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  • EP508: Why Don't More Self-insured CEOs Take Bold Action in Health Benefits Strategy? With Lee Lewis

    EP508: Why Don't More Self-insured CEOs Take Bold Action in Health Benefits Strategy? With Lee Lewis
    2026/04/23
    This episode is the very first episode that we have done that is an AMA—an Ask Me Anything—and here is our very first question. Sarah Monroe: Hi. This is Sarah Monroe in Chicago, and I'm a benefits procurement leader. And I'm curious why you think so few executives take proactive bold action in health benefits strategy given the magnitude of opportunity. For a full transcript of this episode, click here. If you enjoy this podcast, be sure to subscribe to the free weekly newsletter to be a member of the Relentless Tribe. Stacey: Thank you, Sarah Monroe, for that question that so many probably wonder about. To help answer said question, I shanghaied the one and only Lee Lewis. And wow, is that a good choice, if I do say so myself. As just one place that Lee takes this conversation—which is also a wild spoiler alert, so earmuffs if you're opposed to such things—but coming up here, Lee tells the following gem of a C-suite anecdote, just so you know where this conversation is headed. Lee says, after an M&A (merger and acquisition), after an acquisition, they looked at the health plans; and the one employer had a $2,300 per year of less expense per employee, and the benefits were actually better. So, when they moved over the employees, they made over a quarter billion dollars of instant equity value for the acquired company that nobody had priced into the calculation. Right? Nobody had thought about this or looked into it or anything, but it was a quarter billion dollars of additional value because this one company just had managed their health benefits so much better. I don't know. That feels like the first verse of some CEO love song, right, if you ask me. But let me get organized. This conversation has three parts. The first part is what Lee calls dogmas. By the way, they are all false. You're gonna know if you're a longtime listener of the show or even a short-time listener. You're gonna know immediately that each one of these dogmas is false. But many CEOs may believe these three dogmas. And if they do, they're not gonna do anything with their health plan besides, as Lee says, stay in the herd. Right? Just like not be an outlier amongst comparable companies. In brief, those three dogmas that are all false that we talk about in the conversation that follows are: Dogma 1: Health benefits are a fixed expense. Dogma 2: Saving money hurts people. Dogma 3: Fixing healthcare is never worth the effort. It's high risk. It's high disruption. We've tried things before. They've never worked. You can definitely see how if there is a C-suite that believes any one of those three dogmas, they're not gonna do anything with their health plan anytime soon. All right … so, after we talk about the internal dogmas, Lee and I, then we talk about the potential external reasons for a lack of action by C-suites. And in brief, there are four of them. They are: 1. Circles a CEO travels in may include hanging out with health system leaders, and as I say in the show that follows, they may be drinking Kool-Aid they never realized got put in their beverage. So many shows on what C-suites at Consolidated health systems are into. Go back and listen to some of them. 2. Balance of trade: threats and promises. Balance of trade, we talk about at some length later on. So, if you don't know what that means, you're in luck. Stay tuned. 3. Personal incentives for a CEO or others offered by some of the big status quo vendors, you know, go on trips, fancy tickets, weekends at a ranch, that kind of thing. 4. CEOs may not be all that concerned about a $5,000 deductible or a higher co-pay. But a $25-an-hour employee? Yeah … a very, very different perspective. So, we go through each one of those four. And then we close out this show with Lee giving one good idea after another. Let me say he is on a roll giving advice for how, even if the CEO C-suite is extremely risk averse for a benefits team to get the show on the road, to get moving, to try new things, to try to (despite or in spite of what the C-suite may want or think) move the health plan forward. And then he gives some advice directly to any CEOs who may be in the building here. The list that Lee riffs out, again, toward the end of the show is pure, hard-fought and -won wisdom. So, if your time is limited, do skip ahead, my friend, would be my advice. You don't wanna miss the end of this episode where the plan comes together. And speaking of the plan coming together, may I also inform you that next week we have a companion show here. We have Patrick Nelli on the podcast with a second view maybe into Sarah Monroe's original question, but we take it a little bit more specifically from the standpoint of a CFO and how to understand and speak the language of a CFO. So, do come back for that. It is a great conversation. This podcast is sponsored by Aventria Health Group with an assist from Payerset. So, thank you very much to both Aventria Health Group and Payerset for offering the ...
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    44 分
  • EP507: 4 Core Concepts to Buy or Deliver the Highest-Value Healthcare—A Review

    EP507: 4 Core Concepts to Buy or Deliver the Highest-Value Healthcare—A Review
    2026/04/16
    In this episode of Relentless Health Value, Stacey Richter summarizes 4 core concepts for getting highest-value healthcare and we hear from 15 experts who weigh in on the following concepts: (1) "Buy healthcare," not insurance, by focusing on unit prices and avoiding administrative extraction like spread pricing and layered fees, illustrated by examples from Jonathan Baran, Cynthia Fisher, Mark Newman, and Justin Leader; (2) avoid the "myth of less expensive care," emphasizing that price often doesn't correlate with quality and that better, safer care can cost less, with support from Elizabeth Mitchell, Dr. Sam Flanders, Shane Cerone, Jerry DiMaso, and Ivana Krajcinovic, plus transparency-file rate disparities; (3) consider direct contracting and collaboration between plan sponsors and clinicians (and pharmacies), including centers of excellence, to reduce middlemen and align incentives, with clips from Krajcinovic, Ryan Jacobs, Adam Stavisky, and Ryan Wells; and 4) buy true value—outcomes over cost—measured across the care journey and grounded in patient goals, with Dr. Mick Connors, Dr. Siva, and Dr. Kenny Cole. === LINKS === 🔗 Show Notes with all mentioned links: https://cc-lnk.com/EP507 ✉️ Enjoy this podcast? Subscribe to the free weekly newsletter: https://relentlesshealthvalue.com/join-the-relentless-tribe 🫙 Support the podcast with a small donation to the Tip Jar: https://relentlesshealthvalue.com/join-the-relentless-tribe 🎤 Listen on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/feed/id892082003?ls=1 🎤 Listen on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/6UjgzI7bScDrWvZEk2f46b 📺 Subscribe to our YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@RelentlessHealthValue === CONNECT WITH THE RHV TEAM === ✭ LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/relentless-health-value/ ✭ Threads https://www.threads.net/@relentlesshealthvalue/ ✭ Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/relentleshealth.bsky.social ✭ X https://twitter.com/relentleshealth/ Featured Experts by Core Concept Concept 1: Buy Healthcare, Not Insurance Jonathan Baran, CEO, Self Fund Health (EP483) Cynthia Fisher, founder and chairman, PatientRightsAdvocate.org; co-founder and chairman of Power to the Patients (EP457) Mark Newman, co-founder and CEO, Nomi Health (EP496) Justin Leader, founder and CEO, BenefitsDNA (EP433) Concept 2: Avoid the Myth of Less Expensive Healthcare Elizabeth Mitchell, president and CEO, Purchaser Business Group on Health (EP436) Sam Flanders, MD, senior advisor, Kada Health (EP490) Shane Cerone, CEO, Kada Health (EP492) Jerry DiMaso, co-founder and CEO, Payerset (EP506) Ivana Krajcinovic, PhD, former vice president for healthcare delivery (retired), UNITE HERE HEALTH (EP501) Concept 3: Consider Direct Contracting Ivana Krajcinovic, PhD, former vice president for healthcare delivery (retired), UNITE HERE HEALTH (EP501) Suhas Gondi, MD, MBA, chief medical officer, HealthStrategy (EP404) Ryan Jacobs, senior vice president of health plan strategy and partnerships, Marathon Health (EP504) Komal Bajaj, MD, professor of obstetrics and gynecology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine (EP458) Adam Stavisky, business advisor, Stavisky LLC (EP503) Cristin Dickerson, MD, founder and CEO, Green Imaging (EP485) Stan Schwartz, MD, chief medical officer, ZERO.health (EP486) Leo Spector, MD, MBA, CEO, OrthoCarolina (EP503) Ryan Wells, founder and CEO, Health Here (EP503) Concept 4: Buy the Highest-Value Healthcare Mick Connors, MD, pediatric emergency medicine physician, Dayton Children's Hospital (EP495) Ahilan Sivagenesan, MD, neurosurgeon, Hospital for Special Surgery; Head of Quality and Value, Mishe Health (EP505) Kenny Cole, MD, System VP, Clinical Improvement, Ochsner Health (EP473) 00:00 Introduction to this episode and guests. 01:38 The four core concepts to buy or deliver highest-value healthcare: a summary. 06:01 An exciting show announcement. 07:32 Core Concept 1: Why buy highest-value healthcare, not "best" coverage? 11:28 Core Concept 2: Will employers fall victim to the myth of inexpensive care? 13:00 Why better-quality care vs. more affordable care is a false choice. 17:09 Core Concept 3: Direct contracting. 17:58 Why demand curve matters in healthcare cost. 22:08 How Centers of Excellence play into all of this. 22:54 Core Concept 4: How do you conceive of and buy high-value healthcare? 23:48 The value equation in healthcare. 25:35 What is value? 28:20 What whole-person care looks like. 30:24 Relentless Health Value Chatbot sneak peek announcement. 32:14 Coming up: looking at the episodes ahead.
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    34 分
  • EP506: How Other Employers, Shareholders, and Clinics Are Using Price Transparency Data—And It's an Arms Race, With Jerry DiMaso

    EP506: How Other Employers, Shareholders, and Clinics Are Using Price Transparency Data—And It's an Arms Race, With Jerry DiMaso
    2026/04/09
    Stacey Richter interviews Jerry DiMaso, CEO of Payerset, about how hospital and carrier price transparency data (mandates beginning with hospitals in 2019 and carriers in 2022) is being used by plan sponsors and providers. For self-insured employers and unions, DiMaso highlights three key uses: benchmarking against competitors via EIN to compare negotiated rates and carve-outs, identifying high-cost billing codes, and exposing "discount shell games" by validating whether claimed discounts reflect real savings. Employers can use the insights to guide TPA negotiations, implement service carve-outs/direct contracts and calculate objective savings, and model alternative plan types (e.g., PPO vs HMO) while maintaining access. For clinics, transparency data can level information asymmetry by enabling rate benchmarking, revealing new contracting opportunities with previously unknown carriers, and supporting rate increases by pairing price comparisons with quality/outcomes; the discussion also addresses concerns about prices rising and an emerging transparency "arms race." === LINKS === 🔗 Show Notes with all mentioned links: https://cc-lnk.com/EP506 ✉️ Enjoy this podcast? Subscribe to the free weekly newsletter: https://relentlesshealthvalue.com/join-the-relentless-tribe 🫙 Support the podcast with a small donation to the Tip Jar: https://relentlesshealthvalue.com/join-the-relentless-tribe 🎤 Listen on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/feed/id892082003?ls=1 🎤 Listen on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/6UjgzI7bScDrWvZEk2f46b 📺 Subscribe to our YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@RelentlessHealthValue === CONNECT WITH THE RHV TEAM === ✭ LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/relentless-health-value/ ✭ Threads https://www.threads.net/@relentlesshealthvalue/ ✭ Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/relentleshealth.bsky.social ✭ X https://twitter.com/relentleshealth/ 00:00 Introduction to this episode. 00:50 How does transparent pricing data fit into the "inches all around us"? 03:13 A quick overview of what plan sponsors do with these price transparency insights. 05:52 The specific ways that clinical organizations can leverage price transparency data. 08:13 How price transparency infrastructure started and how it's grown to where we are now. 09:21 What are the insights that can be gleaned from the price transparency data available? 10:01 How price transparency data is a treasure trove for self-insured employers. 11:21 How employers can utilize this transparency data. 12:31 EP472 with Eric Bricker, MD. 14:48 How employers can help TPAs negotiate. 15:18 Why employers should be thinking about carving out services. 16:11 EP503 with Ryan Wells; Leo Spector, MD, MBA; and Adam Stavisky. 16:21 Why employers need to direct contract. 17:16 LinkedIn post by Chris Deacon. 17:38 A quick summary of advice for plan sponsors. 18:04 LinkedIn post by Andrew Tsang. 18:41 LinkedIn post by Pearly Chen. 19:32 How rates get set and how small providers can see this and benefit from it. 20:55 How small providers can use rate transparency to negotiate better rates. 22:18 EP489 with Dan Greenleaf. 25:46 Have prices increased due to price transparency? 29:25 Why price transparency makes it more important to eliminate lazy networks. 29:41 EP501 with Ivana Krajcinovic, PhD. 31:10 What is the transparency arms race, and what is happening because of it? 34:39 What Payerset does.
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    36 分
  • EP505: The Death of the "What Is Value" Guessing Game for Clinical and Plan Decision-Makers Ready to Move On, With Ahilan Sivaganesan, MD

    EP505: The Death of the "What Is Value" Guessing Game for Clinical and Plan Decision-Makers Ready to Move On, With Ahilan Sivaganesan, MD
    2026/04/02
    Stacey Richter interviews neurosurgeon Dr. Ahilan Sivaganesan (Dr. Siva) about replacing vague healthcare "value" claims with quantified outcomes and unit-level costs, introducing his Operative Value Index (OVI). They discuss how hospitals often lack true internal episode costs and how common quality metrics miss patient-reported outcomes and appropriateness across the full care journey. Using time-driven activity-based costing (TDABC) and condition- or procedure-specific patient-reported outcomes, OVI creates a common mathematical language to compare surgeons, practices, or health systems, risk-adjust for confounders, and support steering/tiering and direct contracting for self-funded employers. Siva describes transparency via bubble charts that spur clinician behavior change without new incentives and argues this infrastructure is essential as bundled payments and risk-based arrangements expand, framing a "Yahoo vs Google" shift from fee-for-service volume to measurable value. === LINKS === 🔗 Show Notes with all mentioned links: https://cc-lnk.com/EP505 ✉️ Enjoy this podcast? Subscribe to the free weekly newsletter: https://relentlesshealthvalue.com/join-the-relentless-tribe 🫙 Support the podcast with a small donation to the Tip Jar: https://relentlesshealthvalue.com/join-the-relentless-tribe 🎤 Listen on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/feed/id892082003?ls= 🎤 Listen on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/6UjgzI7bScDrWvZEk2f46b 📺 Subscribe to our YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@RelentlessHealthValue === CONNECT WITH THE RHV TEAM === ✭ LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/relentless-health-value/ ✭ Threads https://www.threads.net/@relentlesshealthvalue/ ✭ Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/relentleshealth.bsky.social ✭ X https://twitter.com/relentleshealth/ 00:00 Introduction to this episode. 00:38 The goal of this episode. 01:28 What the Operative Value Index (OVI) is. 02:04 A quick episode overview. 04:23 EP434 with Benjamin Schwartz, MD, MBA. 04:44 How this episode came about. 09:24 How Dr. Siva got involved in the research around outcomes and costs. 11:51 How the value equation doesn't add up to true quality. 14:12 What measuring quality across the entire care journey means. 15:00 EP326 with Rishi Wadhera, MD, MPP. 15:08 EP295 with Rebecca Etz, PhD. 16:07 Why appropriateness is the foundation of quality. 19:08 Why practicing clinicians need to be thinking about the true costs of delivering care. 21:20 Time-driven activity-based costing (TDABC). 23:44 The two things that must be known for value-based care to succeed. 24:06 Article by Dana Prommel Strauss. 27:09 A quick summary of the conversation thus far. 30:42 The power of transparency in Dr. Siva's bubble plots. 32:39 EP449 with Marty Makary, MD, MPH. 34:05 Why these bubble plots work not just at the procedural level but at the diagnosis level, too. 36:13 EP503 with Ryan Wells; Leo Spector, MD, MBA; and Adam Stavisky. 36:21 EP501 with Ivana Krajcinovic, PhD. 36:30 EP398 with Jacob Asher, MD. 37:28 The "big blue ocean" opportunity for forward-looking providers. 38:52 Substack post by John Lee, MD. 40:37 The incredible opportunity for entities and groups that can help provide the infrastructure needed for this value index. 41:42 Essay written by Dr. Siva. 43:19 Last thoughts by Dr. Siva on TDABC and competition on value.
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    44 分
  • EP504: A Back-to-Basics Roadmap Through the Perverse Incentives to Advanced Primary Care, With Ryan Jacobs

    EP504: A Back-to-Basics Roadmap Through the Perverse Incentives to Advanced Primary Care, With Ryan Jacobs
    2026/03/26
    Why Advanced Primary Care Doesn't Scale: Conflicting Incentives, Complacency, and a 3-Step Roadmap Stacey Richter interviews Ryan Jacobs (SVP Strategy and Partnerships, Marathon Health) on why evidence-backed advanced primary care (APC)—focused on managing risk, improving outcomes, and lowering costs—still isn't widespread. They argue APC struggles to scale due to two root barriers: conflicting fiduciary duties (health systems and payers driven by volume, "heads in beds," and market-power growth, while APC keeps patients out of hospitals) and a "black box of complacency," where innovators often lose to the status quo because dominant organizations can rationally avoid investing without gaining share. Jacobs offers a three-step roadmap: perform a reality-based assessment by following the money and identifying who is financially harmed by prevention; anticipate stakeholders' math by framing value as CFOs, benefits leaders, and plan sponsors do; and proceed from strategic conclusions such as direct contracting to bypass misaligned intermediaries. === LINKS === 🔗 Show Notes with all mentioned links: https://cc-lnk.com/EP504 ✉️ Enjoy this podcast? Subscribe to the free weekly newsletter: https://relentlesshealthvalue.com/join-the-relentless-tribe 🫙 Support the podcast with a small donation to the Tip Jar: https://relentlesshealthvalue.com/join-the-relentless-tribe 🎤 Listen on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/feed/id892082003?ls=1 🎤 Listen on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/6UjgzI7bScDrWvZEk2f46b 📺 Subscribe to our YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@RelentlessHealthValue === CONNECT WITH THE RHV TEAM === ✭ LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/relentless-health-value/ ✭ Threads https://www.threads.net/@relentlesshealthvalue/ ✭ Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/relentleshealth.bsky.social ✭ X https://twitter.com/relentleshealth/ 00:00 A refresher on advanced primary care (APC). 02:36 Why APC isn't everywhere. 04:39 The problem of complacency in the healthcare system. 05:27 Ryan Jacobs' roadmap. 08:59 The pitfalls of advanced primary care. 09:58 What primary fiduciary responsibility means. 10:51 Growth on the payer side. 11:51 SUMS5 with Jacob Asher, MD. 12:36 EP483 (Part 1 and Part 2) with Jonathan Baran. 12:48 EP465 with Chris Crawford. 13:27 The reality of the healthcare system in the United States. 14:11 The flywheel created by the tension within the healthcare system. 15:25 EP391 with Scott Conard, MD. 15:51 The tension between APC's goals and fiduciary responsibility. 17:52 The black box of complacency. 19:25 EP436 with Elizabeth Mitchell. 20:05 What's driven most of the change in the advanced primary care space. 20:54 EP398 with Jacob Asher, MD. 21:01 What would happen if there was a functioning market in healthcare. 21:41 EP286 with John Rodis, MD, MBA. 21:52 Why complacency may be a rational move in healthcare. 22:41 EP438 with John Lee, MD. 23:22 A roadmap to success in advanced primary care. 23:55 Step 1: Follow the money. 24:50 Step 2: Someone's gonna do math. 25:17 What strategic thinking looks like as an employer. 28:34 Step 3: Proceed based on strategic conclusions. 30:20 How self-insured employers have created their own market. 31:07 The strategic decision for physicians wanting to create change. 32:25 A reiteration of the episode's discussion. 33:49 Better payment structures.
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    34 分
  • Insights to Outwit the Hot Mess of the Non-Healthcare Market

    Insights to Outwit the Hot Mess of the Non-Healthcare Market
    2026/03/19
    In this Inbetweenisode, Stacey shares listener feedback and reflects on making better decisions in employer-sponsored healthcare, spotlighting LinkedIn posts by Ken Wosczyna and Michelle Bernabe. Ken argues Relentless Health Value moves from theory to practical transformation by sharpening judgment, which Stacey ties to how millions of workplace decisions shape the healthcare system and how actuaries and executives can align choices with values. Stacey emphasizes that good decisions require both transparency and understanding, previewing an upcoming episode with Jerry DiMaso about using transparency files to compare what peer companies pay, and citing examples of misleading "transparency" through complex contracting and financialization (e.g., CABG pricing and PBM tactics). She also questions what "disruption" means when the status quo already harms access. Stacey highlights direct contracting, Centers of Excellence, and upcoming advanced primary care episodes. === LINKS === 🔗 Show Notes with all mentioned links: https://cc-lnk.com/INBW46 ✉️ Enjoy this podcast? Subscribe to the free weekly newsletter: https://relentlesshealthvalue.com/join-the-relentless-tribe 🫙 Support the podcast with a small donation to the Tip Jar: https://relentlesshealthvalue.com/join-the-relentless-tribe 🎤 Listen on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/feed/id892082003?ls=1 🎤 Listen on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/6UjgzI7bScDrWvZEk2f46b 📺 Subscribe to our YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@RelentlessHealthValue === CONNECT WITH THE RHV TEAM === ✭ LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/relentless-health-value/ ✭ Threads https://www.threads.net/@relentlesshealthvalue/ ✭ Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/relentleshealth.bsky.social ✭ X https://twitter.com/relentleshealth/ 00:00 Introduction: trying something new with this inbetweenisode. 01:29 "Insight is common. Execution is rare.": a LinkedIn post from Ken Wosczyna. 03:02 SUMS8 with Larry Bauer, MSW, MEd. 03:08 The power of the C-suite versus the decision power of workers. 03:45 SUMS7 with Keith Passwater and JR Clark. 04:00 The power of actuaries to align with values. 04:50 Rate criticals for fixing the nonexistent healthcare market. 05:50 EP501 with Ivana Krajcinovic, PhD. 06:56 Why you can't fix what you don't understand. 07:46 EP472 with Eric Bricker, MD. 09:27 A comment from Craig Herndon. 10:44 Why avoiding disruption and problems with access can create disruption and problems with access. 12:22 A LinkedIn post from Michelle Bernabe. 12:26 EP500 with Stacey. 15:56 Looking ahead: topics future episodes will be covering. 16:07 EP503 with Ryan Wells; Leo Spector, MD, MBA; and Adam Stavisky. 17:08 A Web site/app for Relentless Health Value episodes. 18:24 EP480 with Kimberly Carleson. 19:22 Check out this episode's sponsor.
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    20 分
  • EP503: Smart Collaboration With Direct-to-Employer Specialty Care, With Ryan Wells; Leo Spector, MD, MBA; and Adam Stavisky

    EP503: Smart Collaboration With Direct-to-Employer Specialty Care, With Ryan Wells; Leo Spector, MD, MBA; and Adam Stavisky
    2026/03/12
    Episode 503 of Relentless Health Value features Stacey Richter with Adam Stavisky, Dr. Leo Spector (OrthoCarolina), and Ryan Wells (Health Here) discussing how self-insured employers and specialists rarely connect directly due to intermediaries and fee-for-service "rails." They outline three common pitfalls when bridging this gap: defining and measuring quality and appropriateness (limits of claims data and missing patient-reported outcomes), achieving scale across geographies and specialties, and ensuring benefit design and incentives so members actually use direct-contracting programs. The conversation frames the evolution of Centers of Excellence from 1.0 (travel to brand-name hospitals) to 2.0 (more local but administratively manual) to 3.0 (new infrastructure enabling direct, efficient contracting). Health Here is described as a digital bridge to support payment and communication pathways and reduce administrative waste. === LINKS === 🔗 Show Notes with all mentioned links: https://cc-lnk.com/EP503 ✉️ Enjoy this podcast? Subscribe to the free weekly newsletter: https://relentlesshealthvalue.com/join-the-relentless-tribe 🫙 Support the podcast with a small donation to the Tip Jar: https://relentlesshealthvalue.com/join-the-relentless-tribe 🎤 Listen on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/feed/id892082003?ls=1 🎤 Listen on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/6UjgzI7bScDrWvZEk2f46b 📺 Subscribe to our YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@RelentlessHealthValue === CONNECT WITH THE RHV TEAM === ✭ LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/relentless-health-value/ ✭ Threads https://www.threads.net/@relentlesshealthvalue/ ✭ Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/relentleshealth.bsky.social ✭ X https://twitter.com/relentleshealth/ 00:00 Introduction. 00:32 Collaboration as the next breakthrough innovation. 02:24 A summary of the upcoming conversation. 05:45 A summary of where we are and what the future looks like. 06:24 A relevant post from Jonathan Baran. 08:12 The conversation with Ryan Wells, Dr. Leo Spector, and Adam Stavisky: collaboration from the standpoint of a specialist. 12:22 The pitfalls of data accuracy and defining what quality means from the POV of a self-insured employer. 15:36 Defining quality and data accuracy from the POV of a physician. 15:57 How do you measure outcomes when assessing quality and looking at the available data? 21:45 EP294 with Steve Schutzer, MD. 22:06 Scale and operationalization: How do we do it? 27:00 Shout-out to OrthoForum. 29:58 Take Two: EP398 with Jacob Asher, MD. 30:13 EP501 with Ivana Krajcinovic, PhD. 30:30 How things could be better. 33:29 One last complication and how to structure benefit design to align incentives. 35:33 What an "anti-cricket" program looks like. 37:24 EP308 with Mark Fendrick, MD. 37:34 How do we operationalize benefit design and aligned incentives? 39:39 What we're seeing today in Centers of Excellence 2.0. 41:47 What Adam wants to make clear in all of this.
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    46 分
  • EP502: How Some Pretty Wild Medicare Fraud Sabotages ACOs and Also Independent Practices and Could Cost Plan Sponsors Such as Self-insured Employers a Lot of Zeros Downstream, With Brian Machut

    EP502: How Some Pretty Wild Medicare Fraud Sabotages ACOs and Also Independent Practices and Could Cost Plan Sponsors Such as Self-insured Employers a Lot of Zeros Downstream, With Brian Machut
    2026/03/05

    Episode 502 features Stacey's conversation with Brian Machut (Alliant Health) on how widespread Medicare fee-for-service fraud is inflating costs and undermining ACO shared savings in MSSP and ACO REACH. ACOs uncovered major urinary catheter fraud in 2023 tied to codes A4352/A4353, totaling about $3.5B, with some beneficiaries billed for items never received (including a case shared by Dr. Tara Lagu).

    CMS created a "SAHS" (significant, anomalous, highly suspect) process to remove certain suspect costs, but benchmark effects can unevenly impact ACOs; catheter fraud is still projected at $3–$3.5B in 2025. The episode also highlights rapidly growing "skin substitute" spending projected at $13–$15B in 2025; CMS did not classify 2024 skin substitute costs as SAHS, leaving them in ACO performance calculations.

    Machut explains this fraud and missed CMS trend projections can reduce provider earnings, discourage participation in value-based care, and potentially drive cost shifting into higher commercial rates—affecting plan sponsors such as self-insured employers.

    === LINKS ===
    🔗 Show Notes with all mentioned links:
    https://cc-lnk.com/EP502

    ✉️ Enjoy this podcast? Subscribe to the free weekly newsletter:
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    00:00 One way hackers are using medical data to commit Medicare fraud.

    01:49 What today's conversation with Brian Machut entails.

    02:16 The downstream impact that this Medicare fraud can have.

    03:30 A brief outline of how plan sponsors can be affected by this Medicare fraud.

    06:38 What does a value-based actuary do?

    08:04 The conversation with Brian Machut: What caused his team to look into DME costs and uncover Medicare fraud?

    08:46 How much did this fraud scheme cost organizations in 2023?

    09:57 How this data was tracked down and uncovered.

    11:13 How fee-for-service ACOs work, and why this Medicare fraud affected the ACOs' shared savings.

    12:46 The two codes that were the target of this fraud.

    15:13 Across the U.S., how much money in 2023 did this fraud, waste, and abuse cost, and what was done about it?

    16:14 The framework that was created to combat this fraud spend.

    17:49 Why the CMS decision to pull those expenditures negatively affected some ACOs.

    20:17 Where things stand now with this catheter fraud.

    21:33 Why this fraud is still able to happen.

    22:19 Is this a use case for prior authorizations?

    23:49 How this Medicare fraud affects self-insured employers and what they should keep in mind.

    25:12 What is the correlation to employee affordability?

    27:08 A cost that dwarfs the catheter Medicare fraud.

    28:21 A brief summary of skin substitutes.

    29:32 What SAHS means, and how CMS uses it to calculate an ACO's shared savings.

    31:21 Why CMS chose not to classify skin substitutes as SAHS.

    33:26 Why this fraud affects ACOs' prospective trend pricing risk.

    36:40 Why these fraud cases make participating in ACO programs less appealing to provider organizations.

    38:28 Medicare Advantage Advance Notice for 2027.
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    39 分