Why Health Plan Innovation Fails, And What Actually Scales – Healthworx
Why do so many healthcare innovation efforts stall after pilots?
In this Bright Spots in Healthcare episode, host Eric Glazer sits down with leaders from Healthworx, the investment and innovation arm of CareFirst, for a candid discussion on what actually allows innovation to scale inside complex healthcare organizations.
As health plans invest heavily in AI, digital transformation, startup partnerships, and new care models, many still struggle to operationalize innovation in meaningful ways. This conversation explores why innovation often breaks down between idea and implementation, and what organizations can do differently.
Guests include:
- Emily Durfee, Director, Corporate Venture Capital, Healthworx
- Soo Jeon, Head, Healthworx Accelerator
- Mike Batista, Managing Partner, Healthworx Studio
Together, they explore:
- Why health plan innovation efforts often fail to scale
- The operational barriers that prevent ideas from gaining traction
- Why healthcare struggles to move beyond pilots and experimentation
- What startups misunderstand about working with health plans
- Why incremental operational evolution often beats transformational change
- How Healthworx approaches innovation through investing, accelerating, and building
- What separates organizations that successfully scale innovation from those that don’t
This episode offers a practical look at the operational realities of healthcare innovation and what it takes to turn new ideas into measurable impact
