Ep. 50 - Peter Carbone Talks Rare Diseases: Exposing Gaps in Healthcare
Working Healthcare with Meredith Hirsh
Release Date: 05/06/2025
Ep. 68 - From Football to Big Pharma, Jon Hickman is Rewriting Pharmacy's Playbook
Working Healthcare with Meredith Hirsh
Press play as Jon Hickman tells Working Healthcare host Meredith Hirsh how juggling school and college athletics forged his leadership style. Follow Jon's path from all-conference track and field star and college football player to a 16-year career at Walgreens, where he built a foundation in patient care and executive management. Jon’s willingness to always raise his hand for new opportunities propelled him into Big Pharma, with impactful roles at AstraZeneca and now Genentech. Hear his perspective on why Genentech stands out in supporting uninsured and underinsured patients, challenging...
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Ep. 67 - Why Fran Nachlas is Running for Mayor?
Working Healthcare with Meredith Hirsh
Get the inside story as Meredith Hirsh sits down one-on-one with Fran Nachlas, a surgical nurse turned Boca Raton deputy mayor and current mayoral candidate, to explore how local leadership drives community health. Drawing on nearly 30 years in operating rooms, first on the floor then in leadership, Fran brings an outcome-first approach to city problem solving. She brings relentless energy, from seven Boston Marathons and three Ironman finishes to riding all 84 miles of Boca Raton’s bike map to engage residents block by block. Together they connect city decisions to public health, including...
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Ep. 66 - Preston Alexander Outlines how Physicians can Reclaim Independence
Working Healthcare with Meredith Hirsh
Join Working Healthcare’s Meredith Hirsh and Mike Chavez as they confront the drastic drop in physician-owned practices and the consolidation that drives costs higher. Meet revenue-cycle rebel Preston Alexander, founder of Forward Slash / Health and author of the “Healthcare Breakdown” newsletter, who dubs himself the “Taylor Swift of LinkedIn healthcare writing.” He argues progress comes from three bold levers: legislation; direct-pay and membership models that bypass middlemen. Preston hammers succession planning, warning that without affordable junior partner buy-ins, independence...
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Ep. 65 - Steve Lewis Brings Rock 'n' Roll Discipline to Patient Records
Working Healthcare with Meredith Hirsh
Hit play to hear how a rock-and-roll project manager became the founder trying to fix everyday healthcare chaos. Join Working Healthcare’s Meredith Hirsh as Steve Lewis recounts Bowe’s premature arrival at 34 weeks and the binder that sparked Nabu, a patient-controlled record built to unite scattered data. We dig into why 80% of information is forgotten between the exam room and the parking lot and how that fog fuels 1.5 million ER visits a year for medication-related injuries. Steve explains how Nabu’s early pilots in Australia help families coordinate care across clinicians, crises and...
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Ep. 64 - Carly Salamone Dissects the One Big Beautiful Bill for Rural America
Working Healthcare with Meredith Hirsh
Tune into this episode of Working Healthcare to learn how the One Big Beautiful Bill Act could reshape rural health care as Meredith Hirsh and Mike Chavez interview policy leader Carly Salamone. With a dozen years in rural hospital care, Carly is now President of Vantage Healthcare of Ohio where is leads policy for several member hospitals. She breaks down the bill’s proposals, its impact on hospital payments and Medicaid, and what it means when the nearest ER is 60 miles away. We examine maternity care after Dobbs, why labor units are often first to close and how Medicaid’s role in births...
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Ep. 63 - From RN to VP: Heather Woolf on Leading and Lifting Women in Healthcare
Working Healthcare with Meredith Hirsh
Hit play to hear how one nurse shattered ceilings on her way to the c-suite. In this episode of Working Healthcare, Meredith Hirsh and Mike Chavez sit down with Heather Woolf, Vice President of Operations at the Hospital for Special Surgery, for a powerful conversation on gender equity in healthcare leadership. Heather shares her bold journey from the bedside to the boardroom, revealing the systemic barriers that still hold women back—despite making up nearly 80% of the healthcare workforce. Together, they unpack why only 30% of hospital CEOs are women, how outdated systems fuel burnout and...
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Ep. 62 - Sean Travers on Growing Independent Practices with Ancillary Services and Vertical Integration
Working Healthcare with Meredith Hirsh
Discover how smart strategies and bold decisions are transforming independent healthcare. In this episode of Working Healthcare, Meredith Hirsh and Mike Chavez sit down in the studio with Sean Travers, a seasoned healthcare expert dedicated to helping practices achieve sustainable, service-driven growth. Together, with over 60 years of combined healthcare business experience, they explore the power of ancillary services—like in-house labs, imaging and infusions—and reveal how vertical integration enhances patient care while giving physicians greater control, financial stability and...
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Ep. 61 - Dr. Matthew Mundwiler on Saving Private Practice and Fighting Healthcare Consolidation
Working Healthcare with Meredith Hirsh
Press play on a real conversation about staying independent in a system built for giants. In this episode of Working Healthcare, Meredith Hirsh and Mike Chavez sit down with Dr. Matthew Mundwiler, a private practice rheumatologist from Columbus, Ohio, to talk about what it really takes to survive—and thrive—outside of corporate healthcare. With operational costs up, physician autonomy shrinking and insurance denials on the rise, Matt shares why he’s doubling down on independence and patient-centered care. From the financial realities of private practice to the emotional toll and...
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Ep. 60 - Dr. Daniel Solomon and Mark Elfers Tackle the Physician Shortage with Digital Innovation
Working Healthcare with Meredith Hirsh
Join hosts Meredith Hirsh and Mike Chavez for a high-impact episode of Working Healthcare as they tackle one of the most urgent challenges in U.S. healthcare: the physician shortage. In this future-focused conversation, Dr. Daniel Solomon—a Harvard rheumatologist and health systems researcher—and Mark Elfers, a former Marine and now CEO of GreenCape Health, share how digital innovation is reshaping chronic care. Together, they unpack how MPro Health, a mobile platform now integrated with Epic and Athena EHRs, is cutting wait times, boosting medication adherence and improving...
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Ep. 59 - Ali Kaufman Is Tackling Youth Mental Health and Redefining Healthcare Boundaries
Working Healthcare with Meredith Hirsh
Tune in to a powerful, solutions-driven conversation about youth mental health, education, and the growing physician shortage. Join host Meredith Hirsh for an in-studio Working Healthcare interview with Ali Kaufman—founder of Space of Mind and the Community Classroom Project—as they explore how America’s mental health crisis is impacting kids where it hurts most: inside the classroom. With fewer than one child psychiatrist for every 10,000 children in the U.S., teachers are being thrust into the role of mental health first responders—often without training or resources. Ali shares how...
info_outlineExplore the hidden world of rare diseases in this in-studio interview with biotech veteran Peter Carbone. With passion and clarity, Peter explains how rare conditions—often affecting fewer than 200,000 people each—shine a spotlight on the cracks in our healthcare system. He unpacks why patients face years of misdiagnosis, endless referrals, and costly treatments, and how the system continues to leave 1 in 10 Americans behind. Meredith and Peter examine the skyrocketing costs of orphan drugs, the impact of dwindling NIH funding, and the often-overlooked power of the patient voice in the diagnostic journey. Peter also introduces his RISE Leadership and Selling Frameworks—bold, strategic guides designed to help healthcare professionals become true advocates for rare disease patients. One emotional highlight: a family's heartbreaking loss that ultimately led to life-saving action for their daughter—proof that awareness can change everything. This episode is both an eye-opener and a call to action for anyone who cares about making healthcare more just, more human, and more effective.