What happens when a practicing physician steps into the world of employee benefits?

In this episode of Broken Benefits, Lee Lewis sits down with Dr. Lowell Fernander, a physician-turned-benefits executive whose career has taken him from healthcare systems in the United Kingdom and Europe to helping lead healthcare strategy for one of America's largest employers.

Drawing on his unique experience in clinical medicine, health informatics, provider strategy, and benefits leadership, Dr. Fernander offers a rare perspective on the challenges facing healthcare today. From the philosophical differences between healthcare systems around the world to the realities of employer-sponsored healthcare in the United States, this conversation explores what employers can learn from global approaches to care delivery.

Along the way, Dr. Fernander shares why benefits leaders have an enormous responsibility in shaping healthcare outcomes, how data can uncover opportunities for better care, and why collaboration across the healthcare ecosystem is essential if we hope to improve outcomes while controlling costs.

If you're an employer, benefits professional, healthcare leader, or simply interested in the future of healthcare, this is a conversation you won't want to miss.

Chapters:

0:00 Every Healthcare System Has Problems

0:28 Welcome to Broken Benefits

1:25 How a Physician Ended Up Leading Benefits Strategy

4:28 What America Can Learn from European Healthcare

8:02 Is Healthcare a Right or a Privilege?

10:42 Why the U.S. Healthcare Debate Misses the Point

13:00 The Real Problem: Access to Care

17:03 Healthcare Deserts and the Hidden Cost of Poor Access

21:03 Employers Shape Healthcare More Than They Realize

25:03 Why Data Is the Foundation of Better Benefits

29:00 Looking Beyond Cost Savings

33:00 The Employee Engagement Problem

37:00 Building Better Healthcare Experiences

40:00 The Impact of Social Determinants of Health

44:00 Why Healthcare Is an Ecosystem Challenge

48:02 Where Employer Healthcare Goes Next

50:06 Closing Thoughts