In this episode, we connect with Erin Lee, the VP of Global Operations and Managing Director of Babylon (U.S.). Babylon is a London-based telehealth startup leveraging AI to provide quality and affordable primary care around the world. Babylon has operations globally, including in the U.S., Canada, UK, Rwanda, and several countries within Asia and the Middle East and plans to continue expanding internationally. Since its founding in 2013, Babylon has raised $635M in funding to date from investors such as Centene, VNV Global, and Google DeepMind. Most recently, Babylon rallied $100M in Series C funding in September 2020.

We discussed:
1. Babylon’s mission to make healthcare more accessible and affordable globally by combining cutting-edge AI with best-in-class clinical care to reduce excess administrative costs and enhance practitioners’ ability to administer quality care

2. How Babylon's capitated care model to manage holistic patient care is delivering proactive healthcare over sickcare, and how Babylon is utilizing its global knowledge and understanding of all of the external risk factors that can impact a person’s health, such as their environment and unmet social needs, to treat the whole person

3. The impact of COVID and the rise in digital health providers and its impact on the consumer

4. Professional and leadership advice on working across diverse, international teams

Erin Lee, Babylon Health, on leveraging AI to break geographic silos

In this episode, we sat down with Brad Fluegel, lecturer at the Wharton School’s Health Care Management program and former Senior Vice President and Chief Healthcare Commercial Market Development Officer for Walgreens. Before that, he was the Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy and External Affairs Officer for Wellpoint, now Anthem, and Senior Vice President of National Accounts and Vice President of Enterprise Strategy at Aetna.

What we discussed:
1. Consumer behavior shifting to online purchasing combined with excess retail space is driving retailers such as Walmart and CVS to explore opportunities to leverage consumer familiarity with their brands to expand their presence in the growing healthcare industry.

2. Retailers, providers, and payers are exploring the tradeoffs of different models for expanding into healthcare, from partnering to investing to build out independent outpatient health centers.

3. Collaboration amongst payers, providers, and retailers may drive cost and care benefits for consumers while increasing health equity amongst disadvantaged populations.

4. Near-term policy changes on allowing lower level healthcare practitioners to administer care currently dispensed by doctors as well as insurers considering maintaining pay parity for in-person and remote services should persist after COVID.

Brad Fluegel, Walgreens, on increasing health equity with retailers entering healthcare

Dr. Andrey Ostrovsky is the former Chief Medical Officer of the US Medicaid program. He is now the Managing Partner at Social Innovation Ventures where he invests in and advises companies and non-profits dedicated to eliminating disparities. He also advises federal and state regulators on how to incorporate human centered design into policy making. He previously operated a series of methadone clinics in Baltimore, Maryland. Prior to working on the front line of the opioid use disorder crisis, he served as the Chief Medical Officer for the Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services, the nation's largest health insurer, where he advocated to protect the program against several legislative efforts to significantly dismantle the program. He also led efforts to streamline Medicaid and make it more customer-centric.

Before leading the Medicaid program, he co-founded the software company, Care at Hand, an evidence-based predictive analytics platform that used insights of non-medical staff to prevent aging people from being hospitalized. Care at Hand was acquired in 2016 by Mindoula Health. Before Care at Hand, Dr. Ostrovsky led teams at the World Health Organization, United States Senate, and San Francisco Health Department toward health system strengthening.

Dr. Ostrovsky has served on several boards and committees dedicated to behavioral health, interoperability standards, quality measurement, and home and community based services including the National Academies of Medicine, National Quality Forum, Institute for Healthcare Improvement, and the Commonwealth Fund. Andrey holds a Medical Doctorate and undergraduate degrees in Chemistry and Psychology Magna cum Laude from Boston University and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Andrey completed his pediatrics residency training in the Boston Combined Residency Program at Boston Medical Center and Boston Children's Hospital where he was a clinical instructor at Harvard Medical School. He is currently teaching faculty and attending physician at Children's National Medical Center.

Andrey Ostrovsky, MD, Social Innovation Ventures, on care without compromise

In this episode, we chatted with Dan Knecht, M.D., M.B.A., Vice President of Clinical Product at CVS Health. Prior to this, Dan served as Vice President of Health Strategy and Innovation for Medical Affairs at Aetna, a CVS Health company.

What we discussed:
● The CVS Health-Aetna merger in 2018 has enabled the joint company to create more customer-centric care by marrying advanced data analytics across Aetna's ~21 million members with care management and better access to health care for consumers via CVS Health's extensive retail presence.
● CVS Health balances localized care with national scale by developing products and services that address the needs of specific patient segments while continuously improving clinical product design through broad data analytic capabilities and a robust feedback cycle from providers and patients nationwide.
● CVS Health continues to invest in digital offerings and homecare services to meet the patient wherever they are in their health care journey. CVS Health is also expanding its virtual care, chronic care and behavioral health services in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, to meet consumers where they are and support them for every meaningful moment of health throughout their lifetime..
● COVID-19 has spurred CMS to expand its definition of healthcare, resulting in reimbursement for a broader range of services, including transportation, nutrition, and telemedicine. These changes will likely persist and benefit patients' health in the long run.

Dan Knecht, CVS Health, on delivering customer-centric healthcare

In this episode, we interviewed Michelle Davey, the Co-Founder and CEO of Wheel. Wheel is working behind the scenes to build many of the telemedicine services you're familiar with. Its online platform matches doctors with patients and also enables any company to stand up a virtual care practice. Wheel makes it simple for companies to build virtual care services under their brand by pairing technology with a nationwide clinician network. Wheel also provides clinicians with the best place to work in virtual care. By helping more companies and clinicians get started in virtual care, Wheel is helping patients get connected to the best care for their health needs. Today, Wheel works with companies of all sizes including publicly-traded digital health innovators, big tech companies, laboratories, retailers, and pharmaceutical and medical device companies. Wheel has raised $66 million from Lightspeed Ventures, CRV, Silverton Partners, Tusk Venture Partners, J.P. Morgan, and Future Shape.

Growing up in a rural area with limited medical resources, Michelle became focused on improving patient access to care. Her career took on a journey through healthcare, tech, marketplaces and virtual care. After recognizing the need for a new workforce configuration in healthcare, she co-founded Wheel with Griffin Mulcahey in January of 2018, after working together in the telehealth industry and realizing no one was looking out for those at the center of the healthcare engine: the clinicians on the front lines. Wheel became the industry’s first model for delivering high-quality virtual care at scale by empowering clinicians and providing new efficiencies for healthcare companies. Michelle is a thought leader focused on the urgent need for reinventing healthcare delivery models, clinician empowerment, and the future of work in healthcare.

Michelle Davey, Wheel, on building the new virtual care stack

In this episode, we sat down with Karan Singh, Co-Founder & COO of Ginger, now Headspace Health, through a merger with Headspace that was announced in August, 2021. Headspace Health is the world's leading provider of mental health and wellbeing solutions.

Karan Singh, Ginger & Headspace Health, on solving the supply imbalance in mental healthcare

In this episode, we interview Chris Severn, the Co-Founder and CEO of Turquoise Health, a company working to bring real price transparency to healthcare. With recent and upcoming waves in pricing legislation, combined with its fundraise led by a16z earlier this year, Turquoise is tackling the transparency problem from several angles by creating new tools for patients, payers, and providers.

Chris Severn, Turquoise Health, on Bringing Price Transparency to Healthcare

In this episode, we sat down with April Koh, the CEO and founder of Spring Health, a comprehensive mental health benefit for employers. April is currently the youngest female to run a unicorn company.

We discussed:

-Spring Health’s focus on providing precision mental healthcare through its proprietary predictive algorithms and science-backed methodology of collecting patient self-reported data
-The critical role data plays in improving the accuracy of Spring Health’s predictive algorithms, continuously upgrading customized member experiences, and helping clinicians enhance the efficacy of their care
-Upcoming plans to explore value-based payment models and investments for international expansion, family care offerings, and harmonizing workplace performance with employee work / life balance
-The challenges and opportunities of starting a company as a young woman of color, and how April’s entrepreneurial journey led her to be the youngest female running a unicorn company

April Koh, Spring Health, on leading in precision mental health

Our guest on this episode is Dr. Ashwini Zenooz (“Ash”), CEO of Commure, a platform that enables health systems, digital health companies, and 3rd party developers to more quickly build interoperable data-driven products for healthcare. Their goal is to facilitate new clinical and operational workflows that leverage a health system’s data infrastructure to improve the patient experience, perform better in value-based arrangements, and expand access to care. Commure recently closed a $500 million fundraise across two rounds led by Human Capital and Greenoaks Capital, and received its initial backing from General Catalyst.

Dr. Ashwini Zenooz, Commure, on building a more open operating system for health systems

Our guest on this episode is Holly Maloney, a Managing Director at the venture capital firm General Catalyst, where she has a focus on healthcare specifically. She has invested across the digital health space, with companies including Cityblock, Olive, SonderMind, Transcarent, and, most recently, Ribbon Health.

Holly Maloney, General Catalyst, with reflections on digital health in 2021 and predictions for 2022

In this episode, I sat down with Isabelle Kenyon, CEO and Founder of Calibrate. Founded in 2020, Calibrate is a metabolic health company on a mission to change the way the world treats weight. In August of 2021, Calibrate raised a $100M Series B round led by Founders Fund and Tiger Global. Since then, the company has hired hundreds of new employees and onboarded thousands of new patients, released its first Results Report, and geared up to launch its first enterprise clients.

Isabelle and I discuss: 1) Isabelle’s own interactions with the healthcare system and why these experiences led her to commit to spending her career building a better, more consumer-centric system, 2) Why Calibrate’s emphasis on metabolic health represents a paradigm shift in how we treat weight loss and obesity, 3) Calibrate’s clinical model that combines medication, a holistic curriculum guided by synchronous 1:1 video coaching, and community, 4) The company’s plans to expand access to treatment through enterprise partnerships, and 5) Isabelle’s focus on developing both her own and her company’s self-awareness as Calibrate’s leader.

Isabelle Kenyon, CEO & Founder of Calibrate, on a new standard of care for managing metabolic health

In this episode, we chatted with Dr. Somi Javaid, Founder & Chief Medical Officer of HerMD. Dr. Somi Javaid is a board-certified OBGYN and pioneer in the women’s sexual healthcare space. She founded HerMD, a female-forward, insurance-based women’s healthcare center to help educate, advocate for, and empower women to take control of their health care. Recently, HerMD raised $10 Million in their Series A fundraise to bring their unique healthcare model to women across the US. JAZZ Ventures led the Series A round.

We discussed:
-Watching her mother struggle to receive the care she needed and experiencing personal job dissatisfaction and burnout led Dr. Somi Javaid to found HerMD, a clinic specializing in menopause and female sexual health, designed to empower both patients and clinicians to create a positive care experience.
-The importance of promoting access to innovative therapies treating menopause and female sexual health disorders through insurance reimbursement, opening physical locations in “flyover” states, and championing education and patient advocacy.
-The rise of female healthcare-focused startups is likely to persist in conjunction with more VC funding, with opportunities for consolidation and collaboration across brands.

Dr. Somi Javaid, HerMD, on expanding access to female sexual health

Our guest on this episode is Kelsey Mellard, founder & CEO of Sitka, a virtual specialty consultation company facilitating primary care and specialty communication via video consults, also known as eConsults or "curbside consults". Sitka and their virtual specialty provider network, Sitka Medical Associates, work with payers, provider groups and accountable care organizations to improve access to specialty care while avoiding unnecessary specialist costs. Last year, Sitka raised a $14M series A round of funding led by Venrock.

In this episode, Kelsey and I discussed: (1) her journey to starting Sitka and how her time in the public sector has impacted her career (2) how Sitka closes the specialty access gap by removing scheduling inefficiencies and virtually connecting PCPs and specialists, and (3) her experience as an early-stage founder, including how she navigated taking parental leave as a Series A CEO

Kelsey Mellard, Sitka, on solving the specialty care access problem

In this episode, I sat down with Anna De Paula Hanika, Co-Founder & CEO of Uno Health. Founded in 2019, Uno enrolls Medicare members in the federal and state programs – Medicaid, the Medicare Savings Program, SNAP, energy assistance programs, and more – that they are eligible for, benefiting both the member and payor. Uno has put over $10M back into the pockets of low-income Americans. Its investors include Google Ventures, General Catalyst, Floodgate, and Cowboy Ventures.

Anna and I discuss: 1) How she became interested in solving challenges related to the US healthcare systems and identified enrolling seniors in federal and state programs as the particular problem she wanted to solve, 2) Uno’s business and operational model and value proposition to payors and members, 3) The ways Anna has seen these safety net programs work really well and less well and how supplemental benefits programs from payors can fill some existing gaps, and 4) Lessons she’s learned during her journey as an entrepreneur and advice she has for people starting tech-enabled services businesses.

Anna De Paula Hanika, Uno Health, on the power of social safety net programs

In this episode, I sat down with Dr. Bassem Mikhael, SVP, of the Clinical Enterprise at Somatus. Started in 2016 by Dr. Ikenna Okezie, Somatus partners with clinicians, health plans, health systems, and multi-disciplinary community-based care teams to improve health, quality of life, and cost of care for patients with kidney disease. Somatus employs over 1,450 team members and serves more than 150,000 patients across 36 states. Dr. Mikhael and I discuss:

1) The vital role that kidneys play in maintaining health, the issues that arise from diseased kidneys, and how these challenges translate into per patient costs that are 10x higher, on average, than those for patients without kidney disease, 2) The traditional model for treating patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) and how Somatus’ model realigns incentives to focus on integrated, preventative, and patient-centered care, 3) Why the federal government, CMS, and CMMI have prioritized investments in kidney care and what we’ve learned from their initiatives and care model tests, and 4) Clinical innovations that make Dr. Mikhael optimistic about the future for patients living with kidney disease.

Dr. Bassem Mikhael, Somatus, on realigning incentives to better serve patients with kidney disease

In this episode, I sat down with Misha Palecek, who currently serves as the Chief Transformation Officer for DaVita Kidney Care, a leading provider of kidney health services for more than 250K patients globally. Misha joined DaVita in 2005 and has stood up several ventures under the DaVita umbrella, including serving as President of Paladina, a start-up primary care business affiliated with DaVita. In Misha’s current role, he’s focused on business growth through strategic value-based care partnerships, mergers and acquisitions, joint venture partnerships, and care delivery innovations across the kidney care continuum.

Misha Palecek, DaVita Kidney Care, on delivering value based care to patients with kidney disease

In this episode, I sat down with ⁠Ankit Jain⁠, Founder and CEO of ⁠Infinitus Systems⁠. Founded in 2019, the company automates tedious and time-consuming administrative processes across the healthcare ecosystem with AI to free up clinician time and improve access, adherence, and affordability. Infinitus is the only solution that automates the entire phone call process to complete benefit verifications. Infinitus returns that hard-to-find information so providers have the most comprehensive view of treatment coverage and can confidently move forward with a patient treatment plan. The company has raised money from Google Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, Coatue, and a number of other healthcare luminaries.

Ankit and I discussed: 1) The company’s “spark story,” and how a Google digital assistant for restaurant, spa and salon reservations was pivoted to fill an unmet market need in healthcare, 2) The importance of freeing up time spent on administrative workflows for clinicians to serve patients, 3) Applications of AI in healthcare to solve for areas of unmet need

Ankit Jain, Infinitus, on applying AI technology to unlock time and efficiency in healthcare

Our guest on this episode is ⁠Nawal Roy⁠. Nawal Roy is the founder and CEO of ⁠Holmusk⁠, a company that specializes in real-world evidence, AI-powered analytics, and digital solutions to solve the evidence gaps problem in mental health.

Last year, Holmusk raised a series B funding round of $45M, led by Veradigm, a leading provider of healthcare data and technology solutions. Powered by this investment, Holmusk’s NeuroBlu database recently reached a pivotal milestone of 4 million patient lives, becoming the largest NLP-enriched, de-identified real-world data platform designed for behavioral health and mental health research. 

Nawal and I discussed:
-Holmusk’s founding story, how Nawal connected his background and skill sets in finance to healthcare, and where he saw opportunities in building a “Bloomberg Terminal” for behavioral health 

-Holmusk’s flagship platform, Neuroblu, which organizes and analyzes a large volume of real-world data to provide insights for research, care improvement, and marketing purposes

-Generative AI and natural language processing (NLP) and their potential to revolutionize mental health care by enabling precision psychiatry, improving the standardization of treatment protocols, and bridging the evidence gap

-Holmusk’s active partnerships with healthcare systems, pharma companies, and government organizations to expand its data set and drive meaningful change in the industry

Nawal Roy, Founder of Holmusk, on advancing behavioral health with real-world evidence analytics

Our guests this episode are ⁠Dr. Sameer Berry⁠ and ⁠Sam Holliday⁠, co-founders and CMO and CEO of Oshi Health. ⁠Oshi Health⁠ is a virtual gastrointestinal care clinic increasing access to care for the one in four Americans with digestive disorders. In this episode, I spoke with Sameer and Sam about:

- Oshi’s high-touch, integrated care model for GI patients
- Purpose-built clinical workflows to improve outcomes and cost savings
- Oshi's partnerships with independent GI practices and health plans
- The future of virtual first specialty care

Sam Holliday & Dr. Sameer Berry, Oshi Health, on revolutionizing GI Care

In this episode, I sat down with ⁠Buck Poropatich⁠, Head of ⁠Lyft Healthcare⁠. Lyft Healthcare launched in 2016 as part of Lyft's broader efforts to address transportation barriers in healthcare. Today, Lyft Healthcare partners with 9 of the 10 largest US health systems, non-emergency medical transportation brokers, and the top 10 payers to provide rides across the patient journey. 

By providing reliable transportation through its extensive network, Lyft Healthcare helps reduce patient no-shows, enhance the member experience, and ultimately improve patient outcomes. Since he joined in 2019, Buck has helped secure key partnerships with industry leaders like ⁠ChenMed⁠, ⁠CVS⁠, and ⁠Kroger Health⁠, alongside countless others. 

Buck and I discussed: 
-Lyft Healthcare’s founding story after the company discovered a hidden product-market fit in the healthcare industry.
-Creative partnerships with companies like ⁠Best Buy Health⁠ and ⁠Instacart Health⁠ that have enhanced Lyft Healthcare's services and expanded their reach in the healthcare space.
-Lyft Healthcare’s alignment with the shift towards value-based care, ⁠as transportation plays a strategic role in improving care adherence, member satisfaction, and managing total cost of care⁠.
-Future expansion plans for Lyft Healthcare include ⁠expanding their Medicaid footprint⁠, extending their Lyft Assisted product, and leveraging mobile app technology and data modeling to improve the member experience.

Buck Poropatich, Head of Lyft Healthcare, on removing transportation barrier and improving access

In this episode, I sat down with Dr. Andy Moye, CEO of Paige AI. Founded in 2017, Paige is a digital pathology software provider that uses AI to improve cancer diagnoses. Paige is currently the only company with FDA approval for an AI based product, and they are also collaborating with Microsoft to build the world's largest image-based AI cancer model. In this episode, Dr. Moye and I discuss the journey of Paige's origin as a spin-out from Memorial Sloan Kettering, the role of AI in supporting cancer diagnostics, the process of navigating corporate partnerships and FDA approval with AI tools, and the value of new AI applications in healthcare.

Dr. Andy Moye, Paige AI, on Exploring AI's Role in Transforming Cancer Diagnostics

In this episode, I sat down with Jared Dauman, co-founder and Head of Operations for Soda Health. Founded in 2021, Soda Health is a healthcare technology company focused on reducing health inequities. Soda Health uses technology to simplify healthcare transactions, similar to retail purchases, using debit cards. This approach aims to bridge the gap between medical claims and retail payments, ensuring consumers have easier access to benefits. In this episode, Jared and I discuss his journey from working in the directed spend space at Walmart to becoming a co-founder of Soda Health, the business model of Soda Health, the integration of fintech and healthcare, the challenges and opportunities in the world of digital health partnerships, and the evolving role of social determinants of health interventions.

Jared Dauman, Soda Health, on the Role of Technology in Eliminating Health Inequities

Our guest on this episode is Dr. Neel Shah, Chief Medical Officer of Maven Clinic, the world’s largest digital clinic for women’s and family health. Dr. Shah is a practicing obstetrician and a visiting scientist at Harvard Medical School where he previously served as a professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive biology. Dr. Shah joined Maven in 2021 with a mission to expand and diversify women’s and family health practices. He is a big advocate for health equity and reproductive justice with numerous awards and media recognitions for his impact on maternal health in the United States.

Neel and I discussed: 
-The fertility industry has evolved rapidly, with new technologies and a more inclusive approach to care
outcomes and reducing overutilization.
-Health equity is a critical issue in women's healthcare, and Maven is actively working to address disparities and provide culturally humble care.
-How Maven integrates cultural humility into its care delivery and medical practice design to ensure patients feel seen and heard.
-Maven's expansion into Medicaid demonstrates its commitment to accessible and equitable healthcare for all.

Dr. Neel Shah, Chief Medical Officer of Maven Clinic, on expanding women’s and family healthcare

Our guest on this episode is ⁠Mike Uchrin⁠, Co-founder and CEO of ⁠Monogram Health⁠. Founded in 2019, Monogram Health is revolutionizing kidney care through its value-based, in-home care model, improving outcomes for patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) as well as related polychronic conditions. By integrating evidence-based clinical protocols and personalized care delivery, Monogram ensures that CKD patients receive comprehensive support directly in their homes. The company was recently recognized as the third fastest-growing privately held company in the U.S., backed by over $350 million in funding from major healthcare players like CVS Health, Cigna Ventures and Humana, among others.

In the episode, Mike and I discussed: 1)Monogram’s value-based, in-home care model for CKD and ESKD patients, 2) The importance of multispecialty care and evidence-based protocols in improving patient outcomes, 3) Challenges of scaling nationwide while maintaining care quality, and 4) Innovations in kidney care, including genetic and pharmacological breakthroughs.

Mike Uchrin, Monogram Health, on Transforming Kidney Care through Value-Based, In-Home Treatment

Our guest on this episode is ⁠⁠Jim Pursley⁠,⁠ President of ⁠⁠Hinge Health⁠⁠. Founded in 2014, Hinge Health is revolutionizing musculoskeletal (MSK) care by combining virtual physical therapy, wearable technology, and multidisciplinary care teams. Through AI-powered motion tracking, real-time exercise guidance, and personalized health coaching, Hinge Health is improving outcomes for patients while reducing healthcare costs. 

In the episode, Jim and I discussed: 1) The founding story of Hinge Health and key moments shaping its mission, 2) How Hinge Health integrates AI, motion tracking, and Enso technology to deliver remote MSK care, 3) Overcoming skepticism around virtual physical therapy and the challenges of scaling in a complex healthcare ecosystem, and 4) The future of healthcare innovation, including unified care models and AI-driven advancements

Jim Pursley, Hinge Health, on Transforming MSK Care with Digital Innovation and Unified Care Models

Michael Meng, Stellar Health, on Changing Primary Care Incentives

In this episode, I sat down with Autumn-Kyoko (AK) Cushman, co-founder and CEO of ShiftRx, a platform using generative AI to transform pharmacy staffing. Backed by investors like Work-Bench, Inflect Health, Tau Ventures, and Opal Ventures, ShiftRx is tackling one of healthcare’s biggest challenges - staffing shortages - by empowering providers with more control, flexibility, and financial stability.

AK’s path to founding ShiftRx is anything but conventional - she served as a hospital corpsman in the US Navy, worked in management consulting with the National Cancer Institute, and later joined IBM’s Watson Health. Her firsthand exposure to healthcare’s inefficiencies, combined with her co-founder Leann’s experience as a pharmacy technician, led them to build ShiftRx as a provider-first solution.

AK and I discussed the founding story of ShiftRx, the root causes of provider burnout, and how AI can reshape healthcare staffing.

Autumn-Kyoko Cushman, ShiftRx, on transforming healthcare staffing

In this episode of The Pulse Podcast, we interview Kristen Coletto, Strategic Partnerships at Aetion about using real world evidence to speed up drug R&D and recreate clinical trials with the FDA to make better decisions around drug approval and delivery. Aetion is a health care technology company that delivers real-world evidence to determine which treatments work best, for whom, and when.

Kristen Coletto, Aetion, on using Real World Evidence to accelerate drug R&D and commercialization

In this episode, we interview Halle Tecco, Co-Founder and CEO of Natalist. Halle and Lora discuss Halle's career path, which includes founding Rock Health and teaching a digital health course at Columbia Business School. Halle also shares her insights on leading an organization during COVID-19, including her approach to celebrating important company milestones and how to get it right.

Halle Tecco, Natalist, on initiative-taking & leading through COVID-19

Kevin Kumler, Quartet Health, on mental health care in the time of COVID-19

In this episode of the Pulse Podcast, we interview Nancy Brown, General Partner at Oak HC/FT, a growth venture capital firm where she focuses on growth equity and early-stage venture opportunities in Healthcare. Oak HC/FT's latest fund raised $800M in 2019, and currently has $1.9B under management.

We cover Oak HC/FT's investment philosophy, how investing and the pace of healthcare innovation has changed since COVID-19, the inspirational leadership their portfolio companies has shown, the importance of humility and mentorship, and as a bonus, we find out Nancy's new quarantine cooking project.

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Nancy Brown, Oak HC/FT, on healthcare investing during and post COVID-19

In this episode of The Pulse Podcast, Lora interviews Anmol Madan, Chief Data Scientist of Livongo, where he is responsible for machine learning and data science across all of Livongo's products and services, to help people be the best versions of themselves. Livongo empowers people with chronic conditions to live better and healthier lives, beginning with diabetes and now including hypertension, weight management, diabetes prevention, and behavioral health. Livongo pioneered the category of Applied Health Signals to offer Members clinically-based insights that focus on the whole person and make it easier to stay healthy.

Anmol previously co-founded Ginger.io, an AI-driven behavioral health system that provides access to 24/7 coaching, therapy and psychiatry, and served as its Chief Executive Officer for 7 years. Under his leadership, Ginger.io built an AI-driven member and clinical product, established a high-growth distribution model with employers, became broadly available as an in-network health-plan benefit, and raised $35 million in venture funding from top-tier Silicon Valley VCs.

Anmol received a Ph.D. in machine learning applied to human behavior from the MIT Media Lab, and has authored 20+ scientific publications (in Science, AAAI, Ubicomp, NIPS), and over a dozen patents related to machine learning in healthcare. He has been recognized as one of the 100 Most Creative people, and as a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer.

Anmol Madan, Livongo, on using data science to transform care delivery

While they remain an incredibly stigmatized group of patients, those suffering from substance use disorders (SUDs) are finally finding a new breed of treatment centers focused on whole-person care. Eleanor Health is at the forefront of this movement, working to scale an innovative, tech-enabled, and peer-supported platform that supports patients through their recovery by aligning incentives in a value-based payment model. Corbin Petro (WG ’09) is co-founder and CEO of Eleanor. In this episode, we explore Corbin’s path to Eleanor, the unique market forces at play in the substance use disorder market, and Corbin’s perspectives on leading effectively in the COVID-19 era.

Corbin Petro, Eleanor Health, on building an innovative substance use disorder treatment platform

In this episode of The Pulse Podcast, Vivien interviews Julie Yoo, General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), a leading venture capital firm in Silicon Valley that backs bold entrepreneurs building the future through technology. Julie Yoo leads investments in healthcare technology, with a focus on companies that are modernizing how we access, pay for, and experience the healthcare system. 

We cover Julie's journey from operator to investor, a16z bio's investment philosophy and how they support their founders, and once in a century trends we are seeing in healthcare's great unlock.

Julie Yoo, Andreessen Horowitz, on unfolding healthcare's great unlock

In this episode of The Pulse Podcast, Vivien interviews Stephanie Strong, CEO and Founder of Boulder Care. We discuss Stephanie's amazing entrepreneurial journey, Boulder's evidence-based model of care, access deregulations during COVID, go to market and partnerships with your first pilot, and tactical advice for first time healthcare entrepreneurs.

Stephanie Strong, Boulder Care, democratizing access to substance use disorder care via telehealth

In this episode, Sandy interviews Jannine Versi, COO & Co-Founder of Elektra Health. Elektra Health is on a mission to smash the menopause taboo by empowering 50M women in the US today navigating menopause with a full-stack digital solution. Elektra has been featured in Forbes, Pitchbook, the Financial Times and Crunchbase, and was selected as a "recommended platform" by both Katie Couric and Maria Shriver.

Prior to Elektra Health, Jannine held positions at Google, The White House in the Obama Administration,  U.S. Department of Commerce, and Cityblock Health. Jannine earned her BA from University of Pennsylvania and her MBA from Harvard Business School, and was a Fulbright Scholar in India.

In this episode, we discussed:
-- What exactly perimenopause and menopause are, the immense household purchasing and healthcare decision-making power of women going through menopause today (Gen X), and why the space is highly underfunded relative to the growing “femtech” category

-- Healthcare system FFS incentive inertia, and chronic confusion around and lack of training for menopause care across OB-GYN providers, bleeding into a lack of high-quality, evidence-based, curated content for menopausal women as they enter the second half of their lives: the very problem Elektra is trying to solve

-- The high economic cost of menopause symptoms: $2,100+ PPPY, on par with uncontrolled hypertension, with even further downstream costs from untreated menopause symptoms, implications which include dementia, heart disease, osteoporosis, anxiety, depression, and potential ER visits

-- Elektra’s early success in building a full-stack, digital solution including a telemedicine clinic with a distinctive NPS of 91, a cult-like following for its 1:1 and 1:many on-demand and live offerings, and a product and business model roadmap expanding from DTC to B2B2C as progressive payers invest in female retention solutions

-- Three tokens of advice to female founders on battling imposter syndrome and staying grounded throughout the exuberant and tumultuous entrepreneurial journey

Jannine Versi, Elektra Health, on smashing the menopause taboo

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