In this episode of The Innovators Podcast, host Jim Jorgenson is joined by pharmacy revenue cycle experts Maxie Friemel and Tim Miller to explore the often underestimated, and increasingly critical, world of pharmacy finances. The conversation goes well beyond billing, diving into key issues such as prior authorizations, denials, biosimilar adoption, charge structures, and payer audits. For hospital and health system leaders, the pharmacy revenue cycle presents both significant risk and opportun...
Jun 18, 2025•44 min•Ep. 36
In this episode, host Jim Jorgenson sits down with returning guest Dr. Alex Varkey to discuss big changes—both personal and professional. Since his last appearance, Alex has completed his term as President of the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) and made a major career move, leaving a successful role in health-system leadership to join Visante. Alex shares what motivated his transition, what it’s been like stepping into the consulting world, and what lessons he’s bringing with him from hi...
May 21, 2025•35 min
In this episode of the Pharmacy Innovators Podcast, host Jim Jorgenson is joined by two powerhouse voices in the 340B space: Kristin Fox Smith, Visante’s own 340B expert, and Ted Slafsky, Publisher & CEO of the 340B Report. Together, they dive into the latest political and regulatory shifts shaking the 340B landscape — from new Congressional leadership and pending legislation to the major reorganization of HHS and HRSA. The episode also explores Medicaid trends, judicial developments, contra...
Apr 23, 2025•33 min
In this episode, host Jim Jorgenson talks with Dr. Brianne Bakken, PharmD, MHA, Associate Professor at The University of Iowa College of Nursing, about the National Pharmacist Workforce Study (NPWS) and its impact on pharmacy. They explore key findings on burnout, job satisfaction, and staffing shortages, as well as how AI, telepharmacy, and policy changes are reshaping the profession. Dr. Bakken discusses her award-winning 2019 paper on discrimination and harassment in pharmacy and offers a pre...
Mar 19, 2025•37 min
In this episode of the Pharmacy Innovators Podcast, Visante CEO Steve Rough and President Phil Brummond dive into Visante’s Top Ten Issues Facing Health System Pharmacy in 2025 . This insightful discussion covers key topics such as alternative payment models, revenue cycle optimization, centralized medication access, and more—critical areas shaping the future of pharmacy practice. Join them as they explore how to advocate for essential resources, the expanding role of pharmacy services in health...
Feb 19, 2025•39 min
In this episode, we address audience-submitted questions about the 340B Program with Kristin Fox Smith and Sean Hall, two leading experts from Visante. Topics range from potential legislative changes and manufacturer rebate models to operational challenges and future program expectations. Whether you’re a healthcare professional or simply curious about the 340B Program, this episode offers valuable insights into the evolving landscape of this critical initiative.
Jan 19, 2025•22 min
In this episode, we’re joined by Dave Hager, Managing Director at Visante, and Lynn Thoma, Senior Director at Visante, as they share their key takeaways from the ASHP Midyear Conference. Dave and Lynn dive into the major themes shaping pharmacy practice, highlight perspectives that challenged or inspired them, and discuss how the conference content aligns with the current trends and challenges facing the industry. Don’t miss this insightful conversation as they break down the conference highligh...
Dec 18, 2024•34 min
In this episode, host Jim Jorgenson welcomes Dr. Jenna Swindler, Vice President of Pharmacy Services at McLeod Health System in South Carolina. Dr. Swindler shares her career journey and provides an overview of McLeod Health’s pharmacy operations. The conversation dives into the critical role of "systemness" in multi-hospital organizations, highlighting how McLeod defines and implements this concept, particularly in pharmacy practices. Dr. Swindler discusses McLeod’s comprehensive pharmacy strat...
Nov 20, 2024•30 min
In this episode, we are thrilled to welcome Dr. Kendrea Jones, Director of Pharmacy at Arkansas Children’s Hospital, to explore the unique challenges and opportunities in pediatric pharmacy. Dr. Jones shares her career journey, insights into the specialized pharmacy services at Arkansas Children’s, and how the hospital is tackling workforce shortages, high-cost therapies, and drug shortages. We also dive into the development of a specialty pharmacy to serve rural populations, innovations in prio...
Oct 16, 2024•26 min
In this episode, Jim Jorgenson talks with Joe Lassiter, Ghalib Abbasi from Houston Methodist and robotics expert Frederik Ebert about the growing role of AI in healthcare, focusing on medication use and technology. They discuss how AI enhances clinical decision-making and automation, while also addressing its potential to reduce administrative costs in hospitals. Tune in to explore how AI is transforming healthcare and improving patient outcomes.
Sep 18, 2024•32 min
The 340B landscape is constantly evolving, presenting both challenges and opportunities for healthcare providers. Visante is committed to helping organizations navigate the complexities that come with a 340B program. To stay informed, listen to our latest podcast on all things 340B. Our guests, Ted Slafsky, Publisher and CEO of 340B Report, and Kristin Fox-Smith, Senior Vice President at Visante, discuss critical topics such as: The evolving landscape of 340B advocacy The importance of data shar...
Aug 21, 2024•35 min
In this episode of Pharmacy Innovators, we delve into the critical roles of leadership and advocacy within hospital pharmacy settings. Hospital pharmacists are not only frontline healthcare providers but also leaders driving impactful change in patient care. Join us as we sit down with St. Luke's Vice President & Chief Pharmacy Officer, Kelley Curtis, who shares her insights on navigating the complexities of healthcare systems. Discover firsthand how effective leadership strategies can empow...
Jul 17, 2024•30 min
In this special edition of our Innovators podcast, we address your questions about infusion services and site-of-care strategies. Join our guests, Erick Siegenthaler, PharmD, MHA, and Dale Drizd, Pharm D, RPh, as they chat with Jim Jorgenson about setting up a home infusion program, optimizing pharmacy revenue, preventing costly leakage, and much more. Gain valuable insights to enhance patient access and improve provider satisfaction.
Jun 26, 2024•31 min
Delivering quality pharmacy care to communities across remote, often wintry Northern Canada presents unique challenges. Kevin McDonald and Sammu Dhaliwall from North West Telepharmacy Solutions join Jim Jorgenson to discuss overcoming geographical, weather, language, technology, and financial barriers to provide essential medications and clinical care. Kevin McDonald, Director of North West Telepharmacy Solutions Sammu Dhaliwall, Senior Manager of Business Development https://www.northwestteleph...
May 22, 2024•30 min
Don't miss this transformative opportunity to join Majid Tanas, a respected pharmacy executive and leader, for an enlightening discussion on mastering the complexities of today's healthcare landscape. Majid delves into the critical role of hospital pharmacy in enhancing the full patient experience, the strategic design of organizational structures to boost collaboration, and the imperative to abandon the outdated term 'ancillary services' from pharmacy dialogue. Majid advocates for placing patie...
Apr 17, 2024•37 min
In this exclusive episode of the Visante Pharmacy Innovators, our leaders seize the opportunity to delve into this year’s selections for the annual Top 10 and explain why four issues are particularly worth paying attention to. Steve Rough, Phil Brummond and Jim Jorgenson dig deeper into specialty pharmacy and infusion services, consolidated service centers, benchmarking and analytics, and pharmacy revenue. These areas are identified as promising exciting opportunities for health systems in 2024,...
Mar 20, 2024•40 min
In this episode, Visante Executive Advisor Jim Jorgenson and Senior Director Dave Hager are joined by two experts in the pharmacy revenue cycle industry who provide valuable insights and knowledge on establishing an effective strategy and structure for success. Lindsey Amerine and Maxie Friemel, pioneers in the field, offer guidance on initiating the process, assembling a cross-functional team, pinpointing immediate victories, and formulating a long-term strategy. Leaders in health systems are e...
Feb 21, 2024•44 min
Happy New Year, listeners! The start of the New Year usually comes with self-reflection and new intentions. As we continue to see staffing shortages, escalating workload demands, burnout and silent quitting as significant challenges for hospitals and health systems how do we address these labor concerns? In this episode, we embark on one of the topics that healthcare workers have the most trouble achieving: work-life balance (or should we say LIFE-work balance). Visante Senior Director, Angie Am...
Jan 17, 2024•30 min
Discover the fascinating world of pharmacy informatics and technology and its profound impact on medication-use across the health system. In this episode, we delve into the trends, challenges, and opportunities in technology and informatics that are shaping the future of Pharmacy. From business analytics, interoperability, and technology optimization, we explore how technology innovations streamline processes, enhance patient safety, and improve financial performance. Join us as we chat with exp...
Dec 20, 2023•31 min
In this episode of Visante Innovators, Jim Jorgenson talks with Pharmacy Stars CEO Keith Streckenbach. Keith is an innovator in sterile drug compounding and passionate about helping pharmacies reach their compliance goals and meet increasingly complex standards. With USP Chapters 797 and 800 becoming compendial, and therefore enforceable by boards of pharmacy or other regulatory agencies, quickly reaching compliance with these standards is critical. Keith and Jim discuss how to assess your situa...
Nov 15, 2023•23 min
In this episode of Visante's Innovators podcast, successful pharmacy leaders, Melissa Ortega from Tufts Medicine and Staci Hermann from Dartmouth Health, join Jim Jorgenson for an in-depth discussion on the greatest challenges and opportunities facing the contemporary pharmacy leader. Dave Hager moderates the discussion with these two phenomenal pharmacy trailblazers for an intriguing, timely listen for all current and future health system and pharmacy leaders.
Oct 18, 2023•37 min
It’s a familiar theme in healthcare: the movement of traditional acute care to a variety of ambulatory settings. Infusion therapy is one of the fastest-growing examples of this transition, and the market continues to shift as a result of this strong growth. In this episode of our Visante Innovators podcast, we take a deeper look at what’s driving the expansion of the infusion market. Join Visante CEO Jim Jorgenson, University of Maryland Director of Home Infusion Services Chris White, and Visant...
Aug 16, 2023•40 min
Why has an important quality and financial element like medical adherence flown under the radar all these years? Professor William (Bill) Kelly from Taneja College of Pharmacy at USF, joins our host, Jim Jorgenson, to discuss why pharmacist interventions and medication adherence are crucial to patients' quality of life. In the episode, Bill dives into his most recent publication on adherence and gives us a sneak peek of his upcoming studies about quality and safety. Click Here to read Bill's pub...
Jul 19, 2023•21 min
Health systems have been plagued by shortages of pharmacy technicians and many fear it will continue to get worse. Rico Powell, Senior Consultant at Visante and Managing Partner at Professional Pharmacy Technician Academy, joins our host, Jim Jorgenson, to discuss the pharmacy technician crisis. In this episode, Rico highlights technicians’ role in medication safety and what pharmacy leaders can do to help mitigate the high turnover. Professional Pharmacy Technician Academy: www.pptaacademy.com ...
Jun 21, 2023•16 min
Maria Kossilos, Assoc. Chief Pharmacy Officer at Cambridge Health Alliance, joins Kristin Fox-Smith (340B ACE), Managing Director at Visante, to discuss how pharmaceutical manufacturer restrictions – some as recent as last week – put enormous financial pressure on health systems and covered entities who are doing what they can to care for vulnerable and underserved patients across America. Kossilos and Fox-Smith describe why the 340B outlook is somewhat bleak, as the fear of continuing to lose 3...
May 17, 2023•26 min•Ep. 10
In this episode of the pharmacy innovators podcast we have Ghalib Abbasi and Gee Mathen. These two innovators are making major breakthroughs in pharmacy automation and making it safer for patients! Let's see how they're doing that...
Nov 17, 2022•33 min•Season 1Ep. 9
In part 3 of our series on automation, we're going to be talking about the optimization of the automation solution that has been selected.
Nov 10, 2022•23 min•Season 1Ep. 8
In the first of our series on pharmacy automation we talked about initial planning...now, we discuss implementation!
Nov 03, 2022•23 min•Season 1Ep. 7
In the first of four parts of our series on Pharmacy Automation Projects, we're going to discuss what goes into initial planning.
Oct 27, 2022•22 min•Season 1Ep. 6
Kennedy was Born and raised in Olympia, WA, and is a student at Washington State University (WSU) College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences in Spokane Kennedy was elected the National President for APhA-ASP in 2021 and has been an advocate for promoting diversity, equity and inclusion within the profession as well as the power of advocacy by promoting pharmacists to join together through professional organizations. Outside of pharmacy, her hobbies include hiking, catching up with family an...
Jul 26, 2022•22 min•Season 1Ep. 5
