Health & Veritas

Howie and Harlan are joined by Mallika Mendu to discuss how innovations in operations can lead to improved inpatient care and her work as both a practicing nephrologist and associate chief medical officer at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Harlan highlights the Lasker Award in medicine; Howie reports on a promising $650 million pilot in North Carolina to comprehensively address the social determinants of health. Links: US Bureau of Labor Statistics | Skilled Nursing Facilities Employment “What Went Right? A Mixed-Methods Study of Positive Feedback Data in a Hospital-Wide Mortality Review Survey” “The Advancing American Kidney Health Initiative: The Challenge of Overcoming the Status Quo” Haven Free Clinic | Home Page “A Holy Grail — The Prediction of Protein Structure” Wikipedia on AlphaFold “Lasker Award for Revolutionizing Protein Structure Predictions” “A.I. Predicts the Shape of Nearly Every Protein Known to Science” NC Medicaid Managed Care Healthy Opportunities Pilot Fee Schedule and Service Definitions Meanings and Misunderstandings: A Social Determinants of Health Lexicon for Health Care Systems NCDHHS | Healthy Opportunities Pilots “In North Carolina, a radical experiment targets social determinants of health with fresh produce and safe housing” Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

Howie and Harlan are joined by Nita Ahuja, a Yale surgeon and researcher, to discuss new methods in for detecting and treating cancers and the barriers faced by women surgeons. Harlan answers questions about an FDA panel’s finding that the decongestant phenylephrine is ineffective; Howie looks at the trends making hospital finances unsustainable.  Links: “FDA clarifies results of recent advisory committee meeting on oral phenylephrine” “Phenylephrine vs. Pseudoephedrine: What’s the Difference?” “Why Has a Useless Cold Medication Been Allowed on Shelves for Years?” “Surgeon Sex and Long-Term Postoperative Outcomes Among Patients Undergoing Common Surgeries” “Differences in Cholecystectomy Outcomes and Operating Time Between Male and Female Surgeons in Sweden” “Age, Gender And Ability To Listen: Who Listens Best?” “Women surgeons are punished more than men for the exact same mistakes, study finds” “Sexual harassment, sexual assault and rape by colleagues in the surgical workforce, and how women and men are living different realities: observational study using NHS population-derived weights” “Board of Supervisors denies Greenwood Leflore Hospital’s $1 million request” “Money and ambition split up Dana-Farber and Brigham” Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Inc. and Subsidiaries: Consolidated Financial Statements and Supplementary Information Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

In a special episode, Howie and Harlan are joined by the virologist and advocate Peter Hotez to discuss his new book, The Deadly Rise of Anti-Science: A Scientist’s Warning. This interview was recorded in late August. Links:  Peter Hotez: The Deadly Rise of Anti-Science: A Scientist’s Warning Peter Hotez: Vaccines Did Not Cause Rachel’s Autism “Red Covid, an Update” “The Red/Blue Divide in COVID-19 Vaccination Rates Continues: An Update" “Swiss study finds connection between watching Fox News and vaccination rates going down" “The Paranoid Style in American Plutocrats" “Wakefield’s article linking MMR vaccine and autism was fraudulent" “Peter Hotez is not alone: Online harassment of doctors is a public health issue" Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

Howie and Harlan are joined by Ted Long, senior vice president of ambulatory care and population health at New York City Health + Hospitals, to discuss New York City’s remarkable success in providing care to its most vulnerable citizens. Harlan discusses the state of research into long COVID, including his own studies; Howie reports on the first round of drug-price negotiation under the Inflation Reduction Act.  Links: “Scientists look at the progress made toward understanding—and treating—long COVID” National Institutes of Health “NIH launches new initiative to study ‘Long COVID’” The Yale Paxlovid for Long COVID (PAX LC) Trial Internal tremors and vibrations in long COVID: a cross-sectional study “Burnout threatens primary care workforce and doctors' mental health” NYC Health and Hospitals: Housing for Health “NYC Health + Hospitals Wins Superbowl Of Reducing Blood Pressure Awards” “Over 5,000 Patients Have Worked With NYC Health + Hospital Community Health Workers, Who Address Patients’ Pressing Social Needs To Improve Their Health” The White House: Biden-⁠Harris Administration Announces First Ten Drugs Selected for Medicare Price Negotiation “Drugmakers Are ‘Throwing the Kitchen Sink’ to Halt Medicare Price Negotiations” “The 4 Arguments You Will Hear Against Drug Price Negotiation” Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

Howie and Harlan are joined by Zhenqiu Lin, senior director of analytics at Yale’s Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation, to discuss how quality measures can make care more consistent and effective and improve outcomes for patients. Howie provides an update on research on repetitive head trauma among young football players; Harlan reports on new findings about the benefits of semaglutide for people with heart disease. Links: “Neuropathologic and Clinical Findings in Young Contact Sport Athletes Exposed to Repetitive Head Impacts” American Academy Of Pediatrics: “Tackling in Youth Football” “National Use and Effectiveness of β-Blockers for the Treatment of Elderly Patients After Acute Myocardial Infarction” “Twenty-Year Trends in Outcomes for Older Adults With Acute Myocardial Infarction in the United States” “Quality Measure Public Reporting Is Associated with Improved Outcomes Following Hip and Knee Replacement” “Novo Nordisk A/S: Semaglutide 2.4 mg reduces the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events by 20% in adults with overweight or obesity in the SELECT trial” “Semaglutide in Patients with Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction and Obesity” Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

Howie and Harlan look back on some of their favorite moments from the first 92 episodes of Health & Veritas. Featured episodes: Ania Jastreboff: The Revolution in Obesity Medication Josh Geballe: Turning Yale Innovation into Startups Anna Kaltenboeck: Untangling Drug Prices Akiko Iwasaki: Is Long COVID One Disease or Many? Perry Wilson: The Formula for Medical Misinformation Jeffrey Sonnenfeld: The CEO Whisperer Harlan Krumholz, This Is Your Life Megan Ranney: What’s Next for Public Health? Michael Alosco: The Toll of Repetitive Head Impacts Gil Addo: Building a Model for Virtual Specialty Care Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

In this special episode, Howie and Harlan are joined by Vivek Murthy, the 19th and 21st Surgeon General of the United States, and a graduate of the Yale School of Management and the Yale School of Medicine. Links: The Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service CDC: Understanding the Opioid Overdose Epidemic “How Sleep Deprivation Impacts Mental Health” CMS: Delivering Services in School-Based Settings Vivek Murthy and Harlan Krumholz: “Participation in Cancer Clinical Trials Race-, Sex-, and Age-Based Disparities” U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory: Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation Surgeon General’s Advisory on E-cigarette Use Among Youth Vivek Murthy: “U.S. surgeon general: I am concerned about social media and youth mental health” Visions Worldwide Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

Howie and Harlan are joined by Alan Friedman, chief medical officer at Yale New Haven Hospital, to talk about the organizational and cultural changes that the hospital has made to minimize medical errors and unprofessional behavior that harm patients. Howie reports on a Yale study showing a gap in excess deaths between Republicans and Democrats after the COVID-19 vaccine was introduced; Harlan discusses the continued problem of financial toxicity for patients, and a new study casting doubt on the effectiveness of “neuroprotective” diets. Links: “Excess Death Rates for Republican and Democratic Registered Voters in Florida and Ohio During the COVID-19 Pandemic” “State-Level Excess Mortality in US Adults During the Delta and Omicron Waves of COVID-19” “Incidence of adverse events and negligence in hospitalized patients: results of the Harvard Medical Practice Study” “To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System” “The Safety of Inpatient Health Care” “We’re Already Paying for Universal Health Care. Why Don’t We Have It?” “Out-of-Pocket Annual Health Expenditures and Financial Toxicity From Healthcare Costs in Patients With Heart Failure in the United States” “Trial of the MIND Diet for Prevention of Cognitive Decline in Older Persons” Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

Howie and Harlan are joined by Melissa Davis, a Yale radiologist and a graduate of Yale SOM’s MBA for Executives program, to discuss the ‘whoa’ moments and the weaknesses she has encountered using artificial intelligence to help interpret scans. Harlan reflects on the slow progress toward a healthcare system that rewards value rather than volume; Howie reports on new treatments for Alzheimer’s disease.  Links: “Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suggests covid was designed to spare Jews, Chinese people” “The Medicare Physician Fee Schedule and Unethical Behavior” “Vinod Khosla: Machines will replace 80 percent of doctors” “Affirmative action ruling raises concerns over impact on medical school diversity” Yale School of Management: MBA for Executives Sepsis DX, co-founded by Melissa Davis “Donanemab in Early Symptomatic Alzheimer Disease: The TRAILBLAZER-ALZ 2 Randomized Clinical Trial” “Editorial: Amyloid-Targeting Monoclonal Antibodies for Alzheimer Disease” Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

Howie and Harlan are joined by Julius Chapiro to discuss advances in the use of machine learning and molecular imaging to understand and treat liver cancer and his work as the director of Yale’s Center for Minimally Invasive Therapies. Harlan reports on a medical journal paper that highlights positive outcomes while ignoring negative ones; Howie warns of the impact of private equity ownership of medical practices. Links: “MR Imaging Biomarkers for the Prediction of Outcome after Radiofrequency Ablation of Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Qualitative and Quantitative Assessments of the Liver Imaging Reporting and Data System and Radiomic Features” “Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin - Liver Cancer Minimally Invasive Therapies” ”Predicting tumor recurrence on baseline MR imaging in patients with early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma using deep machine learning” “Comparison of Existing Response Criteria in Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma Treated with Transarterial Chemoembolization Using a 3D Quantitative Approach” “Bempedoic Acid and Cardiovascular Outcomes in Statin-Intolerant Patients” “Bempedoic Acid for Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Events in Statin-Intolerant Patients” “Monetizing Medicine: Private Equity And Competition In Physician Practice Markets” Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.