The Heart of Healthcare | A Digital Health Podcast

Nearly one billion prescriptions are abandoned at the pharmacy counter every year, often because patients are blindsided by the cost.
This week, co-host Halle Tecco is joined by Wendy Barnes, President and CEO of GoodRx, to discuss the chaos of prescription drug pricing, the murky world of Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs), and how digital tools are changing patient affordability. They break down the layered system of manufacturers, payers, and pharmacies that creates inconsistent pricing, and explore the current push for greater transparency.
We cover:
The cascade of drug pricing: from initial manufacturer costs and rebates to payer and pharmacy contracts, which results in vast price variability for consumers
What it would take to get to price transparency in drug pricing
The current pressures on PBMs, including efforts to ban "spread" and the practice of offshoring rebate contracting for tax advantages
Why pharmacies haven’t gone online like other areas of consumer goods
The future of medication access, including the growth of pharma’s direct-to-patient programs and the low current adoption of home delivery despite widespread retail pharmacy closures
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About our guest:
Wendy Barnes is the President and CEO of GoodRx. She has over 30 years of leadership experience across the pharmacy and medical benefit industry. Most recently, Wendy served as CEO of RxBenefits, where she led the company in providing pharmacy benefit support to more than 2,000 self-insured clients, representing over 3 million lives. Prior to that, she served as President of Express Scripts Pharmacy, overseeing operations for 100 million beneficiaries. Her leadership spans roles at Rite Aid, Premier Inc., and the U.S. Air Force, where she served as a Medical Service Corps Officer. She holds a B.S. degree in Biochemistry from the United States Air Force Academy and an M.B.A. degree from the University of Alaska Anchorage.
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Pete McCanna, CEO of Baylor Scott & White Health, believes that health systems are built around the wrong objective… and he has an ambitious goal to change that.
This week, Halle sits down with McCanna to unpack how one of the largest and most successful health systems in the country is shifting from a supply-driven model to one built entirely around the customer. They discuss why legacy systems operate like “walled castles,” what it takes to redesign care around real conditions instead of departments, and how Baylor Scott & White is testing a model that prioritizes access, personalization, and long-term trust over short-term profit.
We cover:
Why most health systems are structured to fill capacity, not create value for patients
The reason why he uses the term "customer" instead of "patient" (and how his colleagues initially responded)
How loyalty and trust make it economically sound to offer services that lose money.
The strategy for deploying AI to create product differentiation for patients rather than just improving internal efficiency
The limits of the “payvider” model and why it’s harder than it looks
The three healthcare laws he thinks need to be rewritten
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About our guest:
As CEO of Baylor Scott & White Health, Peter (Pete) McCanna is focused on empowering customers to live well by reimagining traditional healthcare—offering more convenient, personalized, and informed experiences. He is leading Baylor Scott & White’s customer-centric transformation by bringing together the system’s 59,000 team members around a common goal to keep people healthy and feeling connected and supported.
Before becoming CEO, Pete served as the health system’s president. In that role, he drove operational excellence, strengthened clinical alignment, scaled the system’s digital health platform, MyBSWHealth, and deepened academic partnerships to address the critical need for healthcare professionals.
Pete has nearly 40 years of industry experience. As executive vice president and chief operating officer at Northwestern Medicine, he exceeded targets for operating revenue, quality, patient experience, and employee engagement, making it one of the top 10 academic health centers in the country.
Known as a thoughtful and innovative leader, Pete formerly served as chief financial officer at New Mexico-based Presbyterian Healthcare Services and the University of Colorado Hospital.
Passionate about transforming healthcare, Pete was named one of Modern Healthcare’s “100 Most Influential People in Healthcare.” Driven by a deep sense of purpose, Pete currently serves as the inaugural board chair of Longitude Health, an innovative healthcare collaborative, and as a board member of University of Michigan Health, Texas Hospital Association, and Catholic Extension. He holds a master’s degree in Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin and a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Michigan.
Baylor Scott & White Health is the largest not-for-profit health system in the state of Texas. It includes 55 hospitals, more than 1,300 access points, a health plan, a research institute, and an accountable care organization, plus Levanto—a company offering digitally-enabled health solutions—and 3.5 million customers connected through MyBSWHealth.
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Snow notes:
Visit BSWHealth.com to learn more.
Download the MyBSWHealth app.
Explore Levanto.Health to learn about employer solutions built on Baylor Scott & White's digital platform and care model.
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We’re back with our monthly rundown of the top headlines in health tech!
Today, Halle flies solo to share the biggest stories that shaped Q1, from the rising pressures on PBMs to how consumers are using AI.
Stories covered:
What's happening to PBMs (it's not pretty)
New data from Rock Health on consumer use of AI
Social media companies find liable for addictive design
Healthcare hiring is slowing as efficiency becomes the focus
Have we finally bent the healthcare cost curve in the United States?
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Last year, his independent pharmacy spent $13 million on brand-name drugs for patients processed by the three biggest Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) which earned a profit margin of 0.01%.
In this episode, Halle speaks with Alec Ginsberg, owner and fourth-generation pharmacist at C.O. Bigelow, the oldest surviving apothecary–pharmacy in the United States. Alec is fighting against the forces squeezing independent pharmacies and charting a course for the future of the pharmacist.
We cover:
How the roll-up of PBMs, health plans, and retail pharmacies changed everything
What led him to remove his pharmacy’s Rx-filling robot
The dramatic decline of independent pharmacies along with the closures of big box pharmacy stores
The one health policy he would put in place today to save independent pharmacies
The history of the pharmacist's role and what’s next
What he really thinks about compounding pharmacies and the Hims vs. Novo lawsuit
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About our guest:
Alec Wade Ginsberg is the fourth-generation pharmacist, owner, and Chief Operating Officer of C.O. Bigelow Apothecary, America’s oldest pharmacy, founded in 1838 and still operating in New York City’s West Village. With a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of North Carolina Eshelman School of Pharmacy, Alec bridges the clinical world of pharmacy with the realities of modern consumer culture.
At Bigelow, he oversees the brick-and-mortar beauty retail and pharmacy operations, navigating everything from prescription drug shortages to the pressures of today’s PBM-dominated marketplace. Beyond the counter, Alec is the founder and writer of Drugstore Cowboy, a weekly newsletter that dissects the intersection of drugs, business, and consumer culture — making the hidden mechanics of the U.S. healthcare system both understandable and entertaining for thousands of readers.
His work has been featured across national media, and he’s become a trusted voice for translating complex pharmaceutical issues — from GLP-1s to compounding to drug pricing — into plain English. Alec’s mission is simple: to make Americans smarter about the pills in their cabinets and the system that puts them there.
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Show notes:
Drugstore Cowboy - Alec’s free and super interesting newsletter
C.O. Bigelow - The Nation’s Oldest Apothecary
Virtual GLP-1 startups: Pill mills or the future of obesity care?
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Chris Klomp, Director of Medicare and Deputy Administrator of CMS, and Senior Advisor to HHS Secretary RFK Jr., has big ambitions to reshape how healthcare works in the United States.
This week, ​​Steve sits down with Klomp to discuss how his experience as a digital health entrepreneur is guiding his current role overseeing a roughly $2 trillion department. Klomp shares the government's strategy for restoring trust between providers and payers, driving down costs, and addressing a system where approximately 90% of healthcare dollars are still spent in a fee-for-service arrangement.
We cover:
Why 90% of US healthcare remains fee-for-service after two decades of reform.
The intentional design of the new Access model to be deflationary and fuel entrepreneurship among insurgents.
The commitment from the payer industry to make prior authorization invisible to patients and providers by 2027.
CMS's aggressive stance on data interoperability and funding enforcement against data blocking.
How the Most Favored Nation policy is re-wiring global prescription drug supply to lower prices without compromising innovation.
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About our guest:
Chris Klomp is the Director of Medicare and Deputy Administrator of CMS, and Senior Advisor to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. With extensive experience in healthcare payment reform and data sharing, he built and led Collective Medical, the largest U.S. real-time care collaboration data network, acquired by PointClickCare in 2020. There, he partnered with health systems, plans, providers, post-acutes, and state governments to advance value-based care through enhanced data access and insights.
Chris has driven healthcare reform at state and federal levels, focusing on value-based care and interoperable health technology. Through Endurance Companies, a San Francisco-based multi-family office he co-founded with Stanford classmates, he has co-founded, invested in, advised, and served on the board of many innovative healthcare organizations, including Nomi Health, Maven Clinic, InnovaCare Health, and Health Joy. He also served as a Utah Senate-confirmed commissioner of the Utah Digital Health Services Commission, where he focused on leveraging technology for cost-effective, healthier outcomes. Previously, he was Vice President in Bain Capital’s North American Private Equity group and worked at Bain & Company. Recognized as Utah Business’ CEO of the Year and EY’s Mountain Region Entrepreneur of the Year, Chris holds a B.A. with honors in Economics and English from Brigham Young University and an MBA from Stanford.
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🙏 Thank you to our show sponsor, Quickstudy PR, story brokers for leading healthcare executives. Learn more about quickstudypr.com.
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