Conversations on Health Care

Looking to the future of healthcare, Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Rasu Shrestha on the two things that are needed to truly transform the system: design thinking and a culture of innovation.

To explore the origin of our country’s opioid epidemic, Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Pulitzer Prize-winning Barry Meier, author of Pain Killer: An Empire of Deceit and the Origin of America's Opioid Epidemic which dives into the pivotal role Purdue Pharma, makers of the narcotic OxyContin, played in the greatest public health crisis of the 21st century.

It’s an unfortunate reality that cultural trauma has impacted practically every aspect of American Indians’ lives—including their access to quality healthcare. Diving into this issue affecting millions of Americans are Mark Masselli, Margaret Flinter, and their guest Dr. Donald Warne, who discusses this impact and the key strategies that aim to resolve these disparities, such as mentoring Native youth in health professions.

Data, artificial intelligence, and telehealth protocols are three of the biggest buzzwords in the health care industry right now, but it’s not all just hype. Dean of the Stanford School of Medicine Dr. Lloyd Minor reveals how these three elements are part of his strategic plan for advancing 21st century biomedicine and medical education.

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Peter Yellowlees, President-elect of the American Telemedicine Association which seeks to improve health care delivery through better use of remote medicine technologies. Dr. Yellowlees discusses his decades of work at the University of California Davis advancing the use of telemedicine in clinical and behavioral care.

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Chip Kahn, CEO of the Federation of American Hospitals which represents over a thousand of the nation's owner-operated hospitals. The long time health industry strategist speculates on changes to health coverage for millions of Americans under the GOP health reform bill, and what it might mean for the hospital industry and health care in this country.

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Paul Gionfriddo, CEO of Mental Health America, the nation's oldest organization dedicated to advancing access to mental services for all Americans. He discusses the need to change the nation's response to mental illness from a public safety to a public health approach.

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Keith Boone, "Interoperability Guru" at GE Healthcare. Mr. Boone discusses his work developing standards for health information technology as a board member at HL7 International, and how HL7's new FHIR standards, as well as growth of Accountable Care Organizations, will accelerate the pace of interoperability in health care.

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Katherine Hayes, Director of Health Policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, which has issued a report to Congress urging them to move slowly on repeal of safety net programs supported by the ACA. She warns that states and vulnerable populations will suffer consequences under repeal of support for CHIP as well as federal matching grants for the Medicaid expansion.

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Allan Coukell, Sr. Director for Health Programs at the Pew Charitable Trusts, where he oversees the FDA, drug and medical device safety and the opioid crisis. He discusses suggested changes to the FDA made by the Trump Administration, and how best to promote reforms at the US Food and Drug Administration to better respond to 21st century advances in research and discovery.