Tina Merrill

New Medicine Minds blog drop from SimsRx: 💡 How does your formulary impact care at the bedside? In hospice, medication access affects patient comfort, clinical workflow, and provider satisfaction. My latest post explores open vs. closed formulary strategies and how thoughtful design can improve outcomes and the clinician experience.

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This year, our partnerships helped expand Koda Health’s reach to over one million patients - a milestone that reflects the trust of our clients and the growing urgency for VBC. Here are just a few of the partners who helped make this possible: 🔹 Guidehealth went live across both Emory and the PA Clinical Network, with seven PACN practices already in training and more coming online throughout the year. 🔹 BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina officially launched in March and quickly became one of Koda’s fastest-growing partners, completing 101 high-risk ACP plans in just three months—a record milestone. 🔹Sentara Health Plans joined Koda’s client portfolio, further strengthening our presence among leading health plans. 🔹 Medical Home Network saw significant growth, expanding from four Oklahoma FQHCs at launch to eleven live clinics by year’s end and achieving a remarkable 100 NPS. 🔹 Houston Methodist launched Koda’s new Kidney Action Planning (KAP) program in November, opening an important new chapter in our work supporting patients with serious illness. Together, these launches reflect a year of meaningful momentum, and a shared commitment to delivering more aligned, compassionate, and clinically integrated care planning at scale.

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As GLP-1s move to mass-market use, we’re witnessing one of the biggest shifts in modern healthcare. Expanding access is progress, but without equal focus on education and prevention, we risk missing the bigger goal. We need mass understanding of how to use these therapies safely, effectively, and responsibly. Pairing them with real lifestyle change to create lasting health impact. #GLP1

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One of the best things about being part of a community of medical writers is being able to stretch yourself and pick up new skills that you might not have otherwise considered. The field of CME writing is rapidly changing, to keep pace with ever-shifting platforms and learning modalities. Regardless of the format, one thing is certain: clinicians require high-value content with minimal cognitive load, an emotionally intelligent tone and tools that save time. Herein lies a prime opportunity for medical writers to collaborate with clients to produce curated, bite-sized, data- and decision-focused material in easy to digest formats - whether in a podcast for on-the-go learning, a lunch-and-learn webinar, or a round table panel discussion. I am so excited to have joined Alexandra Howson PhD, CHCP, FACEhp, E-RYT's Summer Script Camp to learn more about script writing in the CME setting. What will I write - a podcast or a webinar script? Stay tuned!

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Temple Health is proud to lead the way in transforming maternal health outcomes across Philadelphia — and Dr. Tanise Branche, board-certified OB-GYN and expert in high-risk obstetrics, is helping lead the way. As a clinical leader at the soon-to-open Temple Women & Families Hospital, Dr. Branche is pioneering a care model that addresses disparities head-on — combining community-based care, trauma-informed practices, and AI-powered tools to deliver better outcomes for mothers and babies. Learn how Dr. Branche and Temple Health are reshaping maternal care in Philadelphia: https://bit.ly/43EioUU

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I’m proud to announce the launch of Private Health Management of Savannah (PHM), founded alongside my life-long friend and colleague Joe Edwards, MD. Traditional healthcare reacts. PHM is structured to move earlier. We identify silent risk, track meaningful trends, and adjust strategy before decline becomes diagnosis. Inspired by private wealth management, PHM is physician-led, data-driven, and built for individuals who take a long view of their future. Because the greatest asset you will ever manage is your health. — Joe T. Stubbs III, MD Co-Founder, Private Health Management of Savannah phmsav.com

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The Pennsylvania Perinatal Action Collaborative (PAC) is seeking proposals to implement actionable strategies to improve #maternalhealth in PA. Anticipated funding range: $75,000 - $150,000 https://hubs.li/Q03Mxwld0

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News from #COA2025: Dr. Harsha Vyas highlights key policy threats facing community oncology—including PBM overreach, 340B-driven consolidation, and persistent reimbursement challenges. These structural pressures continue to strain independent practices and jeopardize patient access to localized cancer care. https://bit.ly/3F0G2Th Cancer Center of Middle Georgia, LLC Community Oncology Alliance Medical College of Georgia at Georgia Regents University

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As a physician, I’ve long believed that healthcare should be more accessible, more affordable, and more accountable to our patients, our communities, and the employers who help fund it. A new white paper from Avalere Health uses the Chicago market to show what many of us in independent medicine have witnessed firsthand: when physicians join hospital systems, costs rise. And employers, along with their employees, often bear the weight. This study found that: 🔹 Hospital-employed primary care physicians were 32% more expensive than their independent peers. 🔹 Specialist services were 22% higher in cost when delivered in consolidated systems. 🔹 Hospital outpatient departments cost 60% more than independent ambulatory settings for the same services. The findings validate what we’ve committed to at Duly Health and Care. As one of the largest independent, physician-led medical groups in the country, our model is built to deliver better outcomes, at lower cost, with easier access. This is not just about economics. It is about preserving choice, improving care, and strengthening the health of our communities. We’re proud to be featured in this study as an example of how independent care can deliver real value. And we remain committed to working with employers and payors to deliver care that puts people first, every time. Read the Avalere study: https://lnkd.in/gx2UQFMw #HealthcareTransformation #HealthcareLeadership #PhysicianLedCare

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Dive deep into the realities of ageism in medicine. This AMA report, authored by Lindsey Carlasare, MBA, uncovers the experiences of senior physicians and offers critical insights for change. Learn more. 

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Clarity Pediatrics has raised $14.5 million in Series A funding to expand its virtual pediatric chronic care platform. The round was led by Jackson Square Ventures, with new backing from City Light Capital, MassMutual Catalyst Fund II, GingerBread Capital, Scrub Capital, and Operator Collective 🔆. Existing investors Rethink Impact, LP, Maverick Ventures, and Homebrew also participated in the financing. Founded to address gaps in pediatric specialty care, Clarity Pediatrics currently supports families across California and Texas. CEO and Co-Founder Christina LaMontagne highlighted the platform’s focus on early intervention and long-term outcomes for children. Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Alesandro Larrazabal, M.D. emphasized the urgency of addressing pediatric obesity as the fastest-growing chronic condition in children. The new funding will support the launch of virtual pediatric obesity care in 2026 and continued platform and geographic expansion. https://lnkd.in/g7CQyS-c

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Excited to be at Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services 2025 Quality Oncference! In the opening panel, Mehmet Oz welcomed Sumit Rana, Brian Anderson, MD, Amy Gleason, and Susan Sheridan to discuss the future of patient-centered, cost effective care Three key themes are driving the conversation: 1️⃣ Payment and prior authorization reform will help patients get the right care at the right time. 2️⃣ Digital transformation and interoperability decrease cost improve care. 3️⃣ High-quality, accountable care is improved with in-workflow decision support for clinicians. As a family physician, these priorities reflect what matters most in daily practice—meeting patients where they are, with the right tools, at the right time. And, decreasing the diagnostic journey (the time to get to good diagnosis and treatment) so patients can be healthier, faster. Epic is working on MyChart Central and is supporting a national provider directory to help this work move forward.

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So why did I decide to stop being a Patient Advocate? (In the traditional manner, at least) I always knew our voices must be heard, included, and empowered. But after being a clinician, a caregiver, and teaching hundreds of HCPs, I came to realize something uncomfortable: Traditional patient advocacy was putting us in a box labeled "patients" instead of at the table labeled "partners." We were being consulted, not integrated. We were being heard, but not heeded. We were in the room, but not in the decision. I watched brilliant patients share lived experiences that could transform care pathways—only to be thanked and then ignored when the real decisions were made. So I stopped advocating the traditional way. Now I build the systems that make advocacy obsolete. I work with #pharma companies , #Medtech & #healthcare organizations to hardwire patient perspectives into their DNA—not as a checkbox, but as a cornerstone. Because when patients aren't just voices in the room but architects of the solution, everything changes. The goal isn't louder advocacy. It's making advocacy unnecessary because patients are already inside, co-creating from the start. That's the difference between being heard and being essential. FutureMHA

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‼️ 𝗨𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 ��𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘄𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻’𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝘀 Midi Health has raised $100M in a Series D, pushing the women’s health startup to a valuation above $1B as it plans to expand beyond specialty care into urgent care services and clinical research. The round was led by Goodwater Capital, with participation from Foresite Capital and Serena Ventures. Returning investors include GV (Alphabet’s venture arm), Emerson Collective, SemperVirens VC, and McKesson Ventures. Founded in 2021, Midi Health initially focused on menopause and hormonal health. Since then, it has expanded into care across women’s life stages, addressing conditions such as obesity and weight management, sleep disorders, hair loss, and sexual wellness. Last year, the company launched AgeWell, a program aimed at preventive and long-term health management for women over 30, including testing, screenings, and hormonal support. 𝗔𝘀 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗽𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗲, 𝗠𝗶𝗱𝗶 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗼: 🔵 Launch a research institute to study hormonal health in midlife and compare treatment approaches, including hormone therapy versus SSRIs 🔵 Introduce virtual urgent care for conditions such as UTIs and yeast infections 🔵 Continue scaling its care delivery platform, which now serves more than 25,000 women each week 💡 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀: This funding round highlights a broader shift in women’s health toward comprehensive, longitudinal care models that integrate specialty care, urgent care, and research. For health systems, payers, and biopharma partners, it signals growing demand for scalable platforms that can generate real-world data, support preventive care, and expand access beyond episodic treatment. As women’s health platforms mature, the next phase will be defined by integration, evidence generation, and alignment with broader care delivery ecosystems. 👉 Follow Sadhna Bokhiria & KIRIA Research for human-first insights on health system transformation, biopharma strategy, and how new care models are reshaping healthcare delivery. #WomensHealth #VirtualCare #HealthSystems #MidiHealth #KIRIAResearch #KIRIA

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