Welcome to The Healthy Bottom Line
A Podcast for Employee Benefits Professionals Focused on Better Health and affordability. Brent Smith’s journey into health care started when his first post-college employer offered an incentive to employees to complete their annual physical. Short on cash and buried in student loans—he went. That visit led to a diagnosis of Metabolic Syndrome and changed the course of his life. It sparked a deep curiosity about health in America, a personal commitment to wellness, and the realization that an employer’s benefits strategy can change lives.
Brent spent the rest of his 20’s writing, directing and producing a movie about health in America called Sickcare.
Now Vice President of Client Development at Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Brent brings over two decades of experience to the mic—spotlighting what’s working and what’s next in employee benefits. The Healthy Bottom Line delivers smart, real-world strategies for HR leaders, consultants, and plan sponsors alike.
Community Generated Content
Whole Health Index
Dr. Sam Ambewadikar returns to break down Anthem’s Whole Health Index (WHI)—a powerful tool that distills medical, social, environmental, and behavioral data into a single score (0–100) to identify members most at risk. By surfacing factors like transportation deserts, housing instability, or food insecurity, WHI enables Anthem care managers and advocates to proactively match members…
PCP Attribution Analysis
Dr. Sam Ambewadikar, RVP and Medical Director at Anthem National Accounts, joins Brent to unpack the power of primary care attribution analysis—a tool he helped pioneer to spotlight the clinical and financial impact of members not having an established PCP. Drawing from his background as a practicing pediatrician and claims analytics leader, Dr. Sam shares…
Sydney Health Demo
In this episode, Christina Firouztash, Executive Advisor of Digital Solutions at Anthem, gives a dynamic walkthrough of the Sydney Health app—Anthem’s flagship digital member experience. Christina showcases how Sydney delivers personalized, simple, and equitable navigation across benefits, including virtual care, pharmacy, financial transparency, and social services access. From contextual chatbots and ID card access to…
Pharmacy Part 1
In this episode, Brent chats with Katie Brennan, National Sales Director at CarelonRx, about making pharmacy benefits more accessible, consistent, and member-friendly. Katie spotlights Carelon new advanced home delivery model, which brings the pharmacy counter—and the pharmacist—into the member’s home. With fewer retail pharmacies offering extended hours and many patients lacking reliable transportation, CarelonRx is…
Inclusive Care
Sammy Gonzalez, Regional Vice President at Elevance Health, joins Brent for a deeply personal and impactful conversation on health equity and inclusive care. Sammy shares a powerful story of medical misdiagnosis tied to cultural assumptions, underscoring how bias—even unintentional—can hinder care quality. He highlights Elevance’s work to improve diversity in provider networks, enhance cultural competency,…
Network Innovations
Brent speaks with Day-Vene Gilliam, VP of National Network Optimization & Business Development at Elevance Health, about how Anthem is evolving its network strategy to deliver greater value to clients and members. From expanding value-based care contracts with over 650,000 providers to leveraging digital tools like HealthOS for real-time data and gap-closure, Anthem is enabling…
Food As Medicine
Dr. Kofi Essel, community pediatrician and Elevance Health’s Food as Medicine Director, joins Brent to discuss how nutrition is becoming a central lever in both preventing and treating chronic disease. With millions of Americans living with diabetes, hypertension, and obesity, Dr. Essel explains how Elevance is building interventions that help members access high-quality food and…
Stop Loss for Gene Therapy
Brent welcomes Tye Rambo, Stop Loss Business Strategy Manager, to discuss how Elevance Health is helping employers manage the financial risks of high-cost gene therapies. With one-time treatments ranging from $850,000 to over $3 million, Tye explains how Elevance’s stop loss solution ensures consistent coverage by avoiding “lasering”—a tactic that raises deductibles for known high-cost…
Addressing SDoH with Community Connected Care
Brent sits down with Neal Turnage and Danny Maxson from Elevance Health’s Social Impact Team to explore how the Community Connected Care initiative is redefining healthcare. They share how Elevance is actively addressing Social Determinants of Health (SDoH)—like housing instability, food insecurity, and transportation access—by embedding support into member-facing systems. Through strategic partnerships, digital tools,…
Anthem and SurgeryPlus “Latern” Partnership
In this episode, Brent Smith welcomes Dickon Waterfield, President of SurgeryPlus (Employer Direct Healthcare), to discuss their innovative partnership with Anthem. They break down how SurgeryPlus builds high-quality, cost-effective surgical networks—delivering care that’s local, affordable, and outcome-focused. Dickon explains how their model drives savings for employers while eliminating out-of-pocket costs for members. He also shares…