Blog - Goldfinch Health | Surgery & Recovery Navigation

Goldfinch Further Deepens Florida Roots with Selection by Tampa Bay Wave

TAMPA, FL (June 4, 2025) – Tampa Bay Wave unveiled the selection of 16 dynamic companies for the 2025 HealthTech|X Accelerator, including Goldfinch Health. Tampa Bay Wave is a nonprofit technology accelerator named the #1 Accelerator in Florida. “This is our strongest cohort, top to bottom, in our organization’s history,” said Dr. Richard Munassi, MD, MBA, Tampa Bay Wave Accelerator and CORE Program Managing Director. “These founders are not only addressing key healthcare…

Validation Institute Honors Goldfinch Health and Other Healthcare Innovators for 8th Annual Health Value Awards

Validation Institute has announced the winners of its 8th Annual Health Value Awards celebrating organizations and individuals driving measurable improvements in healthcare value. The awards spotlight top-performing services, products, and programs across more than 20 categories within the healthcare industry, along with top-performing advisors. Recognized as the leader in Surgery Navigation, this represents Goldfinch Health’s third Health Value Award. “Achieving independent validation from the Validation Institute is not easy,” said Brand…

How Community Leaders are Combating the Opioid Crisis with Prevention

Recently, John Greenwood (COO and Co-founder of Goldfinch Health) was joined by two community leaders for a discussion about fresh approaches to prevention in the face of America’s Opioid Crisis. Commissioner Andria Herr of Seminole County, Florida, and Commissioner Mary Ann Borgeson of Douglas County, Nebraska, are leading the charge to adopt these approaches in their communities and beyond. Commissioner Borgeson, motivated by alarming overdose statistics in her community, has advocated…

City of Mobile (AL) Selects Goldfinch Health for Opioid Prevention Program

Following a comprehensive and data-intensive review process, the City of Mobile and the Helios Alliance selected Goldfinch Health to deliver its Billion Pill Pledge program for the Gulf Coast community. Goldfinch’s proposal was one of 16 selected, from a total of 33 submitted proposals. The Billion Pill Pledge program focuses on better pain management and fewer opioids after surgery. The program brings upstream prevention to a multi-faceted approach to opioid abatement.…

Goldfinch Health’s Billion Pill Pledge Program Highlighted by Orthopedics Journal

Recent research published in the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (JAAOS) demonstrates that Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) pathways can dramatically reduce postoperative opioid prescriptions for orthopedic patients. The Results The study analyzed data from 100 patients (67 arthroplasty and 33 arthroscopy) treated by 11 orthopedic surgeons across 9 Iowa hospitals as part of the Billion Pill Pledge program, powered by Goldfinch Health. Researchers found that Enhanced Recovery…

CMS TEAM 2026: Is your hospital ready to take the plunge?

During the webinar, Brand Newland, William Kiefer, and Dr. Bret Alvis, MD, discuss how the Transforming Episode Accountability Model (TEAM) from CMS will impact your surgeries in the coming years. They also dive into how you can employ Enhanced Recovery surgery/recovery protocols to maximize performance and minimize your financial risk for 2026 and beyond.

“Kill the Refill”: Combating Post-Surgery Opioid Harms and Costs by Attacking a Hidden Villain

A quarter century into the Opioid Crisis in America, nearly every person, family, and community has been touched by the Crisis in some way. Prescription opioids continue to fuel this epidemic, including when patients are introduced to opioids via a key gateway, surgery. Goldfinch Health has supported patients preparing for and recovering from major surgery since 2018. Through thousands of supported cases, we’ve listened—to the patients; to our employer, labor union,…

It’s Time to Kill the Refill!

During the webinar, Brand Newland, PharmD, and Peter Hegi discuss how a seemingly innocuous VILLAIN — the SINGLE opioid refill after surgery — is covertly wreaking havoc on our people, their families and our communities. It turns out that the TRUE cost of a $10.56 opioid refill after surgery is as follows: It’s clear that TOGETHER, we need to KILL THE REFILL. By rethinking our approach to surgery and the ensuing…

The Case Against Combos

Why leading healthcare providers are turning to oxycodone monotherapy as part of multimodal pain management regimens designed to better treat pain and reduce opioid exposure for patients and families Opioid plus acetaminophen (APAP) combination products—hydrocodone/APAP (Lortab, Norco, Vicodin) and oxycodone/APAP (Percocet)—have been among the most commonly-dispensed medications in America over the last 20 years. Proactive, multimodal management of acute pain (such as after a surgical procedure or injury) is the new…

Preparing for Surgery When You Have a History of Opioid Use Disorder Can Be Challenging; Here’s What You Need to Know

Every patient approaching surgery should be concerned about persistent opioid use, Opioid Use Disorder (OUD), addiction, and leftover prescription medications. One group should have grave concerns—those patients who have a history of Substance Use Disorder (SUD). The Opioid Crisis has now raged on for over two decades. As a result, it is estimated over 20 million Americans have a history of OUD. That’s one person for every 13 adults in the…

Move Women’s Surgeries Out of the 19th Century with Health Navigators

Would you accept using the same technology in place in 1843 for well, anything? I wouldn’t. So it makes me wonder why so many physicians continue to use invasive approaches to that date to that period. Having a health navigator or a patient advocate service on your side as you go through this life-changing procedure can help ensure you don’t have to settle. Health Navigators and Hysterectomies Hysterectomies — a procedure…

How “Surgery as Unusual” is Like Business as Unusual

By Cal Beyer; VP; Workforce Risk & Worker Wellbeing, ACAP Health Works When a change agent assumes leadership of a struggling team, unit, division or company, these leaders frequently throw the gauntlet down. They’ll say we are embarking on a change management initiative. They’ll make bold statements that this will not look, feel, or sound like business as usual. They boldy exclaim “It’s going be ‘business as unusual’”. The first time I…

Surgery & Seniors

Surgery & Seniors: How to avoid the costliest complications in surgery patients over age 65 Nearly everyone has had the unfortunate experience of watching a loved one who is over the age of 65 undergo a surgery—and then never return to the person you once knew. Something has been lost. The toll is significant, both on the individual patients and their families. Post-Operative Cognitive Dysfunction (POCD) The economic waste of poorly…

A Tale of Two Surgeries and a Mystery Solved

The Patient is the Center of Excellence: A Tale of Two Surgeries and a Mystery Solved Several years ago, we learned a story of two patients, two surgeries, two dramatically different outcomes, and one mystery. The first patient underwent a major surgical procedure to remove cancer from her colon. This patient either did her research, had good fortune on her side, or all of the above as she navigated surgery. In…

Why Everyone Needs a Healthcare Navigator

When we buy a new home, prepare a tax return, or face a legal issue, we don’t think twice about finding an expert to help. When facing serious medical procedures, we trust the advice of our neighbor’s cousin and whatever we can find online. Can’t we do better? Especially when it comes to surgery, everyone needs a healthcare navigator. An advocate. An educated friend. Healthcare is Complicated Let’s begin with your…

Surgery Quality Analysis & Blind Spots

Lowering healthcare costs while increasing surgery quality? Sounds impossible. But with the right insight into surgery quality and action, it’s entirely possible. To get your no-cost assessment, contact Goldfinch Health today! When it comes to providing the best in medical benefits, it’s easy to have blind spots to where those services could be improved. We developed a new tool, our Surgery Quality Analysis, to shine a light on those areas we…

MSK care is too expensive (in ways you may not have considered)

MSK. A three-letter abbreviation for musculoskeletal conditions (back, hips, knees, shoulders) that rings in the mind of disability and employee benefits professionals. High-cost claimants. Long leave periods. Productivity diminished. Employees lost. Bills escalated. Lives changed. According to the Integrated Benefits Institute, MSK-related issues lead to: 756k short-term disability claims each year in the US (that’s over 2,000 claims per day!) Just over 78 days of missed work, on average, for each…

Trainwreck-Proofing & Cost Containment in Healthcare

Nearly everyone in employee benefits can immediately think of a case that made cost containment in healthcare impossible. Maybe they call it a high-cost claimant. Or perhaps they think of it as a trainwreck case. Protect your people. Protect your plans with Goldfinch Health. Find out how we make surgery forgettable. The patient faced a tough health situation. It likely included a significant diagnosis, a series of complications, a long-road to…

Opioids, Women & Employee Benefit Strategies

You won’t find the face of the opioid crisis in an unemployed 28 year-old man; it’s an employed and insured 52 year-old woman. And that can be helped with the right employee benefit strategies. How Much Is Outdated Surgery Costing Your Company? Find out now. That means employers could bring an end to this era. How? Well, employers play a leading role in the purchasing of healthcare in our country. With…

The Power of an ERAS Protocol Checklist

Recently, I spoke with a physician leader championing the implementation of Enhanced Recovery After Surgery across an 11-hospital system. What is ERAS Protocol? The ERAS protocol emerged as a clinically-valid, patient-centric rethinking of the standard surgery experience 20-plus years ago. Over 7,000 articles have been published in the medical literature to support the extensive benefits of this approach. Find out how Goldfinch Health uses the ERAS protocol. Get in touch today.…

Demand 21st Century Surgery with Healthcare Advocacy

It sounded like a miracle, but it wasn’t — it was a result of sound healthcare advocacy on behalf of a patient. One day after undergoing a colorectal operation to remove cancer, the patient was up and about and asking to go home. Don’t let your employees, your plans, or your patients suffer through second-rate surgeries. Schedule a demo The next day, another patient with a different surgeon experienced a more typical…

Opioids: The dangers of re-exposure and how we can be part of the solution

Meet Brett. Heavily involved in high school sports, a shoulder injury led to surgery. And that, as it does for millions of patients each year, led to a prescription for opioids to manage the pain. With that decision, the script changed. But not immediately. Brett recovered and moved on with his life, which included a career as a college baseball player. A second shoulder surgery would be needed, right after college.…

Finding Health Equity in Surgery and Recovery

Finding Health Equity in Surgery and Recovery Bias, both unintentional and intentional, contribute to differences in the quality of care received by patients in the United States. The consequences of these disparities can be catastrophic to patients and their families. A 2002 report to Congress –just as relevant today as it was 20 years ago—detailed recommendations for beginning to correct these inequities, including: “The consistency and equity of care should be…

Patients Who Manage Post-Surgery Pain Best Know This

Patients Who Manage Post-Surgery Pain Best Know This If you’ve spent any time in the aisles of your local pharmacy, you know there are A LOT of non-prescription medications available. Hundreds of options exist for cough, cold, allergies, pain and other conditions. And, for the most part, that is a really good thing. Easier access—no prescription required—means better treatment. There is one drawback to medications becoming available “over-the-counter” (another term for…

What You Need to Know to Prepare for the Best Experience in Surgery and Recovery

What You Need to Know to Prepare for the Best Experience in Surgery and Recovery By Mario Leyba, MD, and Brand Newland, PharmD An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure Going into surgery as healthy as possible is among the most important things you can do to prepare for successful recovery and getting back to life. If you are prepared for surgery, you are less likely to experience…

An Olympic-Sized Innovation

An Olympic-Sized Innovation Dick Fosbury had an idea. An engineering student moonlighting as a high jumper at the 1968 Olympics, Fosbury put his science background to work. Rather than take the conventional approach of jumping over the bar with a scissorkick, what if instead he went over the bar backwards, head-first? That’s right, backwards. And head-first! Doing so, he envisioned, would take advantage of natural body mechanics and momentum and just…

Pulling Back the Curtain on Physician Referrals

Pulling Back the Curtain on Physician Referrals Over 100,000 times today in the United States, a visit between a patient and his/her physician ended with something like this: “I recommend you speak with a surgeon.” That simple statement sets a complex set of wheels in motion, not the least of which are the wheels turning in the patient’s head. “How will I know where to go?” “Who do I trust?” “Do…

Surgery: Under the Microscope

Surgery: Under the Microscope “The Butchering Art” by Lindsey Fitzharris offers an in-depth and, shall we say, colorful look at the primitive days of surgery and healthcare. When it comes to the understanding of human health and the delivery of care, we should all be thankful to be alive in 2020 and not 170 years ago. One example: In the mid-19th century, patients judged the quality of a surgeon not by…

What to Expect When You’re Expecting (to Need Surgery)

What to Expect When You’re Expecting (to need surgery) 4 Things to Know as You Consider Surgery If you’ve never had surgery, or (thankfully) haven’t had surgery in awhile, you might be surprised by what’s possible today in surgery. Four things to know! 1. Seek a minimally-invasive procedure whenever possible. Today, many of the most common procedures–including colorectal procedures, gallbladder removal, hernia repairs, hysterectomies, and many others–can be done safely and…

Asking the Right Questions is the First Step in Better Surgery

Asking the Right Questions is the First Step As we have worked with patients in helping them to find the best way through surgery and back to their lives, we continue to be reminded of the importance of being an informed patient. Informed patients understand: The need for surgery Alternatives to surgery, if any, and the options within surgery The importance of finding the right surgeon and team What to expect…

The Most Important Part of the Opioid Crisis Isn’t What’s Happened; It’s What Happens Next

The Most Important Part of the Opioid Crisis Isn’t What’s Already Happened; It’s What Happens Next Updates about the Opioid Crisis in America have dominated news reports in recent years, and especially in recent weeks. The final week of August 2019 brought two ground-shaking turns in the decade-long story: An Oklahoma judge ruled Johnson & Johnson, a pharmaceutical company, must pay the state $572 million as a penalty for its role in…

Most Vulnerable Patients Make Costly Surgery Decisions

Research: Most Vulnerable Patients Make Costly Surgery Decisions A recent Goldfinch Health survey revealed critical insights into health literacy and the way consumers consider surgical decisions. Spoiler alert: novice surgical patients make costly decisions and they and their employers shoulder the consequences. But, first, a bit of background. We asked consumers: “Imagine you just found out you need surgery in one month, what would be important to your surgery decision?” Consumers…

The World’s Best Cup of Coffee

The World’s Best Cup of Coffee “Center of Excellence” It’s a term you may have seen used by health insurers, hospitals and surgery centers in recent years. You might be surprised to learn no universal definition exists for qualifying a surgery center for the distinction. At its worst, a hospital or surgery center hanging the “excellent” banner out front, or on its website, without any external validation is the modern-day equivalent…

Taking the Temperature of Surgery Quality

Taking the Temperature of Surgery Quality Ubiquitous in modern society, the thermometer was once a breakthrough technology centuries in the making. When leading scientists some 300 years ago finally put together the necessary elements, what resulted was revolutionary. At a glance, you could know the temperature. You didn’t know relative humidity, wind speed, or any of a number of other factors important to understanding the weather. But you knew, with little…

A 19th Century Physician & 21st Century Healthcare

What a 19th Century Physician Can Teach Us About 21st Century Healthcare While excitement and optimism largely define a trip to the hospital for the delivery of a new baby today, a different emotion accompanied a visit to an 1840’s maternity ward. Fear. At that time, one in ten mothers would die before she left the hospital. Meanwhile, women who received care from non-physician midwives experienced much lower mortality. But why?…

The 4-Hour Workweek Approach to Employee Healthcare

The 4-Hour Workweek Approach to Employee Healthcare “The 4-Hour Workweek” by Tim Ferriss has spent years on the New York Times bestseller list by selling a provocative idea—maybe we’re all working too hard? One of the most intriguing concepts covered by Ferris in the book is the effectiveness of combining the Pareto principle with Parkinson’s law. You probably already know the Pareto principle as the 80/20 rule. In other words,…

The Role of Employers in the Opioid Epidemic

Lake Wobegon and the Role of Employers in the Opioid Epidemic Garrison Keillor of A Prairie Home Companion made famous a quaint place known as Lake Wobegon. In this fictional town it was claimed “all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average”. Recently, what’s come to be known as the Wobegon effect—a tendency to overestimate one’s achievements and capabilities—has taken hold in…

The Inspiration that Drives Goldfinch Health

Our Inspiration Why Goldfinch Health? Why attempt to transform something as complex as the surgical experience? This is why. We’ve witnessed first-hand the vast difference between high-quality, advanced surgical experiences and lower-quality, outdated experiences. We have watched family members and loved ones undergo unnecessarily-invasive procedures and long recoveries. We have seen complications of the status quo, not the least of which is the growth of persistent opioid use into an epidemic.…

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