Why price transparency took a decade to crack | Heather Fernandez, Solv

In this episode of Lifers, Christina Farr sits down with Heather Fernandez, CEO of Solv and former Trulia executive, to dig into the question that has stumped healthcare for decades: why don't patients know what their doctor visit will cost? They discuss how Solv evolved from a marketplace for urgent care appointments into an AI-first operating system for on-demand healthcare,built on over 100 million real patient visits, and why AI is finally cracking the price transparency problem after more than a decade of trying. They also explore what it really means to "skip the landline" and rebuild workflows from scratch, how Solv's voice agent Maya is handling millions of after-hours calls no front desk team could staff, and more.

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Thanks to Solv who facilitated this conversation. Solv is the AI-first operating system for on-demand healthcare, helping providers automate everything from patient access to insurance verification and payments.

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LINKS:
Solv: https://www.solvhealth.com/ 

Chrissy Farr on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LiferswithChristinaFarr 
Chrissy Farr on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cfarr/ 
Subscribe to the Second Opinion Newsletter: https://secondopinion.media/ 
Chrissy’s Book: The Storyteller's Advantage: https://www.chrissyfarr.com/books 

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FOLLOW:
Heather:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/heatherfernandez 
https://x.com/heathermirj 

Chrissy:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinafarr/ 
https://x.com/chrissyfarr 
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TIMESTAMPS:
(00:00) Lead In
(00:58) Intro
(02:24) Leveraging walking meetings to foster authentic collaboration
(04:47) Heather's career from Capitol Hill to venture-backed PR
(07:29) Deciding to join a room of misfits at Trulia
(09:27) Managing family milestones alongside major tech exits
(11:33) From real estate to a complex healthcare market
(16:05) Projecting an Uber-like paradigm shift for medical pricing
(19:23) Bottoms-up data ingestion to solve localized plan complexity
(22:15) Transitioning Solv from consumer marketplace to AI-first OS
(23:47) Mapping structural forces driving a sudden consumer health pull
(25:21) Deploying automated voice agents to eliminate front-desk administrative drag
(27:13) Forcing organizational transformation amidst high-profile tech layoffs
(33:31) Applying a "skip the landline" mantra to legacy workflows
(37:27) Navigating the three operational phases of AI adaptation
(39:43) Reshaping the healthcare front door through tech investments
(42:58) Challenging industry insiders who dismiss medical cost urgency
(43:48) Calling for passionate tech outsiders to disrupt entrenched structures
(45:37) Wrap