Engaging Complex & Hard-to-Reach Medicare Members Amidst CMS Uncertainty
Release Date: 04/15/2025
From Mint to Medicine: How Aaron Patzer Is Fixing Patient Communication
Bright Spots in Healthcare
What happens when the founder of Mint.com takes on one of healthcare’s most broken experiences—patient communication? In this episode of Bright Spots in Healthcare, Eric Glazer sits down with Aaron Patzer, Founder and CEO of Vital, to explore how simplicity, clarity, and human-centered design can drive real impact in healthcare. Drawing from his journey building Mint, Aaron shares why most healthcare technology misses the mark, how better communication improves outcomes and ROI, and what leaders must do to design experiences people actually use. The conversation goes deep on: Why...
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Precision Health, AI & Engagement: Dr. Carolyn Jasik on Verily’s Vision for Consumer-Centered Care
Bright Spots in Healthcare
Recorded live at HLTH, this episode of Bright Spots in Healthcare features Dr. Carolyn Jasik, Associate Chief Clinical Officer at Verily, an Alphabet company focused on precision health innovation at scale. Carolyn shares how Verily has evolved through multiple “moonshot” phases, from devices and research to its current focus on precision health, combining AI, data science, and clinical expertise to deliver the right intervention to the right person at the right time. Drawing from her background as a pediatrician, behavioral scientist, and former digital health executive, Carolyn explains...
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WellSense, CareSource & GroundGame.Health: Medicaid Work Requirements and the New Engagement Playbook
Bright Spots in Healthcare
In this Bright Spots in Healthcare episode, host Eric Glazer brings together senior Medicaid health plan leaders to explore how organizations are rethinking communication strategies in response to redetermination and upcoming work requirements. The conversation dives into how plans are combining cultural competency, behavioral insights, and data-driven personalization to strengthen member connections, improve retention, and support equity-focused outcomes. Real-world examples and best practices provide actionable guidance for health plans navigating these sweeping policy changes. Our...
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How CareFirst, Blue Shield CA and Vori Health Drive Success in the New MA Ratings Era
Bright Spots in Healthcare
In this Bright Spots in Healthcare episode, host Eric Glazer brings together Medicare Advantage leaders who are rethinking how digital first and whole person strategies can meet rising Stars expectations. The conversation explores how plans are simplifying engagement, strengthening provider alignment, and integrating specialty and virtual care models to improve quality, experience, and overall performance in the new ratings era. Our guests include: Lisa Franklin, Director of Medicare Business, Product, and Marketing, Strategic Growth and Government Programs, Carefirst Christine McKinney,...
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AMA & Health2047: Warren Templeton on Transforming Healthcare Through Venture Innovation
Bright Spots in Healthcare
Recorded live at HLTH, this episode of Bright Spots in Healthcare takes you inside Health2047, the venture studio founded by the American Medical Association to tackle some of healthcare’s gnarliest problems. Host Eric Glazer sits down with Warren Templeton, Managing Director at Health2047, to explore how the AMA is backing founders at the earliest stages to reshape physician workflows, chronic disease management, and data liquidity. Warren shares how Health2047 partners with science- and clinician-led startups at the pre-seed and seed stages, wrapping founders with commercial strategy,...
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How Oscar Health + Hy-Vee Are Building a New Local, Tech-Enabled Health Plan
Bright Spots in Healthcare
Guests: Louis DeStefano, Chief Growth Officer, Oscar Health Jon Van Der Veer, DO, Founder & CEO, Hy-Vee Health In this special HLTH interview, Bright Spots in Healthcare host Eric Glazer speaks with two leaders shaping one of the most innovative payer–provider–retail collaborations in the country: Louis DeStefano, Chief Growth Officer, Oscar Health Jon Van Der Veer, DO, Founder & CEO, Hy-Vee Health Together, Oscar Health and Hy-Vee Health are building a new kind of health plan, one that blends local access, convenient care, primary care-first design, and...
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Scaling AI and Innovation with Tampa General's Chief Digital & Innovation Officer
Bright Spots in Healthcare
In this episode of Bright Spots in Healthcare, recorded live at the HLTH 2025 conference in Las Vegas, Eric Glazer sits down with Scott Arnold from Tampa General Hospital, one of the nation’s leading academic health systems, to explore their ambitious digital transformation journey. The conversation dives deep into how TGH built a unified digital foundation across a large, geographically dispersed system, enabling them to scale AI solutions that deliver measurable impact on operations, patient care, and the clinician experience. Scott shares his blueprint for modernizing a major health...
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From Hospital to Home: Scaling Remote Specialty Care to Close Gaps and Reduce Readmissions
Bright Spots in Healthcare
In this Bright Spots in Healthcare episode, host Eric Glazer brings together health system leaders transforming how care continues beyond the hospital stay—using digital coordination, subspecialization, and AI-enabled virtual care to reduce readmissions and improve patient experience. Our guests include: Matthew Sakumoto, MD, Medical Director, Connected Care Clinic, and Regional Chief Medical Informatics Officer, Sutter Health Sean O’Grady, President of Acute and Ambulatory Operations, Endeavor Health Sarah Schenck, MD, Executive Director, Center for Virtual Health, ChristianaCare ...
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Inside Credentialing: Where AI Delivers Measurable ROI for Health Plans
Bright Spots in Healthcare
In this Bright Spots in Healthcare episode, host Eric Glazer sits down with three leaders reshaping one of healthcare’s most overlooked — yet mission-critical — functions: provider credentialing. Credentialing is the quiet infrastructure of trust in healthcare. When it’s done right, patients get timely access to high-quality care, providers get paid faster, and health plans stay compliant. When it fails, backlogs grow, compliance risk skyrockets, provider satisfaction plummets, and member access suffers. Joining Eric for this discussion: Sandra Clarke, Former CFO & COO, Blue...
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Dr. Kristian Olson, Vice President of Design Impact, Mass General Brigham | Finding Healthcare's Hidden Solutions Through Human-Centered Design
Bright Spots in Healthcare
In this episode of Bright Spots in Healthcare, we explore how human-centered design can uncover breakthrough solutions already hiding in plain sight. Dr. Kristian Olson, Vice President of Design Impact at Mass General Brigham and leader of the Springboard Studio, shares how slowing down to understand problems leads to faster, more effective innovation. The conversation dives into: The four pillars of effective healthcare innovation: design research, prototyping, supported implementation, and impact measurement How "stupidest ideas" exercises and question storming unlock creative solutions...
info_outlineAs CMS regulations shift, how can you continue to impact complex members? Join us as we explore innovative approaches to member engagement that drive better health outcomes and reduce costs. In this episode, we will hear how plans are leveraging social support, in-home care, and tailored services to reach vulnerable members. Don’t miss this timely conversation: hear how you can be reaching the unreachable and personalizing Medicare engagement in a shifting CMS landscape.
Panelists:
Sheila Yahyazadeh, Chief External Operations Officer, CareFirst Community Health Plan Maryland
Eve Gelb, Chief Innovation Officer, Gold Coast Health Plan
Andrew Parker, Founder & CEO, Papa
This episode is sponsored by Papa:
Papa is your trusted partner in the home. Since 2017, its vetted Papa Pals has completed millions of companion care visits across 7,300 cities — 10x that of Lyft. Papa Pals come from the same communities as the members they serve, build trust in person, and provide tailored support proven to reduce hospitalizations and emergency department visits, increase preventive care trends, and lower costs. But that’s not all Papa Pals do... As an extension of your care team in the home, Papa Pals can now conduct in-home assessments, educate and help members learn new skills, like digital health literacy, and so much more.
Visit papa.com to learn more.
Bright Spots in Healthcare is produced by Bright Spots Ventures
Bright Spots Ventures brings healthcare leaders together to share working solutions or "bright spots" to common challenges. We build valuable and meaningful relationships through our Bright Spots in Healthcare podcast, webinar series, leadership councils, customized peer events, and sales and go-to-market consulting. We believe that finding a bright spot and cloning it is the most effective strategy to improve healthcare in our lifetime.
Visit our website at www.brightspotsinhealthcare.com