National Pediatric Leader Talks About Returning To School In Pandemic

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Sara Goza, President of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the largest organization dedicated to advancing the physical, mental and social health of the nation’s infants, children and young adults. Dr. Goza discusses how pediatricians can help inform the tough decisions families are making to keep kids safe while sending them back to school, the vital importance of continued well-visits and vaccinations for kids, and the policy agenda being promoted by the Academy to insure the health and safety of all children, including gun violence, poverty and social determinants of health.

Dr. Michelle Gourdine, physician, author and health policy consultant.

This week on Conversations on Health Care®, Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Michelle Gourdine about the individual, cultural and social factors that have led to poor health outcomes among African Americans. She'll discuss how everything from lifestyle advice to understanding how to navigate the healthcare system is important to bridge this gap in health status.

Biden COVID Transition Team Advisor Dr. Celine Gounder on Race Against Variants

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with renowned infectious disease expert Dr. Celine Gounder, who served as a COVID advisor on the Biden transition team. Dr. Gounder says we are in a race between vaccinations and the variants driving coronavirus infections in the US and around the world. She warns that we must scale up our genomic surveillance of the variants as they pose a continued threat to containment of the pandemic.

Why COVID Crushed Us: Former FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb Details America’s Botched Pandemic Response

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with former FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb whose new book outlines America’s epic failure in our response to the pandemic, leading to more than 700,000 deaths. “Uncontrolled Spread: Why COVID-19 Crushed Us and How We Can Defeat the Next Pandemic” examines the inherent flaws at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other public agencies that left us vulnerable to the raging pandemic. Dr. Gottlieb says the CDC and other agencies should be re-tooled to conduct more agile global disease surveillance, and that emerging therapeutics like Merck’s new oral COVID drug will be a game changer for treatment moving forward.

Top Reporters on Big Health Care Stories Right Now

At a time of high misinformation and confusion, Americans need to count on journalists for getting the facts about the state of health care. Reporters are busy covering the top stories including the legal challenges to Affordable Care Act and medical abortion.

Join Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter as they talk with three leading health care journalists: Amy Goldstein with The Washington Post; Joyce Frieden with MedPage Today; and Jessica Bartlett with The Boston Globe.

Digital Medicine Society Executive Director Jennifer Goldsack on Need for Standards in This New Era in Medicine

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Jennifer Goldsack, Interim Executive Director of the newly-launched Digital Medicine Society, or DiMe, the first organization dedicated to providing guidelines for the emerging reality of digital technology in health care. She talks about the need for creating agreed-upon standards, guidelines and best practices to ensure that digital health technologies live up to their promise of improving health care delivery, research and outcomes without doing any harm.

Thomas Goetz, author of The Decision Tree: Taking Control of Your Health in the New Era of Personalized Medicine, on taking control of your own health

Conversations on Health Care® this week focuses on the confluence of ideas and technology and how to engage people in their health and involving them as decision-makers. Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter talk with Thomas Goetz, Executive Editor of Wired Magazine and author of “The Decision Tree: Taking Control of Your Health in the New Era of Personalized Medicine.”

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.

Secretary Dan Glickman, Sr. Fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center

This week, Mark and Margaret speak with former USDA Secretary Dan Glickman, now a Senior Fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center. Mr. Glickman co-chairs the Nutrition and Physical Activity Initiative and discusses the Center's campaign to promote better use of the Farm Bill resources which subsidize farmers as well as those receiving food assistance to more positively impact health costs by targeting drivers of obesity.

White House Preview: How Can We Tackle Hunger, Nutrition, and Health?

Wednesday, Sept. 28, the Biden-Harris Administration will host the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health, the first one in over 50 years. What will the experts and community leaders discuss? How will we reach the goal of ending U.S. hunger and reducing diet-related diseases in a majority of Americans by 2030?

“Conversations on Health Care” hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter get answers from Dan Glickman, the former Secretary of Agriculture, and Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, a renowned expert on food systems. They’re co-chairs of an independent effort to inform America’s leaders as the attendees prepare for this important day.

Paul Gionfriddo, CEO of Mental Health America

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Paul Gionfriddo, CEO of Mental Health America, the nation's oldest organization dedicated to advancing access to mental services for all Americans. He discusses the need to change the nation's response to mental illness from a public safety to a public health approach.

Paul Gionfriddo, CEO of Mental Health America

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Paul Gionfriddo, CEO of Mental Health America, the nation's oldest organization dedicated to advancing access to mental services for all Americans. He discusses the need to change the nation's response to mental illness from a public safety to a public health approach.

Dr. Richard Gilfillan, acting director for the new Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

Conversations on Health Care® focuses this week on delivery system reform. Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Richard Gilfillan, acting director of the newly launched Innovation Center at CMS, about its crucial mission to test, analyze and spread innovative payment and service delivery models to reduce healthcare costs and enhance quality.

Health Care Transformation Task Force Chair Dr. Richard Gilfillan on Value-Based Care Policies Trump and Congress Must Consider

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Richard Gilfillan, CEO of Trinity Health and Chair of the Health Care Transformation Task Force, a consortium of health industry leaders committed to improving health care in the US. Dr. Gilfillan discusses the need for continued support for value-based health care delivery improvements from Congress and the Trump Administration.

Rosemary Gibson, author of The Treatment Trap: How the Overuse of Medical Care is Wrecking Your Health and What You Can Do to Prevent It.

Conversations on Health Care® focuses this week on patient safety. Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Rosemary Gibson, nationally known for her work in patient safety, communications and healthcare quality. Her latest book, The Treatment Trap, focuses on the overuse of medical care and what can be done to reduce it.

Dr. C. Michael Gibson, Founder and Chairman of the WikiDoc Foundation

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. C. Michael Gibson, interventional cardiologist and Founder and Chairman of the Board of the WikiDoc Foundation, the world's largest open source texbook of medicine designed to make medical knowledge free and accessible to all.

Dr. C. Michael Gibson, Founder and Chairman of the WikiDoc Foundation

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. C. Michael Gibson, interventional cardiologist and Founder and Chairman of the Board of the WikiDoc Foundation, the world's largest open source texbook of medicine designed to make medical knowledge free and accessible to all.

David Gergen, Sr. Political Analyst for CNN

This week, Mark and Margaret speak with David Gergen, Sr. Political Analyst for CNN, Director of the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard's Kennedy School, and former advisor to four presidents. Mr. Gergen addresses the potential outcomes in the ongoing defecit discussion, as well as his views on the strengths and weaknesses of the Affordable Care Act.

Dr. H. Jack Geiger, Physicians for Social Responsibility

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. H. Jack Geiger, co-founder of Physicians for Human Rights and Physicians for Social Responsibility, both of which went on to earn the Nobel Prize for Peace. Dr. Geiger is considered the founder of the Community Health Center movement in this country and discusses his decades of activism for equality in health care.

Dr. H. Jack Geiger, Physicians for Social Responsibility

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. H. Jack Geiger, co-founder of Physicians for Human Rights and Physicians for Social Responsibility, both of which went on to earn the Nobel Prize for Peace. Dr. Geiger is considered the founder of the Community Health Center movement in this country and discusses his decades of activism for equality in health care.