Skip to content
‹ Back to IndustriesHealthcare

Finding a Path Forward After the COVID-19 Pandemic

On this episode of Healthcare Analytics Decoded, a Quantros podcast, Quantros’ Lindsey Klein was joined by Dr. Stan Schwartz, noted healthcare consultant, President and CEO of WellOK, the Northeastern Oklahoma Business Coalition on Health, and Chief Medical Officer for The Zero Card, Inc. The Zero Card is a digital health company that connects self-funded…

This story was produced through MarketScale. See how Healthcare teams put it to work with Executive Thought Leadership.

·
Share
Finding a Path Forward After the COVID-19 Pandemic

Free workspace

Turn your Healthcare expertise into content.

Record interviews, organize footage, and write with AI on a free trial of the MarketScale platform for qualifying companies. No demo required, no credit card.

Try it Free

On this episode of Healthcare Analytics Decoded, a Quantros podcast, Quantros’ Lindsey Klein was joined by Dr. Stan Schwartz, noted healthcare consultant, President and CEO of WellOK, the Northeastern Oklahoma Business Coalition on Health, and Chief Medical Officer for The Zero Card, Inc.

The Zero Card is a digital health company that connects self-funded employers to providers willing to provide bundled services, providing a healthcare model that’s easier to understand, simpler to use and avoids the typical mountains of paperwork and bills that make navigating care difficult.

Schwartz labeled the COVID-19 pandemic as a “once in a century” learning experience due to its near “perfect storm” of disruptive factors, such as the rapidity with which it spreads and the lack of a vaccine or treatment.

Schwartz also said that the pandemic could continue fraying the already weakening bonds between patients and consistent primary care physicians, migrate the healthcare system away from being hospital-centric, and raise the volume on the conversation regarding lower cost or free care, which is already being implemented for coronavirus-related care.

Klein and Schwartz said the way forward, then, is increased transparency in healthcare for patients that could reduce the overwhelming nature of information regarding their treatment and care.

Solutions like those provided by Quantros could help patients better define “quality,” finding surgeons and physicians that are truly the best option for their treatment and care.

“Reputation is one thing, but, as we say at The Zero Card, ‘We trust grandma, but everyone else must bring data,” Schwartz said.

For the latest news, videos, and podcasts in the Healthcare Industry, be sure to subscribe to our industry publication.

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Twitter – @MarketScale

Facebook – facebook.com/marketscale

LinkedIn – linkedin.com/company/marketscale

Your experts belong here

Every story in MarketScale Healthcare starts with a company putting its clinicians, service-line leaders, and field engineers on the record. Buyers are already reading this topic. The only question is whose experts they find.

Service-line buyers vet vendors quietly, and your clinicians become the proof they find while doing it.

Book DemoSee how it works15 minutes, straight to a calendar.
B2B Weekly

The week in Healthcare, and sixteen other industries, every Monday.

Ten stories, one-line takes, five minutes. Free.

Healthcare: are you visible to AI?

Before they reach out, Healthcare buyers ask AI engines which vendors to trust. Explore how your experts, customers, and partners can become useful content for buyers and AI search.

Free Trial

You just read one Healthcare expert. Your company is full of them.

This article was produced through MarketScale. The same platform turns your clinicians, service-line leaders, and field engineers into the articles, video, and social content Healthcare buyers are searching for. Start a free trial and see it with your own people. For qualifying companies, no credit card, no demo required.

NPS +73 · 1,000+ creators · 38+ countries

What your free trial includes

Hands-on access to the MarketScale platform
Media requests to your crowd, remote recording, AI writing tools
No demo required. No credit card.
For qualifying companies. Company confirmation required.

More Healthcare Insights

Avanlee Care’s $3.5M seed tests whether Medicare Advantage plans will pay to reach caregivers

Avanlee Care’s $3.5M seed tests whether Medicare Advantage plans will pay to reach caregivers

Avanlee Care raised a $3.5 million seed round led by BEA Venture Fund, bringing total funding to $6 million. The startup helps Medicare Advantage plans find and support members' family caregivers. Its bet: plans will pay to reach whoever books the visits.

  • 01Medicare Advantage plans can see overdue visits and refills; Avanlee Care’s $3.5M seed backs a per-member-per-month model to reach the family caregiver who can act on that outreach.
  • 02Caregiver support among Medicare Advantage Special Needs Plans rose from 5% of plans in 2025 to 16% in 2026, even as meals and transportation benefits declined. That gives benefit designers a reference point.

Nov 15, 2026

Oura's $625 million Counsel Health deal puts a ring maker in the triage business

Oura's $625 million Counsel Health deal puts a ring maker in the triage business

Oura is buying Counsel Health for $625 million in cash, bringing an AI chat service with on-demand physicians in-house. Counsel will keep selling triage and virtual care to health plans, health systems and employers. Outcomes data is still to come.

  • 01For $625 million in cash, a smart ring company now owns a service pitched to health plans as a replacement for the nurse triage line.
  • 02Counsel's website offers a free conversation with Counsel AI and lets users add a doctor for $29, a public reference point benefits teams could use when comparing virtual care costs.
  • 03The evidence behind the combined model is member satisfaction (4.6 out of 5) and self-reported surveys; clinical outcomes and cost results are the numbers that would confirm it.

Nov 15, 2026

Ohio State–Microsoft deal, reported at $250M, targets 70–80% of storage/compute to Azure

Ohio State–Microsoft deal, reported at $250M, targets 70–80% of storage/compute to Azure

Ohio State University and Microsoft’s five-year partnership, reported by outlets at $250 million, is largely infrastructure: targeting a shift of roughly 70% to 80% of storage and computing to Azure and building a shared data layer. Note-drafting AI already runs. Smart-room features for patients come later and depend on that foundation.

  • 01The only part of the Ohio State and Microsoft deal with published results is AI note drafting, which saved up to four minutes per visit in Wexner's 2024 pilot.
  • 02Smart-room capabilities (such as personalized lighting) depend on a shared data layer whose high-level design is complete; early measurable returns may show up first in OR and staffing forecasts.
  • 03Health systems weighing a similar platform deal should ask how the headline value breaks down, which workloads move first and whether the cloud copy of the EHR is a backup or the primary record.

Nov 14, 2026

Explore More Healthcare Insights

Read more expert perspectives from across Healthcare.

Browse Healthcare Hub

For B2B teams

Your experts could be publishing here

Stories like this one run on content MarketScale captures from real practitioners. See how your team's expertise becomes coverage in Healthcare and beyond.

Book a Demo

Or call us. No forms required. We pick up. 214-945-2512