36: As Goes the Patient, So Goes the Money, with A.G. Breitenstein, J.D., MPH, Founder and CEO of Folx Health
Meet A.G. Breitenstein, J.D., MPH:
A.G. Breitenstein, J.D., MPH is the Founder and Executive Chair of FOLX Health, a virtual-first health platform specifically for LGBTQ+ patients. She is also a board member for WellSky. Previously, she was a Partner and Co-founder at Optum Ventures, and the Chief Product Officer of Optum Analytics at Optum. She also founded Humedica, the Institute for Health Metrics, and PriviaSource. She received a Bachelor’s degree in History from Yale, a J.D. from the University of Connecticut, and an MPH from Harvard University.
Key Insights:
A.G. Breitenstein was looking to make change in healthcare at a system’s level when she caught the entrepreneur bug.
- Structural Inefficiencies. Healthcare has big structural inefficiencies, but there are many factors that keep those inefficiencies in place. One person’s inefficiency is another person’s revenue stream. Entrepreneurs must understand the context of the ecosystem and have the acute knowledge of the walls they might hit. Once they reach scale, they can knock those walls down. (15:02)
- Building a Brand. A.G. shares that FOLX Health was intentional about branding. They wanted patients to like the packaging, the feel of the organization, and feel that the brand represented them as people in the world.Healthcare rarely focuses on brand development, which A.G. sees as a missed opportunity. (20:14)
- Advice for Young Entrepreneurs. Be obsessive about learning; even on your best days you will mostly be wrong. Understand the context of the healthcare ecosystem, because most often the best solutions come from inside the system. Lastly, engage and build with your patient communities. (28:21)
This episode is hosted by Lynne Chou O’Keefe. She is a member of the Advisory Council for Day Zero and is the Founder and Managing Partner of Define Ventures.
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