Scaling Practice Management by Talkie.ai

Talkie.ai

Scaling Practice Management is the show for healthcare practice leaders who want to grow smarter, not harder. Real stories, proven strategies, and emerging tech — all to help you scale your clinic without burning out your team or sacrificing patient care.

  1. Designing an AI-First Primary Care Practice from Scratch | Dr. Zeshan Rajput, MD

    May 12

    Designing an AI-First Primary Care Practice from Scratch | Dr. Zeshan Rajput, MD

    What if you could design a primary care practice from a blank canvas - AI at the front door, overhead at half the industry average, and every minute saved reinvested in the doctor-patient relationship? Dr. Zeshan Rajput is doing it. A physician, clinical informaticist, and MBA with 15+ years across EHR implementations and federal health IT strategy, he's now building New Hope Primary Care in Columbia, Maryland from the ground up. We dig into: 🏥 Dr. Rajput's #1 tip for growing a practice - design every patient touchpoint the way Disney would, and ask whether you'd want to be your own customer 🤖 The four-bucket framework for deciding what AI should and shouldn't touch - human only, human-first/AI review, AI-first/human review, and AI only ⚠️ Printers, passwords, policies - the three failure modes of every tech rollout, and why policy is the one most practices get wrong 📊 The #1 reason healthcare tech implementations underdeliver - and it's not the go-live, it's the optimization window that follows 💰 Targeting 25-35% overhead in a world where most practices run 65-80% - and the provider-only staffing matrix behind it 🔥 The hot take that might get him in trouble - which subspecialties of medicine could become AI-first first Resources mentioned: 👤 Guest: Dr. Zeshan Rajput, MDLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zrajput/🏥 New Hope Primary Care: https://newhopeprimarycare.com/?utm_campaign=talkie-podcast📚 Books mentioned:If Disney Ran Your Hospital: 9 1/2 Things You Would Do Differently - Fred Lee 🧠 Frameworks mentioned:The 4-bucket framework for AI vs human work - credit to Dr. Mark Kramer 📝 Also referenced:Talkie blog post - How Much Do Missed Calls Cost a Medical Practice? (with embedded calculator): https://talkie.ai/blog/how-much-do-missed-calls-cost-medical-practice/ 🎥 See how Talkie.ai works - AI medical receptionist demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOiJ3ITTrLY&list=PLLjcCBHYN2KoBqm-Dx-8lIwWLuU-CHXSg

    59 min
  2. The HR Playbook Most Medical Practices Are Missing | Mike Lyons, SPHR

    May 5

    The HR Playbook Most Medical Practices Are Missing | Mike Lyons, SPHR

    Most practice managers got promoted into leadership without anyone teaching them how to lead. The result is real, daily knowledge gaps that quietly cost practices in turnover, denied claims, and legal exposure. Mike Lyons, SPHR - founder of Seasoned Advice and host of Eye Care Leadership Live - spent nearly six years building the HR function at Austin Retina Associates before going independent. He joins Jakub Grajcar to break down how to hire, manage, and develop the leaders who actually scale a practice. We dig into: 🏥 Mike's #1 tip - why you cannot scale a practice without great managers🤝 Hiring for people skills - what to look for and why promoting from within wins🗓️ Managing the manager - the weekly cadence and skip-level habit that keeps it accountable🙏 Gratitude as the ""Swiss army knife of leadership"" - and the two-part praise structure that lands🔪 Sharpening the knife - why stepping back, delegating, and pouring into others is how managers actually create more time📝 Documenting performance - kinder to the employee, and your best legal protection📚 The books Mike recommends most Resources mentioned: 👤 Guest: Mike Lyons, SPHRLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikelyonshr/Website - Seasoned Advice: https://seasoned-advice.com🎙️ Podcast - Eye Care Leadership Live (for ophthalmology practice managers and leaders)YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIW9O_gj4Ew_9I2ENW4VtjYT6vb80PG3mSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3ORgeP9UqtEcEco3lEQaaS 📚 Books mentioned The Advantage - Patrick LencioniThe Ideal Team Player - Patrick LencioniThe Energy Bus - Jon GordonChange Your Brain, Change Your Life - Dr. Daniel AmenThe 7 Habits of Highly Effective People - Stephen Covey 🎤 Also mentioned Toastmasters International - https://www.toastmasters.org (both Mike and Jakub credit Toastmasters as foundational leadership development)Jacqueline Waterhouse, COT - prior podcast guest who connected Jakub and Mike - watch Jacqueline's episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiuFJRnG9Lk 🎥 See how Talkie.ai works - AI medical receptionist demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOiJ3ITTrLY&list=PLLjcCBHYN2KoBqm-Dx-8lIwWLuU-CHXSg

    1 hr
  3. Is Your Practice Website a HIPAA Lawsuit Waiting to Happen? | Tim Bouchard

    Apr 27

    Is Your Practice Website a HIPAA Lawsuit Waiting to Happen? | Tim Bouchard

    Is your practice website quietly setting up the next HIPAA lawsuit - and is your marketing message actually landing with patients who don't yet know they need you? Tim Bouchard, CEO of Buffalo-based agency Luminus and host of the Healthcare Marketing Edge podcast, joins Jakub to share 20+ years of healthcare marketing lessons. From building patient-centric brand messages to fixing the analytics setup that's quietly exposing practices to legal risk, Tim breaks down what every practice manager should be auditing right now. We dig into: 🏥 Tim's #1 tip for growing a practice - why every message should start with the patient's outcome, not your tech or certifications🦵 The "knee replacement test" - how to write top-of-funnel copy that reaches patients who don't yet know they need you⚖️ The HIPAA trap in Google Analytics - why CCPA and Colorado's CPA make standard tracking a legal risk regardless of your state🔧 The Matomo workaround - how to run analytics, Meta ads, and email lists without exposing PHI🌱 The community advantage - why small practices can out-brand PE-backed competitors with grassroots presence🖥️ The biggest medical website mistake - sticky headers, persistent CTAs, and a homepage "sandwich" that reduces signup friction Resources mentioned:👤 Guest: Tim BouchardLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timbouchard/Luminus Agency: https://luminus.agency/?utm_campaign=talkie-podcast 📋 Free downloadLuminus Healthcare Website Compliance Guide: https://luminus.agency/healthcare-website-compliance-guide/?utm_campaign=talkie-podcast 🎙️ Tim's podcast: Healthcare Marketing Edge: https://luminus.agency/healthcare-marketing-edge-podcast/?utm_campaign=talkie-podcast⭐ Recommended episodes: → Social Media Secrets for Authentic Patient Connection w/ Amanda Clark @ Atria Social: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPa0Gs84KT0→ Aligning Marketing and Operations for Sustainable Healthcare Growth w/ Michelle Hart @ BostonSight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frJui5Fv45s 📊 ToolsMatomo (HIPAA-compliant analytics alternative to Google Analytics): https://matomo.org 📺 Other referencesJakub's favorite horror podcast - The Magnus Archives: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdiUHYacaRI&list=PLqwvYKgb9yRaxgDWwoMk6RFDmdvqxghqyDark Side Off-Road (Tim's YouTube channel): https://www.youtube.com/c/darksideoffroadThe Story Till Now (off-roading YouTube channel): https://www.youtube.com/c/thestorytillnow 🎥 See how Talkie.ai works - AI medical receptionist demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOiJ3ITTrLY&list=PLLjcCBHYN2KoBqm-Dx-8lIwWLuU-CHXSg

    1h 3m
  4. ER Doctor Turned CEO on Building a Culture That Heals | Dr. Joy Evers, MD

    Apr 14

    ER Doctor Turned CEO on Building a Culture That Heals | Dr. Joy Evers, MD

    What does it actually look like when a practice puts culture first - not as a slogan, but as an operating system? Dr. Joy Evers - board-certified emergency physician, CEO and founder of Healthtopia Clinics, and host of the Your Doctor Wants to Quit podcast - joins Jakub Grajcar to share how she built a four-location integrative primary care practice serving 35,000 patients in Southern California. From same-day walk-ins to real-time curbside consults between conventional and naturopathic providers, Dr. Joy breaks down what makes Healthtopia's model work - and why it starts with how leaders show up every day. We dig into: 🏥 Dr. Joy's #1 tip for growing a healthcare practice - why positive culture is the foundation everything else is built on🧠 What self-reflection and daily writing practice have to do with being a better leader👩‍⚕️ How Healthtopia blends conventional medicine with integrative care under one roof - and why that model scales📋 The scheduling structure that makes same-day appointments and walk-ins possible (20- and 40-minute slots with built-in buffer)🤝 How real-time curbside consults and a provider curriculum make team-based care actually work💊 Why Dr. Joy chose insurance-based care over direct primary care - and the accessibility trade-offs involved Resources mentioned: 👤 Guest: Dr. Joy Evers, MDLI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joy-eversIG: https://www.instagram.com/doctorjoymd/🏥 Healthtopia Clinics: https://healthtopiaclinics.com/ 🎙️ Podcast: Your Doctor Wants to QuitApple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/your-doctor-wants-to-quit/id1799382185Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6lEmwFrsY94K9436zLOKG9YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCH8eEFDbJzYWqFzHmzAJm5A⭐ Recommended episode: "Doctor Doctor" - featuring Dr. Alyssa Burnham & Dr. Michael Turner: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3198m5k6zv16VvHaOAM8SE 🎥 See how Talkie.ai works - AI medical receptionist demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOiJ3ITTrLY&list=PLLjcCBHYN2KoBqm-Dx-8lIwWLuU-CHXSg

    45 min
  5. Physician-Founder on Adding a Digital Layer to Patient Care | Elizabeth Edens, MD

    Apr 3

    Physician-Founder on Adding a Digital Layer to Patient Care | Elizabeth Edens, MD

    Most practices know they should be doing more with technology. Fewer have actually built it out. Dr. Elizabeth Edens - Founder of Health Meets Wellness and Medical Director at TouchCare Method - has. She joins Jakub to walk through what a fully digitized patient journey actually looks like in practice: a custom mobile app, an AI health coach, wearable integrations, and touchpoints that keep patients engaged between visits. Dr. Edens' specialty is weight management. The lessons apply to anyone trying to introduce software, AI, or remote monitoring into their patient experience. We discuss: 🏥 Dr. Edens' #1 tip for growing a healthcare practice - exploring how the energy of leadership sets the tone for every patient interaction⏳ The most overlooked moments in patient care - and how to turn waiting room time into a win for your brand✅ Why checklists aren't just for surgery - and how start-of-day prep shapes the entire practice ethos📱 How a custom mobile app changed the way Dr. Edens manages patient care between visits⚖️ Balancing high demand with longer, more intentional visits - and why going deeper can actually make follow-up smoother💉 GLP-1 medications: what patients get wrong, what's missing from the media coverage, and what proper oversight looks like🥦 The next frontier in weight management - addressing ultra-processed food🤖 Lessons from rolling out an AI health coach adoption lesson🔧 Build vs. buy: Dr. Edens' advice on white-labeling an existing medical app vs. building from scratch Resources mentioned: 👤 Guest: Dr. Elizabeth EdensLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabeth-edens-md-286a09154/Health Meets Wellness: https://www.healthmeetswellness.com/Touch Care Method: https://www.touchcaremethod.com/ 📚 Books mentioned:Seabiscuit - Laura HillenbrandThe Checklist Manifesto - Atul Gawande 🎲 Also mentioned:Terraforming Mars (Jakub's favorite board game) Timestamps:0:00 Teaser: your energy sets the tone for your entire team — and your patients feel it the moment they walk in1:50 Scaling Practice Management intro & meet Dr. Elizabeth Edens, Founder & Medical Director at Health Meets Wellness / TouchCare Method3:36 Icebreaker: what does a perfect Saturday look like for Dr. Edens?7:04 #1 tip for growing a healthcare practice: why every single moment in the patient experience matters8:24 Turning wait time into value — how to make delays work for your practice instead of against it10:25 Start-of-day checklists and the overlooked power of operational preparation11:48 Building a genuinely cohesive team — why belief in the mission can't be manufactured15:47 Inside Health Meets Wellness: balancing in-depth 1-on-1 care with high patient demand18:04 How the Touch Care Method app creates meaningful touchpoints between visits22:14 Tracking what patients actually eat and do — why data between visits changes the whole conversation25:28 Driving patient adoption of health tech: removing friction and connecting habits to outcomes28:33 Will every specialty have its own AI health coach? A look at where digital care is heading31:34 Build vs. buy: why most practices shouldn't try to build their own patient app from scratch35:40 Wearables, CGM, and body composition scales — the device stack powering Dr. Edens' practice38:18 The next frontier in weight management: addressing ultra-processed food at the root39:45 GLP-1 medications, misinformation, and what patients actually need to know before starting47:00 Final advice for practice managers: identify your AI pain points and remove admin work first49:09 Where to find Dr. Edens and the Touch Care Method app 🎥 See how Talkie.ai works - AI medical receptionist demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOiJ3ITTrLY&list=PLLjcCBHYN2KoBqm-Dx-8lIwWLuU-CHXSg

    51 min
  6. How to Scale a Direct Primary Care Practice to 11 Locations | Kyle Rickner, MD

    Mar 30

    How to Scale a Direct Primary Care Practice to 11 Locations | Kyle Rickner, MD

    Why is the direct primary care (DPC) model gaining so much popularity? And what does it actually take to scale a direct primary care practice - from a single clinic to an 11-location organization with nearly 30 providers? Dr. Kyle Rickner, co-founder and chairman of Primary Health Partners, joins Jakub Grajcar to share the full story. From the decision to leave the fee-for-service world, to the very real operational challenges of multi-site growth, to what it takes to build a practice genuinely centered on patients instead of billing codes. We talk about: 💊 Dr. Rickner's #1 tip for growing a sustainable practice - on the importance of planning🏥 The three core tenets of direct primary care🔥 "Moral injury" vs. burnout - why the volume-based model doesn't just exhaust physicians, it puts them in conflict with their own oath🤝 How Primary Health Partners went from two doctors to 11 locations - and the business partners who made it possible📈 The EOS visionary/integrator dynamic for founders⚠️ Why the third location is always the hardest - and the stacking complexity that breaks practices trying to grow🧑‍💼 What to look for in a great operator - and why doctors neglect to ask for this kind of help 👤 Guest: Kyle Rickner, MDLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-rickner-md-353986111/Organization - Primary Health Partners: https://primary-healthpartners.com/ 📚 Books mentioned:Who Not How - Dan SullivanTraction (EOS) - Gino Wickman 🎥 See how Talkie.ai works - AI medical receptionist demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOiJ3ITTrLY&list=PLLjcCBHYN2KoBqm-Dx-8lIwWLuU-CHXSg Timestamps:0:00 Teaser: how fee-for-service medicine causes moral injury — and why no DPC doctor ever wants to go back2:24 Scaling Practice Management intro & meet Dr. Kyle Rickner, Co-Founder and Chairman at Primary Health Partners3:11 Icebreaker: Dr. Rickner's favorite destination and a Cabo ATV-and-whale-watching adventure7:12 #1 tip for growing a practice: plan ahead, mitigate risk, and reduce dependence on third-party payers10:19 The story of a practice that insurance companies literally forced to shut down12:26 What is direct primary care — and what are its three defining tenets?14:53 24/7 physician availability in DPC: how it actually works without burning out the doctor16:58 What physicians love about DPC: escaping the volume treadmill and reclaiming time with patients20:04 The honest conversation about transitioning to DPC — sacrifice, risk, and the promise of fulfillment22:33 Moral injury in medicine: how fee-for-service quietly harms both physicians and patients27:36 How Primary Health Partners grew to 11 locations — and why they're a unicorn in the DPC world30:04 "Who, not how": bringing in business expertise and funding growth through clinical research revenue33:06 The EOS framework — visionary vs. integrator — and how it shaped their founding partnership37:16 Recruiting physicians into DPC and the multi-site operational complexity that kicks in at location #340:17 Why they intentionally paused expansion to close operational gaps before the next growth phase43:40 Why doctors are often the worst at asking for help — and what the ideal ops person looks like45:59 Where to follow Dr. Rickner and Primary Health Partners

    48 min
  7. How Travel Staffing and AI Are Solving Healthcare's Flexibility Problem | Justin Lambert

    Mar 11

    How Travel Staffing and AI Are Solving Healthcare's Flexibility Problem | Justin Lambert

    What's quietly burning out your best clinicians - and what can practice managers actually do about it? Justin Lambert, CEO at Nomad Health - a leading digital marketplace with access to over 400,000 qualified clinicians - joins Jakub Grajcar to dig into the staffing and flexibility challenges that don't always show up on a P&L. From how to triage patient calls the right way to why travel clinicians can be an unexpected competitive edge, this is an episode about the human side of running a modern practice - and what AI has to do with all of it. We dig into: 👩‍⚕️ Justin's #1 tip for growing a sustainable practice - and why patient experience only gets you halfway🏥 Why clinician experience has been quietly deprioritized for over a decade - and what it's costing practices now🚑 What travel staffing really solves (spoiler: it's not just filling empty shifts)💡 How the smartest practice managers flip staffing flexibility from a headache into a competitive advantage🤖 How Nomad uses AI to help one person manage 100-150 clinician interactions a day - without losing context🏗️ Why data architecture is the make-or-break factor for any AI system you deploy 👤 Guest: Justin LambertLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-lambert/Newsletter - The Road to Better Care: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/the-road-to-better-care-7356415114175995905/Company - Nomad Health: https://bit.ly/4rC2BAF See how Talkie.ai works - AI medical receptionist demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOiJ3ITTrLY&list=PLLjcCBHYN2KoBqm-Dx-8lIwWLuU-CHXSg

    47 min
  8. Healthcare Marketing When Outcomes Aren't Guaranteed | Jennifer Knowlton

    Feb 25

    Healthcare Marketing When Outcomes Aren't Guaranteed | Jennifer Knowlton

    What does healthcare marketing strategy look like when you can't promise a happy ending? Jennifer Knowlton, Director of Digital Marketing at The Care Team and a 20-year healthcare marketing veteran, joins Jakub to pull back the curtain on one of the hardest niches in the industry: post-acute and hospice care marketing. From navigating HIPAA constraints to building a patient acquisition strategy that actually converts - without the data you're not allowed to use - Jennifer shares a practical, trust-first framework that any medical practice can apply. We dig into: 🤝 Why practices must earn a patient's trust before ever asking them to book an appointment🏥 The 3-part digital marketing framework every practice needs: educate, humanize, and remove friction📋 How to market across fragmented healthcare audiences (and why one message won't cut it)💬 What hospice messaging looks like when a positive outcome isn't guaranteed - and what actually works🌟 Why a healthcare brand is a promise, not a logo - and how to live that internally with your team📉 The HIPAA marketing problem: why the data you want to use is usually the data you can't - and how to grow anyway📝 Content marketing for healthcare: why blog posts, caregiver burnout guides, and "what to expect" content outperform promotional posts 👤 Guest: Jennifer KnowltonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-k-79577816/Organization - The Care Team: https://www.tctcares.com/ 🎥 See how Talkie.ai works - AI medical receptionist demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOiJ3ITTrLY&list=PLLjcCBHYN2KoBqm-Dx-8lIwWLuU-CHXSg

    46 min
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Scaling Practice Management is the show for healthcare practice leaders who want to grow smarter, not harder. Real stories, proven strategies, and emerging tech — all to help you scale your clinic without burning out your team or sacrificing patient care.

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