COVID-19 and Novel Coronavirus Podcasts

Think about what you might have learned had you been in the room with some of the most fruitful partnerships of our time: Jobs and Wozniak; Warhol and Basquiat; Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. That’s what our Meeting of the Minds series is meant to do: to take you behind the scenes to listen in on conversations between chief nurse officers and leaders from disciplines inside and outside of healthcare who are driving innovation. This week, we bring together in conversation two incredible leaders and innovators: Kathy Driscoll, MSN, RN, CCM, Chief Nursing Officer at Humana Inc., and Kathryn Tart, EdD, MSN, RN, founding dean of the University of Houston's College of Nursing. Both have formed a unique collaboration through Humana’s Integrated Health System Sciences Institute at the University of Houston to train current and future healthcare leaders with a focus on providing holistic and collaborative care to improve health outcomes. The Institute’s unique and diverse programs aim to solve complex issues related to social determinants of health: social isolation, food insecurity, homelessness, and access to transportation for the Houston community. And it’s a win-win. Kathy and Kathryn’s efforts are strengthening the skills of nurses and of nursing students, as well as those beyond the medical field. Take a listen to find out how they’re doing it. Email us at [email protected] For additional resources, visit our website at www.seeyounowpodcast.com.

In this special live episode, policy experts and employers debate the best way to improve the health insurance that 150 million Americans get through work. This session was part of “The Promise of Health Reform and a Public Option in a Biden Administration,” a virtual conference put on by the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics at the University of Pennsylvania and United States of Care.Guests:Brian Blase, PhD, CEO, Blase Policy Strategies; Senior Fellow, Galen Institute; Senior Fellow, Foundation for Government AccountabilitySuzanne Delbanco, PhD, MPH, Executive Director, Catalyst for Payment ReformAllison Hoffman, JD, Professor of Law and LDI Senior Fellow, University of PennsylvaniaShaundell Newsome, Founder, Sumnu Marketing; Co-Chair, Small Business for America’s FutureSheila Savageau, U.S. Health Care Leader, General Motors (edited) Dig deeper into the research and tradeoffs of integrated care on our website: https://tradeoffs.org/2021/05/13/3-employers-2-wonks-and-1-health-insurance-mess/LISTEN BACK to our recent episode how what other employers are managing the cost of health care: https://tradeoffs.org/2021/02/18/the-high-price-of-lowering-health-costs/Sign up for our weekly newsletter to see what research health policy experts are reading right now, plus recommendations from our staff: bit.ly/tradeoffsnewsletterSupport this type of journalism today, with a gift: https://tradeoffs.org/donateFollow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/tradeoffspod  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

May 12 is International Nurses Day, chosen to commemorate the birth anniversary of Florence Nightingale, the British nurse, social reformer and statistician best known as the founder of modern nursing. To mark the moment, we’re returning to an earlier episode, a pre-pandemic episode, and listening with an altered, heightened understanding and urgency of the need to raise awareness on the impact nurses have in transforming health systems, and the critical need for nurse leadership and innovation. The past year has certainly raised visibility of nurses and highlighted  their essential role in improving global health. In this episode, Barbara Stilwell, PhD, RN, FRCN, a nurse, researcher, policy expert, and Executive Director of the Nursing Now global campaign, seeks to elevate the nursing profession, sharing the power of nurses connecting and uniting to tackle big problems like gender and economic inequality while improving health outcomes — the episode is as relevant today as when it first aired. Email us at [email protected] For additional resources, visit our website at www.seeyounowpodcast.com. 

Dan talks with OSU dermatologist and researcher, Benjamin Kaffenberger, MD, about a study he is leading to develop new drugs that aim to relieve cancer patients of pain caused by cancer treatments, known as "Hand-Foot Skin Reaction." Topics include cancer care, dermatology and its relationship with oncology, the cost of pharmaceuticals, and more. Show notes will be up at WCBE.org and PrognosisOhio.com.

This Mother’s Day, as we celebrate and honor the moms/mums/aunts/aunties/grandmothers and maternal figures in our lives, we must also acknowledge the ongoing maternal health crisis in the United States. It is a crisis that Representative and Nurse Lauren Underwood (D-IL-14) understands well, especially its severe impact on Black mothers. Marrying her nursing background with a genuine enthusiasm for the power of policy to improve and save lives, she co-founded the Black Maternal Health Caucus and introduced The Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act of 2021. A comprehensive legislative solution, the Momnibus covers everything from the intersection between the COVID-19 pandemic, being a pregnant person of color, to the impact of extreme heat and air pollution on maternal and infant health outcomes. This legislation will drive innovation in practice—a bill that will scale transformative care by matching policy with science and data. It is also a reminder that there are solutions to longstanding inequities and problems, if we are bold enough to enact them. Email us at [email protected] For addition resources, visit our website at www.seeyounowpodcast.com.  

Racism against people of Asian descent is not a new problem, but it’s been exacerbated lately by politicians using racist rhetoric to describe the coronavirus. Asians in America are now facing a dual pandemic: a heightened fear of racist abuse, from verbal slurs to physical assault, on top of all the anxiety of living through COVID-19. A conversation from our colleagues at The Dose.Guests:Vivian Shaw - a sociologist at Harvard UniversitySuzanna Park - PhD Candidate at Oregon State University in Global HealthMore information about eh AAPI COVID-19 project and other resources on our website: https://tradeoffs.org/2021/05/06/presenting-the-dose-asian-americans-and-the-dual-pandemic/Sign up for our weekly newsletter to see what research health policy experts are reading right now, plus recommendations from our staff: bit.ly/tradeoffsnewsletterSupport this type of journalism today, with a gift: https://tradeoffs.org/donateFollow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/tradeoffspod  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Friends,Our guest this week, Dr. Robert Pearl, introduces a fundamental reframe in our understanding of healthcare transformation with his second book, 'Uncaring - How the Culture of Medicine Kills Doctors and Patients'. He convincingly argues that addressing the systemic functional challenges in healthcare is not sufficient. For transformation to occur, we also need to address the entrenched culture; and the first step is in understanding that culture. ‘Uncaring’ is the most comprehensive and scholarly book I've come across on the interplay between the legacy culture of medicine and its impact on healthcare delivery and outcomes. Dr. Robert Pearl’s stories are heart-breaking and heart-warming; and the historical facts, medical stats and studies he draws upon are engaging, enlightening and of concern to all of us.  Dr. Robert Pearl is the former CEO of The Permanente Medical Group, which he led from 1999 to 2017, and former president of The Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group, which he led from 2009 to 2017.  In these roles he led 10,000 physicians, 38,000 staff and was responsible for the nationally recognized medical care of 5 million Kaiser Permanente members. He currently serves as clinical professor of plastic surgery at the Stanford University School of Medicine.  He is also on the faculty of the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he teaches courses on strategy and leadership, as well as lecturing on Information technology & healthcare policy. Dr. Pearl has been named as one of Modern Healthcare’s 50 most influential physicians.  In this episode, we’ll discover:Numerous episodes in the history of American healthcare that demonstrate how the culture of medicine is holding us back from transforming healthcare delivery.Profound examples of how the culture of medicine directly influences how care is delivered and the grossly suboptimal outcomes that are a result of that culture.The only two possible directions American healthcare can take in response to the unsustainable and unaffordable costs of healthcare delivery.A pathway to confront and change the culture of healthcare.It’s been said that if we don’t study history, we’ll be condemned to relive it. This is no more true than in our healthcare system. Dr. Pearl shares a haunting story of an Austrian physician named Dr. Semmelweis who died penniless in the 1860’s, as a result of being shunned by the medical establishment. His heresy was that, through years of rigorous research, he demonstrated that physicians were carrying the source of maternal infections & deaths - on their hands & clothes. His studies revealed that maternal mortality rate could be decreased from 18% down to 2% simply by physicians changing their gowns and washing their hands with antiseptic in between treating patients. One might shrug this off as a historical footnote, except for the fact that today, in 2021, hospital acquired infections are the fourth leading cause of death in the US - leading to over 90,000 deaths per year. The tragic truth is these deaths could largely be prevented by providers washing their hands in between seeing patients. That is the power of culture - “this invisible force” that Dr. Pearl reveals to us. We discuss many other examples, including the story of the ‘Committee on the Costs of Medical Care’, which reveals the powerful influence of the legacy culture of medicine in resisting recommendations that could vastly improve the health and well-being of our nation. Like myself and many of you, Dr. Pearl  is frustrated and deeply troubled by the complexity, opacity and inertia in American healthcare - and how the culture is greatly limiting access, affordability, efficacy and equity.Two silver linings emerge in our discussion. First, the culture of medicine has tremendous strengths as well as wonderful attributes and values. Second, the solution is not that complicated. When I asked Robbie what he would request healthcare leaders do differently, this is how he replied, “To move from fee-for-service to capitation. To work together to improve medical care rather than maximize volume. To embrace technology that makes care more convenient for patients.” Healthcare leadership is struggling to break free of a legacy maladaptive healthcare construct. What I learned from Dr. Pearl is that healthcare leadership must not only create a new system, it must create a new culture: one that aligns our professional values and purpose with the actual daily practice of medicine and delivery of healthcare. Until next time, be safe and be well.Zeev Neuwirth, MD

Hackathons provide a fast-paced, high energy, community-building opportunity for a wide spectrum of participants to flex their innovation muscles and solve for some of today’s greatest challenges. While these events have traditionally been geared towards computer scientists and software developers in recent years nurses, clinicians, and health innovators have started to convene health-challenge inspired events. Today the health hackathon landscape is exciting, rapidly evolving, and nurses are playing a lead role in driving them. In this episode, we learn from health influencers, hackers, and innovators Jane Sarashon-Kahn, MA, MHSA; Chris Recinos, PhD, RN, FNP-BC, NEA-BC; Anthony Scarpone-Lambert, BSN ‘21, and Jennifferre Mancillas, BSN, RN, RNC-NIC about how hackathons have impacted their thinking, skills, lives, career trajectory, as well as the landscape of innovative health solutions and products. And — why you should register for one at NurseHack4Health.org. Email us at [email protected] For additional resources, visit our website at www.seeyounowpodcast.com. 

Hackathons provide a fast-paced, high energy, community-building opportunity for a wide spectrum of participants to flex their innovation muscles and solve for some of today’s greatest challenges. While these events have traditionally been geared towards computer scientists and software developers in recent years nurses, clinicians, and health innovators have started to convene health-challenge inspired events. Today the health hackathon landscape is exciting, rapidly evolving, and nurses are playing a lead role in driving them. In this episode, we learn from health influencers, hackers, and innovators Jane Sarashon-Kahn, MA, MHSA; Chris Recinos, PhD, RN, FNP-BC, NEA-BC; Anthony Scarpone-Lambert, BSN ‘21, and Jennifferre Mancillas, BSN, RN, RNC-NIC about how hackathons have impacted their thinking, skills, lives, career trajectory, as well as the landscape of innovative health solutions and products. And — why you should register for one at NurseHack4Health.org. Email us at [email protected] For additional resources, visit our website at www.seeyounowpodcast.com. 

Despite President Biden’s campaign promise to create a public option, the policy has been missing from his first 100 days in office. A handful of states, however, are forging ahead with public option legislation.Guests:Heather Howard, Princeton School of Public and International AffairsSabrina Corlette, JD, Georgetown UniversityDig deeper into the research and tradeoffs of integrated care on our website: https://tradeoffs.org/2021/04/29/public-option-what-happened-to-bidens-big-ideaSign up for our weekly newsletter to see what research health policy experts are reading right now, plus recommendations from our staff: bit.ly/tradeoffsnewsletterSupport this type of journalism today, with a gift: https://tradeoffs.org/donateFollow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/tradeoffspod  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

After nearly a decade of sky-high prices, generics have sent the price of the HIV prevention drug PrEP plummeting. What kept it so expensive for so long, and will the price drop help us finally eradicate HIV?Guests:Robin Feldman, Professor of Law, UC Hastings; Director of the Center for InnovationTahir Amin, Co-Executive Director, I-MAKOni Blackstock, MD, Primary care and HIV physicianTim Horn, Director of Health Care Access, National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS DirectorsCraig Garthwaite, Director of Health Care, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern Univ.Dig deeper into the research and tradeoffs of prescription drug pricing on our website: https://tradeoffs.org/2021/04/22/preventing-hiv-just-got-a-lot-cheaper-what-took-so-long/Sign up for our weekly newsletter to see what research health policy experts are reading right now, plus recommendations from our staff: bit.ly/tradeoffsnewsletterSupport this type of journalism today, with a gift: https://tradeoffs.org/donateFollow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/tradeoffspod  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Building on several past episodes exploring pharmaceutical access and pricing in Ohio, Dan talks with Loren Anthes of the Center for Community Solutions and Anthony Ciaccia of 46Brooklyn about a paper Loren recently circulated offering policy options for Ohio. Topics include the role of pharmacy benefit managers, ways to slow, set, cap, and regulate prices, the degree to which research and development will (or will not) be affected by caps and controls, and more. Show notes at prognosisohio.com.

Friends,The focus of this interview is on a 'greenfield' project that was under wraps for the past three years, and has only recently been revealed. Project Fulcrum was launched in the spring of 2018 by the CEO and senior leadership team of AdventHealth - one of the largest healthcare systems in the country. It’s bold purpose - “to disrupt its legacy provider business model with consumer-driven innovation”.  Our guest this week is Nick Archer, the CEO of Project Fulcrum. In this role he leads a cross-functional team from brand experience, banking, retail, and healthcare to build new products and experiences. He has held various leadership positions at AdventHealth in strategy and finance, most recently serving as the VP of Finance for Network Development and Post-Acute Care. He serves on the boards of United Against Poverty and Andrews Memorial Hospital in Kingston, Jamaica. Nick earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from Oakwood University and an MBA from the University of Florida’s Hough Graduate School of Business. In this episode, we’ll discover:The competitive market forces that led AdventHealth’s leadership team to make the decision to disrupt their own business model. The fundamental consumer problems & issues that Nick and his team discovered during their customer discovery work. The consumer innovation initiative that Project Fulcrum has deployed to over 50,000 patients. Some of the early outcomes they’ve achieved, such as a 30% reduction in no-show rates.This interview felt like listening to a superb master class in healthcare consumerism. Although many of us in healthcare use words like ‘empathy’, ‘consumer-focus’ and ‘whole person care’ - Nick and his team, as you’ll hear in this interview, have taken a very different approach to delivering on these concepts. For example - the notion that ‘empathy’ isn’t just identifying your customer’s pain points, but must also include understanding what role they want you to play in solving those problems. Nick’s team discovered that their patients did not want things done to them, but instead were looking for someone to “come alongside, champion and remove barriers”.  Another example - the notion that ‘conversation’ itself has a significant healthcare value proposition. As Nick puts it, “using the medium of conversation as a way to drive value, whereas traditionally the paradigm of communication in medical practice is largely task focused and transactional”. There are numerous remarkable and unique aspects to Project Fulcrum. The commitment to transformation - made by the AdventHealth senior leadership team - to protect, support and resource a greenfield innovation division. Their relentless pursuit to understand the consumer perspective and make that priority number one. The fact that they intentionally chose to start by creating a more personalized consumer experience. And, their intention to eliminate disparities & inequities in experience and access. As Nick states,“We want to democratize the idea of concierge and make care accessible to everyone.”Project Fulcrum is a bold strategic commitment to investing in the future; to investing in AdventHealth’s differentiation and growth; and to investing in a significant, positive inflection in patient care. As Nick eloquently states during the interview, “The challenges of today can’t prevent us from thinking through and designing the success of the future”. This initiative is a remarkable example of a disruptive innovation and I suspect numerous case studies will be written about it. For me, however, the most essential theme is the humanistic one. This is a story about leadership that clearly believes that enhancing human connection - empathetic dialogue and healing relationship - is necessary to a successful healthcare delivery system and critical for a thriving healthcare business model. If you want to understand what ‘humanizing healthcare’ can look like, I suggest you listen to this interview with Nicholas Archer, CEO of Project Fulcrum at AdventHealth.Until next time, be safe and be well.Zeev Neuwirth, MD

On this two part episode, Dan Skinner first talks with Rep. Erica Crawley (26th House District) and Rep. Gayle Manning (55th House District) about their advocacy for expanding Medicaid postpartum health care services for new mothers from the current 60 days to the federal maximum. Then, in Part II, Dan talks with Kelly Vyzral of Children's Defense Fund of Ohio, who provides some reflections and expert commentary on Dan's conversation with the legislators. Topics include the importance of the Medicaid postpartum coverage, proposals to increase access to doula care, bipartisanship in addressing policy challenges in maternal and infant health, and the efficiencies of health policy that emphasizes prevention. Show notes with links and more information about the guests will be available at WCBE.org and PrognosisOhio.com.

More than 130 hospitals have closed in rural America over the last decade. Reporter Sarah Jane Tribble spent a year embedded in one small Kansas town as they dealt with their own hospital closure.Guest: Sarah Jane Tribble, Senior Correspondent, Kaiser Health NewsRead a transcript of this conversation: https://tradeoffs.org/2020/10/08/losing-a-hospital/Hear more of Sarah Jane's reporting about Fort Scott on the first season of Where It Hurts: whereithurts.showSign up for our weekly newsletter to see what research health policy experts are reading right now, plus recommendations from our staff: bit.ly/tradeoffsnewsletterFollow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/tradeoffspod  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This January marked one year since the launch of SEE YOU NOW. To kick off our second year, we explored everything from disaster preparedness and vaccines, to data and working with faith leaders as key collaborators in health innovation. In each episode, we asked how the pandemic has revealed new needs, amplified existing unmet needs, and exacerbated health disparities. And, more importantly, we discuss what solutions are being developed to address the most significant health challenges of today with distinguished experts with decades of experience, expertise and insights.    We’ll be sharing more enlightening, thoughtful and uplifting conversations in a few weeks. In the meantime, we encourage you to go back through our library of episodes, rate and review the shows you love, and share them with your friends. And please share your stories with us. We want to hear what problems you are seeing and solving. Email us at [email protected] For addition resources, visit our website at www.seeyounowpodcast.com.  

President Biden wants to spend $400 billion to help older and disabled Americans get health care at home as part of his $2 trillion infrastructure proposal, a huge investment in an often neglected part of the health care system.Guests:Howard Gleckman, Senior Fellow, Urban InstituteRachel Werner, MD, PhD, Executive Director, Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics at the University of PennsylvaniaLearn more and read a full transcript of the episode: https://tradeoffs.org/2021/04/08/bidens-400-billion-bet-on-caring-for-older-and-disabled-americans-at-home/Sign up for our weekly newsletter to see what research health policy experts are reading right now, plus recommendations from our staff: bit.ly/tradeoffsnewsletterSupport this type of journalism today, with a gift: https://tradeoffs.org/donateFollow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/tradeoffspod  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Dan Skinner talks with Max Filby, health and medicine reporter at The Columbus Dispatch. Topics include recent developments with vaccination supply and demand, a recent ebola scare, and lessons learned from the pandemic, both for reporting and for public health in Ohio. Show notes at wcbe.org and prognosisohio.com. Subscribe and support the show: prognosisohio.com. Prognosis Ohio is part of the WCBE Podcast Experience and a member of the Health Podcast Network.

Friends,You are going to hear a remarkable case study about a successful and sustained philanthropic initiative focused on educating disadvantaged youth. Although outside of the strict domain of healthcare delivery, this initiative is actually about the health & well-being of our communities and our country - education being a significant social determinant of health outcomes.Joining us in this interview are Harris Rosen, President & COO of Rosen Hotels & Resorts, Dr. Chuck Dziuban, and JuaNita Reed.  Dr. Dziuban is the Coordinator of The Harris Rosen Foundation educational programs for the University of Central Florida. He is in charge of maintaining the research and statistics of the Tangelo Park Program.  JuaNita Reed is a recently retired guidance counselor at Dr. Phillips High School. She has mentored the scholarship recipients in the program and continues to lead that aspect of the program in her new role as Scholarship Coordinator of The Harris Rosen Foundation.In this episode, we’ll discover:The key components contributing to the success & 26-year sustainability of the Tangelo Park Program.The profound educational outcomes & remarkable impact it’s had on the community - for example, dropping the crime rate by ~80%!Mr. Rosen’s vision for spreading the Tangelo Park Program to the rest of the country.Since 1994, Harris Rosen and his colleagues have funded a Pre-K program and a full college scholarship in a small, disadvantaged community. Although the solution is simple, the success is startling. Also startling is how this program has not only sustained itself but has activated the youth and catalyzed the parents in the community. Over the years, families have required and requested less of the Rosen funding, as they’ve been acquiring more college scholarships on their own. Another critical point to understand is that this approach is reversing an insidious, self-perpetuating driver of financial disparity & inequity in educational opportunity.If you live in the bottom economic quartile in this country, your chance of graduating from college is 11%. The odds against you are 9:1. The total college debt in the USA is $1.7 Trillion dollars. Most of this college debt is carried by the bottom economic quartile in this country, and by Black youth. It is a compounding problem which perpetuates a cycle of debt and the suppression of upward mobility, largely in the Black & LatinX populations. One of the brilliant things that the Tangelo Park Program does is break this cycle of educational debt and upward social mobility. The evidence for that - well, for starters, the Tangelo Park program has reversed the odds of these kids graduating college, from 9:1 against, to 3:1 in favor!  Further evidence - over 160 Tangelo Park youth have graduated from college. That is 3 times the expected number, which would have been 45. In addition, the program has resulted in 227 degrees, including post-graduate degrees. There’s also a positive economic impact to the community. Lance Lochner, an economist at the University of Western Ontario, recently calculated a 7:1 return to the community.Harris Rosen's program is catalyzing the tremendous intellectual talents, capabilities and potential in our disadvantaged youth, particularly in Black & LatinX youth. He understands that a college or vocational school education leads to employment, financial stability, and significantly higher life-time earnings. Those are well substantiated facts. At one point in the discussion, Chuck Dziuban refers to a recently published landmark study which has demonstrated that a Preschool (Pre-K) education positively and cumulatively transforms an individual’s entire life, with ripple effects on the lives of their children & grandchildren. I suspect that you will be as moved as I was by this story. But Harris is asking for more. Harris Rosen is calling for action. His vision is that every underserved community in this country be adopted by philanthropists, Boards and C-suites. Toward the end of the interview, Harris implores us, “What I would like to hear and see more of is people who not only say that black lives matter, but people who are inclined to do something about it. Here’s a program with nearly 30 years of extraordinary success. All somebody has to do who cares about Black lives, LatinX lives, the lives of our youth - is ask how we did it.”  If reversing the cycle of educational & economic inequity in our country is important to you, then please share this interview with others - especially those who are in a position to replicate the Tangelo Park Program. Until next time, be safe and be well.Zeev Neuwirth, MD

As gun violence surges, researchers are using new federal funding to search for solutions.Emmy Betz, MD, MPH, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine and Director of the Firearm Injury Prevention Initiative, University of ColoradoJonathan Jay, DrPH, JD, Assistant Professor of Community Health Sciences, Boston UniversityAutumn Parkin, gun owner and advocateIf you or someone you know is having suicidal ideation, please call the Suicide Prevention Hotline: 800 273 8255For more information about gun violence research visit our website: https://tradeoffs.org/2021/04/01/a-new-era-of-gun-violence-research/Sign up for our weekly newsletter to see what research health policy experts are reading right now, plus recommendations from our staff: bit.ly/tradeoffsnewsletterSupport this type of journalism today, with a gift: https://tradeoffs.org/donateFollow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/tradeoffspod  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Dan Skinner talks with Andrea Hoffman, a sophomore at Ohio Northern University who lives with cystic fibrosis. Andrea shares her reflections on the pandemic, especially insofar as her pre-pandemic life already required that she take many of the same precautions that Ohioans have had to implement to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The conversation is grounded in reflections Andrea offered in a recently-published op-ed on CNN.com. Show notes posted at WCBE.org (under the Podcast Experience tab) and prognosisohio.com. Email Prognosis Ohio with your show ideas and comments at [email protected] Listen to previous episodes and support the show at PrognosisOhio.com.

There is a growing body of evidence and experience supporting our understanding of and investing in the social determinants and drivers of health—the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age. We’re seeing that manifest with a wide range of innovations in every corner of our healthcare delivery system, including innovations in health plans, health insurance, and payment and delivery models. In this episode, meet nurse and health plan innovator Karen Dale, MSN, RN, Market President and CEO for AmeriHealth Caritas, and dive deep into the details of how innovations in health plans and health insurance can and should focus on getting you care, helping you stay well and build healthy communities. For additional resources, visit our website at www.seeyounowpodcast.com Contact us at [email protected]

We sit down with one of the top pandemic reporters in the country to answer to answer listener questions.Guest: Apoorva Mandavilli, Science and Global Health Reporter, New York TimesNOTE: This episode incorrectly states that more than 125 million people had received vaccinations at the time the episode aired. More than 125 million doses had been administered, but fewer than 90 million people had received at least one dose.Read a full transcript of this episode on our website: https://tradeoffs.org/2021/03/25/no-simple-answers-a-covid-qa-with-nyts-apoorva-mandavilli/Read more of Apoorva's answers to listener questions, see what research health policy experts are reading right now, and get recommendations from our staff in our free weekly newsletter. Sign up now: bit.ly/tradeoffsnewsletterSupport this type of journalism today, with a gift: https://tradeoffs.org/donateFollow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/tradeoffspod  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Friends,The focus of this interview is on a solution created by Yale Economists to address the rising & unsustainable costs of healthcare in our country. Most of us are aware that healthcare costs are a problem, but our guest today argues the cost of healthcare is actually devastating to American workers & families. The approach he and his colleagues are taking to solve this massive problem is unique & I’m excited to explore it with you today. Zack Cooper, PhD is an Associate Professor of Health Policy and Economics at Yale University. Cooper has published his research in leading economics & medical journals and has presented his research at the White House, the Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission, & the Department of Health and Human Services. Cooper received his undergraduate degree from the University of Chicago and his PhD from the London School of Economics.In this episode, we’ll discover:The meeting at 10 Downing Street that led this extraordinary Yale Healthcare Economist to come up with the idea for 1% solutions.The specific healthcare issues being addressed by these 1% solutions, such as Surprise Medical Billing & Kidney Transplantation.Why Zack believes employer-based health insurance is contributing to bloated costs that are profoundly harming the health & welfare of working Americans.How the unprecedented drop in American life expectancy and the American epidemic of “deaths of despair” might be linked to healthcare economics.Why the 1% solutions are intentionally focused on incentivizing providers & healthcare organizations rather than attempting to change patient behaviors through cost-sharing and other demand-side interventions. The opportunity cost to the American public and the American future resulting from bloated healthcare costs.This is an extraordinary story of a ‘scholar-activist’ who is battling the insidious mistruths that are guiding policies for an industry that makes up nearly one-fifth of the US GDP.  With this latest 1% project, he’s not only debunking harmful myths, but also using evidence-based, scientific methodology to build solutions to lower the staggering costs of healthcare. Make no mistake about it, the stakes are high. For example, Zack refers to a recent study which demonstrated that a $10 increase in Medicare Part D copays (prescription medications) led to a 33% increase in monthly death rates among seniors. People couldn’t afford their medications and so they simply stopped buying them. Zack is reframing the field of healthcare economics by attempting to accomplish a number of things. First, he is actively recruiting leading scholars to adapt their research to current policy-relevant domains. Second, he is inviting leading scholars to more directly engage with and influence politicians and policy makers. Third, he is catalyzing a movement toward more scientific, peer-reviewed, evidence-based healthcare policy decision-making. Fourth, he is calling for a shift from research that purely critiques to briefs that develop and support tangible solutions to lowering the costs of healthcare. And fifth, he’s influencing the next generation of healthcare scholars to view themselves as ‘scholar activists’.What Zack & his colleagues are attempting is courageous. They are battling on behalf of the plight of the majority of Americans who simply can not afford healthcare. They are battling the status quo of a huge, well-funded, complicated & opaque industrial complex. As Zack points out, there are few other industries as heavily lobbied as healthcare - underscoring the need for independent, peer-reviewed, evidence-based, policy decision-making. At one point in the interview, Zack says that he’s been “coarsened” by what he has discovered. He is, in my opinion, experiencing what many clinicians & others in healthcare have recently been terming ‘moral harm’. One domain of moral harm that is of “gripping” concern for Zack is the economic and healthcare inequities in this country. His current research is focused on how healthcare inefficiencies and costs might actually be contributing to the economic & health inequities, and the growing disparity chasm in our country.  What I greatly admire and respect is Zack’s ethical conviction, commitment and persistence to challenging and changing the fundamental policies causing this moral harm. So, while the 1% approach may appear incremental, what Zack and his colleagues are doing is nothing less than transformational. Until next time, be safe and be well.Zeev Neuwirth, MD