THE SHOW
Healthcare is a multi-trillion dollar industry in the United States, and yet many people are completely unaware of the brilliant people who work tirelessly behind the scenes and their efforts to improve access, lower costs and improve patient outcomes. Welcome to PopHealth Podcast, the show by healthcare professionals that explores the challenges facing the American Healthcare system and the innovative minds looking to solve them and move the industry into the future. We invite thought-leaders and influencers to discuss population health; from elected officials tasked with setting public policy, to clinicians who treat patients in every conceivable condition and social situation, to ground-breaking business leaders who are creating ways to connect and streamline the delivery of care to an ever-growing and diverse nation.
Our hosts, Gavin Ward & Zac Morgan, bring a combined 20 years of heath care and home care experience which allows them to facilitate thoughtful and meaningful discussion on topics including population health, care transitions, readmission prevention, etc. Our goal is to provide listeners with a wealth of knowledge on the issues which affect millions of Americans every day, and a glimpse inside the world’s largest healthcare system.
If you have experience with population health or possess a passion for care transitions and readmission prevention, join us on the PopHealth Podcast! Together, through healthy conversation, we can change and improve the future of healthcare!
Latest Episodes
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Josh Luke- Ten Years of the Hospital Readmission Penalty: Lesson Learned & Best Practice Providers
Hospital Readmissions Guru and Healthcare Futurist Dr. Josh Luke takes a look back over the past 10 years to share what strategies have worked with readmission prevention. Josh also shares about how he became known as a expert in the readmission and care transitions space through his development of the National Readmission Prevention Collaborative, which[…]
The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation’s Dr. Liz Fowler
Liz shares how the Center for Medicare and Medicaid’s (CMMI’s) “Innovation Center” tests care and reimbursement models that often become the norm, including accountable care models and much of what we’ve have seen in the value movement. Check out this episode!
Kaiser Permanente’s Angel Vargas, Vice President, Care at Home, Southern CA & Hawaii
Angel shares his story of going from “unemployed dad” to becoming an executive leader that oversees the delivery of care in the home for one of Kaiesr Permanente’s largest regions. In our episode, Angel reveals how earlier chapters in his life, including time in the military and owning a computer business, helped him become the[…]
Home Health Leaders Paul VerHoeve (Mission Healthcare), Josh Proffitt (LHC Group), and Bob Holly (Home Health Care News)
Josh, Paul, and Bob joined us at our first all-star event to touch on the latest in home health and post-acute care, including the Choose Home Act and workforce shortage. Check out this episode!
Providence’s System CNO Sylvain Trepanier and Keck Medicine of USC’s CEO of Care and Ambulatory Services Smitha Ravipudi (All-Star Event)
Syl and Smitha joined our first live All-Star event and ambulatory care, nursing, and the workforce shortage. Check out this episode!
Uber Health’s Caitlin Donovan with Dispatch Health’s Kevin Riddleberger (All-Star Event)
Caitlin and Kevin joined us at our first ever live All-Star event to share how mobility and speed are changing the way healthcare is accessed and delivered. Check out this episode!
SCAN CEO Sachin Jain on Expansion, Action, & the Homeless (All-Star Event)
Kicking off our first ever All-Star Event, Sachin shares about SCAN’s growth into other states, it’s new initiative to sustainably seve the homeless population, and how action speakers louder than words. Check out this episode!
Humana’s Dr. Amal Agarwal- VP Home Solutions
Dr. Agarwal joins the show and shares about his journey from frontline emergency department physician (he still does 2 shifts per month) to a leader focused on robust care in the home at one of the nation’s largest health plans. Check out this episode!
Dr. Jamie Sharp, VP/CMO for Medicare at Aetna, a CVS Health Company
As part of our Open Enrollment Series, Dr. Sharp shares how at an early age she developed a passion for serving others, which served as a catalyst into some of the work she is leading today at Aetna. Dr. Sharp mentions Aetna’s focus on social determinants of health to promote aging in place to nearly[…]
SCAN Group: SCAN’s 2022 Outlook wtih SCAN Health Plan’s Jill Selby and SCAN’s New Homeless Initiative CEO Dr. Michael Hochman
SCAN Group, mostly known for SCAN Health Plan, is expanding not just on the Medicare Advantage side in 2022, but also through it’s Healthcare in Action medical group, addressing care for the homeless population. Our episode checks out what’s new with executives Jill Selby (SCAN Health Plan) and “street medicine” expert and SCAN Group’s Healthcare[…]
OUR HOSTS
Gavin Ward – Co-host
Gavin Ward is the first Certified Fellow in Readmission Prevention and is a Nationally Certified Readmissions Professional. Gavin brings over 12 years of experience in the healthcare and homecare space, including assisting in the development of Maxim Healthcare’s senior care, or “companion,” division early on in his career. He currently serves as 24Hr HomeCare’s Regional Director of Strategy and Partnerships, where he works with various hospitals, managed care groups, health systems, and the post-acute community to develop programs to improve throughput (decrease length of stay), care transitions, and readmission prevention through a professional caregiving, non-medical solution. His efforts, including the Hospital to Home™ care transitions programs nominated as a finalist for the Patrick Soon-Shiong Innovation Awards, have led to 24Hr HomeCare partnerships with many healthcare organizations which previously had not funded non-medical in-home care, but are starting to now that the right homecare program can bring cost savings and stronger outcomes. Gavin recently joined the Alzheimer’s Association-California Southland Chapter’s Speakers’ Bureau and also serves as an expert panelist moderator for the National Readmission Prevention Collaborative in California and Arizona. He received his BA in Communication Studies from Westmont College in Santa Barbara, CA, where he also enjoyed time on the Westmont Warriors Ultimate Frisbee team. Gavin is married and has two children, ages 2 and 4.
Joe Zimmer – Co-host
Joe Zimmer is Regional Director at 24Hr HomeCare. As one of the leaders of the sales team, Zimmer oversees several Directors of Admissions throughout California, Arizona, and Texas. Joe was one of the company’s first employees, and helped to launch three start-up branch locations in Culver City, Encino, and Walnut Creek. He was also the engineer of the industry-first exclusive contractual partnership with a non-profit Community Based Organization: Jewish Family & Children’s Services of the East Bay – a pillar in the SF Bay Area since 1877. He also is a certified readmission prevention fellow through the National Readmission Prevention Collaborative. Fun fact: Joe taught himself how to play the piano at age 3.
Zachary Morgan – Co-host
Zac Morgan began as an Account Manager for 24Hr HomeCare’s Culver City office in 2010, and now serves as Regional Director of Strategy & Partnerships. He was the company’s first Senior Director of Admissions when he led the expansion into San Diego County, and also served two terms as the Chairman of the American Board of Home Care (2014-16). An early employee of 24Hr HomeCare, he helped to create the innovative Hospital to Your Home program and is a Nationally Certified Readmissions Professional. Zac graduated from Loyola Marymount University in LA where he studied both Sports Medicine and Business, and was a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity. Fun Fact: After graduating from LMU, Zac moved to South Korea where he taught English, science and math while traveling around Asia.
Ryan Iwamoto – Co-host and Producer
Ryan Iwamoto is owner and co-founder of 24Hr HomeCare. As leader of the sales, marketing and business development team, Iwamoto is responsible for developing the overall sales and marketing strategy, execution, and development. He co-founded 24Hr HomeCare’s award-winning Hospital to Your Home™ program that offers a high-touch, low cost solution for hospital throughput efficiency, reducing hospital readmission, and care transitions. The program was named a finalist for the Patrick Soon-Shiong Innovations award and the Los Angeles Journal’s Healthcare Leadership Forum & Awards for post-acute care programs. Fun fact: Ryan is a former Eagle Scout with the Bronze Palm.