The Road to Care

A Vision for Care that Includes Your Financial Health with Sara Julson

Behind every prior authorization, coverage decision, and patient estimate is a much bigger question: how do we ensure patients can actually access the care they need? In this episode of The Road to Care, Kip Theno sits down with Sara Julson, RHIT, Revenue Cycle Manager, to discuss the growing financial challenges facing specialty care. Drawing on more than 20 years of experience in revenue cycle management, Sara shares why patient financial health has become just as important as clinical health, and how providers can better navigate rising patient responsibility, prior authorization complexity, and evolving payer policies. The conversation explores everything from the No Surprises Act and patient financial transparency to the challenges of securing coverage for innovative therapies like artificial iris implants and corneal cross-linking. Whether you work in patient access, revenue cycle, or specialty practice operations, this episode offers practical insights into one of healthcare's biggest challenges: helping patients receive the care they need without unnecessary financial or administrative barriers. Tune in to learn: *How the No Surprises Act is improving transparency while introducing new operational challenges for providers. *Why obtaining coverage for innovative therapies often lags years behind FDA approval, delaying patient access. *How data and prior authorization reporting can help practices identify payer trends, reduce denials, and improve workflows. *Why early financial conversations, accurate estimates, and thoughtful technology adoption can improve both the patient experience and practice operations. Together, we can make healthcare right. Here are some of the outstanding organizations and associations championing patient health mentioned in this episode: -Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services: https://www.cms.gov/ -Minnesota Rare Disease Advisory Council: https://mnraredisease.org/ -Epioxa: https://www.epioxa.com/ For more information on SamaCare’s free prior authorization management platform for specialty practices, visit https://www.samacare.com/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=r2c This podcast was produced by JFACTOR for SamaCare. Learn more at https://www.jfactor.com/

Pharma Leaders Roundtable: Global Perspectives on Value and Access

What does “value” really mean in healthcare, and who gets to define it? In this special roundtable episode of The Road to Care, SamaCare CEO Syam Palakurthy joins our host Kip Theno and three global leaders in pricing, market access, and health economics: Amitabh Singh, PhD – Former Worldwide Head & VP of HEOR, Novartis Oncology Indranil Bagchi, PhD – Global Head of Pricing & Market Access, GSK Cristina Masseria, PhD – VP of Value & Access, AESARA; former Pfizer & GSK executive Together, they explore how value assessment differs between the U.S. and Europe, why reference pricing is not the same as value-based pricing, and what today’s policy shifts could mean for innovation and patient access. The panel also tackles a central challenge: how to align payers, providers, pharma, and policymakers around a shared goal — ensuring patients get the right treatment at the right time. This episode offers a rare global perspective on access, pricing, and the structural shifts needed to make healthcare more holistic, prevention-oriented, and sustainable. Together, we can make healthcare right. Here are some of the outstanding organizations and technologies mentioned in this episode: FDA NICE Medicare Medicaid AbbVie Wyeth Pfizer Novartis GSK AESARA This podcast was produced by JFACTOR for SamaCare. Learn more at www.jfactor.com.

Standardizing IG Therapy with Dr. Luba Sobolevsky & Dr. Amy Clarke

On this episode of The Road to Care, we’re joined by Luba Sobolevsky, PharmD, IgCP®, President & CEO of the Immunoglobulin National Society (IgNS), and Amy E. Clarke, DNP, RN, IgCN®, Chief Clinical Officer at IgNS, two nationally recognized leaders advancing standards, education, certification, and patient advocacy in immunoglobulin (IG) therapy and biologics. Dr. Sobolevsky and Dr. Clarke walk through how IgNS built an interdisciplinary model including standards, education, certification (IgCN®/IgCP®), and outcomes research, to close dangerous training gaps in IG therapy, and preview what’s next as the pipeline accelerates (FcRn and complement inhibitors, hyaluronidase-facilitated SCIG), the workforce ages, and plasma supply and site-of-care complexity grow. Tune in to learn: -Why certification matters (IgCN®/IgCP®) as a measurable competency metric tied to safer infusions and better outcomes. -The power of interdisciplinary education across nurses, pharmacists, and physicians—and how to embed standards into policy and practice. -What’s changing in IG therapy: new biologics, site-of-care variability (home, AICs, hospital), and implications for clinician training and patient experience. -Patient voice as a “fourth pillar”—how shared decision-making and outcomes research inform continuous improvement. Together, we can make healthcare right. Here are some of the outstanding organizations and associations championing patient health mentioned in this episode: Immunoglobulin National Society (IgNS): https://ig-ns.org National Infusion Center Association (NICA): https://infusioncenter.org/ Infusion Nurses Society (INS): https://www.ins1.org/ For more information on SamaCare’s free prior authorization management platform for specialty practices, visit https://www.samacare.com/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=r2c This podcast was produced by JFACTOR for SamaCare. Learn more at https://www.jfactor.com/

Remote Therapeutic Monitoring, Patient Data & the Future of Connected Care with Jim Breidenstein

On this episode of The Road to Care, we sit down with Jim Breidenstein, CEO of Adhere+, a remote therapeutic monitoring platform reshaping how patients and care teams stay connected. Jim is a seasoned healthcare leader whose career spans game-changing innovations — from launching the first minimally invasive spinal surgery device at Kyphon, to pioneering prescription digital therapeutics at Pear, to scaling novel interventions in pain management, psychiatry, and cardiology. In our wide-ranging conversation, Jim unpacks how his journey from the medtech front lines led him to digital health, why he believes remote monitoring will soon be a first-line standard, and how real-time patient-reported data is poised to transform outcomes and costs across the system. Tune in to learn: *Why remote therapeutic monitoring (RTM) is more than the next RPM *How Adhere+ turns daily patient “Polaroids” into meaningful clinical interventions *What it takes to lead commercial healthcare teams through industry-defining change *How the shift away from hospital-based care is shaping the future of patient access, affordability, and outcomes Together, we can make healthcare right. Here are some of the outstanding organizations and technologies mentioned in this episode: -Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) (https://www.cms.gov/) -American Medical Association (AMA) (https://www.ama-assn.org/) -National Institutes of Health (NIH) (https://www.nih.gov/) -Adhere+ (https://adhereplus.com/) This podcast was produced by JFACTOR for SamaCare. Learn more at www.jfactor.com.

From Da Vinci to DH Medical: AI, Signal Processing & the Future of Medical Innovation with Jim Alecxih

On this episode of The Road to Care, we’re joined by Jim Alecxih, CEO of DH Medical and a veteran leader in medical technology innovation. With more than 30 years in the industry, Jim has helped bring groundbreaking technologies to market, including the Da Vinci Robotic Surgical System during his tenure at Intuitive Surgical. He now leads DH Medical, a company pioneering AI-driven image enhancement and predictive signal processing in healthcare. Jim shares powerful insights from his decades-long journey — from the chaotic early days of Intuitive to the emerging challenges and opportunities posed by AI in medicine today. Tune in to learn: *Why Intuitive Surgical scrapped its original business model — and how that bold pivot pioneered a revolution *How predictive signal processing could help identify seizures before they happen *The difference between generative AI and “blunt AI” — and why it matters for patient safety How high-quality input data could be the key to unlocking AI’s full potential in medicine Together, we can make healthcare right. Here are some of the outstanding organizations and technologies mentioned in this episode: DH Medical (https://dhmedical.com/) PRS Guitars (https://prsguitars.com/) The Success Chain Podcast (Jim Alecxih's podcast: https://www.thesuccesschain.com/) For more information on SamaCare’s free prior authorization management platform for specialty practices, visit https://www.samacare.com/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=r2c This podcast was produced by JFACTOR for SamaCare. Learn more at https://www.jfactor.com.