The Groves Connection

Dr. Scott Fowler is president and chief executive officer of Holston Medical Group (HMG). A long time friend of mine, Scott is a regional leader in Kingston, Tenesse. Uniquely, Dr. Fowler has degrees in philosophy, politics, law, and medicine, and makes use of every aspect of his expertise. He has gained national recognition for HMG's performance, despite operating in an otherwise less central are...

Dr. Marjie Bessel has been a rock during the pandemic. As the Chief Clinical Officer for one of the largest integrated delivery systems in the country, Dr. Bessel knows first-hand about the profound responsibility of that role. Banner Health, where Dr. Bessel occupies this senior physician role, includes 30 acute care hospitals in 6 states, more than 50,000 employees and 3 academic medical centers...

Meet Dana Artinyan, health coach at Virta Health. Dana takes us on a journey from early influences and training to her current role as the first contact for patients who are enrolled in the Virta program and have made the commitment to reverse their diabetes. In our last episode we met both an academic physician that has devoted his life to studying diabetes as well as a grateful Virta patient. In...

In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Robert Ratner, the former  chief scientific officer and chief medical officer of the American Diabetes Association and have a conversation with both Dr. Ratner and a patient with diabetes, Chris Stewart, who is engaged in a transformational journey to address his disease head on. We discuss the scientific rationale and the real world results of this program off...

Krista Drobac is savvy, experienced and effective. If you want a quick primer on policy issues facing healthcare at present (especially telehealth) then this is the episode for you. Krista's expertise is broad, but her current focus is the extension of policies enacted during the pandemic that are in the best interest of patients. Krista is your advocate at the nation's capitol. She spends her day...

In this episode I interview Dr. Paul Conti a practicing psychiatrist and consultant who has a deep understanding of trauma and its consequences. He has a new book out entitled Trauma: The invisible Epidemic: How Trauma Works and How We Can Heal From It. I first heard Paul speak on Peter Attia's podcast, The Drive. From the moment he started, I knew that this was someone I had to know. He is insigh...

In this episode, I rebroadcast a keynote given live at an AristaMD virtual conference regarding e-consults. The taslk was designerd to provide context for the attendees regarding the history of medical knowledge management and digitally enabled care. I discuss the history of the intersection of healthcare with communication technologies, the definition of telemedicine and why it matters, and provi...

In this special edition of the Groves connection, Dr. Groves is interviewed by Sanjeev Agrawal. This is an audio-only rebroadcast of a portion of the Becker's Healthcare, LeanTaas virtual summit that first aired on December 7, 2021. While the bulk of the summit was focused on specific strategies to streamline hospital operations (worth a deep dive into the sessions), Sanjeev and Dr. Groves discuss...

In this episode we meet a veteran of consumer-focused strategy in healthcare. When I heard Michael O'Neil speak at the Health Management Academy, I wasted no time in asking him to do a show with me. Unlike many upstarts today, his company, Get Well Network ( www.getwellnetwork.com)  has been driving positive change across the continuum for more than two decades. Much has changed since he started G...

Warning: In this episode we will be discussing suicide, in particular, physician suicide. If you are sensitive to this topic, please skip this episode. If you are struggling, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. You are loved. You are not alone. This is a special edition of The Groves Connection. During the holidays we are delighted to have time with family and f...

What can healthcare learn from a seasoned attorney? Nathan Bays is among the most reliable sources of information about healthcare. He is dispassionate and never confused by the facts. This is not to say he doesn't have strong feelings about what should be done, rather he is able to predict what is likely to get done. Sometimes contrarian, but always based in reality, there is no more trustworthy...

Hal Andrews is the CEO of Trilliant Health. I first met Hal when I came to Nashville to interview Sanjula Jain for episode 13 of TGC, an episode I highly recommend for those of you interested in the future of healthcare analytics. I knew I wanted to spend more time with Hal and discover what led him to form and lead this company. Trilliant leverages mountains of data from a variety of sources to s...

Vasant Kumar is the CEO of CareCentra. In this episode we get to know Vasant's background and what led him to work at a major pharma company, the World Bank and finally, what chance circumstances led him to move to the United States and form first Scriptlogix and ultimately CareCentra. Vasant tells us how he operationalized the Nobel Prize winning concepts of behavioral economics and nudge theory,...

Hello connectors!   My very special guest today is my son: Alden Groves. As the editor, producer, and a consultant for The Groves Connection, Alden has been instrumental in shaping the show. I love connecting with industry leaders to discuss the ins and outs of healthcare, and Alden is the glue that makes it possible for me to share those conversations with you. He’s also an incredibly talented mu...

Thomas Grote is on a mission to make healthcare better. With 30 years of experience in the business of health insurance, foundational contributions to three payer-provider joint ventures, and a lifetime of wisdom, few are better positioned to make that happen. Follow Tom's story from tragedy to triumph and hear from the source about the principles, mentors and strategies that made that journey pos...

My guest today is Robert Pearl, MD. Dr. Pearl exemplifies the very best of physician culture as well as the vision of a world class leader in healthcare. In this episode we unpack his remarkable contributions to the healthcare field, as well as his courageous effort to shine a spotlight on the shortcomings of physician culture. We touch on his many careers:  As a skilled and respected physician pr...

Sanjula Jain, PhD. is a digital population health expert like no other.  Dr. Sanjula Jain is an executive educator and strategic advisor working with C-suite and senior leadership teams of healthcare organizations including the nation’s largest health systems, Fortune 500 pharmaceutical and medical device companies, and growth-stage digital health companies. She is the Senior Vice President of Mar...

In this episode I speak with Sami Inkinen. Sami and I discuss the unique opportunity that North America offers entrepreneurs, the quest for excellence, how his athletic pursuits provide balance as well as the underpinnings of his company, Virta Health that is transforming diabetes care by offering reversal of the metabolic disease process. We delve into philosophy just a bit as well. Please enjoy...

Rich Wood is one of the key architects of the CVS plans to bring nutrition science to a neighborhood near you. With degrees in both nutrition and exercise science and a background in teaching, he is well suited to the role. We explore his evolution as a leader, as a mentor and follow along as he learns the truth about what we eat and how it affects us. Have you considered that some of what you thi...

Dr. Regina Herzlinger is the Godmother of healthcare consumerism, and a champion of healthcare innovation. She was the first woman to become a tenured professor at Harvard Business School, and the first woman chair at Harvard, where she still teaches today. Titans of business and healthcare have found inspiration in her innovation courses, where she shares unmatched experience. Serving on the boar...

In this episode, I interview Dr. Zubin Damania aka ZDoggMD. Dr. Damania is an internet phenomenon like no other. He is smart, talented, irreverent and something of an enigma. ZDoggMD parodies, entertains and makes fun of the many flaws in our healthcare system. This is the comedian and performer that we all love. Zubin Damania MD, on the other hand, is a serious, analytic, and logical thinker with...

Richard Rolfes is the former CEO of a company called CAMCO , located in northern Kentucky. Camco manufactures chemicals under contract and can manage the whole process right through to fulfillment. The business typically manufactures a variety of cleaning products for multiple industries. It was an essential business throughout the pandemic, and never shut down. The business thrived under his lead...

Dr. Ara Feinstein is an actively practicing trauma surgeon at a level one trauma center, as well as the physician executive charged with engaging and influencing the largest multi-specialty physician group in the state of Arizona; in this capacity, he oversees hundreds of physicians encompassing dozens of specialties and subspecialties. As an associate professor of surgery at the University of Ari...

In this "Quick Connect" I review the mission of The Groves Connection, preview upcoming episodes, share a personal story and reflect on the impact of the pandemic for those who have lost loved ones. I end with poetry and finally the hope of brighter things to come.

Melissa "Missy" Duke, PharmD is an inspiration to anyone who is facing obstacles in realizing their dreams. Today she is the Executive Director of Population Health Pharmacy Solutions in a 10 billion dollar integrated delivery system. We cover her story from humble beginnings to broken dreams and soon after learn about her indomitable spirit and solid work ethic and finally, how these character tr...