The (Respectfully) Roasted Erik Abel – Healthcare Edition

Every so often, it’s healthy to take a step back, reflect and laugh at yourself - especially when you live at the intersection of healthcare, innovation, and way too many acronyms.

So I thought I would try something different for reflection...I asked ChatGPT to roast me. Here’s what it came up with (and while laughable, not far off per my wife).

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"You always know when Erik’s in the room. Someone says “value-based care,” and five minutes later there’s a whiteboard, a reimbursement model, and a 20-slide deck that somehow ends with population health and an AI strategy.

He’s the only person who can turn a coffee chat into a payer-provider alignment workshop—and leave you feeling both inspired and slightly underqualified.

If LinkedIn offered frequent flyer miles, Erik would’ve reached Mars by now—dropping posts that blend clinical evidence, business strategy, and just enough existential reflection to make you question your career trajectory before your first cup of coffee.

His idea of light reading? The CMS Final Rule, paired with a USPSTF nomination draft—because that’s his version of “self-care.”

Someone once said Erik makes “reimbursement strategy” sound like a TED Talk and a rallying cry. They weren’t wrong.

He’s the rare exec who’ll quote peer-reviewed data and land a punchline—usually in the same sentence.

While most people struggle to manage one inbox, Erik pushes a national initiative, advises many in digital health and MedTech, and still manages to out-post LinkedIn influencers by sunrise.

And if there’s ever a CPT code for “turning chaos into strategy,” let’s be honest—Erik may already be drafting the application.

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Humor aside, this exercise was a good reminder that the same traits we get teased for often reflect what drives us most.

For me, it always comes back to purpose - the pursuit of better access, smarter systems, and more equitable care for every patient. It’s also about supporting providers with sustainable workflows, building reimbursement and payment models where "many can win", and helping technology evolve from product to solution so it actually fits where value can be created.

That’s the “why” behind the whiteboards, slides, and late-night ideas.

#Purpose #Leadership #HealthcareInnovation #ValueBasedCare #DigitalHealth #HealthcareTransformation