health analytics

Guest: Dr. Bruce Y Lee, Executive Director of PHICOR (Public Health Informatics, Computational, and Operations Research) [@PHICORteam]

On LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/bruce-y-lee-68a6834/

On Twitter | https://twitter.com/bruce_y_lee

Website | https://www.bruceylee.com/

On Forbes | https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/

On Psychology Today | https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/contributors/bruce-y-lee-md-mba

_____________________________

Host: Marco Ciappelli, Co-Founder at ITSPmagazine [@ITSPmagazine] and Host of Redefining Society Podcast

On ITSPmagazine | https://www.itspmagazine.com/itspmagazine-podcast-radio-hosts/marco-ciappelli
_____________________________

This Episode’s Sponsors

BlackCloak 👉 https://itspm.ag/itspbcweb

Bugcrowd 👉 https://itspm.ag/itspbgcweb

Devo 👉 https://itspm.ag/itspdvweb

_____________________________

Episode Introduction

Welcome to a new episode of the "Redefining Society" podcast, where we engage in thought-provoking conversations at the crossroads of technology, society, and personal identity. In this episode, I, Marco Ciappelli, am excited to host Dr. Bruce Y. Lee, a renowned thinker in the realm of digital culture and technological evolution. Our dialogue today spans a broad spectrum of topics, including shifts in job trends influenced by technological advancements, the cultural and social impacts of emerging tech, and the increasingly complex issues surrounding privacy in the digital age.

As we dive into our discussion, Dr. Lee and I explore the double-edged sword of technology: its potential to challenge or reinforce societal biases. We delve into the intricacies of data generation and consumption, examining how the algorithms that shape our digital experiences can inadvertently perpetuate existing prejudices or open doors to more inclusive perspectives. This conversation underscores the crucial role that awareness and critical thinking play in navigating the digital landscape.

Another focal point of our conversation is the notion of privacy in today’s interconnected world. We discuss the challenges individuals face in making informed decisions about their online presence, especially considering the often convoluted privacy settings of digital platforms. These settings, sometimes defaulting to over-sharing, highlight the need for vigilance and understanding in managing our digital footprints.

Furthermore, we delve into the potential of artificial intelligence as a mirror reflecting our societal values and shortcomings. AI's influence in our lives is undeniable, yet it raises essential questions about the nature of the information we share and the consequences of these shared data. Dr. Lee and I dissect the complexities of AI development, emphasizing the importance of infusing ethical considerations into the fabric of these technologies.

Throughout our dialogue, we aim to shed light on the intricate web that technology weaves in our lives. From influencing job markets to shaping cultural norms and personal privacy, the digital world presents a labyrinth of challenges and opportunities. Our goal is to illuminate these paths, offering insights and fostering a deeper understanding of the role technology plays in redefining society.

Tune in to this episode for an enlightening journey through the multifaceted world of technology, as we explore its profound implications on society and the individual.

_____________________________

Resources

____________________________

To see and hear more Redefining Society stories on ITSPmagazine, visit:
https://www.itspmagazine.com/redefining-society-podcast

Watch the webcast version on-demand on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnYu0psdcllTUoWMGGQHlGVZA575VtGr9

Are you interested in sponsoring an ITSPmagazine Channel?
👉 https://www.itspmagazine.com/advertise-on-itspmagazine-podcast

Guest: Dr. Bruce Y Lee, Executive Director of PHICOR (Public Health Informatics, Computational, and Operations Research) [@PHICORteam]

On LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/bruce-y-lee-68a6834/

On Twitter | https://twitter.com/bruce_y_lee

Website | https://www.bruceylee.com/

On Forbes | https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/

On Psychology Today | https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/contributors/bruce-y-lee-md-mba

_____________________________

Host: Marco Ciappelli, Co-Founder at ITSPmagazine [@ITSPmagazine] and Host of Redefining Society Podcast

On ITSPmagazine | https://www.itspmagazine.com/itspmagazine-podcast-radio-hosts/marco-ciappelli
_____________________________

This Episode’s Sponsors

BlackCloak 👉 https://itspm.ag/itspbcweb

Bugcrowd 👉 https://itspm.ag/itspbgcweb

Devo 👉 https://itspm.ag/itspdvweb

_____________________________

Episode Introduction

Welcome to a new episode of the "Redefining Society" podcast, where we engage in thought-provoking conversations at the crossroads of technology, society, and personal identity. In this episode, I, Marco Ciappelli, am excited to host Dr. Bruce Y. Lee, a renowned thinker in the realm of digital culture and technological evolution. Our dialogue today spans a broad spectrum of topics, including shifts in job trends influenced by technological advancements, the cultural and social impacts of emerging tech, and the increasingly complex issues surrounding privacy in the digital age.

As we dive into our discussion, Dr. Lee and I explore the double-edged sword of technology: its potential to challenge or reinforce societal biases. We delve into the intricacies of data generation and consumption, examining how the algorithms that shape our digital experiences can inadvertently perpetuate existing prejudices or open doors to more inclusive perspectives. This conversation underscores the crucial role that awareness and critical thinking play in navigating the digital landscape.

Another focal point of our conversation is the notion of privacy in today’s interconnected world. We discuss the challenges individuals face in making informed decisions about their online presence, especially considering the often convoluted privacy settings of digital platforms. These settings, sometimes defaulting to over-sharing, highlight the need for vigilance and understanding in managing our digital footprints.

Furthermore, we delve into the potential of artificial intelligence as a mirror reflecting our societal values and shortcomings. AI's influence in our lives is undeniable, yet it raises essential questions about the nature of the information we share and the consequences of these shared data. Dr. Lee and I dissect the complexities of AI development, emphasizing the importance of infusing ethical considerations into the fabric of these technologies.

Throughout our dialogue, we aim to shed light on the intricate web that technology weaves in our lives. From influencing job markets to shaping cultural norms and personal privacy, the digital world presents a labyrinth of challenges and opportunities. Our goal is to illuminate these paths, offering insights and fostering a deeper understanding of the role technology plays in redefining society.

Tune in to this episode for an enlightening journey through the multifaceted world of technology, as we explore its profound implications on society and the individual.

_____________________________

Resources

____________________________

To see and hear more Redefining Society stories on ITSPmagazine, visit:
https://www.itspmagazine.com/redefining-society-podcast

Watch the webcast version on-demand on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnYu0psdcllTUoWMGGQHlGVZA575VtGr9

Are you interested in sponsoring an ITSPmagazine Channel?
👉 https://www.itspmagazine.com/advertise-on-itspmagazine-podcast

Guest: Dr. Bruce Y Lee, Executive Director of PHICOR (Public Health Informatics, Computational, and Operations Research) [@PHICORteam]

On LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/bruce-y-lee-68a6834/

On Twitter | https://twitter.com/bruce_y_lee

Website | https://www.bruceylee.com/

On Forbes | https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/

On Psychology Today | https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/contributors/bruce-y-lee-md-mba

_____________________________

Host: Marco Ciappelli, Co-Founder at ITSPmagazine [@ITSPmagazine] and Host of Redefining Society Podcast

On ITSPmagazine | https://www.itspmagazine.com/itspmagazine-podcast-radio-hosts/marco-ciappelli
_____________________________

This Episode’s Sponsors

BlackCloak 👉 https://itspm.ag/itspbcweb

Bugcrowd 👉 https://itspm.ag/itspbgcweb

Devo 👉 https://itspm.ag/itspdvweb

_____________________________

Episode Introduction

Hey there, welcome to another episode of "A Carbon, a Silicon, and a Cell Walk into a Bar," part of the Redefining Society podcast. I'm your host, Marco Ciappelli, and this series aims to explore the complexities of technology, health, and society. Today, I'm joined once again by Dr. Bruce Y. Lee, an expert in systems modeling, digital health, and a Professor of Health Policy at CUNY. The title of our series might sound like a tongue-in-cheek joke, but it's a guiding compass. Carbon for organic life, Silicon for technology, and Cell for health—each of these elements comes together in a conversation that aims to redefine how we perceive society.

Our discussion today turns to the subject of personalized health, a topic we often underestimate. Bruce, who just spoke at a conference sponsored by the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University, delves into the myriad of variables that play into personalized health. From metabolism to social structures, every person is a sum of complex factors that dictate their health outcomes. And while we may recognize the importance of personalized nutrition and tailored health recommendations, Bruce highlights a crucial point: no single diet or lifestyle change is a one-size-fits-all solution.

Dr. Lee dives into the limitations of general health recommendations. Sure, everyone should aim for good sleep and avoid smoking, but what about the nitty-gritty details that are tailored just for you? This is where artificial intelligence (AI) could shine, by collecting and synthesizing data on our behaviors, physiology, and even our microbiomes to offer more individualized health guidelines.

"Health is can be very personal," Bruce notes. The reason one person's diet might work wonders but make another gain weight is due to the vast differences in our internal systems. "It takes a lot of time to really figure someone out," he adds, emphasizing that many factors are often overlooked—such as the unique microbiomes each of us hosts. And let's be honest; it's not exactly common practice to discuss your gut health over a coffee chat with friends.

In essence, the realm of personalized health is not just a growing field but a necessary one, especially as we look to navigate the complexities of modern life. For example, the challenges of describing your ailments to a doctor accurately—or even understanding what lifestyle adjustments could be beneficial for your well-being—are hurdles that AI might help us leap over.

So, as we continue to weave through the labyrinthine relationships between technology, health, and society, this episode serves as a great reminder. Personalized health isn't just the future; it's a critical present that we need to understand and embrace.

Cheers, and until next time!

_____________________________

Resources

PHICOR: https://www.phicor.org/

AIMINGS: https://www.phicor.org/aimings

____________________________

To see and hear more Redefining Society stories on ITSPmagazine, visit:
https://www.itspmagazine.com/redefining-society-podcast

Watch the webcast version on-demand on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnYu0psdcllTUoWMGGQHlGVZA575VtGr9

Are you interested in sponsoring an ITSPmagazine Channel?
👉 https://www.itspmagazine.com/advertise-on-itspmagazine-podcast

Guest: Dr. Bruce Y Lee, Executive Director of PHICOR (Public Health Informatics, Computational, and Operations Research) [@PHICORteam]

On LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/bruce-y-lee-68a6834/

On Twitter | https://twitter.com/bruce_y_lee

Website | https://www.bruceylee.com/

On Forbes | https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/

On Psychology Today | https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/contributors/bruce-y-lee-md-mba

_____________________________

Host: Marco Ciappelli, Co-Founder at ITSPmagazine [@ITSPmagazine] and Host of Redefining Society Podcast

On ITSPmagazine | https://www.itspmagazine.com/itspmagazine-podcast-radio-hosts/marco-ciappelli
_____________________________

This Episode’s Sponsors

BlackCloak 👉 https://itspm.ag/itspbcweb

Bugcrowd 👉 https://itspm.ag/itspbgcweb

Devo 👉 https://itspm.ag/itspdvweb

_____________________________

Episode Introduction

Hey there, welcome to another episode of "A Carbon, a Silicon, and a Cell Walk into a Bar," part of the Redefining Society podcast. I'm your host, Marco Ciappelli, and this series aims to explore the complexities of technology, health, and society. Today, I'm joined once again by Dr. Bruce Y. Lee, an expert in systems modeling, digital health, and a Professor of Health Policy at CUNY. The title of our series might sound like a tongue-in-cheek joke, but it's a guiding compass. Carbon for organic life, Silicon for technology, and Cell for health—each of these elements comes together in a conversation that aims to redefine how we perceive society.

Our discussion today turns to the subject of personalized health, a topic we often underestimate. Bruce, who just spoke at a conference sponsored by the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University, delves into the myriad of variables that play into personalized health. From metabolism to social structures, every person is a sum of complex factors that dictate their health outcomes. And while we may recognize the importance of personalized nutrition and tailored health recommendations, Bruce highlights a crucial point: no single diet or lifestyle change is a one-size-fits-all solution.

Dr. Lee dives into the limitations of general health recommendations. Sure, everyone should aim for good sleep and avoid smoking, but what about the nitty-gritty details that are tailored just for you? This is where artificial intelligence (AI) could shine, by collecting and synthesizing data on our behaviors, physiology, and even our microbiomes to offer more individualized health guidelines.

"Health is can be very personal," Bruce notes. The reason one person's diet might work wonders but make another gain weight is due to the vast differences in our internal systems. "It takes a lot of time to really figure someone out," he adds, emphasizing that many factors are often overlooked—such as the unique microbiomes each of us hosts. And let's be honest; it's not exactly common practice to discuss your gut health over a coffee chat with friends.

In essence, the realm of personalized health is not just a growing field but a necessary one, especially as we look to navigate the complexities of modern life. For example, the challenges of describing your ailments to a doctor accurately—or even understanding what lifestyle adjustments could be beneficial for your well-being—are hurdles that AI might help us leap over.

So, as we continue to weave through the labyrinthine relationships between technology, health, and society, this episode serves as a great reminder. Personalized health isn't just the future; it's a critical present that we need to understand and embrace.

Cheers, and until next time!

_____________________________

Resources

PHICOR: https://www.phicor.org/

AIMINGS: https://www.phicor.org/aimings

____________________________

To see and hear more Redefining Society stories on ITSPmagazine, visit:
https://www.itspmagazine.com/redefining-society-podcast

Watch the webcast version on-demand on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnYu0psdcllTUoWMGGQHlGVZA575VtGr9

Are you interested in sponsoring an ITSPmagazine Channel?
👉 https://www.itspmagazine.com/advertise-on-itspmagazine-podcast

In this engaging and informative podcast, hosts Mike Pattengale and Jennifer Jones chat with Alex Frommeyer, the co-founder and CEO of Beam Benefits. Alex shares his journey from being an engineer to founding Beam, a digitally native employee benefits company that's transforming dental insurance and more.

Key takeaways:

1. Digitally Native Benefits: Beam's success lies in being a native digital company, leveraging AI-powered underwriting and a wellness program to offer flexible and innovative benefits for small and medium-sized businesses. This digital approach differentiates Beam from traditional insurers and creates a memorable experience for employees.
2. Dental Wellness Program: Beam's unique dental wellness program gamifies dental care, allowing users to accumulate points by brushing their teeth with the connected Beam toothbrush. These points can be redeemed for various products and gift cards, promoting better dental health while engaging users passively.
3. The Future of Employee Benefits: Alex envisions a more integrated and comprehensive approach to employee benefits, where data-driven solutions unify various health-related coverages and experiences. He believes tech and entrepreneurial innovation will be the driving force behind this future.

The next time you brush your teeth, remember that you can make dental health more fun and rewarding with Beam!

Catch the full conversation.

• Connect with Alex Frommeyer on LinkedIn
• Visit Beam Benefits' website
• Connect with our co-hosts Jennifer Jones and Mike Pattengale 

Subscribe so you don’t miss an episode: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other popular podcast players. 

Have feedback, questions, or suggestions for show ideas? Send them to us at podcast@springbuk.com.

Please rate and review us on your favorite podcast platform, and share it with your friends and colleagues. We appreciate you and thank you for listening!

Produced by David Pittman

Theme music: "Overboard" by Stay Outside

If you look at almost any engagement survey that a company does, career development is almost always one of the lowest scores. Robyn Clark, the founder of WinningWise, an HR and talent management company, says that’s largely because employers career development because they think it's only for the person – the employee – and not for them. That’s completely and utterly wrong.

Robyn explains that if employers are preparing a workforce for the future, they should be looking to develop people so they can take on ever-bigger projects and go into broader roles, some of which may not even be known yet. 

Robyn further says career development is probably the most important talent strategy today, one that offers a huge win for both the organization and the individual because the employer is building the bench that they want and they're meeting two significant needs for the employee: mastery and personal growth.

Catch the full conversation.

• Connect with Robyn Clark on LinkedIn
• Watch WinningWise’s webinar “Understanding Individual Needs: How Employee Needs Have Shifted Since the Pandemic”
• Get the complete 2023 Employee Health Trends report and other related resources
• Connect with our co-hosts Jennifer Jones and Mike Pattengale 
• Subscribe so you don’t miss an episode: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other popular podcast players. 

Have feedback, questions, or suggestions for show ideas? Send them to us at podcast@springbuk.com.

Please rate and review us on your favorite podcast platform, and share it with your friends and colleagues. We appreciate you and thank you for listening!

Produced by David Pittman

Theme music: "Overboard" by Stay Outside

A 2023 Business Group on Health survey showed that for the first time in history, cancer overtook musculoskeletal disease as the top cost driver for employers. Natalya Gertsik, vice president of Clear Cancer Solution Management at PHM, and a contributor to the 2023 Springbuk Employee Health Trends report, says this is a major issue from employers and their employees because of three main deficiencies in our healthcare system related to cancer care:

• limited access
• inadequate communication
• inefficiency

She describes the respective underlying issues with Centers of Excellence and community-based oncologists, and then explains how PHM is applying an ”independence clinical excellence model” to address these deficiencies and challenges.

Catch the full conversation.

• Connect with Natalya Gertsik on LinkedIn
• Get the complete 2023 Employee Health Trends report and other related resources
• Connect with our co-hosts Jennifer Jones and Mike Pattengale 
• Subscribe so you don’t miss an episode: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other popular podcast players. 

Have feedback, questions, or suggestions for show ideas? Send them to us at podcast@springbuk.com.

Please rate and review us on your favorite podcast platform, and share it with your friends and colleagues. We appreciate you and thank you for listening!

Produced by David Pittman

Theme music: "Overboard" by Stay Outside

For the past few years, specialty drugs have played a large and growing role in the overall cost of employee healthcare. In this episode, Janet Young, M.D., lead clinical scientist and co-author of Springbuk's 2023 Employee Health Trends Report, describes the factors that are driving the biggest increases and get some tips on what employers can do to keep their costs under control. 

Catch the full conversation.

• Connect with Janet Young on LinkedIn
• Get the complete 2023 Employee Health Trends report and other related resources
• Connect with our co-hosts Jennifer Jones and Mike Pattengale 
• Subscribe so you don’t miss an episode: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other popular podcast players. 

Have feedback, questions, or suggestions for show ideas? Send them to us at podcast@springbuk.com.

Please rate and review us on your favorite podcast platform, and share it with your friends and colleagues. We appreciate you and thank you for listening!

Produced by David Pittman

Theme music: "Overboard" by Stay Outside

We are now into our fourth year of dealing with COVID. Since it burst into our consciousness in early 2020, we've seen massive changes in treatments and long-term effects, including the enigmatic, long COVID  and strains on mental health. To kick off season two of “Healthcare on the Rocks: Employee Benefits with a Twist,” we're going to start with a mini-series, exploring the major trends that are reshaping employee healthcare. 

This episode’s featured guests are three of the analysts and authors of Springbuk's 2023 Employee Health Trends Report. Janet Young, M.D., lead clinical scientist; Chris Gagen, senior director of analytic and strategic consulting; and Jennifer Jones, MSM RD, enterprise employer practice leader.

Catch the full conversation.

• Connect with Janet Young and Chris Gagen on LinkedIn
• Get the complete 2023 Employee Health Trends report and other related resources
• Connect with our co-hosts Jennifer Jones and Mike Pattengale 
• Subscribe so you don’t miss an episode: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other popular podcast players. 

Have feedback, questions, or suggestions for show ideas? Send them to us at podcast@springbuk.com.

Please rate and review us on your favorite podcast platform, and share it with your friends and colleagues. We appreciate you and thank you for listening!

Produced by David Pittman

Theme music: "Overboard" by Stay Outside

Imagine you’ve just received a life-changing diagnosis: maybe it’s cancer, maybe it’s ALS. Whatever it is, the last thing you would want to worry about is finding the best specialist or questioning if your prognosis is correct. 

That’s where an Expert Medical Opinion solution can help. Josh Reimer, Director of Channel Partnerships at Included Health, joined us to review many of the challenges of our current healthcare system:

• Confusion: 50% of individuals struggle to understand their insurance
• Low engagement: 33% of individuals avoid medical care altogether
• Lack of access: >16,000 physician offices closed due to COVID
• High costs: 30% of healthcare spend is considered waste

He then explained how an EMO solution can help break down those barriers to simplify the healthcare experience, delivering access to 4000  of the top clinical specialists and subspecialists nationwide.

Listen to the full conversation.

• Connect with Josh Reimer on LinkedIn
• Visit Included Health
• Connect with our co-hosts Jennifer Jones and David Pittman 
• Subscribe so you don’t miss an episode: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other popular podcast players

Have feedback, questions, or suggestions for show ideas? Send them to us at podcast@springbuk.com.

Please rate and review us on your favorite podcast platform, and share it with your friends and colleagues. We appreciate you and thank you for listening!

Produced by David Pittman

Theme music: "Overboard" by Stay Outside

“What we've seen in the last 10 to 15 years … is a juggernaut of costs from specialty medicines, usually wonderful medicines with great cures, but that come at a significant cost. … And whereas the split between medical and pharma used to be that we spent some of our time on utilization of pharmacy and prescriptions and generics and mail order versus retail, now specialty medicine is just blowing everything out of the water from a cost perspective.” 

With that, healthcare industry thought leader Dr. Ron Leopold launched into an engaging conversation about macro trends in employee benefits, covering the ever-evolving effects of COVID, the proliferation of point solutions, the major cost drivers for employers, and how those employers should be using data to contain their costs.

“There's a whole lot that we can measure if we're smart and understand this requires both looking at the data and then really thinking through cause and effect,” said Dr. Leopold.

Listen to the full conversation.

• Connect with Dr. Leopold on LinkedIn
• Visit RonLeopold.com
• Connect with our co-hosts Jennifer Jones and Mike Pattengale 
• Subscribe so you don’t miss an episode: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other popular podcast players

Have feedback, questions, or suggestions for show ideas? Send them to us at podcast@springbuk.com.

Please rate and review us on your favorite podcast platform, and share it with your friends and colleagues. We appreciate you and thank you for listening!

Produced by David Pittman

Theme music: "Overboard" by Stay Outside

The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 (CAA) was signed into law, including many provisions that impact employer-sponsored health plans. The CAA mandates a new set of requirements for pharmacy reporting, mental health parity compliance, consumer price transparency, balance-billing practices, and other requirements related to contracts between employers, their health plans, and broker/consultant partners.

It’s complex. Shannon Kukulka, an employee benefits attorney at Waller and former  in-house counsel for a Fortune 500 company, joined Nicole Belles, vice president of product at Springbuk, and regular host Jennifer Jones to share her legal knowledge and practical advice on how employers can navigate the murky waters of the CAA.

• Connect with Shannon on LinkedIn
• Visit Waller’s website
• Read Shannon’s blog about the CAA
• Connect with our co-hosts Jennifer Jones and Nicole Belles 
• Subscribe so you don’t miss an episode: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other popular podcast players

Have feedback, questions, or suggestions for show ideas? Send them to us at podcast@springbuk.com.

Please rate and review us on your favorite podcast platform, and share it with your friends and colleagues. We appreciate you and thank you for listening!

Produced by David Pittman

Theme music: "Overboard" by Stay Outside

Healthiest Employers is the trusted awards program that recognizes people-first organizations that are taking a more proactive approach to employee health. Since its inception in 2009, the Healthiest Employers corporate wellness program has attracted over 10,000 employers representing more than 60 million employees from all across the United States.

Haley Elmore, Healthiest Employers program coordinator, joined Jennifer and Mike to share several of the attributes found in organizations that were named in the Healthiest 100 Workplaces in America. She also explain why companies choose to apply for the program and the value they take away from participating, even if they don’t receive a regional or national award. HINT:  it’s learning from the best of the best.

Listen as Haley provides recommendations for both employers and their employees.

• Connect with Haley on LinkedIn
• Visit Healthiest Employers website
• Read the Healthiest Employers blog
• Get a Benchmark Report with more than 40 pages of data, charts, and recommendations
• Connect with our co-hosts Jennifer Jones and Mike Pattengale 
• Subscribe so you don’t miss an episode: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other popular podcast players

Have feedback, questions, or suggestions for show ideas? Send them to us at podcast@springbuk.com.

Please rate and review us on your favorite podcast platform, and share it with your friends and colleagues. We appreciate you and thank you for listening!

Produced by David Pittman

Theme music: "Overboard" by Stay Outside

Specialty drugs are playing a significant role in the increasing healthcare costs in the commercial market. In this third episode of a mini-series based on the 2022 Employee Health Trends report, Janet Young, M.D., Lead Clinical Scientist at Springbuk and co-author of the report, talks about which specialty drugs are driving the most cost and alternatives that benefits leaders can explore.

Discover why one condition has a relatively small percentage of people receiving a specialty drug, but that is still drive a large dollar value of spending, and hear which conditions our data scientists expect to drive growth of specialty drug use over the next couple of years.

Get tips for how employers can reduce costs on specialty drugs without reducing efficacy, including looking at where the drugs are administered. 

And learn the steps employers can take now to increase adoption of lower-cost alternative drugs and to ensure they are able to reap cost savings as new biosimilars come into the market over the next two to three years.

Listen as Janet provides recommendations for both employers and their employees.

• Connect with Janet on LinkedIn
• Get the complete 2022 Employee Health Trends report
• Connect with our co-hosts Jennifer Jones and Mike Pattengale 
• Subscribe so you don’t miss an episode: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other popular podcast players

Have feedback, questions, or suggestions for show ideas? Send them to us at podcast@springbuk.com.

Please rate and review us on your favorite podcast platform, and share it with your friends and colleagues. We appreciate you and thank you for listening!

Produced by David Pittman

Theme music: "Overboard" by Stay Outside

Health insurance was established to protect us from catastrophic financial loss, but David Contorno, CEO and founder of E-Powered Benefits, says, “medical debt is the number one cause of bankruptcy in the U.S., with the huge majority of them having had health insurance?”

David explains how the typical broker and carrier contracts are structured so that they benefit most when costs go up. His firm turns the usual system of incentives around so they’re paid on how much they lower costs. 

Learn about his firm’s approach to building benefit plans that are built specifically for a company’s culture and workforce … and discover why insurance carriers don’t like him much.

• Connect with David on LinkedIn
• David’s viral post about Health Expenditure vs. Life Expectancy
• Get the e-book Social Determinants of Health: A Springbuk Perspective
• Marshall Allen’s book, Never Pay the First Bill: And Other Ways to Fight the Health Care System and Win
• Get the complete 2022 Employee Health Trends report
• Connect with our co-hosts Jennifer Jones and Mike Pattengale 
• Subscribe so you don’t miss an episode: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other popular podcast players.   

Have feedback, questions, or suggestions for show ideas? Send them to us at podcast@springbuk.com.

Please rate and review us on your favorite podcast platform, and share it with your friends and colleagues. We appreciate you and thank you for listening!

Produced by David Pittman

Theme music: "Overboard" by Stay Outside

In this second episode of a mini-series based on the 2022 Employee Health Trends report, we talk with co-author Janet Young, M.D., Lead Clinical Scientist at Springbuk, about the impacts COVID-19 has had on employee healthcare and employer benefit plans. 

Armed with data from more than 30,000 COVID patients, Janet and her fellow data analysts split the research into individuals who had COVID into hospitalized and non-hospitalized to get a better understanding of what was happening within each group.

Their findings were stunning: during a six-month period after an initial COVID diagnosis, hospitalized patients cost about 70% more than the researchers expected. Even non-hospitalized patients saw an increase of about 25%.

What’s this mean for employee benefit plans? As the pandemic seems to be drawing to an end, employers need to be mindful that doesn’t mean their healthcare costs will immediately drop. 

And besides the costs for acute care, the data show many people, unsurprisingly, have post-acute care mental health issues that may linger for an extended time. 

Listen as Janet provides recommendations for both employers and their employees. 

• Connect with Janet on LinkedIn
• Get the complete 2022 Employee Health Trends report
• Connect with our co-hosts Jennifer Jones and Mike Pattengale 
• Subscribe so you don’t miss an episode: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other popular podcast players.   

Have feedback, questions, or suggestions for show ideas? Send them to us at podcast@springbuk.com.

Please rate and review us on your favorite podcast platform, and share it with your friends and colleagues. We appreciate you and thank you for listening!

Produced by David Pittman

Theme music: "Overboard" by Stay Outside

In the 2021 Employee Health Trends report, Springbuk discovered the rate of telemedicine services per 1000 plan members had increased 12-fold over the previous year’s data, which was mostly prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Digging deeper into the data, Chris Gagen and the rest of the Springbuk analytics team found mental health accounted for more than 40 percent of those encounters.

What has happened in the year since then? 

• Have telemedicine visits overall increased, decreased, or remained relatively constant?
• What about telemental health services? Has the long two-year grind of the pandemic caused more people to seek care via the internet?
• Who is using the services most?
• What’s causing the variance in telemedicine visits among demographic groups?

Those are some of the topics that Chris, Springbuk’s Senior Director of Analytic & Strategic Consulting, explains in this episode.

• Connect with Chris on LinkedIn
• Get the complete 2022 Employee Health Trends report
• Connect with our co-hosts Jennifer Jones and Mike Pattengale 
• Subscribe so you don’t miss an episode: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other popular podcast players.   

Have feedback, questions, or suggestions for show ideas? Send them to us at podcast@springbuk.com.

Please rate and review us on your favorite podcast platform, and share it with your friends and colleagues. We appreciate you and thank you for listening!

Produced by David Pittman

Theme music: "Overboard" by Stay Outside

You might know Spencer Smith hosts a popular podcast around self-funded insurance. Or you may have seen his video series on stop-loss insurance, which has become standard curriculum for many people just starting in the industry. 

But did you know Spencer loves heavy metal, which many people find shocking? Or that he once dabbled in stand-up comedy, where he occasionally bombed on stage, “which is just brutal to your soul.” 

Listen to him describe how he used that feeling of “being vulnerable on stage in front of 200 people and totally sucking” to build his confidence. 

In this wide-ranging conversation, Spencer encourages those who are struggling with self-confidence to “learn how to be comfortable being uncomfortable.” And he explains how one question — Are you a runner or a chaser? — can help you reframe your challenges and turn them into a personal guide to success. Finally, he describes the important lesson he learned from coaching his daughter’s youth soccer team: why you don’t need a shirt that says “Coach.”

• Connect with Spencer on LinkedIn
• Listen to “Self-Funded with Spencer” podcast
• Watch Spencer’s Stop-Loss Insurance videos on YouTube
• Learn more about the Springbuk Health Intelligence platform
• Connect with our co-hosts Jennifer Jones and Mike Pattengale 

Have feedback, questions, or suggestions for show ideas? Send them to us at podcast@springbuk.com.

Please rate and review us on your favorite podcast platform, and share it with your friends and colleagues. We appreciate you and thank you for listening!

Produced by David Pittman

Theme music: "Overboard" by Stay Outside

Take a big idea, surround yourself with phenomenal people, and execute on an idea. 

That’s how Rod Reasen, CEO Springbuk, assessed the success he’s witnessed in the five years since founding the health data analytics company.

Rod believes benefits managers have a unique opportunity to take data from thousands of employers, use an analytics platform like Springbuk to apply rich health intelligence, and that will put them in position to move to true engagement between employers and individuals to improve health.

In this episode, Rod talks about his biggest surprises in moving to a totally remote “work-from-anywhere” workforce and the challenges for an entrepreneurial CEO in transitioning from a startup to a scale-up. “One of the hardest but most rewarding” experiences is learning to pass decisions off to other leaders, then watching them learn and grow.

From watching the healthcare industry for 20 years, Rod has observed an ebb and flow of vendors in the market. New vendors come in with a hyper-specialization, then over time as they become widely accepted, they branch out and become generalists. But one thing has remained constant. Listen to Rod explain what the constant is and why he’s excited about the opportunity around it.

Rod also explains the origin story of the name “Springbuk” and how happy he is with the choice over what it was initially called. 

• Connect with Rod on LinkedIn
• Learn more about the Springbuk Health Intelligence platform
• Connect with our co-hosts Jennifer Jones and Mike Pattengale 

Have feedback, questions, or suggestions for show ideas? Send them to us at podcast@springbuk.com.

Please rate and review us on your favorite podcast platform, and share it with your friends and colleagues. We appreciate you and thank you for listening!

Produced by David Pittman

Theme music: "Overboard" by Stay Outside

In today’s tight labor market, employers are struggling to identify the unique value proposition that they can offer to prospective employees as well as to retain current staff. For example, the importance of - and desire for - family benefits and mental health have risen dramatically over recent years.

Another set of hot-button questions for HR leaders revolves around diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). What access to care do our employees have? How can we ensure our employee population is supported? Are our policies truly supportive to all our employees, including LGBTQ and every race and ethnicity? Is our pay equity in line? Who do we want to be as a company, culturally? 

In this episode, Megan Nail, CCP, SHRM-SCP, CEBS, SPHR-CA, shares her experience handling these challenging issues as Vice President of the Total Rewards Practice at First Person Advisors, now a subsidiary of NFP, and State Director for HR Indiana Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).

Megan advises clients on how to meet their organization’s goals through total rewards and compensation strategy. She builds and designs market-competitive base and incentive pay structures throughout the organization, including prioritizing compensation as a key component of the employee value proposition.

• Connect with Megan on LinkedIn 
• Listen to FirstPerson’s podcast, “Human Resolve”

Have feedback, questions, or suggestions for show ideas? Send them to us at podcast@springbuk.com.

Please rate and review us on your favorite podcast platform, and share it with your friends and colleagues. We appreciate you and thank you for listening!

Produced by David Pittman

Theme music: "Overboard" by Stay Outside