EP287: The Time for Entrepreneurial Physician Leaders Is Right Now, With Dan O’Neill, MA, MS

In this health care podcast, I’m speaking with Dan O’Neill, MA, MS. Dan says that, in many ways, this is a fantastic time to be an entrepreneurial physician leader. We are in a place to reinvent the practice model, meaning finding ways to increase value while losing bloated business practices in labor and capital.

It’s more possible than ever to make a medical practice more efficient and effective with less overhead and, at the same time, meet the needs of patients in ways that are, you know, were impossible in the business model of five years ago and earlier. It’s just a new world, and I don’t just mean because of COVID. I mean in all the ways that everybody—including me—has been squawking about for years: consumerism, the rise of technology and its attendant expectations, Medicare running out of money, and employers who have cried uncle on rising health care costs and/or gone out of business. The silver lining in everyone getting used to telehealth and aggregated FFS (fee-for-service) revenue tanking for a couple of months is that suddenly some of the cushy cha-ching reasons to keep the old model don’t feel quite as much of a sure thing for the risk averse any longer.

On the flip side, it’s also a fine time for you insurers to step up. Consider what some of the plans are doing right now to help PCPs (primary care providers), for example, transition to value and help independent docs stay in practice at the same time. I could say the same for some of the self-funded employers. It’s gonna suck for you all if the PCPs not connected to consolidated health systems go belly-up. Now is the time that you really can help them help you, and everybody wins from a quality and cost standpoint now and down the line.

My guest on this health care podcast is Dan O’Neill, MA, MS. Dan’s a consultant who spent most of 2019 working in the Senate on the professional staff of the health committee focused on issues related to health care cost mainly. Now he’s doing consulting with entrepreneurial physician leaders and also start-ups.

You can learn more at dponeill.com.

Daniel O’Neill, MA, MS, is an executive in the digital health and health care technology industry. He has a track record of building teams, executing successful go-to-market strategies for new and established solutions, and structuring effective partnerships to scale venture stage businesses, particularly in health care/digital health.

Dan works as consultant with venture-backed firms to define, develop, commercialize, and scale new health care services and software solutions. His areas of focus include bundled payments in the commercial population; virtual networks for specialist consults; tools for Medicare Advantage, Managed Medicaid, and other quality-rated and risk-adjusted plans; interoperability and clinical data exchange infrastructure; and new approaches to streamline the revenue cycle. Prior to becoming a consultant, Dan spent a year in Washington, DC, as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Fellow at the National Academy of Medicine, working on health policy in the US Senate.

Dan has assembled and managed teams in product, sales, professional services, and account management. He also led the launch and growth of several products to facilitate care coordination and population health initiatives for primary care practitioners, accountable care organizations, hospitals, health plans, and other clinicians. In addition, he has worked on the development and commercialization of decision support tools to implement clinical pathways and avoid medical errors, and on predictive analytics using early versions of artificial intelligence.

Dan completed his undergraduate study at Claremont McKenna College. He earned a Master of Arts from Johns Hopkins University and a Master of Science from the Stanford School of Engineering, where he focused on health care operations management and clinical informatics.

02:37 Why switching revenues to a different model isn’t simple. 03:45 The segmentation approach we need to focus on. 04:15 The straightforward answer for PCPs. 04:27 The path forward for specialists. 05:21 Moving away from “buy and bill” economics. 05:31 EP282 with Aaron Mitchell, MD, MPH. 07:36 Are health systems buying more practices, or are more practices becoming independent? 09:22 “It starts from why are they making the investment and what is the thesis?” 11:01 Separating the venture-/growth-oriented approach from the financial engineering approach. 12:47 Opportunities for physicians with an entrepreneurial mind-set. 15:55 “What services am I currently delivering?” 21:37 The opportunity to do well by doing good. 24:00 Health insurers as a barrier to change. 24:54 “This is a good opportunity to affect real change.” 25:40 “If you’re just waiting around for change, it’s probably not gonna walk in the door.” 27:43 The attempt to reinvent care delivery.

You can learn more at dponeill.com.

Check out this week’s #healthcarepodcast with @dp_oneill as he discusses #entrepreneurial #physicianleadership. #healthcare #podcast #digitalhealth #healthtech

Why switching revenues to a different model isn’t simple. @dp_oneill discusses #entrepreneurial #physicianleadership. #healthcarepodcast #healthcare #podcast #digitalhealth #healthtech

The segmentation approach we need to focus on. @dp_oneill discusses #entrepreneurial #physicianleadership. #healthcarepodcast #healthcare #podcast #digitalhealth #healthtech

The straightforward answer for PCPs. @dp_oneill discusses #entrepreneurial #physicianleadership. #healthcarepodcast #healthcare #podcast #digitalhealth #healthtech

The path forward for specialists. @dp_oneill discusses #entrepreneurial #physicianleadership. #healthcarepodcast #healthcare #podcast #digitalhealth #healthtech

Moving away from “buy and bill” economics. @dp_oneill discusses #entrepreneurial #physicianleadership. #healthcarepodcast #healthcare #podcast #digitalhealth #healthtech

Are health systems buying more practices, or are more practices becoming independent? @dp_oneill discusses #entrepreneurial #physicianleadership. #healthcarepodcast #healthcare #podcast #digitalhealth #healthtech

“It starts from why are they making the investment and what is the thesis?” @dp_oneill discusses #entrepreneurial #physicianleadership. #healthcarepodcast #healthcare #podcast #digitalhealth #healthtech

Separating the venture-/growth-oriented approach from the financial engineering approach. @dp_oneill discusses #entrepreneurial #physicianleadership. #healthcarepodcast #healthcare #podcast #digitalhealth #healthtech

Opportunities for physicians with an entrepreneurial mind-set. @dp_oneill discusses #entrepreneurial #physicianleadership. #healthcarepodcast #healthcare #podcast #digitalhealth #healthtech

“What services am I currently delivering?” @dp_oneill discusses #entrepreneurial #physicianleadership. #healthcarepodcast #healthcare #podcast #digitalhealth #healthtech

“This is a good opportunity to affect real change.” @dp_oneill discusses #entrepreneurial #physicianleadership. #healthcarepodcast #healthcare #podcast #digitalhealth #healthtech

“If you’re just waiting around for change, it’s probably not gonna walk in the door.” @dp_oneill discusses #entrepreneurial #physicianleadership. #healthcarepodcast #healthcare #podcast #digitalhealth #healthtech

The attempt to reinvent care delivery. @dp_oneill discusses #entrepreneurial #physicianleadership. #healthcarepodcast #healthcare #podcast #digitalhealth #healthtech