WittKieffer Converge Cast

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WittKieffer’s Converge Cast podcast series is dedicated to exploring important, meaningful ideas that bring people and organizations together across the Quality of Life Ecosystem – which spans the life sciences, healthcare, and education sectors. We aim to make the world better by fostering fresh insights into today’s most fundamental challenges.

Episodes

  1. Feb 24

    Converge Cast | The New Heartbeat of Healthcare: Priya Abani

    What if one small device could change the way the world understands its own heartbeat?  In this episode of Converge Cast, Ysette Witteveen and Lisa Casper sit down with Priya Abani, CEO of AliveCor, a leader redefining cardiac care by making it personal, portable, and profoundly more proactive. Priya isn’t simply running a medtech company; she’s championing advancing a future where lifesaving cardiac insights are no longer confined to hospital walls, but accessible to anyone, anywhere, exactly when they’re needed most. It's a shift from traditional, reactive care to a world where heart conditions are caught earlier, treated faster, and often prevented entirely.    Under her leadership, AliveCor has transformed a traditionally clinical, cumbersome test into a simple, intuitive experience that fits in the palm of your hand. But the true breakthrough begins after the reading. Priya is building an ecosystem where continuous monitoring, advanced AI, and actionable insights replace the guesswork that has defined cardiac care for decades. Her mission is bold: shift healthcare from reactive “sickcare” toward a world where heart conditions are caught earlier, treated faster, and often prevented entirely.  This episode explores the movement Priya is driving -- one where a person’s home becomes an extension of the clinic, where geography no longer determines quality of care, and where every heartbeat becomes a data point that technology can help interpret. Through clinical rigor, visionary partnerships, and a relentless focus on patient impact, Priya is redefining what’s possible in cardiovascular health.  AliveCor isn’t just building devices. They’re rewriting the future of heart care, one recording, one insight, one life at a time.

  2. 12/10/2025

    Converge Cast | Building High-Impact Teams and Driving Value in Healthcare and Beyond: Mia Jung

    In this episode of WittKieffer’s Converge Cast, Mia Jung of private equity firm WCAS ("Welsh Carson") shares her career journey and perspectives on building high-impact leadership teams in healthcare with Senior Partner Charlie Fick and Managing Partner Shelly Carolan. She describes her professional path in “three chapters”: commercial roles in pharma and MedTech, a decade in executive search, and her current role at Welsh Carson. In executive search, “I learned the power of getting the right people in the right seats—and that leads to the right outcomes,” she explains, underscoring her belief that talent is a critical lever for value creation.  Jung emphasizes Welsh Carson’s culture as a key reason she joined the firm, citing its collaborative ethos and commitment to people. As a twin, "I was born on a team," she says. At WCAS, “The core values are not just words on a wall—they really shape daily behavior,” she notes. This alignment allows her to connect business strategy with talent strategy across a portfolio of healthcare companies, ensuring leaders are positioned to drive growth and operational excellence.  Discussing hiring practices, Jung likens talent selection to baseball: “Even the best hitters don’t get on base every time. But what makes them great isn’t perfection—it’s consistency, preparation, and the ability to adjust.” She advocates for data-driven processes, cultural fit scorecards, and third-party assessments to "de-risk" and improve hiring success rates in private equity.  Finally, Jung reflects on broader trends and her passion for advancing women in leadership, such as championing initiatives like Break Into the Boardroom. “It’s just bad business not to have women on these boards,” she asserts, highlighting the importance of representation in governance and decision-making roles.  Enjoy their conversation.

  3. 08/21/2025

    Converge Cast |  Leading with Purpose - a Conversation with Dr. Kate Goodrich

    What does it take to transform healthcare from the inside out?  In this episode of the WittKieffer Converge Cast, Charlie Fick, Senior Partner, and Lisa Mooney, Consultant, sit down with Dr. Kate Goodrich, Chief Medical Officer at Humana, for a compelling conversation on leadership, innovation, and the future of healthcare.  Dr. Goodrich shares her remarkable journey from hospitalist to federal policymaker to private-sector executive, revealing how each chapter shaped her mission to improve care for seniors and underserved populations. She reflects on the surprising moment she fell in love with health policy, the challenges of transitioning between public and private leadership roles, and the critical importance of quantifying value in a for-profit healthcare environment.  Tune in to gain insight into how Humana is tackling the provider shortage, supporting dementia caregivers, and making value-based care a reality. Dr. Goodrich also offers candid advice for entrepreneurs hoping to partner with large healthcare organizations and ends on a hopeful note about what’s working in American healthcare today.

  4. 04/30/2025

    Converge Cast | Bridging the Gap, Personalized Virtual Care and the Future of Healthcare: Dr. Patrick Carroll

    Dr. Patrick Carroll, Chief Medical Officer and Board Member at Hims & Hers, has spent his career reimagining how care is delivered —especially to underserved populations. From his early days serving the Navajo Nation to Walgreens and now Hims & Hers, his focus has always been clear: make personalized care more accessible, affordable, and scalable. In this episode of Converge Cast, Dr. Carroll joins hosts Lisa Casper and Shelly Carolan to share how his work in population health and primary care fuels his passion for expanding access through innovation. He offers an inside look at Hims & Hers’ fully integrated, direct-to-consumer model—and how it’s opening doors with asynchronous care, specialty compounding, and AI-powered tools like MedMatch. From chronic illness management to everyday wellness, Dr. Carroll explains how smarter, more accessible care is becoming a reality—and what it means for the future of healthcare. Whether you’re a health system leader, digital health innovator, or clinician seeking new ways to make care more effective, this episode offers thoughtful insights and valuable takeaways on where the industry is headed— helping you think differently about what’s possible.

  5. 03/19/2025

    Converge Cast | Fostering Innovation Through Collaboration: Jason Hawbecker

    In the Biopharma industry, innovation is usually synonymous with scientific advancement.  In this latest episode of ConvergeCast, Jason Hawbecker joins Michael Castleman and Ysette Witteveen to discuss new arenas of innovation focused on "meeting patients where they are—physically or digitally." As Biogen's Senior Vice President and Head of External Growth & Innovation, Hawbecker explains how Biogen is embracing digital technologies, new service models, ai, ai chatbots and diverse partnerships to drive better awareness, access, engagement, onboarding and adherence with patients and caregivers.  "We're finally realizing we don't always have to compete. There are opportunities to drive revenue for everyone while improving patient outcomes," he says. Drawing on his experience at CVS Health, Hawbecker highlights how collaboration across the healthcare ecosystem is essential. Whether a partnership with Optum to enhance care for women with postpartum depression or with Delta Airlines to improve travel for wheel-chair bound patients, Hawbecker notes that innovation needs intentionality and rethinking the status quo. "It’s about making life easier for patients," he says. "You can’t measure everything with ROI."

  6. 07/29/2024

    Converge Cast | A Physician's Prescription for the Business of Healthcare: Gaurov Dayal, M.D.

    In this episode of WittKieffer’s Converge Cast, Dr. Gaurov Dayal, Chief Executive Officer of Axia Women’s Health, talks with WittKieffer's Shelly Carolan and Linda Komnick about his commitment to revolutionizing healthcare in the U.S. with appreciation for both its business challenges – and the opportunities that exist. As a physician, Dr. Dayal has always mixed a passion for helping others with a fascination for finance, economics, and the dollars and cents of running a business. Medicine is more of an "individual sport and business is a "team sport," he says, but they can coexist and inform each other for the benefit of patients and healthcare delivery organizations. A challenge for some physicians-turned-leaders: getting comfortable with ambiguity. "It definitely requires stepping out of your comfort zone and the need that many of us as physicians have to control every variable," he says. "You just cannot do that in business." Dr. Dayal is an optimist about the changes coming for healthcare, including the incorporation of artificial intelligence. It's not only a means of improving healthcare and the business of healthcare, it also empowers patients to take control over their own health and well-being.

  7. 04/22/2024

    Converge Cast | Investing in Innovation Around True Value-Based Care: Anna Haghgooie

    This episode of WittKieffer’s Converge Cast focuses on the transformative potential of value-based care. Our guest, Anna Haghhooie, shares her insight on investment in and innovation around “true” value-based care, which provides holistic and viable models of integrated care for patients and populations.  An eternal optimist, as well as seasoned operator and investor, she is actively pursuing her North Star in healthcare – to marry care efficiency and cost-effectiveness with human-to-human engagement.  Anna is Managing Director of Valtruis, a unique Welsh Carson Anderson & Stowe platform company that invests in and partners with disruptive leaders whose mission is to break through the systemic barriers in the healthcare industry to reduce costs, expand access, increase quality, and radically improve the patient experience. Speaking with WittKieffer’s Michael Castleman and Shelly Carolan, Anna explains how most current VBC models operate on a "chassis of legacy infrastructure," which hampers innovation and inhibits sustainable approaches. Innovation around VBC, shesays, will likely come from well-funded entrepreneurs willing to absorb risk and invest in alternate provider/payer/patient strategies.

  8. 03/22/2024

    Converge Cast | Scaling Innovation from Within the Healthcare Ecosystem: Amir Dan Rubin

    Amir has spent his career seeking novel ways to increase access to care, cut costs, and advance population health. "The best innovation happens when you can innovate or disrupt from within the ecosystem," he says. Amidst the backdrop of  conventional health systems and organizations, there is a remarkable surge in innovation.  Notably, he observes transformations fueled by creative partnerships and inspired by the change taking place around them. In this episode of WittKieffer's Converge Cast podcast series, Rubin talks with WittKieffer's Michael Castleman and Shelly Carolan discuss the evolving and increasingly convergent roles of value-based care, new healthcare entrants, and digital health, as well opportunities and challenges of start-ups in today's market. Questions they consider: How do you enable innovative healthcare solutions with so many stakeholders-namely consumers, employers, clinicians and payers? In this current market, what makes an attractive, deserving healthcare investment? What role do insurers play in innovation? What role will AI and related technologies play in healthcare's future? To this last question, Rubin considers himself a "techno-optimist" – and it's clear he's an optimist on the potential for future with better, cheaper, more available healthcare.

  9. 02/02/2024

    Converge Cast | A Purposeful Path Toward Patient Centricity: Anthony Yanni, M.D.

    In this conversation – the first episode of WittKieffer's Converge Cast series dedicated to exploring ideas that bring people and organizations across the Quality of Life Ecosystem together – Dr. Yanni shares his hopeful vision for patient centricity with Shelly Carolan, Managing Partner of Investor-Backed Healthcare for WittKieffer, and Stephen Brengle, the firm's Managing Director for Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology, North America. They explore questions central to the success of patient centricity efforts: What does patient centricity really mean? How can organizations create cultures that foster and operationalize their patient centricity imperatives? How can organizations better collaborate? What role will technology play? The journey has really just begun, Dr. Yanni believes: "The impact across industry has yet to be maximized. The sharing of best practices still needs to happen. Everyone needs to be moving toward this."

  • 9 Episodes

About

WittKieffer’s Converge Cast podcast series is dedicated to exploring important, meaningful ideas that bring people and organizations together across the Quality of Life Ecosystem – which spans the life sciences, healthcare, and education sectors. We aim to make the world better by fostering fresh insights into today’s most fundamental challenges.

Information

  • Creator
    WittKieffer
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    9
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2024 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    WittKieffer Converge Cast