Steve Padis

🚨🚨 Thoughtful Analysis Alert 🚨🚨 Why are we seeing significant pullbacks in healthcare services from major retailers like Walmart and Walgreens. This strategic shift underscores the real challenges in healthcare delivery today. Our latest blog post talks about why these pullbacks are happening, the implications, and more. #HealthcareInnovation #RetailHealthcare #StrategicInsights #HealthcareTrends https://lnkd.in/gfW5aX3n

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"More than $12.5 billion has been bet on digital behavioral health in the last five years, according to Rock Health. Funding peaked in 2021, with $5.7 billion spent that year alone." As investors and innovators, I believe we need to broaden our focus in the behavioral health space from just expanding access to care, to effectively measuring the quality of that care. As we continue to encourage individuals, employers and plans to increase their spending and focus on behavioral health, we need reliable tools for measuring the long-term efficacy and impact of behavioral health services.

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🚀 New episode alert! 🎙️ Join The Business of Pharmacy Podcast™ as Britt Gottschalk MBA, MIO of Geno.Me sheds light on monetizing health information and its impact on healthcare. Sponsored by The Waypoint Company. Dive into this complex yet lucrative field for key insights! #HealthData #PharmacyPodcast

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Many will see Walmart’s exit from direct care as yet another indication that #healthcare is an endeavor that requires domain expertise not easily replicated by retail or technology leaders. On some level this of course is true, but I believe another less obvious, but equally important factor must be considered. Effective and highly successful #healthcare organizations and operations build on and draw from, deep community-based provider relationships that are not easily created with a big-box approach. Fierce Healthcare https://bit.ly/4bgfyaS

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Not surprised to see another major retail player retreat from the health care market. Walmart joins a long list of major brands (like Amazon) that have the distribution and purchasing power that you’d think would make it work! I think there are 3 main issues that companies like these don’t adequately appreciate when they get into the business: 1. With a shortage of doctors and nurses, these clinicians have tremendous power in picking where they work and therefore businesses have to compete by paying higher and higher rates. This kills gross margin. 2. Payers, like insurers who have millions of policy holders, use their purchasing power to squeeze businesses on reimbursement rates. They think they’re being clever but soon realise their providers turn into unprofitable businesses. And in the case of public reimbursement models, with governments globally under pressure on spending, they often don't come close to adequately compensating for the service. 3. Because of these two factors, in order to make the business model work you need significant scale in terms of patient population, and you need to try and capture margin across the whole value chain, like from diagnostics, pharmacy and other services. This can be very hard to do. Health care is a complicated industry. Let’s see which big retailer steps up next and whether they learn the lessons from why others couldn’t make it work. https://lnkd.in/dRrbEi-m

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While healthcare costs continue to rise, there is a glimmer of hope in the veterinary care market. Private equity investment has flooded the market, offering pet owners greater access to 24/7 care. In addition, annual membership plans and insurance coverage are helping to decrease healthcare costs for pets. What do you think of this trend? Join the discussion on the impact of private equity on veterinary care costs. #veterinarycare #healthcarecosts #privateequity #petcare

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Why do aesthetic practices have so much potential to increase profitability? This is one of my favorite topics to discuss. At the ISAPS annual meeting, we held a one day 4S business school where we provided tools to help maximize your profits. Thank you to International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery - ISAPS for the opportunity to join your meeting, as well as my co founders Terri Ross and Renato Saltz MD for your hard work in making this happen. Join our next The Aesthetic Success summit in Fort Lauderdale in December! #isaps #4ssummit #aestheticsuccess

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Personally, I am skeptical about how big of an opportunity there is for standalone virtual behavioral health in the Medicare space. I think the much more effective solution is integrating behavioral health for seniors with their primary care providers. Curious what folks think are the best examples of successful integration of virtual behavioral health into primary care, specifically for seniors. https://lnkd.in/exCEBFpu

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Healthcare is “hard.” We’ve all been saying it for some time. Often using it as an excuse to ignore or underestimate new entrants into the market. Maybe it’s true that some of these retail and Silicon Valley disruptors were aiming at the big healthcare spend without realizing the complexity of caring for human beings. But when healthcare as an industry celebrates these departures, it misses the point and the profound impact left behind. The reality is that consumers are frustrated with the healthcare experience. New “disruptors” promised to fix that for them. But most have failed so far. It’s up to the real healthcare industry, those with the heart, head, mission, and purpose to fix this for the community. Celebrating the failure of the disruption would be like wishing we could go back to the video store on Friday night to pick this weekend’s movie. We’ve moved on. I urge my colleagues to look at the lessons learned from these ventures. Listen to your communities and your consumers. Healthcare is complex, but we don’t have to make it so complicated to access. That’s on us. Big changes are inevitable; the American consumer won’t stop asking for a better experience. And they deserve it.

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I’ve realized the power of words in transforming perception and driving results in patient finance. Positioning in-house patient lending as patient financing may not always resonate with providers. Instead, reframing it as managing monthly patient bills and receivables can spark interest. Executing in-house payment loans effectively as receivable management with regulatory compliance can lead to legal interest collection and increased receivable value. #HealthcareFinance #PatientBilling #ReceivableManagement #HealthcareIndustry #Patientfinancing

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Walmart announced today that it is closing its 51 health centers citing a tough reimbursement environment and operational challenges. This, while CVS Health (with its acquisition of Oak Street Health) and Amazon (with its acquisition of One Medical) spear ahead. The original thesis based on offering access through its vast retail footprint was compelling but staffing these centers with medical personnel, all while operating efficiently to keep costs low within the current reimbursement model is a huge challenge, especially given the staffing shortages. https://lnkd.in/ezpJ4mmC With retail primary healthcare being cited as the promising model, there are so many considerations: 1. Acquiring a network of primary care practices is a quick way to gain access to physician networks 2. Simply offering access through a large retail footprint is not enough 3. Trust based relationships and patient education are necessary to serve a population that typically uses ER instead of primary care for medical needs 4 . Moving from fee for service to value based care model is necessary 5. Payors have an incentive and an advantage in growing the value-based primary care footprint 6. Other thoughts? #retailhealth #primarycare #reimbursement #staffingshortage #education #prevention #FFS #VBC

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Walmart is exiting healthcare. This doesn’t surprise me. Walmart was never designed for healthcare, it was designed for retail. Everyone wants a piece of the $4T pie, but it’s a pie full of indigestible ingredients that would make the biggest companies choke. Especially companies that were never built for healthcare. - fee-for-service doesn’t work, especially with very low fees - relying on legacy payors doesn’t work - using insurance for primary care doesn’t work - not paying providers enough doesn’t work - having a clinic next to gardening supplies doesn’t work Throwing millions at healthcare doesn’t automatically work with a large base that comes to you for something else. I believe a properly built and well-executed healthcare startup that “thinks differently”, will eventually move the needle on improving the American healthcare experience. It’s coming, and will surprise everyone.

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Are you following the deals? Second year in a row that deals are down. Interesting to note that Med Tech is in favor. You might not be able to get the entire article. At least check out the headline. What do you think is going on? #Deals #VC #VentureCapital #BeckyAmble #Strategy #FutureFocus Future Focus Greg Cash Sonja O'Brien Tanya Piltingsrud

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Another insightful consumer healthcare study from Rob Klein, MA Advertising and Klein & Partners: 2024 National Consumer Insights Study. Interesting takeaway: While 87% report having a primary care provider (PCP), half (50%) of those have been with their PCP for less than five years. This suggests both a high level of churn and potential lack of continuity in care. So while the top-line number seems positive – there is more to be done to make primary care work better in healthcare. The full study is available at the link below – https://lnkd.in/eZDfWfZu

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https://lnkd.in/gTQCC2at Customer experience matters. CVS understands this. There is tremendous burnout on the part of pharmacists, and customers want more out of their interactions. Using AI to take out the administrative burden and enable more human touch between pharmacists and customers is meaningful.

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$1.6 billion. That's what UnitedHealth Group projects as the total earnings impact in 2024 of the February Change Healthcare #ransomware attack. This includes both direct response costs (e.g. platform restoration and increased medical care expenditures) and business disruption impacts (e.g. lost revenue). The figure is now so large that it shows up in the net earnings calculation as part of the first-quarter 2024 financial results announced on Tuesday. And remember that UnitedHealth hasn't yet disclosed the amount of personal #data breached in the hack - it needs to do this within 60 days of learning about the breach, and that time expires next week. The damage could get even worse. More needs to be done to detect and prevent ransomware. 10-figure costs should not become the norm. If you're a #founder working on a new idea, please reach out! Reuters Article: https://lnkd.in/gXBQ5pwb P.S. In case you're wondering, I have lots of thoughts on Lacework/Wiz but waiting for a little more information before sharing a post. Rumors are just rumors.

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Introducing price transparency data into contract negotiations can be a game-changer. Here's how it could shift the narrative: Informed Negotiation: With visibility into what competitors are being paid by insurance companies, you enter negotiations armed with valuable data. This allows you to benchmark your rates against industry standards and make more informed decisions about what you should be paid. Increased Leverage: Knowing the rates competitors are receiving gives you leverage in negotiations. If you find that your rates are significantly lower than those of your competitors for comparable services, you have a strong argument for demanding higher reimbursement rates. Evidence-based Advocacy: Price transparency data provides concrete evidence to support your position in negotiations. You can point to specific examples of what others in your industry are being paid, making it harder for payors to justify offering lower rates. Strategic Positioning: Armed with this information, you can strategically position yourself in negotiations. You may choose to emphasize the quality of your services or the unique value you bring to the table to justify higher rates. Negotiating Fairness: Transparency promotes fairness in negotiations. It helps ensure that all parties have access to the same information, reducing the likelihood of unfair practices or disparities in reimbursement rates. Overall, integrating price transparency data into contract negotiations can level the playing field, empower providers with valuable insights, and lead to more equitable agreements between payors and providers. Clarify's solution appears to offer a promising approach to achieving these benefits. #pricetransparency #contractnegotiation #healthcare #rates #clarify #contracts #data #analytics

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This recent article from The New York Times discusses how pharmaceutical companies are capitalizing on the weight-loss drug market, particularly with drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. It also explores the trend of health and wellness retailers like GNC and The Vitamin Shoppe adapting to consumer preferences by shifting towards offering more personalized services and products. https://bit.ly/3wgLEV6. In my recent blog post for Colliers Healthcare | U.S., I wrote about into the increasing demand for healthcare infrastructure driven by Ozempic's popularity. Access it here: https://bit.ly/4bjFH8J. 

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Some exciting progress to share for Spark 📈! Spark is a generative AI created within Rightworks Labs, designed for Accounting Professionals, and aimed at addressing the labor crisis in the industry. What’s Happened: We launched a free version of our product in May of 2023 growing to 775 firms and 2530 users today. In March of 2024 introduced a paid plan to our early adopters, during the peak of tax season 😬 The Offer: To ease the transition, we proposed a special deal—upgrade all your users to the annual plan by May 1 and save 40% for the first year. This was to support our users during their busiest period, providing them with time to assess the value without immediate pressure. Results So Far: - On April 15th we had sold/upgraded 45 seats - On April 26, we had successfully sold/upgraded 155 seats - On May 1st that number has jumped to 333 seats! Key Learnings: - Empathy Pays Off: Aligning our pricing strategy with the accountants' peak season has been critical in maintaining trust and adoption. - Patience in Timing: The gradual approach in shifting from free to paid ensured that our users could fully integrate and appreciate the value of Spark without disruption. This is just the beginning. We’re excited to keep enhancing our platform, driving value, and solidifying our place as a crucial tool for accountants everywhere. Amazing job Aaron Van Ruler, TJ Lewis, Amy Nutt, Kacey Pope, Jason Barnett, Nick Perez #AccountingInnovation #AI #StartupGrowth #ProductMarketFit

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