Provider Data Dorks is the podcast for anyone who works with, buys, or builds on provider data. Hosted by Nick Helfrich and Mitch Gorodokin, each episode features the leaders who understand healthcare's most complex invisible problem and are working to fix it. From payer directories to credentialing to interoperability, we get into the real issues, with the people closest to them.
Provider Data Dorks
Claim This Podcastby CertifyOS
5.0(3 reviews)
5 episodes
Updated Daily
Accepts GuestsHas SponsorsLocation 🇺🇸
Podcast Overview
Provider Data Dorks is the podcast for anyone who works with, buys, or builds on provider data. Hosted by Nick Helfrich and Mitch Gorodokin, each episode features the leaders who understand healthcare's most complex invisible problem and are working to fix it. From payer directories to credentialing to interoperability, we get into the real issues, with the people closest to them.
Language
🇺🇲
Publishing Since
6/2/2026
Reach the team behind Provider Data Dorks
Verified contact details for this show aren't on file yet — sign up to get notified when they land.
Recent Episodes
July 7, 2026
How 20 Years in Medicine Convinced Him Healthcare Can't Be Fixed (Only Rebuilt)
<p>Every health-tech company promises AI will make you healthier. <strong>Dr. Ankoor Shah</strong> says that's not what the technology is actually being built to do. A pediatrician who co-led Washington DC's COVID-19 response and now serves as VP of Clinical Excellence at Included Health, Shah delivers two on-record hot takes: that healthcare technology has historically widened disparities rather than closed them, and that today's AI is funded to optimize the revenue cycle, not patient outcomes.</p><p>From there, Nick and Mitchell get into the part that actually decides your care: how you find a doctor who's safe, and why the system makes that so hard. Shah explains why the biggest quality gains come from moving people out of the bottom quartile, how doctors with sanctions slip across state lines undetected, and why he himself has no real incentive to keep his data accurate across a dozen health plans.</p><p>It's a clear-eyed look at where provider data, quality, and AI actually intersect, from someone who has practiced, run public health, and now builds.</p><p><br></p><p><strong>In this episode:</strong></p><ul>Why Shah says healthcare AI isn't built to make patients healthier</ul><ul>The "history of technology widening disparities" argument, from telehealth to wearables</ul><ul>How Included Health quantifies provider quality at the individual NPI level</ul><ul>Why moving patients out of the bottom quartile beats chasing top-tier docs</ul><ul>How sanctioned providers stay in-network across states</ul><ul>The credentialing burden that leaves directory data permanently stale</ul><ul>Why aligning the member's "mind, body, and wallet" is the real unlock</ul><p><br></p><p>Subscribe to Provider Data Dorks on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.</p>
June 30, 2026
The 3 Questions This Healthcare CIO Asks Before the Demo Even Starts with Samir Deshpande
<p>Most health plans manage the invisible backbone of healthcare, provider data, across disconnected systems, spreadsheets, and vendors that don't talk to each other. One bad record cascades downstream into claims, payments, and patients who can't find a doctor. So why do so many plans still try to build their own fix?</p><p>Sam Deshpande spent 17 years at Capital One in risk and credit, then ran risk, technology, and information at Humana as chief risk officer and later CIO. That makes him the rare leader who has sat on both sides of every buy-vs-build, business-vs-IT fight. In this episode he gives Nick and Mitch a clear rule for what to build, what to buy, and why provider data is the textbook case for buying: complicated, universal, and ruinous to get wrong.</p><p><br></p><p><strong>Highlights:</strong></p><ul>Why he calls the business-IT divide "two separate nations," and how good leaders close the border</ul><ul>The three questions he asks about any product before the demo matters</ul><ul>His rule of thumb: if it's complicated and everyone uses it, buy it</ul><ul>Why "transformational" is overused, and the only two things that earn the word</ul><ul>How he'd fix provider data from a clean slate as a health plan CEO: decide, declare, design</ul><ul>Where AI genuinely moves provider data, and where teams are kidding themselves</ul><ul>The $60 shovel story that reframed how he buys AI tools</ul><p><br></p><p>New episodes of Provider Data Dorks every week. Subscribe on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple. Hosted by Nick Helfrich and Mitch Gorodokin.</p>
June 16, 2026
How This Founder Exposed Healthcare's Most Broken Provider Data (and Why It Matters) with Ron Urwongse
<p>Finding an in-network doctor shouldn't take twenty phone calls. But provider directories (the invisible backbone of healthcare) are wrong so often that the best payers in the country top out at 70% accuracy, and the worst sit at 30%.</p><p>Most people assume that gap is a mystery. Ron Urwongse proved it's measurable.</p><p>Ron is the co-founder of Defacto Health and former innovation and strategy lead at CAQH. When CMS mandated that insurers publish their provider directory data through public APIs, he did something almost nobody else did: he read them. All 150 of them. By aggregating those feeds and scoring where payers agree and disagree, Defacto turned one of healthcare's messiest problems into something you can actually put a number on.</p><p>In this conversation with hosts Nick Helfrich and Mitch Gorodokin, Ron breaks down why cleaning data upstream beats patching it downstream, why "single source of truth" might not save us, and the surprisingly human reasons good directories go bad.</p><p><br></p><ul>Why payer directory accuracy ranges from 30% to 70% and what separates the two</ul><ul>How consensus scoring across 150 payers reveals which addresses are actually right</ul><ul>The dropdown-menu mistake quietly generating thousands of directory errors</ul><ul>Why health systems often hold better data than the payers publishing it</ul><ul>What the No Surprises Act, MA Plan Finder, and Real Health Providers Act mean for you</ul><ul>How Defacto audits insurers using nothing but the data those insurers publish</ul><ul>Ron's rule for building anything that lasts: fall in love with the problem</ul><p><br></p><p>Subscribe to Provider Data Dorks for the people fixing healthcare's hardest data problem. New episodes weekly on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.</p>
5 total episodes available
Similar Podcasts
Discover related shows you might enjoy
Deep-dive analytics for Provider Data Dorks
Frequently asked questions
Have a different question and can't find the answer you're looking for? Reach out to our support team by sending us an email and we'll get back to you as soon as we can.
- What is Provider Data Dorks?
- How often does this podcast release new episodes?
This podcast updates daily.
- Where can I listen to this podcast?
This podcast is available on 4 platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. You can also use the RSS feed directly.
- Does this podcast accept guests?
Yes, this podcast regularly features guests.
Legal Disclaimer
Pod Engine is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or officially connected with any of the podcasts displayed on this platform. We operate independently as a podcast discovery and analytics service.
All podcast artwork, thumbnails, and content displayed on this page are the property of their respective owners and are protected by applicable copyright laws. This includes, but is not limited to, podcast cover art, episode artwork, show descriptions, episode titles, transcripts, audio snippets, and any other content originating from the podcast creators or their licensors.
We display this content under fair use principles and/or implied license for the purpose of podcast discovery, information, and commentary. We make no claim of ownership over any podcast content, artwork, or related materials shown on this platform. All trademarks, service marks, and trade names are the property of their respective owners.
While we strive to ensure all content usage is properly authorized, if you are a rights holder and believe your content is being used inappropriately or without proper authorization, please contact us immediately at hey@podengine.ai for prompt review and appropriate action, which may include content removal or proper attribution.
By accessing and using this platform, you acknowledge and agree to respect all applicable copyright laws and intellectual property rights of content owners. Any unauthorized reproduction, distribution, or commercial use of the content displayed on this platform is strictly prohibited.