Have a festive Thanksgiving from all of us at Health Care Rounds Podcast! We will be back next week with a new episode, the Season 1 closing, so stay tuned for our take on the first season of Health Care Rounds. In the meantime, enjoy your week! CONNECT WITH US: 🌐 Visit us on the web 🌐 Follow Health Care Rounds on LinkedIn 🌐 Follow Darwin Research Group on LinkedIn 📺 Watch Health Care Rounds on YouTube 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts 🎧 Listen on Spotify ⚙️ Health Care Rounds is produced by Grip...
Nov 21, 2018•2 min•Ep. 35
In this episode, John discusses our take on health care news surrounding the midterm elections and how this will affect health care going forward. At the end of October, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told Reuters that if given the chance—that is, if Republicans remained in control of both chambers of Congress—we could expect another attempted repeal of Obamacare. But this last week, referring to an ACA repeal, McConnell told reporters, “I think it’s pretty obvious, the Democrati...
Nov 15, 2018•9 min•Ep. 34
John is taking the helm this week to share his experience presenting at a conference last week, and the lessons he learned from two days of sessions. We will return to our regular format next week. The conference, exl’s 12th Partnering with ACOs and IDNs Summit, included about 100 people, mostly represented by pharma, ACOs and health systems. The first part of his presentation covered what we learned from our annual ACO Executive survey, which includes what are their most pressing problems. The ...
Nov 08, 2018•10 min•Ep. 33
Hoping all of our listeners had a wonderful and safe Halloween! In this episode, John discusses our take on health care news in the last week of October. He covers President Trump’s proposed change on how Medicare pays for certain drugs, based on an international pricing index of drugs. HHS Secretary Alex Azar referenced a report his agency recently completed—which compared U.S. prices for 27 drugs with prices for the same drugs in 16 other countries—tweeting that “Among these drugs, on average,...
Nov 01, 2018•9 min•Ep. 32
John discusses our take on health care news in the second half of October. He covers how CVS and Aetna have made a big step towards completing their merger, as well as a new proposed rule by CMS regarding transparency of pricing in drug advertisements. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has cleared the way for the $69 billion merger between CVS Health and Aetna Inc., with the stipulation that Aetna divests its Medicare Part D individual prescription drug plan business. CMS proposed a rule requ...
Oct 25, 2018•15 min•Ep. 31
In this episode, John Marchica speaks with Mr. Ramon Soto, Northwell Health’s Chief Marketing and Communications Officer. Mr. Soto came to what was formerly known as the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System after several years of unsuccessful deliberations on how to rebrand the system. In the interview, he touches upon how marketing is much more than “what looks good” and how to use market analytics as a driver to a more consumer-centric health system. Here are some of the interview high...
Oct 18, 2018•33 min•Ep. 30
John discusses our take on health care news in the first half of October, specifically commenting on the recent movements of multiple significant health systems. University Health Network (UHN) and Vanderbilt Health Affiliated Network (VHAN) announced a partnership for value-based health care that reaches throughout the state of Tennessee. Baylor Scott & White Health (BSW) and Memorial Hermann Health System have signed a letter of intent to merge. In a statement, the organizations said their...
Oct 11, 2018•15 min•Ep. 29
What’s it like competing for business as an integrated delivery system—sandwiched eight miles between the University of Maryland Medical System and Johns Hopkins Health System—in a global budget environment within the state of Maryland? Find out this week in John’s conversation with LifeBridge Health CEO Neil Meltzer, a dynamic and inspirational leader serving his community and the stakeholders of LifeBridge with purpose. Interview highlights include: What sets LifeBridge apart from the steep co...
Oct 04, 2018•30 min•Ep. 28
John discusses our take on the important health care news that occurred in the second half of September. Our main stories this episode include the creation of OneOncology, a merger of three oncology groups, and a suit on the alleged illegal kickbacks regarding the prescription of Humira. Three large cancer practices have teamed up to create OneOncology. Announced Wednesday, OneOncology includes Tennessee Oncology, New York Cancer & Blood Specialists and Memphis-based West Cancer Center, comp...
Sep 27, 2018•14 min•Ep. 27
In this podcast, John Marchica has Dr. Adeel Yang at the table to discuss his newest venture, Medumo. Medumo’s CareTours™ are digital "instructional pathways" that healthcare providers can rapidly customize to guide patients throughout treatments and procedures in the most effective, scalable way possible. Medumo was highlighted at the Connected Health Conference in 2017, looking at “Digital Health Startups Working with Large Health Systems - Lessons Learned.” Here are some of the interview high...
Sep 20, 2018•28 min•Ep. 26
John shares a special our take on the trove of changes that occurred in the world of ACOs this past week. In late August, the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago released the results of the first performance year (2016) for CMS’ Next Generation ACO model. Also in late August, CMS released its MSSP ACO public-use data file for 2017, which includes financial performance and quality scores for 472 ACOs, representing nearly 9 million beneficiaries. According to a new study ...
Sep 13, 2018•10 min•Ep. 25
John shares our take on what happened in health care at the end of August including the NYU at the frontier of offering free tuition to medical students, as well as how a few Republican senators have introduced legislation to protect Affordable Care Act’s provisions for people with pre-existing conditions. The New York University School of Medicine announced that it is now offering free tuition for medical students, becoming the first major medical school in the U.S. to offer tuition-free educat...
Sep 06, 2018•14 min•Ep. 24
Happy Labor Day from all of us at Health Care Rounds Podcast! We will be back next week with a new episode. In the meantime, enjoy your week! CONNECT WITH US: 🌐 Visit us on the web 🌐 Follow Health Care Rounds on LinkedIn 🌐 Follow Darwin Research Group on LinkedIn 📺 Watch Health Care Rounds on YouTube 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts 🎧 Listen on Spotify ⚙️ Health Care Rounds is produced by Grippi Media...
Aug 30, 2018•48 sec•Ep. 23
In this podcast, John Marchica discusses the intricacies of Canadian health care with his old colleagues, Trafford Crump, PhD and Paul Woods, MD, MS. Canada’s health care system is about 70% federally funded and is experiencing the same health care trends of an aging population and attempts to move towards a value-based care model. Here are some of the interview highlights: How health care is structured in Canada, and its similarities and differences to health care in the U.S. The increasing cos...
Aug 23, 2018•44 min•Ep. 22
John shares our take on what happened in health care at the beginning of August including extended coverage through the Affordable Care Act, as well as a new direct-to-employer contract between Henry Ford Health System and General Motors. The Trump administration issued a final rule concerning short-term health plans. Consumers can now extend coverage for up to a year, with the option to renew for up to three years. Henry Ford Health System announced that it signed its first direct-to-employer c...
Aug 16, 2018•17 min•Ep. 21
John shares our take on what happened in health care at the end of July, including how the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is proposing both a rule for site-neutral payments, as well as potentially more 340B cuts. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has proposed a rule to move toward “site neutral” payments for clinic visits, under the 2019 Medicare Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) and Ambulatory Surgical Center (ASC) Payment System. Clinic visits...
Aug 09, 2018•9 min•Ep. 20
In this podcast, John Marchica has a conversation with Sean Sullivan, JD on the need to address not just physical wellness in the workforce, but also its wellbeing. Sean and John speak on the growing trend of value-based care, not just in the United States, but also internationally. Here are some of the interview highlights: What are the definitions of wellness and wellbeing in the workforce, and where are we currently? How do companies measure and address wellness? How do they tackle the harder...
Aug 02, 2018•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 19
John shares our take on the second half of July, including how the Trump administration continues to take aim at Obamacare, and that Stark and other anti-kickback laws may be obsolete in a value-based world. On July 7, the Trump administration said it was temporarily withholding $10.4 billion in risk adjustment payments to insurers, citing a district court ruling from earlier this year in New Mexico. On Tuesday July 10th, 340B Health released an analysis of a bill introduced by Rep. Joe Barton, ...
Jul 26, 2018•14 min•Ep. 18
In this podcast, John Marchica discusses with Dr. Joshua Lenchus the challenges that come with running a safety net hospital, and the role that social determinants of health play in managing population health initiatives. Topics include: Managing population health in a safety net system Social determinants of health and medical compliance Why we should avoid integrating social determinants of health into the EMR. Speaker Bios Joshua Lenchus, DO, RPh, FACP, SFHM, holds a pharmacy degree from the ...
Jul 19, 2018•31 min•Ep. 17
John shares our take on the first half of July, including CMS’s decision to green-light a Medicaid value-based drug plan, and how JJMDC added a collaboration with Mercy to its list of partnerships designed to improve patient care. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has approved the nation’s first value-based purchasing agreement for Medicaid, by approving Oklahoma’s request to allow the state to negotiate supplemental rebate agreements with drug manufacturers. Mercy announced a...
Jul 12, 2018•15 min•Ep. 16
Happy 4th of July from all of us at Health Care Rounds Podcast! We will be back next week with a new episode. In the meantime, enjoy your week! CONNECT WITH US: 🌐 Visit us on the web 🌐 Follow Health Care Rounds on LinkedIn 🌐 Follow Darwin Research Group on LinkedIn 📺 Watch Health Care Rounds on YouTube 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts 🎧 Listen on Spotify ⚙️ Health Care Rounds is produced by Grippi Media...
Jul 04, 2018•46 sec•Ep. 15
John shares our take on the second half of June, including the decision of a federal appeals court regarding risk corridor payments, and the announcement of the new CEO for the Amazon-Berkshire-JPMorgan health care venture. A federal appeals court Thursday ruled that the Health and Human Services Department is not obligated to pay insurers the more than $12 billion in risk corridor payments that have accrued to date. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed a previous decision ...
Jun 28, 2018•16 min•Ep. 14
In this podcast, John Marchica speaks with the CEO and Co-Founder of Teleplus Healthcare, Dr. Suzanne Shugg Teleplus is a medical information technology company that combines comprehensive telemedicine and tele-educational services with the leading treatment technology, focusing on the areas of Sleep Apnea, Congestive Heart Failure, Obesity, Chronic Care, and COPD. Teleplus has an exclusive global partnership with the University of Pennsylvania called the UPENN Sleep Disorder Certificate program...
Jun 21, 2018•32 min•Ep. 13
John shares our take on the first half of June which includes how New Jersey recently mandated health insurance starting in 2019, and what the increase in payer-provider partnerships means. New Jersey became the second state to mandate health insurance into law, through the New Jersey Health Insurance Market Preservation Act. The law was signed by Gov. Phil Murphy on May 30 and takes effect Jan. 1, 2019. According to a new report by Oliver Wyman, a health care consulting firm, nearly three-quart...
Jun 14, 2018•14 min•Ep. 12
In this podcast, John Marchica speaks with Cypress HomeCare Solutions’ Managing Partner, Bob Roth. The Better Business Bureau serving Central, Northern and Western Arizona (BBB) announced on May 16, 2018 that Cypress HomeCare Solutions was the winner of its 2018 BBB Torch Awards for Ethics for companies with more than 150 employees. This is the first time a home care company has been nominated regionally, let alone won this award. Here are some of the highlights we cover: The differences between...
Jun 08, 2018•46 min•Ep. 11
A century ago, all health issues were tended to in the home, whether by a physician house call or by another family member. Yet, as modern medicine evolved in the early 20th century—along with important economic social changes, such as urbanization, industrialization and immigration—care transferred to hospitals and physician offices. With rising health care costs in mind, by 2050 an estimated 27 million Americans will need some form of long-term care , with the bulk of that care being provided ...
Jun 07, 2018•12 min•Ep. 10
To all of our listeners, we hope you had a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend! In this episode, John shares an an abbreviated our take on the second part of May focused on FDA and The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' (CMS) take on lowering drug prices. Steps are being taken to lower drug prices—but which, if any, will work? The FDA posted a list of more than 50 drugs for which generic drugmakers have been unable to obtain samples of certain branded products from the manufacturers. CMS als...
May 31, 2018•8 min•Ep. 9
John shares our take on the first half of May which includes the proposal by The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to scale back its quality measures for fiscal year 2019 and the current administration’s “blueprint” to tackle soaring prescription drug prices. CMS is looking to reduce the number of quality measures across the five quality and value-based purchasing programs for its FY 2019 Medicare Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) and Long Term Acute Care Hospit...
May 23, 2018•15 min•Ep. 8
In this two-part podcast, John Marchica speaks with NCH Healthcare System’s president and CEO, Dr. Allen Weiss. Dr. Weiss breaks down how they have changed the mindset of community health at the health system level with astounding statistics and fruitful outcomes. Here are some of the highlights we cover: Part 1 - 17 min. Present day history of NCH Healthcare System Focus on community health with Blue Zones project Behavioral economics for reducing health care costs Part 2 - 13 min. Health Syste...
May 17, 2018•13 min•Ep. 7
In this two-part podcast, John Marchica speaks with NCH Healthcare System’s president and CEO, Dr. Allen Weiss. Dr. Weiss breaks down how they have changed the mindset of community health at the health system level with astounding statistics and fruitful outcomes. Here are some of the highlights we cover: Part 1 - 17 min. Present day history of NCH Healthcare System Focus on community health with Blue Zones project Behavioral economics for reducing health care costs Part 2 - 13 min. Health Syste...
May 17, 2018•17 min•Ep. 6
