Rick Brush is CEO of Wellville, a 10-year initiative founded by angel investor Esther Dyson to improve health and financial outcomes in five U.S. communities. In addition to overseeing the national project, Rick leads the Wellville effort in North Hartford, CT, working with Community Solutions and a multi-sector collaborative focused on achieving the Neighborhood Triple Aim: improved population health, wellbeing, and investment. Rick is also founder & CEO of Collective Health, which developed the Health Impact Bond, a pay-for-success financing model that leverages future health care cost savings to generate upfront investment in prevention. Before turning entrepreneur, Rick spent nearly a decade at the health insurer Cigna, where he was Chief Strategy & Marketing Officer for the national employer segment and launched the company’s Communities of Health venture. Prior to that, Rick was a corporate strategist at Ford Credit, Bank One and KPMG. Rick graduated from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and lives with his wife and two children in Simsbury, CT.
Websites: Wellville.net, Collectivehealth.net
Twitter: @WayToWellville, @collectivehlth
Facebook: facebook.com/waytowellville
To reach Rick: rick@hiccup.co; LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/rrbrush
00:00 Rick gives an overview of what Wellville is.
02:00 How Esther Dyson and Rick started Wellville.
03:00 The way to Wellville.
03:30 The communities involved in Wellville.
05:40 How the communities involved with Wellville were chosen.
07:20 The true goal behind Wellville.
09:00 How our communities affect our health.
09:20 The Social Determinants of Health.
11:30 How social relationships are critical to the outcome of health.
13:30 Looking at patterns that might be typically neglected to find ways to impact health.
15:45 “Is there a better way to invest as a nation?”
17:20 “Demonstrating the business case for doing the right thing.”
19:30 “Context really matters.”
22:00 How Wellville is measuring success.
27:00 Challenging the notion of the tragedy of the commons.
32:00 Overcoming challenges and learning as you go.
33:00 You can find out more at wellville.net or on twitter @waytowellville.