Working Healthcare

Working Healthcare

The American healthcare industry represents $4.5 trillion annually and accounts for nearly one-fifth of our nation’s Gross Domestic Product. Not only did I grow up the daughter of a doctor and social worker, but I am also the CEO of a medical center and university healthcare educator, having worked in the healthcare industry for nearly 20 years. In a weekly podcast, Working Healthcare, I will interview varied healthcare leaders with the goal of making you more aware, not angrier, by helping you to make sense of an increasingly upside-down industry. We will dive deep into the many professions within healthcare to breakdown how American healthcare and health insurance works, explore opportunities in this continuously growing field and bring you the outrageous and absurd by enlightening you on its inner workings.

Episodes

August 19, 2025 56 mins

Hit play to hear how a rock-and-roll project manager became the founder trying to fix everyday healthcare chaos. Join Working Healthcare’s Meredith Hirsh as Steve Lewis recounts Bowe’s premature arrival at 34 weeks and the binder that sparked Nabu, a patient-controlled record built to unite scattered data. We dig into why 80% of information is forgotten between the exam room and the parking lot and how that fog fuels 1.5 million ER...

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Tune into this episode of Working Healthcare to learn how the One Big Beautiful Bill Act could reshape rural health care as Meredith Hirsh and Mike Chavez interview policy leader Carly Salamone. With a dozen years in rural hospital care, Carly is now President of Vantage Healthcare of Ohio where is leads policy for several member hospitals. She breaks down the bill’s proposals, its impact on hospital payments and Medicaid, and what...

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Hit play to hear how one nurse shattered ceilings on her way to the c-suite. In this episode of Working Healthcare, Meredith Hirsh and Mike Chavez sit down with Heather Woolf, Vice President of Operations at the Hospital for Special Surgery, for a powerful conversation on gender equity in healthcare leadership. Heather shares her bold journey from the bedside to the boardroom, revealing the systemic barriers that still hold women b...

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Discover how smart strategies and bold decisions are transforming independent healthcare. In this episode of Working Healthcare, Meredith Hirsh and Mike Chavez sit down in the studio with Sean Travers, a seasoned healthcare expert dedicated to helping practices achieve sustainable, service-driven growth. Together, with over 60 years of combined healthcare business experience, they explore the power of ancillary services—like in-hou...

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Press play on a real conversation about staying independent in a system built for giants. In this episode of Working Healthcare, Meredith Hirsh and Mike Chavez sit down with Dr. Matthew Mundwiler, a private practice rheumatologist from Columbus, Ohio, to talk about what it really takes to survive—and thrive—outside of corporate healthcare. With operational costs up, physician autonomy shrinking and insurance denials on the rise, Ma...

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Join hosts Meredith Hirsh and Mike Chavez for a high-impact episode of Working Healthcare as they tackle one of the most urgent challenges in U.S. healthcare: the physician shortage. In this future-focused conversation, Dr. Daniel Solomon—a Harvard rheumatologist and health systems researcher—and Mark Elfers, a former Marine and now CEO of GreenCape Health, share how digital innovation is reshaping chronic care. Together, they unpa...

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Tune in to a powerful, solutions-driven conversation about youth mental health, education, and the growing physician shortage. Join host Meredith Hirsh for an in-studio Working Healthcare interview with Ali Kaufman—founder of Space of Mind and the Community Classroom Project—as they explore how America’s mental health crisis is impacting kids where it hurts most: inside the classroom. With fewer than one child psychiatrist for ever...

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Join host Meredith Hirsh, co-host Mike Chavez and psychiatrist Dr. Wendy Dean for a powerful episode of Working Healthcare that exposes the deeper crisis behind physician burnout: moral injury. Dr. Dean—author, podcaster and co-founder of the nonprofit Moral Injury of Healthcare—explains why so many clinicians are not just exhausted but ethically broken. Moral injury happens when healthcare professionals know the right course of ac...

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Private equity in healthcare is booming—and few people understand its impact like Dr. Robert Colton. In this remote episode of Working Healthcare, host Meredith Hirsh and co-host Mike Chavez connect with Colton—physician, entrepreneur and founder of MDVIP—from his base between Boca Raton and the mountains of North Carolina to unpack how private capital is transforming the way care is delivered. With experience scaling dermatology g...

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Join Meredith Hirsh and co-host Mike Chavez for an inspiring conversation with Christa Eitel, Executive Director of Finance and Operations at The Hirsh Center, as she opens up about navigating bold career shifts and finding courage in the chaos of working motherhood. In this episode of Working Healthcare, Christa shares how she transitioned from a career in higher education to the fast-paced world of private medical practice—learni...

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Before Jeff Scott escapes the Florida Capitol’s legislative madness for some well-earned peace and quiet on a boat, he sits down with Meredith Hirsh and Mike Chavez to make sense of the chaos. In this episode of Working Healthcare, we dive into what the 2025 Florida legislative session means for everyone in the healthcare space—what passed, what didn’t, and why it matters far beyond state lines. From supermajorities to Medicaid bat...

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Meredith Hirsh kicks off a new chapter of Working Healthcare with occasional co-host (and self-proclaimed sidekick) Mike Chavez. In this stand-alone episode, they take on everything from burnout and broken business models to why healthcare leadership sometimes feels like herding cats with a stethoscope. Mike’s testing the waters as co-host material—think of it as an on-air audition with fewer jazz hands and more talk about the busi...

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Season 2 of Working Healthcare has arrived, more timely, relevant, and thought-provoking than ever.
 
Join host Meredith Hirsh as she welcomes a dynamic lineup of clinicians, policy experts, students, and innovators for honest conversations about the forces reshaping healthcare today. From workforce challenges and systemic reform to the bold ideas emerging from the n...
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Join Meredith Hirsh in a special one-year anniversary episode of Working Healthcare! Today, we celebrate 52 episodes of exploring the American healthcare system and dive deep into the future of healthcare with a powerful, insightful discussion featuring the voices of Gen Z. From aspiring healthcare professionals to future leaders, these students share their unique perspectives on what healthcare means to them, how it needs to evolv...

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Listen in as Dr. Damian Caraballo—an emergency physician, health policy leader, and tireless advocate for healthcare reform—sits down with Meredith Hirsh after returning from a lobbying trip to Washington, DC. Damian breaks down how decades of policy shifts have tilted power toward insurance companies, sidelined physicians, and left patients buried under rising costs and limited access. He walks through pivotal moments in healthcar...

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Dig into the shifting landscape of healthcare leadership as Meredith Hirsh challenges executive coach and podcast host Karl Pister to unpack the evolving—and increasingly controversial—definition of professionalism in medicine. With more than 30 years of hands-on business experience and a background in clinical social work, Karl brings a rare blend of empathy, real-world insight, and executive wisdom. He’s worked with everyone from...

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Explore the hidden world of rare diseases in this in-studio interview with biotech veteran Peter Carbone. With passion and clarity, Peter explains how rare conditions—often affecting fewer than 200,000 people each—shine a spotlight on the cracks in our healthcare system. He unpacks why patients face years of misdiagnosis, endless referrals, and costly treatments, and how the system continues to leave 1 in 10 Americans behind. Mered...

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Tune in for a powerful conversation as Meredith Hirsh sits down with Mark Craig, Chief Executive of Write-Off Warrior and longtime revenue cycle expert turned national advocate. What began as a consulting career took a sharp turn when Mark watched his rural hospital clients shut their doors—not because of poor performance, but due to crippling underpayments and predatory insurance practices. Together, Meredith and Mark expose the h...

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Step into the studio with Meredith Hirsh for a candid, high-energy conversation with dynamic healthcare leader and master connector, Mike Chavez. to unpack what it really takes to lead—and thrive—in today’s complex medical landscape. At just 14, Mike learned the art of sales, and since then, he’s built national healthcare networks, launched game-changing ventures, and mastered the power of authentic connection. They dive into how h...

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It’s been a few months since Meredith Hirsh sat down with Justin Hand, Founder and Managing Director of Westcove Partners, and after some thoughtful reflection and feedback from you all, we are finally ready to drop this interview—just in time for April 15th, Tax Day. Trust us, you don’t want to miss this one! We’re diving deep into how healthcare transactions have evolved from the 1990s to today, and Justin offers a fresh perspect...

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