A Healthy Dose

Following the Deerfield Management and Oxeon Partners-sponsored event, Breaking into the Boardroom, hosts and attendees gathered to reflect on the lack of female representation at senior levels of healthcare companies, boards, and investment firms. Leslie Henshaw, Partner at Deerfield, Kate Ryder, Founder & CEO of Maven, Carolyn Magill, CEO of Remedy Partners, and Mia Jung, Co-President of the Oxeon executive search practice highlight the unique position and responsibility of healthcare leaders and investors to make an impact on an industry where women are the majority of the decision makers and make up 75% of the work force.

Frank Williams and Seth Blackley, CEO and Co-Founder, and President and Co-Founder, of Evolent Health respectively, recount the story of Evolent from an initial idea to IPO in 3.5 years. While still wondering if they’ve made it as a $400M startup, they reflect on what it means to be one of the few publicly traded healthcare company, the power of taking a consultative approach to healthcare, and their belief that talent is everything.

Trevor and Steve sit down with Andy Slavitt, the former Acting Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Andy was nominated by former President Barack Obama to run CMS after he spearheaded the efforts to repair healthcare.gov following its infamous initial rollout. In addition to chronicling his time in public office, Andy recounts his experiences as an entrepreneur during the founding days of what is now Optum, and what it was like to lead the company as it scaled. He shares his reflections on growing an organization, exploring the importance of thinking about the emotional impact of healthcare, how to be a magnet for talent, and the value of empowering teams to foster a performance-driven culture.

Steve and Trevor sit down with Lee Shapiro, co-founder and Managing Partner of 7wire Ventures, and Jay Desai, an entrepreneur who left the Innovation Center at CMS to be the founding CEO of Patient Ping. The team examines the themes of HIMSS 2017, with an eye towards the future of the value-based care movement and the importance of diversity in teams.

Aneesh Chopra is the co-founder and President of NavHealth, and served as the first U.S. Chief Technology Officer under President Obama where, in addition to leading the charge on modernizing citizen engagement and government use of technology, he was responsible for programming aimed to reduce healthcare costs. The guys talk about Aneesh’s experience as the first CTO of the US Government, and how he built a career combining public service, politics, and healthcare technology. Aneesh reflects on how to drive through seemingly insurmountable challenges with persistent optimism.

Steve and Trevor talk to Senator Bill Frist, M.D. and Brad Smith, co-founders of Aspire Health, a leader in the palliative care space. During Senator Frist’s years representing Tennessee in the Senate from 1994-2006, he served on both the Finance and the Health Committees; he was instrumental in passing the Medicare Modernization Act and was ultimately elected Majority Leader of the Senate in 2003, after which he played an integral role in passing the Affordable Care Act. Brad Smith is rising entrepreneur who spent his early career as Chief of Staff at the Tennessee Department of Economic Development. Senator Frist and Brad discuss the path to founding Aspire Health, what they’ve learned in their three years since their first patient, and what it means to create an end of life experience filled with humanity and healing. The two share their experiences and advice for aspiring entrepreneurs.

In the inaugural “A Healthy Dose” podcast, Trevor and Steve get Ambar Bhattacharyya, Manager Director at Maverick Ventures, Sean Duffy, CEO of Omada Health, and Chrissy Farr, healthcare and technology journalist at Fast Company, together for a roundtable discussion to recap the 2017 JP Morgan Healthcare Conference. The group reflects on the climate of healthcare following the presidential election and the investment trends.