Why simple ideas win in healthcare | Adam Pellegrini, CEO of TytoCare

In this episode of Lifers, Chrissy sits down with longtime friend Adam Pellegrini, the CEO of TytoCare, who has seen healthcare from just about every side: Army medic, Microsoft, Walgreens, Fitbit, CVS Health, and startups like Jasper and Kaia Health. Adam unpacks what he’s learned moving between insurgents and incumbents, why TytoCare’s urgent care partners are seeing NPS scores of 92, and why the future of remote patient monitoring is health systems and plans building it into the standard of care themselves. Along the way: the remote patient monitoring graveyard, the prescription “pizza tracker” he built at Walgreens, his visit to Theranos, selling Kaia to Sword without a banker, why ten-year VC timelines clash with a 20-year industry, why selling to employers is so tough, and why simple ideas often beat big ones.

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SPONSOR:

TytoCare is transforming how healthcare is delivered beyond the clinic with an AI Care Enablement Platform that helps health systems and health plans provide more accessible, proactive, and continuous care. Combining FDA-cleared remote physical exams, connected devices, clinical AI, patient engagement, and clinician workflows, TytoCare enables care teams to assess patients remotely, identify meaningful changes in their health earlier, and intervene before conditions escalate. From urgent care and virtual visits to longitudinal management of chronic and complex conditions like COPD, TytoCare helps healthcare organizations expand access, improve outcomes, and reduce the cost of care. —

Lifers is brought to you by: Hippocratic AI

Hippocratic AI builds safety-focused voice AI agents that call the patients health systems don’t have the staff to reach, with more than 250 million patient interactions to date. Learn more at hippocraticai.com. Learn more at hippocraticai.com and watch the Lifers episode with Hippocratic AI CEO Munjal Shah: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUACDfWRddM

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LINKS:

TytoCare: https://www.tytocare.com/

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:

TytoCare: https://www.linkedin.com/company/tyto-care-ltd-/

Adam Pellegrini: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adampellegrini/

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

Second Opinion Media: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/second.opinion.media/⁠⁠ ⁠⁠https://x.com/second_op_media⁠⁠

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TIMESTAMPS:

(0:00) Intro

(1:12) Welcome Adam Pellegrini

(3:19) From Army medic to Microsoft, Walgreens, and Fitbit

(8:22) CVS Health and telemedicine through Covid

(11:08) Jasper, Kaia, and selling to Sword

(15:26) Insurgents vs. incumbents

(20:18) Joining TytoCare

(21:43) A 92 NPS?

(25:50) The remote patient monitoring graveyard

(28:29) Why health systems are insourcing

(30:36) Big ideas vs. small ideas

(33:14) The prescription pizza tracker and Theranos

(39:47) Can VC timelines work in healthcare?

(46:01) Who should healthcare startups sell to?

(56:29) Cutting out the middlemen