EP182: Roadmap to Employer Innovation, With Renya Spak, MPH, Partner at Mercer's Center for Health Innovation
May 10, 2018
182
33:34

EP182: Roadmap to Employer Innovation, With Renya Spak, MPH, Partner at Mercer's Center for Health Innovation

Renya is a Partner in the New York City office of Mercer Health & Benefits and leads the Center for Health Innovation (CHI). CHI is a national team, which includes Mercer LABS, focused on driving market change via collaboration with our clients, our colleagues, and thought leaders across the ecosystem to generate unbiased solutions that translate health innovations into relevant and actionable opportunities for employers. In addition, Renya continues to actively participate and lead consulting engagements that focus on strategic planning, population health management, and health innovation.

Prior to joining CHI, Renya served as the Total Health Management Practice Leader for the Central Market where she focused on creating health management and well-being strategies for multinational employers. She led efforts focused on designing high performing care management programs, assessing next generation advocacy models, and developing new approaches to drive optimized health engagement through digital solutions. These projects resulted in industry-leading health outcomes—and more importantly—supported her client’s broader workforce goals like optimizing productivity and retaining talent. This work spanned many industries including pharma, manufacturing, technology, and academia.


00:00 The new rules of “Health 2.0.”
02:20 How employers are really driving the new changes in health care.
03:45 “The influence of employers is not commensurate with their purchasing power.”
05:50 “This market has not, and cannot, operate in rational ways.”
08:30 “Innovation and disruption have an underbelly that means sometimes breaking the rules.”
09:30 “Sometimes discipline and innovation don’t show up in the same sentences.”
11:20 The process to create a process.
12:15 Anchoring a strategy to an organization’s cost driver.
15:30 The importance of group sharing.
19:30 Adding in “crowdsource insights.”
25:20 How population health management might transition in the future.
27:40 Major trends in employers and innovation.
31:20 How employers can explore their options among innovative solutions.
33:50 Understanding the data and setting a strategy.
34:30 “It’s never just about choosing the right vendor for innovation.”
35:35 How Renya sees the health care roadmap to the year 2020.
38:40 You can learn more at mercer.com.

healthcare,health,marketing,mercer,
|

Episode Support Provided By

Special Thanks to Our 2026 Sustaining Monthly Donors

Kimberly Carleson, Dylan Yahn, Benjamin Light, Matt McQuideAnn Kempski, Spencer Allen, Scott TromanhauserMarilyn Bartlett, 
Steven Elkins, Matthew Bunte, and Lori Smith.

Recent Episodes

EP508: Why Don't More Self-insured CEOs Take Bold Action in Health Benefits Strategy? With Lee Lewis
Relentless Health ValueApril 23, 2026
508
44:0240.31 MB

EP508: Why Don't More Self-insured CEOs Take Bold Action in Health Benefits Strategy? With Lee Lewis

Listen on Your Favorite App This episode is the very first episode that we have done that is an AMA—an Ask Me Anything—and here is our very first question. Sarah Monroe: Hi. This is Sarah Monroe in Chicago, and I'm a benefits procurement leader. And I'm curious why you think so few executives take p...

EP507: 4 Core Concepts to Buy or Deliver the Highest-Value Healthcare—A Review
Relentless Health ValueApril 16, 2026
507
33:5831.09 MB

EP507: 4 Core Concepts to Buy or Deliver the Highest-Value Healthcare—A Review

Listen on Your Favorite App Look, we wonks, meaning you and me, you're listening to this, so I am on to you. But we wonks in the Relentless Tribe, we move like lightning on Relentless Health Value. We tend to cover lots of ground pretty fast. So, sometimes I like to, with great intention, sum up wha...

EP506: How Other Employers, Shareholders, and Clinics Are Using Price Transparency Data—And It's an Arms Race, With Jerry DiMaso
Relentless Health ValueApril 09, 2026
506
35:5132.81 MB

EP506: How Other Employers, Shareholders, and Clinics Are Using Price Transparency Data—And It's an Arms Race, With Jerry DiMaso

Listen on Your Favorite App, So, we have a few miniseries afoot here on Relentless Health Value right now, and one of them is "The Inches That Are All Around Us"—finding the hidden fees, the hidden friction for plans and members and clinics themselves a lot of times in those inches. For a full trans...

EP505: The Death of the "What Is Value" Guessing Game for Clinical and Plan Decision-Makers Ready to Move On, With Ahilan Sivaganesan, MD
Relentless Health ValueApril 02, 2026
505
44:0240.31 MB

EP505: The Death of the "What Is Value" Guessing Game for Clinical and Plan Decision-Makers Ready to Move On, With Ahilan Sivaganesan, MD

Listen On Your Favorite App Hello, Relentless Tribe. Thank you so much for showing up today. All right … to start, let me lay out the goal of the episode today. This episode is for you if you are a self-funded employer looking to ensure your members are steered and tiered to real high-value care and...

EP504: A Back-to-Basics Roadmap Through the Perverse Incentives to Advanced Primary Care, With Ryan Jacobs
Relentless Health ValueMarch 26, 2026
504
33:3630.76 MB

EP504: A Back-to-Basics Roadmap Through the Perverse Incentives to Advanced Primary Care, With Ryan Jacobs

Listen On Your Favorite App It's been a while since we started from the beginning, so let's just take stock of the basics in this show, refresh ourselves if you're a longtime listener, or welcome if you're new around here. Today we are digging on and about what I would call the poster child for prov...

INBW46: Relentless Tribe Goings-On With Insights to Outwit the Hot Mess of the Non-Healthcare Market
Relentless Health ValueMarch 19, 202619:3717.96 MB

INBW46: Relentless Tribe Goings-On With Insights to Outwit the Hot Mess of the Non-Healthcare Market

Listen On Your Favorite App This inbetweenisode I wanna try something new for two reasons. One of them is that I need to check this episode off my to-do list because I am crushed for time. I'm going to be headed to Arizona tomorrow for the Collective Health Conference , which will have occurred thre...

EP503: Let's Go From Lazy PPO Networks to Smart Collaboration With Direct-to-Employer Specialty Care, With Ryan Wells; Leo Spector, MD, MBA; and Adam Stavisky
Relentless Health ValueMarch 12, 2026
503
46:1642.35 MB

EP503: Let's Go From Lazy PPO Networks to Smart Collaboration With Direct-to-Employer Specialty Care, With Ryan Wells; Leo Spector, MD, MBA; and Adam Stavisky

Listen On Your Favorite App Today we are digging into something I've said probably way too often: Collaboration is the next breakthrough innovation. And I'm doubling down on this because in the current healthcare landscape, two parties that actually should be talking—like burning up the phone wires ...

Listen and Follow

Sponsored by Aventria Health Group
©2026 BD Bridges LLC. All Rights Reserved.