Delivering Value-Based Care for Diverse Communities with Dr. Michael Poku

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Episode Overview: 

What if we could transform healthcare for underserved communities by empowering independent practices to deliver value-based care? Our next guest, Dr. Michael Poku, is doing just that as Chief Clinical Officer at Equality Health.

With extensive experience in clinical leadership, medical informatics, and value-based care models, Dr. Poku is spearheading a transformative approach that equips independent practices with technology, care coordination, and hands-on support to optimize whole-person care for diverse populations, especially those on Medicaid.

Join us as Dr. Poku shares his journey and Equality Health's mission to eradicate healthcare disparities via their pioneering model that is driving better outcomes, reducing costs, and delivering value-based care for diverse communities. Let’s go!

Episode Highlights:

• Equality Health's mission to eradicate healthcare disparities by empowering independent practices to deliver value-based care for underserved, diverse communities, especially those on Medicaid.
• Dr. Poku's background spanning clinical leadership, medical informatics, and expertise in value-based care models positions him uniquely to drive Equality Health's innovative approach.
• Equality Health provides independent practices with technology, care coordination tools, and hands-on support to optimize performance and outcomes in value-based care.
• The transformative model meets practices where they are, helping under-resourced clinics adopt value-based care to improve patient health while increasing financial sustainability.
• Dr. Poku's vision for leveraging AI, predictive analytics and a "do good, do well" mentality to bring greater health equity through data-driven, whole-person care.

About our Guest: 

Dr. Michael Poku is an accomplished healthcare executive with extensive experience in clinical leadership, medical informatics, and value-based care. Prior to serving as the Chief Clinical Officer for Equality Health, he was Senior Medical Director at Oak Street Health, overseeing multiple clinical teams and driving innovative models of value-based care delivery, resulting in improved patient outcomes and increased operational efficiency. His expertise lies in enterprise-wide strategy, clinical delivery innovation, medical cost management, and the development of technology-enabled and data-informed clinical tools and processes.

Dr. Poku was also previously Chief Medical Officer at NextHealth Technologies through the company’s acquisition by Softheon Technologies, where he formulated and executed clinical and product strategies for an AI-powered healthcare analytics platform. During his tenure, he successfully led client success, sales, and ongoing product development, optimizing informatics processes to enable health plan customers to achieve maximum ROI from their analytics investments. Dr. Poku also served as Senior Medical Director at Signify Health, where he developed and led clinical strategies and execution for complex care management and at-home wellness programs.

Dr. Poku continues to practice, holding academic faculty positions at various health systems. Throughout his career, Dr. Poku has authored numerous publications on topics such as care coordination, healthcare analytics, patient relationship management, and several topics at the intersection of healthcare and technology.

Dr. Poku received his MD from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School. He trained at Johns...