Claims Denied: A Hospitalogy Podcast

About Claims Denied: A Hospitalogy Podcast

Join one man’s quest to learn everything there is to know about the business of healthcare. Blake Madden and friends cut through the fluff to talk shop with influential healthcare leaders across innovation, strategy, finance, policy, and more. Learn about disruptive health tech startups, hear war stories, stay up to date on emerging health system transformation strategies, and listen in to scalding hot takes on pressing topics and the future of the industry. New episodes drop Mondays. Subscribe to get the latest!

Publisher

Blake Madden

Category

business · health & fitness

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

25 Jan 2026

Latest episode

20 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

36 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   20 Oct 2026

   Inpatient AI, Payor Win-Wins, and Token Costs (with Dr. Shiv Rao, co-founder and CEO of Abridge)

   Hospitalogy’s Blake Madden sits down with Dr. Shiv Rao, CEO and co-founder of Abridge, two hours before Rao was going on call at the hospital. They talk about how Abridge has taken its playbook from ambulatory to the ER and now inpatient, and what’s different about engineering for that setting, why AI should rethink the claims process rather than be sprinkled on it, and how Abridge is working to help health systems avoid unpredictable token costs. Also in this episode: What happens to a claim after a doctor types “shortness of breath” into a note? Rao says the whole loop adds up to roughly $300 billion of waste. What separates real products from “party trick” prototypes? A University of Vermont case shows the value-add of context engineering, guardrails, and knowing what good looks like. One payor told Abridge it approves well over 90% of the prior auths it initially denies and would welcome automation. Rao says scale earned Abridge a seat with payors, and he wants to avoid a future of “agents fighting agents.” --- Assort Health’s AI agents complete the work that turns patient demand into care, including scheduling, intake, referrals, forms, medication refills, and payments. Customers have increased appointment volume by 5%, expanded staff capacity by 115%, and captured up to $4.3 million in new annual revenue per 100 providers. To learn more, check them out today at ⁠⁠https://www.assorthealth.com/hospitalogy⁠⁠ --- For expert analysis on healthcare M&A, strategy, finance, and markets, join 80K+ readers of Blake Madden’s Hospitalogy newsletter. Subscribe here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://hospitalogy.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Like our podcast? Listen to previous episodes of Claims Denied here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://hospitalogy.com/podcast/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Be sure to leave us a review, and share our podcast with colleagues. --- Follow Blake Madden on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/blakecmadden/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

2. 

   13 Oct 2026

   Standard as Possible, Different as Necessary: Inside Jefferson Health’s Payvider Bet and LVHN Integration (with Dr. Baligh Yehia, President of Jefferson Health)

   Which model won after Jefferson Health and Lehigh Valley Health Network merged? Dr. Baligh Yehia says that’s not the question Jefferson asks. Blake sits down with Dr. Yehia, President of Jefferson Health, to talk about running a 33-hospital system that wants to be an operating company, not a collection of hospitals. He breaks down how Jefferson is integrating LVHN, why the team lets AI-era rebuilds replace the usual model bake-off, and what it takes to align incentives when a payvider only covers part of your patients. In this episode: Why “standard as possible, different as necessary” is the default Jefferson is building around, and why quality came before back office in the LVHN integration Why payviders are one of the few models that can truly align incentives, even with no commercial book (Medicaid, Medicare Advantage, and ACA only), and how Jefferson still removes friction, like skipping prior auth for plan members moving to the next site of care The goal of handing 10 million hours back to clinicians in 3 years “Nursing out loud”: ambient for nurses is in 3 pilots, and the early wins are nurses eating lunch and clocking out on time Why AI won’t fix misaligned payment models, and will just run automated denials and automated appeals at machine speed --- Assort Health’s AI agents complete the work that turns patient demand into care, including scheduling, intake, referrals, forms, medication refills, and payments. Customers have increased appointment volume by 5%, expanded staff capacity by 115%, and captured up to $4.3 million in new annual revenue per 100 providers. To learn more, check them out today at ⁠https://www.assorthealth.com/hospitalogy⁠ --- For expert analysis on healthcare M&A, strategy, finance, and markets, join 80K+ readers of Blake Madden’s Hospitalogy newsletter. Subscribe here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://hospitalogy.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Like our podcast? Listen to previous episodes of Claims Denied here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://hospitalogy.com/podcast/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Be sure to leave us a review, and share our podcast with colleagues. --- Follow Blake Madden on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/blakecmadden/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

3. 

   6 Oct 2026

   Members Leave Carriers, Not Brokers (with Will Johnson, Co-founder and CEO of Gyde)

   Claims Denied is back for a new season, and Blake kicks it off by driving down from Dallas to Austin, and sits in-studio with Will Johnson, co-founder and CEO of AI startup Gyde (http://gydehealth.ai/). Will is 17 months post-incorporation with a decade at Oscar behind him, and he brought a thesis Blake hadn't heard anyone articulate this cleanly: Healthcare's real front door isn't the carrier or the PCP. It's the broker, and there are fewer of them every year while the job gets harder every year. They get into why Will thinks commission rates stay flat while ACA premiums rip 14%, why an AI founder calls himself "a huge software bear," why roll-up is a banned word inside his own M&A shop, and the Capstone deal he thought was dead until a February coffee in Austin. Healthcare keeps trying to go around the broker. This episode makes the case for going through them. --- Assort Health’s AI agents complete the work that turns patient demand into care, including scheduling, intake, referrals, forms, medication refills, and payments. Customers have increased appointment volume by 5%, expanded staff capacity by 115%, and captured up to $4.3 million in new annual revenue per 100 providers. To learn more, check out them today at https://www.assorthealth.com/hospitalogy --- For expert analysis on healthcare M&A, strategy, finance, and markets, join 68K+ readers of Blake Madden’s Hospitalogy newsletter. Subscribe here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://hospitalogy.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Like our podcast? Check our previous episodes of Claims Denied here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://hospitalogy.com/podcast/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Be sure to leave us a review, and share our podcast with colleagues. --- Follow Blake Madden on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/blakecmadden/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

7 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

8 ratings

Contact Claims Denied: A Hospitalogy Podcast

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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