This week’s episode introduces a self-care tech platform for Diabetics. Integrated with AI and Machine Learning, this new approach to healthcare is believed to enhance consumer experience. Lonny Stormo, CEO of Pops Diabetes Care, describes what these tech advances would offer as we lean toward consumer-driven healthcare.

What You’ll Learn From This Episode:

• 02:51 The concept and practical sense of “Democratizing Healthcare”
• 06:16 On-Demand Healthcare: What drives this trend?
• 09:15 Lonny on reasons why his platform focuses on diabetes
• 10:30 Remote patient care management vs self-care thru tech platform
• 13:46 How a Diabetic user experience looks like during an interaction with AI and virtual health assistant
• 18:50 Ongoing developments and roadmap for AI in the healthcare industry

Quotes:

05:14 “Look back at the beginning of companies like Fitbit and how we all started spending our own hard-earned money on buying simple things like activity trackers and apps that go along with that so that we could all start to kinda be healthier and take more steps; it’s clear that that has started to happen and now we see more and more coming into the consumers’ homes so they can take care of themselves as opposed to going to a doctor.”

11:11 “Self-management through a tech platform— which is where I believe all of healthcare’s gonna end up beyond kinda letting go of remotely managing people or patients— starts with nobody strives to be a patient (…). What we wanna do is give them an experience that they can use and choose to use themselves to take care of themselves.”

11:44 “At Pops when somebody starts using our solution, we don’t call them a participant. We don’t call them a member. We call them an owner because now they’re in a position where they can start to own their own life using our technology. “

20:45 “This is consumer-driven healthcare; consumer demand is going to select which solutions work for them and which ones don’t. And it’s no longer gonna be kind of what is the payor paying for or the provider providing as much as what the consumer wants, and then it’s their choice if they want to take that next step in the circle and engage with the doctor.”

21:29 “There’s a lot of data that’s starting to come out that says when people self care using tech platforms, they overall lower their claims cost. So that’s good for the payor, that’s good for the self-insured employer, and/or whatever patient pay is happening.”

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This week’s episode suggests how employers can optimize their recruitment process to hire top talent and set them up for success. Robert Nickell, founder and CEO of Rocket Station, delves into the 3 foundational steps critical for the hiring and success of every individual or outsourced talent.

What You’ll Learn From This Episode:

• 02:13 The top 1 mistake that people make when hiring
• 04:20 3 Steps to Successful Hiring: Alignment, Documenting, Hiring
• 13:07 What defines an outsourced talent?
• 16:39 Social networking sites as efficient tools for reaching outsourced talents
• 19:41 Key to retaining talent

Quotes:

08:50 “The type of person, the profile, the experience that we’re looking for, and the interview questions we can ask, all of that stimulating comes from first two steps, which are getting really organized and documenting everything. Now, we can go hire the right person.”

10:54 “If you can help people be fulfilled by putting the right people in the right role (…), to me that’s caring about people— number 1 is legitimately caring about them. And then number 2 is setting them up for success.”

14:15 “Technology is now bridging the gap where— international employees that have every bit of talent, experience, and qualifications that we do here stateside— we now have access to those people.”

20:48 “The big shift in management, in my opinion, is all about managing to outcomes and to results. You gotta be able to set clear expectations and then manage to numbers.”

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This week’s episode looks into the problem areas of every regulation that puts industries through expensive endeavors and tons of paperwork. Sarah Borders, co-founder and principal consultant at Benefits Compliance Solutions, gives interesting tidbits that clients can do right away to mitigate some of the risks.

What You’ll Learn From This Episode:

• 03:23 About COBRA: What are its problem areas, loopholes, and opportunities?
• 08:41 About ACA: Misclassification of employees is identified as the biggest problem area. How do employers usually deal with late filing/incorrect filing? 
• 13:38 About HIPAA: Challenges toward privacy and security
• 16:09 With the differences in regulations per state, how can advisors give guidance to clients who are multi-sited in multi-states?
• 19:06 Updates on new regulations and their possible impacts on the industry

Quotes:

03:41 “A lot of the times when we use vendors or service providers to help us comply with their requirement, we might think that we have no obligations any longer— that we’ve sort of indemnified ourselves. Because of that, I believe the oversight in COBRA or the knowledge that an employer should probably have [at least basic knowledge] isn’t there because they aren’t thinking about it.”

06:22 “I think we all get that termination of employment triggers COBRA, but there are other triggering events such as death, divorce, child aging up the plan, also a reduction in hours. But when you have one of these triggering events, you also have to have a loss of coverage. And so [I think] sometimes employees or former employees get left out of COBRA because there isn’t enough oversight and did this person actually trigger COBRA, or should we have been offering them COBRA.”

11:46 “Before, we’ve seen a little bit of leniency related to late filings or incorrect filings or even just penalty letters for premium tax credits. However, it takes hours and hours of work to demonstrate, to go back and have to prove that this employee shouldn’t have been offered coverage in the first place or was and waived it. Also if you never file (…) or you filed late, you have to spend the time, the hours, the energy, and even paying somebody to help you to be able to [again] prove to the IRS that you did or did not comply.”

14:07 “HIPAA: Privacy, security, and the administrative simplification rules apply to covered entities. And a health insurance plan, a group health plan, is a covered entity (…) And so because an employer is responsible for that covered entity plan, they have to provide HIPAA privacy and security, which has a lot of owners’ requirements, to make sure that that PHI is being properly maintained, stored, transmitted, and so forth.”

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This week’s episode introduces a next-level type of healthcare that people can already receive in the comfort of their own homes. John Young, SVP Growth at Nice Healthcare, explains why it’s going to be a growing demand for employers and members.

What You’ll Learn From This Episode:

• 02:39 How Nice Healthcare’s business model had come to fruition
• 08:03 Scope of healthcare services being offered
• 10:35 On the affordability of provided services
• 15:11 Time allotted for virtual and in-person visits
• 16:50 Pharmacy benefits made available for members

Quotes:

04:30 “It’s important to use the word ‘clinic’ because our scope of service— in what we’re able to provide via technology and via bringing our clinicians directly into the home— is very similar to what is found in traditional bricks and mortar clinic locations; so it’s important for us to identify as such so that our members know that they’re gonna have access to that same level of care despite not traveling into a traditional clinic location.”

05:31 “The atmosphere that had fostered in the relationship between a provider and a patient when we’re actually sitting on one of our patients’ couch (…), provides a whole other layer of relationship and interaction that is really hard to replicate in some other type of venue than actually getting into someone’s home, and we get to learn a lot about that specific patient.”

13:13 “The fact that we’re not operating in the bricks and mortar locations, the fact that we’re contracting directly with employers and that fitting claims through an insurance mechanism, and the fact that we’re in NP-like clinic— that all adds up to us being able to offer this set of price point that is affordable for our employer and for our members.”

19:59 “I certainly think that this is gonna continue to be somethin’ that not just clinics are trying to unlock, but that customers and consumers are gonna continue to demand. And so I think we’ll continue to see more and more of a shift out of traditional venues and continue to bring more and more services into the patient’s home.”

Resources:

• Nice Healthcare | Direct Primary Care 

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This week’s episode gives profound insights into how insurance advisors can drive sales and win relationships using the psychology of persuasion. Brian Ahearn, author of Persuasive Selling for Relationship Driven Insurance Agents, talks through the different methods that need to be applied at every step of the sales cycle in order to create long-lasting client relationships and close sales without coming off as a “salesy” person.

What You’ll Learn From This Episode:

• 02:24 Brian on his then career in the insurance industry and how he eventually pursued sales training
• 03:47 Definition of Persuasion
• 07:27 Using the Pre-suasion Approach to turn insurance prospects into clients
• 10:21 Introducing the ‘STARS’ model: How important is it to listen to your prospect?
• 13:15 Authentic sales rapport building on the first day
• 17:39 The D.E.A.L technique for prospect profiling
• 19:49 The concept of ‘Close without Closing’

Quotes:

04:24  “Aristotle said ‘persuasion’ was the art of getting someone to do something that they wouldn’t ordinarily do if you didn’t ask. If you think about that, it’s a great definition; they’re not doing what you want or need them to do, how can you communicate with them to get them to do what you want or need them to do?”

12:42  “I was really into weightlifting, but I could never jump, I could never dunk a basketball— that’s a skill that I do not and will not ever possess. But listening starts with a choice. And the more you make the choice, the better you get at it.”

13:39 “When you’re looking at the sales cycle and prospecting, it’s just hoping to get that opportunity for the first meeting. In that first meeting, one of the biggest things you need to do is build rapport.”

17:29 “Get to know who you are. Leverage the things that you have that are strengths in a way that just feels so comfortable to you, that it makes the other people feel comfortable as well.”

20:29 “If you’re looking to utilize what’s called the ‘upfront close’ to clearly find out what’s gonna be required for them to make a change and potentially do business with you, then everything should be flowing into just a natural conversation so that you’re not having to put some kind of hard close on somebody…”

Resources:

• Persuasive Selling for Relationship Driven Insurance Agents book *Amazon Link
• Brian Ahearn LinkedIn

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This week’s episode discusses the best strategies that business owners must do to preserve their most important asset: focus. A Managing Director of Trinity Blue & Taylor Insurance, Trey Taylor defines the practice of growing your organization’s culture, the revolutionary steps in recruiting people, and the important components to include when tracking your KPIs.

What You’ll Learn From This Episode:

• 01:47 Introduction to Trey’s career and company
• 05:51 A positive approach to corporate culture
• 07:49 Establishing a culture through values articulation and ritualization
• 12:25 The 4 categories of recruiting conversation
• 17:00 Including the soft metrics in your KPIs
• 18:55 Delegation: A key to a growing culture

Quotes:

06:10 “Culture is the ethical environment in which we live, work, and play. It is our opportunity to say to the world, these are ‘my values’ that I think should be true in the world, and I want to see these values appear in the world thru my agency and in the lives of the people that I employ.”

08:33 “Articulating those values that we all share— there’s an art to that; it’s not just called science. You have to really sort of weave with your heart in that.”

16:44 “If you hire somebody who’s incredibly skilled and who fits within your budget— but who doesn’t share your values— you’re dropping a cancer into the middle of your team, and you’re gonna regret it in a zillion different ways.”

18:25 “That is one of the KPIs that we track: What is our percentage achievement on personal growth initiatives in the course of the year? That’s just illustrating the point that the CEO has to be intuned with his company— and the vision of where he/she wants to take that company enough to fill out the KPIs to be everything that he wants it to be.”

Resources:

A CEO Only Does Three Things: Finding Your Focus in the C-Suite *Amazon Link

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This week’s episode suggests how business leaders can move their companies forward through a better partnership with the HR department. Karen Young, founder and president of HR Resolutions, cites the fundamental topics in her book, Stop Knocking on My Door, which aims to promote employee satisfaction and productivity in the workplace.

What You’ll Learn From This Episode:

• 01:25 Introduction to Karen and her book
• 04:55 Being subject to multiple federal employment laws makes it important for business owners to understand their risks
• 08:05 Job descriptions: How is it relevant to hiring, coaching & counseling, and setting policies & procedures?
• 12:38 The impact of HIPAA compliance to HR professionals
• 17:12 Tips to become better partners with the HR suite
• 19:33 The vital piece of information that benefits advisors should associate with HR

Quotes:

06:55 “That’s how I view HR, our job — whether it be as HR resolutions or an HR person directly employed by a company — HR’s job is to provide that informed consent. We need to consult; we need to advise our leaders, ‘These are your risks.’”

17:45 “If I’m gonna encourage all of you to do one thing, push electronic portals to your people, your businesses, and your clients.”

19:22 “Make sure you’re feeding your HR people the required notices when they need to be distributed ‘coz we don’t remember.”

20:00 “Keep the HR person up to date. Even though the decision is the C-suite, make sure the HR person knows, ‘This is what I’m presenting to your C-suite’, ‘This is what I believe they’re going to take’. Start to think now, ‘How can I help you implement whatever their decision is?’”

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This week’s episode explores the major areas of concern with healthcare illiteracy and the huge need for innovative tools in bridging the gap between industries and providers. Ben Hale, co-founder and CEO of Bright HR, presents the do’s and don’ts in providing healthcare education so that industries will be better informed, satisfied consumers.

What You’ll Learn From This Episode:

• 02:42 Ben shares his story on the serious consequences of healthcare illiteracy
• 04:40 Open enrollment meetings: Inefficient in delivering benefits education
• 06:16 The necessity of continuous education and digitized solution
• 07:59 Decision support tools enhance personalized healthcare planning and employer-employee engagement
• 09:55 Spouse involvement in healthcare education is made easier with a shareable platform and instant messaging
• 14:51 What’s in it for advisors?
• 17:53 Remote healthcare education is made possible with digital solution

Quotes:

04:51 “Sitting down in an open enrollment meeting and having an HR team, the broker team, or the account managers come in and present on a PowerPoint presentation; guess how many of us are paying attention? Zero.”

07:23 “How do we easily distribute, make information consumable, where we’re not sending out a paper benefit guide? Coz let’s be honest, no one’s reading those. As soon as open enrollment is over, or even that day 1, they’re getting thrown in the trash.”

11:32 “One of the things about continuous education is involving the spouse; actually understanding the benefits too because now you kinda have two stakeholders and kind of understanding the benefits so we can reduce medical errors. We can reduce the expense of going out of network or going to the wrong provider, and really understanding what the benefits are to again maximize the value of them for an employee.”

13:30 “We have to digitize the open enrollment experience. We have to eliminate the need for an hour and a half long in-person meeting that’s done by PowerPoint.”

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This week’s episode helps advisors learn more about advising clients about Federal benefits, from Social Security to Medicare and beyond. Frank Cardenas, Co-founder at FEDlogic, discusses how employees and employers can both benefit from more guidance around these often-confusing benefits.

What You’ll Learn From This Episode:

• 0202:20 Frank’s motivations for helping clients in the social benefits space
• 04:51 Guiding families and employers who need practical help with social benefits
• 09:00 The top 5 areas of focus with social benefits
• 13:19 Why two-thirds of initial disability claims are denied
• 15:45 Teaching advisors and consultants let them offer this service
• 18:11 Staying on top of federal updates that impact healthcare

Quotes:

04:21 “Let’s bring some logic to the federal government. Let’s bridge that information gap and let’s strike off on our own and see if we can help families the way you’ve always really wanted to help them.”

11:31 “Obviously, those top 5 are, yes, the ones that drive the most in healthcare cost but from our perspective, our experts are just there because those top 5 are the ones that need the most help.”

14:38 “It baffles people’s mind how you can get denied with that kind of diagnosis. But it’s all about providing all of your medical conditions. You’re not just going through stage 3 breast cancer, you’re probably also going through the aftereffects of radiation.”

17:11 “Even part-time employees, we want them to have this service. Do we charge for the part-time employees? No, because typically part-timers don’t have access to the health insurance to their employer.”

19:10 “When it comes to federal benefits, it’s confusing and complex. And just strictly out of fear that families don’t do anything until they have to. But if you put that education in front of them, then you’ll find that they have better outcomes.”

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