Description

Are healthcare quality metrics truly objective? This podcast dives into the strange history of performance measures, revealing how they evolved from clinical tools into powerful political ones used to control costs, legitimize decisions, and shift blame from systems to front-line doctors.

Chapter Markers

* 00:00 - Intro

* 01:21 - Birth of Quality Measurement

* 02:33 - Medicare’s Bargain

* 05:34 - The Pioneering Role of Private Sector in Quality Measurement

* 07:07 - NCQA

* 07:55 - The Medical Surveillance Machinery

* 08:50 - Manufacturing Blame

* 09:04 - Technocratic Legitimacy

* 10:05 - Discursive Framing

* 11:15 - Manufactured Consent

* 12:26 - The Path Dependency Trap

* 13:56 - Outro

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Description

In this video, I explore how the rise of risk-factor medicine, combined with America’s social fragmentation, made people morally and socially responsible for their own health.

This is the 3rd article in my series “Healers to Healthkeepers.”

Chapter Markers

* 00:00 - Intro

* 01:11 - Birth of Risk Factor Medicine

* 03:14 - The Moral Transformation to “Individual Choice”

* 06:06 - Prevention Becomes Virtue

* 07:06 - Healthism

* 09:19 - The Tradeoffs

* 12:35 - Outro

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Description

This video explores the rise of the hospital-insurance duopoly after WW-II, especially the unintended consequences of the Hill-Burton Act. The Hill-Burton Act provided funding to build hospitals in America, cementing them as the default choice for healthcare.

This video is the second in my series “Healers to Healthkeepers,” which explores the history and path dependency that led America from building public health infrastructure to holding doctors accountable.

Chapter Markers

* 00:00 - Intro

* 01:23 - Post WW-II Hospital Crisis

* 02:29 - Hill Burton Act

* 04:39 - The Rise of Healthcare Insurance

* 08:20 - The Problems with Hill-Burton Act

* 11:49 - Outro

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Description

This video is the first in my new series “Healers to Healthkeepers.” It explores the history and path dependency that led America from building public health infrastructure to holding doctors accountable, & blaming them for the health of the population.

This podcast looks at how America transitioned from building public health infrastructure to relying on individual treatment to improve health outcomes.

Chapter Markers

* 00:00 - Intro

* 01:14 - The Sanitary Cleanup

* 03:42 - The Germ Theory of Disease

* 04:32 - The Flexner Report

* 08:09 - The Price of Progress

* 09:49 - The Flexner Tradeoff & Public Health Blind Spots

* 10:43 - Conclusion

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Description

This video podcast explores the root causes of obesity from the “determinants of health” point of view. I discuss why medicalization of obesity is unlikely to solve the obesity epidemic, and as a society, we have to address its root causes.

Chapter Markers

* 00:00 - Intro

* 00:55 - Defining Obesity & Why should we care?

* 01:59 - SDOH & Obesity

* 03:13 - Commercial Determinants & Obesity

* 04:55 - Marketing Strategies to Sell Food

* 07:53 - Political Determinants & Obesity

* 09:20 - Structural Determinants & Obesity

* 10:03 - Role of Personal Choice in Obesity

* 11:22 - Pyramid Model for Obesity

* 12:21 - Outro

Link to Written Article: https://www.pcplens.com/p/obesity-a-symptom-of-the-system

Link to Video: https://www.pcplens.com/p/podcast-obesity-a-symptom-of-the-system

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Description

In this episode, I break down the history and controversy behind adding fluoride to water, and how it hurts vulnerable people more than the wealthy.

Chapter Markers

* 00:00 - Intro

* 00:44 - Brief History of Community Water Fluoridation (CWF)

* 01:55 - The Misunderstood Decline in Dental Caries

* 02:32 - Modern Studies on CWF

* 04:02 - SDOH and CWF

* 04:48 - Commercial Determinants of Health (CDOH) & CWF

* 05:17 - Political Determinants of Health (PDOH) & CWF

* 06:09 - Structural Determinants of Health (StDOH) & CWF

* 06:26 - International Approach to Fluoridation

* 07:06 - Concerns with CWF

* 07:42 - Conclusions

* 08:17 - Outro

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Description

This video is a primer on Social Determinants of Health (SDOH). I discuss how SDOH creates the illusion of healthy choices for people, but in reality, the only choices people may have are those that will lead to poor health outcomes. I take housing as an example of SDOH to illustrate why and how your zip code is more important than your genetic code.

Chapter Markers

* 00:00 - Intro

* 01:00 - Definition of Social Determinants of Health (SDOH)

* 01:55 - Dahlgreen-Whitehead Model of SDOH

* 02:19 - Relationship between Health Outcomes

* 02:44 - SDOH and Health Outcomes

* 03:23 - Example of Housing as SDOH

* 06:32 - The Illusion of Choice

* 07:57 - Outro

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Description

Who profits from poor health? This video exposes how policies, power, and profit—not just biology—shape the health of entire communities.

Chapter Markers

* 00:00 - Intro

* 00:36 - Social Determinants of Health

* 01:14 - Defining Structural Determinants of Health (StDOH)

* 02:15 - StDOH in Real Life

* 03:18 - Path Dependence & StDOH

* 03:58 - US History & StDOH

* 06:54 - Housing as an Anchor Determinant

* 10:05 - Structural Barriers vs Individual Choice

* 10:47 - Power and StDOH

* 11:33 - Summary

* 13:09 - Outro

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Description

In this video, I delve into what really shapes the foundation of health: the Political Determinants of Health. I will show you how the political decisions we make or don't make shape the social determinants of health and how commercial actors prey upon vulnerable people. And, when people complain, our system conveniently blames personal responsibility and front-line doctors.

Chapter Markers

00:00 - Intro

01:18 - What are Political Determinants of Health?

03:28 - Connecting the dots between Voting, Government & Policy

04:16 - Health in All Policies

06:46 - Connecting PDOH, CDOH, and SDOH

07:42 - Role of Doctors

08:39 - Outro

Link to Written Article: https://www.pcplens.com/p/when-policy-fails-medicine-pays

Link to Video: https://www.pcplens.com/p/podcast-when-policy-fails-medicine

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Description

Why are primary care doctors held accountable for chronic diseases caused by billion-dollar industries? In this episode, I discuss how powerful corporations—from soda to fossil fuels—engineer addiction, shape policy, and shift blame for the diseases they help create.

🔍 In this video, you’ll learn:

- What Commercial Determinants of Health (CDoH) really are

- How corporate actors manipulate marketing, pricing, and public policy

- Why bottled water ads make sugary drinks more attractive

- The hidden agenda behind “recycling” campaigns

- How value-based care deflects blame from upstream harm to frontline doctors

- How trade agreements, research funding, and lobbying protect harmful industries

- The “Commercial Parasite” model—and how it keeps people just sick enough to stay profitable

👨‍⚕️ Doctors are penalized for outcomes shaped by upstream corporate behavior. This video argues that unless we address commercial determinants, efforts like value-based care will fail to improve population health.

Chapter Markers

00:00 - Intro

00:57 - Defining Commercial Determinant of Health (CDoH)

01:32 - CDoH and Primary Care

02:03 - Marketing & Advertising

02:39 - Strategic Product Pricing

04:43 - Corporate Influence on Policy & Regulation

05:43 - Recycling: A Corporate Lie

07:57 - Deflecting Blame & Creation of Value-Based Care

08:56 - Supply Chain & Labor Practices

10:45 - Corporate Influence on Research

12:33 - Trade Agreements and Health

13:14 - The Commercial Parasite Model

14:29 - Conclusion

15:10 - Outro

Link to Written Article: https://www.pcplens.com/p/chronic-conditions-corporate-causes

Link to Video: https://www.pcplens.com/p/podcast-chronic-conditions-corporate-causes

Link to YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PCPLens?sub_confirmation=1

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