Here's the Message We Want Every Physician to Hear

Welcome back to On/Offcall!

Surprise! In honor of National Doctors’ Day — and to lighten Graham’s workload this week 😊 — I thought it would be fun to try a little something different. I’m Jake, Graham’s co-founder at Offcall, and also the proud partner of an ED nurse in San Francisco. I want to take a moment to express my deepest gratitude to each and every one of you.

Getting to build Offcall alongside Graham and our physician advisors and investors has been a real privilege. The best part of my job is getting to meet and interact with so many inspiring physicians each week. It’s taught me a few important truths: First, I admire physicians now more than ever. You’re smart and tireless, and you’ve poured your life into this work (and given up your 20s for it!). You do everything in your power to help your patients. Something I wish more non-physicians said? Thank you for keeping us healthy and safe. We don’t know what we’d do without you.

Second, the system has undeniably failed you. We’ve made it impossible for physicians to thrive. And we’re losing our best and brightest — not because you don’t want to continue practicing medicine, but because it’s become so much harder to do so. It’s time for systemic changes to support you. No more pizza parties and yoga sessions. Let’s also pay you what you deserve!

Third, quite simply, you matter. Your work matters. It may not always feel that way, but I can say on a personal note, hearing your stories and seeing your impact on a daily basis, and especially during the pandemic, is what inspired me to jump into healthcare and devote my own career to helping you thrive. I’m listening, and many others are listening too.

Finally, a special thank you to Graham, who somehow manages to juggle clinical hours, innovation work, building startups, hosting a podcast, doing provocative daily thought leadership, and mentoring, all while making it look effortless. You inspire all of us!

Jake Horowitz
Co-founder and CEO, Offcall

P.S. I promise, Graham had no idea this was coming, and don’t worry, he’ll be back next week.

Know someone who would benefit from joining us? Help us grow our tent by forwarding this newsletter to your physician colleagues and subscribing here.

Elizabeth Potter Is Fighting Back Against Insurance Companies – For All of Us

👀This has become one of our most-watched episodes of How I Doctor EVER. 

It’s easy to see why. Texas-based plastic surgeon Dr. Elizabeth Potter went viral in January for speaking out against UnitedHealthcare at great personal risk. She got called out of the OR during a procedure and questioned about whether her breast cancer patient really needed to stay in the hospital overnight. When she documented the episode on social media, it sparked outrage. She’s been using her voice to speak out ever since. She and Graham cover:

💬 What led up to that moment and why she was inspired to spark change
🚨 Why private practice physicians are facing their “do or die moment”
😠 All the ways doctors are getting abused & gaslit by insurance companies
✅ Why more physicians are starting to speak out on social media

The comments in reaction to Graham’s post and Dr. Potter’s post have been … well, incredible. Frankly, there's no one we’d rather spotlight during National Physicians Week than such a role model.

Do you support what Dr. Potter did? Write back directly after listening, and we’ll forward her your note (you can also add your comment to their social media posts above!).

Listen to the episode →

Most Talked About On Offcall

Why I Made the Leap to Direct Care as a Neurologist →

Another day, another doctor doing it differently: Dr. Jill Farmer opted for direct specialty care after a decade in traditional medicine. She’s not looking back!

What I Never Expected to Learn After Getting My MD-MBA →

Dr. Basil Kahwash got an MBA to learn the business side of medicine, and here are the 3 things he wasn’t expecting to take away. (If you’re also an MD-MBA, drop him a comment or reply with your reaction and we’ll connect you!)

4 Things Physicians Should Do Before Filing Your Taxes →

Last minute tips to be sure you’re following as Tax Day approaches. Side note: If you need an accountant recommendation, let us know by replying (we are happy to introduce you to a few great ones).

Physician Builder Spotlight: Dr. Hillary Lin

Now for something new! After the incredible response we received to our post about why more physicians should start companies, we want to shine more light on more MD-entrepreneurs. Each week, we’ll feature someone building a cool product or company that you definitely want to know about.

First up: Dr. Hillary Lin, Cofounder & CEO of Elevate X Health. Connect with Hillary on her website and follow her work and writing on LinkedIn.

1. Dr. Hillary Lin, why did you become a physician-entrepreneur? My journey was born from a profound sense of moral outrage at what I witnessed in traditional medicine. During my training at Stanford and beyond, I experienced firsthand the burnout and frustration of trying to treat patients in a broken system. While I loved clinical medicine, the disconnect between what medical science was capable of and what we were actually delivering became unbearable.

2. Tell us what your company does. Elevate X Health is the "One Medical for Longevity" — a physician-led platform that acquires and integrates premium precision-medicine and longevity clinics with an AI-first system. We're addressing several interconnected problems: First, there's tremendous fragmentation in the rapidly growing longevity market. Second, most physicians are drowning in administrative work. And Third, patients seeking longevity care face a confusing landscape of options — from scientifically questionable approaches to ultra-premium services costing $60,000+ annually.

3. What’s your advice for any physician considering entrepreneurship? Embrace interdisciplinary collaboration. Some of our most valuable innovations come from bringing together clinical expertise with technology, operations, and business perspectives. I've found that diverse skillsets — healthcare operations expertise, AI implementation experience, and clinical knowledge, for example — create powerful synergies and drive innovation.

4. What’s one surprising business lesson that wasn’t obvious to you before? Execution and timing matter even more than the idea. We experienced this at a previous startup when we attempted to bring psychedelic-assisted therapy to reality — and quickly discovered the culture of medicine wasn't ready for it. Regardless of how promising the treatment was, the timing of the market and regulatory headwinds were simply not favorable.

This Q&A was shortened for the newsletter, but you can read the full-length version here. Know someone else who should be featured? Reply or tag them and their company in the comments!

3 Things to Read This Week

Time Primary Care Doctors Spend on Admin Work vs. Patient Care (AAFP)
Surprise, surprise: A new study showed primary care physicians’ allotted work hours didn’t match the work expected of them or cover their “admin time” tasks.

Randomized Trial of GenAI Chatbot for Mental Health (NEJM)
A new study making waves! Researchers at Dartmouth tested an AI therapy chatbot with 210 adults in a randomized controlled trial. Some great commentary from Dr. Rakesh Jain (here) and Dr. Eric Arzubi (here).

The Complete 2025 Match Day Data Set (NRMP)
What specialities saw a rise? Which ones fell? The NRMP published its data and key takeaways. Here’s also a “Winners and Losers” analysis from Dr. Bryan Carmody.

Highlights From Our Community

Each week, we celebrate career milestones, launches, & other goings-on in the physician community. Have something to promote? Reply and we’ll feature you.

💫 Superstar panel, upcoming
Dr. Matthew Sakumoto, Dr. Emily Liu, and Dr. Yair Saperstein are speaking on an upcoming panel called “How to Implement Digital Empathy in the AI Era” at the 20th World Congress on Medical and Health Informatics. Learn more here.

⚡ Get after it, Emeka Anyanwu
Dr. Emeka Anyanwu is co-leading a session at ACC25 this weekend with Dr. Kartik Agusala about AI implementations. Read more here.

📺 That’s how it’s done, Shiv Rao
Dr. Shiv Rao appeared on CNBC to discuss how the AI-scribe company Abridge is fine-tuning its AI models to deliver impressive results. Watch it here.

🎥 Great clip, Arti Thangudu
Dr. Arti Thangudu talks to Dr. Eric Bricker about the hidden costs of hospital pricing and how patients can save money by knowing their options. Watch it here.

🎙️Thanks for sharing, Travis Bias
Dr. Travis Bias talks with Elizabeth Matney about how we can align financial incentives and truly integrate behavioral and physician healthcare. Learn more here.

🎙️New pod alert, Anish Desai
Dr. Anish Desai talked to emergency physician Dr. Takashi Nakamura about successfully transitioning to telemedicine and achieving better work-life balance. Learn more here.

⭐ Important conversation, Michael Kelso Jr.
In honor of Colon Cancer Awareness Month, Dr. Michael Kelso Jr. hosted a raw conversation about the fears, stigma, and silence around colon health. Watch it here.

👍Well deserved, Monika Roots
Dr. Monika Roots received much deserved recognition for her children and family-focused mental healthcare company Bend Health. Read more here.

🤖AI all the time, featuring Graham
ICYMI, Graham’s AI in Healthcare podcast is live, spotlighting use cases and lingering concerns, featuring Dr. Justin Norden and Dr. Matthew Lungren. Watch here.

Be Sure to Sign Up for Offcall!

New to Offcall? We believe physicians deserve to be heard, valued, and treated fairly. Everything we do is driven by our commitment to empowering doctors with accurate, reliable, and trustworthy data — enabling them to advocate confidently for themselves and ensure their compensation reflects their worth.

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