The No Surprises Act in Practice: Strategies for Health Plans in a Shifting Landscape

The Hidden Barriers Impacting Women's Care

This week, Sally is joined by Kristen Nicholson, Chief Operating Officer of Comfort Imaging, as they dive into the barriers women face when trying to access a crucial aspect of care.  Despite rapid advancements across healthcare, traditional mammography has remained stagnant for over 25 years, causing women to delay care due to discomfort and fear.  Kristen shares how Comfort Imaging is creating a better mammography experience for women with their innovative Koning Vera Breast CT Technology, designed to deliver faster, more accurate, and more comfortable screening. Combined with an individualized, guided patient experience, Kristen details how Comfort Imaging removes traditional barriers to care, motivating women to engage in crucial preventative care earlier and more consistently.

Together Health: Rethinking Primary Care

On this week's episode of The Granite List.Live, Sally is joined by Huy Tran, Founder and CEO of Together Health, and together they dive into the challenges of today's healthcare system as well as how to create a better path forward. Together Health explores what primary care should look like today—accessible, affordable, and built around real relationships. As a modern direct primary care model, Together Health delivers care in-person, in-office, and virtually, creating a more seamless experience for patients, clinicians, and employers alike.

The No Surprises Act in Practice: Strategies for Health Plans in a Shifting Landscape

The No Suprises Act (NSA) was designed to protect patients from unexpected and surprise medical bills. However, for health plans, it’s created a complex and evolving landscape of disputes, compliance requirements and rising costs.   On this week's episode of The Granite List.Live, Sally is joined by Christine Cooper and Jack Towarnicky as they break down what has changed, what’s still unclear, and how plan sponsors can take a more strategic approach to managing Independent Dispute Resolution (IDR), provider negotiations and overall plan spend. From regulatory updates to real-world insights, Cooper and Towarnicky offer practical guidance for navigating the NSA with confidence.

Smarter Members, Smarter Utilization

Emergency room visits are one of the most misunderstood and expensive drivers of employer healthcare spend. In this week's episode of The Granite List.Live, Sally is joined by Al Lewis, Founder and Quizmeister-in-Chief of Quizzify and longtime health policy veteran, to uncover how smarter member education leads directly to smarter utilization. Al breaks down why ER visits now account for roughly 6% of employer health spend, when in reality they should be closer to 3%, and how employers can close that gap through better literacy, consent awareness, and validation.

Bending Pharmacy Spend

On this week’s episode of The Granite List. Live, Sally is joined by Anthony Hartley, Co-Founder and CEO of Patient Advisor LLC, as they dive into the hidden driver of pharmacy spend. Patients with autoimmune conditions and other chronic conditions take prescriptions that manage/mask symptoms without leading to remission or reversal of disease. This group of individuals may equal as much as 50% of pharmacy spend for an employer. Anthony details how cell therapies can help patients get better health outcomes at a lower cost to plan sponsors, raising the question of why such innovation has not been widespread yet.