Oct 5, 2023
Reducing Healthcare Waste: Aligning Incentives and Empowering Primary Care Physicians
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In Episode 413 of 'Relentless Health Value,' Stacey Richter interviews Dr. Will Schrank on the intersection of healthcare waste, value-based care, and the rising influence of primary care physicians (PCPs). Dr. Schrank's extensive background includes roles at CMMI, CVS Health, UPMC, and Humana, and he is currently a venture partner at Andreessen Horowitz. The discussion delves into a study estimating nearly a trillion dollars of annual waste in U.S. healthcare, categorized into administrative failures (fraud, complexity, pricing) and clinical failures (care coordination, delivery, low-value care). Solutions like aligning financial incentives with higher quality care and primary care-driven models are explored. The episode also highlights challenges in shifting away from fee-for-service models, the potential evolving power of banded PCP groups, and the imperative for health systems to adopt value-based approaches.
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05:56 Can we cut healthcare waste while improving patient care?
06:35 What does “healthcare waste” consist of?
06:48 What are the six categories of “healthcare waste”?
09:25 EP363 with David Scheinker, PhD.
09:39 How much money does Dr. Shrank estimate is wasted each year in healthcare?
12:11 Where is that healthcare waste going, and why does it happen?
19:09 Uncaring by Robert Pearl, MD.
20:20 “We’ve built a backbone of extraordinary waste on a fee-for-service chassis.”
21:18 EP409 with Larry Bauer, MSW, MEd.
23:26 EP359 with Dan O’Neill.
25:04 Dr. Shrank’s warning to providers out there.
29:04 Summer Shorts 2 with Scott Conard, MD.
30:43 Why there might be a generational shift among younger providers looking to work with different models.