An Interview With Jake Frankel
Make the system a little less comfortable for insurers and more comfortable for patients: Shifting the focus from profits to patient health and well-being isn’t just a necessity; it’s the foundation of a more equitable healthcare system.
As a part of our interview series called “5 Things We Must Do To Improve the US Healthcare System”, I had the pleasure to interview Andrew Malley, CEO of OpusVi, a leading workforce development solutions provider backed by CommonSpirit Health, Providence and Premier Inc. that exclusively enables healthcare systems and organizations to upskill and retain top talent.
Andrew Malley is a higher education leader with 20+ years of global experience in both the public and private sectors. He has led projects as a teacher, manager and director, understanding the positive change education can bring. As CEO of OpusVi, Andrew advocates for high-quality, work-based learning for the healthcare workforce, believing in the significant impact of collaboration between the industry and higher education.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive into our interview, our readers would like to get to know you a bit. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
A combination of bad decisions and good luck led me to where I am today. I often tell people that the healthcare industry didn’t choose me — I just stubbornly refused to leave once I got here. Healthcare leadership sometimes feels less like a ‘calling’ and more like a challenging relationship you’re deeply invested in, but just can’t walk away from. The industry challenges me, yet keeps me engaged and deeply invested — with something new to learn or create every day.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
Once, while presenting a new initiative to a room full of healthcare executives, I spoke passionately about how it would improve staff retention and patient outcomes. Halfway through, someone raised their hand to ask, “And how does this impact our quarterly revenue?” That moment was a reality check. It was a reminder that balancing compassion with financial efficiency in healthcare is a tightrope act. It wasn’t that the people aspect was of less importance or undervalued. Instead, it reinforced my mission to build solutions that align patient safety, system-wide efficiencies and measurable business goals.
This realization was a turning point for me, fundamentally reshaping how I view leadership and development in healthcare. It’s not just about supporting individuals; it’s about creating systems that sustain the entire ecosystem.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
When I first started at OpusVi, I was so excited about solving healthcare workforce challenges that I ambitiously scheduled back-to-back meetings with nursing leaders, hoping to impress them with our training solutions. In one meeting, I passionately explained our nurse residency program — only to realize halfway through I was pitching to a group of surgeons. They politely let me finish before someone said, “We love nurses, but do you have anything for us?”
The lesson? Always know your audience — and maybe don’t assume every room in a hospital is full of nurses. For every role in the outside world, a healthcare version exists, whether real estate, analytics, international development or marketing.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“If you think healthcare is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it’s free.” –P. J. O’Rourke
This was a sharp reminder for me that quick fixes in this industry tend to bring even bigger price tags later on.
How would you define an “excellent healthcare provider”?
An excellent healthcare provider is someone who can care about the patient and still navigate a billing code jungle. They’re part doctor, part therapist and part bureaucratic translator.
What are your favorite books, podcasts, or resources that inspire you to be a better healthcare leader? Can you explain why you like them?
I find inspiration in a blend of data-driven leadership books and patient-centered healthcare reads. Books like The Hard Thing About Hard Things remind me every tough decision in business is magnified in healthcare, where the stakes are human lives. Then there are powerful patient stories — real accounts that ground me in why we do this at OpusVi: to make the healthcare workforce stronger, more resilient and ultimately, more compassionate.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
Given the scale of our solutions, for example, our residency is running at over 75 hospitals. With this, in addition to a wonderful increase in retention, we have a huge amount of data we can use to create analytics to support providers with greater workforce optimization.
We have a remarkable team here at OpusVi — one that thrives on innovation and agility. I’d say it’s the driving force behind our ability to achieve these results. Yes, we keep pace with industry trends, but more importantly, we anticipate them to develop the solutions that tackle the challenges healthcare faces today and tomorrow. We’re pioneering initiatives in virtual nursing and workforce optimization — both of which are transforming how healthcare organizations operate by streamlining processes, reducing turnover costs and improving patient safety. Blending data with forward-thinking strategies is at the center of our work to drive meaningful, measurable change that transforms care delivery and workforce management for hospitals and health systems across the board.
Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the main focus of our interview. According to this study by The Commonwealth Fund, the US healthcare system is ranked as the worst among high-income nations. This seems shocking. Can you share with us a few reasons why you think the US is ranked so poorly?
In the U.S., we expect healthcare to be both compassionate and profitable. The problem is, it’s usually just one of those things at a time, and it rarely prioritizes compassion. It’s a fine line and one that doesn’t necessarily aid the system to perform better than its international counterparts. The U. S. healthcare system can best be described as a complex system of private insurance, public insurance and healthcare providers. It is a web full of loopholes and expenses, leaving patients caught in the middle of it feeling frustrated, underserved and far too often, unable to afford or even access the care they need. For too many Americans, being uninsured or underinsured isn’t a rare exception; it’s an everyday reality. And let’s be clear — this burden falls hardest on marginalized communities, widening the already staggering gap in health equity and leaving us further from the compassion we claim to value.
As a “healthcare insider”, if you had the power to make a change, can you share 5 changes that need to be made to improve the overall US healthcare system?
- Treat medical debt as a public health risk: Medical debt has the ability to ruin lives. More often than not, patients delay or even refuse care because they’re drowning in unpaid bills from previous treatments. This creates a vicious cycle where minor health issues compound into larger and larger issues — soon turning into costly emergencies. The financial toxicity of healthcare must be addressed to improve patient outcomes and stabilize lives.
- Limit administrative roles for every new doctor hired: The U.S.’ spend on administrative costs far surpasses other high-income countries. Every new physician hired creates a surge in non-clinical staff — pulling resources away from patient care. To mitigate this, hospitals and health systems can refocus initiatives on bringing those in administration roles into healthcare support worker positions, such as Certified Nursing Assistant and Medical Assistant training programs, to enable new talent to grow into advanced positions.
- Make the system a little less comfortable for insurers and more comfortable for patients: Shifting the focus from profits to patient health and well-being isn’t just a necessity; it’s the foundation of a more equitable healthcare system.
- Walk a mile in your patient’s hospital gown: If a leader wants to fully understand how their system operates, take the time and step out of the office and into the waiting room. Spend one day a month as a patient in your own system navigating the scheduling calls, the endless forms and the waiting. It’s simple: if you’re not living the experience, how can you expect to lead the change?
- Bring preventative care into the digital age: Preventative care is one of healthcare’s greatest untapped opportunities, but data needs to lead the charge. Imagine using AI-driven analytics to predict which populations are at risk for preventable conditions like diabetes or heart disease. Health systems can act before issues spiral into costly emergencies. It’s not about replacing human touch; it’s about amplifying it.
What concrete steps would have to be done to actually manifest these changes? What can a) individuals, b) corporations, c) communities and d) leaders do to help?
- Individuals: Stop self-diagnosing from WebMD. Open communication and trust are at the heart of better care; focus on building a partnership that puts your health front and center.
- Corporations: Invest in people over profits. Prioritize both workforce and patient wellbeing and adopt value-based care models that benefit everyone.
- Communities: Lobby for healthcare you’d actually want to experience, not just the cheapest option. Demand quality, accessibility and equity — not just cost-cutting measures. Use your voice to push for systematic improvements.
- Leaders: Spend one day a month as a patient in your own system. That’s all I ask. Let that perspective inform your decision-making and priorities.
The COVID-19 pandemic has put intense pressure on the American healthcare system, leaving some hospital systems at a complete loss as to how to handle this crisis. Can you share with us examples of where we’ve seen the U.S. healthcare system struggle? How do you think we can correct these issues moving forward?
The COVID-19 pandemic showed us that we’re amazing at reacting in a moment of need in the immediate term, but woefully unprepared for long-term crisis planning. It was a masterclass in quick thinking, but a glaring wake-up call that long-term crisis planning isn’t our strong suit. The system needs real investments in sustainable staffing models and proactive system resilience.
How do you think we can address the problem of physician shortages?
Reduce the hoops in medical training. We don’t need more gatekeepers; we need gates that are less daunting. This means streamlining education, expanding residency positions and building training programs that are accessible and engaging to bridge the gap for nurses between the classroom and the realities of patient care.
Retention must be a top priority for all hospitals and health systems — both from the financial side and a healthcare worker and patient well-being side. We must create environments where physicians feel supported throughout every part of their career journey to keep the talent we already have. Fixing the shortage isn’t just about getting more physicians in the door — it’s about ensuring they can thrive once they’re here.
A prime example of this is OpusVi’s latest partnership with CommonSpirit Health, one of the largest healthcare systems in the U.S. OpusVi designed a comprehensive, scalable Nurse Residency, Preceptor and Mentor Training program with a clear mission: to support new nurses during one of the toughest transitions of their careers — moving from education into the reality of professional practice. This is a critical period in every nurses’ journey, and is far too often hindered by outdated, disengaged curricula that fail to prepare nurses for the fast-paced, complex challenges they’ll face on the job. But our goal was straightforward: reduce turnover, improve retention and build a stronger, more confident workforce. Together with CommonSpirit, we implemented the program across its 58 facilities in 24 states, ensuring a consistent approach to clinical training, professional growth and mentorship. After just one year of implementing the program, CommonSpirit achieved a 92% retention rate of new graduate nurses.
But the program had a ripple effect; it resulted in significant turnover-related cost savings exceeding $16.3 million annually for CommonSpirit. It proved our nurse residency program doesn’t just improve retention rates or patient outcomes — it has a real financial impact by slashing turnover-related costs. And those savings? They’re reinvested into the hospital’s economic well-being to fuel further growth and stability.
This is a great demonstration of how large healthcare organizations can effectively address the transition challenges faced by new nurses and build a skilled nursing workforce that meets high standards of patient care. By prioritizing both professional and personal well-being, we can create a healthcare system that thrives on balance, support and sustainability.
How do you think we can address the issue of physician and nurse burnout?
Burnout happens because we expect healthcare professionals to be saints and machines at the same time. Addressing it starts with letting them be human — reducing excessive hours, providing increased and meaningful support and setting realistic expectations for what they can achieve. Impossible expectations will always be, well, impossible.
We need to build systems that prioritize well-being, including flexible scheduling, accessible and encouraged mental health resources and streamlined, engaging training and mentorship programs. It’s also about fostering a culture that doesn’t view rest and recovery as an afterthought, but values it just as much as hard work. When we give healthcare professionals the time, space and resources to care for themselves, they’ll be better equipped to care for others.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
I’d like to start a movement where patients demand to see actual prices before treatment. Imagine that: transparency as a standard — not a perk. It might just make healthcare better.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
Follow OpusVi on LinkedIn, subscribe to our newsletter or follow me, Andrew Malley, on LinkedIn.
Thank you so much for these insights! This was very inspirational and we wish you continued success in your great work.
Andrew Malley Of OpusVi On 5 Things We Must Do To Improve the US Healthcare System was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.