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In this episode, Ron has a discussion with Preston Alexander, Founder & President of One Degree Medical. Here, Preston chats about the winners of DPCs and why they aren’t as prevalent as they should be, what’s wrong with monopolized health systems, the problem with non-profit health systems, and much more.

Preston Alexander is a healthcare entrepreneur currently serving as an advisor and consultant to healthcare companies of all stages. His passion for healthcare is lies in helping to create a more affordable, accessible, and equitable system. Prior to becoming a founder, Preston worked for large, global medical device companies as a product manager, responsible for over $100M in portfolios. It was through this experience that Preston gained a deeper understanding of how healthcare and specifically large integrated hospital systems worked.

Preston also writes extensively about health systems and companies, breaking down the business and finance basics to equip more people, especially clinicians with the tools and resources they need to get into the business of healthcare. He believes that clinicians are key to saving healthcare and must take back the business to restore the practice of medicine.

Preston currently lives in Atlanta, GA with his wife and two daughters. Outside of obsessing about healthcare and working to find better solutions, he spends as much time as he can with his family and occasionally finds time to go rock climbing.

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In this episode, Ron chats with Dr. Brian Fretwell, President and CEO of Direct Primary Care Associates and myDPCrx – a DPC provider driven pharmacy program that sells over 1,000 generic prescriptions for pennies on the dollar. Here, he answers the questions of what led him to start myDPCrx, where his 5 clinics are located, how this is changing the face of pharmacy, and more.

Mr. Fretwell  calls Cleveland home. He is a former field and flight Paramedic. He attended University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. His medical education was completed at Nova Southeastern University with a dual degree in PA studies and Masters in Public Health. He has over 27 years experience in Emergency, Family, and Occupational Medicine. As CEO of Direct Primary Care Associates, Mr. Fretwell has created and continues to develop a team of like-minded, forward thinking individuals who share his unique vision for improving access to quality affordable healthcare through innovative solutions for individuals and businesses throughout the region.

Brian enjoys spending quality time with his children. He also spends most fall weekends watching Tennessee football. An avid conservationist and outdoorsman he also spends much time hunting, fishing, surfing, and boating.

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In this episode, Ron talks DPCs with Dr. Kenneth Qiu, Founder of EuDoc, & Associate Clinical Professor at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine. Here, Kenneth discusses what he sees the outlook for DPCs in the next year, what it is like to be a DPC practitioner himself, his work educating med students on DPCs, and much more.

Kenneth Qiu, MD is a board certified family physician with a strong passion for direct primary care and interest in primary care innovation. He has been an active member of the DPC community since he learned about the model during his fourth year of medical school and started his own DPC practice, EuDoc, straight out of residency. His involvement has led him to be a member of the DPC Alliance Board and DPC Coalition Steering Committee. His interest in primary care innovation has led to the creation of X = Primary Care, or XPC for short, where he and his friend and co-founder Paulius Mui, MD dive into all sorts of primary care innovation. Dr. Qiu currently also advises health tech companies and teaches at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, where he completed medical school.

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In this episode Katy Talento, Epidemiologist, Executive Director at Alliance of Health Care Sharing Ministries, & CEO of AllBetter Health rejoins the show for a third time. AllBetter Health is a next-gen health benefits advisory firm that saves employers & other groups money while offering benefits great benefits including zero deductibles. Here, she discusses what healthcare sharing ministries are, how many people are enrolled in this type of model, how the consumer wins with this model, and much more.

Katy Talento, President of KFT Consulting, Epidemiologist, Executive Director at Alliance of Health Care Sharing Ministries, & CEO of AllBetter Health is a licensed health benefits consultant, veteran health policy advisor and epidemiologist. She recently left the White House as the top health advisor to President Donald Trump on the Domestic Policy Council, where her job was to advance the president’s agenda to increase health care price transparency and price competition, end surprise medical bills, lower prescription drug prices, expand affordable options in the individual and group/ERISA markets, reduce the burdens of the Affordable Care Act, promote innovative employer sponsored coverage models, expand health IT interoperability, combat the opioids and other drug addiction crisis, eliminate domestic HIV/AIDS, and promote bioethics in life sciences.

 Prior to her White House appointment, Katy served five U.S. Senators over a 15-year period, including as top health advisor and manager of legislative staff and oversight investigators. She also worked in the private sector helping multinational energy companies protect their global workforce from infectious diseases such as malaria, dengue and the largest community-based HIV/AIDS service organization in the US. On the faculty at Georgetown University Medical School, Katy managed the Washington site of a multi-site NIH-funded pulmonology study. 

 A compelling communicator, Katy has delivered speeches to large audiences, served as Director of Speechwriting for the Republican National Committee during the successful 2010 election cycle, and has written a number of published opinion pieces, web copy, and video scripts. She spent two years as a Catholic nun and has worked with the poorest of the poor from East Africa, to industrial Russia and inner-city America. Katy received a Master of Science degree in Infectious Disease Epidemiology from Harvard School of Public Health and an undergraduate degree in Sociology from the University of Virginia. She lives in suburban northern Virginia with her husband and two children.

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In this episode, Ron chats with Jonathan Spero, CEO at InHouse Physicians – the powerhouse behind the disruptive innovation he founded – Asterias Health. Asterias Health is a next-gen virtual & in-person direct primary care model that addresses the physical, behavioral, emotional, and social needs for its patients. Here, they discuss all of the benefits Asterias offers – including, Rx home delivery, chronic condition management, wellness programs, and more. Here he discusses how Asteria’s 1,000,000+ members are winning, why ~95% of these members continue to renew their contracts year after year, what the care model will look like in 3-5 years, and more.

Founder and CEO of InHouse Physicians and Asterias Health, Jonathan Spero, M.D. is an expert on medical risk management in the meeting industry, healthcare cost containment in the employer space, and in the field of neurobiology of human performance. Dr. Spero grew up in Arizona and completed his education at the University of California. He completed a residency in Internal Medicine at Scripps Mercy San Diego and practices both Internal and Emergency Medicine. His passion is creating disruptive innovation in providing a Direct Primary Care solution for employers across the country.

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In this episode, Ron is joined by Viral Patel, Founder and CEO at Radish Health – a highly rated NYC based digital first primary care platform giving employers access to primary care, mental health services, a registered dietician, and a care navigator. Here, Viral discusses the cost per month for employers. He also answers questions around how clinicians, employers, & patients are “winners” in using this service, how many providers are currently employed at Radish Health, and more.

Viral Patel is the founder and CEO of Radish Health, a platform that keeps organizations healthy, happy, and productive by providing accessible primary care and mental health services.  Prior to Radish, Viral was an emergency medicine physician and Medical Director at Oscar Health where he helped build their in-house telehealth practice.

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In this episode, Ron chats with Wayne Orchard, Partner & Executive Vice President at Lyric Health, MyTelemedicine, and GoLexi. Here, they discuss Lyric Health, a fully integrated virtual primary care platform that provides instant access to a “doc in your pocket”. Wayne also discusses how the pandemic helped him and his partner realize that they needed to focus more on day-to-day care rather than episodic care. He also answers the questions of how he recruits & retains clinicians, what the internal metrics of Lyric look like, how they are saving employers’ money, and more.

Wayne Orchard has over 15 years of experience in the Virtual Healthcare space. He and 3 other partners started MyTelemedicine in 2015 with the mission to deliver telehealth in a different way. In a way that people want to consume their healthcare. With ease of use, little administration, and effectiveness. MyTelemedicine has grown to over 4 million users and rebranded the service to Lyric Health in 2022 as it is now a Head-to-Toe Virtual Care service provider that covers Urgent and Primary Care, along with integrated labs and behavioral health. Lyric is leading the charge into the Virtual Primary Care services that are uncovering the underlying conditions to help mitigate the risk of unnecessary hospitalization claims.

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In this episode, Ron chats with Satish Srinivasan, Founder & Chief Executive Officer at DiRx, a digital pharmacy platform that provides savings for thousands of FDA-approved generic drugs – with no insurance requirement. Satish went into starting DiRx knowing the real cost of medicine because of his 25+ years in the generic pharmaceutical industry. Here, Satish discusses how DiRx is able to bring affordable drug access to the average American, the speed at which they are able to ship drugs directly to the consumer, what makes his business successful, and much more.

Satish Srinivasan is the Founder & CEO of DiRx, a new digital health platform designed to improve medication affordability for Americans that are unable to access it under the health insurance-based framework.
Satish has 25+ years’ experience and understanding of generic pharmaceutical channel economics underlined DiRx’s vision for a simple, cash-based subscription model built around the customer and a reimagined pharmacy access experience.

Through a digital platform, meaningful consumer outreach, and enhanced levels of customer service, DiRx seeks to expand access and enable more people to live healthier lives.

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In this episode, Ann M. Richardson, a Healthcare Systems Transformation & Operations Consultant with 25+ years of hospital leadership experience, chats with Ron about her work increasing awareness around the silencing that goes on in medicine. Her patient advocacy work is done by advocating for clinicians suffering from the moral injury that can lead to burnout and ultimately a mass exodus from healthcare. Here, they discuss direct & independent care, what providers that reach out to her privately for help are saying & their fear of retaliation from the “suits”, and much more.

Ann M. Richardson is a visionary healthcare administration Strategic Partner & Health Care Operations Transformation Consultant w/ extensive hospital system & multispecialty medical group operational & financial leadership experience.

She is an innovative, creative thinker who leverages a consultative approach drawing on 20+ years of healthcare administration & a passion for leading multidisciplinary teams to strategize processes for access to safe, timely, and high-quality care. She has a strong interest & ability to assess & evaluate technology along with key stakeholders to enhance and support clinical and administrative performance. She is a builder and promoter of clinical programs; creating an infrastructure, defining roles, and recruiting top-performing teams that uphold high standards of integrity and patient advocacy.

Ann is a clinically savvy, trusted partner committed to exceeding expectations, keeping physicians and patients’ interests at the center of decision-making, and focusing on enhanced value; able to challenge authority to protect patients and care teams. She is also a believer in physician and care team advocacy to successfully implement patient-centric advocacy models of care. She has small eyes and big ears to uncover countless opportunities for improvement and engagement through a bottoms-up systems-based approach with the voice of the frontline workers directing and implementing the necessary changes.

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In this episode, Ron is joined by power couple Dr. Renee Dua & Nick Desai, Co-Founders of Renee, a recently launched digital health assistant and generic medication delivery AI generated platform. With Dr. Dua’s 16 years of experience as a practicing nephrologist combined with Nick being an accomplished and visionary veteran of 5 successful VC rounded startups, they are reminding people to take their medications, scheduling & setting up transportation to and from appointments, delivering drugs, and more. Here, they answer the questions of who their target consumers are, who is already signing up, how inexpensive the drugs they are delivering are, and more.

Renee Dua is a visionary physician-entrepreneur who created Renee based on her 16 years of experience as a practicing nephrologist, her service as Chief of Medicine at two of LA’s largest hospitals and her 7 years as Chief Medical Officer of Heal, during which time she oversaw the successful delivery of over 300,000 doctor house calls.  She went from literally going home-to-home delivering house calls to patients in need to building a team of 200+ medical teams who saw over 2,000 patients per week across the United States.  She won the CES Innovation Award and was instrumental in working with CMS to expand house calls to all seniors and in driving strategy for Heal’s clinical and patient facing products.  Driven by the belief that healthcare is a human right, Dr. Dua has always gone beyond the call of duty to give the greatest care to the neediest patients and has dedicated her career to the underserved.

She created Renee in June 2021 and raised $7.8MM in seed funding to be the indispensable personal health assistant that helps the aging follow their doctor’s care plan towards living happier, healthier lives.

Renee completed her BS in Biochemistry at UC San Diego, her MD at Rosalind Franklin University, her residency in internal medicine at UCLA, and her fellowship in nephrology at USC.   Renee is an outspoken role model for women in STEM, frequently speaking at top universities, conferences and media outlets.

Finally, she is the mother of three young children, who are her pride and joy.  In her rare free time, she cooks and takes long drives in her EV with her best friend, co-founder and husband, Nick Desai.

Nick Desai is an accomplished and visionary veteran of 5 successful venture-funded startups.  Founded in August 2021, Renee is a transformative digital health assistant specifically designed for older and underserved Americans to coordinate, communicate and connect all aspects of their healthcare.  Launched Oct. 2022, Renee gives people the meds they need and they help they deserve in one incredibly easy, unified experience.  For Renee, Nick has raised $8.2MM in venture funding for Renee from Quiet Capital, Tau Ventures, Mucker Capital, Fika Ventures, Citylight Ventures and the AARP.

Nick is the Founder and former CEO of Heal – the renowned market-leader in home-centric primary care and doctor house calls.  From inception in October 2014 thru Feb. 2021, Nick led Heal’s torrid growth as CEO – expanding Heal to 10 states, serving over 300,000 patients, driving nearly $100MM in healthcare cost savings and raising over US $200 million in investment capital from top investors including Humana, Fidelity, Breyer Capital, Slow Ventures, Glenview Capital, IRA Capital and many others.  Nick also led Heal’s business development, winning contracts with over 50 major employers and insurance partners including Google, Hyundai, Samsung, Anthem, Aetna, United Healthcare and others.  Heal has been recognized as the Consumer Electronics Show Small Business of the Year, #114 on Deloitte’s Fast 500 list, #13 on CNBC’s Disruptor 50 List, A Fierce 15 Company, Rock Health Award winner and numerous others.

Prior to Heal, Nick has founded and built successful venture-funded startups in online weight loss coaching, social media and the web’s first self-updating address book.  Nick speaks passionately about healthcare and entrepreneurship including a podcast on Slice of Healthcare and previously writing for the Huffington Post.  Nick is an inventor with multiple US patents.

Nick earned his BS in Electrical and Computer Engineering from UC Irvine, where he was awarded the 2018 Lauds and Laurels Distinguished Alumni Award, and an MS in Electrical Engineering from UCLA.  Nick spends most of his free time playing with his three rambunctious young kids, eating pizza or taking walks with his best friend and wife, Dr. Renee Dua.   Nick is a first-generation immigrant in the US – and was born in Mumbai, India.