The case for a virtual-first healthcare system with Dr. Chris Gallagher, Founder and Chief Strategy Officer and Dr. Blake Porter, Chief of Maternal-Fetal Medicine at Access TeleCare

In this episode of Lifers, Christina Farr sits down with Dr. Chris Gallagher (founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Access TeleCare) and Dr. Blake Porter (Chief of Maternal Fetal Medicine at Access TeleCare) to explore the state and future of virtual subspecialty care. The conversation centers on a second wave of telehealth growth, moving beyond the pandemic-era boom into harder-to-reach territory like high-risk pregnancy care, rural ICUs, and other subspecialties where trained clinicians are hard to find and can't simply be manufactured at scale.

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Join Christina for an upcoming webinar:

* 5/19 - What will AI do for employer healthcare and benefits with Garner Health - ⁠⁠https://streamyard.com/watch/sQfWpwRzMqWE⁠⁠

* 5/21 - The case for building an AI native electronic health record system - ⁠https://streamyard.com/watch/RCVSNheSPePs⁠

⁠⁠* 6/3 - Privacy, AI & the future of HIPAA with the former founding director of ONC - ⁠⁠https://streamyard.com/watch/bzW4sh8WAPyS⁠⁠

⁠* 6/23 - Not everyone can access the top 1% of physicians. Will AI change that? - ⁠⁠https://streamyard.com/watch/qY9td6fhiXK3⁠⁠

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Thanks to our sponsor Access TeleCare, the largest provider of acute specialty telemedicine, serving hospitals and health systems across the U.S.
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LINKS:
Access TeleCare: https://accesstelecare.com/ 

Second Opinion’s interview with Chris Clomp: https://secondopinion.media/p/the-big-interview-we-sit-down-with-rfk-jr-s-no-2-chris-klomp 
Charted: Where Inflation Has Hit the Hardest (2000–2025): https://www.visualcapitalist.com/chart-inflation-hit-the-hardest-by-category-2000-2025/ 

Chrissy Farr on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LiferswithChristinaFarr 
Chrissy Farr on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cfarr/ 
Subscribe to the Second Opinion Newsletter: https://secondopinion.media/ 
Chrissy’s Book: The Storyteller's Advantage: https://www.chrissyfarr.com/books 

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FOLLOW:
Chris:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisgallaghermd/ 

Blake:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/blake-porter-62b51367 

Chrissy:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinafarr/ 
https://x.com/chrissyfarr 

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TIMESTAMPS:

(00:00) Preview
(01:02) Intro
(03:18) Telehealth growth and market reset
(06:08) Virtual specialty care in women's health
(08:41) Solving the subspecialist shortage
(12:01) What virtual care really means
(14:51) Care at home and remote monitoring
(17:55) Rural Health Fund and Medicaid cuts
(21:39) Reducing hospital transfers with telemedicine
(23:49) Change management in healthcare
(25:08) Trusting clinical change
(26:32) Doctors in business roles
(27:36) No margin no mission
(31:02) Defining quality and sustainability
(32:55) Making healthcare deflationary
(38:39) Rural innovation ground zero
(42:10) Picking the right vendors
(44:25) Founding a virtual ICU
(48:15) Selling into health systems
(50:50) Wrap