Episode Details

This week and in episode 400 of Relentless Health Value, at the encouragement of the Relentless Health Value team, I'm gonna do two shows entitled "My Manifesto," Part 1 and Part 2. In other words, why did I start Relentless Health Value and what's the goal around here?

I started contemplating this mission to define the mission thinking about how healthcare will ultimately be transformed and my role (if any) in all of this—or, more accurately, your role as a listener of this show and, often enough, someone who has the ability to take action. You there, listening right now, you are the alchemist who will transform the words that you hear here into something tangible. And that is how this show makes a difference. It is through the Relentless Health Value Tribe, and you, whether you realize it or not, are a very special person.

But before I continue along this complimentary vein, let me back up for just one sec and talk about how I realized how special you are to begin with.

It's a funny thing because I get asked all the time who listens to this show, sometimes with a "Who listens to this show?" vibe. I mean, we talk about complicated topics; and when I say we talk about complicated topics, I mean we hurl ourselves right in the middle of them. Acronyms and 400-level perplexities abound.

I used to say who listens to this show when asked—and this is absolutely true—I used to say that more than 40% of you are senior-level executives with decision-making authority, which might mean you are a doctor or a nurse or other clinician and a leader of some kind, either formally or informally. You could work at a provider organization, a payer, a digital health company (big or small). Maybe you make policy, you're a researcher, private equity … You're an EBC (employee benefit consultant) or work in benefits at an employer. Maybe you do something in the population health space. You could be a legislator looking for insight. A journalist. Right? We get around.

But while the audience of this programme is big (very big by some standards), I run across healthcare industry peeps often enough in decision-making roles who listened to half a show one time and decided it wasn't for them. It took me a long time to put my finger on who listens and who does not, and this was also the moment that I started thinking about our listeners as a tribe.

The people who listen 99% of the time are listening to figure out how to do the right thing for patients or members. They want to know how what they do fits into the larger picture, this larger healthcare ecosystem. And they want to know this for actionable reasons.

I mean, frankly, this is a lot of the reason why I started this show to begin with: because I found myself in a similar situation (still am, truth be told). I started to understand that doing something in healthcare is like a game of pachinko. The action, which might feel like it logically should result in X good thing for patients, bounces around in this black box that is the healthcare ecosystem and may pop out the other side in ways that are the opposite of what was originally intended.

I want to have positive impact, right? All of us do, or you wouldn't be listening right now.

And that is the common thread that holds us all together—besides, of course, being smart, capable, curious, and incredibly charming individuals. And I say all this with evidence: Every single person I have met who listens to this show on the regular meets all of these criteria.

You are great people, and it is a distinct honor and a privilege to spend time with you every week. I am proud, really proud of what this group of individuals has accomplished. We have moved needles, and we have push