the University of Rochester, and an MBA in Health Administration from the University of Pennsylvania.

Key Insights:

Dr. Nash analyzed the pandemic like an investigation into a flight crash. The black box revealed a variety of misaligned incentives in our current healthcare system.

Heroism is Counter-productive. Dr. Nash pushes back on the habit of calling doctors “heroes.” It reinforces the mythology that doctors can fix and control everything in healthcare. While individual doctors did their best, in reality it was the American health system that failed during the pandemic. (27:41)
Pay-vidors. Dr. Nash points to the benefits of joint venture or ownership models, where payers and providers are economically aligned. This type of model incentivizes prevention, wellness, and upstream care. Kaiser Permanente and Humana are models of this. (34:58)
How to Fix Healthcare. Dr. Nash has core recommendations to fix American Healthcare: improve medical education, realign healthcare payment incentives, refocus leadership on the patient, improve connectivity with consumer, and make digital health more inclusive.

Relevant Links:

Check out Dr. Nash’s forthcoming book “How Covid Crashed the System: A Guide to Fixing American Health Care”
Follow Dr. Nash on Twitter

Meet Tom Balcezak, M.D., MPH:

Tom Balcezak, M.D., MPH is the Chief Medical Officer of Yale New Haven Hospital. Previously, he was the Senior Vice President and Chief Quality Officer for Yale New Haven Hospital. He has been with the organization for over 30 years. Dr. Balcezak is an internist and received his medical degree from the University of Connecticut, and his MPH from Yale University.

Key Insights:

Dr. Balcezak provides insight into the position of Chief Clinical Officer, and the role it plays in the c-suite, strategy, and decision making.

The Role: Chief Medical Officer. CMOs have the responsibilities of what historically has been a Chief Physician Executive. His direct reports include Chief Medical Officers and Chief Nurses, and he plays a role in quality, safety, accreditation, policy regulations, as well as pharmacy and supply chain. From a strategic perspective, Dr. Balcezak centers his decisions around the clinical needs of the patients and broader community. (6:50)
Integration at Scale. Yale New Haven Hospital was able manage the large influx of patients during the pandemic due to the large size of the organization, combined with a high level on integration. The institution could pivot quickly due to system-wide standardizations related to EMRs, practice groups, and care protocols. (12:43)
Staffing Shortages. America’s aging population combined with pandemic burn out is causing staffing shortages in healthcare. Additionally, Dr. Balcezak notes wage competition is occurring from parts of the economy that healthcare doesn’t normally compete with. Staffing will be one of the biggest challenges ahead given the person-intensive nature of healthcare. (25:57)

Relevant Links:

“Thomas Balcezak, MD, MPH appointed Chief Medical Officer of Yale New Haven Hospital”
Learn more about Yale New Haven Health

Meet Tevi Troy, Ph.D.:

Tevi Troy, Ph.D. is a Senior Fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center as well as a Senior Fellow of the Hudson Institute. He is the founder and CEO of American Health Policy Institute. His career extends into the public sector as a former member of President George W. Bush’s transition team, a Deputy Secretary in HHS, and Acting Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy. Additionally, Dr. Troy is a prolific writer with 4 books on presidencies and over 300 articles commenting on political trends.

Key Insights:

Dr. Troy reflects on the 4th of July through the lens of past presidencies.

Bonds of Liberty. During the 4th of July, Presidents look for ways to unite the country. Dr. Troy points to an overarching message of liberty as a way to remember our shared bonds as Americans. (1:49)
Did You Know? Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both died on the same day, July 4th, 1826, 50 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. (3:32)
How We Celebrate. Sometimes Presidents host activities on the 4th of July that advance policies of their administration, like parades or naturalization ceremonies. However, most often Presidents go to a vacation place they are comfortable with and celebrate with family. (6:12)

Relevant Links:

Follow Tevi Troy on Twitter
Tevi Troy has published 4 books analyzing past and present presidents
Read Tevi Troy’s article in National Affairs

Meet Mike Mussallem:

Mike Mussallem is the Chairman and CEO of Edwards Lifesciences. Prior to Edwards, he was at Baxter International. Currently, Mike serves on the board of the Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed) and is an advisory board member for the Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics at the University of Southern California. He is a trustee of the University of California, Irvine Foundation and the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. Mike received a Bachelor’s in Chemical Engineering from the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.

Key Insights:

For Mike Mussallem, Edwards Lifesciences has a responsibility to the patients they serve. That mission is baked into their technology, culture, supply chain, and strategy.

Culture of Innovation. Mike emphasizes the importance of culture. Edwards, like many medical technology companies, wants a culture of innovation. To achieve that requires rewarding true innovation, not just increases in sales, as well as creating an environment where employees can admit failure and build off of it. (19:12)
Supply Chain Resiliency. The pandemic had a limited impact on Edwards due to built-in redundancy. Edwards has multiple production plants and suppliers, with facilities around the globe that support their specific geographic area. Effective strategy combined with strong culture helped Edwards tremendously during the pandemic. (24:42)
Culture Eats Strategy. Another fundamental aspect of Edwards’ culture is its dedication to helping patients. The company brings that element to life through storytelling. Conferences or other events often showcase short films about how their technology directly impacts patients. When asked, 90% of Edwards employees think about patients each day when they make decisions. (29:36)

Relevant Links:

Learn more about Edwards Lifesciences
Read “Edwards Lifesciences CEO Mike Mussallem on balancing innovation, ethics and resilience”

Meet Retired Major General Joe Caravalho, Jr., M.D.:

Retired Major General Joe Caravalho, Jr., M.D., is the CEO of the Henry M. Jackson Foundation (HJF) for the Advancement of Military Medicine. Prior to joining HJF, Dr. Caravalho served in the U.S. Army in various position for over 30 years, including Joint Staff Surgeon and Chief Medical Adviser to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Dr. Caravalho received a Bachelor’s in Math from Gonzaga University, a Master’s degree in Strategic Studies from the Army War College, and an M.D. from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences School of Medicine.

Key Insights:

Retired Major General Joe Caravalho, Jr., M.D. has led a distinguished leadership career in and supporting the U.S. Military.

Career Development. In your early career focus on establishing technical expertise. As your career progresses, continue to develop new skills, particularly related to leading people. The skills necessary for one promotion may not be enough for the next. (24:06)
Mentorship. Dr. Caravalho never asked for help or sought out mentorship. He was fortunate to have a commanding officer begin a mentorship relationship without him even realizing. He advises young leaders to not be like him, and instead seek out mentorship relationships early and throughout your career. (26:21)
Henry M. Jackson Foundation Explained. HJF is a civilian not-for-profit organization that partners with the military to facilitate multi-year studies and programs. Their research priorities align with the dynamic priorities of the Department of Defense. For example, HJF is currently focused on vaccines and disease prevention. (1:58)

Relevant Links:

Learn more about the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine
Read more about Dr. Caravalho

Meet Amy Gallo:

Amy Gallo is the author of the “HBR Guide to Dealing with Conflict,” and the forthcoming “Getting Along: How to Work with Anyone (Even Difficult People).” She is a co-host of the Women at Work podcast and is a contributing editor at Harvard Business Review. She is a public speaker and founder of Amy E Gallo Consulting, Inc as well as a Coach and Consulting Partner at Paravis Partners, LLC. Amy received a Bachelor’s in Sociology from Yale University and an MPA in Public Policy from Brown University.

Key Insights:

Amy Gallo realized there were many exceptions to the generalized rules about dealing with conflict. She set out to write a book that provides more specific advice for dealing with different types of difficult people.

Being Better at Conflict. When conflict arises, we tend to go on the defensive and lose sight of the other person. Instead, try to think about the other person in an empathetic way. Additionally, do preparation for the conversation. Ask yourself: what are the facts of the situation, what assumptions am I making, and what don’t I know? And, what if I’m wrong, what would I do differently? (11:28)
Working with Passive-Aggressive Types. Some co-workers may defy orders and not be straightforward or honest. Amy recommends creating situations where that coworker feels comfortable sharing their disagreements, and feels seen and heard. Additionally, create group norms that create positive peer pressure so that person delivers on their agreements. If those tips don’t work, call out the behavior with examples. (29:05)
Working With Know-It-Alls. To navigate disagreements with a know-it-all, focus the conversation on facts and data. Additionally, overconfident people tend to respect confidence in others, so present your data with conviction. Remember that their behavior likely is a reflection of their own insecurities, and not a judgement of you. (32:09)

Relevant Links:

Check out Amy’s website
Pre-order “Getting Along: How to Work with Anyone (Even Difficult People)”
Check out the “HBR Guide to Dealing with Conflict”

Meet Lieutenant General Ronald J. Place:

Lieutenant General Ronald J. Place is the Director of the Defense Health Agency (DHA), a joint integrated Combat Support Agency enabling the medical service to provide a medically ready force and ready medical force to Combatant Commands in both peacetime and wartime. Previously, LTG Place was the Director of the National Capital Medical Directorate of the Defense Health Agency. He received a Bachelor’s in Chemistry from the University of South Dakota and received his medical degree from Creighton University School of Medicine.

Key Insights:

Lieutenant General Ronald J. Place has established a career as both a surgeon and military leader.

Becoming an Army Doctor. LTG Place initially joined the military as a means to pay for medical school. However, after a deployment with a unit of soldiers dedicated to caring for each other and defending American freedoms, he changed his mindset. He went from being a doctor who happened to be in the Army, to an Army doctor. (10:57)
Leadership Philosophy. If you have a leadership philosophy, write it down. Writing it down makes it real, and creates a starting point for the philosophy to be further refined. LTG Place updates his leadership philosophy at least once a year, inspired by what he learns from books, mentors, or his own experiences. (17:19)
Mentorship. As a mentor, LTG Place actually refrains from giving advice. For him, the most important part of being a mentor is asking questions, pulling out insightful information so that ultimately the mentee can make their own decision. (21:31)

Relevant Links:

Learn more about LTG Place’s role as DHA Director
Follow LTG Place on Twitter

Meet The Guests:

This episode showcases military leaders. Lieutenant General R. Scott Dingle is the Surgeon General of the U.S. Army and Commanding General of the U.S. Army Medical Command. Lieutenant General Ronald J. Place, M.D. is the Director of the Defense Health Agency (DHA). Joseph Caravalho, Jr., M.D. is a retired Major General of the U.S. Army and currently serves as the President and CEO of the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine. Elder Granger, M.D., is a retired Major General of the U.S. Army and is the Founder and President of The 5P’s LLC.

Key Insights:

Memorial Day is observed on the last Monday of May to mourn U.S. military personnel who died in service. We asked military leaders to share what Memorial Day means to them.

Honoring Past Leaders. LTG Dingle shares a quote from General Douglas MacArthur: no one desires peace more than the soldier because it is he, or she, who must pay the greatest price when called upon. (0:40)
Honoring the Ultimate Sacrifice. LTG Place shared a personal story of a soldier that died in his medical care, succumbing to injuries from an IED. Following that deployment, LTG Place stopped thinking of himself as a surgeon first, and rather as a soldier first.(2:37)
Honoring Selflessness. MG Caravalho points out that there are many patriots; many people that act selflessly for this country. However, Memorial Day is about those who chose to put on a uniform and promised to defend the United States no matter the situation and no matter the sacrifice. (6:54)
Honoring History. For MG Granger, Memorial Day reminds him that freedom is not free. We must honor those who paid the ultimate sacrifice from not just modern wars, but also from the American Revolution, the Civil War, World War 1 and 2, and other historical battles that solidified America’s freedom. (9:27)

Meet Michael Osterholm, Ph.D.:

Michael Osterholm, Ph.D. is a Regents Professor, the Director of the Center for Infectious Diseases Research and Policy (CIDRAP), and McKnight Presidential Endowed Chair in Public Health at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Osterholm was appointed to President Biden’s Transition COVID-19 Advisory Board. He is author of “Deadliest Enemy” and hosts “The Osterholm Update: COVID-19” podcast. Dr. Osterholm received a Ph.D. and MS in Environmental Health and an MPH in Epidemiology from the University of Minnesota.

Key Insights:

Dr. Osterholm is a distinguished leader in a variety of areas including as a scientist, public health official, author, professor, and advisor.

The State of the Pandemic. Pre-existing immunity from vaccines and prior infections clearly reduce severe illness and deaths. However, Dr. Osterholm questions, what’s after Omicron? What will variant Pi and Sigma look like? Viral evolution indicates that upcoming variants will be more infectious and have more immune system evasion. We must be prepared. (13:16)
Lessons from Pandemics. There are sociological lessons to learn from previous disease outbreaks. The duration of the 1918 pandemic was around three years. However, after about a year, the public gave up on public health recommendations, and stopped acting on or accepting protections. (28:41)
Vaccine Technology. Dr. Osterholm predicts we will see new vaccine technologies that are more immune enhancing. COVID-19 mRNA vaccines provide a rapid antibody response, which wanes in a matter of months. Adenovirus vaccines initially seemed less effective, but result in a stronger T-cell response, which is a more durable immunity. New vaccine technology will need to produce a complex immune response, rather than focusing on just the antibody response. (30:49)

Relevant Links:

Check out his podcast “The Osterholm Update: COVID-19”
Check out Dr. Osterholm’d book “Deadliest Enemy: Our War Against Killer Germs”
Watch “American public 'done' with pandemic, even if it's not done with us: Osterholm | ABC News”

Meet Bruce Vanderhoff, M.D.:

Bruce Vanderhoff, M.D. is the Director of the Ohio Department of Health. Before his directorship, he was the department’s Chief Medical Officer. Prior to that, Dr. Vanderhoff served in a variety of roles at OhioHealth, including the Senior VP, Chief Medical Officer, and VP of Medical Education, Quality, and Patient Safety. He also practiced as a family medicine physician. Dr. Vanderhoff received his M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Franklin University.

Key Insights:

Dr. Vanderhoff dives into pandemic management and leadership lessons from a state government perspective.

Ohio’s Vax-a-Million. Dr. Vanderhoff described the design behind Ohio’s vaccine lottery. The goal was to incentivize people that were inclined to get the vaccine, but hadn’t done so yet. Two weeks after the program was announced, there was a 28% increase in the number of people getting vaccinated. (3:33)
Lessons for Public Health. Dr. Vanderhoff emphasized that we cannot predict all potential public health threats. However, we know that people who are healthy are better able to weather pandemics and other health challenges compared to people who are unhealthy. Thus, improving the overall health of people is a crucial part of preparation for future public health threats. (19:58)
Problem Solving Methodology. To achieve big goals, Dr. Vanderhoff recommends designing a plan that is iterative, that breaks down the problem into smaller steps. He also points to the importance of understanding lived experience. Seek out perspectives from workers on the frontlines before formulating solutions to their problems. (33:35)

Relevant Links:

Read more about Dr. Vanderhoff
Read “DeWine names Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff as the Ohio Department of Health's new director”

Meet Daniel Pink:

Daniel Pink is the author of five New York Times bestsellers aboutbusiness, work, creativity, and behavior. His latest is “The Power of Regret: How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward.” Daniel hosts a MasterClass on sales and persuasion, and he contributes to in The New York Times, Harvard Business Review, The Atlantic, and Slate. Previously, Daniel was the host and co-executive producer of the television show “Crowd Control.” Daniel received a B.A. from Northwestern University, and a JD from Yale Law School.

Key Insights:

Regret is a complex, but common negative emotion. It is uncomfortable, but when confronted, it can be transformative.

Transformational Regret. Reflecting on regret has been found to decrease cognitive biases, and improve skills related to problem solving, strategy, and negotiation. Daniel shares research that showed that participants who were asked to reflect on what they regretted about a previous negotiation exercise did better in the next negotiation. (12:05)
Four Categories of Regret. Through his research, Daniel found four core regrets. foundational regrets are about stability, often related to finances or health. Boldness regrets are about taking chances, like traveling or starting a business. Moral regrets are about doing the right thing. Lastly, connection regrets are related to the loss of relationships. The most common regrets are connection regrets. (17:08)
How Leaders Can Use Regret. Daniel encourages leaders to share their regrets and mistakes. It creates an opportunity for powerful conversations about what can be learned from regrets and how to prevent future ones. It also helps normalize regret, which is important because regret is normal. (30:55)

Relevant Links:

Check out Daniel Pink’s website
Listen to the Pinkcast, Daniel Pink’s podcast
Read “What Can We Learn from the Solace of ‘At Least’ and the Sting of ‘If Only’?” by Daniel Pink

Meet Sean Lane:

Sean Lane is the CEO of Olive and CEO of Circulo Health. Previously, he was an Intelligence Officer for the National Security Agency. He was also founder and Chairman of the Board for Betamore, Founder and Chairman Emeritus of Digital Harbor Foundation, and Founder of APX Labs. Sean received a Bachelor’s in Political Science and Government from Miami University.

Key Insights:

Sean Lane is freeing up healthcare’s scarcest resource: time.

Explaining Olive. Olive is an automation company for healthcare. Olive herself is a virtual assistant that can learn to automate various administrative and operational tasks using artificial intelligence and deep learning. (10:58)
Leadership Philosophy. Sean sums up his leadership methodology with the phrase “Love to lead.” Love is an acronym: “L” for leadership, because everything is a leadership problem; “O” for otherhood, to always think about others; “V” for vision, making vision a reality; and “E” for expectations, setting them clearly to avoid confusion and frustration. (22:29)
Start Early. Sean became interested in leadership through the manuals and books his father brought home. Sean points out that now we have the internet! Take advantage of the vast resources around leadership, and decide what methodology you want to embrace. (29:24)

Relevant Links:

Learn more about Olive
Check out Sean’s website
Watch “A plan to redirect a trillion dollars in the US healthcare system with Olive CEO Sean Lane”

Meet Rasmus Hougaard:

Rasmus Hougaard is the Founder and Managing Partner of the Potential Project. He is the author of “The Mind of the Leader,” “One Second Ahead,” and recently published “Compassionate Leadership: How to Do Hard Things in a Human Way.” Rasmus is also a contributor for the Harvard Business Review, Forbes and Business Insider. He received a Master’s degree in Organization and Behavior Studies from Roskilde University.

Key Insights:

Rasmus Hougaard is on a mission to create a more human world of work.

Rethinking Leadership. The idea of a leader single-handedly saving a company is outdated. Rasmus shares that leadership today is about motivating teams of people behind a shared vision. Leadership is through influence and communication, rather than commands and mandates. (14:05)
Wise Compassion. Rasmus’ research found that the most effective leaders combined a caring attitude with business acumen and the courage to do difficult things. Good leaders can do hard things in a human way. (19:38)
Relearning Being Human. Leadership in the 21st century is about unlearning management and relearning being human. Leaders should enter conversations with vulnerability and honesty. They should put aside traditional prescriptions for leadership, and rather focus on the individual, unique employee in front of them. (23:12)

Relevant Links:

Learn more about the Potential Project
Check out Rasmus’ book “Compassionate Leadership: How to Do Hard Things in a Human Way”
Read Rasmus’ contributions to Forbes on Leadership Strategy

Compassionate Leadership: How to Do Hard Things in a Human Way

Meet Jim Detert:

Jim Detert, Ph.D. is the John L. Colley Professor of Business Administration at the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration, and a Professor of Public Policy at the Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia. He is the author of “Choosing Courage: The Everyday Guide to Being Brave at Work.” Professor Detert received an M.A. in sociology and Ph.D. in organizational behavior from Harvard University. He also holds an MBA from the University of Minnesota and a BBA from the University of Wisconsin.

Key Insights:

Have you ever wanted to disagree with your boss, or make a tough decision you knew would be unpopular? Jim Detert, Ph.D. shows us how.

Why Courage Matters. Courage matters firstly for ourselves. Acts of courage define our legacy, and our biggest regrets tend to be inactions. Secondly, courage is important for organizations. Courage is fundamental to innovation because innovation is about challenging the status quo. (11:16)
Emotional Intelligence. Emotional Intelligence is not the lack of emotions, rather the ability to read other’s emotional state and channel your own emotions properly. Emotions are information. For example, if you give a presentation in a monotone way, it won’t garner any excitement for the idea. Similarly, ignoring a coworker’s reddening face won’t deescalate a situation. (24:36)
How to Lead Courage. Leaders must acknowledge that fear exists and work towards a culture that promotes and protects courage. This includes modeling courageous actions, defending employees that are courageous, and examining potential barriers to bravery like financial and promotion incentives.(35:48)

Meet Rajeev Singh:

Rajeev Singh is the Accolade CEO and Chairperson. Accolade is transforming employer health benefits programs through providing personalized, continuous and integrated health services. He is also a board member of Avalara and Amperity, and a Trustee of the Seattle Children’s Hospital Foundation. Previously, Rajeev was Co-Founder, President and COO of Concur Technologies a highly successful company with a multi-billion dollar sale to SAP. He graduated with a B.S.E. from Western Michigan University.

Key Insights:

Rajeev Singh is a successful entrepreneur who pivoted to healthcare to make tangible, positive changes in people’s lives.

Aligning on Mission. Rajeev emphasizes the importance of mission and values over objectives or measurables. Core values keeps a company aligned to its mission and moving in the right direction. It gives talented employees a compass to make decisions. (11:46)
Aligning Incentives. Rajeev thinks the healthcare status quo exists because financial incentives are misaligned. To drive adoption, Accolade promised clients that if they didn’t see lowered costs and improved patient satisfaction, they didn’t have to pay. By delivering on those promises, Accolade has a nealry 100% retention rate from its customers. (17:41)
Aligning Yourself. The key to being an effective leader and entrepreneur is first introspection. Understand yourself and your internal motivations. Second, read as much as you can. And third, have a solid foundation and support system of family and friends. (35:30)

Relevant Links:

Learn more about Accolade
Follow Rajeev on Twitter
Read “Q&A with Rajeev Singh, CEO of Accolade”

Meet Niyum Gandhi:

Niyum Gandhi is the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer at Mass General Brigham. Previously, he was the CFO, EVP, and Chief Population Health Officer at Mount Sinai Health and a Partner of Health and Life Science at Oliver Wyman. Niyum is a co-founder and Board Chair for Dandelion Helath AI, and on the Board of Directors for HealthPass New York and Northeast Business Group on Health. He received an A.B. in Economics from Harvard University.

Key Insights:

Niyum Gandhi highlights the relationship between finance and strategy, and showcases how finance can support operations and further an organization’s mission.

Solving at Scale. Scale can be an asset and liability. It is harder to integrate at scale, but health systems have an obligation to do so, as it advances quality of care, fortifies the balance sheet, and can diversify sources of margin. (05:34)
Fundamental Tradeoffs. Niyum describes that some healthcare services are high value but will never make margin. Margin is fundamental to financial health, but also providing those services is important to the local community; both are a part of the mission. It is important for health systems to balance those tradeoffs. (13:04)
The Economics of Healthcare. Traditionally, health systems stay in the black by forgoing investments for the future. Recently, more systems are making more long-term investments; however, inflation is raising costs. A challenge for healthcare leaders is balancing between investing in the future, while effectively addressing the financial challenges of today. (15:54)

Relevant Links:

Listen to “Margin & Mission” with Niyum Gandhi
Follow Niyum on Twitter

Meet the Panel Guests:

This panel features three guests previously featured at Think Medium. John Glaser, Ph.D. is an Executive-in- Residence at the Harvard Medical School Executive Education. Suchi Saria, Ph.D. is the founder and CEO of Bayesian Health. She is also an Advisory Council member for Day Zero. Kaveh Safavi, M.D., J.D. is the Senior Managing Director at Accenture.

Key Insights:

Three health technology and data experts discuss healthcare trends and innovations that emerged during the HIMSS conference.

Staffing Shortages, Short on Solutions. Dr. Safavi noted that staffing shortages and challenges related to employee payroll costs have rapidly become a top problem in healthcare. However, few booths at HIMSS were organized around this issue. There are limited products in the pipeline to solve staffing challenges. (10:58)
Solving Problems with AI. In the last year, there have been significant staffing shortages, coupled with drops in quality, safety, and health outcomes. Dr. Saria shares that AI is aiming to solve some of these problems. This includes better managing at-risk contracts and improving remote care and monitoring for at-home patient care. (20:47)
Technology Quotient (TQ). Dr. Glasser emphasizes that healthcare leaders need to be digitally savvy. Digitally savvy leaders that have a working understanding of AI, experience with a major technology implementation, and experience piloting a new digital technology, are better equipped to lead technology transformation efforts. (37:34)

Relevant Links:

Learn more about HIMSS
Check out The Gary Bisbee Show interview with John Glaser, Ph.D.
Check out Day Zero’s interview with Suchi Saria, Ph.D.
Check out The Gary Bisbee Show interview with Kaveh Safavi, M.D., J.D.

Meet Ryan Severino:

Ryan Severino is the Chief Economist at JLL. He is also an adjunct professor at Columbia University and New York University. Previously, he was a Senior Economist and Director of Research at Reis and an Associate Director of Research at MetLife Real Estate Investments. He received a Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Japanese, and Economics from Georgetown University, and an MA in International Finance and Economics from Columbia University.

Key Insights:

Ryan Severino approaches the economy with a big picture perspective, analyzing the implications of global trends.

Rising Interest Rates. The Federal Reserve will raise interest rates to increase the cost of capital. This disincentivizes organizations from borrowing money, which will tamp down the demand side of the economy. The Federal Reserve can only influence the demand side of the economy to decrease inflation. (4:53)
Demand-side Inflation. There have been disruptions in supply chains; however, Ryan points to increases in demand as the main driver for inflation. Government spending, low interest rates, pent up savings by consumers, and a tight labor market has created a strong demand situation. (14:25)
How Technology Impacts Economy. The pandemic only exacerbated an existing labor shortage, due to America’s aging demographics. One way to address this is to invest in technology, like AI or machine learning, to make the existing labor supply more productive. (24:28)

Relevant Links:

Read “Economic calculus: The mathematical study of continuous change? A fitting description for the current U.S. economy” by Ryan Severino
Read “Powering through! From the pandemic to geopolitical events, parts of the U.S. economy are certainly challenged. Can CRE rise above?” by Ryan Severino
Follow Ryan on Twitter

Meet Nate Bennett Ph.D.:

Nate Bennett Ph.D. is a professor of management and the faculty director of the EMBA program with the J. Mack Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University. He is co-author of two books, “Riding Shotgun: The Role of the COO” and “Your Career Game: How Game Theory Can Help You Achieve Your Professional Goals.” He is also a contributor to the Harvard Business Review, Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek.com and Forbes.com. He received his Ph.D. in Management from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Key Insights:

The COO is an underutilized member of the c-suite. Nate Bennett, Ph.D. is a leading author and researcher of the role and shares best practices of successful COOs.

COO Configurations. Professor Bennett found that there are seven types of COOs. The most common is the executor. While the CEO is focused on anticipation and looking to the future, this COO type drives performance and ensures strategy is executed efficiently. (3:49)
The Evolving COO Role. The COO role has evolved over the last few decades. It is a competitive advantage for COOs to be savvier about finance, technology, big data, talent management, and globalization. Additionally, Professor Bennett points out there’s been a rise in stakeholder perspective, rather than traditional shareholder perspective. (19:37)
Your Career as Rock Climbing. Career progression is less like a ladder, and more like rock climbing. Sometimes your choices will seem like sideways, diagonal, or even downward movements. It is important to be agile, and continue to invest in yourself to create a more compelling value proposition for your next employer. (36:04)

Relevant Links:

Check out Dr. Bennett’s website
Check out Dr. Bennett’s books
Read his contributions on Leadership Strategy for Forbes

Meet The Host, Jarrett Lewis:

Jarrett Lewis is a Partner at Public Opinion Strategies. Previously, he was the Executive Director of Health Policy at The Health Management Academy. He received a B.A. in Political Science from Clemson University and an MBA from Duke University.

Meet The Guests, Neil Newhouse & Brian Stryker:

Neil Newhouse is co-founder and Partner of Public Opinion Strategies. He has been named Pollster of the Year three times by the American Association of Political Consultants. He received an undergraduate degree from Duke University, and a graduate degree from the University of Virginia.

Brian Stryker is a Partner at Impact Research. Brian was a recipient of the 2021 American Association of Political Consultants 40 Under 40 Award. He received an undergraduate degree in History from the University of Washington.

Key Insights:

Neil Newhouse and Brian Stryker are experts at measuring and moving public opinions.

Top Issues for the Midterms. The number one issue for voters is the economy, specifically inflation and cost of living. While changing day-by-day, the Ukraine conflict has become a rising issues for voters as well. (9:41)
What about Healthcare? Healthcare can be an important issue in terms of cost. However, as new problems are supplanting COIVD-19, healthcare has become a back-burner issue. Many people dislike the current healthcare system, but also fear too much change. (34:47)
An Era of Hyper-partisanship. Neil shares that traditionally one-third of voters split their ticket, but that decreased to 9% of voters in the 2020 election. Brian also points out that voters don’t often reward compromise, which limits politicians’ ability to work across party lines. (44:45)

Relevant Links:

Follow Brian Stryker on Twitter
Follow Neil Newhouse on Twitter
Follow Jarrett Lewis on Twitter

Meet Travis Messina:

Travis Messina is the Founder and CEO of Contessa Health. Prior to Contessa, Travis gained experience in the delivery and financing of healthcare as an officer at Vanguard Health Systems. He was an investment banker specializing in mergers and acquisitions at Signal Hill Capital and SunTrust Robinson Humphrey. He received a bachelor’s degree in International Business from the University of Georgia and an MBA from Vanderbilt University.

Key Insights:

Contessa partners with health systems to treat high acuity patients in their homes.

Home Hospital Technology. Contessa uses remote patient monitoring to capture vital signs and track patient outcomes. Contessa developed a platform, Care Convergence, to manage logistical coordination to ensure that their distributed model of care meets hospital turnaround times. (10:36)
High Patient Satisfaction. Traditionally, patients in need of hospital care have two options: either admission to the hospital or leave against medical advice. Contessa creates a third option for patients, resulting in a net promoter score greater than 90%. (23:24)
Impact of Government Regulations. Contessa was the first hospital-at-home model to receive managed care reimbursement. Medicare fee for service did not cover hospital at home care until the pandemic, which it did through a waiver associated with the Public Health Emergency. If or when the waiver expires, coverage will become less available. (13:44)

Relevant Links:

Learn more about Contessa
Learn more about Travis Messina with this interview from his Alma mater

Meet Brian Wallach and Sandra Abrevaya:

In 2017, Brian Wallach learned that he was diagnosed with ALS. He and his wife Sandra Abrevaya are dedicating their remaining time together to help ALS patients everywhere. They founded I AM ALS, a non-profit organization that successfully advocated for millions in research through major legislation. Brian and Sandra also launched Synapticure, a care platform for ALS patients, with the backing of GV and other investors. They are on a mission to reshape our understanding and treatment of ALS.

Key Insights:

Brian and Sandra are truly inspirational, revealing how a family can go forward with a devastating diagnosis and what two people can accomplish in such a short amount of time.

Founding I AM ALS. Sandra and Brian founded the non-profit I AM ALS to create policy change. Their advocacy facilitated the passage of Act for ALS, which allocates $100 million annually over five years for research and expands treatment options for patients. They also have reframed the narrative around ALS to focus on hope. (14:00)
Creating Better Care for ALS Patients. Synapticure facilitates coordinated care and gives ALS patients access to cutting-edge and personalized testing and treatment. Sandra and Brian founded this company to create the continuity of care they wished they had in their treatment experience. (23:06)
Power in the Purpose. Brian gets his energy from the knowledge that he and Sandra can change the course of ALS with their advocacy. He is driven partially by necessity, but also the belief that he can make a difference, and potentially save his life and 1000’s of others. (32:38)

Relevant Links:

Learn more about I AM ALS and how to take action
Learn more about Synapticure
Read “I am Brian Wallach”
Read “I am Sandra Abrevaya and Brian Wallach”

Meet Bob Kerrey:

Bob Kerrey is a Managing Director at Allen & Company, Chairman of the Minerva Institute for Research and Scholarship, and Lead Director of Tenet Healthcare. He served as the 35th Governor of Nebraska and as a U.S. Senator from Nebraska. He was also the President of The New School and served as a U.S. Navy SEAL. Governor Kerrey received a degree in Pharmacy from the University of Nebraska.

Meet Mitch E. Daniels Jr.:

Mitch E. Daniels Jr. is the President of Purdue University and previously served as the 49th Governor of Indiana. He is a current Director and former Lead Director at Cerner Corporation. Previously, President Daniels was the Director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget and worked as the President of North American Operations and then Senior Vice President of Corporate Strategy and Policy for Eli Lily & Company. He received a Bachelor’s from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs.

Key Insights:

In the spirit of bipartisanship, we invited two former politicians, one Democrat and one Republican, for a bold discussion on today’s greatest challenges.

Decision Making During COVID-19. Both explore how they addressed COVID-19 issues with limited information. President Daniels describes how Purdue designed protective guidelines from scratch, building in a way to evaluate their choices. Governor Kerrey reminds us to not assume we know everything, and to not apply solutions with a broad brush. (6:45) (9:44)
Democracy is Hard. Governor Kerrey reflects on American history and the perceived partisan divide. He points out that we as a country have overcome a lot worse than what is happening today. Democracy takes work and we should not fear conflict or criticism. (39:02)
What Drives You? President Daniels shares that the most fulfilling aspect of his work is leaving behind something better. He encourages young leaders to question why they are seeking leadership roles. The answer should not be about you, rather the impact you can have. (43:05)

Relevant Links:

Read Mitch Daniels contributions to the Washington Post
Read “When I Was a Young Man: A Memoir” by Bob Kerrey

When I Was a Young Man: A Memoir

Meet Dan Brillman:

Dan Brillman is the co-founder and CEO of Unite Us. He is a member of the U.S. Air Force Reserves as a pilot, and has served since 2007. Previously, he was a Principal at Scout Ventures and an Investment Analyst at Buck Consultants. He received a degree in Political Science and Government from Yale University, and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Key Insights:

When Dan Brillman returned from a deployment, veterans that he served with asked for help with their health and social service issues. He realized veterans and civilians alike needed support in accessing fragmented human services.

Connecting Fragmented Systems. Dan found that the services meant to help veterans – like housing, mental health, and employment – were disjointed and complicated to navigate. He founded Unite Us, a technology platform that smooths the connection between patients and services in their community.(7:39)
Redefining Care. Dan envisions a future where human services are given the same importance and funding as traditional health services; where housing is given the same attention and resources as a knee surgery. (16:15)
The Highs and Lows. A low point in the entrepreneurial journey for Dan was feeling ahead of the market, having trouble securing investors and partners, which limited the number of people they could help. A high point came when Unite Us scaled to where its teams were executing independently, with expertise greater than Dan’s own knowledge. (22:04)

Relevant Links:

Learn more about Unite Us
Follow Dan on Twitter
Listen to “Dan Brillman and Taylor Justice, Unite Us, on bridging social and health care”

Meet John Halamka, M.D., M.S.:

John Halamka, M.D., M.S. is an Emergency Medicine physician and the president of Mayo Clinic Platform. He has authored a number of books on technology and healthcare. Additionally, He and his wife run Unity Farm Sanctuary in Sherborn, Massachusetts. Prior to Mayo Clinic, Dr. Halamka was Chief Information Officer at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He received his M.D. from the University of California, San Francisco and earned an M.S. in Medical Informatics from Harvard University.

Key Insights:

John Halamka, M.D., M.S. is an expert in digital health and information technology. He provides a vision of AI’s potential, and the challenges healthcare will need to consider.

Investments in Data. Mayo Clinic Platform’s business partnerships will explore new ways to gather and clean data, analyze models, and deliver clinical results while maintaining patient privacy. (8:49)
How Advanced is AI? While the technology is advanced, with a variety of machine learning tools, we currently lack proper policy guardrails to determine best practice for AI. Additionally, many patients feel suspicious of algorithms making healthcare decisions. (14:09)
Augmenting Physician Practice. As an emergency physician, Dr. Halamka notes that there are approximately 800 papers in his field published every day. A single physician can’t keep up, but AI has the potential to integrate vast data streams to improve clinical decision making. (26:31)

Relevant Links:

Check out Dr. Halamka’s blog
Follow him on twitter
Check out Dr. Halamka’s books

Meet Quentin P. Smith Jr.:

Quentin P. Smith Jr. is the Chairman of the Banner Health Board of Directors and is President of Cadre Business Advisors, LLC. Quentin has also served on the boards of Store Capital, Orion Group Holdings, Arizona Public Service, Rodel, Inc., iCrossing, Arizona MultiBank, Greater Phoenix Leadership, and the Morrison Institute for Public Policy at Arizona State University. He received Bachelor’s in industrial management and computer science from Purdue University and an MBA from Pepperdine University.

Key Insights:

Leadership is timeless. Quentin P. Smith Jr. shares his leadership experience in healthcare, and expands the conversation to his father, Quentin P. Smith, an original Tuskegee Airman.

Becoming a Tuskegee Airman. Quentin reveals that his father wasn’t driven by an interest in being a pilot, rather he wanted to demonstrate to white Americans that Black Americans are equally capable of flying planes. (10:55)
Duty to Community Service. As chairman of Banner Health’s board, Quentin sees his primary mission as community service and being a good fiduciary of a community asset. His job is to provide guidance towards the mission, and ensure that everyone has a chance to contribute. (28:07)
Assume You Can Lead. Leadership comes in many forms. Don’t underestimate yourself, and assume you have the capacity to lead first. (35:47)

Relevant Links:

Listen to recordings of Quentin P. Smith talking about his experience as a Tuskegee Airman
Learn more about the Tuskegee Airmen
Read “Standing firm: ISU alumnus Quentin Smith challenged segregation and changed history.”

Meet Alex Gorsky:

Alex Gorsky is the Executive Chairman of Johnson & Johnson and served as their CEO for almost a decade. Alex started his career at Johnson & Johnson as a sales representative and advanced through positions of increasing responsibility in sales, marketing, and management. Alex served in the Army for six years after completing his undergraduate education at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He also received an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Key Insights:

Alex Gorsky has over thirty years of experience at Johnson & Johnson. He shares his reflections on leadership in the pharmaceutical industry and across his career.

Setting Goals as CEO. For CEOs, Alex advises first listening and learning about the organization. Then, establish a clear and explicit set of priorities that are consistently communicated. (7:57)
Examining the Spin-Off. Johnson & Johnson is splitting off its consumer health business. Alex explains that the pharmaceutical and medical, and consumer sectors were diverging in terms of regulation, production, and distribution. This split will unleash innovation and improve customer-centricity. (19:16)
Partnerships in Technology. While discussing Johnson & Johnson’s partnership with Microsoft, Alex predicts that there will be a greater convergence of the biopharma and med tech space with technology usually associated with Silicon Valley. (27:06)

Relevant Links:

“Reflections and Gratitude” by Alex Gorsky
“Alex Gorsky to Serve as Executive Chairman and Transition Role of Chief Executive Officer of Johnson & Johnson to Joaquin Duato, Effective January 3, 2022” Johnson & Johnson press release
Watch “Distinguished Speakers Series: Alex Gorsky, Chairman and CEO, Johnson & Johnson”

Meet Elizabeth Fowler:

Elizabeth Fowler, J.D., Ph.D. is the Deputy Administrator and Director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMS Innovation Center). Previously, she was Executive Vice President for Programs at the Commonwealth Fund and served as Vice President for Global Health Policy at Johnson & Johnson. She received a Ph.D. in Health Policy from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and a law degree from the University of Minnesota.

Key Insights:

The Innovation Center generates and tests new approaches for payment and delivery. It works to move the health system away from fee-for-service and towards a system that rewards better outcomes for patients.

The Innovation Center’s Priorities. The top 5 priorities of the Innovation Center are driving accountable care, advancing health equity, supporting care innovation, improving access by addressing affordability, and creating partnerships with public and private entities to achieve transformation. (9:27)
The Speed of Innovation. Healthcare transformation is a marathon, not a sprint. It takes around 18 months to two years to conceptualize and implement an innovation model, and three to five years to collect meaningful results. (12:36)
Patient at the Center. Dr. Fowler emphasizes that innovation should result in better outcomes for the patient. The Innovation Center conducted focus groups to determine the metrics most important to patients, and to better communicate innovation in relatable terms. (23:57)

Relevant Links:

Learn more about the Innovation Center
Read Dr. Fowler’s articles from The Commonwealth Fund
Follow the Innovation Center on Twitter

Meet Jim Citrin:

Jim Citrin is a Senior Director, Partner & Member of the Board of Directors at Spencer Stuart. He is an officer on the Executive Board of the International Tennis Hall of Fame and is a member of the Board of Girl Effect. Jim authored 7 books including “You’re in Charge, Now What?” and “Leading at a Distance.” He received an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA in Economics from Vassar College.

Key Insights:

Jim Citrin has 25 years of experience at Spencer Stuart and has completed more than 775 CEO, board member, and top management searches.

How to Interview. People tend to hire in their own image and based on judgements they make in the first few minutes. These are opportunities interviewees can utilize, as well as pitfalls interviewers should avoid. (11:09)
Matching People to Companies. Jim shares a story of how understanding a potential CEOs greatest passion and proudest achievements made them the perfect match for an unexpected company. (15:07)
The Zoom Advantage. Jim predicts that virtual work is here to stay. When managed correctly, virtual work inspires intrinsic motivation, facilitates better group decisions, and humanized coworkers. (33:19)

Relevant Links:

Pick up one of Jim Citrin’s books
“The Power of Purpose: 4 Ways You Can Inspire Your Virtual Team” by Jim Citrin
“Passing the Baton at The New York Times Company: A Conversation with Mark Thompson and Meredith Levien” By Jim Citrin

Meet Senator Joe Lieberman:

Senator Joseph Lieberman is the former United States Senator for Connecticut, which he served as for 24 years. He was also a state Senator and state Attorney General for Connecticut, and was a Vice Presidential Candidate. Sen. Lieberman is currently a co-chair for the organization No Labels. He has authored a number of books, and most recently published “The Centrist Solution: How We Made Government Work and Can Make It Work Again.”

Key Insights:

Senator Joseph Lieberman’s career spanned state and federal politics, and was defined by his centrist approach to policy making.

Growing Partisanship. Sen. Lieberman describes some of the factors that contribute to the partisan divide including gerrymandering, money in politics, cable news, social media, and the decrease in civility on the internet. (4:00)
No Labels. To combat ineffective gridlock, this organization brings together Republicans, Democrats, and Independents to foster compromise and two-party policy solutions. (22:16)
Public Service. For young people interested in public service, Sen. Lieberman advises that they cultivate stamina, take risks, and earn the trust of their colleagues and constituents. (27:58)

Relevant Links:

Learn more about No Labels
Check out Sen. Lieberman’s book: “The Centrist Solution: How We Made Government Work and Can Make It Work Again.”
“Bring Back ‘Regular Order’” by Sen. Lieberman in the Wall Street Journal

The Centrist Solution: How We Made Government Work and Can Make It Work Again

Meet the Guests:
This episode features three leaders previously interviewed on The Gary Bisbee Show. Kaveh Safavi, M.D. is the Senior Managing Director at Accenture. Eric Topol, M.D. is the Founder & Director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute and author of “Deep Medicine: How Artificial Intelligence Can Make Healthcare Human Again.” Felicia Norwood is the Executive Vice President of Anthem and President of the Government Business Division.

Key Insights:

These experts proposed that leaders need to personalize, digitize, and simplify healthcare.

Personalize.Dr. Safavi explains that each patient is unique due to their biology and personal preferences and so each patient wants a different care experience. (1:36)
Digitize.Dr. Topol shares the many possibilities of AI in hospital administration. AI could help healthcare save costs, deliver better services, and improve the patient experience. (3:27)
Simplify.If she could snap her fingers and change one thing, Felicia would make healthcare simpler. (5:00)

Meet the Guests:
This episode features three leaders previously interviewed on The Gary Bisbee Show. Karen DeSalvo, M.D., is the Chief Health Officer at Google. Lieutenant General Scott Dingle is the Surgeon General of the U.S. Army and Commanding General of the U.S. Army Medical Command. Hubert Joly is a Senior Lecturer at the Harvard Business School and the former Chairman and CEO of Best Buy.

Key Insights:

Leadership is a journey not a destination. Leadership is the accumulation of our abilities, experience, relationships, and reflections.

Pace Yourself.Be passionate, but don’t race towards an end goal without taking the time to reflect, build relationships, and hone your skills. This will enrich your career and life. (1:45)
Pursue Your Passion.LTG Dingle encourages young health professionals to live their dream. Be passionate, persistent, and precise. However, make sure to stay balanced and take care of yourself. (3:11)
Write Your Own Eulogy.Hubert recommends that young leaders write their future retirement speech or eulogy to ensure that their career and life are a reflection what they value the most. (5:08)

Meet the Guests:
This episode features three healthcare leaders. John Glaser, Ph.D. is an Executive in Residence at Harvard Medical School, and currently serves on multiple boards including HL7, the Scottsdale Institute, Wellsheet, Relatient, and NCQA. Kevin Sharer is a senior lecturer at Harvard University Business School and is the former Chairman and CEO of Amgen. He currently serves on the board for Allied Minds and the US Naval Academy Foundation. Kevin previously sat on the boards of directors for Chevron, 3M, and Northrop Grumman. Mindy Mount is a board member of The Learning Care Group, Cerner Corporation, Zayo Group, Group Nine Acquisition Corporation, and Technicolor, where she is also Vice Chairman.

Key Insights:

Each leader gave slightly different answers; however, there are two key takeaways:

Relationships.It is important for board members to have a good relationship among themselves and with the CEO. Teamwork facilitates many of the boards functions such as upholding a company’s vision, reaching consensus on strategy decisions, and monitoring and evaluating the CEO.
Advisors Rather Than Managers.Board members advise rather than execute. This separation allows board members to act as outside observers and grants management flexibility in decision making and implementation.

Meet John Glaser, Ph.D.:

John Glaser, Ph.D. is an Executive in Resident at Harvard Medical School. Previously, Dr. Glaser joined Cerner Corporation as an Executive Senior Advisor, due to their acquisition of Siemens Health Services, where he was CEO. Prior to that, he served as the CIO for Partners HealthCare, now known as Mass General Brigham. Dr. Glaser sits on the board of directors for the Scottsdale Institute, NCQA, and Forbes Health Advisory Board.

Key Insights:

John Glaser is a thought leader in the field of healthcare IT. He has decades of experience and has watched the field grow as well as being instrumental in its development.

Collaboration. A recent article proposed moving the IT function under business units; however, Dr. Glaser sees that as a risky response to a performance problem. Better performance can be achieved through collaboration: when an IT group and business group work together, teach each other, and hold each other mutually accountable. (14:52)
Interoperability. All industries face limits in interoperability. The best way to achieve interoperability is to focus on a limited set of transactions, clear business cases, and create a body that brings all players together to refine the details. (25:32)
The Consumer. In a recent article in the Harvard Business Review, Dr. Glaser dives into 5 key principles to improve the patient experience with digital technology. One of those principles is to remember that patients are consumers. Healthcare systems need to provide great medical care as well as a good consumer experience. (32:12)

Relevant Links:

Read “5 Principles to Improve the Patient Experience” by John Glaser in the Harvard Business Review
Check out other articles written by Dr. Glaser in the Harvard Business Review
Read other research and articles written by Dr. Glaser

Meet Amir Dan Rubin:

Amir Dan Rubin is the Chair, CEO, and President of One Medical. He has previous experience in health insurance and at academic health centers. He was the Executive Vice President and Divisional CEO within Optum, the President and CEO at Sandford Health, the Chief Operating Officer at UCLA Health, and the Chief Operating Officer at Stony Brook University Medical Center. Amir has an MBA in Business Administration and an MHSA in Health Care Administration from the University of Michigan.

Key Insights:

Amir Dan Rubin shares insights into One Medical’s unique membership model, and how it lowers costs and improves patient outcomes.

90% Net Promoter Score. One Medical has a high score for customer experience because their model is built around the patient. One Medical charges a membership fee rather than fee-for-service, employees are salaried, there is virtual care and their technology encourages coordinated and frictionless care. (13:45)
Member Rather Than Patients. One Medical decreases costs through easy access primary care and prevention that decreases emergency room use. Amir admits that the components aren’t novel, rather it’s how they work together. (23:37)
It’s About People. If you are interested in mission-driven work, caring people, and an ever-changing field with big challenges, then healthcare is the right industry for you. Amir advises young leaders to find what they love, and be energized by it. (35:22)

Relevant Links:

Learn more about One Medical
“100 Most Influential People in Healthcare: Amir Dan Rubin” by Modern Healthcare
“One Medical raises full-year guidance with surge in membership, confronts high medical loss ratio in Q3” by Fierce Healthcare

In This Episode:

The days are shorter and colder, but this second COVID-19 thanksgiving is much more hopeful than last year’s. At Think Medium we are thankful for many things. We are thankful for the healthcare workers who provided stellar care during such a stressful time. We are thankful that the percentage of our fellow Americans having been vaccinated continues to increase. And we are thankful to you, our audience, for being a part of our amazing journey. For this holiday episode, we asked leaders what they are thankful for and happiest about this Thanksgiving.

Key Insights:

Thank You Vaccines. Julie Yoo, General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz and co-founder of Kyruus, shared that she is thankful for the advancement in mRNA vaccine technology and vaccine delivery. (1:50)
Thank You (Almost) Normalcy. Matthew Dicks is a storytelling coach, bestselling author, and elementary school teacher. He is thankful that some aspects of life, such as teaching in person, have returned close to normal. (2:32)
Thank You Science. Ruth Williams-Brinkley, President of Mid-Atlantic States at Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, shared her thankfulness for her family, friends, frontline workers, and researchers that developed the vaccines. (4:05)
Thank You Life. Lieutenant General Scott Dingle is the Surgeon General of the United States Army and the Commanding General for the Army Medical Command. He is thankful for his health, family, and opportunity to serve Army Medicine. (8:09)

Meet Felicia Norwood:

Felicia Norwood is the Executive Vice President and President for Anthem’s Government Business Division. Prior to Anthem, she was the Director for Illinois’ Department of Healthcare & Family Services. She held numerous leadership positions in her nearly 20-year tenure with Aetna. Felicia has over 25 years of commercial and government healthcare operations, strategy, and management experience.

Key Insights:

Felicia Norwood’s career has spanned public and private healthcare. In both circumstances, she learned to work across the aisle and build bridges.

Stepping Out of the Box. Be curious and ask about other roles you are interested in, even if you aren’t a traditional fit. (11:54)
Value-Based Care. The future of healthcare is whole person health. Value-based contracts are here to stay, and will likely grow. (32:55)
You Define You. People will have issues around race and gender, but don’t let other’s issues define you. (41:05)
Simplify Healthcare. If Felicia could snap her fingers and change one thing, it would be to make healthcare simpler. (41:18)

Relevant Links:

“Anthem Names Felicia Norwood Executive Vice President and President, Government Business Division” by Business Wire
Read or listen to an interview that dives deep into Felicia’s life growing up as part of the Governor Jim Edgar series

Meet Hubert Joly:

Hubert Joly is the Former Chairman and CEO of Best Buy, and credited with the organization’s transformation. He has received numerous recognitions for this role including “Top 100 CEOs in the World” by Harvard Business Review in 2018 and was named HEC Paris Person of the Year in 2020. Based on his experiences, he published a book, “The Heart of Business: Leadership Principles for the Next Era of Capitalism,” that shares the philosophes behind Best Buy’s turnaround and explores how to put those ideas in practice. Hubert also serves on the boards of Johnson & Johnson and Ralph Lauren, and is a Senior Lecturer of Business Administration at Harvard Business School.

Key Insights:

Hubert Joly encourages leaders to redefine how we imagine business. Making money is an outcome, but should never be the purpose. Rather, Hubert emphasizes a focus on employee excellence.

I Don’t Know. Hubert encourages leaders to admit when they don’t have all the answers and ask for help (18:41)
Lead with Empathy. Healthcare organizations must ensure front line workers have the tools and environment they need to be the best versions of themselves. (20:14)
Noble Purpose. A new era of capitalism requires businesses to embrace all stakeholders and treat profit as an outcome, not the goal. (34:01)
Unleashing Human Magic. Hubert describes the environment leaders can create to foster human magic. (36:04)

Relevant Links:

Check out his website
Read about Hubert Joly’s publications, awards, & honors
“Hubert Joly Turned Around Best Buy. Now He’s Trying to Fix Capitalism.” By The New York Times
Follow Hubert Joly on Twitter

In This Episode:

We are excited to announce that Think Medium is launching a new show: Day Zero. Day Zero is dedicated sharing the stories of founders, and learning about their journey, leadership, and impact. In honor of our new show, we compiled advice from three founder who we have previously interviewed. It is a sample of what you will hear on Day Zero.

Key Insights:

Solve a Needed Problem. Todd Cozzens, Founder and Managing Partner of Transformation Capital, encourages founders to seek different perspectives to inform innovation. (3:13)

Seek Truth. Aaron Martin is the Executive Vice President and Chief Digital Officer of Providence, and Managing General Partner, Providence Ventures. Aaron advises new CEOs to focus on the truth, and be fact-based. (4:17)

Vision for Change. Lynne Chou O’Keefe, Founder and Managing Partner of Define Ventures, describes the all-encompassing passion founders feel (5:18)

Meet Tevi Troy, Ph.D.:

Tevi Troy, Ph.D. is a Senior Fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center as well as a Senior Fellow of the Hudson Institute. He is the founder and CEO of American Health Policy Institute. His career extends into the public sector as a former member of President George W. Bush’s transition team, a Deputy Secretary in HHS, and Acting Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy. Additionally, Dr. Troy is a prolific writer with 4 books on presidencies and over 300 articles commenting on political trends.

Key Insights:

Dr. Troy is an expert on U.S. presidencies. He shares humorous anecdotes of past presidents to showcase the power of stories, the effect of crisis, and leadership lessons.

Inspiration for Writing. Writing is a way to influence policy and perceptions. (7:06)
Presidents in Crisis.In moments of crisis, presidents are limited. What they can do is provide leadership, information, and resources at key moments (14:37)
People Love Stories. Dr. Troy found that audiences were more engaged when his policy speeches contained stories about presidents, especially personal anecdotes. (23:13)
Read, Read, Read.Dr.Troy’s advice for early-stage leaders is to read, and incorporate those concepts and skills into your leadership style. (25:23)

Meet Matthew Dicks:

Matthew Dicks is an internationally bestselling author, columnist, blogger, podcaster, playwright, and elementary school teacher. He is a 50-time Moth StorySLAM champion and 6-time Moth GrandSLAM champion. Matthew and his wife founded Speak Up, and organization that produces storytelling shows through out New England. He teaches storytelling and public speaking in workshops, and consults on storytelling and marketing for large organizations. Matthew has written every day of his life since he was a teenager.

Key Insights:

Matthew Dicks is an endless supply of stories, and advice to better tell our own.

Homework for Life.This assignment cultivates an endless supply of stories, as well as makes each day slower and more meaningful. (8:38)
Dinner Test.When you are telling a story, speak to people informally as if you’re having dinner. (31:12)
Corporate Storytelling.Storytelling in the business world tends to be “vanilla,” according to Matthew. Don’t be afraid to take risks and set yourself apart. (22:04)
Be Vulnerable.People are drawn to vulnerability in a way that is hard to understand, until you make the leap. (24:21)

Meet Ron Adner:

Ron Adner, Ph.D. is a Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. He is also the Founder and CEO of Strategy Insight Group, which helps clients understand business ecosystems. Dr. Adner has won multiple awards for his research on business strategy and published two books on the subject. His first book, “The Wide Lens,” analyzes successful innovators. He recently published a second book on business disruption: “Winning the Right Game: How to Disrupt, Defend, and Deliver in a Changing World.”

Key Insights:

Ron Adner, Ph.D. analyzes business strategy from an ecosystem perspective. Businesses need to consider not just what they deliver to consumers, but also structures of interdependence built into the business world.

Ecosystem Thinking. Dr. Adner presents a new way of examining business, through a lens of interdependence. (6:17)
Achieving Alignment. Healthcare providers are unaware of the power they have to shape ecosystem alignment, and create better systems of health. (25:54)
Different Leadership. Different ecosystem settings can require vastly different leadership styles. (29:01)
Advice for New Leaders. Healthcare is drowning in new ideas; the catch is determining which ideas are scalable. (31:29)

Meet Lieutenant General Scott Dingle:

Lieutenant General Scott Dingle is the 45th Surgeon General of the United States Army as well as the Commanding General for the Army Medical Command. He leads over one hundred thousand soldiers and civilians and his command has taken him across the country and the globe. His degrees include Master of Science in Administration from Central Michigan University, Master of Military Arts and Science from the School of Advanced Military Studies and a Master of Science in National Security Strategy from the National War College. Additionally, LTG Dingle is an ordained Itinerate Elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church.

Key Insights:

Lieutenant General Dingle shares his leadership lessons and global experiences. For him, it doesn’t matter if you are a newly commissioned officer or a three-star general, the principles of leadership are the same.

What Healthcare is All About. Healthcare is about taking care of people, but healthcare workers need to make sure they are taking care of themselves too. (23:10)
Large and Small Teams. Leading large teams requires trusting leaders at every level of command. (27:19)
Mentorship. Lieutenant General Dingle discusses the “rolodex” of mentors he’s sought advice from in his career. (31:31)
Response. The Army had to adjust and adapt to help their soldiers and the country combat COVID-19. (38:40)

Meet Dr. Eric Topol:

Dr. Eric Topol is a cardiologist, scientist, and author. He is the Founder and Director of Scripps Research Translational Institute, and the Executive Vice-President of Scripps Research. He has published over 1200 peer-reviewed articles and is one of the top 10 most cited researchers in medicine. In 2016, Dr. Topol received a $207 million grant from the NIH to lead a portion of All of Us, part of the Precision Medicine Initiative. He is the author of three books on healthcare and is known for his commentary on patient-centered care and artificial intelligence.

Key Insights:

Dr. Eric Topol is an expert in healthcare personalization and has gained traction on social media for his commentary on COVID-19. Our discussion covers a variety of pandemic response topics, and broadens to the applications of artificial intelligence in the future of healthcare.

COVID-19 Response. We discuss testing (13:55), breakthrough cases (16:41), mix and match vaccinations (20:21), hybrid immunity (23:22) and more about COVID-19.
Institutional Trust. The pandemic has decreased trust in some government agencies, Dr. Topol describes how it can be won back. (27:10)
Artificial Intelligence. Dr. Topol dives into the application of artificial intelligence and deep learning in the future of healthcare. (31:31)
Democratization of Medicine. Patients yearn for more control over their care and health data, and are the future of healthcare innovation. (42:11)

In this episode, we sit down with Todd Cozzens, a Co-founder & Managing Partner of Transformation Capital. The conversation explores leadership lessons, management, transformational investing, and more.

In Episode 27:

This mash up episode dives into affordability. We hear clips from five healthcare experts to discuss the importance of affordability, and potential solutions. We gain perspectives on Medicaid, Medicare, and Military health. There are many potential solutions to address affordability, the challenge is deciding which models work together in our complex healthcare system and aggressively pursuing them.

Key Insights:

Challenge of the decade. Mark Miller, Ph.D., VP Healthcare, Arnold Ventures, explains how affordability is impacting patients. (2:27)
Practice variation, within boundaries. Marty Makary, M.D., MPH, Author, “The Price We Pay,” Surgical Oncologist and Professor, John Hopkins University of Medicine, Bloomberg School of Public Health describes how “appropriateness measures” could decrease Medicare costs. (5:51)
Medi-Cal. Nancy-Ann DeParle, Managing Partner and Co-founder, Consonance Capital Partners, and former Deputy Chief of Staff to President Barack Obama, references California’s Medicaid model. (7:32)
Healthy Indiana. Seema Verma, Former CMS Administrator, describes Indiana’s unique Medicaid Expansion. (10:02)
TRICARE for all. Elder Granger, M.D., MG, USA, Retired, Former Deputy Director, TRICARE, CEO, The 5Ps, discusses whether TRICARE’s model could work for the country, a model which promotes preventive healthcare. (12:00)

Meet Mindy Mount:

Mindy Mount currently serves on a variety of boards of directors including Cerner Corporation, Technicolor, The Learning Care Group, Group 9 Acquisition Corp., and Zayo. She has experience in public, private, and non-profit governance. She has a diverse background in finance and technology, having worked for Microsoft, Time Warner, and on Wall Street. She received an MBA from Harvard, and has a degree in Actuarial Sciences from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Key Insights:

Mindy Mount started her career with a strong analytical background. She has a passion for business and making businesses better. This led to her ample experience in governance.

Qualities of a Good Board Member. Mindy describes the qualities that make good board members, including expertise, courage, and listening. (27:20)
Management vs Governance. It’s easy to be a board member when things are going well, the line between management and governance may become blurred during a crisis. (33:24)
Difficult Decisions. The most difficult, and often most emotional, decisions are around people. (45:50)
Pathway to the Boardroom. Mindy discusses how professionals can gain the knowledge they need to become board members. (47:34)

In this episode, we sit down with Seema Verma, a former administrator of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The conversation explores implementing the free market in healthcare, Medicare Advantage, fee for service, and more.

In Episode 24:

For this special mash-up episode we dive into interpersonal skills: what they are and how they can make you a better leader. We hear clips from four speakers who hold unique leadership backgrounds across health and other industries. This episode focuses on the particular skills of listening, communication, and teamwork. These skills are necessary for up-and-coming leaders, and they can be further developed at any leadership stage.

Key Insights:

Listening as an Art Form. Kevin Sharer, former Chairman and CEO, Amgen and co-author of “The CEO Test,” describes how he learned that he needed to be a better listener. (2:45)
Hearing the Team. Dr. Shantanu Agrawal, Chief Health Officer, Anthem, touches on how listening guides leaders when they take on new roles. (5:07)
Simplifying the complex. Listen to Adam Bryant, journalist, Managing Director, The ExCo group and co-author of “The CEO Test,” discuss how to be a better communicator. (6:42)
Empowering Yourself and Others. Marisa Porges, Ph.D., Head of School, The Baldwin School and author of “What Girls Need,” discusses how leadership principles influence teamwork. (8:41)

Meet Ruth Williams-Brinkley:

Ruth Williams-Brinkley is Regional President, Kaiser Permanente, Mid-Atlantic. In this role, Ruth oversees all of Kaiser Permanente’s care delivery and health plan operations in Washington, D.C., and suburban Maryland, Baltimore, and Northern Virginia. Previously, Ruth served as CEO for multiple health systems, including Kentucky’s largest integrated health system, KentuckyOne. She began her career as a nurse, earning a MS in Nursing Administration from DePaul University.

Key Insights:

Ruth’s experience spans from direct patient care, to operations management across four states and districts. She is well-versed in Kaiser Permanente’s unique patient care and payment model, and oversees the building of healthy ecosystems around the patient.

Filling Gaps with Technology. Ruth discusses the platform developed by Unite Us and how it addresses social-determinants of health. (32:27)
Leading People. Healthcare is full of promising technology, but at its core, patient care and leadership are about people. (10:10)
Problem Solving. Ruth explains how her background influenced her career and developed her ability to problem-solve. (34:49)
Mentorship. Mentors can provide powerful, early-career advice. And once you are established, you can return the favor to others. (37:58)

Meet Kevin Sharer:

Kevin Sharer led Amgen for 20 years, first as President and then as CEO. He also co-authored The CEO Test: Master the Challenges That Make or Break All Leaders. Kevin served on several boards of directors and on the faculty of Harvard Business School. Kevin received a Bachelor of Science in aeronautical engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy, an MS in aeronautical engineering from the US Naval Postgraduate School, and an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh's Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business.

Key Insights:

Kevin began his leadership journey in Navy submarines, translating his technical skills and interest in personal growth to his roles as President and eventually CEO of Amgen. He shares timeless knowledge about improving oneself and the skills necessary to be a successful CEO or board member.

Governance. It’s not enough to just show up. Being a good board member means balance, building relationships, and making the tough calls. (46:09)
Passing the CEO Test. Kevin discusses what selecting a quality CEO entails, including asking all the right questions and trusting your gut. (24:14)
Asking the Right Question. Diving deep and asking the right people questions will give you all the information you need to make quality judgements. (15;59)
Listening as an Art Form. The biggest revelation in Kevin’s career was the importance of listening, and how he needed to be a better listener. (28:21)

Meet Jeff Immelt:

Jeff Immelt served as CEO of General Electric (GE) for 16 years and CEO of GE Healthcare for four years. The leadership lessons that he learned during his time as CEO of GE are told in Hot Seat: What I Learned Leading A Great American Company. He also chaired the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness under the Obama administration. He is a currently a Venture Partner at New Enterprise Associates (NEA). Jeff has a B.A. degree in applied mathematics from Dartmouth College and an M.B.A. from Harvard University.

Key Insights:

During his first week as CEO of GE, Jeff was faced with the 9/11 terrorist attacks followed seven years later by the Great Recession. Jeff shares how he managed GE through these crises.

Why Join GE? I wantedto be an operator. Unlike many in my Harvard Business School class, I did not want to be a consultant or an investment banker. (10:01)
How Did You Assess the Response to 9/11? All business leaders were asked to provide a snapshot of what still works, what does not work, and how we should anticipate and respond to change. (21:39)
Healthcare Lessons Learned. Jeff learned that there are many terrific people in healthcare working to help others. Healthcare is behind other industries in application of business principles.(12:33)
Governance. Size of boards is important. At one time, GE had 18 board members and it was just too big because it’s easy to lose connectivity and focus. (34:43)

Meet Our Guest:

Dr. Marisa Porges is Head of School of The Baldwin School, a private school for girls with 500 students. Dr. Porges was a Fellow in the Obama White House, a visiting fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School and the Council on Foreign Relations, and served in the U.S. Navy as a naval flight officer. She is the author of What Girls Need: How to Raise Bold, Courageous, and Resilient Women. She received her B.A. from Harvard University, an M.Sc. from the London School of Economics, and a doctorate from King’s College London.

Key Insights:

Dr. Marisa Porges left Harvard to fly jets in the U.S. Navy during a time when there were few women in naval aviation. She shares real-life stories and leadership lessons gained from her time as a Navy pilot. As part of a research project, Dr. Porges interviewed Al-Qaeda military personnel in the field and discusses the risks involved and the leadership profile for a Jewish-American woman in that situation.

Flying Jets. Leadership lessons are inherent from her aviation career in the U.S. Navy including with small teams, big teams in moments of true physician risk, emotional risk and under lots of pressure. (13:19)
Cultivating Competitive Spirit. Sports nurture a competitive drive that transfers into professional careers. By the end of high school, two-thirds of girls will have stopped playing sports because of social norms and peer pressure. (36:45)
Collaborative Problem-Solving. Studies show that girls have an edge. We should figure out how to make this core skill a competitive advantage. (37:57)
Adaptability. Adaptability is a skill, a talent and a superpower that should be routinely practiced. (46:47)

In this episode, we sit down with Adam Bryant, Managing Director of the ExCo Group and Author of The CEO Test. The conversation explores characteristics of successful CEOs, the idea of “natural leaders,” priorities versus outcomes, and more.

In Part 1, Dr. DeSalvo shared with us her formative years from considering ballet as a profession to deciding upon medicine and her joy in leading public health as Commissioner of Health in New Orleans.

Today's episode, part 2, explores her federal government service as Assistant Secretary of Health and National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. Dr. DeSalvo also shares why she accepted the offer to join Google as Chief Health Officer. She reviews the role that Google played during the COVID-19 crisis and describes how it drew on her experiences and understanding of public health.

In this episode, Dr. DeSalvo shares how she became interested in politics while serving as the Assistant Secretary for Health with the Obama administration, a job that lives at the nexus of science, policy, and politics. She has spent her career focusing on improving health and eliminating disparities and gives insight into how her position at Google will allow her to utilize new technologies to achieve her passion.

In this episode, we sit down with Jason Herthel, the President & Chief Operating Officer of Montage International. The conversation explores Jason’s philosophy of leadership development, guest satisfaction, crisis management, and more.

In this episode, we sit down with Shantanu Agrawal, the Chief Health Officer at Anthem. The conversation explores the provider burden of collecting and reporting multiple quality measures, the challenges and resolution, Shantanu’s top two characteristics of a great leader, and more.

In this episode, we sit down with Aaron Martin, the Executive Vice President, Chief Digital Officer, and a Providence and Managing General Partner of Providence Ventures. The conversation explores the relationship between passion and vocation, characteristics of a leader, digital healthcare, and more.

In this episode, we sit down with Dawn Owens, the Chief Executive Officer at TripleTree Holdings. The conversation explores her transition from CEO to president, how 2020 was the most successful year in her company’s history, diversity in the workplace, and more.

In this episode, we sit down with Bill McInturff, co-founder and partner, Public Opinion Strategies. The conversation explores Bill’s career path through multiple stories, how he counsels leaders, where consumer experience fits, the increasing difficulty in political surveying, a path out of today’s highly partisan environment, and more.

In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Marty Makary, the Chief Islet Transplant Surgery Professor of Surgery at John Hopkins Medicine. The conversation explores the appropriateness of care, herd immunity, the microbiome as the big frontier in healthcare, and more.

In this episode, we sit down with Brad Stone, the author of Amazon Unbound. Building off of the book, the conversation explores the leadership of Jeff Bezos, Amazon in healthcare, leadership changes within Amazon, and more.

In this episode, we sit down with Kaveh Safavi, the Senior Managing Director at Accenture. The conversation explores the importance of listening, how the goal of healthcare is to minimize the need for healthcare, the ownership and privacy of data, and more.

The Gary Bisbee Show offers the following key insights:

Professor Carpenter came from a family of physicians instilling healthcare knowledge at an early age. He has leveraged his marketing expertise and focus on consumers by conducting a research project with five large health systems that will be published in the near future. Professor Carpenter shared his view on the difference between Starbucks and healthcare providers in delivering personalized services.

What sparked Greg’s interest in marketing and teaching? (1:52)

If he wasn’t a professor, what would he be? (2:30)

Greg’s MBA course, ‘Consumers, Culture, and Leadership’ (5:23)

Successful leaders after COVID-19 (21:26)

Biggest changes in marketing post-pandemic (19:36)

Personalization of Data (12:45)

Expectations of Healthcare Delivery Systems (14:42)

In this episode, we sit down with Bill Lentsch, Chief Customer Experience Officer at Delta Air Lines. Delta and healthcare have much in common since both industries are highly regulated, competitive, and have a dependence on data and its accuracy. Bill shared his views on structuring the customer experience role, operating a customer-centric organization, and more.

In Episode 7 we talk extensively with Dr. Don Rucker who recently finished serving as director of the Office of National Coordinator (ONC). We discuss his unique background which prepared him for this position, the role of the ONC in healthcare, his accomplishments while serving the ONC, the impacts of the HITECH Act and Cures Act, Big Data, and much more. Join us as we delve into this fascinating blend of technology and healthcare.

In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Elder Granger, a physician and retired major general in the US Army who is now the CEO of The 5 Ps, a consulting company focused on healthcare, education, and leadership. In this conversation we will explore General Granger's experiences in the military, his path into leadership, thoughts on leadership development, keys of decision making, roles of board members, and characteristics of a leader in a crisis.

In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Julie Gerberding who holds a faculty position at UCSF, lead the CDC, and is a senior executive at Merck. We’ll uncover what led to Julie’s success, her take on the speed of development of COVID vaccines, vaccine hesitancy, the decision criteria she used as she made her career moves, and what leadership lessons she learned along the way.

In this episode, we sit down with Mark Miller, Executive Vice President of Health Care at Arnold Ventures and the Former Executive Director of MedPAC. We’ll explore how Mark defined the position of executive director at MedPAC, significantly influenced federal health policy at MedPAC, his current influence at Arnold Ventures, and a discussion of his purpose and agenda.

As part of the Health Policy Series, Gary speaks with Nancy-Ann DeParle, a partner and co-founder of Consonance Capital Partners and former assistant to President Barack Obama. In this conversation, we will explore lessons has Nancy-Ann learned by leading programs at both the federal and state levels, the primary role of a board member, and more.

In this episode, we sit down with Marcus Osborne, Senior Vice President of Walmart Health. With nearly 4,800 stores in the US, if Walmart decided to provide health care in a big way, healthcare in the US would change forever. How can Walmart apply its general merchandising knowledge to health care? We'll explore that in today's conversation along with what Walmart Health is learning, how satisfied customers are with the services and price, and what Walmart Health's plans are for expansion.

In this inaugural episode of The Gary Bisbee Show, Gary welcomes Johnson & Johnson CEO Alex Gorsky. Alex and Gary discuss the latest news surrounding COVID-19, the rollout of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and how the past year has changed how the health economy will operate moving forward.

The Gary Bisbee Show is a weekly podcast discussing how leading health system CEOs and healthcare leaders are navigating the evolving healthcare landscape while leading high-performing teams and driving innovation across the industry.

Join Gary Bisbee as he conducts weekly interviews with leading thinkers and executives in healthcare.