Episode #161: Advanced Primary Care – with Neil Wagle, Chief Medical Officer at Devoted Health
Nov 8, 2023
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Dr. Neil Wagle, Chief Medical Officer at Devoted Health, discusses the problems with primary care today and how Devoted Health offers an all-in-one solution. They focus on patients' perspectives, achieve incredible outcomes, and have constructed comprehensive clinical service lines. The podcast also explores virtual healthcare services, the importance of technology, working with provider groups and hospital systems, and the need for hope and realignment in the healthcare system.
Devoted Health is building an advanced primary care model that offers an all-in-one healthcare solution, including specialized services like vision, dental, and hearing, along with coordinated care for prevention and chronic disease management.
Dr. Neil Wagle emphasizes the importance of leadership in healthcare, advocating for leaders to approach healthcare with love, humility, and practicality, while also fostering a positive work environment to effectively solve the crisis in healthcare.
The fundamental challenges in primary care include lack of funding and overwhelming responsibilities, leading to limited access and suboptimal quality of care. Devoted Health aims to address these challenges by providing fully covered services, reducing barriers to care, and empowering primary care providers.
Deep dives
Devoted Health's Approach to Primary Care
Devoted Health is taking an innovative approach to primary care by building an advanced, specialized, and augmented primary care model that complements traditional care. They offer an all-in-one healthcare model, including vision, dental, and hearing services, along with customized coordinated care for prevention, chronic disease management, urgent care, and addressing health-related social needs. Devoted Health plans have approximately 124,000 Medicare eligible members as of January 2023.
Dr. Neil Waglay's Journey and Motivation
Dr. Neil Waglay, the Chief Medical Officer at Devoted Health, shares his journey from initially planning to be a cardiologist to realizing the need to make a contribution to American healthcare. He emphasizes the importance of practical solutions, humility, and approaching healthcare from a place of love. Dr. Waglay's goal is to address the challenges and improve primary care to provide high-quality, comprehensive care to patients.
Leadership Qualities for the Future of Healthcare
Dr. Waglay highlights the importance of leadership qualities in the future of healthcare. He emphasizes the need for leaders to lead with love, humility, and practicality, recognizing the challenges faced by healthcare providers and the necessity of practical solutions. He also emphasizes the importance of having fun and fostering a positive work environment to effectively solve the crisis in healthcare.
The Challenges in Primary Care
Dr. Waglay discusses the fundamental challenges in primary care, including the lack of funding and the overwhelming scope of responsibilities. Primary care is expected to address preventive care, chronic disease management, urgent care, social determinants of health, navigation to other healthcare services, and more. However, primary care is underfunded, leading to limited access and suboptimal quality of care. Devoted Health aims to address these challenges by providing fully covered services, reducing barriers to care, and empowering primary care providers.
Outcomes and Impact of Devoted Health
Devoted Health has shown remarkable outcomes and impact in healthcare. Their comprehensive approach has led to improved health outcomes, reduced hospitalizations, and decreased healthcare costs. Notably, they have achieved better clinical outcomes, eliminated racial disparities, and significantly improved health equity. The focus on leveraging technology to empower providers, improve documentation, and enhance accessibility has been instrumental in their success.
As we’ve described and discussed before in this podcast, Primary Care in the US is on life-support and the prognosis does not look good. The implications for all of us is dire – as we look at what is nothing less than the demise of primary preventive care in our country. Our guest today has devoted his career to trying to revive and save primary care. And in this episode we’ll discover what he and his colleagues are doing.
Our guest today, Dr. Neil Wagle, earned his MD at Harvard Medical School and his MBA at Harvard Business School. He trained in Primary Care Medicine at the Brigham & Women’s Hospital. As the Chief Medical Officer at Devoted Health, Neil has led the build of an advanced primary care model that complements the traditional care that people receive from their primary care providers.
In this interview, we’ll discover:
The fundamental problem with Primary Care as it’s being structured and organized today, and Devoted Health’s ”all-in-one” solution.
The comprehensive clinical service lines Devoted Health has constructed in its advanced primary care model as well as the 5 major organizational components supporting their clinical care and health plan.
How the providers at Devoted Health are “flipping the script” – focusing on patients’ perspectives and priorities.
The incredible outcomes that Devoted Health is achieving.
Neil is one of the emerging superstars in our healthcare system. It’s inspiring to hear his humanistic leadership principles and the consumer-centric, service-oriented culture that he and his colleagues have created at Devoted Health. This episode is a masters class in advanced primary care and another not-to-be-missed dialogue.
Wishing you all the best of health and wellness!
Zeev Neuwirth, MD
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