The ACO Show

As part of National Healthcare Decisions Day, Dr. Tom McCarrick, Chief Medical Officer at the Vanguard Medical Group in New Jersey, sits down with Josh (@DrJIsrael) to discuss advance care planning — an important way to ensure that patient’s wishes are respected when critical healthcare decisions need to be made. From Dr. McCarrick’s experience, Annual Wellness Visits are a great way for primary care providers to start having more of these important conversations with patients. #NHDD #convoproject

Julie Sunderland, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Biomatics Capital and a member of Aledade’s Board of Directors, joins Josh (@DrJIsrael) to discuss her background, what attracted her to invest in this tech-enabled health care company, the role that private equity can play as a force for change, and how she thinks about a company’s culture, people and ideas when considering whether to invest.

Dr. Lelin Chao (@Dr_Lelin) joins the show to talk about the importance of addressing mental health and substance abuse disorders in primary care. Lelin and Josh (@DrJIsrael) discuss the behavioral health integration some innovative approaches to this challenge. Lelin is an Aledade Medical Director and the co-founder of Health Alliance Associates, a housing-first, advanced primary care practice that provides substance use disorder, behavioral health counseling and primary care to patients struggling with medical illness, addiction, and homelessness.

Kim Lynch(@kllynch7), Senior Vice President of Adoption & Practice Success, joins the show to talk about how Aledade continues to reinvent itself and solve new problems. Kim takes us on a deep dive of the Net Promoter Score, and how Aledade strives to provide delight to its partner providers. As one of the first employees of the company, Kim reflects on what it takes to “build the plane while flying it."

A new study published in the American Journal of Managed Care shows that Medicare Annual Wellness Visits (AWVs) can increase healthcare quality and reduce healthcare costs. Josh (@DrJIsrael) sits down with two of the authors of this paper, Farzad Mostashari (@Farzad_MD) and Jen King, to talk about the challenges and importance of doing studies like these, and how AWVs can be used to build primary care relationships and serve as a key component of ACO strategy.

Catherine Olexa, (@MsOlexa), joins Josh (@DrJIsrael) and Joe (@JoeShonkwiler) for a conversation about the importance of reaching out to patients who are at their most vulnerable during episodes of acute care and as well as those who have just been discharged from the hospital or those nearing the end of life. She shares the journey that led her to Aledade and to value-based care with the primary care physician at the center. Catherine continues to find innovative ways to help doctors care for their sickest patients through better data, better workflows, and better partnerships.

Dr. Sophia McIntyre, Chief Medical Officer of Hudson River HealthCare, Inc., discusses how she was able to implement team-based preventative care in communities of color. She shares how she broke down racial barriers on her path to becoming a doctor with Josh (@DrJIsrael). Dr. McIntyre continued this conversation during the Black History Month Panel Discussion at Aledade.

Nicholas Berault (@AledadeNJB) gives Josh (@DrJIsrael) and Joe (@JoeShonkwiler) a sneak peek into a day in the life of an Aledade Coordinator. He traces his trajectory from Aledade Fellow to Pennsylvania ACO Coordinator, sharing what it is like to work out in the field, bridging the gap between Aledade and its physicians. Nicholas supports and encourages practices every step of the way, while asking them to change the way they operate in several ways. These changes aren’t easy, but watching practices succeed and thrive makes it all worth it.

Aledade CEO Farzad Mostashari (@Farzad_MD) returns to the ACO Show to share his perspective on risk coding and why it’s important for ACOs. Dr. John Torontow (@HCCRisk), Aledade Medical Director, also joins Josh (@DrJIsrael) and Joe (@JoeShonkwiler) to discuss the details of accurate risk coding. John merges his experience as a family physician with his knowledge of population health to coach providers through difficult conversations with their patients that ultimately result in better care.

Ahmed Haque (@aehaque), Aledade’s SVP of Network Performance & Strategy, returns to the show to discuss the strategy behind building and growing an ACO. Ahmed’s experience and expertise have made him a national leader in creating high performing ACOs and he shares his insights with Josh (@DrJIsrael) and Joe (@JoeShonkwiler).