Transcript: Episode 141: Silverware Secret Message

LISTEN TO THE EPISODE:

APPLE PODCASTS | SPOTIFY | TOPFLOOR.COM

[00:00:00] Susan Barry: This is Top Floor, Episode 141. You can find the show notes at topfloorpodcast.com/episode/141. 

[00:00:14] Narrator: Welcome to Top Floor with Susan Barry. This weekly podcast ride up to the top floor features tangible tips and excellent stories from the experts and characters who elevate hospitality. And now, your host and elevator operator, Susan Barry. 

[00:00:32] Susan Barry: Welcome to the show. One of Rebecca Dean's first brushes with the healthcare system happened in childhood when she broke her back as a young gymnast. With a pharmacist mother and degrees in both biomedical sciences and cellular molecular biology, Rebecca was initially drawn to medicine, but found hospital administration more to her taste.

[00:00:59] During school and job searches, Rebecca waited tables and bartended, ultimately meeting her co-founder and life partner at one such job during grad school. Together, they founded Healthpitality, a virtual medical practice designed for the hospitality industry. Today we are going to talk about rifles and cold medicine, quite a combination. But before we jump in, we need to answer the call button.

The emergency call button rings.

[00:01:30] Susan Barry: The emergency call button is our hotline for hospitality professionals who have burning questions. If You would like to submit a question, you can call or text me at 850-404-9630. Today's question was submitted by Cecily, who says, if I feel fine, what is the point of an annual checkup? Funny, Rebecca, I also have this question, even though I know I need to get an annual checkup, it drives me crazy to spend the money and the time to do that. What do you think? 

[00:02:04] Rebecca Dean: Yeah, this is a great question. Um, and one that we see a lot in the hospitality industry because we are generally a healthy population. And on top of that, we're also kind of scrappy too. Right. And so we know, um, our bodies pretty well. It's always important to check in. And this is definitely something that you, I'm not a medical provider, but it's something you definitely want to talk to your medical provider about. Um, but having that knowledge of where you are and anything that's changed over the year, um, knowledge is power. So the more you know, the better. So definitely go get your, your annual checkups. 

[00:02:38] Susan Barry: I bet Cecily is younger than 40. That would be my guess. 

[00:02:43] Rebecca Dean: Most likely. We remember those days. Right?

[00:02:44] Susan Barry: Yes, totally. So before we get too deep into the topic at hand, I really cannot miss the opportunity to ask you about the fact that you shot competitive rifle. I think that's how you say it. I really just want to call you a rifle woman, but how, how did you get into that sport and do you still do it? Do you still shoot?  

[00:03:08] Rebecca Dean: As you mentioned in the, in the intro, um, I was a gymnast. I did get hurt pretty significantly. Thankfully it wasn't extremely life altering, you know, I'm fine. I'm fully functional. Um, but I was a 14 year old young girl and my whole world came crashing down when you told me I couldn't do gymnastics anymore. It was very dramatic time. So, um, I had grown up going to the range with my dad. It was something that I really enjoyed and was pretty decent at. And so, um, my dad kind of looked at my mom and this devastated 14 year old girl and said, what do we do with her now?

[00:03:42] And, um, so they decided let's get her back into shooting. And, um, and I did that from the late nineties, early 2000’s through college and got to shoot, uh, all over the country and, uh, once overseas. So that was really exciting. Um, I don't have as much opportunity to shoot as I would like to, um, but I would like to get back into it a little bit more, but you know, life happens and those hobbies kind of get put in the closet.

[00:04:11] Susan Barry: Okay, so I think what we're hearing is Rebecca has a rifle in her closet, so do not go to her house under any circumstances.

[00:04:19] Rebecca Dean: Exactly. Call first!

[00:04:22] Susan Barry: You've had sort of simultaneous career paths in both hospitality and healthcare. You worked in restaurants to support your educational goals. I think our listeners definitely know what restaurant jobs are like, but I, they probably don't have a good sense of what hospital administration is. Can you describe that, what that entails and what that career path is like? 

[00:04:45] Rebecca Dean: Absolutely. So, um, a hospital or, or healthcare administration is really the, unsexy side of healthcare, you know. It's not the Grey's Anatomy and Dr. Bailey, you know, saving patients. Um, but we're the business side of healthcare. So everything that supports that function, um, scheduling, budgeting, staffing, regulatory oversight. So making sure the department or the practice or the hospital are running effectively and then depending on the size of the organization.

[00:05:14] So I've worked at smaller organizations as well. Um, and so that can mean everything from, you know, uh, supervising the maintenance to provider relations and policy creation, everything in between. And so what I do is I specialize in operations and, um, I'm the details person. 

[00:05:34] Susan Barry: Gotcha. So Healthpitality, the company that you co-founded, brings together both sides of your careers. Um, will you describe what a virtual medical practice means? 

[00:05:45] Rebecca Dean: Yeah. So we describe Healthpitality as a virtual first health and wellness experience. So we go beyond just providing a telehealth visit with a provider. Um, we have a member concierge team available to all of our members that really guide them through many different facets of health and wellness. So while we do offer those traditional telehealth visits, you, you know, have a tickle in your throat or you have seasonal allergies and you need to see a provider, we absolutely do that. Um, but a couple of really great examples of what our member concierge team does. does is we provide meal plans. You know, we know that in the hospitality industry, we struggle with with eating well.

[00:06:26] And so you need a grocery list and ideas of meals to prepare that you can have ready, um, in advance. So we have those available. Our member concierge team can help us with you. Um, another big. Part of the experience that we have is if you have a hospital bill, you had to have a, a stay, you're uninsured and you can't afford the bill. Um, we have partners, uh, that will free of charge, negotiate those bills for you, um, and get those to a more reasonable cost. And then we'll help you find the funds. So the virtual practice goes beyond just healthcare and those telehealth visits, seeing a provider and giving you a good overall, um, health and wellness experience.

[00:07:08] Susan Barry: So I'm on the other end of this conversation, listening and thinking, well, that sounds great. How do I join? What should I do? 

[00:07:17] Rebecca Dean: Yeah, absolutely. So the first thing you want to do is check with your employer and see if they're enrolled with Healthpitality. If not, you should encourage them to get in touch. Um, but if you're enrolling as an individual, you can visit our website at Healthpitality.life, click on employees and book a reservation. And, um, a member of our concierge team will get you all set up. If the employer is enrolled, they can simply let their employer know that they're interested and the employer will reach out to their partner concierge and get the new employee added to their plan. Right now, we are enrolling in South Carolina and Florida, and we will be adding more states as we get the demand. 

[00:07:57] Susan Barry: Excellent. Okay, this is probably, like, I'm putting you on the spot a little bit, but when I figured this out, when I was getting ready for our conversation today, my mind was boggled. A telehealth visit to my doctor's office with insurance costs $50. That's the copay for telehealth. So like 10 minutes on a Zoom-like platform. Having a quick conversation. Your monthly subscription for an employee that isn't trying to cover like family members and stuff like that is $55. So it's $5 more than one telehealth appointment, and it includes unlimited telehealth appointments. How is that possible? How is it possible for you to offer that at that price point and really more to the point, why is mine so expensive? And when are you coming to Georgia? 

[00:08:56] Rebecca Dean: How much time do you have? This is a much larger conversation about the healthcare system in the United States. But to put it really simply, healthcare doesn't have to cost that much. Um, especially when you're delivering it virtually, we don't have rent to pay. You know, we don't have those utilities to pay. And more importantly, we don't have shareholders that are expecting massive profits. Um, as my co-founder, life partner, Neil Goschel says, um, “We're defining the new pop culture.” So people over profits, um, while we are a for-profit company, our mission is to provide high-quality evidence based healthcare at an affordable price.

[00:09:41] Susan Barry: We like to make sure that our listeners come away from every single episode of Top Floor with some specific practical ideas and tips to try at home or at work. There are a lot of rules and regulations around starting a business like yours, which is why I think, to correct me if I'm wrong, but why you are only available in certain states right now. Can you talk through the obstacles at a high level? And what you've had to do to work through them, or is it something that's just like licensure that's a matter of course, that people have to always go through? 

[00:10:18] Rebecca Dean: Yeah. So it's all of that. Um, medical practices are governed by the states in which they operate. So Um, right now, 33 states have what's called the Corporate Practice of Medicine Regulations. Um, and they vary the degree to which they're, um, the restrictions are applied. Um, but the CPOM, what it really does is it restricts or prohibits, um, a medical practice from being owned by a non-licensed medical professional.

[00:10:46] And so because my partner, Neil and I are not medical providers um, there are some states in which we cannot operate without a physician owner. So South Carolina, our home state is one of those states. Um, and the CPOM essentially ensures that medical professionals are the ones making the medical decision. So this is what we want, right? Um, we want to make sure that the medical decisions in a medical practice are being made by people who are licensed to practice medicine. Not by me.

[00:11:16] Susan Barry: And not by only accountants.

[00:11:19] Rebecca Dean: Exactly. Exactly. And so, we were really lucky enough to find a brilliant physician, um, to partner with. She is licensed in all 50 states, so she's going to be able to represent Healthpitality as we grow and expand and really be that guiding force for the medical practice side of it. So, Neil and I are here to make sure that the business runs efficiently and operationally sound and that we support our medical practice and our medical providers and, um, and they can be the ones that that are providing medical services.

[00:11:52] So we're not telling people, Oh, you know, if somebody comes in with the sniffles, diagnose them with allergies and write them a prescription because we're going to be able to upcharge that bill. You know, that's, that's ridiculous. You know, we want to make sure that, that medical providers are making the medical decisions. And so while the CPOM, uh, gives you some more hoops to jump through, that's, that's not a problem. It's a good thing. Um, and the reason that we're only starting in South Carolina and Florida is because we are based here in South Carolina. Um, our physician is based in Florida. And so it made, made a lot of sense, um, to start with these two states. They're both really big tourism States, um, with a big hospitality presence. And so we're moving, uh, hopefully going to move a little bit west and go into Georgia very soon.

[00:12:37] Susan Barry: I was going to say we're right in between those two. You might as well close the gap.

[00:12:41] Rebecca Dean: Exactly. We want, we do want to make sure that we're very thoughtful about our growth though. Um, we don't want to come into a state and say, Hey, we're here! Um, everybody sign up. And then we have a hundred thousand new members come and we don't have the resources to support them. So we want to make sure that we're very thoughtful about our expansion, about how we, we move across the United States and make sure that we're providing what we say we can provide. Um, I think once you, you know, gain the trust of the hospitality industry, it's very easy to lose it. And so we want to make sure that we are giving them what they deserve and then what we, what we tell them we're going to give them. 

[00:13:21] Susan Barry: Gotcha. You talked about medical providers before and the shortage of nurses and other health care workers makes headlines all the time. Um, what are you doing or how do you work around that on the talent side? What are you doing to attract employees? Are you a side hustle for nurses and nurse practitioners? Tell me all about that. What's your hiring situation like? 

[00:13:47] Rebecca Dean: Well, a lot of the shortage, um, if you look at what the nurses and what the clinical staff are saying, those who are bedside, um, they're burnt out and they cite poor working conditions understaffing, which is an administrative voice sometimes that, that I don't agree with, you know, understaffing on purpose in order to make sure that you stay within your your budget constraints. Um, they also talk about low pay and lack of appreciation. And so we're fully remote at Healthpitality, and that's an extremely alluring perk for many nurses and clinical staff that want that flexibility, want that autonomy. Um, we offer flexible PTO, um, a work from home allowance.

[00:14:31] So we make sure that we're offering working conditions that are appropriate competitive salaries, making sure that. That we're paying people appropriately, um, education, uh, professional development funds. People want to grow in their, um, in their profession and so making sure that we're supporting that, um, is something that's really important to us.

[00:14:53] And as far as, you know, looking at hiring, um, my biggest tip is to listen. So you want to listen to your, uh, great candidates that turn you down. So nothing is worse than when you find just the one and you make an offer and they come back and they say, you know, it, it's not the right fit. Make sure you get that feedback. What, what is something that could have made you say yes, or, or what didn't feel right to you, but you also have to listen to your current staff and create that environment where, you know, feedback is acted upon and not just collected. 

[00:15:33] Susan Barry: Got it. We have reached the fortune telling portion of the show. So you're going to predict the future and we will see if you were right. What is a prediction you have about employer-provided health insurance? 

[00:15:47] Rebecca Dean: I don't think we're going to see a lot of change with the heavy hitters for, for a long time. Um, health insurance companies reported 41 billion dollars in profits in 2022. And that's a system that we're collectively comfortable with. But like I said before, I do think we're going to start to see our people departments begin to get more creative with their offerings, like adding Healthpitality or something similar. Um, and then the self-funded option that I talked about a little bit before, where, you know, they're giving more options than just this traditional health insurance the way that, you know, we used to think of it. I know that, you know, feelings change and when you and I were coming up, what did our parents expect? You know, you start in a job after you graduate college and then 50 years later you retire and then you get your gold watch and your pension and you're sent on your way. That idea of, of employment has changed so much. And I think that we're going to start seeing that in, in other aspects of what we expect from, from employment.

[00:16:53] Susan Barry: If you could wave a magic wand and create a new product or service for the hospitality industry, what would it be?

[00:17:00] Rebecca Dean: So I think what I would like to see, and this could, we could actually build this into our Healthpitality marketplaces. We, um, we see all of these hospitality groups on, on Facebook or, um, you know, other social media apps where people vent or complain or say, Hey, I need a roommate. I would love to see that self-contained, um, affordable housing is an issue, um, in the hospitality industry too, um, transportation, um, smart transportation, public transportation.

[00:17:33] And so I would really like to see one central place where I moved to Georgia, and I, you know, have my app on my phone and I set the location to Atlanta, Georgia, and I can find affordable housing. I can look at the bus routes. I can see what my options are. I can find a roommate. Um, I can meet new people. So I think that would be really cool to have a way to connect. I'm really into the services specific for, for the industry. You know, Facebook is, is for everyone. I would love to see, um, something more, more geared towards hospitality. 

[00:18:08] Susan Barry: Almost like an employment enablement app where you're clearing the path of all of the obstacles to make a career. That's such a great idea. Now I gotta go because I'm going to go start working on that before you have a chance to! Just kidding, just kidding. What is next for you and what's next for Healthpitality? 

[00:18:31] Rebecca Dean: Yeah so we're continuing to fundraise. We're always looking for new partners and investors that believe in the mission in the way that we do. It helps us to reach more communities, make sure that we're staying connected to those communities and, um, you know, expanding from South Carolina and Florida to Georgia and, uh, hopefully further across the United States. 

[00:18:53] Susan Barry: Awesome. Okay, folks. Before we tell Rebecca goodbye, we are going to head down to the loading dock where all of the best stories get told.

Elevator voice announces, “Going down.”

[00:19:08] Susan Barry: Rebecca what is a story you would only tell me on the loading dock? 

[00:19:12] Rebecca Dean: Well, I don't have anything too salacious for you, but I do have -

[00:19:16] Susan Barry: Dang it!

[00:19:17] Rebecca Dean: I know, I know, but it's a, it's a good lesson in, uh, in advocacy and, and how collectively we can advocate for ourselves. So I was working at a, um, sports bar and restaurant. So it was, elevated, you know, it was, uh, very family, family friendly. Um, but we had these, uh, everybody had to roll silverware. I think that we can all collectively groan when we think of rolling silverware. Um, but we went from having these, uh, linen, like napkins. I don't know if you, uh, have ever worked with those, but they're the size of like a linen napkin that you would have in fine dining and, um, and you can roll your silverware on those.

[00:19:56] Um, it is, they're a little bit more expensive than regular napkins. And so the establishment that I worked for decided to switch to the smaller quarter napkins with the tabs around them, which everybody hated. It was such a pain, uh, for those. And so we had them for a few weeks and, um, and every once in a while, uh, an employee or a patron would unwrap their silverware and they would see on the inside that they had won a free appetizer and they just were so excited. And so the management had to give them the free appetizer. You know, they couldn't look like a jerk and say, Oh, no, our employees are rising against us.

[00:20:39] Susan Barry: Oh, they did it on purpose? Oh my God. Are you serious? You just wrote it in there. That is amazing.

[00:20:46] Rebecca Dean: I did not. I did not. I was, I was bartending at the time and one of the perks was bartenders didn't have to roll silverware, but I did know who did it. Um, and who, who led that movement. Eventually they went back to the linen napkins and without the tabs, um, management took it very well and took it in stride and thought it was very funny. And so it's a good example of advocating peaceful protest. Shout out to Josie. Uh, we love you and that was just hilarious. 

[00:21:18] Susan Barry: Amazing and great idea for anyone who is rolling silverware while they're listening to this episode. Rebecca Dean, thank you so much for being here. I know that our listeners are excited and awaiting the expansion of your company across the land. And I really appreciate you riding up to the top floor.

[00:21:38] Rebecca Dean: Thank you so much for having me.

[00:21:42] Susan Barry: Thanks so much for listening. You can find the show notes at topfloorpodcast.com/episode/141. Jonathan Albano is our editor, producer, and all around genius. He even wrote and performed our theme song with vocals by Cameron Albano. You can subscribe to Top Floor on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you like to listen. And your rating or review will go a long way in helping us give you more of what you like. 

[00:22:17] Narrator: Thanks for listening to the Top Floor Podcast at www.topfloorpodcast.com. Have a hospitality marketing question? Reach us at 850-404-9630 to be featured in a future episode.