Episode 121

"We call it the health care system, but really, it's the illness-burden-treatment system. There are so many things we can do to improve in health care." —Tony Miller, managing partner, Lemhi Ventures

 

Tony Miller and Dave Dickey are serial health benefits entrepreneurs who've built and sold multiple companies, leading the way toward consumer-driven insurance programs. The most recent is Bind Benefits, an on-demand, zero-deductible program that was acquired by UnitedHealth Group in 2021. Recently renamed Surest, the benefits plan is UHG's fastest growing product with a net promoter score nearly three times higher than its competitors.

Miller and Dickey, who no longer work for Surest, talk about how to change health care coverage in America, starting with Miller's first startup, Definity Health, which he sold to UnitedHealth Group in 2004 for $305 million (not $300 million as widely reported, and he tells the story behind that). Miller is managing partner of Lemhi Ventures, a healthcare investment firm, which put the first $12 million into Bind. Between the launches of Definity and Bind, he build Carol Corp., a tool to compare health plans, which he sold to Optum, a subsidiary of UHG.

Dickey, an early Definity Health employee and co-founder of Bind, was also a co-founder of wellness platform RedBrick Health. An employee benefits expert and seasoned sales pro, he and advisor to entrepreneurs, health industry innovators, and the CEO of the Minneapolis-based consultancy Second Story Sales.

Packed with insights on business of health care, Miller and Dickey also dole out advice on entrepreneurship and disruption.

Takeaways

Following the conversation, we go back to the classroom with the University of St. Thomas Opus College of Business where Kjrk Ryerson teaches healthcare innovation. He frames up some of the key benefits advances Miller led, and frames up questions any entrepreneur should ask him or herself before diving in:

• Do you have a great idea?
• Do you keep evolving that idea?
• What is the driving difference?
• Is there a personal motivation that's driving you forward?
• Do you have the power to make something better?