Steven Brill, Author of "Bitter Pill: Why Health Care Costs Are Killing Us"

This week, Mark and Margaret speak with entrepreneur and investigative journalist Steven Brill, author of the recent TIME Magazine expose on health care pricing, "Bitter Pill: Why Health Care Costs Are Killing Us". Mr Brill, founder of the Yale Journalism Initiative as well as Court TV, explores the root causes of inflated health care prices Americans are forced to bear, how the Affordable Care Act will play a role, and what might be done to bring those costs down.

Steven Brill, Author of <i>"America's Bitter Pill"</i>

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with attorney and author Steven Brill, whose latest book examines the creation of the Affordable Care Act. America's Bitter Pill: Money, Politics, Backroom Deals and the Fight to Fix Our Broken Health Care System examines the influence of the powerful health care lobby in blocking meaningful cost containment measures in the health care law.

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.

Dr Kenneth Brigham, Co-Founder of the Emory/Georgia Tech Predictive Health Institute

This week hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Kenneth Brigham, Professor Emeritus at Emory University and Co-Founder of the Emory/Georgia Tech Predictive Health Institute which is seeking to develop innovative predictive health models that will shift the health care of the future to focusing on optimizing good health rather than treating disease.

Dr. Jeffery Brenner, Executive Director of the Camden Coalition of Healthcare Providers

This week, Mark and Margaret speak with Dr. Jeffery Brenner, Founder and Executive Director of the Camden Coalition of Healthcare Providers. Dr. Brenner speaks about the data-driven, "hotspotter" approach he developed to reduce health care costs by indentifying high-use patients and more effectively and efficiently addressing their multiple needs.

Dr. Otis Brawley, Chief Medical Officer of the American Cancer Society

This week, Mark and Margaret speak with Dr. Otis Brawley, Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President of the American Cancer Society. Dr. Brawley speaks about his new book, “How We Do Harm: A Doctor Breaks Ranks and Talks About Being Sick in America”. Dr Brawley explores racial and ethnic disparities in cancer survival and looks at the costs incurred from overuse of certain cancer screenings that are not leading to better health outcomes.

Russell Branzell, President and CEO of the College of Health Information Management Executives

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Russell Branzell, President and CEO of the College of Health Information Management Executives or CHIME. They discuss the many challenges being faced by health IT executives in the quest for full adoption of electronic health records, meeting meaningful use standards, cybersecurity, and the problematic delay of ICD 10 adoption.

Dr. David Brailer, CEO of Health Evolution Partners

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. David Brailer, founder and CEO of Health Evolution Partners, a private equity firm that invests in global health innovators. Dr. Brailer was the nation's first National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, and analyzes the opportunities that lie ahead for Health IT.

When Area Hospitals Have the Same Owner, Does Medical Debt Go Up?

There are 27 million Americans who have medical debt on their credit reports right now—a drag on their pocketbooks and our health care system. Urban Institute researchers say they’ve found an interesting fact about those with medical debt: They live in communities with less healthcare competition because of common ownership. The data show that communities of color and people living in the South are disproportionately affected.

Fredric Blavin, Ph.D. and Breno Braga, Ph.D. say medical debt can intensify financial challenges, affect health care access and potentially worsen health outcomes. They report prices at monopoly hospitals are 12% higher than those in more competitive markets.

They share with hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter a variety of ways policymakers can explore unraveling the market concentration-medical debt link and we share the perspective of the American Hospital Association. 

Dr. Elizabeth Bradley, Yale Global Health Initiative

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Elizabeth Bradley Director of the Yale Global Health Initiative and co-author of The American Health Care Paradox: Why Spending More is Getting Us Less. Dr. Bradley discusses her research comparing American health spending and outcomes against 30 industrialized nations, and the reasons for poor outcomes here relative to the highest per capita health spending.

Michael Botticelli, Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Michael Botticelli, Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy at the White House. The nation's "Drug Czar" talks about ONDCP's quest to battle the rising tide of opioid addiction and overdoses, now the leading cause of accidental death in America, by targeting resources towards more effective treatments and interventions.

Dr. Jeffrey Borenstein, President and CEO of the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Jeffrey Borenstein, President and CEO of the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Columbia University and Editor-in-Chief of Psychiatric News, the journal of the American Psychiatric Association. He discusses their recent publication, "Understsanding Mental Disorders" which is a layperson's guide to diagnoses listed in the DSM-5.

GE Healthcare's 'Interoperability Guru' Keith Boone Talks Health IT and Coming Advances

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Keith Boone, "Interoperability Guru" at GE Healthcare. Mr. Boone discusses his work developing standards for health information technology as a board member at HL7 International, and how HL7's new FHIR standards, as well as growth of Accountable Care Organizations, will accelerate the pace of interoperability in health care.

Protecting the Health of Our Nation's Active Duty Military and Families: Defense Health Agency Director Vice Admiral Raquel Bono

This week hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Vice Admiral Dr. Raquel Bono, Director of the Defense Health Agency, tasked with providing health services for some 9.4 million members and their families. She talks about the complex, integrated health system providing care from the home base to the battlefield, the implementation of an integrated electronic health records system, and the partnerships required to support the DHA's mission to deliver quality care to all members stationed around the globe.

Hon. Mary Bono, Mothers for Awareness and Prevention of Drug Abuse

Mary Bono has left the halls of Congress, but she’s still winning with her efforts to stop the misuse of both prescription and illegal drugs. Bono, co-founder and chair of Mothers for Awareness and Prevention of Drug Abuse, wants to see a focus on solutions from lawmakers. With a greater presence of fentanyl in the drug supply, “everything [has] changed because there’s no longer time for experimentation,” Bono says. “‘One pill can kill’ is a [Drug Enforcement Administration] slogan, and it’s true.”

Cleveland Clinic's Chief Experience Officer Dr. Adrienne Boissy on Embedding Empathy Into Health Care Training

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Adrienne Boissy, Chief Experience Officer at the Cleveland Clinic Health System who talks about the Patient Experience Summit, and the quest to improve patient outcomes and reduce clinician burnout by operationalizing empathy into health systems.

Propelling Primary Care Towards Value-Based Care: Adam Boehler, Director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation at HHS on Their Bold Agenda

This week hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Adam Boehler, Deputy Administrator and Director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services at HHS. They discuss ways the agency hopes to "blow up fee for service" and the efforts underway to propel the nation's primary care reimbursement structure towards shared risk and value-based care, rewarding clinicians for better outcomes.

Designing a 21st century approach to patient-centered care

Conversations on Health Care® focuses today on transformative primary care and designing a 21st century approach to patient-centered-care. Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter will speak with Dr. Thomas Bodenheimer, renowned physician, author and researcher. Dr. Bodenheimer is a leading expert in primary care and strategies to improve quality and access while controlling costs.

Primary Care Transformation Pioneer Dr. Tom Bodenheimer on Need for More Team-Based Health Care

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter welcome a giant in the world of primary care transformation, Dr. Tom Bodenheimer, Co-Director of the Center for Excellence in Primary Care at the University of California San Francisco. They discuss Dr. Bodenheimer's "Ten Building Blocks for High-Performing Primary Care" which offers essential guidelines for improving primary care practices and patient health outcomes through better use of teams, data, health coaching and reducing administrative burdens in the clinical setting.

Health Information Technology with the Obama Administration

For our one-month anniversary show, we explore the future of health information technology. Hosts, Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter interview Dr. David Blumenthal, President Obama's National Coordiantor for Health Information Technology. Dr Blumenthal is tasked with modernizing our nation's health care system in order to improve the health of all Americans, bring down costs, and ensure long term growth.