Beyond “No Margin, No Mission”: A New Playbook for Health System Transformation

Healthcare Reframed

This week’s conversation is with Somava Saha of Well-being and Equity (WE) in the World.

Why this conversation matters:

Every year, U.S. health-system CEOs, their teams, and their boards, huddle in conference rooms late at night, with copious amounts of coffee, to finalize budgets that will govern billions in spend, dictate thousands of jobs, and silently decide which life-saving services will receive investment for the subsequent year. In parallel, a growing chorus of physicians, clinicians, leaders, and policy makers shake the industry with a single question: "Why do we keep pouring money into a system that still fails so many?"

Meet our Guest:

Somava Saha

Somava Saha sits at the intersection of these two worlds. A primary-care physician turned healthcare delivery architect, she led projects that reached 100 million people in 30 countries, redesigned team-based care at Cambridge Health Alliance, and now heads WE in the World, a global nonprofit translating equity science into practical strategy. In today's 72-minute deep dive she tells host Judson Howe — himself a former rural hospital network president — exactly why U.S. healthcare's dominant incentive model ("No margin, no mission") produces inefficient workflows, clinician burnout, and budget crises... and how CEOs can flip the script.

In a time of political polarization, this is not a stump speech. It is a master class in systems redesign. By the end you will understand:

◽️ The single misaligned incentive that quietly drains hospital margin and trust.

◽️ A three-step playbook—mind-set, relationships, system/incentives—that any executive can pilot in one service line.

◽️ How Cambridge Health Alliance moved from 0 % to 60 % value-based revenue and shaved 10 % of cost while vaulting safety-net outcomes to the national 90th percentile.

◽️ How to translate personal ambition to a higher calling.

◽️ How to be fearless in the boardroom.

◽️ Why equity is both a moral imperative and a hard-nosed path to “bigger margins, better care.”

◽️ The transferable lessons from Guyanese village health workers who cut malaria 90 % with zero new money.

Whether you are a CFO staring at the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” a medical director navigating Gen‑Z workforce expectations, or a policy student hunting for a dissertation topic, Dr. Saha’s blend of data, field stories, and blunt truth‑telling will challenge — and inspire — you to act.

Other places to watch:

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HC|RF team: Micah Buller, Todd Carpenter, and Lindsay Swain Hunt