The Southwest Airlines Theory of Healthcare Transformation | Iora Health Co-Founder Rushika Fernandopulle
The Heart of Healthcare | A Digital Health Podcast · Halle Tecco
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Show Notes
Twenty years before value-based care became a healthcare buzzword, Rushika Fernandopulle was told he had to choose: be a doctor or join "the dark side" of business. Instead, he chose both – building Iora Health from a bootstrapped startup into a billion-dollar healthcare company. In this candid conversation, Fernandopulle reveals the unconventional journey that helped transform American healthcare, from midnight meetings in Las Vegas speakeasies to breaking every rule in the traditional medical playbook.
We cover:
💡 How bootstrapping for 7 years shaped Iora Health's success
🛫 The "Southwest Airlines Theory" of healthcare transformation
💰 The midnight meeting that led to a $4M investment from Zappos' Tony Hsieh
🔄 Why the employment-insurance link needs to break for real healthcare reform
🏢 The challenges tech giants face in transforming healthcare
💪 Why refusing to take "no" for an answer is Rushika's entrepreneurial superpower
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About our guest:
Rushika Fernandopulle is a practicing physician and former Chief Innovation Officer of One Medical, a leading Advanced Primary Care company based in San Francisco, CA. Before this, he was co-founder and CEO of Iora Health, was the first Executive Director of the Harvard Interfaculty Program for Health Systems Improvement, and Managing Director of the Clinical Initiatives Center at the Advisory Board Company. He is a member of the Albert Schweitzer, Ashoka, Aspen, and Salzburg Global Fellowships, and is co-author or editor of several publications. He serves on the staff at the Massachusetts General Hospital and on the faculty of Harvard Medical School. He earned his A.B., M.D., and M.P.P. from Harvard University, and completed his clinical training at the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts General Hospital.
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