JAMA Health Forum Conversations

Before 2020, telehealth was in the margins of US medicine. Now, in 2026, roughly 1 in 20 health care visits in the US are provided via telehealth with adoption varying by medical specialty. Ateev Mehrotra, MD, MPH, from the Brown University School of Public Health joins JAMA Health Forum Editor in Chief Sandro Galea, MD, DrPH, to discuss telehealth and the future of digital health care in the US. Related Content:

• Open Questions About the Next Phase of Telehealth Adoption

More than 66 million people live in rural areas in the US. Rural populations have been falling behind urban populations in life expectancy and a range of health indicators for the past 2 decades. Katy Backes Kozhimannil, PhD, MPA, of the University of Minnesota joins JAMA Health Forum Editor in Chief Sandro Galea, MD, DrPH, to discuss health policy and improving health for rural populations. Related Content:

• Health Policy Research Priorities Toward Improved Rural Population Health

Commercial determinants of health drive chronic disease through corporate influence on science, regulation, and public narratives. JAMA Health Forum Editor in Chief Sandro Galea, MD, DrPH, speaks with Laura Schmidt, PhD, MSW, MPH, of University of California, San Francisco, about health equity, industry approaches, and policy solutions. Related Content:

• Centering Corporate Activity in the Population Health Research Agenda

There can be no health care system without an adequate supply of well-educated nurses. Linda H. Aiken, PhD, of the University of Pennsylvania joins JAMA Health Forum Editor in Chief Sandro Galea, MD, DrPH, to discuss the distinction between a supply problem and a deployment and retention problem and their direct policy implications. Related Content:

• Policy Approaches to Ensuring an Adequate Nursing Workforce in Coming Decades

The US's aging population is reshaping health policy, care models, and workforce demands. This episode examines the structural challenges and urgent innovations required for long-term care as JAMA Health Forum Editor in Chief Sandro Galea, MD, DrPH, talks with Harvard's David Grabowski, PhD, a leading expert in aging policy. Related Content:

• The Implications of Population Aging for Health Policy and Health Services Research

The 2022 Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization decision had consequences for access to abortion in the US, resulting in near-total abortion bans in effect in more than a dozen states. Diana Foster, PhD, of the University of California, San Francisco, joins JAMA Health Forum Editor in Chief Sandro Galea, MD, DrPH, to discuss the impact of the Dobbs decision and role of science in documenting reproductive health in the coming years. Related Content:

• Science Bearing Witness in the Post-Dobbs Era

Heidi Allen, MSW, PhD, from Columbia University discusses policy shifts that may reshape healthcare for millions in the US with JAMA Health Forum Editor in Chief and "The Year We Lost Medicaid" author Sandro Galea, MD, DrPH. Related Content:

• The Year We Lost Medicaid

Artificial intelligence (AI) tools in health care and public health can bring efficiency and new approaches that might improve health. These tools may also have implications for health equity. Kevin Johnson, MD, MS, of the University of Pennsylvania joins JAMA Health Forum Editor in Chief Sandro Galea, MD, DrPH, to discuss the opportunities and challenges of AI in health care and public health. Related Content:

• Keeping Health Equity at the Forefront of the Artificial Intelligence Revolution in Medicine and Health

How do we better deploy market-based solutions to improve health care in the US? Lanhee Chen, PhD, of Stanford University joins JAMA Health Forum Editor in Chief Sandro Galea, MD, DrPH, to discuss how market-based approaches can complement public strategies to create a health care system that is more adaptive, responsive, and fiscally sustainable. Related Content:

• A Role for Market Forces in US Health Care—Principles and Guardrails

Pharmaceuticals are a central—and costly—element of the US health care system. Aaron S. Kesselheim, MD, JD, MPH, of Brigham and Women's Hospital joins JAMA Health Forum Editor in Chief Sandro Galea, MD, DrPH, to discuss the challenge and opportunity of delivering affordable drugs to as many people as possible. Related Content:

• In Search of Pharmaceutical Policy Innovation in the US