Can We Make Companies Care About Your Health?
In this episode about corporate responsibility and public health, the former WIRED editor explains why changing company behavior may be easier than changing consumer habits – and how a new health accountability index could help transform America.
The Shkreli Awards
From selling deceased patients' body parts to denying cancer treatment over upfront payments, the Lown Institute's annual Shkreli Awards spotlight the most egregious examples of profiteering and dysfunction in American healthcare. Dr. Vikas Saini, President of the Lown Institute, walks us through 2024's "winners" and what they reveal about the state of our healthcare system.
Is This the Pandemic Era?
In this episode, I sit down with epidemiologist Jessica Malaty Rivera to discuss Monkeypox, Polio, COVID, and why pandemics are becoming more common.
Jessica serves as the Science Communication Lead for The COVID Tracking Project at The Atlantic, a Research Fellow at Boston Children's Hospital Innovation & Digital Health Accelerator, an Infection Preventionist at Netflix, and a Senior Advisor to the Pandemic Prevention Institute at the Rockefeller Foundation. This episode was recorded at the Rock Health Virtual Summit.
How E-Cigarette Makers Target Youth
Public health efforts to curb teen smoking had made quite a bit of progress, until Juul and other e-cigarette brands came on the market in 2015. With a discreet form factor and tasty artificial names like “gummy bear” and “cool cucumber”, vaping has become extremely attractive to young people. In fact, research has found that between 10%-24% of high school students are addicted to nicotine. In this episode, Dr. Susan Walley, Chief of the Division of Hospital Medicine at Children's National Hospital, discusses her work developing effective healthcare and school-based interventions to reduce youth tobacco use.
Saving Primary Care
The number of Americans with a primary care physician is declining along with the number of medical school graduates wanting to go into primary care. A big reason for this is how, and how much, they are paid. Can replacing our fee-for-service model with value-based care save our healthcare system? In this episode, Dr. Farzad Mostashari, former National Coordinator for Health IT at HHS and current Co-Founder and CEO of Aledade, dives into the what, why, and how of value-based care solutions.
Housing Is Healthcare
Dr. Margot Kushel explains the country’s rise in homelessness and the critical impact of housing on the health needs of vulnerable populations.