This week’s episode digs into how drug price is determined, with John Zevzavadjian, president at RxSense, explaining how pricing changes from the moment the producer sends the items to the distribution channels to the end consumers.

What You’ll Learn From This Episode:

• 1:38 John’s experience from pharmacy to a front row seat at the marketplace.
• 2:44 A couple of things they’re working to solve.
• 3:50 How prices change from the manufacturer to the end-user from a generic medication perspective.
• 7:11 In terms of rebates, how do prices adjust from the manufacturer to the end-user?
• 11:34 What’s preventing people from getting data in the normal course of the scheme, and what kind of data John assists employers with, and how does it affect their decision-making?
• 16:07 Collaborating with pharmaceutical companies to reduce the cost of a drug.
• 19:34 The pharmaceutical industry’s overall trajectory.

Quotes:

9:12 “Amongst all of that supply chain, everybody’s taking a piece of the action and there’s a lack of visibility into who is making those dollars and how much.”

14:14 “Nutrition is as important than getting the right drug.”

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In this week’s episode, Frank Sutter, a chiropractor and Associate Director of the Harvard Business School’s Health Care Initiative, explains why he left medicine and how the medical system in the Netherlands inspired him to go back and change the healthcare in the United States.

What You’ll Learn From This Episode:

• 1:54 Why he sold his practice to a physician group and moved to the Netherlands.
• 8:32 The goal of the healthcare initiative at Harvard and the many different avenues for students.
• 13:14 Direct primary care versus the healthcare initiative.
• 16:45 The difference between the healthcare system in the Netherlands and the US.

Quotes:

3:42 “In my experience, the greatest aspect of that is just spending time listening to patients, we don’t get a lot of that with most of our health care practitioners. So I really relish the time I was able to spend with each patient.”

16:13 “If the doctor is stressed, that’s going to impact the outcomes of the patient.”

19:22 “They [doctors in the Netherlands] don’t have the same fear of defensive medicine, which is testing everybody for everything all the time, always, so they don’t get sued for missing a diagnosis. That’s defensive medicine, which is, of course, very expensive for insurance companies and that’s not the right approach either. So, they are quite mindful of that here.”

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This week’s episode is all about determining which EAP is best for your organization. Because there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all solution, John Troutman, National Director of Mazzitti & Sullivan EAP, discusses the vast range of possibilities and what to look for in an EAP.

What You’ll Learn From This Episode:

• 1:50 What is an EAP?
• 2:30 Reasons why some EAPs have gotten a bad reputation over time.
• 3:40 Problems with APIs that are built into plans.
• 4:48 How COVID impacted EAP utilization.
• 5:35 Range of services that you should look for in an EAP.
• 8:03 What range of services should an employer look for?
• 9:33 Assessment of employees’ needs and referrals for diagnosis and treatment of mental health.
• 11:52 EAP Coverage.
• 12:50 The stressors that you’re EAPs dealing with. 
• 14:24 What platforms they’re using to assist employees. 
• 18:42 What’s missing and what is coming in the field of EAP? 
• 20:03 Will EAPs prioritize mental health?

Quotes:

6:26 “If I was an employer, I would want to make sure I have a dedicated person assigned to that account. That’s one of the most important things I believe.”

10:07 “EAPs were never set up to be a long-term solution to a person’s mental health needs. They’re meant to be something ideally on the front end that is a preventative measure, just like a wellness plan, for example.”

14:07 “Understanding our mental health, understanding the value of a pause and taking a break, taking time for that self care mentally, is something that really translates over to burnout and I believe you know, that’s just a one that’s on the rise and I believe we haven’t seen you know, the worst of that yet.”

15:38 “That benefit of just knowing that there could be a location within 15 minutes of your home to talk to a clinician can go a long way to ease stress.”

19:01 “Mental health is a crucial part of everyone’s well-being and should never simply be as if it’s on a piece of paper, we’re going to check it off and move on to something else. It should never be the very last thing because our mental health affects everything else that we do. So what’s lacking is the passion across the country to address mental health on an equal platform. It shouldn’t always be the last five minutes of an open enrollment session at that time of meeting with the employee. It really should be given equal time and opportunity to be explained so that the employees understand the benefit.”

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This week’s episode explores the new tools available for doctors shifting to direct primary care. Mark Nolan, chief operating officer of Hint Health talks about some of the reasons why a lot of doctors would like to escape into the old-fashioned doctor-patient practice and what’s stopping them from doing so.

What You’ll Learn From This Episode:

• 2:30 Three largest obstacles to providing healthcare.
• 5:01 Why more and more doctors are so eager to get into direct primary care.
• 8:15 Some of the obstacles to establishing a direct primary care practice.
• 12:35 The different practice models.
• 17:34 Services that Hint Health and other similar firms are offering to help.
• 20:22 Is direct primary care the future?

Quotes:

3:18 “Folks who have primary care relationships are much healthier folks in the long run.”

5:56 “Most of the doctors that we speak to and providers who are moving over, they’ve got a few different reasons for this. One is, they’re gonna burn out, they just can’t take it anymore. Two, they want to have relationships with their patients that last longer than the 10 minutes that they get to see them in some sort of episodic scenario versus the longitudinal relationship.”

7:55 “The satisfaction with the feedback that we would receive around how appreciative they are that there was a model that they could go to and doctor. They get to the practice, something that the patient will need it and experience or that their employer made accessible to them, it was genuine, and it was pretty moving.”

20:40 “This is an idea whose time has come and this is not going to slow down. I only see it increasing because of the context that it’s operating in, the different dynamics that are making it even more difficult to be a provider in today’s environment, the consolidation that you mentioned at the top of the show, I just think that the tailwinds behind this are very strong and especially as you have employers and plan sponsors, looking for new things, they’re starting to recognize this innovation and how can help them.”

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This week’s episode is all about recognizing our inner leadership gold. Roxanne Kaufman, CEO of ProLaureate, discusses how to find and cultivate these skills, as well as how they might affect the company’s future.

What You’ll Learn From This Episode:

• 1:54 The leadership gold in everyone.
• 3:34 The importance of building good relationships.
• 9:55 The importance of soft skills and why they are the most difficult to master.
• 15:06 How leadership skills influence the company’s success.
• 16:28 Honing the leadership potential within you.

Quotes:

02:25 “Every human body has the ancient elements of the Earth run through our bodies: magnesium, oxygen, carbon, all these things. And we also have trace elements of gold, honest to goodness gold, and they have narrowed it down to tell us that we have 0.2 milligrams of gold in our bodies, and the majority of that lies within our heart.”

3:51 “Relationships are the lifeblood of everything that we do, not just business. They are the lifeblood of our lives, of who we are as people. Forming relationships is what helps us to become successful. This is so important that when we form relationships that we bring to that our most genuine and authentic selves. And that requires work to really discover what that is. That’s what creates really, really deep lasting, trusting, fulfilling relationships across the level of life and business.”

05:32 “When you start learning who you really are, and becoming more and more of that, more genuine, more authentic, your relationships blossom because not only are you finding that in yourself, now, it’s cool. It’s not about you anymore. It’s about the other person.”

10:39 “These relationship skills, the interpersonal skills, are generally called soft skills. These are the hardest skills in the world to discover, and develop, because we’re conditioned not to.”

15:53 “Genuine leadership comes from the heart and it comes from the mind and it comes from a place of absolute authenticity.”

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This week’s episode is about effective communication. Deirdre Van Ness, a keynote, speech, and story artist talks about the importance of connecting at the emotional level, especially in a sales setting, as well as some proven techniques to establish that connection.

What You’ll Learn From This Episode:

• 1:27 The difference between talking and communicating and why that is so important.
• 04:28 The 4-step formula for effective communication.

Quotes:

1:48 “Just because you can talk doesn’t mean you can speak.”

02:32 “I think the difference between talking, and speaking or communicating is having that intentionality behind what you say, and not thinking, what do I want to say.”

07:18 “Avoid jargon.”

8:07 “Start keeping a library of phrases and words that your ideal clients actually use, and use those words when you communicate that with them.”

15:40 “You have to take your facts and your figures, you have to add the curb appeal and bring it to life. And the way you do that is by adding anchors throughout your messaging.”

22:06 “The biggest mistake and the thing that we spend the most time in is what I call the power of the PAUSE. Most people when they communicate, do not pause appropriately. They don’t pause long enough so that the listener can actually catch up with you and process what you’re saying. And so all your words and all your ideas just run together. And your words are just words, they do not make an emotional punch. So, even though pausing is scary, and one second feels like five minutes when you’re speaking, I want to encourage you to look for those places where you are saying something that you want to emphasize and make sure you appropriately pause before and after that idea. So that you do make that emotional connection. If you don’t do that, it all just sounds like noise.”

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This week’s episode gives insight into benefits and healthcare solutions from employment to retirement. Carrie Espinosa, principal advisor at Horizon Benefit Services talks about the comprehensive solutions that they offer to employers, as well as employee education to help them make informed decisions and how to do that effectively.

What You’ll Learn From This Episode:

• 1:46 What hire to retire means.
• 5:06 How Horizon Benefits Services started and how they are helping companies and employees.
• 12:46 Is there a need for a cultural shift?
• 14:25 How they’re educating and helping employees figure out the best options for them.
• 20:30 Horizon Benefits Services’ trajectory.

Quotes:

9:19 “I’ve found that employers want it to be simple. They want a solution that’s going to be good today, good tomorrow. And being that hire to retire solution allows them to have one resource for all of those needs, instead of having to have two different resources.”

12:29 “Let’s look at this as a big picture decision instead of just somebody telling you what to do. But that’s the value that we provide as advisors, right? This isn’t just a transaction, this is advising and guiding someone to making the correct decision and how to do that effectively.”

21:20 “The key to happiness in life is finding those resources that you can trust, people that are going to look out for your best interests that aren’t going to steer you wrong. And that’s exactly what we want to be to our clients, whether we’re doing it on the benefit side or doing it on the Medicare side or somewhere in between.”

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This week’s episode is about the importance of creating a good culture within the company. Peter Drucker once said that “culture eats strategy for breakfast.” And in this episode, Nikki Fielding, chief culture fairy at Conscious Culture Fairy discusses how to spot a bad culture, as well as tools, and ways to bridge the gap.

What You’ll Learn From This Episode:

• 2:06 Nikki talks about the heartbeat of a company.
• 4:36 Employee pulse survey tools to help analyze the gaps in the company.
• 6:28 When to bring an expert to bridge the gap.
• 10:06 How to spot a bad culture.
• 12:59 Employee benefits that also help build the culture of the organization.
• 15:22 Ways to build a good company culture without breaking the bank.

Quotes:

7:36 “Invest in resources that are already existing today with consultants and experts who could educate you on the steps to do it. From personal experience, having driven some significant cultural changes in various divisions, it starts with servant leadership and leading with empathy and you don’t need everybody in a room because too many opinions can clutter the right thing to do. You want to get everybody’s opinion and empower them to feel their opinions are valid, and they matter and you’re addressing them but the way you address them is leading from the front.”

9:21 “You expose people to each other and let them both build relationships, which are really key in the workplace, and level up their skills and have a better understanding of the various roles in your organization and how they’re interconnected.”

11:41 “Don’t be afraid to take your best practices when maybe looking for a new position into these conversations with your people and do a walk and talk.”

13:28 “If you build relationships where people are comfortable talking to you, they will tell you what the stressors are in their life.”

15:52 “Experiences, that’s what drives and connects people and tends to drive a positive culture, because connected people are working together more effectively, and feel that there’s a bigger purpose behind what they’re doing than just going in and typing on their keyboard all day.”

19:26 “The thought process needs to be what do I not know, that’s important for me to know, and start going down that road.”

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This week’s episode is intended to help brokers and advisors understand how automation tools work and why it’s worth the expense of their time as Tonya Sowles, founder and CEO at Sowles Consulting talks about the pain points of managing a small business and how these tools can help make a business workflow more effective and efficient.

What You’ll Learn From This Episode:

• 2:19 Tanya’s background and motivation for assisting small businesses.
• 4:17 Making a list of things that are outside your zone of genius and learning to delegate or automate.
• 6:18 The benefits of integrating a CRM into your workflow.
• 8:32 Convincing agents and brokers that HR tools are investments rather than expenditures.
• 12:17 What are workflows?
• 19:20 What is a roller coaster, and why should you be concerned about it?

Quotes:

14:17 “Workflows take away all of those things that don’t actually require you.”

16:57 “When you are outside of your zone of genius, it takes you hours to get back to that level of productivity, to return to it after you’ve struggled with something else.”

20:25 “You have to find that balance and using systems and workflows helps you do that so that you can dedicate your time consistently to prospecting sales and closing, at the same time servicing the clients that you have, servicing the new clients and making sure all of the follow-ups, all of the administrative pieces are also getting done in the background. Finding that balance to allow you to have a consistent pipeline of prospects in-process and closing clients is so important. And it’s really important to recognize if you’re on that roller coaster.”https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/shiftshapers/The_ShiftShapers_Podcast_397_edited.mp3

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