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MONDAY, MARCH 8, 2021

Dr. Rick Bright to Lead Bold Pandemic Preparedness Initiative at The Rockefeller Foundation

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Rick Bright, Sr. Vice President for Pandemic Preparedness and Response at The Rockefeller Foundation, former chief of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) at HHS, and member of the Biden Transition Team on COVID-19. Dr. Bright is launching a new pandemic preparedness initiative at The Rockefeller Foundation, creating the first-of-its-kind national and global pandemic surveillance infrastructure to alert governments around the world about emerging pandemic threats. Dr. Bright resigned his post at BARDA after filing a whistleblower complaint against the previous administration for mishandling of the pandemic response.
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2013

Dr. Rishi Manchanda, Founder and President of HealthBegins

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Rishi Manchanda, Founder and President of HealthBegins, an online portal to link "upstreamists" - health clinicians working on solving the social and environmental determinants of health. He discusses his new book, The Upstream Doctors, in which he promotes a movement to develop a national force of "upstream" medical professionals dedicated to transforming health care at its source, where patients live, work and play.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2010

Dr. Robert Berenson, economist at the Urban Institute discusses health care policy and controlling future costs.

Conversations on Health Care® focuses this week on innovative health care policy and controlling costs. Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter talk with Dr. Robert Berenson, an Institute Fellow at the Urban Institute. He is an expert in health care policy, particularly Medicare, with experience practicing medicine as an internist, serving in senior positions in two Administrations, and helping organize and manage a successful preferred provider organization.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 7, 2010

The Veterans Affairs Healthcare System— Under Secretary for Health, Dr. Robert Petzel, discusses why this has become a model system of care.

Conversations on Health Care® focuses today on the VA health system. Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Robert Petzel, VA Under Secretary for Health, about why the VA healthcare system has become one of the most respected models of health care in America.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7, 2012

Dr. Robert Wallace, Chair of the Institute of Medicine Committee on Living Well With Chronic Illness

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Robert Wallace, Chair of the Institute of Medicine Committee that recently released its report and recommendations "Living Well With Chronic Illness: A Call for Public Action". The report addresses the burden of chronic illness and suggests changes in public health policy and practice and how the country addresses chronic illness.
MONDAY, JANUARY 13, 2014

Dr. Robert Pearl, CEO of the Permanente Medical Group

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Robert Pearl, Executive Director and CEO of the Permanente Medical Group, the largest medical group in the nation. Dr. Pearl discusses their use of pre-paid health care, system-wide electronic medical records and data mining to improve care and contain costs.
MONDAY, MARCH 30, 2015

Dr. Robert Wachter, Author of the "The Digital Doctor"

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Robert Wachter, Associate Chair of the Department of Medicine at U.C. San Francisco. He is considered the founder of the "hospitalist" movement and is author of The Digital Doctor: Hope, Hype and Harm at the Dawn of Medicine's Computer Age which examines the challenges being experienced in the rapid transition to digital medicine.
MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2015

Dr. Robert Wachter, Author of the "The Digital Doctor"

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Robert Wachter, Associate Chair of the Department of Medicine at U.C. San Francisco. He is considered the founder of the "hospitalist" movement and is author of The Digital Doctor: Hope, Hype and Harm at the Dawn of Medicine's Computer Age which examines the challenges being experienced in the rapid transition to digital medicine.
MONDAY, JUNE 27, 2016

Dr. Robert Zarr, ParkRx Advisor, National Park Service

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Robert Zarr, pediatrician at Unity Health in Washington, DC and founder of the ParkRx movement, which seeks to help patients achieve optimal health by prescribing the use local park spaces. Dr. Zarr discusses the science behind the movement and the development of a national data base for clinicians around the country to prescribe park time for improved mental health, physical wellbeing and reduced obesity rates among their patients.
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2016

Health Policy Challenges President-Elect Trump Must Face

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Robert Blendon, Director of the Harvard Opinion Research Program at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health about health opinions that will challenge the Trump administration in establishing health policy. Dr. Blendon discusses how differing opinions regarding health care will shape the administration's health policy agenda moving forward.
MONDAY, MAY 6, 2019

Ending HIV/AIDS in America and Confronting the Resurgence of Measles: CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield on Public Health Solutions

This week hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Robert Redfield, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention which is dedicated to eradicating the AIDS Virus as we know it in this country, dramatically reducing new infections within a decade. He also addresses the domestic and global spike of previously eradicated diseases like measles, resulting from a growing anti-vaccination movement.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2019

Ending HIV Epidemic in a Decade: CDC Director Robert Redfield on Treatments, Prevention and Hope For Vaccine

This week, on the eve of World Aids Day, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter revisit their conversation with Dr. Robert Redfield, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, on the quest to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic in ten years. They discuss the CDC’s efforts to advance infection prevention in high risk groups through the use of PrEP, better treatment protocols for those already infected, and the ongoing quest to develop an AIDS vaccine.

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2021

Robert Gallo, Scientist Who Co-Discovered HIV Offers Guidance to Patients as Omicron Increases

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter welcome famed AIDS Researcher Dr. Robert Gallo, co-discoverer of the HIV virus, which led to the first tests and treatments for AIDS. He is Director of the Institute for Human Virology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and Co-founder of the Global Virus Network, a consortium of research centers of excellence in 66 countries around the world, a nongovernmental agency collaborating on emerging virus research. Dr. Gallo says their network of scientists knew early in the COVID-19 pandemic that the mRNA vaccines would be effective, but for a limited time, and that boosters will be required until the global outbreak is brought under control. He says it’s too soon to predict the full impact of the omicron variant, but that it is likely to overwhelm many countries.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2012

Robert E. Mechanic, Senior Fellow at Heller School, Brandeis University

This week, Mark and Margaret speak with Robert E. Mechanic, Senior Fellow at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University. Mr. Mechanic is the lead author on a report in this month’s Health Affairs that offers the first in-depth analysis of the effectiveness of cost containment measures in the State of Massachusetts since near-universal health coverage was achieved in that state. The report looks at the rise of Accountable Care Organizations and the creation of an independent commission to oversee health care system performance as having a positive impact on cost controls.
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2014

Robin Guenther, FAIA, Sustainable Healthcare Design Expert

This week on Conversations on Health Care, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Robin Guenther, FAIA, Principal at the global architectural firm Perkins & Will and a Senior Advisor to Healthcare Without Harm. Ms. Guenther, a leading expert on sustainable design in health care, addresses the growing trend of green building design in the health care industry, leading to a reduced carbon footprint as well as healthier, more sustainable buildings.
MONDAY, MAY 17, 2021

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky Talks Boosters, Masks and Health Equity

This week hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Rochelle Walensky, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Walensky defends the science behind lifting mask restrictions for vaccinated Americans, examines the ongoing research on vaccine efficacy against emerging COVID variants and possibility of a need for booster shots. She also outlines efforts underway by the CDC and the Biden Administration to leverage provisions in the American Recovery Act to address health inequity by strengthening the nation’s public health infrastructure
THURSDAY, JANUARY 13, 2022

A Candid Conversation with CDC Director Rochelle Walensky on Politics of the Office, Masking Guidelines, COVID Testing and Pandemic Frustration

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter welcome CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky, addressing confusion and frustration around lack of rapid COVID tests and need for more N95 masks for the public. She talks about the shifting plan of action from the Biden Administration in response to the dramatic surge in omicron-driven COVID cases, and the scaled up efforts to make rapid tests and high quality masks available to all Americans.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 26, 2013

Ron Pollack, Chairman of the Board of Enroll America

This week, Mark and Margaret speak with Ron Pollack, Chairman of the Board of Enroll American and Founder and Executive Director of Families USA, whose mission is to assist all Americans seeking insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act. Mr. Pollack discusses Enroll America's mission to facilitate navigation of the online insurance exchanges as well as help those customers who will benefit from the Medicaid expansion.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 8, 2013

Dr. Roni Zeiger, CEO of Smart Patients

This week, Mark and Margaret speak with Dr. Roni Zeiger, CEO of Smart Patients, a clinical trials search engine and online community for cancer patients, their caregivers and clinicians to share information about best practices in cancer treatment.

MONDAY, AUGUST 15, 2016

Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, ranking member on the Labor, Health, Human Services, and Education Appropriations Subcommittee. Representative DeLauro discusses the opioid crisis, lead poisoning, lack of funding for research, as well as her efforts to create a permanent health emergency fund to be ready to confront emerging disease outbreaks like Ebola and the Zika Virus.