Why Your Mouth Isn't Covered Like the Rest of You | Helen Drexler | Catalyst Conversations Ep. 103

"If his dentist had taken his blood pressure, we likely would have found his autoimmune disease before we needed the transplant." Helen Drexler runs Delta Dental of Colorado. Her son saw a dentist once or twice a year while his kidneys were failing, and nobody in that chair took his blood pressure. In this conversation with host Sas Mukherjee she makes the case that the mouth has been treated as a separate country from the rest of the body, in how care is delivered, how it is paid for and how it is insured, and that patients pay the bill for that separation. She talks about what gum inflammation can signal about the rest of the body, why dental insurance grew up on its own track from medical, the dental deserts inside the Denver metro, a mobile clinic run by two hygienists with a wheelchair ramp, and why she says "we don't have well care, we have sick care." Fax machines come up. So does the question of why anyone pays a deductible twice. There is also the career: the year that was both her best and her worst, how a non-profit plan lives by "no margin, no mission," and what she tells young leaders who want to build a career in a system that needs them. CHAPTERS 00:00 Cold open: her son, and the blood pressure nobody took 00:37 Welcome: Sas Mukherjee introduces Helen Drexler 01:05 A career that started in the lobby 01:57 The grassy knoll: best year, worst year 03:28 The moments that shaped her leadership 04:54 Mission versus margin in a non-profit: no margin, no mission 07:07 What counts as meaningful innovation 08:57 What she is most excited about right now 10:55 Why dental is still a silo 13:32 Her son's kidneys, and the blood pressure that was never taken 15:24 Why dental insurance is not medical insurance 18:37 Dental deserts in the Denver metro 20:43 No silver bullet: bringing care to the member 21:37 The van with the wheelchair ramp 22:31 The biggest challenge in U.S. healthcare: sick care, not well care 24:10 Fax machines and the two bookends 25:33 Why do I pay my deductible again? 25:55 A CEO says broken, and keeps innovating 26:40 Advice for young leaders 28:07 Thanks and close ABOUT THE GUEST Helen Drexler is CEO of Delta Dental of Colorado. LinkedIn:   / helendrexler   Delta Dental of Colorado: https://www.deltadentalco.com/ ABOUT THE SHOW Catalyst Conversations with Sas Mukherjee brings payer executives, clinicians and policy voices into plain-spoken conversations about the systems behind American healthcare. Hosted by Sas Mukherjee, President and CEO of Catalyst Solutions. LinkedIn:   / sascfo   LISTEN Full audio episodes:https://feeds.transistor.fm/catalyst-... Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/ca... Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2oqdDwa... CONNECT Catalyst Solutions: https://www.catalystsolutions.com/ Subscribe for new episodes on the issues shaping healthcare and beyond. #OralHealth #HealthEquity #DentalInsurance