Have a Way to Beat an Illness? These Federal Experts Need to Hear From You

We’re on location at Aspen Ideas-Health, talking with the leaders of a new innovation effort. Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) is backed by $2.5 billion dollars in federal money with a mandate to accelerate better health outcomes for everyone. The initiative aims to work outside of traditions with a “range of performers and a variety of approaches to solve” health care’s biggest hurdles. Can they find a way to reduce cancer deaths? That’s one of the questions hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter ask Renee Wegrzyn, ARPA-H’s director and Amy Jenkins, its director of Health Science Futures.

Biden COVID Equity Advisor Faces Dilemma as His Employer Drops Vaccine Mandate

Dr. Cameron Webb, White House Senior Policy Adviser for COVID-19 Equity, is navigating a tricky situation — as he advocates for vaccines, the university where he works just dropped its student vaccine mandate. Webb tells Conversations on Health Care hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter that he realizes the University of Virginia has some new dynamics to navigate. “There’s this rush to roll back a lot of the strategies that have gotten us to a point where we’re seeing less death,” he says. “This pandemic has been politicized to a point that it’s indistinguishable from the rest of our political rhetoric…rhetoric often meant to motivate a voter base.” Webb also discusses the administration’s efforts to address COVID equity issues, including the need to collect better data about race and ethnicity vaccination rates.

Dr. Vindell Washington, National Coordinator for Health IT at HHS

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Vindell Washington, National Coordinator for Health IT at the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the agency's program to shift the health care industry from paper to electronic health records. Dr. Washington discusses the agency's strategic plan for advancing those goals and for accelerating the creation of universal standards for health information exchange and the promotion of interoperability.

Health Disparities and the American Indian: Dr. Donald Warne on the Way Forward

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Donald Warne, Director of Indians Into Medicine (INMED) at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences. He discusses the impact of cultural trauma on the American Indian population, strategies for addressing health disparities and the need to mentor Native youth in the health professions.

COVID-19 and American Indians: Dr. Donald Warne on the Devastating Toll of the Pandemic on Native American Populations

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Donald Warne, Director of Indians Into Medicine (INMED) at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine. A renowned expert on American Indian health policies, Dr. Warne talks about the devastating toll COVID-19 is exacting on communities of color, particularly American Indians, who already suffer the effects of long term poverty, health disparities and Congress’ repeated failure to fully fund Indian Health Services which has led to a huge burden of chronic disease.

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

Indiana Secretary of Social Services Dr. Jennifer Walthall Discusses Health Care Transformation Through Medicaid Expansion and Waivers

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Jennifer Walthall, Indiana's Secretary of the Family and Social Services Administration, which oversees the state's Medicaid program. She discusses their unique approach to expanding Medicaid to hundreds of thousands of residents, as well as the state's comprehensive response to the spike in opioid and HIV cases.

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.

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

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.

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky on COVID Fall Booster Details

CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky and colleagues will soon review data for the new bivalent booster shot for COVID; she says it relates to very small changes in the mRNA sequence and that “shouldn’t impact safety at all…if we wait for those data to emerge in human data…not just mice data but human data…we would be using what I would consider to be a potentially outdated vaccine…it’s best to use a vaccine that’s tailored to the variant we have right now.”

Still, Dr. Walensky urges anyone who’s eligible to get the current booster right now while the U.S. government reviews the bivalent research. She points out that most of the cases of severe disease and death from COVID are unvaccinated or under-vaccinated people. “We have now given over 600 million doses of this vaccine in this country so we have an extraordinary safety profile, probably unlike any we’ve seen with any vaccine in history.”

Listen in to this important conversation with hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter.

Primary Care Innovator, Dr. Ed Wagner, on Patient-Centered, Coordinated Health Care Models

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Ed Wagner of the Kaiser Permanente Health Research Institute, and founder of the McColl Center for Health Innovation, where he focused on improving primary care. Dr. Wagner is the creator of the Chronic Care Model of patient management, and co-directs the LEAP project at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation which conducts research on patient-centered, coordinated and team-based approaches to improving primary care delivery and outcomes.

Health Care Budget Fight: Hear Each Side’s Argument

Republicans in the U.S. House passed a deal that lifts the debt ceiling along with spending cuts aimed at the nation’s health care safety net.

Romina Boccia, Director of Budget and Entitlement Policy at the Cato Institute, supports the move. She says, “I do think there’s quite a bit of improper spending, waste for certain and things the federal government shouldn’t be involved with anymore, where members of Congress could cut.”

Jennifer Wagner, Director of Medicaid Eligibility and Enrollment with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, is a critic of the GOP actions. “These cuts would devastate these programs especially when you protect certain programs that have been taken off the table…that means cuts to other programs like Medicaid like SNAP would be absurdly large,” she explains.

Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter give you the chance to hear both sides on this vitally important budget fight that will continue as President Biden and the Senate make the next moves.

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.

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.

Reaction to Philadelphia’s New Mask Orders: “A Little Premature”

“It feels a little premature…I might have waited a little longer to see what happens.”

That’s the reaction from COVID expert Dr. Robert Wachter to Philadelphia’s decision to again require people to wear masks indoors, including in schools and daycares. It’s the first major American city to take this step. Wachter is chair of the Department of Medicine, University of California San Francisco and a popular voice on Twitter.

He also shares that policymakers, including those looking at renewing public transportation mask orders, must consider that the public is tired of wearing masks after over two years.

Conversations on Health Care hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter’s full interview with Dr. Wachter is available now.

Ukraine Doctor’s War Dispatch: Horrific Criminal Acts

Dr. Iryna Voloshyna, a primary care medical professor in Ukraine, shares a harrowing account of how she and others have tried to deliver urgently needed oncology medication to patients but “can’t give them to our people…because there is no road, there are only Russian military soldiers who try to kill everyone who tries to bring boxes.”

Dr. Voloshyna tells Conversations on Health Care hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter that she and her daughter had to sleep on the subway station floor for a week, and their lives are still interrupted by air sirens. She says the Russians have “criminally interrupted” the Ukrainian way of life.

The Opioid Crisis Hasn’t Gone Away: NIDA Director Dr. Nora Volkow on Addiction Epidemic Amid COVID-19

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Nora Volkow, Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse at the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Volkow discusses her pioneering work in brain imaging which has given us a window into how addiction works in the brain. She discusses her recent report on susceptibility to COVID-19 for those with Substance Use Disorder, her concerns about increase in overdoses during the pandemic, and the need to curtail the vaping industry which is leading to a dangerous spike in nicotine addiction among young adults.

Dr. Eric Viire, Medical Director, XPrize Competition

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Eric Viire, Medical and Technical Director of the Qualcomm Tricorder XPRIZE Competition and the Nokia Sensing XCHALLENGE which seeks to put the future of health care in the palm of your hands. Dr. Viire discusses the competition finalists utilizing technological advances that are making it possible to develop hand held diagnostic sensors capable of identifying numerous conditions in one device.

CMS Administrator Seema Verma Talks Expansion of Telehealth, Development of COVID-19 Vaccine and Answers Recent Allegations

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter welcome Seema Verma, Administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services under the Trump administration, a trillion dollar-a-year agency providing health coverage for 130 million vulnerable Americans on Medicaid and Seniors on Medicare. She discusses the agency’s dramatic transformation in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including hundreds of waivers lifting restrictions for providers across the country, a swift expansion of telehealth adoption, and Operation Warp Speed’s quest to provide a safe and efficacious vaccine for widespread distribution, once it is approved. She also addresses recent allegations around agency spending questions.