Episodes

Brian is an AVP of Business Development at Goodroot. "Goodroot is a community of companies committed to reinventing healthcare one system at a time." In this episode, we specifically focus on two of the solutions that Brian represents: 1. AlignRx, which is their pharmacy consulting arm for larger employers who need individualized expertise for their unique situations. 2. CoeoRx, which has prenegotiated Pharmacy benefit contracts and custom pharmacy benefit solutions for employers that offers...

How to Become Unstoppable in SaaS with TK Kader TK Kader is my latest guest on the @SelfFunded with Spencer podcast, where we discussed his successful track record as a SaaS entrepreneur, his company called "Unstoppable" where he helps other early-stage SaaS business owners scale their companies, as well as the outstanding YouTube channel that has over 36k+ subscribers, 1M+ views, 100k+ hours of watch time. TK is also an incredibly cool and down-to-earth guy, even gracious enough to come on my s...

I sat down with the CEO and Founder, Priscilla Romans to discuss the origin story of Graith Care, and how they are fighting every single day on behalf of Americans to ensure they are getting the best possible care for their unique situation. Patient Advocacy is all about empowering patients to regain control of their healthcare decisions. When they have informed consent, and are presented with all of their options, the patient should ultimately be able to make the decision that is best for them...

A Fiduciary's Guide to Data Analytics with Agility Innovation Partners. This episode is a follow-up to my video "The Consolidated Appropriations Act 101 - Comply or Die?" The Consolidated Appropriations Act, otherwise known as the CAA, established protections for consumers related to surprise billing and transparency in health care. Upcoming fines can and will be heavy, amounting to $100/day PER EMPLOYEE, which is substantially greater than the fines hospitals receiving for being non-compliant...

The Consolidated Appropriations Act 101 - Comply or Die? The Consolidated Appropriations Act, otherwise known as the CAA, established protections for consumers related to surprise billing and transparency in health care. Upcoming fines can and will be heavy, amounting to $100/day PER EMPLOYEE, which is substantially greater than the fines hospitals receiving for being non-compliant, which was only $300 total day. The goal for employers immediately is not to be perfect by 12/27/22, but to at leas...

Sarah is the Founder and CEO of Predictabill, a company that allows you to "compare the health insurance you have with what you could get, and see what’s different since last year." With Predictabill you can analyze options from your employer (including COBRA), your spouse’s employer, healthcare.gov, and more. Sarah spent 8 years in investment banking, and her area of expertise during this time was evaluating the impact that an organization's insurance expenses had on the valuation of the busin...

Cariloop provides coaching and support for the caregiver. Cariloop has been recently recognized as number 40 in the "Dallas 100", which means they are the 40th fastest growing company in Dallas/Fort Worth! In this episode, I sat down with their co-founder and CEO, Michael Walsh to learn more about Cariloop, as well as to hear his personal story of entrepreneurship. The Cariloop tagline is "take care of your loved ones with an experienced Care Coach in your corner." and they consider themselve...

Sales Mastery - Part 3 - Ryan Miller - Sales Performance Coach Ryan Miller is a highly sought after sales performance coach, and I am grateful that he helped me close out the 3-part miniseries of my podcast on "Sales Mastery" Ryan started off selling high-end wheels/rims for custom cars, and didn't discover the world of benefits until later in life. He also has overcome numerous personal challenges, from having a strained relationship with his father, developing bad habits in his teens and 20'...

Chris Hamilton is a Partner at Hotchkiss Insurance. He is also one of the best sales consultants I have met in the employee benefits industry, for which many of his peers agree. Chris, like me, didn't get into sales until his 30's, having spent the bulk of his career before that in investment banking. His ability to discuss financials, coupled with his experience in Mergers and Acquisitions, helped prepare Chris to have very complex conversations with business owners. Chris is the antithesis o...

Sales Mastery - Part 1 - Jennifer Bryson - Mercer This is the first installment of a 3-part series dedicated to sales mastery. Not only is Jennifer Bryson an absolutely lovely human being, she is always a killer producer! She had a career-defining year in 2021 for Mercer and we talked about everything from how she builds long standing relationships, to her keen recognition of when to pull in other rockstars on her team to help solve big problems for her clients. Although Jennifer and my next...

Paul Carter is the Chairman/CFO of HMA. Hawaii Mainland Administrators (HMA) is a full service TPA that seeks to be one of the premier managed healthcare organizations in the country through technology and information-based managed care. We covered a ton of info in an hour, and this episode will be especially for my self-funded gurus out there. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/spencer-harlan-smith/support

The Metaverse for Business with John Beaman of the Elevare Club. In this episode we cover the Elevare Club, the Metaverse, digital transformation, digital real estate, the blockchain, NFT's and more! John not only has a undergraduate degree and an MBA, but he is also certified in something called "Digital Transformation". What that means is he can help small business owners digitize their business, moving from the analog world of paper documents and wet signatures, into the digital world of we...

Your Network is Your Net Worth - Scott Smith - TRUE Network Advisors. I took the podcast on the road to Guntersville, Alabama, home of Scott Smith and his company - TRUE Network Advisors. TRUE is a coalition of employee benefits brokers, seeking to enhance their network and collaborate with other strategic benefits advisors to grow their practices. TRUE is unique in that they have created an extraordinary engaging member experience, with both virtual and in-person events that are all the buzz in...

NavMD is a Data Analytics Platform for Brokers in the Employee Benefits space. Glenn Fisher is the Managing Partner of NavMD and acquired the company back in 2018. He is also one of the flat out coolest guys I know! Glenn is also a serial entrepreneur, having built businesses in the waste management space, FinTech, and now in Data Analytics at NavMD. The focus of episode 62 is the power of having a data analytics platform for your employers. If you want to know what is driving your claims cost...

Can you warranty spine surgery? Jamie Rindler, CEO of Marvel Group believes you can, and that is exactly what his company does! Marvel Group offers a Surgical Outcome Warranty for Spine patients. The warranty itself is actually supported by the medical device manufacturer, which augments their own product warranty. In exchange, the device providers get data in return that helps them improve their products, and understand what is, and is not, working. The revolutionary part is that the benefit of...

Modernizing Benefits Consulting at Genesys Health, with Chief Strategy Officer Matt Monahan. Genesys puts a large emphasis on Population Health Management in their practice, helping members navigate their healthcare journey with actionable data, guidance, and support. Matt has an extensive background from the carrier world with Aetna, having spent a 12 year period as a large group rep. He started at GE/Genworth as a group rep as well, after a short period of time playing semi-pro rugby. Matt ...

What is a High Performance Healthcare Network, and how does it improve the quality of care, while delivering lower costs? Blake is a native Texan, with a history of working on the "supply-side" of healthcare within hospital systems. This gives him a unique perspective on the problem of controlling the costs of healthcare delivery. Blake spent time in the Navy, with his inspiration to enlist coming as a result of 9/11. EHN's purpose is to "Provide quality health benefits for your employees whi...

Emergency Medical Transport 101. Everything you need to know about Emergency Medical Transportation, and how MASA MTS is helping control the insanely high cost of ground, and air transportation. Will Winters is Vice President, Broker and Strategic Partnership Sales, and is also an ex-Emergency Medical Technician (EMT). He learned a lot on the job as an EMT, was exposed to some very traumatic events, and ultimately decided he was better suited outside of the system selling a solution to employe...

How CBD Works with the CEO of CORGANICS, Chad Collins. Have you ever wondered about CBD? What is it? How does it work? Is it actually real, or placebo? Then this is the episode for you! I sat down with Chad for Episode 57 to discuss his Company called CORGANICS, and how they are "bridging the gap between healthcare professionals and their patients when it comes to understanding and treating the endocannabinoid system." Chad referenced a 2019 Gallup poll, that showed 1 in 5 Americans was taking s...

The Modern TPA - Tech when you need it, people when you don't. In episode 56 of Self-Funded with Spencer, I sit down with the CEO of HealthSmart, Craig Julien. Craig is a fascinating person, being an avid Triathlete, Mountain Climber, and a World Record Skydiver, while also running a very successful Third Party Administrator. Throughout his career, Craig has always been willing to raise his hand to take on more responsibility, or a new opportunity, even moving to India for a few years to run a...

There are people that have dreams. There are people that execute dreams that other people have. Few people get to do both. Those people are entrepreneurs. That’s the core message that Seth Denson, Head of Benefits for Acrisure, delivered on Episode 55 of the “Self-Funded with Spencer” podcast. In this episode we discussed his successful journey as an entrepreneur, as well as his second career as a business analyst for some of the largest news outlets in America. I’m grateful to call Seth a frien...

Jared Pope is the Founder of Work Shield, and a self-described "recovering attorney" to discuss the origins of his company and the solution they provide. Recognizing the gross inefficiencies in the way companies currently handle internal misconduct, Jared recognized an opportunity to deliver a better dispute resolution service, that was unbiased, faster, and easier to implement than most "Check-the-box" options on the market today. Work Shield is on a mission to change the way organizations and ...

The Power of SimplePay Health, a discussion with Wally Gomaa, Co-Founder. Wally has an extensive track record of success in the healthcare and employee benefits industries, and his latest venture - SimplePay - is an exciting new solution to help bring "Price Certainty" to the health insurance world. SimplePay Health - Where happy and health plan live together. https://www.simplepayhealth.com/ --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/spencer-harlan-smith/support

John shares his own experience with Burnout at 41, which nearly cost him his life, and we discuss the challenges that men have in discussing their mental health with others, even with the typical EAP offerings most employers provide their employees today. It is even harder for people like John, who had been a pastor at a church for his whole career up that point, and who was perceived as a community leader, to express feelings of fear, weakness, emotional pain, etc. because of concerns of how hi...