How can real-time data help improve health equity and population health?

We've talked about the social determinants of health before. We've also covered using data to improve healthcare policy and decision-making. But, where do those two things intersect? How can data be used to improve health equity across populations, geographies, and other factors? This week, I sit down with Perfecto Sanchez from EquityQuotient, a dynamic health equity data and insights platform.

What we cover in this Episode:

-The social determinants of health
-Using data to improve healthcare decision-making
-Challenges in aggregating data to make the most informed decisions
-Understanding the value proposition of data in healthcare and decision-making
-The importance of training AI models with representative data to make recommendations effective and accurate
-Achieving Better Outcomes by using healthcare data to improve health equity

Learn More: https://rehabupracticesolutions.com
Podcast: https://www.betteroutcomes.show
Get the Book: https://amzn.to/3M2UZ6x
Book a call with me: https://calendly.com/rehabu/discovery
Connect with Me: https://www.rafisalazar.com

Are you making this mistake in healthcare sales?

You're doing healthcare sales wrong. At least, a lot of people are making the same mistake in sales calls or demos. I talk to a lot of healthcare startups and tech companies who are trying to drive sales and awareness. But they're going about it all wrong.

They're not doing anything crazy, like spamming people in the LinedIn Message Inbox (cause that's just annoying, am I right?) But, they're messing things up when they get into a discovery or demo call. They spend most, if not all, of the time with a prospective prospect "presenting" them with all of the value add, features, benefits, etc. But they glance over the MOST IMPORTANT part of these initial conversations: understanding the prospective customer's situation, context, and value-drivers..

Many healthcare sales folks spend too much time trying to "convince" a prospect that their solution will solve their problems. But they never actually take the time to understand what problem the prospective customer actually wants to solve. All sales, including healthcare sales, need to first start with a simple conversation.

And that conversation has 2 goals:

1) Understanding the prospect's situation & the nature of the problem they are seeking to solve
2) Determining whether there's a good fit between your solution and their problem; and whether that fit warrants moving to the next step

Sometimes, the answer is "no", and that's fine; but it's not fine to waste too much time getting to that ultimate conclusion. The goal in any initial demo or discovery conversation is to understand whether or not you should even continue the conversation. The faster you answer that question, the more efficient your sales process becomes. So stop presenting or trying to bombard prospects with your solution's benefits or features, and spend more time trying to actually understand the prospect's situation. Then see if there's a fit between that situation/problem and your solution.

What we cover in this Episode:

-The importance of positioning on lead generation
-Understanding the role that specific value plays in a healthcare sales conversation
-Driving sales with conversations
-How to craft a value proposition for your healthcare business
-Understanding the barriers to adoption of healthcare solutions
-Aligning business models and incentives in the healthcare sales process
-Achieving Better Outcomes by replacing demo presentations with value conversations

Learn More: https://rehabupracticesolutions.com
Podcast: https://www.betteroutcomes.show
Get the Book: https://amzn.to/3M2UZ6x
Book a call with me: https://calendly.com/rehabu/discovery
Connect with Me: https://www.rafisalazar.com

How do discover and communicate Value in Healthcare Technology?

In my work helping healthcare technology companies developing positioning strategies, the topic of value and return on investment for the buyer plays a major role. An effective positioning strategy involves answering the question "value to whom?". The challenge in that effort revolves around actually being able to define, describe, and communicate those value drivers. To effectively communicate value in healthcare technology, you must first uncover the specific value drivers your product or service addresses.

So, this week, I sit down with Craig Solid from the Solid Research Group to discuss uncovering value in healthcare technology. Craig has been on the show before to discuss Return on Investment Studies and Value in Healthcare. This week, he's back to discuss value in healthcare technology.

What we cover in this Episode:

-Understanding the targeted buyer in a healthcare technology buying decision
-Creating digital (or in-person) communities for healthcare providers
-Using content and knowledge translation to start a healthcare business that doesn't require patient care
-How to craft a value proposition for your healthcare business
-Leveraging technology to start & scale a business that leverages your clinical skills
-Achieving Better Outcomes by taking control of your healthcare career through business ownership

Learn More: https://rehabupracticesolutions.com
Podcast: https://www.betteroutcomes.show
Get the Book: https://amzn.to/3M2UZ6x
Book a call with me: https://calendly.com/rehabu/discovery
Connect with Me: https://www.rafisalazar.com

Full Show Notes: https://rehabupracticesolutions.com/better-outcomes-131

How do you start a healthcare business with no funding?

Let's play a constrain-based game. You are a clinician and want to start a business that leverages your clinical degree/skills. It can be direct clinical care (like a practice), some sort of clinical innovation (like a device/invention) or an infrastructure play (like a software or professional services solution). Here's the constraint: You can't get any outside funding for this venture. No loans & no investors; you're bootstrapping this thing. You are going to start a healthcare business with no funding.

Here's what you want for this business:

It can provide the same (ideally higher) income as you would earn as a staff clinician in a relatively short timeframe (you don't want to spend 5 years in side gig mode)
It can scale without your direct input (you eventually don't want to be the one directly providing the service or solution)

What we cover in this Episode:

-Understanding some of the drivers that lead people to choose healthcare as a career
-Creating digital (or in-person) communities for healthcare providers
-Using content and knowledge translation to start a healthcare business that doesn't require patient care
-How to craft a value proposition for your healthcare business
-Leveraging technology to start & scale a business that leverages your clinical skills
-Achieving Better Outcomes by taking control of your healthcare career through business ownership

Learn More: https://rehabupracticesolutions.com
Podcast: https://www.betteroutcomes.show
Get the Book: https://amzn.to/3M2UZ6x
Book a call with me: https://calendly.com/rehabu/discovery
Connect with Me: https://www.rafisalazar.com

How can clinicians leverage technology and insights to go Direct to Employer and MSK Management in their practice?

Learn More: https://rehabupracticesolutions.com
Podcast: https://www.betteroutcomes.show
Get the Book: https://amzn.to/3M2UZ6x
Book a call with me: https://calendly.com/rehabu/discovery
Connect with Me: https://www.rafisalazar.com

It's no secret that healthcare organizations have been facing downward pricing pressure for years. Part of this comes from the fact that, in a fee for service model for reimbursement, the easiest lever for payers to pull when it comes to reducing the cost of healthcare is the price. Payers, in an attempt to control costs, resort to either limiting service coverage or paying providers less. As a result, many healthcare provider organizations have shifted from insurance-based models of care to direct to payer or direct to consumer business models, including cash-based practice and direct to employer and MSK management. They do this because they can bypass the low fee schedules of the insurance companies. The problem is that, at the end of the day, they're still stuck in the fee for service model of healthcare, which, as I describe in my book, incentivizes high volume, minimally acceptable quality care. That's where leveraging technology, data, and clinical content comes into play. Incorporating those into practice allows clinic owners and practices to tap into more value-based reimbursement and contracting.

So, this week, I sit down with Zach Walston, PT, DPT from Second Door Health. (https://rehabupracticesolutions.com/better-outcomes-129) Zach was a guest on the podcast in the past, and now he's the head of clinical content and clinical strategy at Second Door Health.

What we cover in this Episode:

-The challenges of a fee for service healthcare model of reimbursement
-Going direct to consumer in healthcare private practice
-Using content and knowledge translation to increase patient engagement
-The value proposition in a direct to employer model of MSK management
-Leveraging technology to streamline workflows, increase patient engagement, and create a positive return on investment for payers
-Achieving Better Outcomes by building a platform to enable clinicians to go direct to employer for MSK management

Ever Considered Exploring Executive Leadership in Healthcare as Part of Your Career?

I recently ran a poll on LinkedIn about what people wanted to hear more about on the podcast. Business & Entrepreneurship/Career in Healthcare took the win the a large margin. So, I figured I'd begin including topics around career advancement, entrepreneurship, business leadership, maybe even healthcare operations & organizational management on more episodes. So, this week, I'm starting by sharing my experience going through the CEO recruiting, interview, and selection process for one of the boards I sit on. During dinner with the search consultant our board hired, they mentioned a quote in passing that stuck with me for the next several days.

I asked what that executive search consultant saw in candidates that made them think that the candidate would be successful as a leader. The search consultant said, almost in passing, "Well, the quest of management is to make better what cannot be made perfect." I walked away from that conversation with a few insights and thoughts based on that quote.

What we cover in this Episode:

-The importance of strategically selecting healthcare leadership & executives
-Challenges involving hiring & firing healthcare leaders & and executives
-Tailoring your messaging to the stage in the hiring (buying) cycle
-How the recruiting, interviewing, and hiring process mimics healthcare sales
-Why peaking your mind and saying what you're thinking improves your chances in a competitive hiring process
-A little bit about my history and work as a positioning strategist & healthcare consultant
-Achieving Better Outcomes by building leadership skills & a strong leadership philosophy

Here are 3 Things I Think are Critical to Succeed in Business Ownership and/or Entrepreneurship

One thing that affects success at business ownership and entrepreneurship that gets mentioned almost in passing, is the ability to tolerate stress...

...or put another way: Resilience...

It's almost a cliche at this point: the business owner who's up late at night wondering if/how they'll make payroll...

I think this factor gets discounted or taken for granted...

People share memes and pictures about business ownership and stress on social media all the time...

But the reality is: to succeed in business ownership or entrepreneurship, you need to be able to handle a level of stress that is largely unknown and not experienced by many colleagues and peers in your industry...

That being said, I don't think that you have to be some sort of superhuman or "built differently" to be able to tolerate and even thrive under the stressors imposed by business ownership...

Here are 3 things that I believe can help anyone, but especially business owners, as they navigate the emotional rollercoaster of work & business ownership:

1) Get Clear on Your Values & Desired Future State

2) Prioritize Self-Care

3) Build a Support System, Ideally of Other Business Owners

Resilience isn't some innate quality that you're born with...sure, some people naturally tolerate more stress than others...

But resilience can be greatly improved or aided by arranging or building scaffolding around your life that helps support and mitigate the effects of stress…