Ep. 43 The Next Era of Behavioral Healthcare with Dr. Thomas Milam

Behavioral health access remains one of the greatest challenges in healthcare—but new models powered by telehealth, integrated care teams, and AI-driven insights are transforming what's possible.

In this episode of MasterMined, hosts Mark Scrivner and Jeff Skillen sit down with Dr. Tom Milam, Chief Medical Officer of Iris Telehealth, to explore how healthcare systems can rethink behavioral health delivery. Drawing from decades of clinical, academic, and leadership experience, Dr. Milam shares how telepsychiatry can expand access to underserved populations, why healthcare must move beyond "encounter-based" care, and how AI could help patients and providers understand health patterns in ways never before possible.

From rural access challenges to the promise of longitudinal patient data and relationship-centered medicine, this conversation explores how behavioral health leaders can build systems that prioritize prevention, patient understanding, and meaningful care.

 

Key Moments

00:01 – Why medicine can't become "Jiffy Med" and the importance of meaningful care
01:27 – Dr. Tom Milam's journey from private practice to telehealth leadership
04:31 – How early telehealth experiments revealed new ways to deliver care
07:20 – Addressing the national shortage of behavioral health providers
09:44 – Breaking stigma and reframing mental health through genetics and family history
13:28 – How telepsychiatry empowers primary care providers
15:57 – Integrating spirituality and science in behavioral health care
26:11 – Why healthcare systems wait for crisis instead of preventing it
38:00 – Where AI is creating real value in behavioral health
52:03 – Why healthcare must move beyond fast, encounter-based medicine

 

Learn More & Connect

Show Notes + Resources: https://snapshotinteractive.com/mastermined
Connect with Dr. Tom Milam: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-milam/ | https://iristelehealth.com
Connect with Mark Scrivner: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markscrivner | https://snapshotinteractive.com
Connect with Jeff Skillen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffskillen | https://www.skillsetenterprises.com
Our Sponsor - Snapshot: https://snapshotinteractive.com