A Second Opinion with Senator Bill Frist, M.D.

We’re sharing with you a special discussion we had at the end of last year with Dr. Michael Petersen, who in 2021 served as the Chief Clinical Innovation Officer of NTT DATA Services.  Dr. Mike is a pediatric emergency medicine physician, served in the U.S. Army, and brings over 20 years of deep health industry knowledge of emerging technologies and strategy.  Today, he is at PwC as Managing Director - Clinical Health Transformation Lead. With his early childhood spent in a Vietnamese orphanage, his personal life experiences have informed his executive leadership in addressing complex issues of health equity. Dr. Mike and I came together as a part of an immersive Telehealth Academy series organized by the Nashville Entrepreneur Center’s Project Healthcare, The Disruption Lab, and Sage Growth Partners.  Thank you to the event organizers for letting us share this discussion with our A Second Opinion audience.

Eric Hargan served as the Deputy Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) from 2017 to 2021.  As Deputy Secretary, he oversaw the development and approval of all HHS, CMS, and FDA regulations, as well as the day-to-day operations and management of the department – the largest in the federal government with a budget in excess of $1.3 trillion and over 80,000 employees. Eric was instrumental in Operation Warp Speed, the Trump Administration’s price transparency initiatives, as well as reforms that allowed for major telehealth expansion.  Also a veteran of the Bush HHS department, today Eric leads the Hargan Group and serves as an adjunct professor at Vanderbilt University.   He shares with us his fascinating experience working at the highest levels of both the public and private healthcare sectors. 

This episode is brought to you by MEDHOST, a Trusted EHR for Healthcare Facilities. To learn more, go to Medhost.com. Shawn Morris is CEO of Privia Health, an exciting, national physician enablement company that’s shaking up primary care and other specialty areas. Shawn has led Privia since 2018, expanding into new provider areas including California and West Texas, and successfully taking it public this year.  Privia was recently recognized among Inc. Magazine’s Best-Led Companies for 2021. Shawn previously served as the President and COO of Cigna-Healthspring, overseeing Cigna’s multi-billion dollar Medicare Advantage business. In today’s discussion, he brings his extensive knowledge of the insurance market, and how to equip physicians with the tools they need to deliver the high-value care they want to provide – and consumers want to receive. For more on Privia Health: Privia Health's Chief Clinical Officer, Keith Fernandez, MD, and Chief Medical Officer of Privia Medical Group — Mid-Atlantic, Fred Taweel, MD, were recently featured by the American Medical Association regarding Privia's ACO success within the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) for the 2020 performance year. Read it here: https://www.ama-assn.org/practice-management/payment-delivery-models/physician-leaders-patient-access-drive-privia-health-s

This episode is brought to you by MEDHOST, a Trusted EHR for Healthcare Facilities. To learn more, go to Medhost.com. Dr. Wes Ely is a pulmonologist, critical care physician and tenured professor at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He is also the founder and codirector of the Critical Illness, Brain Dysfunction, and Survivorship Center, an organization devoted to research and ongoing care for patients and families affected by critical illness. Dr. Ely’s groundbreaking investigations introduced crucial changes that reshaped intensive care: minimizing sedation, maximizing mobility, attending to the family, and providing supportive aftercare. His new book, Every Deep-Drawn Breath (https://www.icudelirium.org/every-deep-drawn-breath), rethinks critical care – a shift that was sparked in Dr. Ely when suddenly he found himself not as the physician, but as the loved one at the bedside of a sick family member.  Dr. Ely is donating all his net proceeds from this book to a fund established to help ICU survivors and their families.

This episode is brought to you by MEDHOST, a Trusted EHR for Healthcare Facilities. To learn more, go to Medhost.com. Dr. Ashish Jha is a physician, health policy researcher, and the third Dean of the Brown University School of Public Health.  Dr. Jha is recognized globally as an expert on pandemic preparedness and response, has led groundbreaking research around Ebola and is now on the frontlines of the COVID-19 response, leading national and international analysis of key issues and advising state and federal policymakers.  He previously led the Harvard Global Health Institute and teaching at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Harvard Medical School. You’ll want to hear our discussion on the future of public health and how to address its increasing politicization.

Today we’re sharing with you a special episode that we recorded in front of a live audience out at my farm, Old Town. I’m joined by Bruce Broussard, President and CEO of Humana, and Glen Tullman, CEO of Transcarent, to discuss the evolution of care models and where healthcare is headed in the future. A special thanks to Emids Technologies, a leading provider of digital transformation solutions to the healthcare industry, for organizing this timely panel.  Learn more about their work at www.emids.com.   

As the nation and world continue to grapple with COVID-19, there is much to learn about how to improve our health preparedness in the midst of crisis. Nashville is one of the first communities in the nation to do a comprehensive review of lessons learned from Nashville's health, business and community response to the pandemic.   Today, we’re going to share with you highlights of this review, with takeaways that all cities and communities nationwide should be considering as they assess, plan, and prepare for future.   I’m joined by Meharry Medical College President Dr. James Hildreth, a member of President Biden’s COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force, and Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency physician, former Health Commissioner of Baltimore, and a senior adviser to Avalere Health.  Both have played important roles in Nashville’s Covid-19 response review, and as physicians with significant public health leadership experience, they give their candid thoughts on what went right, and what went wrong.   Special thanks to NashvilleHealth, the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, the Nashville Health Care Council, Meharry Medical College, and Avalere Health, for making this review possible.   Read the summary and the full Nashville Covid-19 Response Review here: https://www.nashvillehealth.org/covid-response/

This episode is brought to you by the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies are in every ZIP code in every state, working to improve health and expand access to care. Community by community. For the health of America. I’m joined today by the top leadership of Seniorlink, an innovative company that provides coaching, emotional and financial support for families caring for loved ones.  Tom Riley serves as CEO, and Matt Marek is the President and Chief Operating Officer.  Together, they are working with Medicaid-eligible and Medicare Advantage members who want an alternative to nursing home care.  Seniorlink supports and provides the needed tools to the millions of family caregivers who are key to keeping their loved ones healthy and cared for in the home setting.    With November being National Family Caregivers Month, our discussion today is both timely and needed. 

Today we’re sharing with you a special bonus episode.  As we head into our second holiday season in the midst of a global pandemic, I sit down with NIAID Direction & President Biden’s Chief Medical Advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci for the Bipartisan Policy Center’s discussion on COVID-19, the Forecast for the Holidays, 2022 & Beyond. We touch on when we’ll move to the endemic phase of Covid, childhood vaccinations, bipartisanship & science, and his advice for staying safe & healthy during the holidays. You can listen to the full BPC event here: https://bipartisanpolicy.org/event/covid-19-whats-the-forecast-for-the-holidays-2022-beyond/

Tom Spann is CEO of Brightside, a comprehensive financial health engagement platform that partners with employers to give employees and their families the financial care they need. Previously, he was the founding CEO of Accolade, which today helps over 2 million people navigate the health system.   Our discussion today is centered on how one’s personal financial health has a direct impact on health and well-being.  With three out of four Americans ranking their finances as the No. 1 stress in life, Brightside is on a mission to change that, improving not just personal finances but employee happiness.