Margaret Anderson, Executive Director of FasterCures

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Margaret Anderson, Executive Director of FasterCures, an action tank dedicated to saving lives by speeding up and improving the medical research systems. They discuss the ongoing threat to NIH research due to funding reductions, but also the game changing potential of new technologies and increased patient engagement to advance biomedical research.

Dr. Margaret Hamburg, Foreign Secretary of the National Academy of Medicine

This week hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Margaret Hamburg, Foreign Secretary for the National Academy of Medicine at the National Academy of Sciences and recent Commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration. Dr. Hamburg discusses the changes initiated at the FDA under her leadership and the enormous challenge of keeping the nation's drug and food stream safe in a globalized supply chain.

$13K Per American for Health Care: What Are We Getting?

Each American now spends an average of nearly $13,000 a year on health care. We have one of the highest health care costs in the world but we don’t lead on the best outcomes. How can we get more value from the $4 trillion in total the U.S. spends on health care?

Dr. Margaret Hamburg is co-chair of the Health Affairs Council on Health Care Spending and Value, which has been looking at that question. Their recommendations range from administrative streamlining to spending growth targets.

Hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter have her unpack the report and ask this former U.S. Food & Drug Administration commissioner what bumps are ahead for what they call a “roadmap to value.”

Pollution Now a Leading Cause of Death Globally: WHO's Dr. Maria Neira Discusses the Toll of Pollution on Human Health

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Maria Neira, Director of the Department of Public Health, Environmental and Social Determinants of Health at the World Health Organization, on their recent report on pollution's impact on global health leading to more deaths than HIV, Malaria and TB combined. She discusses the Paris Climate Accord as an important step in addressing the effects of climate change on human health, the ongoing battle to contain HIV/AIDS and how the WHO is better prepared for pandemics like Ebola.

Climate Report's Dire Warnings: World Health Organization's Dr. Maria Neira on Impact of Pollution and Climate Change on Health

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter revisit their conversation with Dr. Maria Neira, Director of Public Health and the Environment at the World Health Organization who addresses the rising threat to human health from climate change and pollution - now the 4th leading cause of death worldwide. She discusses global strategies that are required to reduce the harm being done to populations around the world, especially those most vulnerable, in the wake of advancing climate change and unmitigated pollution.

World Health Organization’s Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove Speaks About the Global Pandemic

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, COVID-19 Technical Lead at the WHO. They discuss the world’s lack of readiness and supply chain infrastructure to confront the pandemic. She says the lessons learned from this collective ‘trauma’ is sparking new efforts to build more robust surveillance and response systems for emerging pathogens, the concerning new variant out of India, and the need to accelerate global vaccinations to stop the continued spread of the pandemic.

WHO: What China Must Do Now to Help Fight COVID

A top World Health Organization public health official is adding nuance to the agency’s call for more transparency from China, which is coping with a crippling COVID-19 outbreak since it ended its zero-COVID policy last month.

Maria Van Kerkhove, Ph.D., WHO Technical Lead for COVID-19 Response, tells “Conversations on Health Care” that “We really need better understanding on the burden and the hospitalizations and we need more information on the sequences…they have detected known sub-variances…but we need those sequences to be shared publicly. We want China to work with us to really determine within those sublineages…is there anything else within those sequences that’s different. And we need a global community to look at that. And work directly with us to do a full risk assessment.

“Right now they’re going through a massive wave of Omicron. This virus, as transmissible as it is, is passing through the population. They are sharing information. It’s just not enough. It’s just not as detailed as we’d like.”

Van Kerkhove joins hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter to share her insights.

Youth Mental Health Crisis: Can a New Corps Create a Solution?

It’s a troubling situation: Nearly one in three high school students report persistent feelings of hopelessness. 

At the same time, many communities have a lack of mental health professionals to counsel and help young people.

Leaders from philanthropy, public health, and private sectors think they have a path to a solution: Youth Mental Health Corps. 

This program, which launched a year ago, places young adults as mental health navigators in schools and community organizations. These navigators provide peer-to-peer support, connect young people and families to resources, and serve as trusted guides who understand firsthand the challenges faced by today’s youth.

Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter, hosts of “Conversations on Healthcare,” bring their extensive experience to the conversation. They speak to Corps funders Marie Groark, the managing director of the Schultz Family Foundation, and Alise Marshall, the senior global lead for public affairs at Pinterest.

Groark shares early findings from the Youth Mental Health Corps. “What they found is that when you have a Youth Mental Health Corps member in your school, especially, you see improved attendance, fewer behavioral incidents, and increased student awareness of mental health and help-seeking behavior.”

Focusing on prevention and early intervention, Marshall highlights the power of peer connection. “It is difficult for young people to trust educators and parents when navigating adolescence. Having someone very recently been there, who has navigated the same issues, can make a very big difference.”

2020 Voters Call for Health Care Fix – Not Repeal or Replace

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter welcome Marilyn Serafini, Director of the Health Policy Project at the Bipartisan Policy Center which recently conducted a poll of voters in early polling states in the 2020 Presidential Election. Results show voters are most concerned about the costs of health care, preferring to fix the existing system, rather than repeal the Affordable Care Act or replace it with a Medicare For All approach.

Breaking News: Food Dye Ban: Support But More Needed, Says Dr. Marion Nestle

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that the U.S. will phase out the remaining eight artificial food dyes from America’s food supply within two years. This is a move that leading nutritionist and author Marion Nestle, Ph.D., has long advocated for.

“Conversations on Health Care” hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter spoke to her before today’s news conference. She says, “I’m all for getting bad chemicals out of the food supply, or questionable chemicals…but I don’t think that goes nearly far enough. If he’s going to be serious about making America healthy again from a food standpoint, he’s going to have to do something about changing the food system to one that focuses on public health rather than corporate health. And he’s going to have to do something about the food industry’s inappropriate marketing, especially to children.”

Click now to view the entire interview, including Dr. Nestle’s reactions to the food industry’s pushback to her concerns.  

Can You Have a ‘Healthy’ Thanksgiving? How the Food Industry Conspires Against Us

Marjorie Godfrey, MS, RN, Co-Director of the Dartmouth Institute Microsystem Academy

This week, Mark and Margaret speak with Marjorie Godfrey, MS, RN, Co-Director of the Dartmouth Institute Microsystem Academy and the Director of the Microsystem Resource Group. Marjorie is a national and international leader in designing and implementing improvement strategies in the place where patients, families and care teams meet - in the clinical microsystem. She discusses her strategies for improving the work flow in the clinical care environment by empowering nurse leaders and coaches within the health care system.

NAACP Health Director Dr. Marjorie Innocent Talks About Racism in America

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Marjorie Innocent, Senior Director of Health Programs at the NAACP. Dr. Innocent speaks on the current climate of protest against entrenched racism in America, the NAACP’s call to action to address police brutality, economic and health disparities, and the need to foster a culture of collaboration to address racism’s toll on people of color in this country.

A Radical Redesign of Patient Scheduling

Our team will speak with Dr. Mark Murray, MPA, Principal of Mark Murray & Associates, a health care consulting firm based in Sacramento, CA. Dr. Murray helped create Advanced Access, which helps doctors and other health care providers dramatically decrease patient wait times and improve continuity of care. Dr. Murray consults with health care organizations in the United States and abroad on a variety of health care quality improvement strategies including efficiencies in office practice, the development and care of health care teams, change management in health care settings, physician compensation, and “big system” flow.

Mark Bertolini, president of Aetna, on the insurance industry’s response to health-care reform.

Conversations on Health Care® focuses this week on the health insurance industry. Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Mark Bertolini, president of Aetna, on the new era for the health insurance industry following national health reform.

Dr. Mark Smith, president of the California Healthcare Foundation.

Conversations on Health Care® focuses this week on the leadership and the work of the California Healthcare Foundation. Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with the Foundation’s president, Dr. Mark Smith, about how the organization has helped drive innovation and reform to improve health care for all Californians.

Mark Pauly, Wharton healthcare economist and father of the individual mandate.

This week, Conversations on Health Care® brings an economist’s focus to specific areas of health reform. Dr. Mark Pauly, healthcare economist and vice dean at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, analyzes the Affordable Care Act, the intent of an individual mandate and how providers and consumers are likely to respond to incentives in the legislation.

President Obama's budget proposal for fiscal year 2012.

Conversations on Health Care® brings you a special episode about President Obama's budget proposal for fiscal year 2012. Mark and Margaret break down the health care spending components of his proposal, what the House Appropriations Committee plans to do for the rest of this fiscal year, and the impact of federal spending and cuts on the health and wellness of our communities.

Former CMS Administrator Dr. Mark McClellan Examines Trump Health Policies, Community Health Centers, Pharmaceutical Industry, and Innovation

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter talk with Dr. Mark McClellan who served as Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and Commissioner of the FDA under President George W. Bush. He talks about the probable impact of shifting health policies in the Trump administration, their potential impact on the health care system and how community health centers are likely to play a more vital role in delivering primary care.

V-BID Health Co-Founder Dr. Mark Fendrik on Value Based Insurance Design

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Mark Fendrick, co-creator of the concept of Value Based Insurance Design (V-BID) which seeks to re-structure health insurance design to pay more for high value health care that improves health and pay less for high cost, low yield health interventions. Dr. Fendrick discusses the launch of V-BID Health which is providing systems support for Tricare, Medicare Advantage and state employee insurance plans across the country and is gaining widespread bipartisan support in Congress.