Harlon Pickett, President of Eagle Care Health Solutions

In this episode of Becker's Healthcare Podcast, Scott King interviews Harlan Pickett, President of Eagle Care Health Solutions, about innovative approaches to health plan design in the face of rising complexity in healthcare. Pickett shares his journey from traditional insurance brokerage to building patient-centered health plans that prioritize navigation, quality care, and reduced administrative barriers. He emphasizes the importance of health literacy, especially for aging populations with chronic conditions, and highlights how his organization uses clinician navigators and zero-cost primary care to improve access and engagement. Pickett also discusses breaking away from traditional prior authorization models by trusting physicians through value-based care and direct primary care (DPC) models, where doctors are paid a monthly fee per member, aligning incentives around health outcomes rather than volume. The conversation delves into the challenges of data visibility in DPC, the surprising rise of virtual visits (over 80% of visits in one group), and the critical need for data sharing across stakeholders to drive proactive, personalized care. Pickett underscores that network adequacy doesn’t need to be legally mandated to be effective—by focusing on high-quality providers and facilities, even without regulatory pressure, Eagle Care builds robust networks. He advocates for removing the health plan from the middle of the patient-doctor relationship, allowing clinicians to lead care decisions. The episode concludes with a strong call to action: leveraging real-time data not just for internal insights but for transparent collaboration with employers, TPAs, and PBMs to continuously refine health plans. Pickett’s vision centers on human-centered design, trust, and technology that empowers both patients and providers.