Pandemic: Dr. Zeke Emanuel on the Timeline for America Returning to ‘Normal’

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Zeke Emanuel, Chair of the Department of Medical Ethics at the University of Pennsylvania. A former advisor to the Obama Administration, he predicts the pandemic won’t be fully brought under control until late next year, when an approved vaccine can be successfully deployed across hundreds of millions of Americans. He discusses his new book, “Which Country Has the Best Healthcare” addressing the failure of America’s leadership to adequately address the pandemic.

New Pandemic Strategy Needed: Dr. Zeke Emanuel & Former Biden COVID Team Members Calling For New Approach

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Zeke Emanuel, Vice Provost at the University of Pennsylvania and former member of the Biden administration’s COVID Transition Team. He and other former Biden advisors have called for a dramatic new approach to addressing COVID-19 saying we will not eradicate the virus, so we need new strategies to live with it. They’re calling for a radical re-tooling of our public health data system to capture real-time data, and for a significant investment in community health workers to address public health challenges on the ground.

How Do We Get More Latinas Interested in Nursing? Ideas & Inspiration from Authors of New Book

Our guests were looking for a book that told real-life stories about Latinas in nursing, but they couldn’t find one. So they took the job upon themselves and wrote their own book, titled “Latinas in Nursing: Stories of Determination, Inspiration, and Trust.”

The book is a compilation of the beautiful stories of the challenges, growth and discovery influential Latina nurses share about their journeys, including during the COVID pandemic. Right now, Hispanics make up 19% of the total U.S. population but only about 8% of registered nurses are Latina.

Join us as Tina Loarte-Rodríguez and Zacnité Vargas-Avalos bring their book to life in conversation with hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter.

Yulun Wang, President of the American Telemedicine Association

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Yulun Wang, Ph.D, President of the American Telemedicine Association, dedicated to the full integration of telemedicine within the health care system. An engineer with over 50 patents to his name, Dr. Wang is also Chairman and CEO of InTouch Health, a global leader in telehealth technologies

HHS Sec. Becerra’s Exclusive Interview With “Conversations on Health Care”

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra joins “Conversations on Health Care” to answer questions about the big issues he’s facing as the nation’s top health official. Most importantly, he’s dealing with the aftermath of the Supreme Court decision turning abortion law over to the states.

Secretary Becerra says, “A woman is three times more likely to die of a complication during pregnancy if she happens to reside in a state that restricts her access to abortion care services. We are seeing women and their health harmed simply because of the politics in that state …we’re doing everything we can to continue to protect a woman’s right to access the care she needs including abortion care.”

Secretary Becerra leads a $1.7 trillion agency that’s also preparing for the fall vaccination season, ensuring Americans eligible for Medicaid stay enrolled, and planning for his department’s new power to negotiate for drug prices.

Hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter ask him to weigh in on all these issues in this week’s edition.

Dr. William Kassler, chief medical officer for the New England region of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Conversations on Health Care® focuses today on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. William Kassler, chief medical officer for the New England region of CMS, about the Multi-payer Advanced Primary Care Practice Demonstration project, as well future healthcare innovations under the direction of CMS.

Dr. William Hanson, author of Smart Medicine: How the Changing Role of Doctors Will Revolutionize Health Care.

This week, Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. William Hanson about the changes the medical profession is undergoing in the U.S. and how tomorrow's primary care providers are being shaped by technology and a team-based approach to delivering health care. Dr. Hanson's new book is called Smart Medicine: How the Changing Role of Doctors Will Revolutionize Health Care.

Dr. William Hsiao, the K.T. Li Professor of Economics at the Harvard School of Public Health.

Conversations on Health Care® focuses this week on health system design both here and abroad. Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. William Hsiao, internationally recognized for his work on designing national health systems and effective ways to organize both health insurance and health care. From China to the United States, Dr. Hsiao’s work provides an interesting backdrop for health reform efforts underway around the world.

Dr. William Newsome, Co-Chair of the BRAIN Intitiative

This week, Mark and Margaret speak with Dr. William Newsome, Stanford University neurobiologist and co-chair of the President's BRAIN Initiative which is seeking to map the human brain. Similar to the Human Genome Project, the BRAIN Initiative will require significant collaboration from all varied fields within neuroscience to unravel the secrets of medical science's "final frontier" - the human brain.

Dr. William Newsome, Co-Chair of the BRAIN Intitiative

This week, Mark and Margaret speak with Dr. William Newsome, Stanford University neurobiologist and co-chair of the President's BRAIN Initiative which is seeking to map the human brain. Similar to the Human Genome Project, the BRAIN Initiative will require significant collaboration from all varied fields within neuroscience to unravel the secrets of medical science's "final frontier" - the human brain.

Dr. William Dietz, Director, Sumner M. Redstone Center for Prevention and Wellness at GWU

This week hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. William Dietz, Director of the Sumner M. Redstone Center for Prevention and Wellness at the Milken Institute of Public Health at George Washington University. Dr. Dietz is an internationally recognized expert on nutrition, prevention and obesity. He talks about the threat to health and the economy posed by the obesity epidemic and efforts to combat the problem.

Governor Bill Weld Mounts Challenge against President Trump: Discusses Health Care, Climate Change and Bipartisanship

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter kick off a series of interviews with presidential candidates. Our first interview was with Governor Bill Weld, who announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination yesterday. They discuss his views on the Affordable Care Act, climate change, and his thoughts on how to bring the divided nation together.

Should I Send My Kids Back To School? Renowned Scientist Dr. William Haseltine Has Advice for Families

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. William Haseltine, President of ACCESS Health International, a global health think tank. He is also a renowned scientist, entrepreneur, philanthropist and founder of Harvard Medical School’s HIV/AIDS and cancer research centers. He discusses his two new books: A Family Guide to COVID: Questions and Answers for Parents, Grandparents and Children, and A COVID Back To School Guide which are continually-updating ‘living e-books’ offering answers to the many questions families have about how to navigate their way through the pandemic.

340B & Pharmaceutical Profiteers: Connecticut Attorney General William Tong on Going After Illegal Price Gouging By Big Pharma

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, who recently called out pharmaceutical giants for intimidating safety net providers and Community Health Centers offering low cost drugs to vulnerable patients protected through the 340B Pricing. Tong is also leading a team of Attorneys General from 51 states and territories in a huge Antitrust suit, alleging criminal price-fixing and price gouging among multiple pharmaceutical giants operating in collusion with each other to dramatically increase their profits on generic drugs.

COVID-19 Is Shape-Shifting: Dr. William Haseltine Warns Variants & Lack of Containment May Weaken Vaccine Efficacy

This week hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with scientist and entrepreneur Dr. William Haseltine, founder and CEO of ACCESS Health International, who warns the growing number of COVID-19 variants will help the virus evade the vaccines currently being deployed. He cautions that lack of strict public health measures, particularly in the US, will lead to more widespread infection and endemic outbreaks. Dr. Haseltine urges the pharmaceutical industry to provide more nuanced data on the long term efficacy of vaccines, along with more widespread genomic testing of COVID strains to better understand their impact on COVID-related illness.

Omicron Could Be as Deadly as Delta, Boosters’ Short Protection &‘Dangerous’ Oral COVID Pill from Merck: A Talk With William Haseltine

This week hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with renowned virus expert Dr. William Haseltine who has ‘grave concerns’ about Merck’s oral COVID drug Malnupiravir, which recently won narrow approval from the FDA advisory panel. He says the drug unleashes ‘dangerous’ mutations that could evolve the virus beyond control. He’s also urging extreme caution as the highly infectious omicron variant is sweeping across the US, saying it could be as deadly as the delta variant and that boosters may offer only limited protection of 3 months. Dr Haseltine, who developed the Anthrax vaccine and is President of ACCESS Health International, says public health protocols of masking, rapid testing and social distancing should be put back in place during this next surge.

Dr. Wendy Everett, CEO, Network for Excellence in Health Innovation

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Wendy Everett, CEO of the Network for Excellence in Health Innovation (NEHI), a non-partisan health policy institute seeking to enable innovations that improve the quality and lower the costs of health care. She discusses their target areas of interest including the improvement of care delivery systems, payment reform and telemedicine.

Trump vs. Harris on Health Care: Experts Explain Each Side

The countdown is on to election day with health care issues hanging in the balance as never before. The biggest one: Abortion and reproductive rights. Andrea Ducas, the Vice President of Health Policy at the Center for American Progress, says “What you see with Vice President Harris is a candidate who’s committed to protecting women’s freedoms, to protecting women’s right to choose.”

On the other side of the political spectrum is Wayne Winegarden, Ph.D., the Senior Fellow in Business and Economics at Pacific Research Institute, and Director of PRI’s Center for Medical Economics and Innovation. He and his colleagues believe that patients are not in control of the health care system and that we suffer from an opaque and complex pricing structure that harms patients. Winegarden’s free market approach means he advocates for doing away with the Obamacare subsidies that Congress must consider, as they soon expire.

As Kamala Harris and Donald Trump engage voters at rallies, online and on TV, our guests provide the policy perspectives that will undergird the thinking of the administration that will take power. Join hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter for this important conversation.

Waco Hoover, CEO of the Institute for Health Technology Transformation

This week, Mark and Margaret speak with Waco Hoover, co-founder and CEO of the Institute for Health Technology Transformation. They discuss the Institute's recent report, "Analytics: The Nervous System of IT Enabled Health Care" which explores the impact big data analytics is having on health care delivery, outcomes and costs.

Will Patients Listen If Health Care Providers Talk Climate Change?

Dr. Vivian Lee, an author and senior lecturer at Harvard Medical School, is impressed by a study that found a large majority of patients responded in a favorable way when a pediatrician shared climate change details during well-child visits.

She joins hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter to explain why we need health care providers and health systems to step up to do more about the undeniable risks from climate change. Listen in as they discuss her perspective and her book, “ The Long Fix: Solving America's Health Care Crisis with Strategies that Work for Everyone.”