Relentless Health Value Podcast
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relentleshealth.bsky.social
Relentless Health Value Podcast
@relentleshealth.bsky.social
American Healthcare Executives You Might Want to Know. Talking.

Relentless Health Value is one of the most listened to weekly healthcare industry podcasts. The show has been hosted by Stacey Richter since 2014. A dynamic healthcare entrepreneur.
Reposted by Relentless Health Value Podcast
Great ep. of @relentleshealth.bsky.social with Elizabeth Mitchell discussing why PBGH embarked on its big #healthcare cost and quality transparency project and how the findings are empowering employers with comparative price info buff.ly/VhXa290 #healthcare #healthpolicy #healthecon
EP491: Incumbent TPAs and Consultants Getting Called to Jumbo Employer Client HQ to Answer Awkward Questions, With Elizabeth Mitchell | A Scrupulously Fair Assessment of What is Wrong and Right about American Healthcare - A Healthcare Industry Podcast
Elizabeth Mitchell of PBGH, joins Relentless Health Value to share insights on health care purchasing and the challenges for incumbent TPAs.
buff.ly
October 31, 2025 at 6:50 PM
We just dropped this fantastic episode with Elizabeth Mitchell from the Purchaser Business Group on Health (PBGH). It's a must listen for self-insured employers.

Check out the show notes for a link to the PBGH Health Care Data Demonstration Project covering...
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EP491: Incumbent TPAs and Consultants Getting Called to Jumbo Employer Client HQ to Answer Awkward Questions, With Elizabeth Mitchell | A Scrupulously Fair Assessment of What is Wrong and Right about ...
Listen On Your Favorite App Today, back on the pod, we have Elizabeth Mitchell, CEO of PBGH , the Purchaser Business Group on Health. Elizabeth Mitchell is...
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October 30, 2025 at 4:23 PM
When buyers and sellers don’t both know the price before the transaction, can we really call it a market?

Sometimes hospital “razor-thin margins” reflect true financial strain. But sometimes, they reflect the absence of a competitive marketplace...
October 25, 2025 at 2:50 PM
In today’s continuation of the Mission/Margin series, we dig into a key question: What happens when clinical organizations balance mission with financial sustainability?

Dan Greenleaf, CEO of Duly, who believes mission can drive margin, breaks mission down into four measurable quadrants... (1/2)
EP489: Achieving Mission That Is a Path to Margin at a Multispecialty Practice, With Dan Greenleaf | A Scrupulously Fair Assessment of What is Wrong and Right about American Healthcare - A Healthcare ...
Turning mission into margin in a multi-specialty practice with Dan Greenleaf, CEO of Duly Health and Care. Practical insights on clinic profitability.
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October 9, 2025 at 2:11 PM
Reflecting deeply on my latest discussion with the insightful @mcuban.bsky.social and Cora Opsahl. We explored the real-world impacts of high deductible health plans and the potential of direct contracting to simplify healthcare.
#HealthcareLeadership

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EP488: Mark Cuban, Cora Opsahl, Trust, Simplicity, and a Chicken—Today We Talk Healthcare | A Scrupulously Fair Assessment of What is Wrong and Right about American Healthcare - A Healthcare Industry ...
Mark Cuban and Cora Opsahl, on the best healthcare podcast, discuss trust and simplicity in healthcare.
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October 2, 2025 at 6:45 PM
Former Police Detective Kevin Lyons, now Executive Director at the NJ State PBA, joins the show to investigate the three biggest barriers preventing the public sector from securing better, more affordable health benefits. (1 of 3)
EP487 (Part 1): A Former Police Detective Investigates the 3 Big Barriers to the Public Sector Getting Better Affordable Health Benefits, With Kevin Lyons | A Scrupulously Fair Assessment of What is W...
Kevin Lyons, on the best healthcare podcast, discusses barriers to better health benefits.
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September 24, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Why do #HealthcareCosts keep rising, even when everyone’s “saving”? Discounts, rebates, and shared savings may not be cutting costs at all.

We pick up this thread in the latest episode, digging into why the discount might just sit at the center of the healthcare flywheel. cc-lnk.com/EP483-Part1
EP483 (Part 1): To Contain Skyrocketing Healthcare Costs or Renewals, You Gotta Understand How the Flywheel Works, With Jonathan Baran | A Scrupulously Fair Assessment of What is Wrong and Right about...
Jonathan Baran, on the best healthcare podcast, discusses increasing healthcare costs and renewals.
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August 8, 2025 at 12:02 PM
Remember that episode with Dr. Eric Bricker (EP472) about hospitals boosting revenue through stop-loss contract provisions while claiming “0% increase”?

This week, Kimberly Carleson joins me to uncover even more ways health systems may increase the revenue taken from plan sponsors.
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EP480: Payment Integrity Meets Health System Boasts, Such as Our Rates Are 2x Medicare, With Kimberly Carleson | A Scrupulously Fair Assessment of What is Wrong and Right about American Healthcare - A...
Kimberly Carleson, on the best healthcare podcast, discusses health system payment integrity.
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June 27, 2025 at 4:08 PM
I sat down with Peter Hayes to answer a huge question—what are the real forces of change in #healthcare?

Peter has spent decades on the front lines of benefits strategy, healthcare reform, & system transformation. In this episode, we try to step back and look at the big picture. (continued)
EP475: Is This a Moment or a Movement? With Peter Hayes | A Scrupulously Fair Assessment of What is Wrong and Right about American Healthcare - A Healthcare Industry Podcast
Peter Hayes, on the best healthcare podcast, discusses temporary and permanent healthcare changes.
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May 8, 2025 at 2:47 PM
Private equity has invested over $1 trillion in U.S. #healthcare in the past decade.

This week I spoke with Yashaswini Singh, PhD, of Brown, a leading researcher tracking the corporate transformation of medicine.

“You’ve seen one private equity strategy, you’ve seen one private equity strategy.”
EP474: Private Equity in Healthcare—The Big Data Points You Really Need to Know, All Together in One Episode, With Yashaswini Singh, PhD | A Scrupulously Fair Assessment of What is Wrong and Right abo...
Yashaswini Singh, PhD, on the best healthcare podcast, discusses private equity in healthcare.
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May 1, 2025 at 3:27 PM
This is such a fantastic article by Craig Gottwals, distilling the conversation we had with Dr. Eric Bricker into such an actionable format.

www.linkedin.com/pulse/whale-...
Whale Season: How Hospitals Engineer and Harpoon $800,000 Patients
If you spend your days helping self-funded employers rein in runaway healthcare costs, drop what you're doing and go listen to Episode 472 of the Relentless Health Value podcast. In fact, make a doubl...
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April 22, 2025 at 3:05 PM
This week, Dr. Eric Bricker and I examine how hospitals profit off of high-cost claimants.

You’ll hear how big systems use a 3-prong playbook involving chargemasters, stop-loss contracts, and “net-zero” pricing sleights of hand.

The motto for this one? All costs are somebody else’s revenue...
Eric Bricker, MD on Hospital Revenue | The Best Healthcare Podcast | A Scrupulously Fair Assessment of What is Wrong and Right about American Healthcare - A Healthcare Industry Podcast
Eric Bricker, MD, joins the best healthcare podcast to discuss how hospitals maximize revenue and manage high-cost claimants.
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April 18, 2025 at 2:35 PM
Ever wondered how Medicaid cuts impact rural hospitals? In this episode, Stacey Richter and Nikki King explore the financial struggles these hospitals face and discuss solutions like telehealth and nurse practitioners.

We cover why having a good payer mix essential, and...
(continued)
EP470: Continuing the ER and Primary Care Through Line Over to Rural Hospitals and Healthcare, With Nikki King, DHA | A Scrupulously Fair Assessment of What is Wrong and Right about American Healthcar...
So, the show today, it’s sort of an encore but not really an encore because I recorded this whole new introduction that you are currently listening to. And I...
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April 3, 2025 at 1:40 PM
What do Medicaid cuts mean for employers? James Gelfand, from ERIC, joins us to explore this issue on our latest episode.

-Proposed Medicaid changes could spark state-level tax increases.

-Your workforce might be impacted by Medicaid enrollment shifts.

-Hospitals might respond with price hikes.
EP469 (Part 1): The Impact on Plan Sponsors of Medicaid Cuts, With James Gelfand, JD | A Scrupulously Fair Assessment of What is Wrong and Right about American Healthcare - A Healthcare Industry Podca...
I was talking to Cora Opsahl the other day, and the topic of Medicaid came up—mostly how the current Medicaid goings-on will impact plan sponsors, if at all....
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March 30, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Primary Care Is an Investment—Everything Else Is a Cost

Emergency room visits now account for 6% of total plan sponsor spend—and that’s an insane number.

So here’s the big question: Why are patients turning to the ER for care that should be handled in primary care settings?

(continued)
EP467: Connecting Sky-High ER Spend to Primary Care Access—Following the Dollar Through Carriers and Hospitals, With Stacey Richter | A Scrupulously Fair Assessment of What is Wrong and Right about Am...
Stacey Richter, on the best healthcare podcast, discusses ER spend and primary care access.
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March 13, 2025 at 8:43 PM
Are your health insurance premiums rising faster than inflation? Yes. Are employees paying an even bigger portion of those rising premiums? Also yes.

That’s the double whammy hitting employees right now—higher absolute costs AND a bigger slice of the burden.

But why?

(continued in thread)
EP466: What Is Rising Faster, Insurance Premiums or Hospital Prices? With Vivian Ho, PhD | A Scrupulously Fair Assessment of What is Wrong and Right about American Healthcare - A Healthcare Industry P...
This episode has three chapters. Each one answers a key question, and, bottom line, it all adds up to action steps directly and indirectly for many, including...
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March 6, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Ever heard of a $50 drug costing $10,000 through insurance? Sounds absurd, right? Yet, this exact scenario is at the center of a lawsuit involving J&J’s pharmacy benefits plan and a large PBM. This week in this #healthcarepodcast I spoke with Chris Crawford of RxSaveCard.

Continued in thread...
EP465: The Not Super Effective Contracting Industry Norm, Where Jumbo Plans and Others Wind Up Paying $10,000 for $50 Drugs, With Chris Crawford | A Scrupulously Fair Assessment of What is Wrong and R...
First of all, everybody listening here has probably heard of the lawsuit in which J&J—and talking about J&J as a large employer here now, not as a drug...
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February 28, 2025 at 5:17 PM
6% of total #healthcare plan spend is now going to ER visits. That’s a huge number.

On the latest episode of Relentless Health Value Podcast, Al Lewis discusses why ER costs are skyrocketing. Here’s what we unpack:

(see more in the thread below)
EP464: ER Visits Now 6% of Total Plan Spend. Is It Upcoding or What? With Al Lewis | A Scrupulously Fair Assessment of What is Wrong and Right about American Healthcare - A Healthcare Industry Podcast
Al Lewis, on the best healthcare podcast, discusses ER spend and upcoding.
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February 20, 2025 at 5:27 PM
In this podcast episode with Dr. Scott Conard we discuss how advanced primary care and data insights can help avoid high-cost claims by identifying high-risk members before they reach the costly threshold.

Continued below in the thread...

Listen or read the article: cc-lnk.com/EP462
EP462: Managing Populations of Whole, Actual People Who Are Not the Sum of a Bunch of Different Body Parts, With Scott Conard, MD | A Scrupulously Fair Assessment of What is Wrong and Right about Amer...
Scott Conard, MD, on the best healthcare podcast, discusses population management.
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January 30, 2025 at 6:21 PM
Navigating the rabbit hole of healthcare cost management! In this episode and article, we tackle the delicate balance between moral hazard and patient care. What steps should plan sponsors take to ensure high-value care? #HealthEconomics #PlanSponsors #MoralHazard
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INBW42: A Philosophical Rabbit Hole of Considerations for Plan Sponsors and Others | A Scrupulously Fair Assessment of What is Wrong and Right about American Healthcare - A Healthcare Industry Podcast
Stacey Richter, on the best healthcare podcast, discusses considerations for plan sponsors.
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January 23, 2025 at 6:45 PM
A Personal Charter for Change

Healthcare is complex. Every action carries trade-offs. Here’s my charter:

1️⃣ Prioritize net positives for patients. 2️⃣ Focus on immediate, meaningful impact. 3️⃣ Collaborate—it takes a village to transform healthcare.

(Continued)
INBW41: End-of-Year Wrap-Up and My Personal Charter Encore: Where the Rubber Hits the Road | A Scrupulously Fair Assessment of What is Wrong and Right about American Healthcare - A Healthcare Industry...
Stacey Richter, on the best healthcare podcast, wraps up the end of the year and goals for the future of relentless health value.
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December 27, 2024 at 6:22 PM

If you’re on a board or are part of a C-suite team—this episode is for you. We explore how healthcare has become deeply financialized, turning employee health benefits into a business.

Andreas Mang, partner at Blackstone, lays out a roadmap for CFOs, CEOs & leaders to take control. Continued...
Encore! EP419: The Financialization of Health Benefits for Boards of Directors and C-Suites of Self-Insured Employers, With Andreas Mang | A Scrupulously Fair Assessment of What is Wrong and Right abo...
Are you on the board of directors of a company? Or are you a shareholder of a publicly traded company? Or are you a CEO or a CFO or in-house counsel who...
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December 19, 2024 at 5:20 PM
Staffing shortages affect everyone—clinicians, patients, and plan sponsors. Burnout and poor outcomes are just the start. The missing piece? Cultural alignment. This episode with Dr. Komal Bajaj, we explore how trust & shared values foster trust and retention.

How's your org addressing shortages?
EP458: A Really Unexpected Consideration for Solving Staffing Shortages That Impact Access and Care Quality That Is Based on a Ton of Evidence, With Komal Bajaj, MD | A Scrupulously Fair Assessment of...
Komal Bajaj, MD, on the best healthcare podcast, discusses solving staffing shortages in healthcare.
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December 17, 2024 at 4:18 PM
For yesterday’s episode we made a meme about medical spread pricing.

Listen to latest Relentless Health Value episode with Cynthia Fisher where we discuss spread pricing and what Cynthia thinks we need to do about it.

cc-lnk.com/EP457
December 7, 2024 at 1:22 AM
The $3.2 Million Question:

In a recent lawsuit, a self-insured employer paid $4m for a medical claim. Sounds big, right? Here’s the kicker:

The provider who actually delivered the care was paid $876k.

$3.2m vanished into the middle. Where did that $3.2m go?

Continued in comments...
December 5, 2024 at 6:06 PM