Fiona Chew is the kind of nurse you want at your bedside. Her positive attitude and willingness to go above and beyond make her an excellent advocate for her patients and colleagues. Early on in the pandemic during the New York/New Jersey surge, Ardent Health Services asked for volunteers to assist the hospitals in the hotspot. Fiona didn’t hesitate to go. Listen to Fiona give you her story from the frontline.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has just survived its most recent challenge at the Supreme Court. We wanted to hear both its incredible history of survival in the courts and the basic tenets of the ACA. Chip is joined by the founder of Families, USA, Ron Pollack. The two discuss their personal stories of working to help support the ACA and how the ACA should be expanded under the Biden Administration to help end coverage gaps. Interested in learning more about the ACA and its expansion? Check out ...
Medicare at 60 sounds simple enough – but is it? Chip asked expert, Dr. Lanhee Chen, on this episode to explain his latest research exploring the potential policy and its complications. Chip and Lanhee explore the many questions his report exposes that policymakers must consider to make this potential policy an actual possibility - from how to pay for the $400 billion price tag to the impacts on health coverage and access to care. Read the report entitled “ The Fiscal Costs of Medicare at 60 ”....
In this episode Chip is joined by Dr. Ken Sands – the Chief Epidemiologist at HCA Healthcare, whose system has treated tens of thousands of COVID patients. Together they look at a current Health Affairs blog co-authored by Chip on how COVID is impacting Medicare hospital quality reporting and value-based purchasing programs. These programs are critical for patient decisions and the evaluation of care provided at every hospital in the nation. Learn more about hospital reporting by listening to Ch...
Inaugural episode of Making the Rounds begins with Roxy Hinojosa. She is a nurse at Mission Regional Medical Center in Texas. Roxy shares with Chip how she began her nursing career, what the profession means to her and how the last year has changed nursing on the front lines. Join Chip as he hears from the health care heroes on the front lines in the new Hospitals In Focus short series: Making the Rounds.
COVID has drastically changed the health care delivery system, perhaps even permanently. Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities (IRFs), like those operated by Encompass Health, stepped up during the pandemic by partnering with acute care hospitals to help patients recover from the virus. It once again showed how critical IRFs are to the care continuum by making sure patients received the right care in the right setting. Encompass Health President and CEO Mark Tarr discusses the impact of COVID-19 o...
Patients often form strong and long-lasting bonds with their care providers and COVID-19 has drastically altered that ever-important doctor-patient relationship. Visits have moved online and fear of the virus has some patients skipping care altogether. This raises three concerning questions for physicians: how are patients with chronic diseases managing their treatment without regular in-person care; are patients putting their lives at risk unnecessarily by delaying care and screenings; and how ...
Just a few weeks ago, COVID was ravaging hospitals across the country as cases were surging following the December holidays. St. Francis Medical Center is already one of Los Angeles County’s busiest trauma centers. During the surge, St. Francis was up to 120% capacity – and still caring for every patient that came through its doors. With the ER turned into a COVID unit, some emergency services were moved to tents in the parking lot. Chip spoke with St. Francis’ CEO Dan Jones who explained how th...
Long-term acute care (LTAC) hospitals are caring for the some of the most medically complex patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a post-acute care provider, Kindred Healthcare has been right in the middle of the battle to defeat COVID-19 by partnering with short-term acute care hospitals to help treat patients and ease overcrowding in hot spots across the country. Kindred CEO Ben Breier spoke to Chip about how the company relied on its network of hospitals to ensure its staff were always pr...
It has been over a year since COVID-19 has disrupted life for Americans and everyone around the globe. We checked in with regular guest of the pod, Dr. Jonathan Perlin, to find out how HCA Healthcare has weathered the last year. The CMO and President of Clinical Services shared how HCA Healthcare is sharing the learnings from their millions of annual clinical interactions with others in a new consortium of private and public institutions to improve treatments, outcomes and patient care. Check ou...
The ACA is starting a new era with President Biden at the helm of a new administration. We wanted to hear about what happens when a state not only fully embraces the ACA but keeps harmful regulations at bay that hurt marketplaces and patients. Chip is joined by the Executive Director of Covered California Peter Lee on the newest episode of Hospitals In Focus. The two discuss the basic tenets of the legislation, how and why California has been such a success at lowering its uninsured patient rate...
Two health policy experts joined Chip to discuss the new Biden administration’s approach to developing and implementing health policy. With COVID-19 raging across the country, Chris Jennings and Doug Badger touch on Biden’s first 100 days in office and how they expect Biden’s health teams to tackle the health and economic fallout from COVID in contrast to the Trump administration. Importantly, they touch on how the ACA can shore up health care coverage for uninsured Americans. Then they each pro...
The ACA is once again in front of the Supreme Court and a decision on its future will be likely handed down in June 2021. In the meantime, Larry Levitt joined Chip to discuss the ACA’s impact on hospitals and providers over the past decade. The EVP of Health Policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation shared his views on what we could expect from the Supreme Court and if the ACA is settled law once and for all.
How are America’s health care providers building trust with Black patients after years of historic racism? With time, says Dr. Thomas LaVeist. The Dean of the Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine joined Chip to discuss dispelling health care myths around Covid-19, how we can ensure vaccines are fairly allocated, and what we can learn for the next health emergency. These things are all a part of Dr. LaVeist’s program The Skin You’re In. To learn more about The Skin You’re In, visi...
Community health workers play a vital role in helping end racial disparities in our health care system. They break down barriers by fostering better relationships between the community and their health care providers. Dr. Chidinma A. Ibe is the Assistant Professor of General Internal Medicine and Health, Behavior and Society at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She joined Chip to discuss the growing importance of these workers and how we can better support them.
In our online world having access to the internet is crucial for a healthy life. Michael Crawford is Howard University’s Associate Dean for Strategy, Outreach and Innovation and Founder of 1867 Health Innovations Project. He joined Chip to discuss how the Project is battling chronic diseases - like diabetes - with technology and data from sources such as remote monitoring. The two also examined how we can bridge the digital divide that keeps so many vulnerable populations from the care they need...
Reporters are more important than ever. The 24/7 news cycle around the Coronavirus pandemic, economic recession and racial inequality can be overwhelming for the public, but the same can be said for those covering the news. Editor of Modern Healthcare Aurora Aguilar joins Chip to discuss the challenges of reporting in the era of “fake news” and how journalism is changing to keep up with unprecedented times.
Women in the United States suffer the worst maternal mortality rates in the developed world. Congresswoman Lauren Underwood is trying to change that with her package of legislation appropriately titled the Momnibus. In this episode she discusses with Chip the social determinants of health that are leading to poor health outcomes for Black and minority mothers, how COVID-19 has advanced patient care approaches like telemedicine to benefit new mothers’ mental health, and how she collaborated with ...
America is reckoning with its public health on two fronts: COVID-19 and social determinants of health. Dr. Georges Benjamin is the Executive Director of the American Public Health Association and has spent his career working to achieve health equity for Americans. He joined Chip on our inaugural episode of our series Hospitals In Focus: Achieving Health Equity to discuss how COVID-19 has exposed and amplified issues in our health care system. Dr. Benjamin discusses the obstacles that many in com...
The Great Influenza and Rising Tide author and historian John M. Barry knows a thing or two about disasters and society. The Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine professor joined Chip to discuss not just the ramifications of great crises on society and politics, but also how we get there. What are the policy decisions that make or in some cases break the public response? And what can we learn for future policy making by looking at decisions from the past? All is discussed on this...
Initially, Israel had one of the lowest rates of COVID-19 infection in the world, but after the nation’s lockdown was lifted things changed drastically. Chip talks to Dr. Eyal Zimlichman of the Sheba Medical Center about how Israel contained the virus in the beginning and how it is coping with an increased outbreak now. From protecting the elderly to re-opening schools – Chip and Dr. Zimlichman talk about lessons learned and how they translate to the US.
Italy was the early epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the US is now facing the highest number of cases in the world. Professor Martin McKee of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine joined Chip to compare US and Europe’s response through the lens of a public health expert. They discussed the lessons to be learned from both responses, the potential vaccine light at the end of the tunnel and the implications of the US pulling out of the World Health Organization.
The health care supply chain wraps around the entire world, so when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, people were worried. News articles about providing front line workers PPE and giving patients needed ventilators were everywhere. What did we learn from the initial onslaught? And how is the supply chain changing to meet the needs of the future? John Pritchard, President & CEO of Share Moving Media joined Chip to discuss all of this and more.
Health finance expert J.B. Silvers joined Chip to discuss his recent nationally published op-ed in which he compared the situation hospitals and health systems are facing due to COVID-19 to that of banks during the 2008 financial crisis. JB, who is a professor of banking and finance at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University, says the health care system may look much different after pandemic and he offers a look at what the new normal might be.
COVID-19 has changed graduate medical education, perhaps permanently. The option of early graduations at some medical schools has allowed new doctors to join in the fight to defeat COVID-19. Dr. Alison Whelan, the Chief Medical Education Officer at the Association of American Medical Colleges joins Chip to discuss how new and current residents are helping on the front lines, the changing training patterns of our country’s newest doctors and what it means to be starting your medical career during...
Right now the health care system is laser focused on defeating COVID-19 and as a result routine diagnostic and treatment patient care, sometimes referred to as elective, has been postponed. Postponing this care was the right choice at the beginning of the pandemic in order to ensure there was enough capacity in the system to care for COVID-19 patients. As the curve continues to flatten, we are slowly restarting the health care system and increasing capacity for patient care. Dr. Frank Opelka the...
In this episode of Hospitals In Focus, we head to the front lines of COVID-19 fight with Dr. James Phillips. He is battling this pandemic daily in his roles as an emergency medicine physician at the George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C. and Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at the GW school of Medicine and Health Sciences. Chip talks with Dr. Phillips about how coronavirus is effecting the ER of a major city; how he, his colleagues, and the hospital are preparing for ...
Returning guest Dr. Jon Perlin, CMO and President of Clinical Services at HCA Healthcare, joins Chip to discuss how the Coronavirus is impacting hospitals across the country. They take a deep dive into what makes the coronavirus different from previous epidemics, how hospitals are preparing for this unprecedented challenge and what Congress can do to support hospitals and protect patients.
Thanks to advances in health care, people are living longer, healthier and happier lives than ever before. And that means patients are spending time recovering at post-acute care settings. In this episode, Chip speaks with Al Dobson, one of the foremost health economists and an expert in post-acute care. They took a deep dive into the different kinds of care settings including Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities, Skilled Nursing Facilities, home health and long term acute care hospitals and what...
How is AI being used in hospitals? Are robots doing surgery? Is my doctor still providing my care? Chip speaks with Dr. Jim Jirjis, Chief Health Information Officer at HCA Healthcare, to answers these questions and more! Hear Dr. Jirjis explain how the “nudge” provided by AI is helping providers save lives by making sure patients are receiving the right care at the right time.
