This week, John speaks with Gail Zahtz about the intersection of system’s design and value in healthcare. They discuss what health systems can learn from Covid-19, the true meaning of value, and what it takes to achieve better patient outcomes. At Centers Healthcare — one of the largest post-acute providers in New York — Zahtz leads their efforts to improve care by executing better designed solutions. Zahtz shares her positive outlook on how our health care professionals are responding to the re...
Apr 03, 2020•47 min•Ep. 95
This week, John sits down with Stefan Behrens, PhD, co-founder and CEO of GYANT, an artificial intelligence (AI) driven chat tool to help steer patients to the appropriate site of care. Stefan talks about how AI can improve clinical outcomes, and can help health systems and payers lower costs. Most recently, the GYANT architecture is helping triage patients suspected of contracting COVID-19 at some of the nation’s prominent health systems, including Intermountain. CONNECT WITH US: 🌐 Visit us on...
Mar 27, 2020•25 min•Ep. 94
Today on Health Care Rounds, we welcome Christopher Robertson, Associate Dean for Research and Innovation and Professor of Law at the University of Arizona. With his diverse background in law and economics, Chris offers a unique and thoughtful perspective on the American health care system. In this episode, he offers unique insights about the unwarranted effects of co-pays and co-insurance on health care utilization and quality of care. John and Chris also discuss COVID-19 and the economic impac...
Mar 20, 2020•33 min•Ep. 93
This week, John speaks with Assaf Shalvi, CEO and co-founder of Swift Shift. In creation of his business, Shalvi focuses on the demand for efficiency in home health care. He strives to improve the management and quality of the industry through partnerships of Homecare providers and Health Plans. This episode recognizes the common barriers of low caregiver presence in home health care while uncovering the arising opportunities in recreating a more reliable one. Shalvi talks about the efforts Swif...
Mar 13, 2020•44 min•Ep. 92
In this week’s Health Care Rounds, John sits down with Dr. Peter Cram, Director of General Internal Medicine and Geriatrics at Sinai Health System in Toronto. John and Peter discuss the similarities and differences between the U.S and Canada in health care delivery. Having trained and practiced in both the U.S. and Canada — and as a leading health care services researcher — Dr. Cram offers key insights and lessons about health care delivery and payment reform that health care leaders on both sid...
Mar 06, 2020•35 min•Ep. 91
Today on Health Care Rounds, John speaks with Dr. Scott Weingarten, CEO of Stanson Health and former Chief Clinical Transformation Officer for Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. He discusses the future of improving patient satisfaction and the prevention of physician burnout with new technology in electronic health records. Dr. Weingarten also touches on the development of next generation clinical decision support with an emphasis on creating valuable patient-provider relationships in order to improve...
Feb 28, 2020•32 min•Ep. 90
Today, John speaks with Dr. Arshad Rahim, a practicing physician and expert in population health and quality improvement at Mount Sinai Health System. He shares with us critical success factors in population health and value based care, and demonstrates his passion for driving patient quality. Dr. Rahim also speaks on the topics of physician engagement and the relationship between centralizing costs and utilization.. CONNECT WITH US: 🌐 Visit us on the web 🌐 Follow Health Care Rounds on LinkedI...
Feb 21, 2020•37 min•Ep. 89
This week, John speaks with Brian Peet, the CEO and Co-Founder of DocCom, a digital platform teaching online communication skills for health care providers, to discuss the barriers in health care communication. Along with Peet, Dr. Christian Annese explains the motivation behind DocCom and reveals the born inspiration behind StatChat, a new application that enables health care providers to instantly and securely communicate information through mobile and desktop devices. Peet and Annese both exp...
Feb 14, 2020•35 min•Ep. 88
This week’s guest is Dr. Mark Briesacher, Senior Vice President and Chief Physician Executive for Intermountain Healthcare and President of Intermountain Medical Group. Dr. Briesacher talks about Intermountain’s core values and explains the critical success factors behind becoming a leading integrated health system in the United States. He also discusses the future affordability of health care and reveals Intermountain’s aspirational role to provide high-value care at lower costs. Dr. Briesacher...
Feb 07, 2020•36 min•Ep. 87
John hosts an intriguing discussion with special guest Chris Cullmann, an expert strategist in digital marketing for health care and pharmaceutical brands, and Head of Digital and General Manager with RevHealth. Cullmann speaks on the demands of EHR systems as well as the wide variety of value concepts in healthcare. Chris’ expression for innovation in health care communication is unmatched, and shares with us his advice for implementing a successful digital communication strategy. CONNECT WITH ...
Jan 31, 2020•34 min•Ep. 86
This week John speaks with Dr. David Shulkin, former US Secretary for Veterans Affairs and Chief Innovation Officer for Sanford Health. Dr. Shulkin shares with us his passion for the advocacy of veterans and the importance of public transparency. He speaks on the impact of behavioral health in veterans and shares what he worked on to address this problem. He also discusses his new book, It Shouldn’t Be This Hard to Serve Your Country; Our Broken Government and the Plight of Veterans. CONNECT WIT...
Jan 24, 2020•37 min•Ep. 85
If you're like most people, you probably don't know the first thing about perioperative medicine. We didn't either, until John sat down with Dr. Zeev Kain, the founder and president of the American College of Perioperative Medicine. We learned that this emerging field of medicine holds a lot of promise for improving surgical outcomes, lowering costs, and increasing patient satisfaction. CONNECT WITH US: 🌐 Visit us on the web 🌐 Follow Health Care Rounds on LinkedIn 🌐 Follow Darwin Research Gro...
Jan 17, 2020•33 min•Ep. 84
It’s the question on everyone’s mind — at least those in health care — what’s wrong with our health care system and how do we fix it? This week, John sits down with Dr. Robert Pearl, host of the popular health care podcast, Fixing Healthcare, for a fascinating discussion. Dr. Pearl was formerly CEO of Permanente Medical Group, one of the largest physician practices in the U.S. and which consistently ranks in the top 10 programs for clinical quality by the National Committee for Quality Assurance...
Jan 10, 2020•39 min•Ep. 83
This week, we close out Season 2 of Health Care Rounds with Dr. Andy Lazris. A board-certified internist, Dr. Lazris’ private practice, Columbia, Md.-based Personal Physician Care, is dedicated to providing individualized and comprehensive care for its patients. We found Dr. Lazris on YouTube where he’s better known as the Running Doc Unhinged. Listen today and learn about common sense medical practice reforms and why aging patients need to be cared for differently — and better — than they are t...
Nov 15, 2019•37 min•Ep. 82
Other briefs include: Stryker signed a definitive agreement to acquire Wright Medical Group. Amgen will pay $2.7 billion for a 20.5% ownership stake in BeiGene, a research-based, oncology-focused biotech company headquartered in Beijing. The University of Louisville announced that it has completed the acquisition of KentuckyOne Health’s Louisville-area assets from CommonSpirit Health. HealthPartners is closing its mail order and all 30 retail pharmacy locations, and will lay off 300 workers. Dr....
Nov 11, 2019•10 min•Ep. 81
Other briefs include: Insurers will receive $1.59 billion in unpaid subsidies if the federal government follows through on a judge’s order. California’s attorney general put the kibosh on the Adventist-St. Joseph merger. UPMC has begun building a network of hospitals in China. Fifteen drug companies settled an Illinois Medicaid fraud suit for $242 million. An Oregon insurer has filed an antitrust lawsuit against three health systems. Thomas Zenty, the CEO of Cleveland-based University Hospitals ...
Nov 04, 2019•9 min•Ep. 80
This week on Health Care Rounds, Darwin Research Group CEO John Marchica sits down with Naomi Fried, Ph.D., founder and CEO of Health Innovation Strategies. Dr. Fried brings a wealth of experience in understanding how companies affect change, from her tenure as vice president of innovation and external partnerships at Biogen to heading up innovation and technology efforts at Kaiser Permanente. CONNECT WITH US: 🌐 Visit us on the web 🌐 Follow Health Care Rounds on LinkedIn 🌐 Follow Darwin Resea...
Nov 01, 2019•35 min•Ep. 79
In this week’s Our Take, we’re covering the latest events in Biogen, involving their second life for aducanumab. To sign up for the weekly email brief, click here . Other briefs include: California releases its first report on drug pricing, in an effort to improve transparency. Bristol-Myers Squibb-Pfizer Alliance is collaborating with Fitbit for atrial fibrillation detection. Amazon is partnering with City of Hope to provide cancer support services to U.S. Amazon employees and their families. H...
Oct 28, 2019•9 min•Ep. 78
In this week’s Our Take, we’re covering the latest events in the Sutter Health antitrust trial. To sign up for the weekly email brief, click here . Other briefs include: California releases its first report on drug pricing, in an effort to improve transparency. Bristol-Myers Squibb-Pfizer Alliance is collaborating with Fitbit for atrial fibrillation detection. Amazon is partnering with City of Hope to provide cancer support services to U.S. Amazon employees and their families. Hackensack Meridia...
Oct 21, 2019•9 min•Ep. 77
Everyone says that they are a high-performing organization, but which ones really are? Which health care organizations have proven to deliver better outcomes at lower costs? This week, John sits down with the dynamic Brian Klepper, Ph.D., executive vice president of The Valuation Institute. Brian offers examples of unusually high-performing health care organizations and the secrets to their success. CONNECT WITH US: 🌐 Visit us on the web 🌐 Follow Health Care Rounds on LinkedIn 🌐 Follow Darwin...
Oct 18, 2019•45 min•Ep. 76
In this week’s Our Take, we’re covering the proposed rules to ease restrictions imposed by Stark Law, anti-kickback statute. To sign up for the weekly email brief, click here . Other briefs include: Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health and GraniteOne Health signed an agreement to merge. Walmart is testing new health benefits to help employees receive appropriate care. ICER pulled a draft evidence report it released in late September on three new rheumatoid arthritis drugs. UPS is set to expand its drone d...
Oct 14, 2019•12 min•Ep. 75
In this week’s Our Take, we’re covering the latest results from the Medicare Shared Savings Program ACO data, just released last week. To sign up for the weekly email brief, click here . Other briefs include: Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health and GraniteOne Health signed an agreement to merge. Walmart is testing new health benefits to help employees receive appropriate care. ICER pulled a draft evidence report it released in late September on three new rheumatoid arthritis drugs. UPS is set to expand i...
Oct 07, 2019•10 min•Ep. 74
In this week’s Our Take, we’re covering the antitrust trial for Sutter Health, and implications for future health system mergers. To sign up for the weekly email brief, click here . Other briefs include: Lafayette General Health to merge with Ochsner Health System. CMS finalized a rule for implementing Medicaid DSH payment cuts. Connecticut is working to create the state’s first network of Centers of Excellence. Amazon is piloting a virtual health clinic called Amazon Care. RWJBarnabas Health an...
Sep 29, 2019•11 min•Ep. 73
Several weeks ago we reported on Capital Rx, a new PBM with a “clearinghouse model” designed to eliminate spread pricing and price variability — and promote greater transparency. This week, John sits down with A.J. Loiacono, a veteran entrepreneur and CEO of Capital Rx. Listen in and learn about what’s wrong with pharmaceutical pricing and how A.J. intends to fix it. Speaker Bios A.J. Loiacono, CEO, Capital Rx A.J. is a successful entrepreneur, with 20 years of experience in pharmacy benefits an...
Sep 27, 2019•52 min•Ep. 72
In today’s Our Take read-in, we discuss hospital market concentrations and their association with DOJ investigations and inpatient prices. To sign up for the weekly email brief, click here . Other briefs include: Novo Nordisk announced that Rybelsus has been approved by the FDA for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. NUW Medicine, MultiCare Health System, and LifePoint Health have partnered to form a clinically integrated network known as Embright. Sanofi and Abbott are collaborating to integrate ...
Sep 23, 2019•11 min•Ep. 71
In today’s Our Take read-in, we review value-based payment models in oncology. If this is your field, this episode is one you don’t want to miss. To sign up for the weekly email brief, click here . Other briefs include: Capital Rx, a startup pharmacy benefit manager, launches its Clearinghouse Model. The owners of Purdue Pharma, maker of OxyContin, tentatively agreed to pay $3 billion to settle opioid-related lawsuits. Cigna introduced a new program to make expensive gene therapies more accessib...
Sep 16, 2019•17 min•Ep. 70
In today’s Our Take read-in, here’s the lead: “A judge ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay $572 million to Oklahoma for creating a ‘public nuisance.’ The state had sought $17.5 billion in a lawsuit against J&J, contending that the company had engaged in misleading marketing and contributed to the opioid epidemic that has claimed the lives of more than 6,000 Oklahomans. J&J plans to appeal, and the company’s shares rose in after-hours trading on the day of the ruling, suggesting that inv...
Sep 09, 2019•11 min•Ep. 69
In today’s Our Take read-in, here’s our lead story: Good Neighbor Pharmacy tops the list of chain drugstores in customer satisfaction, according to a new survey by J.D. Power and Associates. The network of independent pharmacies received the highest overall score among brick-and-mortar chain store pharmacies, with a score of 914 out of 1,000 possible points, followed by Health Mart (893), Rite Aid Pharmacy (865), Walgreens (840), and CVS (834). To sign up for the weekly email brief, click here ....
Aug 26, 2019•10 min•Ep. 68
This week, Bob Roth returns to Our Take to discuss America’s growing aging population and implications for ignoring what he calls the Aging Crisis. Bob’s passion for caring for the elderly stems from his personal experience with his own mother, which led to the creation of Cypress HomeCare Solutions, the Roth family business. Listen to the elder care issues Bob is calling out—and what we need to do about it. Speaker Bios Bob Roth, Managing Partner, Cypress HomeCare Solutions Bob Roth founded Cyp...
Aug 22, 2019•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 67
In today’s Our Take read-in, we discuss Commercial Accountable Care Organizations, including updates on programs from UnitedHealthcare, Aetna, Cigna, Humana, and Anthem. To sign up for the weekly email brief, click here . Other briefs include: Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and Tufts Health Plan have signed a definitive agreement to merge. Humana files a lawsuit against Mallinckrodt plc. The FDA has approved Pretomanid Tablets, a game changer in the treatment of treatment-resistant tuberculosis. Ce...
Aug 19, 2019•13 min•Ep. 66
