On this episode of “Inside Health Care,” we revisit our 2022 Health Innovation Summit interview with Dr. Don Rucker, a leader in health care digitalization. As you might have experienced, when you go from one doctor to the next, your health records don’t always go with you. Dr. Rucker’s provides insight into interoperability: getting health care software systems to send electronic health records, or EHR, more efficiently. Dr. Rucker is Chief Strategy Officer at 1upHealth . He earned degrees from...
Jan 18, 2023•29 min•Ep. 97
In this episode of “Inside Health Care,” we discuss both gender health equity and today’s pharmacists, and their roles and positions in the health care ecosystem. Both guests in this episode’s interview, recorded live at NCQA’s inaugural Health Innovation Summit in November 2022, are board-certified geriatric pharmacists for Consana , a pharmaceutically centered health care company working to change the face of medication therapy management. Lisa Morris is Consana’s Executive Director of Clinica...
Jan 04, 2023•32 min•Ep. 96
In this episode of “Inside Health Care,” featuring NCQA’s President, Peggy O’Kane, we look back at the challenges and successes of 2022 and consider what lies ahead for quality in 2023. Peggy and NCQA’s Vice President of Public Policy and External Relations, Frank Micciche, discuss a wide range of issues, including NCQA’s Health Equity Accreditation programs , the launch of our annual Health Innovation Summit and the digitalization of the health care world. We want to hear from you. Do you have ...
Dec 21, 2022•29 min•Ep. 95
This episode of “Inside Health Care” features three interviews recorded live at NCQA’s inaugural Health Innovation Summit in November 2022. We first talk about the national "988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline" with a broader look at behavioral health crisis management at the national, county and community levels. Later on, we get an inside look at NCQA’s Recognition programs . John Palmieri, MD , is a Senior Medical Advisor at SAMHSA. He’s also Acting Director for the 988 and Behavioral Health Cris...
Dec 07, 2022•27 min•Ep. 94
First on this episode of Inside Health Care, we discuss Health Equity in an interview with Darrell M. Gray II, MD , the first Chief Health Equity Officer for Elevance Health . The company, as announced in Fall 2022, was one of 9 companies to earn distinction in both of NCQA's Health Equity Accreditation programs . This interview is one of three podcast interviews conducted in coordination with Elevance Health and was recorded live at NCQA's first Health Innovation Summit in November 2022. We the...
Nov 23, 2022•58 min•Ep. 93
On this episode of Inside Health Care, we help observe the Lung Cancer Awareness month of November with a talk on advances in lung cancer screening. This interview, recorded at our Inside Health Care podcast center at the 2022 Health Innovation Summit, is sponsored by AstraZeneca. Dr. Raymond Osarogiagbon is the Chief Scientist at Baptist Memorial Healthcare Corporation, headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee. He is Director of the Multidisciplinary Thoracic Oncology Program and the Thoracic Oncolo...
Nov 09, 2022•44 min•Ep. 92
We continue our limited Inside Health Care series, A View from the Summit, featuring interviews recorded in person with speakers and staff from NCQA's first Health Innovation Summit . In this mini episode, we hear from Geisinger President and CEO, Jaewon Ryu, MD, JD , as we explore a common topic of discussion on Inside Health Care, value-based models of care. Whether it’s talking about payment models or patient-centered outcome metrics, health care and health equity will only improve when the h...
Nov 03, 2022•15 min
We continue our limited series, "A View from the Summit," as we're recording live interviews this week from NCQA’s first annual Health Innovation Summit , hosted this year at the Marriott Marquis hotel in Washington, DC. In this episode, we’re talking about diabetes. But as often on this show, we’re not really just talking about diabetes. Diabetes is so prevalent in the U.S., it permeates the health care world, touching everyone from patients and payers to clinicians and home hospital workers. I...
Nov 03, 2022•12 min
We continue our limited Inside Health Care series, A View from the Summit, featuring interviews recorded in person with speakers and staff from NCQA's first Health Innovation Summit . In this mini episode, we feature part of an interview with Summit speaker and interoperability expert Dr. Don Rucker . This mini episode focuses on the efforts to make the exchange of digital health records and other data go from penciled pipe dream to streamlined reality. Dr. Don Rucker is Chief Strategy Officer a...
Nov 03, 2022•13 min
Welcome again to our limited series, A View from the Summit, featuring in-person interviews conducted at NCQA's first Health Innovation Summit . In this mini episode, we explore Behavioral Health Crisis Care and one powerful tool created by the Federal government, the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. John Palmieri, MD, MHA , is a Senior Medical Advisor at SAMHSA. He’s also Acting Director for the 988 and Behavioral Health Crisis Coordinating Office. Click here to download the SAMHSA 988 toolkit ...
Nov 03, 2022•15 min
We continue our limited Inside Health Care series, A View from the Summit, featuring interviews recorded in person with speakers and staff from NCQA's first Health Innovation Summit . This mini episode features my quick but informative conversation with the head of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center health plan, Diane Holder . Ms. Holder brings over 30 years of health care and health insurance expertise to her role leading the health insurance enterprise of UPMC, one of the largest Inte...
Nov 02, 2022•13 min
Welcome again to our limited series, A View from the Summit, featuring in-person interviews conducted at NCQA's first Health Innovation Summit . We continue our ongoing podcast discussions regarding hospital at home with two guests representing Kaiser Permanente. Nobody wants to be in the hospital at all, or no more than necessary. And in a time when open beds are scarce – and medical staff numbers tragically diminished – the concept of “care at home” becomes a necessity. In this interview, I di...
Nov 02, 2022•15 min
Over the course of this week, "Inside Health Care" is conducting live in-person interviews with speakers and participants at this year’s Health Innovation Summit, which we’re holding in Washington, DC. NCQA Vice President for Public Policy & External Relations Frank Micciche joined us for insights into the goings-on here at the 2022 Health Innovation Summit. We spoke about the agenda, some key speakers, the parallel themes of Health Equity and Digital Health Solutions...and possible details ...
Nov 01, 2022•14 min
When it comes to carrying a child in the time of pandemic, what are the options for care that keep the parent and child as safe as possible? At this year’s NCQA Health Innovation Summit, we heard some answers from Dr. Nancy Gin and Dr. Brenda Jackson, both of Kaiser Permanente. Together, the offered a presentation titled: Reducing perinatal risk, improving access, and reducing disparities through virtual perinatal care. To minimize risk during the pandemic, Kaiser Permanente used its telehealth ...
Nov 01, 2022•21 min
In the health care world, we talk about “value-based care” in terms of putting patients first, listening to patients’ stories and giving thoughtful input. Sometimes we talk about “value-based payment models”—where providers and clinicians are encouraged to base their payment drivers on achieving positive patient outcomes rather than on a purely financial basis. But as we look to 2023, could it be time for a Reset…on the definition of “value”? In this episode of Inside Health Care, we talk with D...
Oct 26, 2022•50 min•Ep. 91
At NCQA, we believe and solidly state the following principles : • High quality care is equitable care. AND -- • There is no quality without equity. This is evidenced by NCQA’s Health Equity Accreditation and Health Equity Accreditation Plus programs . In this episode, we meet representatives of one of the first nine health care companies to achieve both Health Equity Accreditations, Simply Healthcare, an Elevance Health Company . We welcome Tammy MacDonald, Staff Vice President for Accreditatio...
Oct 13, 2022•48 min•Ep. 90
In this episode, we find a fascinating look at one state’s efforts to develop changes that will indelibly improve Health Equity for their citizens. There are so many ways in which Health Equity initiatives can be implemented on the state level. And it doesn’t have to start with some kind of legislation. In this interview, NCQA Assistant Vice President for State Affairs Kristine Toppe moderates a discussion with state Medicaid quality leaders from Louisiana. They discuss a new report , funded by ...
Sep 28, 2022•50 min•Ep. 89
In this BONUS episode of Inside Health Care, you'll find the full interview with Louisiana Medicaid leaders on a new framework for improving Health Equity at the state level. In this interview, NCQA Assistant Vice President for State Affairs Kristine Toppe moderates a discussion with state Medicaid quality leaders from Louisiana. They discuss a new report , funded by the California Health Care Foundation. The paper follows an earlier one , as Kristine will explain, with both reports geared to pr...
Sep 28, 2022•44 min•Ep. 89
We begin this episode with a special appearance from NCQA President Peggy O’Kane, giving us exciting news about NCQA’s first annual, live, in person, 4-day Health Innovation Summit! Join us October 31-November 3, 2022, in Washington, DC. Go to https://www.ncqasummit.com to register. For our featured interviews this week, we discuss NCQA's Person-Centered Outcome Measures. Imagine a clinician asking you what you feel, what you think might be wrong, and just…listening. And then the clinician says…...
Sep 15, 2022•41 min•Ep. 88
On this episode of “Inside Health Care”, we talk with Eric Gremminger , CEO and Co-Founder of ERPHealth . Eric is an Internationally Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor and a nationally recognized leader in the behavioral health space. Since 2014, Eric has trained behavioral healthcare professionals around the country on how to use patient reported outcome measures to personalize clinical curriculums and inform policy and procedure. Eric’s company, ERPHealth, develops tech tools and platforms f...
Aug 31, 2022•37 min•Ep. 87
NCQA stands at the forefront of the effort to identify and firmly resolve the issues of health inequity. Our Health Equity Accreditation Programs help the health care industry re-evaluate how to advance health equity for all. As part of our dedication to closing Equity gaps, NCQA continues to expand our team as we welcome Dr. Bryan O. Buckley as NCQA’s Director for Health Equity Initiatives. In this new position, Dr. Buckley will support NCQA’s Health Equity strategy across multiple departments ...
Aug 18, 2022•36 min•Ep. 86
This episode of Inside Health Care begins with a look at interoperability: the hopeful goal of getting health information systems - and providers - to share data efficiently and effectively. As patients journey from primary doctors to specialists, sometimes from one hospital system to another, all the caregivers have to keep track of what the other ones have already examined, diagnosed, prescribed, and ordered. Danny Cawood , a Product Manager who oversees the product development for MCG Health’...
Aug 03, 2022•32 min•Ep. 85
On this episode, we discuss an all-too-often underdiagnosed disease: NASH, a.k.a. nonalcoholic steatohepatitis , a severe form of “fatty liver” disease. Though NASH can affect people who are obese or diabetic with high cholesterol, it can also hit someone who’s relatively healthy and who doesn’t even drink alcohol. It’s because of this and other factors that liver disease can be easily underdiagnosed, leading to dire consequences. A few months ago, there was a great roundtable discussion about a...
Jul 20, 2022•27 min•Ep. 84
With more than 80 broadcasts under our belt, our latest spotlights an incredibly important running theme in our show: Health Equity. You’ll hear segments from past episodes of Inside Health Care and three cutting-edge thought leaders, each dedicated to resolving Equity gaps for all. In our fight to bridge the Health Equity gaps in the U.S. once and for all, NCQA launched the H.E.A.: the Health Equity Accreditation programs . Our first segment features a discussion with leaders from two health sy...
Jul 14, 2022•39 min•Ep. 83
For this special episode of Inside Health Care, we continue our celebration of Pride month with Abner Mason, the Founder and C-E-O of SameSky Health . Abner, who is African-American and Gay, says he proudly represents all aspects of himself in his work. He say it was empathy that led him to create SameSky Health, his company that works with health plans to change their approach to patients. SameSky encourages health care that’s based in “cultural experience”, and avoids traditional, impersonal m...
Jun 23, 2022•41 min•Ep. 82
Happy Pride Month! In this episode, we speak with a psychologist whose company develops software that help diagnose behavioral issues in adolescents on the spot. Later, we talk with one of NCQA’s newest executives. Finally, we offer another dose of “Matt’s Facts”, this time focusing on some historical dates and important statistics relating to the LGBTQ+ population . Dr. Yared Alemu is Founder and CEO of TQIntelligence , which uses “unique human attributes like voice and speech to identify and t...
Jun 08, 2022•54 min•Ep. 81
May is Mental Health Awareness Month. In talking about behavioral health, NCQA again is at the forefront of health measurement. The NCQA Distinction in Behavioral Health Integration program works with NCQA PCMHs to perform gap analyses and figure out how to bring better care to mental health and substance abuse patients. One of the first health systems to qualify for our Behavioral Health distinction was New York-based Montefiore Medical Group . With their headquarters in the Bronx, Montefiore H...
May 25, 2022•47 min•Ep. 80
On this show, we often discuss health disparities, but they're usually focused on populations identified by either race or ethnicity. This episode focuses on strides being made towards policyand measurement that would better address health equity gaps in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender, or LGBT, community. Dr. Kellan Baker is a health services researcher with a PhD in health policy and management from Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Baker is currently Executive Director of the Whitman-...
May 11, 2022•36 min•Ep. 79
This week, we answer the age-old question: how do you talk about Health Equity without talking about Health Equity? NCQA’s Health Equity Accreditation Programs provide a strong framework for health care entities to improve equity in their organizations. When it comes to solving gaps in Equity, our guests in this episode come from very different backgrounds and experiences. Yet each one proves how bridging the historic gaps in Health Equity could be the key to solving all of the flaws of modern h...
Apr 27, 2022•39 min•Ep. 78
Our show today celebrates three outstanding health care workers: NCQA’s Patient-Centered Medical Home Certified Content Expert Award Winners. NCQA’s PCMH is the most widely adopted recognition program of its kind in the United States. Over 10,000 practices have been recognized through our PCMH, with more than 95 organizations in support of the program. The NCQA PCMH Content Expert Certification program certifies individuals who demonstrate comprehensive knowledge of NCQA’s PCMH program. These pr...
Apr 13, 2022•49 min•Ep. 77
