The Advancing Healthcare Innovation Show

E186: Why Americans Are Sicker Than Ever Despite Having the Best Hospitals in the World

What if American healthcare is doing exactly what it was designed to do? Dr. Scott Neeley, MD, MBA, has spent 40 years in medicine. Harvard. Stanford. University of Chicago residency. He's been in the ICU at 2am fighting to save lives. He became a CEO. He had major surgery and chose to do it at his own hospital. And he'll tell you straight: we've built a world-class system for treating disease. We're just terrible at keeping people healthy. In this episode, Dr. Neeley, President and CEO of Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital, joins Michael Stamatinos to talk about health span, why it's shrinking, and what it actually takes to fix it from the inside out. This isn't a theory conversation. This is a doctor-turned-executive who leads a daily patient safety huddle, starts every board meeting with a patient story before he ever opens a spreadsheet, and built a community coalition to attack the upstream causes of chronic illness head-on. He talks about the ICU moment that changed everything. The railroad worker at the end of his life. The weight of keeping a rural hospital financially alive when more than half your patients are on Medicare. The hardest leadership decisions he's ever made. And why the most powerful predictor of your health at 80 has nothing to do with your cholesterol. This one goes deep. Don't skip it. In this episode: * What health span is and why it's shrinking in America * How Dr. Neeley led his hospital to the top 1% for patient safety * The culture shift that took years of "time under tension" * Health Span Nevada County: what a real community health model looks like * The Harvard Grant Study finding that changes how you think about longevity * Why the wellness industry often gets it wrong * The 4x4 breathing exercise they actually do live on air Timestamps 0:00 Introduction 4:40 Meet Dr. Scott Neeley 7:58 Why he fell in love with the ICU, not prevention 8:58 The railroad worker moment that changed everything 12:27 From frontline physician to healthcare executive 16:40 How you actually build a culture of safety 24:36 Running a hospital that profits from illness while fighting to prevent it 27:44 Health Span Nevada County: the community model in practice 32:52 What each of us can do every day (including a live 4x4 breathing exercise) 39:17 What it felt like to have surgery at his own hospital 40:39 The hardest leadership decisions he's ever made 43:19 Who's at the table: building the coalition 51:30 How to follow Dr. Neeley's work 📣 LIKE, COMMENT & SUBSCRIBE If this conversation moved you, challenged your thinking, or sparked an idea, share it with someone who needs to hear it. Subscribe for more episodes with healthcare leaders who are not just thinking differently, they’re building differently. About the Show The Advancing Healthcare Innovation Show is hosted by Michael Stamatinos, a nationally recognized connector, strategist, and advocate for innovation with purpose. Each week, Michael interviews healthcare leaders who are driving meaningful change—highlighting stories of access, resilience, equity, and transformation. The AHI Show started with the idea of wanting to highlight stories of what healthcare innovation truly looks like in action. Our mission, highlight real people who are really innovating within healthcare. Guests include healthcare entrepreneurs, providers, payers, and professionals from the investment community. We showcase little wins as well as valuable lessons learned from setbacks through these interviews. The real innovators in healthcare are often the ones in the trenches doing the work with razor-sharp focus. We find these innovators and bring their stories to light. 🔗 Michael’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelstamo [https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelstamo] 🎧 Subscribe for more episodes that move beyond theory and into the heart of what’s really possible in healthcare. Join our group, Advancing Healthcare Innovation Forum on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/7056196/ [https://www.linkedin.com/groups/7056196/]

E185: Angi Jennings on Rebuilding Cano Health From the Inside Out

What does transformation actually look like inside a healthcare organization after the headlines fade away? In this episode of the Advancing Healthcare Innovation Show, Michael Stamatinos sits down with Angi Jennings for a raw and honest conversation about operational transformation, leadership under pressure, and the messy reality of rebuilding healthcare organizations from the inside out. After emerging from bankruptcy and rebuilding its leadership structure, Cano Health has been navigating a massive organizational turnaround focused on simplifying operations, rebuilding culture, and embedding value-based care into the day-to-day reality of frontline teams. Angi has been directly in the middle of that work. This conversation goes far beyond strategy decks and press releases. Michael and Angi unpack: • What really happens after healthcare acquisitions and integrations • Why transformation often fails because of a lack of clarity • How to create psychological safety while still maintaining accountability • Why frontline staff are the heartbeat of organizational transformation • How operational excellence ultimately comes down to people • What healthcare leaders can learn from the hospitality industry • The emotional weight of leadership during times of uncertainty and change ⏱️ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 — Why healthcare transformation is messier than people think 04:02 — Cano Health’s turnaround and rebuilding culture after bankruptcy 08:35 — Why momentum and small wins matter during transformation 15:00 — Data, accountability, and changing frontline behavior 22:14 — Psychological safety vs accountability in leadership 28:00 — The emotional pressure of leading organizational change 33:41 — Why transformation is ultimately about people 35:44 — “Culture is caught, not taught” 38:15 — Angi’s hope for the future of healthcare 39:32 — Final reflections on leadership, culture, and transformation 📣 LIKE, COMMENT & SUBSCRIBE If this conversation moved you, challenged your thinking, or sparked an idea, share it with someone who needs to hear it. Subscribe for more episodes with healthcare leaders who are not just thinking differently, they’re building differently. About the Show The Advancing Healthcare Innovation Show is hosted by Michael Stamatinos, a nationally recognized connector, strategist, and advocate for innovation with purpose. Each week, Michael interviews healthcare leaders who are driving meaningful change—highlighting stories of access, resilience, equity, and transformation. The AHI Show started with the idea of wanting to highlight stories of what healthcare innovation truly looks like in action. Our mission, highlight real people who are really innovating within healthcare. Guests include healthcare entrepreneurs, providers, payers, and professionals from the investment community. We showcase little wins as well as valuable lessons learned from setbacks through these interviews. The real innovators in healthcare are often the ones in the trenches doing the work with razor-sharp focus. We find these innovators and bring their stories to light. 🔗 Michael’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelstamo [https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelstamo] 🎧 Subscribe for more episodes that move beyond theory and into the heart of what’s really possible in healthcare. Join our group, Advancing Healthcare Innovation Forum on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/7056196/ [https://www.linkedin.com/groups/7056196/]

E184 | The Graveyard of Health Tech Is Full of Well-Funded Companies with Dr. Mohammed Quadri, MD

What does it actually take to drive innovation from inside one of the largest health systems in the country? Dr. Mohammed Quadri has been at Hackensack Meridian Health for over 20 years, starting as a sleep medicine researcher and growing into VP of Strategy for Academics, Research, and Innovation. He co-founded the HMH Research Institutes. He is the Principal Investigator of the RISE Study, developing breath-based biomarkers that could predict drowsy driving and change how we diagnose sleep disorders for over 100 million Americans. Dr. Quadri walks us through what it costs to build something inside a complex system. Why 72% of health tech companies fail. Why FDA clearance alone is never enough. Why reimbursement drives behavior whether we like it or not. And why the single most underrated move in healthcare right now is earning trust instead of trying to buy it. He also shares something most executives never say out loud: you cannot motivate people. You can only inspire engagement. And there is a difference. This episode is for healthcare leaders, innovators, founders, and anyone trying to build something that matters from the inside out. What you will learn in this episode: * Why employee satisfaction and patient satisfaction are the same problem * The three walls that kill healthcare innovation before it ever scales: clinical workflow, economic alignment, and trust * Why the graveyard of health tech is full of well-funded companies and how to avoid being one of them * What breath-based biomarkers have to do with Maggie's Law in New Jersey * The one thing founders consistently underestimate when entering health systems * Why Mohammed's father, a physician who never charged more than three rupees, shaped everything he built Connect with Dr. Mohammed Quadri: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mohammed-quadri-md-mba-ssbb-12632952/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/mohammed-quadri-md-mba-ssbb-12632952/] Hackensack Meridian Health Research Institute: hmh-cdi.org TIMESTAMPS 1:45 — Introduction: Who is Dr. Mohammed Quadri? 3:37 — Mohammed opens up: the energy he brings to the work 3:55 — What kept him at one health system for 18+ years 4:46 — Employee satisfaction drives patient satisfaction 5:26 — "You cannot motivate people. You can only inspire engagement." 6:29 — The difference between a job, a profession, and a calling 8:30 — His mother, discipline, and learning what it means to understand a human being 9:36 — "The irony of life is it doesn't teach you life. Experiences do." 13:37 — How to stay agile inside a massive, complex system 14:37 — Why mergers create silos and how to break them 15:45 — We don't have an innovation problem. We have an adoption problem. 16:21 — The actual play: how you get something done inside a health system 17:33 — Why most health tech founders get this wrong from the start 18:48 — The number one reason adoption fails 20:16 — The RISE Study: breath-based biomarkers and drowsy driving prevention 21:04 — Sleep disorders affect 100 million Americans. Most people don't connect the dots. 22:13 — "If we cannot answer where this fits in a patient's journey, the science does not matter." 24:19 — The three walls that kill healthcare adoption 25:59 — "FDA clearance is necessary but not sufficient. You need a physician champion." 26:22 — "You need to earn trust. Not buy it." 27:54 — Mohammed's closing philosophy: "Compete to collaborate." 28:10 — "Give to the world the best you have and the best will come back to you." 28:24 — Michael's final takeaways and the one ask for the community 📣 LIKE, COMMENT & SUBSCRIBE If this conversation moved you, challenged your thinking, or sparked an idea, share it with someone who needs to hear it. Subscribe for more episodes with healthcare leaders who are not just thinking differently, they’re building differently. About the Show The Advancing Healthcare Innovation Show is hosted by Michael Stamatinos, a nationally recognized connector, strategist, and advocate for innovation with purpose. Each week, Michael interviews healthcare leaders who are driving meaningful change—highlighting stories of access, resilience, equity, and transformation. The AHI Show started with the idea of wanting to highlight stories of what healthcare innovation truly looks like in action. Our mission, highlight real people who are really innovating within healthcare. Guests include healthcare entrepreneurs, providers, payers, and professionals from the investment community. We showcase little wins as well as valuable lessons learned from setbacks through these interviews. The real innovators in healthcare are often the ones in the trenches doing the work with razor-sharp focus. We find these innovators and bring their stories to light. 🔗 Michael’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelstamo [https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelstamo] 🎧 Subscribe for more episodes that move beyond theory and into the heart of what’s really possible in healthcare. Join our group, Advancing Healthcare Innovation Forum on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/7056196/ [https://www.linkedin.com/groups/7056196/]

E183 | Foster Care’s Hidden Health Crisis ft. Michelle Turner

Every night in the US, a child enters a new home with no medical records, no doctor, and no continuity of care. Michelle Turner decided to fix that. Michelle Turner is the Founder and CEO of Here Now Health, the first virtual healthcare company built exclusively for children and families impacted by the child welfare system. Before building this company, she fostered more than 40 children, served as a Court Appointed Special Advocate, led a global telehealth nonprofit, and ran a Federally Qualified Health Center. She didn't build Here Now Health because she wanted to be a CEO. She built it because no one else would. In this episode, Michael Stamatinos sits down with Michelle for one of the most powerful conversations in the history of the AHI Show. They get into what it actually looks like when a child enters foster care on a Friday night, how virtual trauma-informed care can change outcomes for an invisible population, and why 90% of their referrals convert to active care in a Medicaid system where 50% is considered acceptable. Timestamps 00:00 - What foster care healthcare actually looks like 03:53 - Who is Michelle Turner and what is Here Now Health 04:46 - Fostering 40+ children: what the first placement taught her 07:54 - The gaps in foster care healthcare that made her angry 10:20 - Why she couldn't leave this problem for someone else to solve 11:22 - Six years at Hazel Health and building startup skills 12:48 - How she accidentally raised her first investment check 15:44 - Why Medicaid is hard to build on (and why foster care changes that) 17:50 - Friday night scenario: a child arrives with no records, no doctor 19:51 - How often kids are seen and why caregiver support is everything 22:36 - Crossing state lines: licensed in West Virginia in 24 hours 24:53 - Being a foster mom and a CEO at the same time 28:44 - The teen who had never been asked what she thought about her own case plan 29:27 - Why foster kids are blamed for not engaging in systems that failed them 31:04 - 90% referral-to-care rate: why that number is extraordinary 32:25 - What she would say to a Medicaid executive in 60 seconds 35:35 - How to connect with Here Now Health 36:56 - What success looks like for foster children in 2036 Here Now Health is currently live in Virginia and Missouri, partnered with Anthem Health Keepers and Home State Health. New state launches are planned throughout 2026. Follow Here Now Health: https://www.herenow.health/ [https://www.herenow.health/] 📣 LIKE, COMMENT & SUBSCRIBE If this conversation moved you, challenged your thinking, or sparked an idea, share it with someone who needs to hear it. Subscribe for more episodes with healthcare leaders who are not just thinking differently, they’re building differently. About the Show The Advancing Healthcare Innovation Show is hosted by Michael Stamatinos, a nationally recognized connector, strategist, and advocate for innovation with purpose. Each week, Michael interviews healthcare leaders who are driving meaningful change—highlighting stories of access, resilience, equity, and transformation. The AHI Show started with the idea of wanting to highlight stories of what healthcare innovation truly looks like in action. Our mission, highlight real people who are really innovating within healthcare. Guests include healthcare entrepreneurs, providers, payers, and professionals from the investment community. We showcase little wins as well as valuable lessons learned from setbacks through these interviews. The real innovators in healthcare are often the ones in the trenches doing the work with razor-sharp focus. We find these innovators and bring their stories to light. 🔗 Michael’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelstamo [https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelstamo] 🎧 Subscribe for more episodes that move beyond theory and into the heart of what’s really possible in healthcare. Join our group, Advancing Healthcare Innovation Forum on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/7056196/ [https://www.linkedin.com/groups/7056196/]

E182 | Michael Kopko: Grit, Incentives, and the Future of Senior Care

What does it actually take to move independent physicians from fee-for-service to value-based care, and why is it still this hard? In this episode of the Advancing Healthcare Innovation Show, host Michael Stamatinos sits down with Michael Kopko, CEO of Pearl Health, a company built to help providers succeed in value-based care, particularly in Medicare programs where the operational complexity is very real. Michael spent years at Oscar Health helping build the company during its early growth stage, leading one of the largest P&Ls in the organization. Before that, he worked at Bridgewater Associates under Ray Dalio, where he developed the mental models and systems thinking that now shape how he leads Pearl. He did not come to healthcare through a traditional path, and that perspective shows up everywhere in this conversation. This conversation explores what it takes to lead a mission-driven company in one of the slowest-moving, highest-stakes industries in the world, and why Michael is more optimistic about the future of healthcare today than he has ever been. Michael and Michael dig into: * Why value-based care sounds easy on paper and why actually living it inside a practice is a completely different story * How Pearl Health helps independent physicians succeed in MSSP and other Medicare programs * The role incentives play in changing physician behavior and where the system still gets it wrong * Why most things in senior care are predictable, and why predictable means preventable * How Michael thinks about leadership under pressure and why equanimity is a skill, not a personality trait * What Bridgewater and Oscar Health taught him about building in high-stakes environments * How Pearl thinks about technology investment and what he would do differently if he started over If you lead a healthcare organization, work in value-based care, build health tech, or advise the healthcare ecosystem, this conversation is for you. 0:00 Introduction and what Pearl Health does 2:40 What physicians say about value-based care when the cameras are off 4:59 Michael Kopko's origin story and early career curiosity 6:50 Why incentives are the real engine of behavior change in healthcare 9:30 What the transition from fee-for-service actually looks like in practice 11:46 Why this work is personal, not just professional 12:15 The mental model Michael returns to when things get hard 14:33 How Bridgewater and Oscar Health shaped his leadership style 15:07 Why progress is happening even when it does not feel like it 18:23 Does a healthcare innovator have the luxury of thinking long-term 19:33 If Pearl Health were a sports team 21:22 Where Pearl is strongest right now 22:20 How to follow Pearl Health and connect with Michael 23:20 What he would do differently if he started Pearl over today 24:30 Closing reflections on progress, patience, and purpose https://www.pearlhealth.com/ [https://www.pearlhealth.com/] 📣 LIKE, COMMENT & SUBSCRIBE If this conversation moved you, challenged your thinking, or sparked an idea, share it with someone who needs to hear it. Subscribe for more episodes with healthcare leaders who are not just thinking differently, they’re building differently. About the Show The Advancing Healthcare Innovation Show is hosted by Michael Stamatinos, a nationally recognized connector, strategist, and advocate for innovation with purpose. Each week, Michael interviews healthcare leaders who are driving meaningful change—highlighting stories of access, resilience, equity, and transformation. The AHI Show started with the idea of wanting to highlight stories of what healthcare innovation truly looks like in action. Our mission, highlight real people who are really innovating within healthcare. Guests include healthcare entrepreneurs, providers, payers, and professionals from the investment community. We showcase little wins as well as valuable lessons learned from setbacks through these interviews. The real innovators in healthcare are often the ones in the trenches doing the work with razor-sharp focus. We find these innovators and bring their stories to light. 🔗 Michael’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelstamo [https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelstamo] 🎧 Subscribe for more episodes that move beyond theory and into the heart of what’s really possible in healthcare. Join our group, Advancing Healthcare Innovation Forum on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/7056196/ [https://www.linkedin.com/groups/7056196/]