The Health Innovators Show

It takes a real passion, and an intimate understanding of how healthcare works, to guide a healthcare startup into the industry - and succeed.   But when you leverage evidence for your solutions to create and build better, stronger value propositions, finding that pathway to success becomes easier.   Dr. Brian Fengler knows a thing or two about evidence and how it connects quality solutions to quality care in an all around win for the healthcare industry.   Anyone can break through barriers that hold their solution back by identifying their primary use case, primary value proposition, and then getting validation of the solution as quickly as possible.   That’s just what he did, and exactly what he is here to discuss with our audience this week!    Here are the show highlights: How to solve for the Unmet Need (8:26)   Managing multifactorial Stakeholders (9:48) Identifying value propositions for multiple stakeholders (12:46) Focus on validation as quickly as possible (15:07) Creating stand-out value propositions (17:55) Using evidence backed ROI strategies for stronger value propositions (21:03)   Guest Bio Dr. Brian Fengler is Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer for EvidenceCare, a decision support tool that delivers evidence-based medicine, individualized for each patient a clinician treats.   Dr. Fengler is a healthcare innovator with 15 years of experience as a physician leader, managing partner of a physician group, facility operator in addition to being a Founder/CEO of a digital health startup, and now Chief Medical Officer.   He leverages his passion for making a difference in healthcare and improving clinical workflow into creating solutions that help physicians make better care decisions.   If you want more information about EvidenceCare or wish to reach out to Dr. Fengler, you can get in touch with him on LinkedIn at  @Brian Fengler, MD.

Guest Michael Gorton, a serial entrepreneur, discusses how to overcome resistance in digital healthcare innovation, change perceptions of wellness and prevention, simplify healthcare, and find white space in the industry. He emphasizes the importance of seeking medical advice, simplicity in commercialization, and capturing health data. Gorton also highlights the need to constantly seek new opportunities and have a curious mindset.

Building a business that’s scalable is only half the battle. The physical scaling of your innovation is actually the hardest part of being an entrepreneur. When it comes to successfully scaling an innovation, Dr. Jonathan Baktari has some advice: Shut up and listen. Listen to what your peers are saying, listen to what they’ve encountered and how they’ve maneuvered through challenges. Listen so YOU don’t make the same mistakes they made. Sounds easy - but it’s a perpetual lesson. Once you build that listening factor into your culture, you’ll be well on your way to building a successful commercialization strategy that can help you grow and scale.  Interested? Come hear what Dr. Baktari has to say on this week’s show!   Here are the show highlights: Why it’s important to shut up and listen (4:29) Sometimes it’s okay to be the 900 lb Gorilla (6:49) B2B? B2C? How about: Simultaneously! (11:05) How to successfully scale remotely (16:25) Reduce friction and Improve quality by Digitally transforming healthcare (18:15) Maintaining consistency in systems and processes while scaling (21:10)   Guest Bio Dr. Jonathan Baktari is the CEO of e7 Health and the US Drug Test Centers. He is a triple board-certified physician, health care CEO, and thought leader on vaccinations & COVID-19.  Dr. Baktari launched  e7 Health in an effort to help transform the healthcare landscape in Southern Nevada. He received his medical degree from Ohio State University in 1987 and subsequently spent the past 25 years parlaying his medical experience across healthcare related fields including clinical, educational and administrative, as well as becoming a much sought after speaker on the specialty of pulmonary and critical care. If you want more information about e7 Health or Dr. Baktari’s work, you can reach out to him on LinkedIn at  @Jonathan Baktari MD or follow his podcast, BaktariMD on YouTube, Apple, and all other podcast streaming services.

If you’re an innovator with a startup, you’ve got one goal in mind: Growth. How do you grow and scale your business the right way? It could all be based on the business model you choose or in the way you seek funding - but no matter how you choose to commercialize, growth and scale are a priority. We sat down with Joe Baffone, co-founder and CEO of Annexus Health, a company that’s grown exponentially over the last few years to get his input on what he’s done right - and what he might have done differently. What did we find out? We found out that choosing the right time and the right path has many factors at play. But, once you know what you’re ultimate end goal is, you can find the right path to commercialization and growth.  So grab a chair and join us for this week’s deep dive into platforms, commercialization and managing equity appropriately while growing your company!   Here are the show highlights: Alternative payment options (6:37) How financial toxicity disrupts lives (8:33) Determining your platform for commercialization (12:05) Unit economics of business models (16:48) The challenges of raising capital (19:26) Managing equity appropriately (21:04)   Guest Bio Joe Baffone is Co-Founder and CEO of Annexus Health, the leading healthcare technology company revolutionizing the patient access journey. Joe believes delivering innovative solutions that reduce financial and administrative burdens can and will improve access, speed, and adherence to critical care.  With over two decades of experience in life sciences including seven years as a principal at onPoint Oncology, Joe’s passion for empowering others and breaking down barriers to patient care is on full display in the business development, strategy, and culture he’s built at Annexus Health. If you want more information about Annexus Health or Joe’s work, you can reach out to him on LinkedIn at  @JoeBaffone.

Healthcare innovation is on the rise and getting a lot of attention, but is it getting the RIGHT attention? The kind it not only deserves, but needs? Coming up with solutions that fit existing problems and drive adoption has always been a difficult process for innovators, but when we don’t talk to the right people during that process, it gets even harder. Sometimes finding the right people can be tricky, but the real shocker is this: Sometimes they’re already present, right under our noses - we just don’t see their value. Rebecca Love has built her career and reputation around empowering nurses to lend their voices in an attempt to build stronger communities that can transform healthcare. She believes that solving problems and scaling solutions so they work for the greater good is the whole point of healthcare. And we have all the parts needed to accomplish this feat, we just need to put them in the right order. So, join us as Rebecca gets into the details around how she’s pushing to forge a bolder, more innovative path to better healthcare by empowering nurses and giving them a voice (and seat) at the innovation table! Here are the show highlights: This is how to achieve the best problem-solution fit (9:30) Solving problems and scaling that solution to work for many (11:12) Is there a nursing shortage on the horizon? (14:33) Transforming reimbursement models (22:36) The fundamental need for healthcare innovation (25:33) Optimizing healthcare workforces (27:58) Guest Bio Rebecca Love is Chief Clinical Officer at Intelycare, an AI-based healthcare workforce management platform. Her extensive nursing experience earned her the recognition as the first nurse featured on Ted.com, and as one of Modern Healthcare’s most influential people in healthcare in 2022. Rebecca is passionate about empowering nurses and creating communities that can transform healthcare. Rebecca holds a M.S. in Nursing from Northeastern University, B.A. in International Relations/Spanish from Boston University. If you want more information about Intelycare or Rebecca Love’s work, you can reach out to her on LinkedIn at @RebeccaLove.

Getting the sale is one thing - getting your innovation adopted into the larger market is another. Innovators are always looking to get their innovations successfully adopted - and there are many things you need to know that can help you reach that goal. Narrowing down where you can get the most bang for your buck is the hard part. Make no mistake, whether it’s building relationships or understanding your market culture - you have some work ahead of you. That’s where Karen Seagraves comes to the rescue. Her exposure to both the clinical and entrepreneurial sides of solution adoption can help make rolling your sleeves up and getting to work on your innovation more strategic. If landing the sale is easy for you, but achieving adoption is elusive, come hear what Karen has to say on this week’s episode! Here are the show highlights: You’re only as good as your end user’s understanding (6:03) Feedback is good, but the right feedback is critical (9:18) The importance of boots on the ground implementation (13:32) Why you need a fly on the wall (14:39) Is your solution doing something for the right reasons? (16:30) How to become more successful with the adoption of my solution? (21:48) Guest Bio Karen Seagraves is the Healthcare Advisor and Consultant at The Firework Factor. Her progressive, 25-year career built on challenging the status quo in healthcare has allowed her to pave the road to innovative idea generation, optimization and problem-solving in the healthcare sector. Karen received her PhD in Nursing and her Master of Science in Nursing from Georgia State University as well as her BA, BSN, MPH in Registered Nursing from Emory University. If you want more information about The Firework Factor or Karen Seagrave’s work, you can reach out to her on LinkedIn at @Karen B Seagraves.

Personalized healthcare is all the rage. But make no mistake - it’s not not always personalized, especially when it comes to technology. Technology in healthcare is a game-changer, but personalizing technology can be tricky - especially since most of healthcare is geared toward an “average” patient and then adjusted on an as needed basis. These types of models make true personalization and health equity harder to reach - but not impossible. In this week’s panel, I invited Danika Kelly of My Normative, Dr. Katherine Saunders of Intellihealth, and Swathi Arulguppe from BetterMeal.AI to talk about their experiences with underserved populations, the lack of health equity, and the creative paths they’ve forged to better leverage personalized care. The future of healthcare may depend on personalization so, if you’re a startup entrepreneur, a corporate innovator, or simply someone trying to decide if your idea is a keeper, come have a listen to this week’s episode! Here are the show highlights: Health Equity as a focus (10:12) Identifying gaps in personalized care (10:50) There’s no one size fits all approach to health (14:09) Using technology to scale in a hard to scale business model (16:06) Solving problems customers want to exchange money for (20:39) Overcoming obstacles to health equity (25:55) Guest Bios Danika Kelly is CEO and co-founder of My Normative, a female-focused health platform driving innovation in the health sciences through clinically validated data collection, data management, and analytical processes. If you’d like to get in touch with Danika after the show or learn more about My Normative you can go to their website MyNormative.ca , or reach out to her on linked in at @Danika Kelly. Dr. Katherine Saunders is the co-founder of Intellihealth, an organization that is fighting the global obesity epidemic one patient – and one personalized treatment plan – at a time If you’d like to get in touch with Dr. Saunders after the show, or learn more about Intellihealth, you can go to their website at Intellihealth.co, or reach out to her on LinkedIn at @Katherine Saunders. Swathi Arulguppe is the founder and CEO of BetterMeal.AI, a data company utilizing technology to provide nutritional treatments for chronic food related health issues and working to identify the hidden biomarkers that can impact health. If you’d like to get in touch with Swathi after the show, or learn more about BetterMeal.AI, you can go to their website at BetterMeal.AI, or reach out to her on LinkedIn at @Swathi A.

You may think that how someone lands an airplane has nothing in common with successful commercialization, but you’d be wrong. Just like successfully landing a plane requires the alignment of many factors, everything in your messaging has to be in proper alignment to! Whether you’re targeting the early market or the mainstream market, your message alignment will be key to your commercialization success. Warren Schirtzinger knows all about ‘landing’ a successful commercialization, and he’s got a few insights and strategies on messaging that can help innovators when they go to market. So, if you’re wondering if your approach should be revolutionary or incremental, if your message resonates with the right market, or you’re just ‘plane’ curious to learn what landing a plan and commercialization has to offer, you’re going to want to tune into this week’s episode! If you like this episode, check out Warren’s first interview here and be sure to look into these additional resources from Warren: Market Relations Guide: A Framework for Ensuring Long-Term Market Leadership Innovation-Adoption Experience, Expertise, and Word-of-Mouth Optimization Here are the show highlights: The similarities between aviation and commercialization (2:55) Alignment and the need for reinvention (9:52) Merging your feedback with the right audience (19:29) Sometimes you need to buck the trend (22:45) Revolutionary vs. Incremental innovations (25:06) How the right alignment helps deliver value (35:03) Guest Bio Warren Schirtzinger likes to refer to himself as the “luckiest business person alive” - and he very well may be! Currently the Managing Partner at High Tech Strategies, he has also built a long and successful career as a strategic advisor, VP of Sales and Marketing. Warren has also made significant contributions to emerging high-tech companies: Apple, Adobe, Harman International, Intermec, and many others. Warren has also built a successful customer alignment process and experience that helps entrepreneurs, CEOs and product leaders align their business activities with people who are motivated to buy. If you’d like to learn more about Warren and his system, or reach out to him, visit hightechstrategies.com or find him on LinkedIn at @Warren Schirtzinger.

If you’re getting ready to commercialize your solution you have some options: you can go after that easy, low hanging fruit, or you can roll up your sleeves and collaborate with others. Now to be fair, that low hanging fruit might generate immediate, albeit limited, success, but in the long run, you’re going to find that collaboration with others in your market will produce the strongest strategies that will stand the test of time. After all, no one will buy something they don’t want. Adam Amitai knows all about trying to push commercialization of a product that no one wants, and that experience has taught him the importance of collaborating your way to results. If you’re having difficulties successfully bringing your product to market, you should really take a moment to listen to our latest podcast and what Adam has to say about collaborating to create something better. Here are the show highlights: The Biggest Gap in Solving Preventative Care (7:45) 3 Differentiations in Prevention Engines (12:08) Collaborating to Create Something Better (14:22) Why the low hanging fruit isn’t always the sweetest (15:49) How to successfully invest your commercialization resources (18:43) The hype around Precision Care (31:59) Guest Bio Adam Amitai is co-founder and CEO of Lavaa Health, a digital health company that specializes in preventive care and reduction of undetected chronic, oncologic, and mental health diseases. Adam began his career as an officer in the Israeli Defense Force’s cyber intelligence unit. After he left the Army, he branched out into multiple fields ranging from cyber intelligence, to high frequency Algo trading, AI for critical infrastructure, and digital health. Adam received his Bachelor’s of Science in Computer Science from the Richmond University. If you want more information about Lavaa Health or Adam Amitai’s work, you can reach out to him on LinkedIn at @Adam Amitai, or via email at Adam@lavaa.health.

Successful commercialization can be difficult, and that difficulty can grow if you’re building a platform based business. Build a platform based business in healthcare and, well, you’re just begging for the challenges to come fast and furiously.. Kyle Kiser knows all about building a healthcare centered platform business - it’s driven, and challenged, him throughout his career. Whether it’s point of care connectivity, pharmaceutical pricing, or the interoperability of data gathering, he’s got some words of wisdom he’s sharing with listeners on this week’s show. So, if a platform business is giving you commercialization challenges - or if you’re just one of those folks who like to figure out how systems work together to benefit the whole, pull up a chair - this one’s for you! Here are the show highlights: The point of Point of Care connectivity (2:38) The two sides of pharmaceutical pricing (6:34) Obsessing about the value chain (12:28) Optimizing patient benefit alternatives (20:47) Challenges with the interoperability of data (24:18) Balancing supply and demand in a platform business (26:04) Guest Bio Kyle Kiser is CEO of Arrive Health, a company working to improve the value of healthcare through more informed decision-making. Kyle got his start immersed in the health insurance business side of healthcare and from there built up his expertise in driving sales in health and wellness markets over the past two decades. Kyle received his Bachelor’s of Science in Business from Guilford College in 2006. If you want more information about Arrive Health or Kyle Kiser’s work, you can reach out to him on LinkedIn at @Kyle Kiser, or visit ArriveHealth.com.