Telehealth Revolution: The Future of Affordable and Convenient Healthcare with Cav. Franco LoFranco

Dr. Tamar: 0:00

When I was a kid, my father had a glass cube. It would have a different sayings of empowerment on each side. One of the things that said life is full of opportunities. Do you see the obstacle or do you see the challenge? At another side it would say what is the opportunity in front of you today? As a kid, I would just think what's the opportunity here? What's the opportunity here? Here's what I learned. Whenever I looked for the opportunity, I was happy. Whenever I looked for the problem, I was sad.

Cav. Franco LoFranco: 0:29

Welcome to Pivoting Pharmacy with Nutrigenomics. Part of the Pharmacy Podcast Network, A must-have resource for pharmacist entrepreneurs seeking to enhance patient care while enjoying career and life. Join us as we pivot into Nutrigenomics, using pharmacy and nutrition for true patient-focused care. Explore how to improve chronic conditions rather than just manage them. Celebrate entrepreneurial triumphs and receive priceless advice. Align your values with a career that profoundly impacts patients. Together, we'll raise the script on health and pivot into a brighter future. Hello and welcome to Pivoting Pharmacy with Nutrigenomics. I'm Dr Waffle, Doctor of Pharmacy and Certified Nutritional Genomics Specialist. Here we challenge the norms, evolve our thinking and venture beyond the realm of traditional pharmaceutical practice. I'm a firm believer in the transformative power of Nutrigenomics and an advocate for genuine patient-centric care in the pharmaceutical field. Our discussion today revolves around a revolutionary trend reshaping the landscape of healthcare the telehealth revolution. It's a paradigm shift that brings us closer to achieving what once seemed unattainable affordable and convenient healthcare for all. Telehealth is not merely a response to the existing challenges in healthcare delivery, but a proactive move towards a brighter, more equitable future. Now there's no one I would rather have on this episode to explore this topic than Cavalieri Franco LoFranco. Franco is a respected leader at the excited intersection of healthcare and technology, guiding us into the realm of digital health. His work in leveraged technology to improve patient outcomes and access to care has been both innovative and inspiring. As we delve into this conversation, we'll explore how telehealth might be the key to unlocking a new level of affordability and convenience in healthcare. Broncos experiences and insights can guide us on how we can leverage this shift to better serve our patients or even redefine our roles as pharmacists in this evolving healthcare landscape. The potential of telehealth extends beyond convenience. It's about empowerment, affording patients with autonomy over their health, enabling us, as practitioners, to provide personalized, even genome-driven, advice and care from the comfort of the patient's home. In essence, it's a catalyst for transforming the way we approach pharmacy and healthcare as a whole. So, to my fellow pharmacists, health professionals and anyone interested in the future of healthcare, today's episode promises to be a game changer as we navigate this telehealth revolution. I invite you to join us on this enlightening journey into the present and promising future of healthcare, one that is more accessible, more affordable and more responsive to each individual's unique needs. Listen in Well, Franco, it's a pleasure to have you as a guest on Pivoting Pharmacy with Nutrig enomics. I want to journey back to the beginning, and not when you were born. But I have to go that far back. But can you share what initiated your interest in entrepreneurship and led you down to exploring the dynamics of the spare of healthcare and artificial intelligence?

Dr. Tamar: 4:02

I'm happy to. But first of all, it's an honor to be here on here with you, dr Laughal, and we have joint friends and comment that obviously have tremendous respect for you. So I'm just excited to be part of this and have a great conversation with you. So my business career was interesting. I was born in Toronto, canada, that's where I'm originally from. I know we have friends jointly in that great city and my parents came from Italy. So I was the son of immigrants and my father always taught me Franco, always own your own business. So I said, ok, he started telling me that. When I was four years old he started telling me you know, you got to be an entrepreneur or entrepreneurial. And then, because when he was 18, he started his own first business as soon as he came to Canada, literally within a couple of years of being in the country, he started his own business because that's what he believed, and so he brainwashed me to believe that. So at 22, I started my very first company. I didn't know how to build a company, had no idea what I was doing. You know, school unfortunately does not prepare you to be an entrepreneur, and I even went to MBA school for a year and that doesn't prepare you either right, and so you learn by. Unfortunately, if you're going to be an entrepreneur, you learn by trial and error, by mistakes. It's really like I have to go back now and think about what I could have done differently even more mentors. The problem is, when you're an entrepreneur it's hard to find mentors that are willing to do that, because a lot of times they're your competitor, especially in the field that you're in. So it's not that easy. But got into entrepreneurship, started building different companies first company was import, exporting things like that and then the internet hit us back into the nineties and became a co-founder of one of the first high speed internet companies in Canada Back in the mid nineties and started to understand. I was self taught when it came to tech. I didn't study tech in college. I studied the most useless subject. I studied political science. I don't know why I didn't for that, absolutely nothing. But I just became excited about technology and what was going and what I remember. I started using the internet. It was like a little baby in college, like just a little bit of research and things like that, and I got enamored with it and started a company. We started designing websites for companies, great connectivity for companies, and that's how I started my business career. And then I said to myself, hey, why can't I be a big internet company? And so, true story, this is like hilarious. So I put together a team of people for us to go raise money to build our own internet company, starting in Canada. And so I had no experience in it and we had no money, and we went out and we raised 40 million dollars to start. This is back in the mid nineties to start a company, isn't that crazy? Now here's the funny part. After we closed the deal, we got it done. By the way, it took over a year to raise the money. It was hard 103 people said no, the 104th said yeah. So you got to be persisted. If you're going to be an entrepreneur, like you, just got to go because you will be rejected. If you can't handle rejection, don't be an entrepreneur. It's not for you. But rejection is awesome. It builds your character and makes you tough. It makes you understand. It's not personal to you, it's just whatever they're at in their life, whatever they're dealing with, whatever. It's not about you, it's about them and what your job is to learn and to learn how to enroll people in your vision of what you want to create. And so the 104th company said yes, and then a bunch of other companies came on. We signed the papers, closed deal. And the day we closed the papers here's the lesson the gentleman that was the lead investor, you put up, I think, 10 of the $40 million. He said to me, Franco, congratulations. I said, well, thanks, well, time to get to work. He said to me, no, you don't understand. And he runs one of the biggest venture funds on Wall Street. And he said you don't understand. I've never seen somebody go from zero money to 40 million in the first launch. Usually you'll raise a million, five million, 10 million, a couple hundred thousand. You went from zero to 40 million. And you know what I said then. Thank God, I did not know that was never done before, because then I probably wouldn't have done it. Ignorance is bliss. It is. But it taught me a lesson have faith, work with faith, just believe, go for it, because you can create anything if you just tune out the noise and go. Make whatever you want happen. And that's how the business career got started.

Cav. Franco LoFranco: 8:23

Truly inspiring words and an amazing experience that you had 103 rejections, 103 rejections, many people probably would have at least stopped after the 20th one that you kept going. Well, some of them were nasty.

Dr. Tamar: 8:35

Let me tell you some of them were after a while you start. But you know what. It became a game and I said OK. So I would listen to all the objections at the end. Because at the end I would ask, ok, what's stopping you from being an investor? And they would tell you I said, ok, cool. So then I would address that in the next presentation. So by the end of it I learned how to make it really fast. But my first presentation was an hour way too long. It's got to be if you're going to try to raise money. 12 to 15, 16 minutes is typically the sweet spot and then a Q&A. But I learned what to say in that 12 to 16 minute window. Now companies bring me out to help them. Hey, can you help me? I'll help me craft the message help us raise this money, because we don't know what we're doing, we're screwing up, we're getting all these rejections and a lot of times it's the messaging that matters and speaking into the world of investors and what they're looking for.

Cav. Franco LoFranco: 9:20

All right, that's a good point you bring out, and just knowing what they're looking for, knowing what their pain points are and bringing that to the forefront and showing them you have the solutions is important. I want to pick your brain on something that you mentioned, because a lot of our audience are pharmacists. We've only went to pharmacy school. We didn't have business degrees. So you mentioned that even some MBA programs business programs they don't really teach you how to be an entrepreneur. Could you elaborate a little bit more on that? What's missing from those types of programs?

Dr. Tamar: 9:47

That's a great one. So, first of all, it depends on which one you go to as well. So a lot of them. If you don't have entrepreneurs, they're teaching you that have actually built a company. It's tough because one of the hardest things to learn when you're an entrepreneur, you're a leader, you're leading people. So what is the? There's one university or one MBA school in I think it's in Illinois, it's in Chicago that does MBA only for doctors and I think pharmacists are allowed to go to that one. And it was funny. I was reading a study about it and it's such a letter M Is it McMillan? I can't remember the name of the school. Anyway, whatever it's called, you guys can look it up. They look at which topic for doctors, especially people in the medical field, is the hardest for them to learn. It's leadership. They can't understand because you're not. You're going. You think about what is the lens from which you look at everything? Here's a problem, here's a solution. Here's a problem, here's a solution. You're not looking at it from the standpoint of leading people, or it is not what you're for and it's not the lens which you think from. So they were talking about all these doctors that are going in there and they're like, struggling and struggling, I don't understand this thing. And then eventually something happens and it pops and they get it and they're like, oh, I get it now, and then they can go into that field. So that's what it is. It's entrepreneurship is really about leading people, being great with people, understanding people, understand the psychology of people, because then they, for an entrepreneur, their greatest asset is people, not the computer, not the desk, not the AI that runs anything. It's the people that run the company.

Cav. Franco LoFranco: 11:21

Yes, it is. I agree with that 100%. Thank you for giving insight on that with the leadership, but you will never think that would be what it is right. But you're right, we were taught to only look through a certain lens problem solving lens versus guiding other people along a path of learning.

Dr. Tamar: 11:40

That's not part of your deal, so why would you learn it?

Cav. Franco LoFranco: 11:44

Yeah, interesting. So I learned something very interesting about you that I want to share with our audience. There's this distinction of Cavalier that was bestowed upon you by the Italian government and it's a huge honor. Can you share how this recognition has affected your business decisions and journey and industry, if any?

Dr. Tamar: 12:03

Yeah, first of all, I'll explain what it is. People don't know what it is. So in England you get knighted by the queen or the king today, and they give you, like you know you're a nail, they give you the sword, all that stuff. So in Italy it has the same thing and it's called Cavalier and basically it's given to you by the president of the country at the time. So for all the companies I had built, they nominated me to be knighted and it was a five-year vetting process and then finally they say congratulations and there's a ceremony and all that cool stuff. So I have to put the little, the C-A-V in front of my name. That's what. That's what it means. You got to do it in all documents, all that good stuff and basically just means that you're knighted for that way. Has it really done anything for me, to be honest, Other than I remember when I was single and you know, like I was looking for a date or something and I go up to grill. Hey, you know I was knighted. That's the only time I really could be honest. It made any difference other than that. No, it's just. It's just an honor for my parents. It was a big deal because they were from Italy, they knew what it was. So for them it like it validated them as being great parents, right? Because like, oh, that's my son, you know that's kind of how it was, and. But you know, it's a cool thing, it's a nice thing to talk about, but at the end of the day, you got to hustle, you got to work. They don't care who you are, people invest. Just don't care. Good for you. You're knighted by the Italian government. Okay, how much money are you going to make? So at the end of the day, you know it's a nice thing, but it's really a result of successes. You've had accomplishments, you've had. That's what it's really a lot of represents.

Cav. Franco LoFranco: 13:31

Yeah, and they were. They were acknowledged in that, so it's definitely a huge honor. And you you mentioned in the beginning that you you co-founded one of Canada's first high speed internet companies and to my understand, you've had subsequent ventures since then. Could you tell us about some of those?

Dr. Tamar: 13:48

Yeah, we went into real estate, soccer schools for kids, consulting, you name it. I just love investing, invested in a lot of other companies, sat on the boards of other companies. So for me, I love business. Here's what I love about business. I love anything that can solve a problem for people. So when I was a kid, my father had a cube. It was made of glass and I used to sit on our coffee table. So in and there was a TV right when I was young, we had these like TVs, or like they're not these giant ones that you know these kids have today on the wall, regular TV, and then there's a coffee table and on a sat this glass cube, and on it on this cube, it would have a different sayings of empowerment on each side. So I used to love like like our kids watch TV, and one of the things that said on one of the sides of the cube would say this it said life is full of opportunities. Do you see the obstacle or do you see the challenge? And on another side it would say what is the opportunity in front of you today? So it just trained me to think like remember, whatever you think about you create. And so as a kid I would just think what's the opportunity here? What's the opportunity here? And here's what I learned Whenever I looked for the opportunity, I was happy. Whenever I looked for the problem, I was sad. Understanding it now means whenever you look for the problem, you're a victim. When you look for the opportunity, you'd be empowered, because now you're the author, and when you're empowered you have energy, you have excitement, you have fun, there's hope, versus when you look like this is such a problem. What am I going to do? I don't know what to do here. It's very disempowering. You become a victim to your circumstances and it's debilitating. And unfortunately, there's too many people today that are young, that get stuck in that world versus looking at what is the opportunity here? What can we create with this? What's the good of that that can come out of it? So it just and that's just a training, it's a habit you could put yourself in, and so it just taught me how to do that. So now that's what business is. To me, it's the ultimate of that. It's like okay, all right, what's the opportunity? What can we create? Here's the problem, because, remember, you know what we get paid to do as entrepreneurs Solve a problem, there's no problem. There's no money to be made Right by solving problems. You get paid. So what is the problem to solve? What's the opportunity there? Go find the solution. All great companies were built on that premise.

Cav. Franco LoFranco: 16:01

That's what they started. That, yeah, that's true and I feel like it's true. As entrepreneurs, we can get stuck in just focusing on the problem. Again, call that wrapped up in a problem versus how can we really, what can we really do about it to help others. And that goes into the mindset, self-limit and beliefs as well that we may have going into business on our own for ourselves. So there's a lot that we have to overcome.

Dr. Tamar: 16:27

Remember she used to be on Shark Tank Real Estate Woman. What's her name? Barbara Cochran, remember her? Yes, yes, so she owns hundreds of companies, like, I think, over 400 or 500 companies. It's absurd, right? And they asked her how the heck can you keep up with those four? Like, how do you do this? Like all those problems, all those issues that come up. She goes and here's our answer, which is brilliant. We're just kind of like what I'm talking about. She goes it's fun. Every day, these companies have a problem. My job is to solve them. That's what we do. We solve the problems versus. Most people get debilitated by a problem, they get stressed out. Oh my God, how are we going to do all this horrible versus being empowered by it and say, no, okay, this is the problem, it's a game. Like, treat it like a game, right, we got to figure this out. What's the solution? How do we do this? Because if your mind, your mind, is so powerful, we can solve anything. Just got to put it together and then you put collective minds together. That's why it's great to work in a team sometimes and be collaborative. You can solve even bigger problems, and that's kind of the fun part about being in a company and a business.

Cav. Franco LoFranco: 17:29

Yeah, those are good tips, and I want to switch gears a little bit, because you you talk about disrupting the healthcare industry. Right, that is one of the drives that you have. Can we talk about that a little bit more?

Dr. Tamar: 17:41

Yeah. So I think we can all agree healthcare is broken right In the United States I came from it's funny I came from Canada, right. And so in Canada you just get your healthcare and you go right, there's no other. No, is it the greatest healthcare in the world? God, no, but this doesn't really cost you anything. I come down here and I move to the US and then I'm told oh, by the way, you need health insurance. I go, I do, oh, yeah, need health insurance. Okay, and how much is it? They tell you the price and I am like what, how much do I have to pay every month? Are you kidding me? Oh, yeah. Oh, by the way, this is deductible. What A deductible? I go, I mean, like car insurance? Yeah, why, I'm already paid. It doesn't matter, you got to pay the deductible. Oh, by the way, there's a copay, a copay, yeah, there's a copay. Oh, and after the copay, there's a kosher, a kosher, oh, yeah, there's a kosher. Oh, by the way, the pharmaceutical drugs out of control. Out of control. Now, thank God, I make money. I'm thinking to myself how does the average person even afford this? No wonder, you know, it's obvious why. 70% of all bankruptcies in the US are due to health, because of healthcare, unexpected medical expenses. Right, over 100 million Americans have medical debt, which is absurd. And for the first time ever I don't even even if you know this doctor just recent, as of like last year 57% of Americans that have medical debt are for people that actually had insurance. It makes no sense, right? Because, like your, deductibles are so high, because 87% of Americans never meet their yearly deductibles because they're just so high. And so add the opportunity to be able to get into the space and to learn about healthcare and to understand it. And now, part of an incredible company that's launched an artificial intelligence that's helping disrupt the entire industry. It's so exciting. Couldn't be more proud to be able to really disrupt insurance companies. Don't like us, but that's how it goes.

Cav. Franco LoFranco: 19:34

Could you elaborate a little bit more on the AI, how that?

Dr. Tamar: 19:37

works, Sure. So what's happening is, I don't know. You're probably familiar with how the health sharing industry works. So the health sharing industry started by churches over 40 years ago, incredibly successful, In fact, people that go to health sharing usually never go back to health insurance ever again. The problem is most Americans never knew about it, don't understand it, Because unless you're Christian, you're born to a certain church, you normally couldn't participate. But part of health sharing? Well, there's a company called Impact and what they did was they literally licensed an artificial intelligence from one of the largest technology companies in the world. They patented it they've got I think five or six patents on it and they launched an artificial. Explain how this works. So cool. That's literally helping people, say, 50 to 70% on their healthcare costs. So imagine I went from like 600 a month with an insurance company to just over 250 a month with Impact Health Share. Really amazing and it's how it works is like this is genius. So imagine it's called decentralized healthcare. I think this is the future of healthcare. And then I'll throw an analogy after to give you an example of how this works. But basically, imagine you're paying every month, like, for example, for average family of four or five or six people to $600 a month for healthcare, and so imagine you're paying this money. It stays into your own virtual wallet. So when you pay an insurance company, where's your money go? Not in my wallet, no, they take it right. They take it and then they'll like, like you see what Signed just did a couple of weeks ago they bought $11.3 billion of shares back. Well, where did that go to the shareholders of the company? It didn't go into paying claims or anything or reducing your monthly premiums. It didn't do that right. So imagine you're paying this amount of money every month into a virtual account. Pretty cool, okay, all right. Now what? Now what happens is, let's say, joe down the street here has $100,000 claim for a guy I have to car accident. It means $100,000 for all those medical expenses. Now the AI goes to work. It says okay, I got to give this $100,000. And I have got to pay these bills. Okay, cool. So the AI knows how much you take from each virtual account Normally it could be 20 bucks, 40 bucks, 50 bucks takes it and pays it to a third party bank that then pays the hospital, clinic or doctor directly. Wow, so there's no fat, none of that. Because typically, if you're thinking about health insurance, 45% of your premium with health insurance goes to admin and profits, and if you're younger it's even higher. And one of the reasons why our rates are so high for people in general with health insurance is 5% of Americans account for almost 50% of all healthcare costs, and so if you're healthy or fairly healthy, which is most Americans you're subsidizing that 5%. That is very sick and that is one of the problems and challenges that we're having. So insurance companies still need to make money, so they try to make money across all segments, including, as you know, being in the pharmacy industry. Now, if you look at insurance companies, where do they make most of their money? With drugs. With drugs, yeah, exactly right. So the other thing they did is they created a portal. So you'd log into a portal the coolest portal. You'd log in and then you could put in they have the best in my opinion, the best drug plan I've ever seen. So what you'll do? You'll put in your drug and then what it does it brings up the pricing from every pharmacy. You guys may not like this, but it shows the price of every pharmacy and what that price is. So you know exactly where to get your drugs, just creating competition between pharmacies at the same time, without us making any money or profit. There's no money to be made in that area, because it shouldn't be. That should be a pass-through amount to individuals, because drugs are could be very, very valuable to saving your life.

Cav. Franco LoFranco: 23:32

Yeah, and it should be affordable, definitely should be affordable, totally. But I know on the other side, a lot of pharmacies right now are having issues with profit margins because it costs more for them to acquire medication than what the insurance companies are reimbursing them, so they're taking a loss. But, yeah, the medication should be affordable if it's needed, right, no one should have to go bankrupt.

Dr. Tamar: 23:55

Well, that's why you're seeing insurance companies creating their own PBMs. Now, right, they're doing their own stuff. Because why do they want to do that? Because they're making a lot of money out of that. Right, it's dirty. It's like a dirty game.

Cav. Franco LoFranco: 24:05

It's like a conflict of interest.

Dr. Tamar: 24:07

Yeah, whatever you like, like whatever, because impact is a nonprofit and it was created that way on purpose. So there's no conflict between taking care of somebody and making money. That's where the problem comes in. Do I raise your rates so I can pay my shareholders, or do I keep rates stable so I can take care of you? That's a problem. That's a moral and ethical problem. Yeah, well, that's. The issue we face in the healthcare industry is at what price do we sacrifice? Saving lives? Because here's what we also know People that have health insurance live longer on average than people that don't. That we know. And so if we're not going to be able to provide people with affordable health insurance, we're literally killing people. That's a problem.

Cav. Franco LoFranco: 24:46

That's true. Well, Franco, you definitely saw a problem and you found a solution for it, and a solution that's going to benefit the people that need it in the long run. And when it comes to doing something so bold, that is indeed definitely going to disrupt the healthcare industry, how can others follow suit? What would you recommend their mindset be when they know they're going to do something that's going to be against the grain?

Dr. Tamar: 25:14

Well, first of all, I'll say a couple of things. First of all, we could use all the help we can get with us. We're able to also be able to sell the product, and if you want to join us and help us sell the product nationwide, that'd be great. We have partnered with an incredible direct sales company called ACN, which is our marketing firm for impact, which is awesome, and so you're more than welcome to join our team and to help us provide this service to individuals, businesses, seniors, families. It truly is disruptive. The best analogy I can give is I'm sure you use Uber. You're just like millions of people use Uber right. I remember the first time I used Uber. It was hilarious. So people told me about Uber right and I thought it was the most insane idea. I go, you want me to get into a car with a stranger? What are you crazy?

Cav. Franco LoFranco: 25:59

I'm not going to do that.

Dr. Tamar: 26:01

I'm not going to do that. One day I was at an airport and I was desperate. There was no tax. You know, those times you get to the airport there's no taxis. Right, it's all right, let me try this Uber thing. I'm desperate. I got to get to a meeting. I forgot what airport I was at. Was I in Dallas or was I in? I can't remember where I was. I think I was in Dallas, so I was at an airport. So I loaded the app, I put my credit card in, I ordered the Uber. Oh, I said, oh cool, it's clear it comes. I could see it coming. Anyway, it comes. I get into the car and first of all I noticed a car. It was a nice car, not like these ugly yellow taxi cabs. I get into the car, I go wow, it smells nice. In here Usually taxi cabs smell awful. I get into the car and the guy starts talking to me my Uber driver. Wow, this guy's really friendly, this is really nice. And then he goes would you like a water, sir? What Would you like? A water? Sure, I'll take a water. It gives me a water. Oh, here's a plug. You need to charge your phone. As a matter of fact, I do. My phone is dying. I don't know. I plugged in my phone and I'm going. This is the most incredible. Anyway, I get out of the car. I'm thinking, look at what it cost me. I wasn't even paying attention to that. It's a third. So here I paid. A third Smells great Guy's friendly. I get water and a charge in my phone. Why would I take a taxi cab ever again? It doesn't make sense, and that's what I think you'll experience would be. With people that get involved with in-back health sharing, you'll never go back to my prediction, back to health insurance, ever again.

Cav. Franco LoFranco: 27:26

Wow, I love that analogy and there's actually a true experience. The service was so much better and it was more affordable, so why would you go back to the?

Dr. Tamar: 27:36

old days. Yeah, and one of the great things about impact is it's an open network so you can pick any doctor or hospital. There's no in-network, out-of-network and we call deductibles primary responsibility amount. There's lowest $2,500 per household, so all their primary responsibility amounts are per household, versus insurance companies are per individual, even within a family.

Cav. Franco LoFranco: 28:01

Wow.

Dr. Tamar: 28:01

Because, remember, insurance companies make money when, when you don't meet the deductibles.

Cav. Franco LoFranco: 28:05

Right, oh my goodness. So how would this actually work with a pharmacist? Say they're an independent pharmacy owner, they own their own pharmacy, they're not the big retail chain pharmacy. They would be able to offer impact to their.

Dr. Tamar: 28:21

We already have a drug portal where I'm sure their pharmacy or all these pharmacies are already in it. I think almost every single local, national and regional pharmacy is part of a portal already, so they're already there. In fact I've learned like even in my neighborhood, because the portal is so extensive that there is grocery stores, for example, that have pharmacies built into them. I have no idea. I have been going to one grocery store near my house for 10 years. I had no idea they had a pharmacy in the back.

Cav. Franco LoFranco: 28:48

Yes, they're there. I had no idea.

Dr. Tamar: 28:50

I'm like, okay, and it was the best pricing, I go, this is the best pricing. So one of the things it does is what we do is look, everybody wants to go no CVS, and everybody knows Walgreens Okay, cool, but there's a lot of independent pharmacies that have great pricing and tremendous pricing that this will tell you hey, you should go to this one. Forget about the CVS, forget the Walgreens. This is great. So we've learned now, when we're promoting, there's a lot of independent pharmacies now that are part of the of our. When you log in you can check it. Go to them, support them, support your local one. It's more way more powerful and we could recommend them to in the community.

Cav. Franco LoFranco: 29:24

I absolutely love that. So a lot of my my clients are, you know. They're struggling with the cost of their medications and my goal is to get them off their medications or to limit how many they're on. Go figure is a pharmacist. I want to get them off the medications, but yeah, this is definitely a great solution for them, Great alternative for them. So thank you for creating this AI. I do credit.

Dr. Tamar: 29:47

Listen, the smarter people than me created. All we're doing is marketing it and making people aware of it, which is great. Look artificial. I know some people are scared and afraid of artificial intelligence. I get it. Who knows where it's going to go and what it's going to do? But, and see, think about healthcare. Has it really changed in the last 70 years, 80 years? Nothing. So I predict AI, where it's going to have the most dramatic effect is going to be healthcare most dramatic. And this is one step. You're seeing where this, what we're doing, is really altering the landscape of giving people affordable healthcare for the very first time in a long, long time.

Cav. Franco LoFranco: 30:21

Yeah, I like that. So where? Where else do you see AI impact in healthcare?

Dr. Tamar: 30:27

Well for sure, telehealth is going to be huge. So you don't have to go to the doctor anymore. So we're seeing that like, included in our pricing is MD live, so you can just do virtual calls. So that is part of it, and so you'll see a big impact of that. You're going to see a way of redistribution price and services. That's going to be huge. So you're going to see AI coming in in a way of doing virtual services, a way of spreading the costs around in a way that's more effective with your algorithms, in ways that currently because think about it, if you go to the doctor two hours, two and a half hours go, stay, come back, you do it you could do a video call with 30 minutes, 45 minutes, I think. I'm sure that your time is saved. You can do a video call, just like this done. They can prescribe, they can send you stuff to the pharmacy boom, you can. By the time you go, come back. You've already got everything done. You haven't left your office. I don't know if you're what. If you're traveling, what? If you're on vacation somewhere? You're not feeling good? Now what? And so it's really transforming the way we can communicate with medical professionals in a way. That hasn't been possible for the long time. Whether you just want to do a phone call or a video call, that's all AI working in the background.

Cav. Franco LoFranco: 31:34

Yeah, very convenient time saver as well. Well, if I thank you, Frank, I'll give you a prediction. Eventually it'll be that with your pharmacist right, we'll get a video call with your pharmacist.

Dr. Tamar: 31:47

Hey here's what I need. Okay, show me the prescription. It will be a QR code or something. Boom done.

Cav. Franco LoFranco: 31:52

And I know there is telehealth being used in various ways now, but I definitely agree with you that it is going to be the way of the future. Correct, like that Uber driver. Why go back to the old ways once we have this? Why the only option is to just expand it and and have it grow and be what's what's what's the problem is?

Dr. Tamar: 32:12

I like try to avoid taxi cabs. Like my life dependent on right, like I don't know. No no, no no, I, there's a lot of cost, twice as much to start with. But number two, it's smelly. They're not friendly. I mean, I know I'm exaggerating and it's, but it's true for most of the time. Right, and so, like I would like. No, please don't make me go back and use a taxi. No, no, no. Where's my Uber? Where's my Uber? Right?

Cav. Franco LoFranco: 32:32

That's true and it's the yeah. So I definitely see it the same way with with the growth and expansion of telehealth services. So, to close us out, Franco, what tips do you have? What three words of advice do you have for our upcoming pharmacists, entrepreneurs?

Dr. Tamar: 32:46

You're in for disruption, right. So keep your eyes open, be ready to pivot. We're in a realm now with artificial intelligence. You've got to be awake. You got to see what's going on. Cla, I can impact you, your business, what's going on with you? What can you? Other things can you get into as a pharmacist? Consider yourself an entrepreneur. That's how you should consider yourself. You're a business owner. Think of yourself that way. Don't think of yourself as a pharmacist. Pharmacy is what you do. Entrepreneur is what you, who you are. So if you think of it that way, you'll see things in a very different lens. Because remember I have a saying the context of what you look at through life, through your lens, is decisive. So if you think you're a pharmacist, you'll only think of life as a pharmacist, but if you think of yourself as an entrepreneur, then your way you consider and think and look at things is totally different. Pharmacy is what you do. Entrepreneur is who you are. Think of it that way and you could do many different things. Pharmacy is just one of them. Okay, so as you look through the lens of entrepreneurship, pay attention, see what's happening. What's happening with technology? What are other people doing? What are the other people creating. What else can you participate in? How else can you improve what you're doing? How else can you leverage? How else can you grow? What else can you do?

Cav. Franco LoFranco: 34:00

Thank you, Franco. Words of wisdom, words of wisdom. What problem can you solve, guys? What problem can you solve? That's what we do. Well, it's been a pleasure. Thank you for joining us, Franco.

Dr. Tamar: 34:13

My pleasure, dr Lawful. Keep up the good work. We need more people like you educating people of the healthcare industry in general. It's been a lot of fun.

Cav. Franco LoFranco: 34:21

Thank you. That's all I have for you today, friend. I hope today's episode inspired you to think differently, to be curious and to explore the possibilities that lie ahead. The revolution in healthcare is happening now, and it's pharmacists like you who will lead the charge, leveraging technology to deliver care that's not only accessible and affordable, but profoundly personalized. If today's discussion sparked a question or if there is a particular topic you'd love for us to cover, please reach out. This platform thrives on your feedback and curiosity, because it's together that will shape the future of healthcare. Your five-star review and comments can guide others on a similar journey, so please subscribe, rate and download this episode to ensure you're always in the loop. Coming up next week on the show, you'll learn how to revolutionize your well-being and shatter the myths surrounding healthy foods so you can free yourself from the hidden health impacts of oxalates. Okay, I'll talk to you next Friday. Until then, always remember in your journey as a healthcare professional, always raise a script on health, because together we can bring healthcare to higher levels.