Anatomy Of Leadership
Leaders, visionaries, and changemakers, I'm thrilled to introduce our new podcast, "The Anatomy of Leadership," a series that delves deep into the essence of purpose-driven leadership. As your host, I'll guide you through a journey of discovery—revealing how effective leadership can significantly alter the trajectory of our teams, organizations, and the world at large. We'll examine topics like: - Self-Mastery- Caring for Others- Influence- Intention- Cause and Purpose
Why Hospice and Palliative Care Expertise Matters—with Dr. Kristi Newport | Part One
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What makes hospice and palliative care a medical specialty—and why should healthcare leaders insist on specialized expertise?
In Part One of “Why Hospice and Palliative Care Expertise Matters,” Chris Comeaux speaks with Dr. Kristi Newport about the clinical knowledge, communication skills, and interdisciplinary collaboration behind high-quality serious illness care.
Dr. Newport, chief medical officer of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM) and chief of palliative care at Penn State College of Medicine, explains how specialty training helps clinicians navigate comple...
Hospice SSVI Explained: What Your Score Isn’t Telling You | Part Two
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Your hospice SSVI score raises questions. Does your leadership team know what’s driving the answers?
In Hospice SSVI Explained: What Your Score Isn’t Telling You | Part Two, Chris Comeaux welcomes back Lindsay Doak to examine hospice SSVI, CMS oversight, and the leadership decisions behind the data.
Discover why understanding your score requires a closer look at non-hospice spending, visit-minute reporting, staffing capacity, and access to general inpatient care (GIP) and continuous home care (CHC). Chris and Lindsay also discuss how f...
Hospice SSVI Explained: What Your Score Isn’t Telling You | Part One
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Your hospice SSVI score may leave out the context your leadership team needs most.
In “Hospice SSVI Explained: What Your Score Isn’t Telling You | Part One,” Chris Comeaux welcomes HealthPivots’ Lindsay Doak to TCNtalks / Anatomy of Leadership for a closer look at the Service and Spending Variation Index (SSVI).
What do hospice utilization and non-hospice spending reveal about care delivery? Where can the measures identify troubling patterns—and where might they raise questions about legitimate providers?
Drawing on her experi...
Full Episode | The Debate: Vertical Integration, Payvider, or World-Class Care—Which Path Forward?
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FULL EPISODE of “The Debate: Vertical Integration, Payvider or World-Class Care—Which Path Forward?”
This video brings together the complete discussion behind the previously released segments on hospice strategy, palliative care, and the future of healthcare leadership.
What if the greatest threat to hospice is succeeding at the wrong strategy?
In this special episode of TCNtalks / Anatomy of Leadership, host Chris Comeaux plays three distinct characters, each defending a different vision for the future of hospice and serious illness care:
• Paul — Vertical Integration: Build a br...
The Debate: Vertical Integration, Payvider, or World-Class Care—Which Path Forward? | Part Four
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The future of hospice and palliative care demands difficult choices about growth, financial responsibility, and clinical excellence. How can leaders build a sustainable organization while keeping patients and families at the center? Part Four brings those choices into sharp focus.
Three characters. Three competing healthcare strategies. One host putting every approach to the test.
In The Debate: Vertical Integration, Payvider or World-Class Care—Which Path Forward? | Part Four, Chris Comeaux plays all three characters in a debate about the future of hospice, palliative care, and seriou...
The Debate: Vertical Integration, Payvider, or World-Class Care—Which Path Forward? | Part Three
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This video is aboWho controls the healthcare dollar—and how does that control shape patient care?
In Part Three of The Debate: Vertical Integration, Payvider or World-Class Care—Which Path Forward?, Chris Comeaux examines whether aligning healthcare financing and care delivery can help hospice and palliative care organizations better serve patients—or introduce new conflicts between financial performance and mission.
"Christopher" presents the payvider case: providers need a voice in the flow of risk, capital, data, and decision-making to invest earlier in prevention, home-based care, and ca...
The Debate: Vertical Integration, Payvider, or World-Class Care—Which Path Forward? | Part One
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This video is about The Debate - World-Class Care Part One What if hospice succeeds at the wrong strategy? Chris Comeaux explores three paths for the future of hospice and palliative care: vertical integration, the payvider model, and world-class specialty care.
In Part One of The Debate: Vertical Integration, Payvider or World-Class Care—Which Path Forward?, Chris sets the stage for an unusual conversation—playing three characters, Paul, Christopher and Comeaux, who represent competing visions for serious illness care.
Should organizations build a coordinated continuum of ho...
The Debate: Vertical Integration, Payvider, or World-Class Care—Which Path Forward? | Part Two
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Can vertical integration help hospice organizations deliver better care earlier—and sustain the investment required?
In Part Two of “The Debate: Vertical Integration, Payvider or World-Class Care—Which Path Forward?”, Chris Comeaux examines the case for extending hospice expertise into palliative care and home-based primary care for frail elders.
Paul presents a vision of care built around lasting relationships, interdisciplinary teams, and support that follows patients as their needs change. Chris tests that vision against the realities of capital, reimbursement, workforce shortage...
The Workforce Crisis Healthcare Leaders Can’t Afford to Ignore | Part Two
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What happens when the demand for care grows faster than the workforce available to provide it?
Ron Hetrick joins host Chris Comeaux on TCNTalks / Anatomy of Leadership to explore the healthcare workforce crisis—and the decisions leaders can make today to prepare for tomorrow’s staffing challenges.
In Part Two, the conversation moves into practical workforce planning: improving care jobs, developing talent pipelines, strengthening employee retention, and understanding how an aging population could reshape competition for caregivers.
They also examine AI in healthcare, the...
The Workforce Crisis Healthcare Leaders Can’t Afford to Ignore | Part One
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This video is about The Workforce Crisis Part OneThe healthcare workforce crisis is bigger than unfilled jobs. What happens when demand for care keeps growing while the pool of available workers shrinks?
In “The Workforce Crisis Healthcare Leaders Can’t Afford to Ignore | Part One,” Chris Comeaux welcomes Ron Hetrick, principal economist at Lightcast, to TCNtalks / Anatomy of Leadership for a candid conversation about healthcare staffing shortages, demographic change, and the future of work.
Hetrick explains how baby boomer retirement, smaller younger generations, and an...
Hospice at a Crossroads: The Top News Stories Leaders Can’t Ignore | Part Two
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This vidHospice’s future is being shaped by the headlines leaders cannot afford to overlook.
In Hospice at a Crossroads: The Top News Stories Leaders Can’t Ignore | Part Two, Chris Comeaux and Cordt Kassner examine the hospice news and healthcare leadership questions that deserve your attention—from fraud and public trust to caregiver support, workforce sustainability, and AI in healthcare.
Drawing on articles featured in Hospice and Palliative Care Today, they explore what these developments could mean for ho...
Hospice at a Crossroads: The Top News Stories Leaders Can’t Ignore | Part One
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Hospice leaders face a defining question: How do we protect trust and deliver exceptional care as the field changes around us?
In Hospice at a Crossroads: The Top News Stories Leaders Can’t Ignore | Part One, Chris Comeaux and Cordt Kassner unpack hospice and palliative care news from July–September 2026. Using Dr. Ira Byock’s framework and readership insights from Hospice and Palliative Care Today, they connect the quarter’s headlines to the decisions facing healthcare leaders, nonprofit executives, and hospice professionals.
The conversation explores CMS hospice updates a...
The Future of Palliative Care: Who Will Lead, Who Will Pay, and What Comes Next? | Part Two
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Who will lead community-based palliative care—and how will they pay for care that meets patients’ needs?
In Part Two of The Future of Palliative Care: Who Will Lead, Who Will Pay, and What Comes Next?, Chris Comeaux joins CAPC CEO Brynn Bowman to explore palliative care reimbursement, hospice leadership, and the choices shaping serious illness care.
Bowman makes a clear distinction: many organizations can deliver palliative care, but the field must lead on quality. New payment opportunities offer reasons for optimism. Turning those opportunities into sustainable care...
The Future of Palliative Care: Who Will Lead, Who Will Pay, and What Comes Next? | Part One
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What will it take for palliative care to reach every patient who needs it—and who will ultimately pay for that care?
In Part One of “The Future of Palliative Care: Who Will Lead, Who Will Pay, and What Comes Next?”, host Chris Comeaux sits down with Brynn Bowman, CEO of the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC), for a forward-looking conversation about the forces reshaping palliative care—and what healthcare leaders need to be watching now.
As...
AI Can’t Replace This: The Leadership Advantage That’s More Human Than Ever | Part Two
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What if the greatest leadership advantage in the age of AI is something technology can never truly replicate?
As artificial intelligence transforms how we work, lead, and communicate, the temptation is to use technology to accomplish more—and move even faster. But what if the real opportunity is to use AI to create more margin for the human work of leadership?
In Part Two of “AI Can’t Replace This: The Leadership Advantage That’s More Human Than Ever,” Chris Comeaux continues his conversati...
AI Can’t Replace This: The Leadership Advantage That’s More Human Than Ever | Part One
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What if the greatest leadership advantage in the age of AI is something artificial intelligence can never truly replicate?
As AI becomes smarter, faster, and more embedded in the workplace, Dr. Andrea Hollingsworth believes the qualities that make us distinctly human—compassion, connection, vulnerability, and the ability to care—are becoming more valuable, not less.
In Part One of “AI Can’t Replace This: The Leadership Advantage That’s More Human Than Ever,” host Chris Comeaux sits down with Dr. Hollingsworth, founder and...
The Critical Competencies Hospice Leaders Must Build for Value-Based Care Success | Part Two
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Hospice is changing—and the leaders who prepare now will be positioned to shape what comes next.
In Part Two of The Critical Competencies Hospice Leaders Must Build for Value-Based Care Success, host Chris Comeaux continues his conversation with Dr. Jessica Hubbs about what hospice and palliative care organizations need to succeed as healthcare moves toward more integrated, value-based models.
What capabilities should hospice organizations build internally—and when should they partner? Dr. Hubbs explores the growing convergence of home-based primary care, palliative care, and hospice, and why a more...
The Critical Competencies Hospice Leaders Must Build for Value-Based Care Success | Part One
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The future of hospice is being rewritten—and the organizations that prepare now may be the ones best positioned to serve patients in a value-based world.
Healthcare is rapidly moving beyond traditional fee-for-service toward models focused on outcomes, total cost of care, and coordinated care delivery. In Part One of The Critical Competencies Hospice Leaders Must Build for Value-Based Care Success, host Chris Comeaux sits down with Dr. Jessica Hubbs, Internist and Chief Clinical Officer at Advanced Care Innovations, to explore wha...
Your Culture Isn't What You Say—It's What You Tolerate | Part Two
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Your culture isn’t defined by what your organization says it values—it’s revealed by the behaviors it allows, rewards, and repeats.
In Part Two of Your Culture Isn't What You Say—It's What You Tolerate, host Chris Comeaux continues his conversation with author and leadership expert Tom Foster about what it takes to intentionally build a strong organizational culture.
Tom challenges leaders to look beyond KPIs and productivity metrics and examine whether the behaviors being measured actually support the organiza...
Your Culture Isn't What You Say—It's What You Tolerate | Part One
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Your culture isn’t what your organization says it values—it’s what your leaders are willing to tolerate.
In Part One of Your Culture Isn't What You Say—It's What You Tolerate, host Chris Comeaux sits down with Tom Foster, President of Foster Learning Corporation and author of Premeditated Culture: The Consequences of What We Tolerate, to explore how leaders intentionally—or unintentionally—shape organizational culture.
Tom challenges leaders to look beyond mission statements, values on the wall, and aspirati...
The Hospice Moratorium: What CMS Is Really Signaling About the Future | Part Two
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The hospice moratorium may eventually end—but CMS scrutiny of hospice is likely here to stay.
In Part Two of The Hospice Moratorium: What CMS Is Really Signaling About the Future, Chris Comeaux and Cordt Kassner continue their conversation with Dr. Jennifer Kennedy, Vice President for Quality, Standards and Compliance at CHAP, about what hospice leaders should expect when the moratorium is lifted—and how organizations should prepare now.
The conversation explores increased CMS enrollment scrutiny, changes of o...
The Hospice Moratorium: What CMS Is Really Signaling About the Future | Part One
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The hospice moratorium may be temporary—but the changes it signals for hospice oversight could be permanent.
In Part One of The Hospice Moratorium: What CMS Is Really Signaling About the Future, Chris Comeaux and Cordt Kassner, PhD, are joined by Dr. Jennifer Kennedy, Vice President for Quality, Standards and Compliance at CHAP, to unpack why CMS implemented the hospice moratorium and what it could mean for the future of the Medicare hospice benefit.
The conversation explores the growing federal focus on fr...
Part Two | From Zombies to Zealots: Cultivating Passion and Purpose in Healthcare Leadership
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What if the frustration, anger, and resistance showing up in your organization aren't signs of disengagement—but signals that your people still deeply care?
In Part Two of From Zombies to Zealots: Cultivating Passion and Purpose in Healthcare Leadership, host Chris Comeaux continues his thought-provoking conversation with DJ Mitsch, author, master coach, and founder of the Healthcare Coaching Institute, and Tasha Walsh, CEO and Executive Director of ConnectionsPlus Healthcare + Hospice.
Healthcare an...
From Zombies to Zealots: Cultivating Passion and Purpose in Healthcare Leadership | Part One
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What turns a passionate healthcare professional into a “zombie” at work—and what can leaders do to help reignite that sense of purpose?
In Part One of From Zombies to Zealots: Cultivating Passion and Purpose in Healthcare Leadership, host Chris Comeaux is joined by DJ Mitsch, author, master coach, and founder of the Healthcare Coaching Institute, and Tasha Walsh, CEO and Executive Director of ConnectionsPlus Healthcare + Hospice, for a thought-provoking conversation about burnout, workplace culture, leader...
Part Two | Hospice Wage Index, the Final Rule, and the Signals CMS Is Sending - FY 2027
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What is CMS really signaling about the future of hospice?
In Part Two, Chris Comeaux continues his conversation with hospice experts Annette Kiser and Judi Lund Person about the Hospice Wage Index, the Final Rule, and what leaders should be preparing for now.
They explore the larger shift toward increased CMS oversight, data-driven accountability, stronger documentation, scrutiny of non-hospice spending, and greater expectations around quality and value. From SSVI and PEPPER data to the mandatory hospice addendum, claims, and cost reports...
Hospice Wage Index, the Final Rule, and the Signals CMS Is Sending | Part One
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What is CMS really signaling through the 2027 Hospice Wage Index and Final Rule—and what should hospice leaders be doing now?
In Part One, host Chris Comeaux is joined by hospice regulatory experts Annette Kiser and Judi Lund Person to unpack the 2027 Hospice Wage Index and Final Rule and look beyond reimbursement to what CMS may be signaling about the future of hospice regulation, compliance, payment, and oversight.
They explore the Hospice Election Statement Addendum, the Se...
Part Two | The Healthcare Partnership Nobody Is Talking About: Hospice + FQHCs
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What if one of the most powerful partnerships in serious illness care is one healthcare leaders have largely overlooked?
In Part Two of The Healthcare Partnership Nobody Is Talking About: Hospice + FQHCs, Chris Comeaux continues his conversation with Kyle Ahlenstorf about the opportunity for hospice and palliative care organizations to partner with Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) to create a stronger continuum of care.
FQHCs bring primary and preventive care, behavioral health, care coordination, community health workers...
The Healthcare Partnership Nobody Is Talking About: Hospice + FQHCs | Part One
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What if one of the biggest untapped opportunities for hospice growth, access, and community impact is a partnership most healthcare leaders aren’t even considering?
In Part One of The Healthcare Partnership Nobody Is Talking About: Hospice + FQHCs, Chris Comeaux sits down with Kyle Ahlenstorf, CEO of Infinity Health, to explore the powerful potential of partnerships between hospice and palliative care organizations and Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs).
FQHCs are built around access, equity, and serving communities where barriers to healthcare are often gr...
Part Two | Embracing the Four M's—A Path to Person-Centered, Reliable Hospice and Palliative Care
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What if the biggest breakthrough in hospice care isn't a new technology—but a better way of focusing on what matters most?
In Part Two of this special conversation, host Chris Comeaux continues his discussion with Kelly McCutcheon Adams and Margherita Labson about how the Four M's Framework—What Matters, Medication, Mentation, and Mobility—is transforming hospice and palliative care into a more reliable, person-centered model.
Together, they explore why exceptional hospice care goes far beyond symptom management to preserve dignity, independence, emotional well-being, and meaningful moments for patients and fam...
Embracing the Four M's—A Path to Person-Centered, Reliable Hospice and Palliative Care | Part One
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How can hospice and palliative care become more person-centered while also becoming more reliable?
In Part One of this Anatomy of Leadership conversation, host Chris Comeaux sits down with Kelly McCutcheon Adams, Senior Director at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), and Margherita Labson, President and CEO of McLabson Consultation & Education Services, to explore the groundbreaking 4 M's Framework and its growing impact on hospice and palliative care.
Originally developed through the Age-Friendly Health Systems Initiative
Part 2 - Why Traditional Primary Care Fails Frail Elders and the Future Need for Specialized Models
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Can hospice organizations remain relevant if they only engage patients during the final months of life?
In Part Two of this thought-provoking conversation, host Chris Comeaux continues his discussion with Dr. Bethany Snider, exploring why traditional primary care often falls short for frail elders and why nonprofit healthcare organizations must rethink the future of serious illness care.
Dr. Snider explains how frail elder practices, value-based care, advanced primary care, palliative care, and hospice can work together as one seamless continuum to improve patient outcomes, reduce unnecessary hospitalizations, and help...
Why Traditional Primary Care Fails Frail Elders and the Future Need for Specialized Models | Part One
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Is traditional primary care failing America's frail elders? As our aging population grows, healthcare leaders face an urgent challenge: today's healthcare system was never designed to meet the complex, long-term needs of frail older adults.
In Part One of this compelling conversation, Chris Comeaux welcomes Dr. Bethany Snider, Chief Medical Officer of Everent Health, to explore why the future of healthcare requires a new model of care.
Together, they examine the emerging concept of the frail elder practice—an interdisciplinary, relationship-centered ap...
Part Two | This Global Healthcare Lesson Could Change America
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What can America learn from healthcare systems around the world? In Part Two of this thought-provoking conversation, host Chris Comeaux continues his discussion with Dr. Mark Stoltenberg, a global palliative care physician and educator, exploring how lessons from countries across Africa, Latin America, Asia, and Europe could reshape the future of American healthcare, hospice, and serious illness care.
From community-based palliative care models in India, Uruguay, and Costa Rica to powerful stories from Rwanda, Kenya, Colombia, Brazil, and Jamaica, Dr. Stoltenberg reveals why the greatest healthcare innovations a...
This Global Healthcare Lesson Could Change America | Part One
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What can American healthcare learn from global healthcare? In our latest episode, Dr. Mark Stoltenberg, Harvard Medical School professor and Massachusetts General Hospital physician, joins Chris Comeaux to explore global healthcare, palliative care, hospice leadership, healthcare innovation, and the future of serious illness care in America.
Healthcare leaders often assume innovation requires more money, more technology, or more specialists. Dr. Stoltenberg argues the opposite, drawing from his work leading global palliative care programs throughout Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, and other underserved regions. He shares how resource-limited healthcare systems are pio...
Part 2 - Leadership Starts With Presence—The Art of Showing Up with David Sachsenmaier
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What separates great leaders from those who simply manage people? It starts with presence.
In Part Two of Leadership Starts With Presence | The Art of Showing Up, host Chris Comeaux continues his conversation with executive leadership coach David Sachsenmaier to explore how leadership presence, emotional intelligence, psychological safety, and authentic leadership shape thriving organizations.
Leaders don't just influence strategy—they shape culture. David explains how unresolved personal patterns affect trust, communication, decision-making, and team performance, and offers practical insights for building healthier, high-performing or...
Leadership Starts With Presence—The Art of Showing Up with David Sachsenmaier | Part One
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Great leaders don't just show up—they create the kind of presence that changes people.
What separates truly exceptional leaders from those who simply manage? In Part One of this thought-provoking conversation, Chris Comeaux sits down with executive coach David Sachsenmaier, whose 30 years of leadership experience and more than 4,000 hours of executive coaching have helped leaders uncover one of leadership's most overlooked truths: the quality of your leadership is shaped by the quality of your inner life.
Together, they exp...
Part Two | What’s Broken in American Healthcare—and How to Fix It with Dr. Don Berwick
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Why does the United States spend more on healthcare than any other nation—yet often achieve worse outcomes?
In Part Two of this thought-provoking conversation, Dr. Don Berwick—former Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), internationally recognized healthcare quality expert, and founder of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI)—joins Chris Comeaux to explore the systemic challenges facing American healthcare and the leadership required to create meaningful reform.
From the evolution of Medicare Advantage to the financial incentives shaping healthcare delivery, Dr. Berwick explains why administrative complexi...
What’s Broken in American Healthcare—and How to Fix It | Part One
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Is American healthcare truly serving patients—or has the system lost sight of its purpose?
In this powerful episode of TCNtalks / Anatomy of Leadership, host Chris Comeaux welcomes Dr. Don Berwick, former Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), President Emeritus and co-founder of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), and one of the world’s foremost experts in healthcare quality improvement.
Together, they explore what’s broken in American healthcare, why healthcare reform is urgently needed, and how leaders can build...
Part Two | AI, Hospice Fraud Crackdown & Medicare’s Future—The Biggest Healthcare Stories of 2026
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AI is transforming healthcare. Medicare policy is evolving. Regulatory scrutiny is intensifying. What do these changes mean for healthcare leaders, hospice executives, nonprofit organizations, and healthcare professionals?
In Part Two of this quarterly healthcare leadership update, Chris Comeaux and Cordt Kassner examine the biggest healthcare trends of 2026, exploring how artificial intelligence in healthcare, Medicare policy, healthcare affordability, hospice fraud enforcement, regulatory compliance, and healthcare innovation are reshaping hospice and the broader healthcare industry.
They discuss how AI is changing the healthcare workforce, why quality and transparency matter more than e...
AI, Hospice Fraud Crackdown & Medicare’s Future—The Biggest Healthcare Stories of 2026
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The Anatomy of Leadership podcast explores the art and science of leadership through candid, insightful conversations with thought leaders, innovators, and change-makers from a variety of industries. Hosted by Chris Comeaux, each episode dives into the mindsets, habits, and strategies that empower leaders to thrive in complex, fast-changing environments. With topics ranging from organizational culture and emotional intelligence to navigating disruption and inspiring teams, the show blends real-world stories with practical takeaways. The goal is simple yet ambitious: to equip leaders at every level with the tools, perspectives, and inspiration they need to...
