February 25, 2025 • 42 mins
Join us for an enlightening conversation with the trailblazing healthcare executive, Dr. Cynthia Nwaubani , as she shares her journey from battling malaria in Nigeria to founding PharmD Live in the United States. Discover how her personal experiences and professional evolution have fueled her passion for healthcare innovation, chronic disease management, and patient care. Dr. Nwaubani opens up about the influence of personal resilience, faith, and her support network in navigating her multifaceted roles beyond her career, offering valuable insights into finding one's purpose and inner fulfillment.
More on Dr. Cynthia Nwaubani:
Dr. Cynthia Nwaubani is a visionary healthcare executive driving PharmD Live’s growth strategies and organizational goals, with a focus on expanding innovative clinical pharmacy solutions across U.S. healthcare verticals. As an entrepreneurial and analytical leader, she excels in problem-solving, streamlining operations, and optimizing productivity to deliver cost-effective, patient-centered outcomes.
As the founder of PharmD Live, Dr. Nwaubani introduced a groundbreaking virtual clinical pharmacist solution that leverages clinical pharmacist care managers and proprietary AI-driven technology to manage chronic disease and medication therapy. This solution has consistently improved patient outcomes, reduced healthcare utilization and costs, and enhanced value-based care profitability.
A creative and resourceful decision-maker, Dr. Nwaubani is adept at assessing complex clinical scenarios and crafting actionable strategies for optimal results. Her expertise spans value-based care models and digital health solutions, including Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM), Medication Therapy Management (MTM), Chronic Care Management (CCM), and Transitions of Care. She also brings strong leadership skills in quality assurance, business development, strategic planning, P&L management, clinical operations, and product development.
In addition to leading PharmD Live, Dr. Nwaubani serves as a Board Member at PatSom Medical, a Strategic Advisor at The Center for Advancing Innovation, and an Advisory Board Member at Mind the Class.
Her commitment to patient-centered care and technological innovation has positioned her as a leader in health tech, driving successful partnerships and improving quality measures. As a Board Member at PharmD Live, she continues to guide the company’s strategic expansion and market positioning.
Dr. Nwaubani holds a Doctor of Pharmacy degree (with honors) from Temple University, a Graduate Certificate in Clinical Research, and a Graduate Certificate in Leading with Finance from Harvard University. She resides in northern Virginia with her family.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to I Feel you a Fortify Wellness production
season seven, where we explorethe real stories and strategies
that help you strengthen yourmind, body and soul.
I'm Bettina Mahoney, your guideon this journey to a healthier,
more vibrant you.
Before we get started, here's aquick reminder.
This information shared todayis for your inspiration and
(00:23):
knowledge, but always consult ahealthcare provider for any
medical concerns.
Today we're honored to welcomeDr Cynthia Wabani, a visionary
healthcare executive and founderof PharmD Live.
She's revolutionizing chronicdisease management with
AI-driven clinical pharmacistsolutions, improving patient
(00:44):
outcomes and reducing healthcarecosts.
With expertise in value-basedcare, digital health and
clinical operations, dr Robaniis a leader in health tech
innovation.
She holds a doctor of pharmacyfrom Temple University and a
graduate certificate in leadingwith finance from Harvard
University.
Let's dive into hergroundbreaking work and insights
(01:07):
.
Hi Cynthia, thank you forjoining me on the podcast today.
How are you?
Speaker 2 (01:14):
I'm doing well.
Hi, bettina, thank you forhaving me.
It's truly an honor to be heretoday.
First of all, I just wanted to,you know, acknowledge the
incredible work that you'redoing and the impacts that
you're making.
So thank you for having me heretoday and I look forward to
discussing my journey and youknow, how innovation can drive
(01:36):
better patient outcomes, allwhile keeping that human touch.
So looking forward to our chattoday, and so thank you.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
Thank you so much.
I always love starting thisquestion because I have been
talking a lot recently aboutunveiling the mask and getting
grounded and getting into ourtrue, authentic selves.
And you have such incredibletitle, such incredible
background.
I'm curious when you strip allthat away at the core, who are
(02:05):
you?
Speaker 2 (02:07):
At the core, who am I ?
Okay, so, at the core, I'm aproblem solver.
I like to.
I see myself as a problemsolver.
I am a problem solver and I aman eternal learner.
I'm constantly learning.
And then also I am a connector.
(02:29):
I'm a relentless advocate whenit comes to making, when it
comes to progress right, and inevery space that I find myself,
I have always figured out waysto make things better.
That's just who I am.
I am a wife, I'm a mom of threeadorable kids, I'm a daughter,
(02:53):
I'm a sister, I'm a friend tomany, I'm a mentor, I'm a great
listener.
I'm someone who is deeplycommitted to making meaningful
impact in people's lives.
I love to laugh, I love tobuild relationships, I love to
embrace new experiences and, youknow, I believe in the power of
(03:15):
knowledge.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
I believe in the power of networks and having
those genuine connections withpeople, so that we're bringing
people together.
That's so beautiful.
I want to dive deeper into that, if you're okay with me diving
deeper.
Sure, you're a connector,you're a problem solver, and I
think the women that we have onthis podcast, they are doers and
they love to serve others.
And I'm curious for you how doyou fill your own cup?
Speaker 2 (03:52):
How do you put on the oxygen mask on first for
yourself.
Well, my oxygen mask, I wouldsay it comes from.
(04:15):
It comes from God, comes fromup above right.
I have a deep relationship withGod and you know who has been
my guide, has made ways for meeven, you know, when the path
seemed unclear right and when Iget super overwhelmed.
His presence in my life hasshaped my resilience, my purpose
, my pretty much everything, myaway from belief in that every
challenge is an opportunity forgrowth and impact.
When I'm fully, like exhausted,I try to find that quiet time,
that space, quiet space and justclose my eyes and meditate, you
(04:39):
know, and then also just beingaround, having a great support
system as well.
You know, that's what reallyfeels my cup for me, when I am
feeling very low or when I justneed that recharge.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
That's so beautiful and it's been so interesting,
because we bring on so manyhigh-performing women and they
talk about all of the amazingthings that they've done, all
the jobs they've done.
Maybe they get into finance or,unhappy, they go to the next
job, they might go to consulting, and they're like I'm so
unhappy I'm going to start myown business.
Or they go into something andthey decide you know, maybe this
(05:18):
thing will fulfill me.
And then they realize, wait,it's not externally, it's not
what another person or anothercompany can do to make me happy.
It has to come from me.
And you seem so sure ofyourself.
What was the process like foryou?
And finding your?
Why, the reason why you do thework that you do?
Speaker 2 (05:37):
today.
That's a very.
That would be a very long storyto finding my why.
That's a very.
That would be a very long storyto finding my why.
So, as a young girl, I grew upin Nigeria and I suffered
malaria.
I'm not sure if you know whatmalaria is, but it's the flu
times 10.
It's, I mean, it wasn't just aone-time illness, it was
(06:09):
recurrent and relentless becauseof my blood type, and so most
times, malaria would land me inthe hospital for many weeks at a
time, and sometimes it could beup to two weeks, 45 days.
It all depended on what it was.
And so I endured endlessmedications, painful injections
and, you know, a disruption of,you know, missing school.
But I missed those difficultmoments.
(06:31):
You know, something sparked mycuriosity about medications.
How could these tiny pills, youknow, have such a profound
effect on my body, right?
And so that realization, evenat a very young age, planted the
seed for my journey into theworld of pharmacy.
And so, when I moved to theUnited States, I pursued this
(06:53):
passion at Temple UniversitySchool of Pharmacy, where I and
then, you know, after that, Ilater began my career at a
community, as a communitypharmacist, my career at a
community, as a communitypharmacist, and it was
fulfilling, you know how, thatdirect, direct hand in ensuring
that patients receive the rightmedications, they were counseled
right, and all of that goodstuff.
(07:14):
But it was also eye opening forme.
And then so from, you know,working in the community.
I transitioned to differentsettings where pharmacists could
work on the inpatient side, onthe outpatient, at medication
management, long-term carefacilities, and as I
transitioned from one clinicalsetting to the other, right, I
(07:38):
saw firsthand the widespreadmedication-related problems that
patients faced, and that waswhen I quickly realized that a
lack of a proper medicationmanagement was leading to
preventable medication-relatedproblems, preventable
hospitalization, unnecessarydeaths, right.
(07:59):
And so you know many patientstories that I can tell, but one
patient story that I could tellright now is a patient who was
always in and out of the ER forasthma attacks and respiratory
related problems and so, and shewas labeled a frequent flyer,
(08:20):
but no one really knew why shewasn't improving, right.
And so when I spent time youknow my team and I spent time
with that patient and weconducted a thorough medication
history we found out that shewas her daughter, was actually
administering her inhalerthrough the nose and not through
her mouth, right, and it wasunintentional, and that reduced
(08:42):
the patient's medicationeffectiveness.
And so just a simplemisunderstanding of how to use a
life unintentional medicationoverdose.
This tragic incident was 100%presentable had there been a
(09:09):
proper medication managementsolution for that patient, and
so that was the moment thattotally changed everything.
For me, it wasn't just about,you know, dispensing medications
anymore, it was aboutpreventing avoidable harm and
doing that at scale right.
And so, as a board certifiedgeriatric pharmacist, and given
(09:31):
the experience that I've had indifferent settings, that was
what really pushed me over theedge to found PharmD Live, where
we can address these types ofproblems medication-related
issues at the intersection oftechnology and the clinical
pharmacist expertise.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
That's fascinating to me, I mean so.
I am a firm believer in takingmedication that your doctor, you
know, prescribed you for.
I've been on epilepsymedication since I was 14 and
I'm a firm believer.
It has saved my life.
And I've also been on the otherside of it After I was raped.
(10:13):
I'm very open about this.
I was raped and changed my lifeI could barely get out of bed in
the morning and a really longhealing journey and I found my
personal experience withantidepressants didn't work for
me and I went on a whole healingjourney holistically changed my
diet, went to a soul coach, gota therapist.
(10:35):
I do all the things that Ipractice in Fortify Wellness,
which is now HIPAA compliant 360approach to wellness therapy,
coaching, fitness and meditationon one subscription platform.
360 Postural Wellness Therapy,coaching, fitness and Meditation
on one subscription platform.
So I come from a reallyinteresting place where, on the
one hand, I felt like thedoctors didn't ask enough
questions about what I was goingthrough and didn't prescribe me
(10:56):
the right thing, the rightdosage, and then I live in
another world where my epilepsymedication, I believe, saved my
life.
So I live in these two worlds.
Epilepsy medication, I believe,saved my life, so I live in
these two worlds right and I hada really interesting experience
.
A month ago I saw a holisticdoctor.
He spent two hours with me,which I've never had that
(11:18):
experience before, where heasked about mind, body, soul,
what I went throughpsychologically in my past, how
much I'm working out all thosethings that I feel should be
taken into account inprescribing any types of
medication.
So I'm curious what the balanceis from your perspective in,
(11:39):
you know, wellness, holisticwellness, my body's whole diet.
So wellness, holistic wellness,my body's whole diet.
Fitness, moving your body andprescriptions.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
What is the balance?
How do we find it?
Yeah, so I like to.
When you talk about balance, Ilike to even start from.
One size does not fit all,right.
With medications and withwellness, one size doesn't fit
all and never will.
So, looking at things from themedication management standpoint
(12:14):
, what we are doing at ourorganization is ensuring that
the patient's medication regimenis tailored to that particular
patient, and we leverage, youknow, we leverage
pharmacogenomics, and that'swhere medications are tailored
based on the patient's geneticmakeup.
Right, and so it's.
(12:35):
It's, I believe inpersonalization when it comes to
medications, and then also whenyou're looking at wellness,
it's, it's looking at thepatient as a whole, right, and
it's not just, you know, go tothe gym, go do this and do all
of that.
It's all about partner is apartnership with the patient,
partner with the patient andreally coming up with a with.
(13:01):
You know, that would work withthe patient because, at the end
of the day, you want to empowerthe patients with the right
tools, the right resources, theright knowledge and information
for them to live their best lifeand to empower them for self
disease, self management andmedication, self management on
their own, and that comesthrough a whole lot of
(13:23):
motivational, you know,counseling, education, and it's
not a one-time thing, it'scontinuous because, you know, as
humans, we're continuallyevolving in our thoughts and our
knowledge right, and newinformation it's coming out
every day, and so it's veryimportant for us to constantly,
(13:45):
you know, partner with ourpatients and have that
engagement on an ongoing basisso that we're looking at
solutions, you know, and reallyfiguring out what's going to
work best for a patient, andthen also giving the patient a
seat at the table in coming upwith the best plan, because the
best plan is the plan that thepatient would actually execute
(14:06):
Right, and so you can prescribethe best medications to the
patient.
But if they really don't havethe why they don't understand
why they should take it.
And sometimes they mayunderstand why they should take
it, but then, um, you know, justknowing the benefits of the
medications and how to managethose meds and how to
incorporate all of that intotheir whole wellness journey.
(14:27):
You know, it's that's theapproach that I would like to
take is, you know, that, equalpartnership with the patients in
coming up with a plan, awellness plan for them.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
I'd love to highlight the genetic makeup.
How does and I know that's abig question, but how does our
genetic makeup, sort of like,predisponize us to certain maybe
it's certain mental healthissues, maybe it's physical
issues?
How does that take an effect inprescribing medications?
Speaker 2 (15:06):
prescribing medications.
Yes, so you know, we're alldifferent physiologically, and
then also when you look at howwe process medications and how
our body metabolizes medications, it is different, right.
Some of us are fastmetabolizers and others are slow
metabolizers, and so if Iadminister a medication to a
patient who is a fastmetabolizer, right, there may be
a need for the dose to beslightly higher because of that.
(15:30):
You know genetic makeup of thatpatient, right.
And then for those patients whoare slow metabolizers, you know
we could maybe, then maybe youneed to reduce the dose, right,
so that we can get the patientsto the right spot, where they
need to be, and the right druglevels for these patients.
So you know that's.
You know what's really weconsider when we look at, you
(15:52):
know, pharmacogenomics how thepatients, you know how our
bodies are reacting to themedications and what the
medications is doing to ourbodies two different things,
right, and so it has to be abalance of both.
And you know, especially whenit comes to behavioral health
and you know, sometimes we findthat medication I can even say
(16:15):
some of the antidepressants aswell Patients may have been on
this medication for, you know,for a while and they're not
really achieving any, gettingany benefits from those
medications, and not that themeds are not really effective,
it's just that we really haveuntitrated the dose to where it
needs to be for the patients tohave that effective outcome from
that medication.
(16:36):
So for microgenomics it's veryimportant, it's new, it's, you
know, evolving and I'm veryexcited, you know, about the
prospects of pharmacogenomicsand how it's going to help with
personalized medicine.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
That's beautiful.
And when we're talking aboutpersonalization, that's assuming
that the client really feelscomfortable being honest about
their genetic makeup, whetherthat's their mother had breast
cancer, father has a falladdiction that could make them
genetically predisposed tosomething else.
(17:10):
What do you say to the personthat's like going into their
doctor and they're kind ofintimidated, to be kind of
honest, maybe it's aboutthemselves personally, maybe
it's like they might drink toomuch or they might have some
insecurities about their mentalhealth.
What do you say to that person?
Because a huge part of it is,you know, in order for them to
get that holistic care, theyhave to be honest.
(17:31):
So to the person that's likeI'm a little intimidated.
What's your advice to thatperson going into the doctors?
Speaker 2 (17:38):
Well, your doctor.
I would say that your doctorwants the best outcome for you,
right?
Your doctor is there to be apartner to getting you to your
best health possible.
Right and right, I wouldn't goto a doctor that I don't trust,
(17:58):
right.
And so, in selecting ourphysicians, it's very important
to do a due diligence, properresearch, to identify a
physician who we can trust.
Now, when we have thatphysician who we can trust, we
really need to put everything onthe table, because the doctor
needs to have the full picture,right, in order to make the best
informed clinical decision thatyou know, it's a test that a
(18:21):
patient has to go through,whereby a sample is collected
and that's been analyzed, youknow, sent to a lab and it's
analyzed and then, based on whatyou know, the test reveals,
right, we can then tailor thepatient's care based on their
genetic makeup.
And so and we're going to seemore and more drugs have
(18:44):
pharmacogenomics information.
I believe about more than 400medications now have.
When you look at the FDApackage inserts, they have the
genetic information before weeven prescribe them.
Right, because it's really,really important.
There's something there's, youknow, the drug gene interactions
.
It's a real thing.
(19:05):
And medication Plavix you knowit's when you look at the
patient's genetic makeup.
Not all patients should be onPlavix.
It wouldn't be effective inpatients who, let's say are,
would not do well on thatmedication, and so
pharmacogenomics has helped usidentify those patients who are
(19:26):
not good candidates for thatparticular medication products
that is used to prevent a clotfrom forming.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
Very interesting and I would love to kind of
transition a little bit to talkabout PharmD, to kind of
transition a little bit to talkabout PharmD.
I'd love to hear more aboutyour journey and how you know
your career path led you to thisintersection of healthcare and
technology.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
Yeah, and in terms of I don't even know where to
start with, in terms of myexperiences and my journey, it
all had to do with because I'vebeen exposed, you know, to the
different verticals inhealthcare, right, and being in
different settings inpatient,outpatient, long-term care,
(20:19):
community pharmacies, differentsettings, right, and seeing
things through the lens of ageriatric pharmacist.
The one common denominator thatI saw everywhere was
medication-related problems thatno one was really paying
attention to, falling throughthe cracks, causing problems in
(20:39):
patients, and that's probablydue to the disjointed and
fragmented healthcare systemthat we do have.
Right, there's no one personwho is overseeing the patient's
entire medication profile no oneperson.
Our community pharmacists youknow the likes of the chain
drugstores, you know we havepharmacists there and
(21:01):
well-meaning pharmacists, butthen again the work environment
really puts a whole constrainton the time that they're
spending with their patients.
Now, when you go to thephysician, you know we're
spending about five, 10 minuteswith our doctors, right, and
that's just because of the waythe healthcare system has been
designed.
Physicians mean well, they wantthe best care for their patients
(21:24):
, but then again, you know thetime constraints really limits
the physician from spending, youknow, more time with the
patients to really uncover moreinformation, more clinical
intelligence right, and so Iseen where the gaps were and
(21:44):
then also what the technologycan do Right.
That was what really led to,you know, starting this type of
organization and then designinga solution, like we have put in
place, so that we're analyzingthe patient's data from multiple
sources and superimposing thatonto what the physician has in
(22:06):
their EHR and then looking atall that, looking at the
patients through differentlenses and intelligence that we
can bring to the table and thatalso enables the physician to
(22:28):
make the best informed decisionfor their patients.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
Interesting, so I'm assuming that is how the AI
comes into play in helping thephysician get that 360 view of
the client correct.
Is that kind of what I'mgetting?
Speaker 2 (22:45):
Exactly, exactly.
So part of our solution is thatinteractive engagement.
So we engage with the patientson a monthly basis, right?
And this is all in betweentheir doctor visits.
Some of the patients see theirphysicians, let's say, once a a
year.
Sometimes the higher risk, highcomplexity patients may see
(23:09):
their physicians three times ayear, but a whole lot happens in
between those doctor visits,for example.
So during our patientengagement.
So that's why we have to weengage our patients on a monthly
basis.
So during our patientengagements, we often come
across patients who are whatthey're doing at home with their
medications is totallydifferent from what the
(23:30):
physician has in the electronichealth record, right?
So we have patients who arelike splitting their pills.
We have patients who are whopurchase medications out of
pockets.
Let's say that when they go toCanada or when they go to Mexico
or whatever they travel to,right, they buy medications
directly from the pharmacy andthe physicians have no knowledge
(23:52):
of these other additionaltherapies.
And then you have patients whoare seeing different prescribers
, different specialists, andwhen you look in the EHR and
look at the medication profile,there's just a whole lot of
discrepancies between what thephysician actually has in the
EHR and what the patientactually does at home.
(24:14):
So part of what we do is duringthat engagement.
We then pull and collate all ofthe patient's medications from
different sources and put it alltogether, right and so with our
technology.
Right, it actually enhances.
It doesn't replace it, doesn'treplace the physician, it
(24:34):
doesn't replace the pharmacist,but rather, you know, it
enhances what we do, right andso and enhances that human
element within healthcare.
So at PharmDLive, you know, weuse our AI-driven technology to
analyze risk factors, not justrisk factors for medication, but
also risk factors from socialdeterminants of health as well.
(24:56):
Of course we're looking atmedication-related problems and
optimizing the patient's careplans, and but that's always
paired paired with pharmacistoversight and that personalized
patient engagement, right.
So, for example, our technologycan flag that a patient is at
high risk for adverse drug event, but it's a clinical pharmacist
(25:16):
who then steps in to have thereal conversation, have that
engagement with the patient,work with the physicians to
adjust the patient's therapy andthen also provide that
compassionate care to ourpatients.
So our technology acceleratesthe insights, but that
human-to-human connectionbetween our pharmacists and the
(25:37):
patients is what drives betteroutcomes and eventually supports
the physicians to treat,deliver the highest quality of
care to their patients.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
I think that's great.
I mean there is such a gap.
I had on the co-founder ofHerMD and you know they'd spend
between about up to 45 minuteswith their patients, with women,
and it's a beautiful thingbecause I think a lot of times
in healthcare women are gaslitinto thinking like what they're
feeling is not accurate and in alot of ways we have to advocate
(26:10):
for ourselves.
I've had to advocate for myself.
I know a lot of our listenershave had to advocate for
themselves in the medical fieldsand they offer a really
interesting gap because theyspend a lot of time with you.
They look at the client, thepatient, holistically.
I'm a big component of that.
And then it was interestingbecause recently I went to India
(26:31):
and I got food poisoning and Iwent to the doctor and I got an
for the IV and for themedication and I'm thinking
these doctors were great, I hada great experience and something
like that in the U S it wouldhave cost like over 300 bucks.
(26:52):
So you think about like thisgap here and you know I think
about my mother.
My mother is in a wheelchair.
My mom has a lot of, you know,physical ailments and she was
doing a treatment for herrheumatoid arthritis, and then a
doctor suggested a differenttreatment that ended up being a
(27:13):
thousand dollars a month.
It would have been a thousanddollars a month and she wasn't
sure if insurance would cover it.
And so what I noticed, and whatI'm noticing by talking to a
lot of people in the medicalworld, is that there's also this
gap in does your insurancecover this prescription?
Is this accessible?
You know there's also that gapthere, because what I'm learning
(27:35):
is that it is attainable tohave affordable health care and
you know, as you're talkingabout holistic health care and
helping meeting those gaps, it'sso important because I
understand that clinicians arevery burnt out.
They can't spend all this timewith the patients.
On the other hand, patientsneed better.
(27:56):
You know better care more.
You know it's in the same waywith with.
You know with therapists.
You know with in the digitalwellness space, with therapy.
You know with therapists.
You know within the digitalwellness space, with therapy.
You know patients are feelingon other platforms that the
therapist isn't spending enoughtime, doesn't care, and maybe
it's true, maybe it's not true.
Either way, we have to meetthat demand somehow and I think
(28:20):
it's really interesting whatyou're doing.
You're kind of bridging thisgap here and allowing more
attention to come to the clientBecause again, things might
change, circumstances mightchange, whether it's in their
diet, whether it's in anenvironment, you know.
That might shift the way thattheir body is reacting.
Their mind, body, soul isreacting to the medication.
(28:42):
I'm curious is this is yourcompany, does it take insurance?
Speaker 2 (28:48):
Lots of product lines and and most are covered by
insurance, especially Medicare,medicare.
Medicare covers what we dobecause it's preventative and it
helps reduce costs and improvesthe patient's you know outcomes
right.
Also, some of the commercialplans accept, you know we accept
some of the commercial plans.
Accept, you know we accept someof the commercial plans because
(29:09):
they do cover what we do.
There's a whole lot of value inmedication management and then
we also do have some patientswho can pay out of pocket.
We have patients who reach outto us say, hey, my mom is on
about 20 medications and theyreally can't manage, you know
the medications overwhelming tothe caregivers, to the patients
themselves, you know.
(29:29):
So we see all sorts of patientsand they could be paying cash
or through their insurance, andI'm curious the AI component.
Speaker 1 (29:41):
Is a client going to use the service that you have
talking to a person?
Is it through an AI service?
How does it work?
Speaker 2 (29:50):
Yeah, so if we have a patient who is part of our
program, our pharmacistsleverage our technology to
provide service to them, so thepatients really don't have to do
anything.
That is tech-driven per se.
You know, that is tech drivenper se.
Most of our patients areelderly and they're technology
averse a vast majority of themso our team members leverage our
(30:14):
technology to provide care tothe patient, so the patients
really really don't need to havea B-Tech savvy or any of that.
And even when we partner withclinics, our goal is always to
provide a turnkey service, aturnkey solution, end-to-end
right.
Our goal is to reduce the workload, reduce the work burden and
(30:35):
decrease burnout for ourpartners, and so our team we
handle, you know, we do theheavy lift and we do like 99.9%
of the work, because we knowthat our partners, our clinic
partners they're already busyand you know, with patient care,
(30:55):
day-to-day patient care intheir offices, and so we assume
the entire workload of allthings medication management for
their patients.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
Very exciting.
You definitely fill a gap for alot of people and I want to go
back to you.
We hopped around a lot, but youknow, clearly you care about
people.
Clearly you're meeting so manygaps, clearly you have such an
incredible background.
(31:26):
I'm going to kind of wrap thisthing into a bow here, because
it's really interesting.
There's like such a patternwith everyone that I have on
here that I always like tohighlight is that we're, we love
to serve others, and then it'slike we forget to put the oxygen
mask on ourselves.
And so I want to dig deeper,because I know you had said your
mother, your daughter, all thethings, and even when we strip
(31:49):
those things away, it'sincredible what you're achieving
, what you're going to achievein the future and even beyond
work.
If you were to give yourpersonal mission statement of
your why and why you do what youdo I'm going to put you on the
spot a little bit what would itbe?
Speaker 2 (32:09):
Why I do what I do.
Why do I?
Speaker 1 (32:12):
do this planet Just being Cynthia, taking even work
out of the picture?
Speaker 2 (32:20):
I just want to leave the world better than I found it
.
You know, I believe that I've.
I believe that I was made for apurpose.
I believe that I've been.
You know, god has given me anassignment to make a difference
in the lives of others, andthat's what makes me, you know,
(32:45):
that's what I wake up every dayexcited to do is to leave that,
um, you know, lasting legacy, um, and having that positive
impact in in our world, justimproving the lives of others.
That's why that's my why, inwhatever, wherever I find myself
, i'm'm always looking at,trying to identify how can
(33:07):
things be better, right, how canI leave this better than I
found it?
And that's the value, what Isay, that I instill in my kids.
I try to instill in them toalways leave things better than
you found them, leave peoplebetter than you found them, and
just, you know, whenever youencounter anybody, let that
(33:30):
person feel better that theyjust encountered you 100% agree,
and I think you've overcomeadversity.
Speaker 1 (33:36):
So have I.
And the reason I put out thispodcast is because there's
someone there listening, goinglike it's not going to get
better and like it will getbetter.
And I think, in a lot of ways,when you know we're talking
about overcoming adversity orwhy the things that we do,
everything with social media,can feel overwhelming to people
because they're like, oh, Ican't achieve that or I'm not
(33:57):
doing that.
And when you take all of thataway and all the fancy titles
and everything, we're all goingthrough the same experience
which is like, how do we loveourselves harder?
How do we make the world betterthan when we left it?
We all have virtues that we'veovercome and I really do believe
that if we can think about andtake away everything that we're
(34:18):
doing and we just isolate intowhat's our personal mission
statements and accept theemotions that are coming in,
tagging the emotions.
I had that experience yesterday.
I was feeling really stressedout and I had all these meetings
and I'm like you know what?
I'm going to go, hop on myPeloton, like I needed to do
(34:39):
that for myself, and I'mnoticing that when you reward
yourself, that's the realself-care, that's the real
self-love and that is what is socool about these people I have
on.
Like yourself, you show up foryourself and that's really how
you're so strong.
It doesn't just come up out ofthe air Like you didn't go from
(35:00):
going through and having malariato yes, I'm going to go and be
a pharmacist, like there weresomething coming in between
right that made you go.
You know, I have to fight formyself back.
So that's so cool to me andyou're a super woman.
So I wanted to highlight cause Ithink we, we like, we skip over
that.
Like we were like, and I do too, like I go.
(35:20):
Yeah, I went through this thingand now I have like.
No, there were some steps I hadat one point in time had to
lift myself out of bed and standup out of the bed, walk to the
bathroom and brush my teeth.
There were things in between.
So I just love the work thatyou're doing and I just think
that you're offering such aservice to the world.
We need it.
And do you have anythingexciting coming up with what
(35:44):
you're doing with your business,farm FarmD Live, that you'd
like to share with the audience?
Speaker 2 (35:51):
In terms of exciting what's coming up.
There's a whole lot of excitingprojects in the pipeline that
we're working on, right, but Iwould say, when I think about
the future of PharmDLive, Ienvision, you know, a future
(36:14):
where every doctor's office hasa virtual clinical pharmacist
supporting them, supporting thatteam right, and seamlessly
integrating medicationoptimization into chronic
disease management.
That's, you know, what we'reworking on, and we're doing that
one clinic at a time, and so wedo have other projects that are
(36:37):
coming up that we're working on.
And then scaling ourtechnology-enabled you know
model, ensuring that medicationsafety and adherence is not just
afterthoughts but the standardin patient care, right, and so,
you know, also scaling ourtechnology.
It's either because we'reworking on upgrades at this time
(37:00):
, and so having that AI drivenclinical insights and, you know,
leveraging pharmacogenomics,because pharmacogenomics is
still in its infancy, right, andso, you know, merging those two
and just exploring all thepossibilities out there.
You know, that's what'sexciting to me, me and just
(37:22):
having the pharmacist, you know,as a partner, as a support
system for the clinics.
It's, you know, that's whatwe're working on, and just
working on being the catalystfor that change and, you know,
and being able to bring thismission.
Continue on this missionthrough the projects that we do
(37:44):
have coming up and the excitingyou know solutions that we're
bringing to the market.
Speaker 1 (37:52):
I agree.
I mean, it's our duty, I think,for people in healthcare to
really step up for clients, forpatients, and give them the
healthcare that they deserve tolive sustainable lives.
I believe in that.
And to close us, what is youradvice in?
Like a couple of sentences foran aspiring health care leader,
(38:12):
an entrepreneur who wants tomake a meaningful impact in
health care?
It's a big question, but whynot?
Speaker 2 (38:22):
Well, in terms of my advice is first of of all, there
are going to be challenges.
Um, let's say, through it all.
You have to be relentless,depending to everything, because
there's so many shiny objectsand when you do that, you will
lose focus and one day you'dwake up and not even recognize
yourself or recognize thejourney that you're on.
(38:44):
So I I, just you have tofearlessly and fiercely stay
focused on that vision andimpact-driven solutions.
You have to surround yourself Ican't even say this enough.
You have to surround yourselfwith the right people so that
you build a strong team.
You know, seek out mentors.
(39:04):
It's very.
You have to understand where ithurts and who can hold your
hand.
And I would say don't wait forthe perfect time.
Initially, when I started myjourney many years ago, I would
wait for everything to beperfect.
Perfect timing needs to beperfect.
No, no, no.
If you see a gap, whateverneeds to be done, you have to
take action.
(39:24):
You have to test it, you haveto fail.
You have to iterate and keeprefining your approach.
Right, but above all, I wouldsay stay resilient.
This journey is not for thefaint of heart.
And, yeah, just be resilientand be relentless and focus on
your vision and mission.
Speaker 1 (39:44):
I think that's great, I agree.
And to add on that I would saymind, body, soul, do the work,
you know.
Serve yourself.
Oxygen mask on first, becausethere's no award for you know,
biggest, most burnt outentrepreneur CEO.
Speaker 2 (40:04):
No.
Speaker 1 (40:05):
No, and it will show up, it will show up.
Speaker 2 (40:09):
Yes, health and wellness.
Your health and wellness isnon-negotiable.
When I first started, yes, Igot into the mindset of oh, the
entrepreneur has to be burnt out.
You have to, you know, go twodays without sleeping.
You have to hustle hard yes,you have to hustle hard and work
hard, but you should have yournon-negotiables.
My non-negotiable is my health,my wellness, my fitness, and so
(40:34):
I carve out time every singleday, rain or shine, to pour into
myself with fitness, wellness,making the right choices.
It's a work in progress, but itis a non-negotiable for me
because it's been a while andI've grown up on this journey
(40:54):
and I've realized that, first ofall, health is number one
priority and then comeseverything else, because if
you're not healthy, then youreally wouldn't be able to
achieve all that you have setout to accomplish yeah, I agree,
and like the very baseline.
Speaker 1 (41:12):
It's just like you're worth it, like even without the
like.
When I realized, like withoutthe fancy company, that I was
still worth it, it changedeverything for me.
I just I performed higher.
Like your worth isn'tcontingent on X, y, z, that
partnership, that VC raise, thatwhatever is worth it, just
(41:34):
because you matter, and that'sin that grit that you're talking
about.
That's, that's real self-love.
You go and like I'm going tocarve out an hour to go work out
that self-love.
That's a real self-love.
So that's beautiful.
Let's end on that.
That's a powerful note.
So this was a treat.
Thank you for spending the timeto chat with me inspired by you
.
Speaker 2 (41:54):
Thank you so much for having me.
Thank you, thank you.
I'm so grateful for thisopportunity to share my journey
and I look forward to you, know,continuing to make the impacts
alongside other change makerssuch as yourself.
So keep up the great work onwhat you're doing here.
I love your work.
Speaker 1 (42:12):
Thank you for listening to.
I Feel you a Fortify Wellnessproduction where we empower mind
, body and soul to reach newheights.
Your wellbeing is your greateststrength.
Nurture it, honor it and watchyourself thrive.
If today's episode inspired you, subscribe, share your thoughts
in the comments and come backnext week for more insights to
(42:32):
elevate your journey.
Stay empowered, stay true andremember you're not alone.
I feel you is a fortifiedwellness production.
All rights reserved 2025.
Welcome to I Feel you a Fortify Wellness production
season seven, where we explorethe real stories and strategies
that help you strengthen yourmind, body and soul.
I'm Bettina Mahoney, your guideon this journey to a healthier,
more vibrant you.
Before we get started, here's aquick reminder.
This information shared todayis for your inspiration and
(00:23):
knowledge, but always consult ahealthcare provider for any
medical concerns.
Today we're honored to welcomeDr Cynthia Wabani, a visionary
healthcare executive and founderof PharmD Live.
She's revolutionizing chronicdisease management with
AI-driven clinical pharmacistsolutions, improving patient
(00:44):
outcomes and reducing healthcarecosts.
With expertise in value-basedcare, digital health and
clinical operations, dr Robaniis a leader in health tech
innovation.
She holds a doctor of pharmacyfrom Temple University and a
graduate certificate in leadingwith finance from Harvard
University.
Let's dive into hergroundbreaking work and insights
(01:07):
.
Hi Cynthia, thank you forjoining me on the podcast today.
How are you?
Speaker 2 (01:14):
I'm doing well.
Hi, bettina, thank you forhaving me.
It's truly an honor to be heretoday.
First of all, I just wanted to,you know, acknowledge the
incredible work that you'redoing and the impacts that
you're making.
So thank you for having me heretoday and I look forward to
discussing my journey and youknow, how innovation can drive
(01:36):
better patient outcomes, allwhile keeping that human touch.
So looking forward to our chattoday, and so thank you.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
Thank you so much.
I always love starting thisquestion because I have been
talking a lot recently aboutunveiling the mask and getting
grounded and getting into ourtrue, authentic selves.
And you have such incredibletitle, such incredible
background.
I'm curious when you strip allthat away at the core, who are
(02:05):
you?
Speaker 2 (02:07):
At the core, who am I ?
Okay, so, at the core, I'm aproblem solver.
I like to.
I see myself as a problemsolver.
I am a problem solver and I aman eternal learner.
I'm constantly learning.
And then also I am a connector.
(02:29):
I'm a relentless advocate whenit comes to making, when it
comes to progress right, and inevery space that I find myself,
I have always figured out waysto make things better.
That's just who I am.
I am a wife, I'm a mom of threeadorable kids, I'm a daughter,
(02:53):
I'm a sister, I'm a friend tomany, I'm a mentor, I'm a great
listener.
I'm someone who is deeplycommitted to making meaningful
impact in people's lives.
I love to laugh, I love tobuild relationships, I love to
embrace new experiences and, youknow, I believe in the power of
(03:15):
knowledge.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
I believe in the power of networks and having
those genuine connections withpeople, so that we're bringing
people together.
That's so beautiful.
I want to dive deeper into that, if you're okay with me diving
deeper.
Sure, you're a connector,you're a problem solver, and I
think the women that we have onthis podcast, they are doers and
they love to serve others.
And I'm curious for you how doyou fill your own cup?
Speaker 2 (03:52):
How do you put on the oxygen mask on first for
yourself.
Well, my oxygen mask, I wouldsay it comes from.
(04:15):
It comes from God, comes fromup above right.
I have a deep relationship withGod and you know who has been
my guide, has made ways for meeven, you know, when the path
seemed unclear right and when Iget super overwhelmed.
His presence in my life hasshaped my resilience, my purpose
, my pretty much everything, myaway from belief in that every
challenge is an opportunity forgrowth and impact.
When I'm fully, like exhausted,I try to find that quiet time,
that space, quiet space and justclose my eyes and meditate, you
(04:39):
know, and then also just beingaround, having a great support
system as well.
You know, that's what reallyfeels my cup for me, when I am
feeling very low or when I justneed that recharge.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
That's so beautiful and it's been so interesting,
because we bring on so manyhigh-performing women and they
talk about all of the amazingthings that they've done, all
the jobs they've done.
Maybe they get into finance or,unhappy, they go to the next
job, they might go to consulting, and they're like I'm so
unhappy I'm going to start myown business.
Or they go into something andthey decide you know, maybe this
(05:18):
thing will fulfill me.
And then they realize, wait,it's not externally, it's not
what another person or anothercompany can do to make me happy.
It has to come from me.
And you seem so sure ofyourself.
What was the process like foryou?
And finding your?
Why, the reason why you do thework that you do?
Speaker 2 (05:37):
today.
That's a very.
That would be a very long storyto finding my why.
That's a very.
That would be a very long storyto finding my why.
So, as a young girl, I grew upin Nigeria and I suffered
malaria.
I'm not sure if you know whatmalaria is, but it's the flu
times 10.
It's, I mean, it wasn't just aone-time illness, it was
(06:09):
recurrent and relentless becauseof my blood type, and so most
times, malaria would land me inthe hospital for many weeks at a
time, and sometimes it could beup to two weeks, 45 days.
It all depended on what it was.
And so I endured endlessmedications, painful injections
and, you know, a disruption of,you know, missing school.
But I missed those difficultmoments.
(06:31):
You know, something sparked mycuriosity about medications.
How could these tiny pills, youknow, have such a profound
effect on my body, right?
And so that realization, evenat a very young age, planted the
seed for my journey into theworld of pharmacy.
And so, when I moved to theUnited States, I pursued this
(06:53):
passion at Temple UniversitySchool of Pharmacy, where I and
then, you know, after that, Ilater began my career at a
community, as a communitypharmacist, my career at a
community, as a communitypharmacist, and it was
fulfilling, you know how, thatdirect, direct hand in ensuring
that patients receive the rightmedications, they were counseled
right, and all of that goodstuff.
(07:14):
But it was also eye opening forme.
And then so from, you know,working in the community.
I transitioned to differentsettings where pharmacists could
work on the inpatient side, onthe outpatient, at medication
management, long-term carefacilities, and as I
transitioned from one clinicalsetting to the other, right, I
(07:38):
saw firsthand the widespreadmedication-related problems that
patients faced, and that waswhen I quickly realized that a
lack of a proper medicationmanagement was leading to
preventable medication-relatedproblems, preventable
hospitalization, unnecessarydeaths, right.
(07:59):
And so you know many patientstories that I can tell, but one
patient story that I could tellright now is a patient who was
always in and out of the ER forasthma attacks and respiratory
related problems and so, and shewas labeled a frequent flyer,
(08:20):
but no one really knew why shewasn't improving, right.
And so when I spent time youknow my team and I spent time
with that patient and weconducted a thorough medication
history we found out that shewas her daughter, was actually
administering her inhalerthrough the nose and not through
her mouth, right, and it wasunintentional, and that reduced
(08:42):
the patient's medicationeffectiveness.
And so just a simplemisunderstanding of how to use a
life unintentional medicationoverdose.
This tragic incident was 100%presentable had there been a
(09:09):
proper medication managementsolution for that patient, and
so that was the moment thattotally changed everything.
For me, it wasn't just about,you know, dispensing medications
anymore, it was aboutpreventing avoidable harm and
doing that at scale right.
And so, as a board certifiedgeriatric pharmacist, and given
(09:31):
the experience that I've had indifferent settings, that was
what really pushed me over theedge to found PharmD Live, where
we can address these types ofproblems medication-related
issues at the intersection oftechnology and the clinical
pharmacist expertise.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
That's fascinating to me, I mean so.
I am a firm believer in takingmedication that your doctor, you
know, prescribed you for.
I've been on epilepsymedication since I was 14 and
I'm a firm believer.
It has saved my life.
And I've also been on the otherside of it After I was raped.
(10:13):
I'm very open about this.
I was raped and changed my lifeI could barely get out of bed in
the morning and a really longhealing journey and I found my
personal experience withantidepressants didn't work for
me and I went on a whole healingjourney holistically changed my
diet, went to a soul coach, gota therapist.
(10:35):
I do all the things that Ipractice in Fortify Wellness,
which is now HIPAA compliant 360approach to wellness therapy,
coaching, fitness and meditationon one subscription platform.
360 Postural Wellness Therapy,coaching, fitness and Meditation
on one subscription platform.
So I come from a reallyinteresting place where, on the
one hand, I felt like thedoctors didn't ask enough
questions about what I was goingthrough and didn't prescribe me
(10:56):
the right thing, the rightdosage, and then I live in
another world where my epilepsymedication, I believe, saved my
life.
So I live in these two worlds.
Epilepsy medication, I believe,saved my life, so I live in
these two worlds right and I hada really interesting experience
.
A month ago I saw a holisticdoctor.
He spent two hours with me,which I've never had that
(11:18):
experience before, where heasked about mind, body, soul,
what I went throughpsychologically in my past, how
much I'm working out all thosethings that I feel should be
taken into account inprescribing any types of
medication.
So I'm curious what the balanceis from your perspective in,
(11:39):
you know, wellness, holisticwellness, my body's whole diet.
So wellness, holistic wellness,my body's whole diet.
Fitness, moving your body andprescriptions.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
What is the balance?
How do we find it?
Yeah, so I like to.
When you talk about balance, Ilike to even start from.
One size does not fit all,right.
With medications and withwellness, one size doesn't fit
all and never will.
So, looking at things from themedication management standpoint
(12:14):
, what we are doing at ourorganization is ensuring that
the patient's medication regimenis tailored to that particular
patient, and we leverage, youknow, we leverage
pharmacogenomics, and that'swhere medications are tailored
based on the patient's geneticmakeup.
Right, and so it's.
(12:35):
It's, I believe inpersonalization when it comes to
medications, and then also whenyou're looking at wellness,
it's, it's looking at thepatient as a whole, right, and
it's not just, you know, go tothe gym, go do this and do all
of that.
It's all about partner is apartnership with the patient,
partner with the patient andreally coming up with a with.
(13:01):
You know, that would work withthe patient because, at the end
of the day, you want to empowerthe patients with the right
tools, the right resources, theright knowledge and information
for them to live their best lifeand to empower them for self
disease, self management andmedication, self management on
their own, and that comesthrough a whole lot of
(13:23):
motivational, you know,counseling, education, and it's
not a one-time thing, it'scontinuous because, you know, as
humans, we're continuallyevolving in our thoughts and our
knowledge right, and newinformation it's coming out
every day, and so it's veryimportant for us to constantly,
(13:45):
you know, partner with ourpatients and have that
engagement on an ongoing basisso that we're looking at
solutions, you know, and reallyfiguring out what's going to
work best for a patient, andthen also giving the patient a
seat at the table in coming upwith the best plan, because the
best plan is the plan that thepatient would actually execute
(14:06):
Right, and so you can prescribethe best medications to the
patient.
But if they really don't havethe why they don't understand
why they should take it.
And sometimes they mayunderstand why they should take
it, but then, um, you know, justknowing the benefits of the
medications and how to managethose meds and how to
incorporate all of that intotheir whole wellness journey.
(14:27):
You know, it's that's theapproach that I would like to
take is, you know, that, equalpartnership with the patients in
coming up with a plan, awellness plan for them.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
I'd love to highlight the genetic makeup.
How does and I know that's abig question, but how does our
genetic makeup, sort of like,predisponize us to certain maybe
it's certain mental healthissues, maybe it's physical
issues?
How does that take an effect inprescribing medications?
Speaker 2 (15:06):
prescribing medications.
Yes, so you know, we're alldifferent physiologically, and
then also when you look at howwe process medications and how
our body metabolizes medications, it is different, right.
Some of us are fastmetabolizers and others are slow
metabolizers, and so if Iadminister a medication to a
patient who is a fastmetabolizer, right, there may be
a need for the dose to beslightly higher because of that.
(15:30):
You know genetic makeup of thatpatient, right.
And then for those patients whoare slow metabolizers, you know
we could maybe, then maybe youneed to reduce the dose, right,
so that we can get the patientsto the right spot, where they
need to be, and the right druglevels for these patients.
So you know that's.
You know what's really weconsider when we look at, you
(15:52):
know, pharmacogenomics how thepatients, you know how our
bodies are reacting to themedications and what the
medications is doing to ourbodies two different things,
right, and so it has to be abalance of both.
And you know, especially whenit comes to behavioral health
and you know, sometimes we findthat medication I can even say
(16:15):
some of the antidepressants aswell Patients may have been on
this medication for, you know,for a while and they're not
really achieving any, gettingany benefits from those
medications, and not that themeds are not really effective,
it's just that we really haveuntitrated the dose to where it
needs to be for the patients tohave that effective outcome from
that medication.
(16:36):
So for microgenomics it's veryimportant, it's new, it's, you
know, evolving and I'm veryexcited, you know, about the
prospects of pharmacogenomicsand how it's going to help with
personalized medicine.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
That's beautiful.
And when we're talking aboutpersonalization, that's assuming
that the client really feelscomfortable being honest about
their genetic makeup, whetherthat's their mother had breast
cancer, father has a falladdiction that could make them
genetically predisposed tosomething else.
(17:10):
What do you say to the personthat's like going into their
doctor and they're kind ofintimidated, to be kind of
honest, maybe it's aboutthemselves personally, maybe
it's like they might drink toomuch or they might have some
insecurities about their mentalhealth.
What do you say to that person?
Because a huge part of it is,you know, in order for them to
get that holistic care, theyhave to be honest.
(17:31):
So to the person that's likeI'm a little intimidated.
What's your advice to thatperson going into the doctors?
Speaker 2 (17:38):
Well, your doctor.
I would say that your doctorwants the best outcome for you,
right?
Your doctor is there to be apartner to getting you to your
best health possible.
Right and right, I wouldn't goto a doctor that I don't trust,
(17:58):
right.
And so, in selecting ourphysicians, it's very important
to do a due diligence, properresearch, to identify a
physician who we can trust.
Now, when we have thatphysician who we can trust, we
really need to put everything onthe table, because the doctor
needs to have the full picture,right, in order to make the best
informed clinical decision thatyou know, it's a test that a
(18:21):
patient has to go through,whereby a sample is collected
and that's been analyzed, youknow, sent to a lab and it's
analyzed and then, based on whatyou know, the test reveals,
right, we can then tailor thepatient's care based on their
genetic makeup.
And so and we're going to seemore and more drugs have
(18:44):
pharmacogenomics information.
I believe about more than 400medications now have.
When you look at the FDApackage inserts, they have the
genetic information before weeven prescribe them.
Right, because it's really,really important.
There's something there's, youknow, the drug gene interactions
.
It's a real thing.
(19:05):
And medication Plavix you knowit's when you look at the
patient's genetic makeup.
Not all patients should be onPlavix.
It wouldn't be effective inpatients who, let's say are,
would not do well on thatmedication, and so
pharmacogenomics has helped usidentify those patients who are
(19:26):
not good candidates for thatparticular medication products
that is used to prevent a clotfrom forming.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
Very interesting and I would love to kind of
transition a little bit to talkabout PharmD, to kind of
transition a little bit to talkabout PharmD.
I'd love to hear more aboutyour journey and how you know
your career path led you to thisintersection of healthcare and
technology.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
Yeah, and in terms of I don't even know where to
start with, in terms of myexperiences and my journey, it
all had to do with because I'vebeen exposed, you know, to the
different verticals inhealthcare, right, and being in
different settings inpatient,outpatient, long-term care,
(20:19):
community pharmacies, differentsettings, right, and seeing
things through the lens of ageriatric pharmacist.
The one common denominator thatI saw everywhere was
medication-related problems thatno one was really paying
attention to, falling throughthe cracks, causing problems in
(20:39):
patients, and that's probablydue to the disjointed and
fragmented healthcare systemthat we do have.
Right, there's no one personwho is overseeing the patient's
entire medication profile no oneperson.
Our community pharmacists youknow the likes of the chain
drugstores, you know we havepharmacists there and
(21:01):
well-meaning pharmacists, butthen again the work environment
really puts a whole constrainton the time that they're
spending with their patients.
Now, when you go to thephysician, you know we're
spending about five, 10 minuteswith our doctors, right, and
that's just because of the waythe healthcare system has been
designed.
Physicians mean well, they wantthe best care for their patients
(21:24):
, but then again, you know thetime constraints really limits
the physician from spending, youknow, more time with the
patients to really uncover moreinformation, more clinical
intelligence right, and so Iseen where the gaps were and
(21:44):
then also what the technologycan do Right.
That was what really led to,you know, starting this type of
organization and then designinga solution, like we have put in
place, so that we're analyzingthe patient's data from multiple
sources and superimposing thatonto what the physician has in
(22:06):
their EHR and then looking atall that, looking at the
patients through differentlenses and intelligence that we
can bring to the table and thatalso enables the physician to
(22:28):
make the best informed decisionfor their patients.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
Interesting, so I'm assuming that is how the AI
comes into play in helping thephysician get that 360 view of
the client correct.
Is that kind of what I'mgetting?
Speaker 2 (22:45):
Exactly, exactly.
So part of our solution is thatinteractive engagement.
So we engage with the patientson a monthly basis, right?
And this is all in betweentheir doctor visits.
Some of the patients see theirphysicians, let's say, once a a
year.
Sometimes the higher risk, highcomplexity patients may see
(23:09):
their physicians three times ayear, but a whole lot happens in
between those doctor visits,for example.
So during our patientengagement.
So that's why we have to weengage our patients on a monthly
basis.
So during our patientengagements, we often come
across patients who are whatthey're doing at home with their
medications is totallydifferent from what the
(23:30):
physician has in the electronichealth record, right?
So we have patients who arelike splitting their pills.
We have patients who are whopurchase medications out of
pockets.
Let's say that when they go toCanada or when they go to Mexico
or whatever they travel to,right, they buy medications
directly from the pharmacy andthe physicians have no knowledge
(23:52):
of these other additionaltherapies.
And then you have patients whoare seeing different prescribers
, different specialists, andwhen you look in the EHR and
look at the medication profile,there's just a whole lot of
discrepancies between what thephysician actually has in the
EHR and what the patientactually does at home.
(24:14):
So part of what we do is duringthat engagement.
We then pull and collate all ofthe patient's medications from
different sources and put it alltogether, right and so with our
technology.
Right, it actually enhances.
It doesn't replace it, doesn'treplace the physician, it
(24:34):
doesn't replace the pharmacist,but rather, you know, it
enhances what we do, right andso and enhances that human
element within healthcare.
So at PharmDLive, you know, weuse our AI-driven technology to
analyze risk factors, not justrisk factors for medication, but
also risk factors from socialdeterminants of health as well.
(24:56):
Of course we're looking atmedication-related problems and
optimizing the patient's careplans, and but that's always
paired paired with pharmacistoversight and that personalized
patient engagement, right.
So, for example, our technologycan flag that a patient is at
high risk for adverse drug event, but it's a clinical pharmacist
(25:16):
who then steps in to have thereal conversation, have that
engagement with the patient,work with the physicians to
adjust the patient's therapy andthen also provide that
compassionate care to ourpatients.
So our technology acceleratesthe insights, but that
human-to-human connectionbetween our pharmacists and the
(25:37):
patients is what drives betteroutcomes and eventually supports
the physicians to treat,deliver the highest quality of
care to their patients.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
I think that's great.
I mean there is such a gap.
I had on the co-founder ofHerMD and you know they'd spend
between about up to 45 minuteswith their patients, with women,
and it's a beautiful thingbecause I think a lot of times
in healthcare women are gaslitinto thinking like what they're
feeling is not accurate and in alot of ways we have to advocate
(26:10):
for ourselves.
I've had to advocate for myself.
I know a lot of our listenershave had to advocate for
themselves in the medical fieldsand they offer a really
interesting gap because theyspend a lot of time with you.
They look at the client, thepatient, holistically.
I'm a big component of that.
And then it was interestingbecause recently I went to India
(26:31):
and I got food poisoning and Iwent to the doctor and I got an
for the IV and for themedication and I'm thinking
these doctors were great, I hada great experience and something
like that in the U S it wouldhave cost like over 300 bucks.
(26:52):
So you think about like thisgap here and you know I think
about my mother.
My mother is in a wheelchair.
My mom has a lot of, you know,physical ailments and she was
doing a treatment for herrheumatoid arthritis, and then a
doctor suggested a differenttreatment that ended up being a
(27:13):
thousand dollars a month.
It would have been a thousanddollars a month and she wasn't
sure if insurance would cover it.
And so what I noticed, and whatI'm noticing by talking to a
lot of people in the medicalworld, is that there's also this
gap in does your insurancecover this prescription?
Is this accessible?
You know there's also that gapthere, because what I'm learning
(27:35):
is that it is attainable tohave affordable health care and
you know, as you're talkingabout holistic health care and
helping meeting those gaps, it'sso important because I
understand that clinicians arevery burnt out.
They can't spend all this timewith the patients.
On the other hand, patientsneed better.
(27:56):
You know better care more.
You know it's in the same waywith with.
You know with therapists.
You know with in the digitalwellness space, with therapy.
You know with therapists.
You know within the digitalwellness space, with therapy.
You know patients are feelingon other platforms that the
therapist isn't spending enoughtime, doesn't care, and maybe
it's true, maybe it's not true.
Either way, we have to meetthat demand somehow and I think
(28:20):
it's really interesting whatyou're doing.
You're kind of bridging thisgap here and allowing more
attention to come to the clientBecause again, things might
change, circumstances mightchange, whether it's in their
diet, whether it's in anenvironment, you know.
That might shift the way thattheir body is reacting.
Their mind, body, soul isreacting to the medication.
(28:42):
I'm curious is this is yourcompany, does it take insurance?
Speaker 2 (28:48):
Lots of product lines and and most are covered by
insurance, especially Medicare,medicare.
Medicare covers what we dobecause it's preventative and it
helps reduce costs and improvesthe patient's you know outcomes
right.
Also, some of the commercialplans accept, you know we accept
some of the commercial plans.
Accept, you know we accept someof the commercial plans because
(29:09):
they do cover what we do.
There's a whole lot of value inmedication management and then
we also do have some patientswho can pay out of pocket.
We have patients who reach outto us say, hey, my mom is on
about 20 medications and theyreally can't manage, you know
the medications overwhelming tothe caregivers, to the patients
themselves, you know.
(29:29):
So we see all sorts of patientsand they could be paying cash
or through their insurance, andI'm curious the AI component.
Speaker 1 (29:41):
Is a client going to use the service that you have
talking to a person?
Is it through an AI service?
How does it work?
Speaker 2 (29:50):
Yeah, so if we have a patient who is part of our
program, our pharmacistsleverage our technology to
provide service to them, so thepatients really don't have to do
anything.
That is tech-driven per se.
You know, that is tech drivenper se.
Most of our patients areelderly and they're technology
averse a vast majority of themso our team members leverage our
(30:14):
technology to provide care tothe patient, so the patients
really really don't need to havea B-Tech savvy or any of that.
And even when we partner withclinics, our goal is always to
provide a turnkey service, aturnkey solution, end-to-end
right.
Our goal is to reduce the workload, reduce the work burden and
(30:35):
decrease burnout for ourpartners, and so our team we
handle, you know, we do theheavy lift and we do like 99.9%
of the work, because we knowthat our partners, our clinic
partners they're already busyand you know, with patient care,
(30:55):
day-to-day patient care intheir offices, and so we assume
the entire workload of allthings medication management for
their patients.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
Very exciting.
You definitely fill a gap for alot of people and I want to go
back to you.
We hopped around a lot, but youknow, clearly you care about
people.
Clearly you're meeting so manygaps, clearly you have such an
incredible background.
(31:26):
I'm going to kind of wrap thisthing into a bow here, because
it's really interesting.
There's like such a patternwith everyone that I have on
here that I always like tohighlight is that we're, we love
to serve others, and then it'slike we forget to put the oxygen
mask on ourselves.
And so I want to dig deeper,because I know you had said your
mother, your daughter, all thethings, and even when we strip
(31:49):
those things away, it'sincredible what you're achieving
, what you're going to achievein the future and even beyond
work.
If you were to give yourpersonal mission statement of
your why and why you do what youdo I'm going to put you on the
spot a little bit what would itbe?
Speaker 2 (32:09):
Why I do what I do.
Why do I?
Speaker 1 (32:12):
do this planet Just being Cynthia, taking even work
out of the picture?
Speaker 2 (32:20):
I just want to leave the world better than I found it
.
You know, I believe that I've.
I believe that I was made for apurpose.
I believe that I've been.
You know, god has given me anassignment to make a difference
in the lives of others, andthat's what makes me, you know,
(32:45):
that's what I wake up every dayexcited to do is to leave that,
um, you know, lasting legacy, um, and having that positive
impact in in our world, justimproving the lives of others.
That's why that's my why, inwhatever, wherever I find myself
, i'm'm always looking at,trying to identify how can
(33:07):
things be better, right, how canI leave this better than I
found it?
And that's the value, what Isay, that I instill in my kids.
I try to instill in them toalways leave things better than
you found them, leave peoplebetter than you found them, and
just, you know, whenever youencounter anybody, let that
(33:30):
person feel better that theyjust encountered you 100% agree,
and I think you've overcomeadversity.
Speaker 1 (33:36):
So have I.
And the reason I put out thispodcast is because there's
someone there listening, goinglike it's not going to get
better and like it will getbetter.
And I think, in a lot of ways,when you know we're talking
about overcoming adversity orwhy the things that we do,
everything with social media,can feel overwhelming to people
because they're like, oh, Ican't achieve that or I'm not
(33:57):
doing that.
And when you take all of thataway and all the fancy titles
and everything, we're all goingthrough the same experience
which is like, how do we loveourselves harder?
How do we make the world betterthan when we left it?
We all have virtues that we'veovercome and I really do believe
that if we can think about andtake away everything that we're
(34:18):
doing and we just isolate intowhat's our personal mission
statements and accept theemotions that are coming in,
tagging the emotions.
I had that experience yesterday.
I was feeling really stressedout and I had all these meetings
and I'm like you know what?
I'm going to go, hop on myPeloton, like I needed to do
(34:39):
that for myself, and I'mnoticing that when you reward
yourself, that's the realself-care, that's the real
self-love and that is what is socool about these people I have
on.
Like yourself, you show up foryourself and that's really how
you're so strong.
It doesn't just come up out ofthe air Like you didn't go from
(35:00):
going through and having malariato yes, I'm going to go and be
a pharmacist, like there weresomething coming in between
right that made you go.
You know, I have to fight formyself back.
So that's so cool to me andyou're a super woman.
So I wanted to highlight cause Ithink we, we like, we skip over
that.
Like we were like, and I do too, like I go.
(35:20):
Yeah, I went through this thingand now I have like.
No, there were some steps I hadat one point in time had to
lift myself out of bed and standup out of the bed, walk to the
bathroom and brush my teeth.
There were things in between.
So I just love the work thatyou're doing and I just think
that you're offering such aservice to the world.
We need it.
And do you have anythingexciting coming up with what
(35:44):
you're doing with your business,farm FarmD Live, that you'd
like to share with the audience?
Speaker 2 (35:51):
In terms of exciting what's coming up.
There's a whole lot of excitingprojects in the pipeline that
we're working on, right, but Iwould say, when I think about
the future of PharmDLive, Ienvision, you know, a future
(36:14):
where every doctor's office hasa virtual clinical pharmacist
supporting them, supporting thatteam right, and seamlessly
integrating medicationoptimization into chronic
disease management.
That's, you know, what we'reworking on, and we're doing that
one clinic at a time, and so wedo have other projects that are
(36:37):
coming up that we're working on.
And then scaling ourtechnology-enabled you know
model, ensuring that medicationsafety and adherence is not just
afterthoughts but the standardin patient care, right, and so,
you know, also scaling ourtechnology.
It's either because we'reworking on upgrades at this time
(37:00):
, and so having that AI drivenclinical insights and, you know,
leveraging pharmacogenomics,because pharmacogenomics is
still in its infancy, right, andso, you know, merging those two
and just exploring all thepossibilities out there.
You know, that's what'sexciting to me, me and just
(37:22):
having the pharmacist, you know,as a partner, as a support
system for the clinics.
It's, you know, that's whatwe're working on, and just
working on being the catalystfor that change and, you know,
and being able to bring thismission.
Continue on this missionthrough the projects that we do
(37:44):
have coming up and the excitingyou know solutions that we're
bringing to the market.
Speaker 1 (37:52):
I agree.
I mean, it's our duty, I think,for people in healthcare to
really step up for clients, forpatients, and give them the
healthcare that they deserve tolive sustainable lives.
I believe in that.
And to close us, what is youradvice in?
Like a couple of sentences foran aspiring health care leader,
(38:12):
an entrepreneur who wants tomake a meaningful impact in
health care?
It's a big question, but whynot?
Speaker 2 (38:22):
Well, in terms of my advice is first of of all, there
are going to be challenges.
Um, let's say, through it all.
You have to be relentless,depending to everything, because
there's so many shiny objectsand when you do that, you will
lose focus and one day you'dwake up and not even recognize
yourself or recognize thejourney that you're on.
(38:44):
So I I, just you have tofearlessly and fiercely stay
focused on that vision andimpact-driven solutions.
You have to surround yourself Ican't even say this enough.
You have to surround yourselfwith the right people so that
you build a strong team.
You know, seek out mentors.
(39:04):
It's very.
You have to understand where ithurts and who can hold your
hand.
And I would say don't wait forthe perfect time.
Initially, when I started myjourney many years ago, I would
wait for everything to beperfect.
Perfect timing needs to beperfect.
No, no, no.
If you see a gap, whateverneeds to be done, you have to
take action.
(39:24):
You have to test it, you haveto fail.
You have to iterate and keeprefining your approach.
Right, but above all, I wouldsay stay resilient.
This journey is not for thefaint of heart.
And, yeah, just be resilientand be relentless and focus on
your vision and mission.
Speaker 1 (39:44):
I think that's great, I agree.
And to add on that I would saymind, body, soul, do the work,
you know.
Serve yourself.
Oxygen mask on first, becausethere's no award for you know,
biggest, most burnt outentrepreneur CEO.
Speaker 2 (40:04):
No.
Speaker 1 (40:05):
No, and it will show up, it will show up.
Speaker 2 (40:09):
Yes, health and wellness.
Your health and wellness isnon-negotiable.
When I first started, yes, Igot into the mindset of oh, the
entrepreneur has to be burnt out.
You have to, you know, go twodays without sleeping.
You have to hustle hard yes,you have to hustle hard and work
hard, but you should have yournon-negotiables.
My non-negotiable is my health,my wellness, my fitness, and so
(40:34):
I carve out time every singleday, rain or shine, to pour into
myself with fitness, wellness,making the right choices.
It's a work in progress, but itis a non-negotiable for me
because it's been a while andI've grown up on this journey
(40:54):
and I've realized that, first ofall, health is number one
priority and then comeseverything else, because if
you're not healthy, then youreally wouldn't be able to
achieve all that you have setout to accomplish yeah, I agree,
and like the very baseline.
Speaker 1 (41:12):
It's just like you're worth it, like even without the
like.
When I realized, like withoutthe fancy company, that I was
still worth it, it changedeverything for me.
I just I performed higher.
Like your worth isn'tcontingent on X, y, z, that
partnership, that VC raise, thatwhatever is worth it, just
(41:34):
because you matter, and that'sin that grit that you're talking
about.
That's, that's real self-love.
You go and like I'm going tocarve out an hour to go work out
that self-love.
That's a real self-love.
So that's beautiful.
Let's end on that.
That's a powerful note.
So this was a treat.
Thank you for spending the timeto chat with me inspired by you
.
Speaker 2 (41:54):
Thank you so much for having me.
Thank you, thank you.
I'm so grateful for thisopportunity to share my journey
and I look forward to you, know,continuing to make the impacts
alongside other change makerssuch as yourself.
So keep up the great work onwhat you're doing here.
I love your work.
Speaker 1 (42:12):
Thank you for listening to.
I Feel you a Fortify Wellnessproduction where we empower mind
, body and soul to reach newheights.
Your wellbeing is your greateststrength.
Nurture it, honor it and watchyourself thrive.
If today's episode inspired you, subscribe, share your thoughts
in the comments and come backnext week for more insights to
(42:32):
elevate your journey.
Stay empowered, stay true andremember you're not alone.
I feel you is a fortifiedwellness production.
All rights reserved 2025.
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