Innovation vs. Math: What Are Healthcare Buyers Really Looking For?

Innovation vs. Math: What Are Healthcare Buyers Really Looking For?

After years of hearing healthcare leaders ask, “What’s next?”, the conversation is officially changing. Healthcare innovation is evolving, but not in the way many founders expect. Fresh off AHIP 2026, Chris and Melissa discuss a growing reality across healthcare: buyers are becoming less interested in exciting new features, and more focused on measurable cost savings, operational efficiency, and proven outcomes. Drawing from Melissa’s experience as both a former health plan executive and healthcare consultant, and Chris’s practical perspectives, they explore why so many startups struggle to gain traction, how health plans evaluate new solutions, and what it really takes to build a product that aligns with market demand.If you’re building, selling, or investing in healthcare, this conversation offers a candid look at what decision-makers are prioritizing - and why understanding the problem may be more important than perfecting the solution. Hope, Power & Healthcare explores the people, ideas, and conversations shaping the future of healthcare. Like and Subscribe to follow along. #HealthcareStrategy #DigitalTransformation #HopePowerandHealthcare #ValueBasedCare Hosts: Chris Hemphill - Chris’s 17 years in healthcare technology have spanned sales, operations, data science IC, and AI leadership. Chris couples this with a focus on health equity and serves as the NYU McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy Research Fellow for Healthcare AI. Chris’s currently leads Modular Feedback, which focuses on helping healthcare innovators find and build thoughtful AI use cases: https://modularfeedback.com Melissa Reilly - Melissa spent the last 20 years leading innovations at major payers: UnitedHealth Group(Optum Ventures), Aetna, and Evernorth/Cigna. She’s helped drive and commercialize multiple startups in AI & consumer testing, and she is now driving product and commercialization for healthcare innovators full-time. She brings industry expertise as well as a background in law, negotiation, & real estate. Her company’s name is STLTH. Production:Edited by Alyssa SchrollMusic by Chris Hemphill

Forward Deployed Engineers Explained: The Technical Talent Shift Founders Shouldn’t Ignore

Every founder eventually faces the same question: How do you build faster without building the wrong thing? As organizations race to innovate in an increasingly technology-driven world, the challenge isn’t simply writing the code, it’s understanding the people, workflows, and problems that coding is meant to serve. On this episode of Hope, Power & Healthcare, our hosts Melissa and Chris explore the rise of Forward Deployed Engineers (FDE) and why this emerging role is capturing the attention of startups, healthcare organizations, and technology leaders alike. Using their own experience, working directly alongside operational teams, Chris shares what happens when technical talent moves closer to the people using the solutions being built. Together, Chris and Melissa discuss how FDEs help bridge the gap between strategy and execution, accelerate learning, and create products that are more likely to drive meaningful adoption and outcomes. This is a conversation about building with people, not just for them. Because the most successful innovations emerge through collaboration, curiosity, and a deep commitment to solving real problems. Whether you’re a founder navigating your next hire, a healthcare leader driving transformation, or a builder looking to create greater impact, this episode offers practical insights into what it takes to turn ideas into solutions that people actually use. #ForwardDeployedEngineer #HopePowerandHealthcare #HealthcareLeadership Hosts:Chris Hemphill - Chris’s 17 years in healthcare technology have spanned sales, operations, data science IC, and AI leadership. Chris couples this with a focus on health equity and serves as the NYU McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy Research Fellow for Healthcare AI. Chris’s currently leads Modular Feedback, which focuses on helping healthcare innovators find and build thoughtful AI use cases: https://modularfeedback.com Melissa Reilly - Melissa spent the last 20 years leading innovations at major payers: UnitedHealth Group(Optum Ventures), Aetna, and Evernorth/Cigna. She’s helped drive and commercialize multiple startups in AI & consumer testing, and she is now driving product and commercialization for healthcare innovators full-time. She brings industry expertise as well as a background in law, negotiation, & real estate. Her company’s name is STLTH. Production:Edited by Alyssa SchrollMusic by Chris Hemphill

Is This the End of Healthcare Opacity? Transparency Reckoning + The AI Jobs Boom Nobody Saw Coming

Is healthcare finally being forced to become transparent? And is AI quietly rewriting how we work? In this week’s episode of Hope, Power and Healthcare, hosts Chris Hemphill and Melissa Reilly dive into two massive shifts happening in the healthcare ecosystem right now, and why both could change the system faster than most people realize. With OptumRx moving toward a fee-based PBM model, are we witnessing the “beginning of the end” for opaque pharmacy pricing and rebate-driven healthcare economics? Melissa and Chris unpack what this could mean for patients, payers, and the future cost of care. The conversation pivots to one of the fastest-growing roles in tech: the Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE). With reported demand surging, Chris and Melissa explore why businesses are embedding technical talent directly into operations, what this means for healthcare innovation, and why AI literacy may no longer be optional for business leaders. Of course, because it’s Hope, Power and Healthcare, there’s talk of soup, pop culture, and a reminder to spend more time in a real-world community. One question remains. Are we building AI tools, or are AI tools quietly reshaping us? Drop your thoughts below, and help our hosts choose an AI course to take and review together. #HopePowerandHealthcare #HealthcareInnovation #DigitalHealth #ArtificialIntelligence Hosts:Chris Hemphill - Chris’s 17 years in healthcare technology have spanned sales, operations, data science IC, and AI leadership. Chris couples this with a focus on health equity and serves as the NYU McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy Research Fellow for Healthcare AI. Chris’s currently leads Modular Feedback, which focuses on helping healthcare innovators find and build thoughtful AI use cases: https://modularfeedback.com Melissa Reilly - Melissa spent the last 20 years leading innovations at major payers: UnitedHealth Group(Optum Ventures), Aetna, and Evernorth/Cigna. She’s helped drive and commercialize multiple startups in AI & consumer testing, and she is now driving product and commercialization for healthcare innovators full-time. She brings industry expertise as well as a background in law, negotiation, & real estate. Her company’s name is STLTH. Production:Edited by Alyssa SchrollMusic by Chris Hemphill

Stop Playing Small: The Real Reason You’re Not Getting Ahead

What can you unlock when you stop gatekeeping yourself, and start showing up? In this week’s episode of Hope, Power and Healthcare, hosts Melissa and Chris are back (and fired up) after a whirlwind week of conferences, conversations, and community-building moments that sparked new ideas, and a few healthy debates. From the Women Business Leaders Summit, to sustainability summits and AI forums, our hosts unpack what really happens when you get the right people in the room. When events can be more than networking and mentorship, but also the uncomfortable (but necessary) conversations that truly drive progress. Melissa shares a few insights from speaking on her panel on financial empowerment and the power of women supporting women, while challenging the norms around money, mentorship and “queen-making”. Chris takes us inside a high-intensity AI conference, where opposing views collide on stage, raising critical questions about ethics, regulation, and the future of creativity. If you’ve ever wondered how to grow your network, find your people, or just challenge your own thinking, this episode is for you.Don’t gatekeep yourself. Show up. Join the conversation.#HealthcareInnovation #AIinHealthcare #Community #HopePowerandHealthcareHosts:Chris Hemphill - Chris’s 17 years in healthcare technology have spanned sales, operations, data science IC, and AI leadership. Chris couples this with a focus on health equity and serves as the NYU McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy Research Fellow for Healthcare AI. Chris’s currently leads Modular Feedback, which focuses on helping healthcare innovators find and build thoughtful AI use cases: https://modularfeedback.com Melissa Reilly - Melissa spent the last 20 years leading innovations at major payers: UnitedHealth Group(Optum Ventures), Aetna, and Evernorth/Cigna. She’s helped drive and commercialize multiple startups in AI & consumer testing, and she is now driving product and commercialization for healthcare innovators full-time. She brings industry expertise as well as a background in law, negotiation, & real estate. Her company’s name is STLTH. Production:Edited by Alyssa SchrollMusic by Chris Hemphill

Are We Ready for AI Care Plans? Evaluating Darmouth Surgeon's App: STLTH Feedback Ep. 1

Are we ready for AI-powered care plans? This week, the Hope, Power and Healthcare team introduced our new event format: STLTH Feedback. This was a live, unscripted deep dive where founders shared their innovation and received real-time input from industry insiders. Our first “patient zero” is Dr. Asha Zimmerman, a former transplant surgeon, turned founder of Primary Intelligence. This AI-powered platform is designed to help patients navigate new symptoms, access health information, and walk into doctor visits more informed. Our hosts, Chris Hemphill and Melissa Reilly, were joined by a special third guest - Dr. Tarun Kapoor, a physician and former digital transformation executive. Together, our “nurse sharks”, created an event where founders bring in real problems, and the goal isn’t to tear them down, but to help them build something better. If you’re building in health tech, working in care delivery, or are just curious about where AI is taking healthcare, this special event episode is for you. Connect with us: Follow Hope, Power & Healthcare on LinkedIn Download the Primary Intelligence App: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.voxcura.voxcura&pcampaignid=web_share Hosts:Chris Hemphill - Chris’s 17 years in healthcare technology have spanned sales, operations, data science IC, and AI leadership. Chris couples this with a focus on health equity and serves as the NYU McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy Research Fellow for Healthcare AI. Chris’s currently leads Modular Feedback, which focuses on helping healthcare innovators find and build thoughtful AI use cases: https://modularfeedback.com Melissa Reilly - Melissa spent the last 20 years leading innovations at major payers: UnitedHealth Group(Optum Ventures), Aetna, and Evernorth/Cigna. She’s helped drive and commercialize multiple startups in AI & consumer testing, and she is now driving product and commercialization for healthcare innovators full-time. She brings industry expertise as well as a background in law, negotiation, & real estate. Her company’s name is STLTH. Production:Edited by Alyssa SchrollMusic by Chris Hemphill