Topic: Healthcare Policy

Elaine Schattner, MD, MA, a breast cancer survivor, patient advocate, and former oncologist, breaks down the role of patient advocates in the ever-changing oncology treatment landscape. It is the advocates’ responsibility to educate patients about their treatment options through bias-free therapy information, she argues. We had a great candid conversation during this podcast episode. Let … Read more

In this episode, I interview Mark Wolfinger, a leukemia survivor, who discusses some of the issues and concerns of navigating the cancer treatment landscape as a patient in today’s health care system. The patient journey is not always easy and it has many hurdles; Mark takes us through his journey and shares his views honestly … Read more

So much hype about medical errors and how often US patients die in hospitals because of medical errors. Dr. Mazer and I discuss the issue and how false information can lead to improper patient care. If patients truly believed the numbers proposed about frequency of medical errors, would they even seek medical care? To separate … Read more

What is shared-decision making? How much can patients grasp when making decisions and how much is a decision left to the doctor? The balance between shared-decision making and medical paternalism is not an easy one to resolve. I deliberate with Dr. Michel Accad on the origins and current use of “shared decision-making” between clinicians and … Read more