The Pulse by Wharton Digital Health

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.

Nawal Roy, Founder and CEO of Holmusk, discusses leveraging real-world data and AI to revolutionize mental health care. Topics include founding story, Neuroblu platform, generative AI in precision psychiatry, partnerships for data expansion, and cross-industry collaborations for impactful change in healthcare.

Dr. Sameer Berry and Sam Holliday from Oshi Health discuss their high-touch, integrated care model for GI patients, partnerships with independent GI practices and health plans, virtual first specialty care, and future expansion plans nationwide.

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

Pablo Pantaleoni, Chief Digital Officer of LifeStance, talks about AI's role in mental health crisis, therapist-patient matching algorithm, and the hybrid approach to mental health care. He discusses the company's innovative platform, partnerships with payers, and the use of specialized clinicians to cater to diverse conditions.

Siva Namasivayam is the co-founder and CEO of Cohere Health, an AI-powered platform that simplifies the time-consuming prior authorization process for health plans & providers. In this episode, Siva and I discussed his path to entrepreneurship, responsible use of AI in utilization management, how Cohere is transforming prior authorization from an administrative burden into a quality improvement process.

Belinda Tan and Noah Craft, co-founders of People Science, discuss their human-centered clinical research platform focused on alternative medicines. They talk about their unique co-CEO model, the philosophy behind their platform, their business model including their consumer-facing app Chloe, and insights from co-founding two companies together.

Todd Park, co-founder of Devoted Health, shares his entrepreneurial journey, the mission of Devoted to transform healthcare for older Americans, and the importance of personalized care and technology. The podcast also explores the impact of love in healthcare, building a comprehensive Medicare Advantage plan, and career advice for young professionals in the healthcare space.

In this episode, I sat down with Dawn Alley, President of Decision Support at Carebridge, a company that works with health plans and states to care for individuals receiving long-term support services. Prior to joining Carebridge, Dawn spent about a decade working in the federal government as Chief Strategy Officer at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI), and before that as Deputy Senior Advisor for Value-based Transformation at HHS. Dawn and I discuss: The main initiatives she worked on at CMMI including the Accountable Health Communities Model and Medicare Diabetes Prevention Program Lessons learned during her tenure about implementing and delivering healthcare models at scale Why Dawn is excited about the future of long-term care services and why she believes in Carebridge’s model

In this episode, Zaid Malhees sits 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.