The Advancing Healthcare Innovation Show

Michael Stamatinos
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Entrepreneurship

Michael Stamatinos is a visionary leader with a deeply rooted passion for making healthcare accessible to all. He’s the founder of the Advancing Healthcare Innovation Consortium, where he leverages his two decades of experience in healthcare delivery, business development, and strategy to build ecosystems that enable sustainable growth.

  1. 3d ago

    E189: George Hsu Quit Building For Others. Then He Took On MedTech Giants

    George Hsu, Founder and CEO of Aulea Medical, joins host Michael Stamatinos on the Advancing Healthcare Innovation Show to discuss how a single-use urological device is reshaping OR efficiency, reducing infection risk, and expanding access to care in rural communities across the United States. He didn't set out to disrupt an industry. He just refused to accept a broken process. George Hsu spent 15 years deep in medical device R&D, at companies like Thoratec (acquired by Abbott) and Outset Medical (went public). He knew how to build things. He knew how to make the technology work. What he didn't know was that one day he'd walk into an operating room, watch a urological procedure collapse under the weight of outdated equipment, and decide, right there, that enough was enough. That moment became Aulea Medical. And Aulea Medical became Valoxion. In this episode, Michael Stamatinos and George Hsu break down what's actually happening before a urology patient even hits the table, why single-use devices could be the smarter economic play for health systems under cost pressure, and how a small team is quietly reaching rural communities that the big players have written off entirely. BPH affects half of all men by their 50s. Most of them don't know there are real options. George is building the answer, one physician relationship at a time. IN THIS EPISODE George Hsu is the Founder and CEO of Aulea Medical, the company behind Valoxion, the first and only all-in-one single-use system for urological procedures. Before founding Aulea, George spent over 15 years in R&D at respected early-stage medtech companies including Thoratec (acquired by Abbott) and Outset Medical (IPO). He built Valoxion to address the inefficiency, infection risk, and access gaps baked into standard urology OR workflows. Michael Stamatinos and George Hsu cover: ➤ The OR chaos that lit the fuse for Aulea Medical ➤ Why health systems saving money on reusable equipment may be doing the math wrong ➤ How Valoxion reaches rural communities the major device companies won't prioritize ➤ The psychological and operational weight of running a lean startup in medtech ➤ What building a company with purpose actually looks like from the inside ⏱ TIMESTAMPS 0:00 — Introduction: Who is George Hsu and what is Aulea Medical? 3:32 — From R&D engineer to founder: What triggered the switch 6:49 — How the Bay Area shaped George's risk tolerance 10:31 — How George landed in urology 12:05 — What a urology OR looks like before Valoxion is in the room 17:09 — The question every medtech founder gets: "Isn't everyone's product simpler and safer?" 19:06 — What it feels like watching your device used on a patient for the first time 21:26 — The pressure that never turns off when running a startup 25:23 — Playing David against Olympus, Boston Scientific, and Stryker 28:12 — BPH: where's the real bottleneck, awareness or access? 31:27 — Making the cost case for single-use devices to a stretched CFO 34:41 — Where to follow George and Aulea Medical 36:20 — What George would tell his 32-year-old self https://www.auleamed.com/ 📣 LIKE, COMMENT & SUBSCRIBE If this conversation moved you, challenged your thinking, or sparked an idea, share it with someone who needs to hear it. Subscribe for more episodes with healthcare leaders who are not just thinking differently, they’re building differently. About the Show The Advancing Healthcare Innovation Show is hosted by Michael Stamatinos, a nationally recognized connector, strategist, and advocate for innovation with purpose. Each week, Michael interviews healthcare leaders who are driving meaningful change—highlighting stories of access, resilience, equity, and transformation. The AHI Show started with the idea of wanting to highlight stories of what healthcare innovation truly looks like in action. Our mission, highlight real people who are really innovating within healthcare. Guests include healthcare entrepreneurs, providers, payers, and professionals from the investment community. We showcase little wins as well as valuable lessons learned from setbacks through these interviews. The real innovators in healthcare are often the ones in the trenches doing the work with razor-sharp focus. We find these innovators and bring their stories to light. 🔗 Michael’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelstamo 🎧 Subscribe for more episodes that move beyond theory and into the heart of what’s really possible in healthcare. Join our group, Advancing Healthcare Innovation Forum on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/7056196/

    39 min

  2. Jun 3

    E188: The Hidden Reason Your Prescription Costs So Much with Miriam Paramore

    Why does the same prescription cost $15 at one pharmacy and $56 at another? And why does almost nobody standing at that counter know about the savings that could change everything? In this episode of the Advancing Healthcare Innovation Show, host Michael Stamatinos sits down with Miriam Paramore, founder and CEO of RxUtility, operating advisor at Goldman Sachs, limited partner at 7wire Ventures, and one of the most experienced operators in the history of healthcare technology. This is one of the most honest and human conversations the show has ever produced. Miriam has spent 40 years building the infrastructure of American healthcare. She helped write part of the Affordable Care Act. She led enterprise strategy at Emdeon and helped take the company to a $1.2 billion IPO. She served as President of OptimizeRx on the NASDAQ. She has sat in every room that mattered in this industry. And then she watched her father navigate the system she helped build. Jack Paramore was a preacher who left the family farm to devote his life to serving others. He gave Miriam a necklace with an ampersand on it for her 50th birthday, along with a handwritten poem that read, "This is an AND moment, not an ending." When Jack got sick with kidney failure, heart failure, and severe melanoma in rural North Carolina, with no transportation coverage and $500 a month too much to qualify for Medicaid, the system failed him at every turn. In this episode: → The story of Jack Paramore, the preacher who left the farm, and what his life taught Miriam about what it means to be of genuine service to other people → How a napkin sketch in a Congressional cafeteria became healthcare law → Why a drug that costs $600 for a patient in their deductible phase can cost their employer $300 for the exact same bottle, and who is collecting the spread → Why almost 15% of all prescriptions in the United States are now being paid in cash, and why most consumers have no idea cash is often cheaper than using their insurance → The six different price points that exist for a single prescription drug and why the system keeps consumers from ever seeing all of them at once → Mimi, RxUtility's AI companion for prescription pricing, and how it answers the one question every patient deserves a straight answer to: what does this drug actually cost me today? → What Miriam sees in the first five minutes when a founder walks into a room and does not have what it takes https://rxutility.com/ Follow Miriam: https://www.linkedin.com/in/miriamparamore/ 📣 LIKE, COMMENT & SUBSCRIBE If this conversation moved you, challenged your thinking, or sparked an idea, share it with someone who needs to hear it. Subscribe for more episodes with healthcare leaders who are not just thinking differently, they’re building differently. About the Show The Advancing Healthcare Innovation Show is hosted by Michael Stamatinos, a nationally recognized connector, strategist, and advocate for innovation with purpose. Each week, Michael interviews healthcare leaders who are driving meaningful change—highlighting stories of access, resilience, equity, and transformation. The AHI Show started with the idea of wanting to highlight stories of what healthcare innovation truly looks like in action. Our mission, highlight real people who are really innovating within healthcare. Guests include healthcare entrepreneurs, providers, payers, and professionals from the investment community. We showcase little wins as well as valuable lessons learned from setbacks through these interviews. The real innovators in healthcare are often the ones in the trenches doing the work with razor-sharp focus. We find these innovators and bring their stories to light. 🔗 Michael’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelstamo 🎧 Subscribe for more episodes that move beyond theory and into the heart of what’s really possible in healthcare. Join our group, Advancing Healthcare Innovation Forum on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/7056196/ Timestamps: 01:18 Introducing Miriam Paramore and RxUtility 04:30 Miriam responds and why she does this work 05:35 Jack Paramore, the preacher who left the farm 10:24 Jack's healthcare journey and how the system failed him 13:17 What fuels Miriam's mission to make medicine affordable 15:55 The Affordable Care Act, the napkin, and how healthcare law actually gets made 23:26 What drew Miriam to the prescription affordability problem specifically 28:57 Explaining RxUtility like you are standing at the pharmacy counter 33:46 Why this information has been hidden for so long and who benefits 37:40 The RxUtility business model and who pays 39:41 Mimi, the AI companion built to surface the best drug price for every patient 41:02 What Miriam looks for in founders as an investor and advisor 43:03 What she would tell her younger self 44:06 How to connect with Miriam and follow RxUtility

    47 min

  3. May 29

    E187: Steve West on Turning Failed Pilots Into Wins Inside a Health System

    Most health systems write a check and call it innovation. Steve West built something different. In this episode of the Advancing Healthcare Innovation Show, host Michael Stamatinos sits down with Steve West, Managing Director of Healthliant Ventures, the innovation arm of Tanner Health, a five hospital system serving western Georgia and east Alabama. Steve runs a live clinical environment where healthcare startups get a real verdict. Real staff. Real patients. Real results. No press release. No logo deal. Just proof. Michael and Steve pull back the curtain on what it actually takes to get a startup through a health system. The contracts. The security reviews. The champions who can't actually close. The pilots that fail. And the ones that don't. Steve also shares something most operators never say out loud. The emotional waves of being a startup CEO. The exhilaration. The despair. The payroll anxiety at 2am. And why that experience makes him a better partner to the founders he works with today. What Michael and Steve cover: * How Healthliant Ventures finds and structures startup partnerships without writing a check upfront * Why most founders identify the wrong champion inside a health system * The Care Sherpa story: a failed pilot, a pivot, and a 40% reduction in resource utilization * What culture fit really means when you're a regional community health system * The wound care technology that started in a clinic and is now headed system wide * Why once you've seen one health system you've only seen one health system Timestamps: 03:45 Steve West Background and Early Career 06:54 From Russian Politics to Healthcare 10:19 Product Leadership at Anthem 13:32 Going All In on Fiona Tech 16:47 The Hardest Part of Being a Healthcare Startup CEO 19:51 How Steve Joined Healthliant Ventures 22:17 What Healthliant Ventures Actually Is 27:19 How They Prioritize Problems Inside Tanner Health 30:31 The Kent Imaging Wound Care Story 36:30 When Pilots Fail: Lessons From the Trenches 37:44 The Care Sherpa Pivot Story 40:18 What Founders Get Wrong About Health Systems 43:34 Pitching vs Being Pitched To 45:24 How to Follow Steve West and Healthliant Ventures 📣 LIKE, COMMENT & SUBSCRIBE If this conversation moved you, challenged your thinking, or sparked an idea, share it with someone who needs to hear it. Subscribe for more episodes with healthcare leaders who are not just thinking differently, they’re building differently. About the Show The Advancing Healthcare Innovation Show is hosted by Michael Stamatinos, a nationally recognized connector, strategist, and advocate for innovation with purpose. Each week, Michael interviews healthcare leaders who are driving meaningful change—highlighting stories of access, resilience, equity, and transformation. The AHI Show started with the idea of wanting to highlight stories of what healthcare innovation truly looks like in action. Our mission, highlight real people who are really innovating within healthcare. Guests include healthcare entrepreneurs, providers, payers, and professionals from the investment community. We showcase little wins as well as valuable lessons learned from setbacks through these interviews. The real innovators in healthcare are often the ones in the trenches doing the work with razor-sharp focus. We find these innovators and bring their stories to light. 🔗 Michael’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelstamo 🎧 Subscribe for more episodes that move beyond theory and into the heart of what’s really possible in healthcare. Join our group, Advancing Healthcare Innovation Forum on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/7056196/

    51 min

  4. May 16

    E186: Why Americans Are Sicker Than Ever Despite Having the Best Hospitals in the World

    What if American healthcare is doing exactly what it was designed to do? Dr. Scott Neeley, MD, MBA, has spent 40 years in medicine. Harvard. Stanford. University of Chicago residency. He's been in the ICU at 2am fighting to save lives. He became a CEO. He had major surgery and chose to do it at his own hospital. And he'll tell you straight: we've built a world-class system for treating disease. We're just terrible at keeping people healthy. In this episode, Dr. Neeley, President and CEO of Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital, joins Michael Stamatinos to talk about health span, why it's shrinking, and what it actually takes to fix it from the inside out. This isn't a theory conversation. This is a doctor-turned-executive who leads a daily patient safety huddle, starts every board meeting with a patient story before he ever opens a spreadsheet, and built a community coalition to attack the upstream causes of chronic illness head-on. He talks about the ICU moment that changed everything. The railroad worker at the end of his life. The weight of keeping a rural hospital financially alive when more than half your patients are on Medicare. The hardest leadership decisions he's ever made. And why the most powerful predictor of your health at 80 has nothing to do with your cholesterol. This one goes deep. Don't skip it. In this episode: * What health span is and why it's shrinking in America * How Dr. Neeley led his hospital to the top 1% for patient safety * The culture shift that took years of "time under tension" * Health Span Nevada County: what a real community health model looks like * The Harvard Grant Study finding that changes how you think about longevity * Why the wellness industry often gets it wrong * The 4x4 breathing exercise they actually do live on air Timestamps 0:00 Introduction 4:40 Meet Dr. Scott Neeley 7:58 Why he fell in love with the ICU, not prevention 8:58 The railroad worker moment that changed everything 12:27 From frontline physician to healthcare executive 16:40 How you actually build a culture of safety 24:36 Running a hospital that profits from illness while fighting to prevent it 27:44 Health Span Nevada County: the community model in practice 32:52 What each of us can do every day (including a live 4x4 breathing exercise) 39:17 What it felt like to have surgery at his own hospital 40:39 The hardest leadership decisions he's ever made 43:19 Who's at the table: building the coalition 51:30 How to follow Dr. Neeley's work 📣 LIKE, COMMENT & SUBSCRIBE If this conversation moved you, challenged your thinking, or sparked an idea, share it with someone who needs to hear it. Subscribe for more episodes with healthcare leaders who are not just thinking differently, they’re building differently. About the Show The Advancing Healthcare Innovation Show is hosted by Michael Stamatinos, a nationally recognized connector, strategist, and advocate for innovation with purpose. Each week, Michael interviews healthcare leaders who are driving meaningful change—highlighting stories of access, resilience, equity, and transformation. The AHI Show started with the idea of wanting to highlight stories of what healthcare innovation truly looks like in action. Our mission, highlight real people who are really innovating within healthcare. Guests include healthcare entrepreneurs, providers, payers, and professionals from the investment community. We showcase little wins as well as valuable lessons learned from setbacks through these interviews. The real innovators in healthcare are often the ones in the trenches doing the work with razor-sharp focus. We find these innovators and bring their stories to light. 🔗 Michael’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelstamo 🎧 Subscribe for more episodes that move beyond theory and into the heart of what’s really possible in healthcare. Join our group, Advancing Healthcare Innovation Forum on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/7056196/

    54 min

  5. May 8

    E185: Angi Jennings on Rebuilding Cano Health From the Inside Out

    What does transformation actually look like inside a healthcare organization after the headlines fade away? In this episode of the Advancing Healthcare Innovation Show, Michael Stamatinos sits down with Angi Jennings for a raw and honest conversation about operational transformation, leadership under pressure, and the messy reality of rebuilding healthcare organizations from the inside out. After emerging from bankruptcy and rebuilding its leadership structure, Cano Health has been navigating a massive organizational turnaround focused on simplifying operations, rebuilding culture, and embedding value-based care into the day-to-day reality of frontline teams. Angi has been directly in the middle of that work. This conversation goes far beyond strategy decks and press releases. Michael and Angi unpack: • What really happens after healthcare acquisitions and integrations • Why transformation often fails because of a lack of clarity • How to create psychological safety while still maintaining accountability • Why frontline staff are the heartbeat of organizational transformation • How operational excellence ultimately comes down to people • What healthcare leaders can learn from the hospitality industry • The emotional weight of leadership during times of uncertainty and change ⏱️ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 — Why healthcare transformation is messier than people think 04:02 — Cano Health’s turnaround and rebuilding culture after bankruptcy 08:35 — Why momentum and small wins matter during transformation 15:00 — Data, accountability, and changing frontline behavior 22:14 — Psychological safety vs accountability in leadership 28:00 — The emotional pressure of leading organizational change 33:41 — Why transformation is ultimately about people 35:44 — “Culture is caught, not taught” 38:15 — Angi’s hope for the future of healthcare 39:32 — Final reflections on leadership, culture, and transformation 📣 LIKE, COMMENT & SUBSCRIBE If this conversation moved you, challenged your thinking, or sparked an idea, share it with someone who needs to hear it. Subscribe for more episodes with healthcare leaders who are not just thinking differently, they’re building differently. About the Show The Advancing Healthcare Innovation Show is hosted by Michael Stamatinos, a nationally recognized connector, strategist, and advocate for innovation with purpose. Each week, Michael interviews healthcare leaders who are driving meaningful change—highlighting stories of access, resilience, equity, and transformation. The AHI Show started with the idea of wanting to highlight stories of what healthcare innovation truly looks like in action. Our mission, highlight real people who are really innovating within healthcare. Guests include healthcare entrepreneurs, providers, payers, and professionals from the investment community. We showcase little wins as well as valuable lessons learned from setbacks through these interviews. The real innovators in healthcare are often the ones in the trenches doing the work with razor-sharp focus. We find these innovators and bring their stories to light. 🔗 Michael’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelstamo 🎧 Subscribe for more episodes that move beyond theory and into the heart of what’s really possible in healthcare. Join our group, Advancing Healthcare Innovation Forum on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/7056196/

    41 min

  6. Apr 29

    E184 | The Graveyard of Health Tech Is Full of Well-Funded Companies with Dr. Mohammed Quadri, MD

    What does it actually take to drive innovation from inside one of the largest health systems in the country? Dr. Mohammed Quadri has been at Hackensack Meridian Health for over 20 years, starting as a sleep medicine researcher and growing into VP of Strategy for Academics, Research, and Innovation. He co-founded the HMH Research Institutes. He is the Principal Investigator of the RISE Study, developing breath-based biomarkers that could predict drowsy driving and change how we diagnose sleep disorders for over 100 million Americans. Dr. Quadri walks us through what it costs to build something inside a complex system. Why 72% of health tech companies fail. Why FDA clearance alone is never enough. Why reimbursement drives behavior whether we like it or not. And why the single most underrated move in healthcare right now is earning trust instead of trying to buy it. He also shares something most executives never say out loud: you cannot motivate people. You can only inspire engagement. And there is a difference. This episode is for healthcare leaders, innovators, founders, and anyone trying to build something that matters from the inside out. What you will learn in this episode: * Why employee satisfaction and patient satisfaction are the same problem * The three walls that kill healthcare innovation before it ever scales: clinical workflow, economic alignment, and trust * Why the graveyard of health tech is full of well-funded companies and how to avoid being one of them * What breath-based biomarkers have to do with Maggie's Law in New Jersey * The one thing founders consistently underestimate when entering health systems * Why Mohammed's father, a physician who never charged more than three rupees, shaped everything he built Connect with Dr. Mohammed Quadri: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mohammed-quadri-md-mba-ssbb-12632952/ Hackensack Meridian Health Research Institute: hmh-cdi.org TIMESTAMPS 1:45 — Introduction: Who is Dr. Mohammed Quadri? 3:37 — Mohammed opens up: the energy he brings to the work 3:55 — What kept him at one health system for 18+ years 4:46 — Employee satisfaction drives patient satisfaction 5:26 — "You cannot motivate people. You can only inspire engagement." 6:29 — The difference between a job, a profession, and a calling 8:30 — His mother, discipline, and learning what it means to understand a human being 9:36 — "The irony of life is it doesn't teach you life. Experiences do." 13:37 — How to stay agile inside a massive, complex system 14:37 — Why mergers create silos and how to break them 15:45 — We don't have an innovation problem. We have an adoption problem. 16:21 — The actual play: how you get something done inside a health system 17:33 — Why most health tech founders get this wrong from the start 18:48 — The number one reason adoption fails 20:16 — The RISE Study: breath-based biomarkers and drowsy driving prevention 21:04 — Sleep disorders affect 100 million Americans. Most people don't connect the dots. 22:13 — "If we cannot answer where this fits in a patient's journey, the science does not matter." 24:19 — The three walls that kill healthcare adoption 25:59 — "FDA clearance is necessary but not sufficient. You need a physician champion." 26:22 — "You need to earn trust. Not buy it." 27:54 — Mohammed's closing philosophy: "Compete to collaborate." 28:10 — "Give to the world the best you have and the best will come back to you." 28:24 — Michael's final takeaways and the one ask for the community 📣 LIKE, COMMENT & SUBSCRIBE If this conversation moved you, challenged your thinking, or sparked an idea, share it with someone who needs to hear it. Subscribe for more episodes with healthcare leaders who are not just thinking differently, they’re building differently. About the Show The Advancing Healthcare Innovation Show is hosted by Michael Stamatinos, a nationally recognized connector, strategist, and advocate for innovation with purpose. Each week, Michael interviews healthcare leaders who are driving meaningful change—highlighting stories of access, resilience, equity, and transformation. The AHI Show started with the idea of wanting to highlight stories of what healthcare innovation truly looks like in action. Our mission, highlight real people who are really innovating within healthcare. Guests include healthcare entrepreneurs, providers, payers, and professionals from the investment community. We showcase little wins as well as valuable lessons learned from setbacks through these interviews. The real innovators in healthcare are often the ones in the trenches doing the work with razor-sharp focus. We find these innovators and bring their stories to light. 🔗 Michael’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelstamo 🎧 Subscribe for more episodes that move beyond theory and into the heart of what’s really possible in healthcare. Join our group, Advancing Healthcare Innovation Forum on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/7056196/

    30 min

  7. Apr 22

    E183 | Foster Care’s Hidden Health Crisis ft. Michelle Turner

    Every night in the US, a child enters a new home with no medical records, no doctor, and no continuity of care. Michelle Turner decided to fix that. Michelle Turner is the Founder and CEO of Here Now Health, the first virtual healthcare company built exclusively for children and families impacted by the child welfare system. Before building this company, she fostered more than 40 children, served as a Court Appointed Special Advocate, led a global telehealth nonprofit, and ran a Federally Qualified Health Center. She didn't build Here Now Health because she wanted to be a CEO. She built it because no one else would. In this episode, Michael Stamatinos sits down with Michelle for one of the most powerful conversations in the history of the AHI Show. They get into what it actually looks like when a child enters foster care on a Friday night, how virtual trauma-informed care can change outcomes for an invisible population, and why 90% of their referrals convert to active care in a Medicaid system where 50% is considered acceptable. Timestamps 00:00 - What foster care healthcare actually looks like 03:53 - Who is Michelle Turner and what is Here Now Health 04:46 - Fostering 40+ children: what the first placement taught her 07:54 - The gaps in foster care healthcare that made her angry 10:20 - Why she couldn't leave this problem for someone else to solve 11:22 - Six years at Hazel Health and building startup skills 12:48 - How she accidentally raised her first investment check 15:44 - Why Medicaid is hard to build on (and why foster care changes that) 17:50 - Friday night scenario: a child arrives with no records, no doctor 19:51 - How often kids are seen and why caregiver support is everything 22:36 - Crossing state lines: licensed in West Virginia in 24 hours 24:53 - Being a foster mom and a CEO at the same time 28:44 - The teen who had never been asked what she thought about her own case plan 29:27 - Why foster kids are blamed for not engaging in systems that failed them 31:04 - 90% referral-to-care rate: why that number is extraordinary 32:25 - What she would say to a Medicaid executive in 60 seconds 35:35 - How to connect with Here Now Health 36:56 - What success looks like for foster children in 2036 Here Now Health is currently live in Virginia and Missouri, partnered with Anthem Health Keepers and Home State Health. New state launches are planned throughout 2026. Follow Here Now Health: https://www.herenow.health/ 📣 LIKE, COMMENT & SUBSCRIBE If this conversation moved you, challenged your thinking, or sparked an idea, share it with someone who needs to hear it. Subscribe for more episodes with healthcare leaders who are not just thinking differently, they’re building differently. About the Show The Advancing Healthcare Innovation Show is hosted by Michael Stamatinos, a nationally recognized connector, strategist, and advocate for innovation with purpose. Each week, Michael interviews healthcare leaders who are driving meaningful change—highlighting stories of access, resilience, equity, and transformation. The AHI Show started with the idea of wanting to highlight stories of what healthcare innovation truly looks like in action. Our mission, highlight real people who are really innovating within healthcare. Guests include healthcare entrepreneurs, providers, payers, and professionals from the investment community. We showcase little wins as well as valuable lessons learned from setbacks through these interviews. The real innovators in healthcare are often the ones in the trenches doing the work with razor-sharp focus. We find these innovators and bring their stories to light. 🔗 Michael’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelstamo 🎧 Subscribe for more episodes that move beyond theory and into the heart of what’s really possible in healthcare. Join our group, Advancing Healthcare Innovation Forum on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/7056196/

    41 min

  8. Apr 16

    E182 | Michael Kopko: Grit, Incentives, and the Future of Senior Care

    What does it actually take to move independent physicians from fee-for-service to value-based care, and why is it still this hard? In this episode of the Advancing Healthcare Innovation Show, host Michael Stamatinos sits down with Michael Kopko, CEO of Pearl Health, a company built to help providers succeed in value-based care, particularly in Medicare programs where the operational complexity is very real. Michael spent years at Oscar Health helping build the company during its early growth stage, leading one of the largest P&Ls in the organization. Before that, he worked at Bridgewater Associates under Ray Dalio, where he developed the mental models and systems thinking that now shape how he leads Pearl. He did not come to healthcare through a traditional path, and that perspective shows up everywhere in this conversation. This conversation explores what it takes to lead a mission-driven company in one of the slowest-moving, highest-stakes industries in the world, and why Michael is more optimistic about the future of healthcare today than he has ever been. Michael and Michael dig into: * Why value-based care sounds easy on paper and why actually living it inside a practice is a completely different story * How Pearl Health helps independent physicians succeed in MSSP and other Medicare programs * The role incentives play in changing physician behavior and where the system still gets it wrong * Why most things in senior care are predictable, and why predictable means preventable * How Michael thinks about leadership under pressure and why equanimity is a skill, not a personality trait * What Bridgewater and Oscar Health taught him about building in high-stakes environments * How Pearl thinks about technology investment and what he would do differently if he started over If you lead a healthcare organization, work in value-based care, build health tech, or advise the healthcare ecosystem, this conversation is for you. 0:00 Introduction and what Pearl Health does 2:40 What physicians say about value-based care when the cameras are off 4:59 Michael Kopko's origin story and early career curiosity 6:50 Why incentives are the real engine of behavior change in healthcare 9:30 What the transition from fee-for-service actually looks like in practice 11:46 Why this work is personal, not just professional 12:15 The mental model Michael returns to when things get hard 14:33 How Bridgewater and Oscar Health shaped his leadership style 15:07 Why progress is happening even when it does not feel like it 18:23 Does a healthcare innovator have the luxury of thinking long-term 19:33 If Pearl Health were a sports team 21:22 Where Pearl is strongest right now 22:20 How to follow Pearl Health and connect with Michael 23:20 What he would do differently if he started Pearl over today 24:30 Closing reflections on progress, patience, and purpose https://www.pearlhealth.com/ 📣 LIKE, COMMENT & SUBSCRIBE If this conversation moved you, challenged your thinking, or sparked an idea, share it with someone who needs to hear it. Subscribe for more episodes with healthcare leaders who are not just thinking differently, they’re building differently. About the Show The Advancing Healthcare Innovation Show is hosted by Michael Stamatinos, a nationally recognized connector, strategist, and advocate for innovation with purpose. Each week, Michael interviews healthcare leaders who are driving meaningful change—highlighting stories of access, resilience, equity, and transformation. The AHI Show started with the idea of wanting to highlight stories of what healthcare innovation truly looks like in action. Our mission, highlight real people who are really innovating within healthcare. Guests include healthcare entrepreneurs, providers, payers, and professionals from the investment community. We showcase little wins as well as valuable lessons learned from setbacks through these interviews. The real innovators in healthcare are often the ones in the trenches doing the work with razor-sharp focus. We find these innovators and bring their stories to light. 🔗 Michael’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelstamo 🎧 Subscribe for more episodes that move beyond theory and into the heart of what’s really possible in healthcare. Join our group, Advancing Healthcare Innovation Forum on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/7056196/

    26 min
See All (186)

About

Michael Stamatinos is a visionary leader with a deeply rooted passion for making healthcare accessible to all. He’s the founder of the Advancing Healthcare Innovation Consortium, where he leverages his two decades of experience in healthcare delivery, business development, and strategy to build ecosystems that enable sustainable growth.

Information