PHHP alumnus honored for his dedication to the heath care field and putting patients and families at the center of everything.
By Katarina Fiorentino Klatzkow
Brandon Burket, M.H.A., draws inspiration from these words by Malcolm X: “When ‘I’ is replaced with ‘we,’ even illness becomes wellness.”
Burket, a double Gator alumnus of the University of Florida College of Public Health and Health Professions and a 2024 recipient of the UF Alumni Association’s 40 Gators Under 40 award, is no stranger to making wellness a priority.
As the vice president of value-based care at Orlando Health, he manages the care coordination of more than 300,000 at-risk patients and $1.8 billion in annual health care spending, transforming traditional models of care delivery to better serve patients, their families and communities at large.
Throughout his career with Orlando Health, Burket has developed innovative clinical partnerships, evidence-based care programs and advancements in value-based financing models. He also founded and now leads the Orlando Health Network, one of the largest and highest-performing clinically integrated networks in the southeast.
In many traditional health care models, Burket says, fee-for-service systems reward quantity of care services provided over the quality of those services. Value-based care, on the other hand, directly rewards the quality of the care received and moves health systems away from ‘sick care’ to true health care with the goal of keeping patients healthy.
“Value-based care is focused on improving quality and reducing unnecessary and avoidable expenditures in care. We do this by partnering with physicians and deploying holistic care coordination programs, working to stay connected with patients beyond the walls of our hospitals and clinics,” he said. “Value-based care gives us a helpful platform to thoughtfully disrupt the legacy model of care.”
Orlando Health has made great strides in its provider network, Burket says, by advancing value-based efforts through myriad efforts, such as increasing the access to and use of important cancer screenings and the deployment of chronic disease specific programs, among others. He notes that while clinical services are a large part of the network’s success, considering the non-clinical components of care has played a huge role, as well, including food assistance programs, transportation support, financial hardship aid, and other community benefit programs that impact quality of life for the populations they serve.
What it ultimately comes down to, Burket emphasizes, is always putting patients and their families at the center of everything.
“There has to be dozens, if not hundreds, of efforts underway at any given time to make sure we are effectively meeting the needs of our patients,” Burket said. “Rome was not built in a day. Similarly, transitioning health care from fee-for-service to fee-for-value will be a journey. It’s not going to happen overnight, but I will say I have been heartened by the progress we’ve made in the last decade which gives me optimism for the future.”
While Burket has always been interested in advancing health care delivery, his entry into the world of value-based care was purely serendipitous.
His journey started as a UF PHHP Bachelor of Health Science student, where he could often be found playing intramural sports at Southwest Recreation Center or attending football and basketball games during the championship seasons of the late 2000s. He continued his education in the college, going on to earn his master’s degree in health administration, followed by a post-graduate administrative fellowship at Tampa General Hospital.
Burket credits PHHP with giving him an invaluable network of peers, and providing him with the educational foundation, vision setting and critical thinking requirements to be successful in the workforce.
It was through a connection with a former classmate that Burket landed his first role with Orlando Health during a transitory time in his career when he hoped to shift away from the hospital operations side of things in pursuit of a role more focused in strategic planning and business development.
“When I first arrived at Orlando Health, I had to really learn to embrace discomfort, which ultimately helped me to grow as an individual contributor and then as a leader of teams. If we don’t risk anything, we rarely stand to gain anything,” he said. “My experiences have collectively taught me to appreciate the journey, and recognize that rarely is anything of significance accomplished without collaboration or without the benefit of time. If I could tell my younger self anything, I would say, ‘Do not be afraid to fail. Perseverance and persistence will pay off.’”