Under the Same Sky

Access to high-quality healthcare is a cornerstone of thriving communities, and community health centers have a vital role of in the healthcare landscape. In this episode of Under the Same Sky, host Abner Mason welcomed Francisco Silva, President and CEO of the California Primary Care Association (CPCA), for an in-depth conversation about community health centers. Francisco shared his personal jou...

The rising cost of prescription medications is a growing concern for many individuals, particularly those with chronic illnesses or life-threatening conditions. Despite remarkable medical advancements that provide better treatment options and improve quality of life, affordability remains a major barrier. In this episode of our series, host Abner Mason met with Tamala Risher, a patient assistance...

In this episode of our series, host Abner Mason speaks with Dr. Shantanu Agrawal, Chief Health Officer for Elevance Health to discuss activating whole health. Their conversation explored the importance of removing barriers to health, fostering partnerships with community-based organizations, and more.

In this episode of our series, host Abner Mason speaks with Crystal Ayoob, MHA, RDN, and Michael Gonzales, both of Umoja Health. The company combines healthcare, nutrition, and logistics expertise to deliver to quality, healthier food nationwide through partnerships with food banks, healthcare providers, and government agencies. This enables their partners to better address food insecurity. In the...

In this episode of our series, host Abner Mason speaks with Daryl Twerdahl, executive director for Meals on Wheels California, the umbrella organization for local Meals on Wheels organizations across the state. Abner and Daryl discussed what goes into the mission to improve the lives of seniors, persons with disabilities, and their families through nutrition, resources, advocacy, and connection —...

In this episode of our series, host Abner Mason speaks with June Simmons, president and CEO of Partners in Care Foundation. They will discuss her journey to patient-centered care and her current work as a health equity leader. June is an esteemed health care executive who stands at the forefront of patient-centered care integration. As the founding President and CEO of Partners in Care Foundation,...

In this episode of our series, host Abner Mason speaks with Tracy Watts. She's a Senior Partner and US Leader for Healthcare Policy at Mercer. She advises large employers on their health benefit strategies for active and retired employees. A consultant with Mercer for over 35 years, she’s widely quoted as a spokesperson for Mercer's survey of employer sponsored health benefit plans, and is a lead...

In this episode of our series, host Abner Mason speaks with David Michaels, PhD, MPH. Dr. Michals is an epidemiologist, and former Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Currently, Dr. Michaels is a professor at the George Washington University School of Public Health.  In this conversation, Abner and David focus on the National Commission on Cli...

In this installment of our series, host Abner Mason speaks with Mark Savage, Managing Director with Savage & Savage. A civil rights litigator by training, Mark has a long history as a public advocate. Today, he continues this work by making a difference through electronic health information technologies, promoting both adoption and refinement of health data sharing standards. California-based,...

In this installment of our series, Abner Mason hosts a discussion with Susan Rawlings Molina, CEO of GroundGame. Health, and Chris Burrows, a Community Engagement Resource Specialist with the company. Recently, SameSky Health merged with GroundGame. Health, and in this episode, we discuss how GroundGame. Health helps people overcome health-related social needs, and how the merger with SameSky Heal...

In this installment of our series, Abner Mason, founder and CEO of SameSky Health, hosts a discussion with Erica Galvez, CEO of Manifest MedEx, California’s largest nonprofit health information network (also known as an HIE, or health information exchange). In 2024, California plans to focus on advancing health and social services data sharing and connecting the California health ecosystem to tran...

In this episode, Abner Mason, founder and CEO of SameSky Health, hosts a discussion with Chris Gibbons, MD, MPH, founder and CEO of The Greystone Group, Inc.  At the beginning of 2023, we at SameSky Health highlighted health equity predictions for the year from more than a dozen influential health equity leaders, and in this special episode of Under the Same Sky, Abner and Chris will review those...

In this episode, Abner Mason, founder and CEO of SameSky Health, hosts a discussion with Myechia Minter-Jordan MD, MBA and Kaz Rafia, DDS, MBA, MPH. Dr. Minter-Jordan is president and CEO, and Dr. Rafia is chief health equity officer, both of CareQuest Institute for Oral Health. Together they offered some informed, unique perspectives on the need for medical-dental integration in this wide ranging...

In this episode, Abner Mason, founder and CEO of SameSky Health, hosts a discussion with Yusuf N. Henriques. Yusuf is the founder and CEO of IndyGeneUS AI and IndyGeneUS Global (the name is pronounced as "indigenous"). Leveraging his experience at the FDA, in the military, and in academia, Yusuf founded IndyGeneUS to bring genomic medicine to underrepresented populations. As genomics companies, th...

In this episode, Abner Mason, founder and CEO of SameSky Health, hosts a discussion with J. Nwando Olayiwola, MD, MPH, FAAFP. Dr. Olayiwola (often referred to as "Dr. O") serves as the chief health equity officer of, and is a senior vice president at Humana. In their conversation, they focused on priorities, experiences, and key initiatives to advance health equity, with a special focus on health...

In this episode, Abner Mason, founder and CEO of SameSky Health, hosts a discussion with Kevin Dedner, MPH. Kevin is an seasoned public health executive with over twenty-five years of experience in solving complex public health problems. Kevin is currently working to launch an AI-powered platform to provide trustworthy health information, referrals to care, and care support to traditionally unders...

In this episode, Abner Mason, founder and CEO of SameSky Health, hosts a discussion with Dr. Leo Anthony Celi of the Laboratory for Computational Physiology at MIT. As a thought leader in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare, the conversation focuses on its role in healthcare, as well as the opportunities and challenges that Dr. Celi is concerned about as the healthcare industry m...

In this episode, Abner Mason, founder and CEO of SameSky Health, hosts a discussion with Jane Sarasohn-Kahn of Health Populi and the founder of strategic health consultancy THINK-Health. Jane is a health economist, author, and healthcare thought leader who has spent her entire career in the healthcare space, both observing, and helping shape how healthcare is delivered and accessed. Their conversa...

Maternal mortality rates in the United States are more than three times that of most other high-income countries, but the news is even more startling for Black women in the US: just over 55 deaths per 100,000 live births — nearly 3x the rate as for white women here. Addressing these issues was one of the driving forces in the creation of Mahmee, who offer a unique and holistic approach to supporti...

Overcoming health disparities and guiding members to the care they need can challenge even the most committed health plans because individuals differ in how they understand, engage with, and use the current US health system. Establishing relationships and actually getting to know members is the first step that needs to be taken in order to build trust and uncover barriers. Listen as Abner Mason, f...

As the Continuous Enrollment Provision comes to an end, health plans are concerned about reaching and engaging millions of members concerning Medicaid eligibility and enrollment requirements.  In this episode, Abner Mason, founder and CEO of SameSky Health, hosts a discussion surrounding these challenges with Samantha J. Murphy, Industry Advisor – Health Plans/Payers for Salesforce.

The National Committee for Quality Assurance, better known simply as NCQA, is playing a key role in the transformation of healthcare, incorporating health equity into their widely respected healthcare quality programs. Our guest for this episode leads the development and growth of those efforts at NCQA, aiming to make healthcare more equitable and accessible for people across the country — and mak...

Health equity and social determinants of health (SDOH) have become big buzzwords that are requiring action from all sectors within the healthcare industry. What can payers do now to help navigate through the challenges that come along with the new requirements of advancing health equity? In our ongoing discussion series, Under the Same Sky, our founder and CEO Abner Mason recently chatted with Dr....

Wellth CEO and Co-Founder Matt Loper recently joined our Founder and CEO Abner Mason to discuss the concept of member incentives as member investments for an episode of Under the Same Sky. Wellth rewards its members for sticking with care habits and they’ve found that those rewards are often used to address issues directly related to social determinants of health. By putting power back in the hand...

As technology continues to evolve, so too does its role in healthcare. But how can it be used to help advance health equity? Nicole Cook, founder and CEO of alvee and Dr. Geeta Nayyar, chief medical officer at Salesforce recently discussed this topic with our Founder and CEO, Abner Mason. Dr. Geeta Nayyar is the Chief Medical Officer at Salesforce. She is a specialist in Rheumatology and an Associ...