Healthcare Ops Wave

Graciela Soto Perez, CEO of Altura Centers for Health, joins Third Way Health CEO Frederik Mueller to share her 22-year journey leading one of California’s largest FQHCs. From starting as a candy striper to scaling Altura, and from one clinic to nine locations and three mobile units, Graciela reflects on leadership, technology, vendor relationships, and keeping mission-driven care at the center.⏱️ TIMESTAMPS(00:00) Intro(00:32) Meet Graciela Soto Perez, CEO of Altura Centers for Health(01:23) Altura Centers for Health: An Overview(05:49) Graciela's Personal Journey in Healthcare(18:35) Technological Advancements in Healthcare Operations(23:21) Handling Employee Workload and Referrals(24:26) Centralizing Calls and Referrals(26:23) Managing a Growing Organization(28:12) Communication Strategies in a Large Organization(30:19) In-House vs. Outsourcing Decisions(33:58) Trust and Vendor Relationships(39:48) Success Stories and Future Goals(45:33) Advocacy and Legislative Challenges(48:27) Final Thoughts and Closing Remarks🔔 Subscribe to Healthcare Ops Wave for more stories on the people shaping healthcare operations!🌐 Learn more about Altura Health and Graciela Soto:https://altura.org/🤝 Partnerships: healthcareopswave@thirdway.health🎙️ About Healthcare Ops Wave:Healthcare Ops Wave (HOW) dives into the people behind healthcare operations — exploring growth, strategy, and the systems that keep care moving.

Leslie Pennypacker, Executive Director of Tribeca Pediatrics, joins Third Way Health CEO Frederik Mueller to share how she helped grow the practice from a single neighborhood office to 51 locations across NYC, her unconventional path from bartending to healthcare, and how smart design, standardized systems, and scrappy team-building fueled Tribeca’s thoughtful scale - without losing its personal touch. They dive into growing pains, team structure, vendor relationships, and how to maintain quality and trust at scale.TIMESTAMPS:(00:00) Intro: Welcome to the Healthcare Ops Wave(00:20) Bartender to Healthcare Boss(04:02) Scaling from One to 51(06:50) Call Centers, Shelves & Systems(11:28) Growing Pains(18:33) Running 51 Clinics Smoothly(22:01) Daily Ops in Action(22:59) Letting Go (Sort Of)(24:16) Growth Phases & Data Wins(26:16) Data Is the Backbone(29:50) Outsourcing: Hits and Misses(38:28) Rapid Fire Round(38:45) Rethinking Mental Health Care(43:33) A Peek Into Leslie’s Week(45:16) Wrap-Up and Reflections 🔔 Subscribe to Healthcare Ops Wave for more episodes on the people driving healthcare operations forward!🌐 Learn more about Auxira Health and Inna:Website: https://www.tribecapediatrics.com/Auxira Health:  / tribeca-pediatrics  Leslie Pennypacker:   / about-this-profile  🤝 Work with us:For partnership opportunities, contact us at: healthcareopswave@thirdway.health🎙️ About Healthcare Ops Wave:Healthcare Ops Wave (HOW) dives deep into the humans behind health care operations. Learn from the best operators about growing business, streamlining operations, scaling up practices, and serving millions of patients. Brought to you by Third Way Health, subscribe for more!

Inna Plum is the co-founder and CEO of Auxira Health, a care delivery startup helping cardiology practices expand clinical capacity through virtual teams. She joins Third Way Health CEO Frederik Mueller to talk about scaling smart, building trust with providers, and why not everything needs to be automated.They cover her journey from private equity to frontline ops, lessons from Cityblock and MedArrive, and what it really takes to deliver high-quality care at scale—without losing the human touch.TIMESTAMPS:(00:00) Intro: Healthcare Ops Wave(00:31) From High School to Healthcare(01:45) Inna’s Path from Finance to Care Delivery(02:46) Startup Lessons from Blue Apron, Redesign, and Cityblock(06:01) Founding MedArrive + Building in a Pandemic(08:00) Launching Auxira & Rethinking Cardiology Care(15:04) Virtual vs In-Person Ops Models(20:52) Trust, Training, & Building in Teams(23:27) Outsourcing Without Losing the Patient Experience(25:34) Hiring for Fit and Accountability(30:17) Expanding the Model Across Specialties(32:43) Rapid Fire and Final Reflections🔔 Subscribe to Healthcare Ops Wave for more episodes on the people driving healthcare operations forward!🌐 Learn more about Auxira Health and Inna:Website: https://auxiliahealth.com.au/Auxira Health: https://www.linkedin.com/company/auxira-health/Inna Plumb: https://www.linkedin.com/in/innaplumb/🤝 Work with us:For partnership opportunities, contact us at: healthcareopswave@thirdway.health🎙️ About Healthcare Ops Wave:Healthcare Ops Wave (HOW) dives deep into the humans behind health care operations. Learn from the best operators about growing business, streamlining operations, scaling up practices, and serving millions of patients. Brought to you by Third Way Health, subscribe for more!

Jamie Reddick is the Chief Operating Officer of 93-year-old Graybill Medical Group, overseeing over 100 primary care physicians. In this episode, Jamie and Third Way Health CEO Frederik Mueller discuss rebuilding operations from the ground up after a cyberattack, the evolution of operating models in large physician groups, integrating vendor partnerships, and why autonomy and culture are central to designing patient-centered systems.TIMESTAMPS:(00:00) Intro: Healthcare Ops Wave(00:34) Meet Jamie Reddick: COO of a 93-Year-Old Medical Group(02:10) Jamie’s start in healthcare: from records to leadership(04:03) Scaling up and shifting operating models(06:00) Rebuilding operations after disaffiliation and a cyberattack(08:11) Designing a modern, autonomous operations model(10:24) Bringing utilization management and medical records in-house(13:03) The outsourcing balance: vendor strategy and integration(16:00) Jamie’s proudest achievement: continuity through chaos(18:00) Taking care of doctors to take care of patients(19:00) KPIs, system uptime, and staffing metrics(22:00) Managed care metrics and population health(23:40) What operators should focus on in 2025(24:00) How AI is reshaping care delivery and admin tasks(27:00) A day in the life of a healthcare COO🔔 Subscribe to Healthcare Ops Wave for more episodes on the people driving healthcare operations forward!🌐 Learn more about Third Way Health and Jamie’s work:Website: https://thirdway.healthThird Way Health LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/third-way-health/posts/?feedView=allJamie’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamie-reddick-586691249/🤝 Work with us:For partnership opportunities, contact us at: healthcareopswave@thirdway.health🎙️ About Healthcare Ops Wave:Healthcare Ops Wave (HOW) dives deep into the humans behind health care operations. Learn from the best operators about growing businesses, streamlining systems, scaling practices, and putting patients first. Brought to you by Third Way Health—subscribe for more!

Robb Munson, a seasoned healthcare exec, joins Frederik Mueller (CEO, Third Way Health) to share his journey from Kaiser customer service to leading major organizations. They dive into scaling ops, team leadership, and lessons from Robb’s bestseller Moving Forward on perseverance and growth.TIMESTAMPS:(00:00) Preview(00:53) Introduction to Healthcare Ops Wave(01:34) Meet Robb Munson: A Journey in Healthcare(02:12) Career Path & Milestones(05:22) Scaling Organizations: From Startups to Giants(08:52) Developing Leaders and Effective Communication(22:44) Personal Stories and Employee Engagement(28:34) Final Thoughts🔔 Subscribe to our channel for more healthcare operations insights and to listen to our podcast, Healthcare Ops Wave!🎙️ About Healthcare Ops Wave: Hosted by Third Way Health’s CEO, Frederik Mueller, Healthcare Ops Wave (HOW) explores the people powering healthcare operations. Gain insights from top operators on growing businesses, optimizing workflows, scaling practices, and delivering care to millions of patients. Subscribe for more!YouTube Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/@ThirdWayHealth-g9kSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1HTNdLPob2ADsytsDUimGU?si=61e07c76935a414fApple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/healthcare-ops-wave/id1774334723Learn more about Third Way HealthWebsite: https://thirdway.health/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/search/results/all/?fetchDeterministicClustersOnly=true&heroEntityKey=urn%3Ali%3Aorganization%3A34495912&keywords=third%20way%20health&origin=RICH_QUERY_SUGGESTION&position=0&searchId=8e45283f-b07e-4856-9b6d-fb87366f0f85&sid=fx!&spellCorrectionEnabled=falseInterested in meeting the team? Email us at contact@thirdway.health

In this episode, Frederik Mueller and Brandon Sim, CEO of Astrana Health, dive into how Astrana scaled their healthcare operations, the role of AI in healthcare, and what it takes to lead in value-based care. Brandon shares his journey from academia to leading a multi-state healthcare company, plus insights on building scalable processes and key growth metrics.TIMESTAMPS(00:00) Introduction and Initial Concerns(01:40) Brandon's Journey into Healthcare(04:09) From Project Manager to CEO(05:23) Scaling Ops & Tech(13:29) Outsourcing – What Works & What Doesn’t(18:33) Astrana’s Mission & Impact(21:46) What Running the Business Looks Like Day to Day(27:40) AI’s Role in Healthcare’s Future(29:30) Final Thoughts🔔 Subscribe to our channel for more healthcare operations insights and to listen to our podcast, Healthcare Ops Wave!🎙️ About Healthcare Ops Wave: Hosted by Third Way Health’s CEO, Frederik Mueller, Healthcare Ops Wave (HOW) explores the people powering healthcare operations. Gain insights from top operators on growing businesses, optimizing workflows, scaling practices, and delivering care to millions of patients. Subscribe for more!YouTube PlaylistSpotifyApple PodcastsLearn more about Third Way HealthWebsiteLinkedInInterested in meeting the team? Email us at contact@thirdway.health

Neil Machhar, CEO & co-founder of Greenbrook Medical, joins Frederik Mueller for a deep dive into revolutionizing senior primary care. Neil reveals the bold strategies behind bootstrapping, scaling, and keeping patient engagement at the heart of it all when launching Greenbrook in 2021. They break down key metrics, smart outsourcing, and hard-won lessons in building a high-touch, sustainable healthcare practice.TIMESTAMPS:(00:00) Introduction to Patient Engagement(01:17) Welcome to the Healthcare Ops Wave(01:42) Meet Neil Machar: Background and Journey(03:51) The Birth of Greenbrook Medical(04:27) Understanding the Business Model(05:30) Challenges and Insights on Risk Adjustment(10:40) Operational Strategies and Growth(13:11) Scaling and Leadership(22:22) In-House vs. Outsourcing Decisions(32:53) Metrics and Performance Tracking(36:00) Conclusion and Final Thoughts🔔 Subscribe to Healthcare Ops Wave for more episodes on the people driving healthcare operations forward!🌐 Learn more about Neil Machhar and Greenbrook Medical:Greenbrook Medical's Website: https://greenbrookmedical.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/greenbrook-medical/Neil Machhar: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neilmachhar/Twitter: https://x.com/machharneil?lang=en🤝 Work with us:For partnership opportunities, contact us at: healthcareopswave@thirdway.health🎙️ About Healthcare Ops Wave:Healthcare Ops Wave (HOW) dives deep into the humans behind health care operations. Learn from the best operators about growing business, streamlining operations, scaling up practices, and serving millions of patients. Brought to you by Third Way Health. Subscribe for more!

In this episode, Frederik Mueller sits down with Nick Soman, Co-Founder and CEO of Decent, who’s on a mission to shake up health insurance with direct primary care. Nick shares the highs and lows of building a business to make healthcare more affordable, from regulatory hurdles to reinventing Decent’s model for small businesses. He dives into the power of a lean, tech-driven team, clear communication with international partners, and why resilience and innovation are essential for transforming healthcare. TIMESTAMPS: (00:00) Intro & Nick’s Background (03:43) Evolution & Mission of Decent (08:45) Adapting to Operational Shifts (11:03) The Impact of Direct Primary Care (12:54) Facing Setbacks and Strategic Pivots (16:07) Rebuilding with a Smaller Team (20:38) Leveraging Global Talent AI (24:02) Challenges & Opportunities in Healthcare Jobs (25:40) Global Perspectives: Lessons from the Philippines (29:51) Effective Communication and Documentation (35:14) Leadership within Async Culture & Remote Work (41:01) Metrics and Goals: Measuring Success (44:16) Embracing AI: Disrupt Yourself (45:44) The Rising Cost of Healthcare 🔔 Subscribe to Healthcare Ops Wave for more episodes on the people driving healthcare operations forward! 🌐 Learn more about Decent & Nick Soman: Decent’s Website and LinkedIn Nick Soman's LinkedIn and Twitter 🤝 Work with us / Advertise on this podcast: For partnership opportunities, contact us at: healthcareopswave@thirdway.health 🎙️ About Healthcare Ops Wave: Healthcare Ops Wave (HOW) dives deep into the humans behind health care operations. Learn from the best operators about growing business, streamlining operations, scaling up practices, and serving millions of patients. Brought to you by Third Way Health, subscribe for more!

Julie Gessin, PA-C, is the COO of Schweiger Dermatology Group, a 90+ location dermatology practice with offices throughout NY, NJ, PA, CT, FL, IL, MN and MO, serving well over a million patients a year. Julie and Third Way Health CEO Frederik Mueller discuss lessons learned in managing operations, scaling up practices, outsourcing, and why it’s important for her to still see patients.