Inside Reproductive Health Podcast

“They expect us to be perfect.”

That’s how Dr. Jamie Grifo, Chief Executive Physician of the Inception/Prelude Network, describes the expectations placed on reproductive endocrinologists from patients, payors, and policymakers alike.

And while perfection may be impossible, preparation and partnership aren’t.

He discusses:

– Why NYU Langone has three in-house genetic counselors in their REI department

– How they counseled over 700 new pa...

Embryologists have a lot riding on the line.

Bad supplies can cause big problems. Good supplies can create big improvements.

Either way, success rates and patients’ lives hang in the balance. Every detail in the IVF lab matters.  “Good enough” can cost more than it saves, because only the highest standards protect consistency, outcomes and trust..   

We’re joined this week by two of the most respected leaders in embryology. Dr. Michae...

How are clinicians doing?

Patients are expecting more, offering less gratitude, and leaving negative reviews faster than ever. Sound familiar?

Dr. Alice Domar, Chief Compassion Officer at Inception, talks about the emotional toll of working in reproductive medicine and what can be done about it.

Dr. Domar shares:

– Practical strategies for burnout prevention

– The one small intervention proven to improve patient retention

– Results from ...

What will the IVF lab look like in five years?

Trying to predict and shape that response is Dr. Denny Sakkas, Chief Scientific Officer at Boston IVF and head of the scientific advisory board for AutoIVF.

In this episode of Inside Reproductive Health, Dr. Sakkas about what automation really means for embryologists, and how new technologies could transform lab operations, chain of custody, and patient safety.

Dr. Sakkas shares:

–...

Lab directors, how do you make sure your concerns actually reach ownership?

Vendors, how are you being vetted by the groups you serve?

This week on Inside Reproductive Health, Amy Jones, Chief Quality Officer of Ivy Fertility, talks about how one of the country’s leading networks evaluates quality, chooses partners, and plans for growth.

Amy shares:

– The specific criteria Ivy uses to vet vendors for cryostorage and digital witnessing

–...

What’s the definition of a cartel, and has the way we pay for care created one in fertility?

This week on Inside Reproductive Health, two practice-owning REIs with very different models join Griffin to push that question hard. Dr. Robert Kiltz (CNY Fertility) and Dr. Francisco Arredondo (Pozitvf IVF & The IVF Academy) dig into the economics, the ethics, and the possible alternatives to the status quo.

They discuss:

• Dr. Arredon...

If you’ve ever tried to get doctors, embryologists, and executives on the same page…you’ll want to hear this one.

In this episode of Inside Reproductive Health, Dr. Alison Bartolucci (CSO) and Cara Reymann (CEO) of First Fertility talk candidly about leadership, lab management, and network-wide decision-making.

They discuss:

– The emotional cost of leading a fertility network

– When to build consensus (and when to just drive the bus)

– ...

Overwhelm. Anxiety. Cases that stay with you.

That’s how some of the field’s most experienced professionals describe genetics in reproductive medicine today.

In this episode of Inside Reproductive Health, we brought together leaders from RMA, CCRM, Shady Grove, and GeneScreen to talk about the genetics overload in modern ART.

They talk with Griffin about:

• The liability landmine that genetics has become

• Why one lab’s “positive” is an...

Doctors used to dream not just of earning well, but of controlling how they practiced and how they cared for patients.

Doctors Cristin Slater, Kevin Maas, and Kyle Tobler—partners at the independently owned Idaho Center for Reproductive Medicine—explain why that dream feels so far away for many.

Here’s what we cover:

• Why Dr. Maas says he’d never go back to a private equity-owned network

• Hidden legal clauses & earn-outs that can...

Beth Zoneraich, CEO of Pinnacle Fertility, is back on Inside Reproductive Health to share the hard numbers and the deeper philosophy behind what she calls the Pinnacle Operational Model.

We deep dive into::

• Why they automate the back end of patient care (but never the front)

• How 3,000 unanswered phone calls became 500 new patients

• The “J curve” of operational change (where things get worse before they get better)

• Whether business le...

With a very limited number of genetic counselors nationwide, it’s impossible for every fertility patient to see one. Clinics like RMA New York are getting strategic.

In this week’s episode of Inside Reproductive Health, genetic counselor Teresa Cacchione explains why genetic counseling in IVF is becoming increasingly critical and complex.

Teresa discusses:

• Why and how RMA-NY relies on a partner called GeneScreen Why even low-risk ...

They were lucky.

The gas to the incubator stopped flowing, but XiltriX caught the failure in time, no embryos were lost… and no headlines were made.

But what happens if the next failure isn’t?

In this episode, Dr. Matthew “Tex” VerMilyea of Ovation and US Fertility, and Moises Eilemberg, CEO of XiltriX North America, return to Inside Reproductive Health to ask a hard question:

What would your lab do in a crisis?

You’ll hear:

• The cata...

What happens when managed care surges in IVF, reimbursements drop, and physicians are expected to do more work for less?

Dr. Ravi Gada and Manish Chhadua are back on the show, and they don’t hold back. Dr. Gada is a partner at one of the largest independently owned practices in the United States and he and Manish co-own and operate a firm called CloudRx, 

In this episode, they dig into:

• What 70 fertility centers are doing ...

From a founding partner about to retire, to an associate just out of fellowship, all five REIs at Carolina Conceptions sat down to share their takes on staying private, staying aligned, and staying real.

Carolina Conceptions invited us in, and we talked real talk about:

• The golden parachute of private equity (and why they’ve resisted it)
  

• The tension between high-touch care and the operational demands of growth
  

• How they’re n...

I've captured and interrogated one of fertility doctors’ enemies…a lawyer.

But this one’s on your side.

Matthew Maruca has served as General Counsel for Inception Fertility since 2019, and he’s here to walk you through the legal threats and legislative currents shaping the future of fertility care. 

While this episode isn’t legal advice, Matt brings insight into how reproductive health is being fought for, and fought a...

Fertility doctors are burnt out.

Not all of them, but enough to warrant a real conversation.

Dr. Jason Yeh is a full-time fertility physician, a national medical director, an academic-turned-industry leader—and very much in the thick of this discussion.

In this episode, we unpack the often unspoken reality of REI burnout and why so many are struggling to stay engaged after a decade in the field.

In this conversation, Dr. Yeh shares:

What if your clinic could see 80 new patients while saving 80 hours of physician time… per doctor… per month?

That’s what Dr. Mark Amols and his team at New Direction Fertility Center are working toward—while maintaining a 9 out of 10 rating across hundreds of patient reviews.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• The top-of-license model (From REIs to admin staff)

• How to structure visits to dramatically reduce physician hours

• What operatio...

Where do business insight and patient experience come together?

In this week’s episode, Dr. Eduardo Hariton shares his POV on cost reductions, business opportunities, and what fertility tech gets right (and wrong) when designing for doctors and patients alike.

We talk about:

• 70% or 10%, differences in IVF conversion rate

• How to reduce patient drop out

• How to measure real IVF conversion rates

• Where Cercle fits in the fertility tech st...

What if 25–35% of patients in the U.S., Canada, or Europe left for equal-quality IVF at a quarter of the cost?

In this episode we take you back to Mexico City, round zero for what may be the next global IVF surge.

Juan Moctezuma, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Reina Madre, and Daniel Madero, CEO of Fertilidad Integral, join the show to discuss:

• The hub-and-spoke model fueling their growth

• How they plan to scale egg freezing and IVF natio...