Get to the Root Podcast
Get to the Root Podcast
Podcast Description
Welcome to Get to the Root Podcast, your guide to understanding functional medicine and achieving optimal health. Hosted by Erica Armstrong MD, IFMCP, this podcast shines a light on our unique approach to healthcare, blending nutrition, lifestyle, and personalized care to get to the root cause of your health concerns.
Get to know us as we share insights, success stories, and practical tips for living your healthiest life. Whether you're a patient curious about functional medicine, a practitioner in the field, or a business looking to collaborate, we’re here to lead the conversation.
Join us to explore the future of integrative healthcare and redefine what it means to feel your best.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast focuses on themes related to functional medicine, nutrition, and lifestyle changes aimed at uncovering root health issues. Notable episodes include discussions on metabolic dysfunction, hormonal imbalances, and patient success stories illustrating transformative approaches to health that move beyond traditional treatment methods.
Get to the Root is the podcast redefining what health benefits should be. Hosted by Dr. Erica Armstrong, founder and CEO of Root. Here, we explore the category we created: root cause health benefits—a smarter approach to care that uses advanced lab screening and functional medicine to reverse chronic conditions and optimize health. The result? Healthier people and lower healthcare costs for employers. In each episode, we sit down with forward-thinking employers, innovative brokers, and healthcare leaders who are driving real, measurable change. If you’re ready to move beyond sick care and get to the root of what’s driving costs—and outcomes—this podcast is for you.
How can employers tell whether a health care vendor’s results are real or simply based on flawed measurements?
In this episode of the Get to the Root podcast, Dr. Erica Armstrong speaks with Al Lewis, Founder and Validator-in-Chief of the Validation Institute, about improving transparency and accountability in health care vendor outcomes. Al shares how flaws in traditional outcomes measurement led him to challenge inflated savings claims and establish the Validation Institute, while explaining why Root Functional Medicine’s results remained valid despite using a participant-versus-nonparticipant comparison. They also discuss Root’s success in helping patients with autoimmune conditions reduce their reliance on high-cost specialty medications by addressing underlying causes. Al concludes by explaining how independent validation helps employers identify effective vendors, strengthen fiduciary due diligence, and provide employees with access to better care.
Tune in to learn why credible outcomes measurement matters and how independent validation can help employers make smarter health benefit decisions!
Get your own Root Cause Panel to uncover root potential causes and optimize health here!
About Al Lewis:
Al Lewis is the Founder and Validator-in-Chief of the Validation Institute, an organization that independently evaluates health care vendor performance and outcomes. Widely recognized as an authority on vendor outcomes measurement, he is the author of Why Nobody Believes the Numbers and co-author of Cracking Health Costs.
Al is also the Founder and Quizmeister-in-Chief of Quizzify, an employee health literacy platform that teaches people how to make informed health care decisions while avoiding unnecessary care. His work helps employers distinguish credible results from inflated claims and make better decisions about their health benefits.
Things You’ll Learn:
Many health care vendors use flawed methods that can overstate savings and program outcomes.
Participant-versus-nonparticipant comparisons may be misleading because participants are often already more engaged in their health.
Root’s results were validated because patients using high-cost autoimmune medications would rarely discontinue them without meaningful clinical improvement.
Addressing the underlying causes of autoimmune conditions may help some patients safely reduce their reliance on specialty medications.
Independent validation helps employers identify credible vendors and demonstrate stronger due diligence when managing health benefits.
Creating a more transparent marketplace can help effective health care vendors earn greater visibility and reach more employees.
Resources:
Connect with and follow Al Lewis on LinkedIn.
Learn more about the Validation Institute and follow Quizzify on LinkedIn and visit their website.
Disclaimer
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