Driving the Deal | McDermott HealthEx Series: Evolving Landscape of PPMs
McDermott Will & Schulte Health Law Podcast
Release Date: 06/09/2025
Driving the Deal | Quantifying Pain – Transforming Care with AccendoWave CEO Martha Lawrence
McDermott Will & Schulte Health Law Podcast
On this episode of Driving the Deal, host Brian Fortune, Senior Managing Director at Farragut Square Group, speaks with Martha Lawrence, CEO and Co-Founder of AccendoWave, a machine learning healthcare technology company focused on objectively measuring and managing pain. They discuss how brainwave-based data can transform pain measurement, address bias in care, and create new opportunities across healthcare, from hospitals and cancer care to workers’ compensation and women’s health. The conversation also explores how objective pain data could impact providers, payers, and healthcare...
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Driving the Deal | The Next Phase of Behavioral Health with Cain Brothers’ Todd Rudsenske
McDermott Will & Schulte Health Law Podcast
In this episode of Driving the Deal, host Brian Fortune, Senior Managing Director at Farragut Square Group, speaks with Todd Rudsenske, Managing Director at Cain Brothers, about emerging trends shaping the behavioral health market. Behavioral health has been a major focus for investors for more than a decade, but the sector is entering a new phase. They discuss the rise of digital mental health tools, increasing provider specialization, evolving payment models, and how technology and traditional providers may converge in the next wave of behavioral health M&A.
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Driving the Deal | Inside the Healthcare Deal Market with DC Advisory’s Hector Torres
McDermott Will & Schulte Health Law Podcast
In this episode of Driving the Deal, Brian Fortune, Senior Managing Director at Farragut Square Group, welcomes Hector Torres, Managing Director of DC Advisory’s global healthcare team, for a conversation on the evolving healthcare M&A landscape. Drawing on more than two decades of healthcare investment banking experience, Hector shares insights into current investor sentiment, the state of deal activity, and the macro factors shaping healthcare services and related sectors. The discussion also explores how strategic buyers and private equity investors are approaching deployment, scale,...
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Driving the Deal | The Rise of ICHRAs with Bailey & Co.’s Rebecca Springer
McDermott Will & Schulte Health Law Podcast
In this episode of Driving the Deal, Brian Fortune, Senior Managing Director at Farragut Square Group, sits down with Rebecca Springer, Director of Market Development at Bailey & Company, to discuss the rapid rise of Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangements (ICHRAs). They break down how ICHRAs work, why adoption is accelerating across employers of all sizes, and what the model means for healthcare costs, employee choice, and benefits strategy. The conversation also explores the expanding ICHRA ecosystem, including administrators, brokers, carriers, and HR platforms, and why...
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Driving the Deal | The Future of US Healthcare with David W. Johnson
McDermott Will & Schulte Health Law Podcast
In this episode of Driving the Deal, Brian Fortune, Senior Managing Director at Farragut Square Group, welcomes David W. Johnson, CEO of 4sight Health and co-author of The Coming Healthcare Revolution: 10 Forces That Will Cure America’s Health Crisis. Together, they discuss the ideas behind the book and why the U.S. healthcare system is approaching a period of unprecedented change. Johnson breaks down the major forces reshaping healthcare, from demographics and chronic disease to AI, synthetic biology, and pro-consumer reforms, and explains why the next decade may bring more...
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Driving the Deal | 2025 Healthcare Insights and What’s Ahead for 2026 with Cantor’s Vikram Sithian
McDermott Will & Schulte Health Law Podcast
As the Driving the Deal kicks off the new year, Brian Fortune, Senior Managing Director at Farragut Square Group, is joined by Vikram Sithian, Managing Director and Head of Healthcare Financial Sponsors Coverage at Cantor. They offer a look back at the key dynamics that shaped the 2025 healthcare deal market while setting the stage for what’s ahead in 2026. They discuss the most active healthcare services and HCIT subsectors, shifts in valuation multiples, real-world AI use cases, evolving financing structures, and EBITDA size dynamics. The conversation also explores what sponsors should be...
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Driving the Deal | The 2026 Physician Fee Schedule with Holly Stokes
McDermott Will & Schulte Health Law Podcast
On this episode of Driving the Deal, Brian Fortune, Senior Managing Director at Farragut Square Group, is joined by colleague and Assistant Vice President, Holly Stokes, an expert in health policy, for a deep dive into the CY 2026 Physician Fee Schedule. In this episode, Brian and Holly break down the latest updates from CMS, highlighting how the finalized 2026 varies very little from the proposed rule, compares to previous years, and their potential impact on healthcare providers. From winners and losers under the new reimbursement structure to the future of primary care allocations and hot...
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Driving the Deal | Inside Europe’s Healthcare Landscape with Sharon Lamb
McDermott Will & Schulte Health Law Podcast
On this episode of Driving the Deal, Brian Fortune, Senior Managing Director at Farragut Square Group, is joined by Sharon Lamb, Head of McDermott’s UK Healthcare Practice Group. They unpack key themes from McDermott’s HPE Europe 2025 and explore the event’s biggest takeaways from shifting global policies on drug pricing and the boom in Chinese biotech, to AI’s growing role in R&D, supply chain dynamics, and the renewed investor focus on healthcare services heading into 2026. As they look ahead to the Jefferies Global Healthcare Conference in London next week, the conversation...
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Driving the Deal | Navigating OBBBA with General Atlantic’s Ben Wanamaker
McDermott Will & Schulte Health Law Podcast
On this episode of Driving the Deal, Brian Fortune, Senior Managing Director at Farragut Square Group, is joined by Ben Wanamaker, Operating Partner at General Atlantic to discuss how the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) is reshaping the Medicaid landscape. Ben breaks down OBBBA’s major provisions like work requirements, redeterminations, provider tax reductions, and cost-sharing rules and their implications for enrollment, member engagement, and provider payments. The conversation also explores: - How value-based care remains central to Medicaid innovation. - The importance of...
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Driving the Deal | What’s Next For Pharma with Cary Gibson
McDermott Will & Schulte Health Law Podcast
On this episode of Driving the Deal, Brian Fortune, Senior Managing Director at Farragut Square Group, is joined by Cary Gibson, founder of Gibson Health Policy and longtime Washington policy expert, to unpack the latest developments shaping the pharmaceutical landscape. From the Trump administration’s push to lower drug prices and the revival of “most favored nation” pricing concepts, to state-level prescription drug boards and 340B reform debates, Cary offers sharp insights on where the pressure points are and what’s next for the industry.
info_outlineIn our final episode of our McDermott HealthEx series, Brian Fortune, Senior Managing Director at Farragut Square Group, and Krist Werling, Partner & Global Head of Health & Life Sciences at McDermott Will & Emery, welcome Robbie Allen, CEO of US Heart & Vascular, for a candid conversation on the state of physician practice management. They explore the shifting dynamics of the PPM market, what it takes to build a truly integrated and high-performing platform, and how evolving physician expectations, new tech, and regulatory pressures are shaping the future of the space.