Healthcare Policy

At the Oncology Clinical Pathways Congress, I sit down with Robin T Zon, MD, FACP, FASCO; Lee Schwartzberg, MD, FACP; and Tom Valuck, MD, JD, MHSA, to discuss pathway integration in value-based care models, OCM and other APMs, and the increasing role of employers in value-based care and payment.

I attended the annual clinical pathways congress held in Boston in October 2019 and while there, I made my rounds, catching guests and presenters such as Blase Polite, Alan Balch, and Lee Schwartzberg for some candid conversation and feedback. So much fun, especially that it was in Boston 🙂

The amazing and inspiring Vincent DeVita, MD, professor of medicine at Yale Cancer Center and former president of ACS, former Physician-in-Chief of MSKCC, and someone who has held way too many national titles to count, debated with me some of the ideas laid out in his book, “The Death of Cancer,” most notably the utility

Opinions collide in this spirited debate about how physicians can and should enter conversations on political issues as I host my amazing guest Saurabh Jha who expounds on a recent Lancet article focused on the Kashmir conflict. Should physicians interfere with politics beyond how politics can affect care delivery. what about gun control? If you

Jeremy Topin, MD, delves into a conversation with me that focuses on improving communication in end-of-life care and the societal shift necessary to change the negative stigma surrounding such care. I worked with Jeremy when we both were at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital. He is a critical care physician so he deals with end-of-life issues

Vinay Prasad, MD, MPH, policy research and oncologist, dissects with me the theory of “value-based care.” How can this concept be used as a tool to better patient care and lower the cost of cancer therapies? Are current value estimations useful in this space? How do we define value? I think it’s in the eyes

Bishal Gyawali, MD, PhD, global oncologist and policy researcher, explains to me the financial toxicity faced by patients with cancer and potential strategies to mitigate it. What can be done to “avoid wisely” low-value practices? Why do we care about physical toxicities that patients experience with cancer care and pay less attention to the impact

I sit down with Alison Bateman-House, PhD, MPH, MA, from NYU, to discuss the details of the “Right To Try Act” a year after it was signed into law. Was it a good idea? Do patients stand to benefit? What led to this initiative and how does this help clinical trial enrollment, if at all?