This week, we'll introduce you to our sister podcast, "The Top Line."

On March 29, the FDA approved the Narcan nasal spray for over-the-counter sales. It is the first naloxone product approved for use without a prescription. In this episode of "The Top Line," Fierce Pharma staff writer Fraiser Kansteiner continues our miniseries to explore what that means for the opioid epidemic. The series will tackle questions about using the product, its accessibility and whether the move will save lives.

To learn more about the topics in this episode: 

• Emergent makes history with first FDA nod for over-the-counter naloxone
• Teva, Sandoz have launched Narcan generics, but Emergent's branded option should still thrive: analysts
• Adapt tests ads urging opioid users' loved ones to stock Narcan at home
• Eyeing $1B in annual sales, Emergent BioSolutions to buy Narcan maker Adapt for $735M
• Ahead of next month's FDA decision, Emergent aces AdComm for over-the-counter Narcan nod
• Virtual Roundtable: Remote Therapeutic Monitoring, The Future of Virtual Care Management

"The Top Line" and "Podnosis" are produced by senior podcast producer Teresa Carey. The stories are by all our “Fierce” journalists. Like and subscribe wherever you listen to your podcasts.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on "Podnosis," we talk with Daniel Vukelich, the president at the Association of Medical Device Reprocessors, about how reprocessing can reduce waste. We also talk with Dr. Amol Navathe, Co-Director of the Healthcare Transformation Institute about the role of choice architecture in value-based care.

To learn more about topics in this episode: 

• Nominations for Fierce Healthcare's 2023 Most Influential Minority Executives in Healthcare
• BCBS of Massachusetts announces first-in-state value-based contracts with incentives tied to equity
• New alliance seeks to save value-based care bonus set to expire in 2023
• CMMI: Expect more value-based care payment models to require health equity plans
• AstraZeneca sows $400M investment in push to plant 200M trees by 2030

"Podnosis" is produced by senior multimedia producer Teresa Carey. The stories are by all our “Fierce” journalists. Like and subscribe wherever you listen to your podcasts.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Private sector data companies like Komodo Health work with healthcare stakeholders, including governments, to help identify gaps in care, inequities and then interventions to improve outcomes. Fierce's Anastassia Gliadkovskaya talks with Komodo Health's CEO and cofounder Arif Nathoo about how big data can inform public policy.

Also in this episode: breakthrough tools like generative AI was the talk of the town at this year's HIMSS and Fierce's Annie Burky was on the HIMSS floor taking note. In this episode, Teresa Carey talks with Burky about AI and how innovation needs to be matched by cybersecurity.

To learn more about topics in this episode: 

• Komodo Health banks $200M equity infusion to fuel growth as it restructures, cuts head count by 9%
• Meet the editors helming the Fierce 50 categories
• CommonSpirit Health revealed that cybersecurity breach was much larger than initially thought, reaching 100 facilities in 13 states
• HHS releases free online cybersecurity training, best practice reports for healthcare
  

"Podnosis" is produced by senior multimedia producer Teresa Carey. The stories are by all our “Fierce” journalists. Like and subscribe wherever you listen to your podcasts.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr. Ramon Jacobs-Shaw is chief clinical officer at Belong Health. He was a founding member of the LGBTQ+ task force at NYU Langone Health which helped NYU Medical Center earn a perfect score on the Health Equality Index. In this episode, Jacobs-Shaw speaks with Fierce reporter Annie Burky about what care, discrimination and support looks like for the LGBTQ+ community.  

Also under discussion is the Medicaid program. Yearly Medicaid determinations were put on pause during the pandemic to ensure people had continued coverage. As of April 1, states can now begin working through that hefty backlog of eligibility rulings. So what role commercial insurers play in this process? In this episode, Fierce Healthcare Senior Editor Paige Minemyer posed that question to Aimee Dailey, who leads Elevance Health’s Medicaid business.

To learn more about topics in this episode: 

• Introducing the Fierce 50: Honoring healthcare and biopharma champions fighting for patient care
• Medicaid redeterminations can officially resume. Here's how Elevance Health is responding
• Urban: 18M could lose Medicaid coverage after COVID-19 emergency expires, likely next year
• Industry groups form coalition to avoid coverage lapses as Medicaid redeterminations loom

"Podnosis" is produced by senior multimedia producer Teresa Carey. The stories are by all our “Fierce” journalists. Like and subscribe wherever you listen to your podcasts.

We’d love to hear from you! If you have a comment about this podcast or if you have a tip for a future Podnosis episode, you can reach us at this link. 

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This week the Fierce newsroom took the day off to honor Juneteenth. So we've selected a few favorite segments from the fall of 2022 to replay in this week's episode.

The COVID-19 pandemic has drawn attention to long-standing health inequities. Data show that Hispanic and Black people are about twice as likely to die from COVID-19 as their white counterparts . This is because of structural inequalities, racial bias or inequitable access to healthcare. Oftentimes, healthcare resources are inadequate in Black neighborhoods because of a history of redlining and other discriminatory practices. As the healthcare industry continues to adjust to a new, post-COVID-19 normal, there has been significant momentum behind addressing health equity challenges. With this backdrop, Humana, one of the country’s largest insurers, hired its first chief health equity officer in 2021: J. Nwando Olayiwola, M.D. Fierce Healthcare senior editor Paige Minemyer talks with Olayiwola about health equity and whether there is a risk the momentum around this issue could slow.  

Also under discussion are social determinants of health. Believe it or not, they drive up to 70% of health outcomes. Last year, the Physicians Foundation published a comprehensive framework for addressing social determinants. They proposed quality measures to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which were approved in August, becoming the first time social drivers are recognized in federal payment programs. Fierce's Anastassia Gliadkovskaya speaks with Gary Price, president of the Physicians Foundation.

To learn more about topics in this episode: 

• CMS approves first measures to track social determinants at federal level 
• Most doctors have patients affected by social drivers but feel ill-equipped to address them, survey finds 
• Industry widely sees equity as important, but lacks concrete steps to address it, survey finds 
• New legislation calls on CMMI to create model based on health equity 
• Fierce Health Payer Summit
• ViVE 2022: How UnitedHealth, Humana are thinking about 'techquity'
• Fierce Healthcare's 2021 Most Influential Minority Executives in Healthcare
• Humana study highlights prevalence of social needs in MA before COVID
• Chutes & Ladders—Humana names first chief health equity officer; Providence promotes execs in integration strategy
• AHIP 2022: How payers could lead the charge in addressing health equity

"Podnosis" is produced by senior multimedia producer Teresa Carey. The stories are by all our “Fierce” journalists. Like and subscribe wherever you listen to your podcasts.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dogs are our best friends. So how can we help them live longer? Biotech founder Celine Halioua is working on drugs to expand dogs' longevity. In this episode, Halioua chats with Fierce's Heather Landi about how Loyal can expand that research into improving the human lifespan as well.

Also in this episode, self-insured employers don't have much bargaining power when it comes to negotiating prices with hospitals. Anastassia Gliadkovskaya sat down with Elizabeth Mitchell, head of Purchaser Business Group on Health, to talk about the benefits and challenges of direct contracting and purchase alliances.

To learn more about topics in this episode: 

• WTW expert: How employers can protect themselves against rising healthcare costs
• Industry Voices—Direct contracting with providers: An opportunity for forward-thinking employers
• Self-insured employers are outmatched by hospitals when negotiating prices, study says
• Employer-provider partnerships need better alignment to curb healthcare costs, industry leaders say
• Certara expands partnership with FDA for canine drug development
• Despite blockbuster Altos funding, longevity-focused investment drops by $1B: report

"Podnosis" is produced by senior multimedia producer Teresa Carey. The stories are by all our “Fierce” journalists. Like and subscribe wherever you listen to your podcasts.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on "Podnosis," you'll hear from Ge Bai, a Johns Hopkins health policy and economics researcher, who her work exploring healthcare prices. Bai talks with Fierce's Dave Muoio about whether the requirements are enough to move the needle on rising healthcare prices.

Also in this episode, senior editor Paige Minemyer and staff writer Dave Muoio recap their coverage of Q1 and dive into the financial trends to keep an eye on.

To learn more about topics in this episode: 

• Taxpayers shouldn't foot the bill for health systems' massive 2022 investment losses, health economists say
• Study finds half of cash prices below commercial rates in more than 2,000 hospitals
• Nonprofit, public and rural hospitals are charging payers more for MRIs, study finds
• Here's what the CEOs and CFOs of major for-profit health systems made in 2022

"Podnosis" is produced by senior multimedia producer Teresa Carey. The stories are by all our “Fierce” journalists. Like and subscribe wherever you listen to your podcasts.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on "Podnosis," you'll hear Justin Norden, a partner at GSR Ventures, discuss the potential for generative AI, particularly the emerging ChatGPT platform, in healthcare. He is teaching a class at Stanford University this spring on generative AI and medicine. He chats with Fierce's Heather Landi about why the tech will be "game-changing" for the industry.

Also in this episode, we revisit an interview with Jerrica Kirkley, the co-founder and chief medical officer of Plume. She talked with Fierce’s Anastassia Gliadkovskaya to discuss how she finds hope in the midst of this tense landscape for the LGBTQ+ community. 

To learn more about topics in this episode: 

• Value Based Health USA 2023
• From 'transformative' to 'tremendous fear': Takes on ChatGPT in healthcare at ViVE 2023
• HIMSS23: Epic analytics leader details efforts to bring GPT-4 into healthcare and growing work in genomics, life sciences
• HIMSS23: Google proceeds with caution in piloting its LLM in healthcare
• Google, Microsoft and startups test out generative AI in healthcare
• 'Podnosis': Digital redlining in healthcare and breaking down barriers to care for gender-diverse populations
• These startups are trying to reach communities often marginalized in healthcare. Here's how they do it
• LGBTQ+ care providers calling for advocacy, education to push back against anti-transgender efforts
• At least 24 hospitals, providers have been targeted online and offline over gender-affirming care, report says
• In new executive order, Biden seeks to protect LGBTQ+ access to affirming care, expand provider training
• DOJ must investigate and prosecute those behind children's hospital harassment campaign, medical groups say

"Podnosis" is produced by senior multimedia producer Teresa Carey. The stories are by all our “Fierce” journalists. Like and subscribe wherever you listen to your podcasts.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on "Podnosis," you'll hear Josh Trautwein, founder of About Fresh. He sat down with Fierce's Annie Burky to discuss About Fresh’s partnership with the Veterans Health Administration, the history of food is medicine and where the movement has room to grow.  

Also under discussion is our special report comparing the top-paid health system execs with payer execs. 

To learn more about topics in this episode: 

• CVS' Karen Lynch was the highest paid payer CEO last year. Here's what her competitors earned
• Veterans Health Administration teams with About Fresh to scale up 'food is medicine' demonstration project
• Open access or referral only: Health systems take different approaches to food pantry programs
• As SNAP benefits wane, food-as-medicine companies carve out a niche in healthcare
• HLTH22: Instacart Health partners with ChenMed, Helper Bees, Levels Health to address the root causes of food insecurity

"Podnosis" is produced by senior multimedia producer Teresa Carey. The stories are by all our “Fierce” journalists. Like and subscribe wherever you listen to your podcasts.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on "Podnosis," you'll hear from Dennis Wall, the founder of Cognoa. He sat down with Fierce's Anastassia Gliadkovskaya to discuss the importance of diagnosis of neurodevelopmental disabilities in children, and how tech can help get there. 

Also under discussion is pharmacy benefit managers. John Kao the CEO and founder of Alignment Health talks to Fierce's Frank Diamond about how insurtech's can be profitable. 

To learn more about topics in this episode: 

• Why Alignment Healthcare's CEO is not concerned about banking crisis
• More than just health insurance: Medicare Advantage startup aims to boost care coordination
• Clinicians are taking on the onus of bridging the digital divide, survey finds
• There's a new reimbursement pathway for VR therapy. The health tech company behind it just raised $10M
• Fierce Medtech's 2021 Fierce 15

Podnosis is produced by senior multimedia producer Teresa Carey. The stories are by all our “Fierce” journalists. Like and subscribe wherever you listen to your podcasts.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.