Fixing Healthcare Podcast

Welcome to episode 25 of “Coronavirus: The Truth,” a podcast that focuses on the facts surrounding COVID-19. Today’s show breaks from our traditional format. It is dedicated to addressing the most prevalent rumors, claims and conspiracy theories about Covid-19: from miracle cures to media hoaxes. We’ll look at frequently cited examples of disinformation, pseudoscience and false assertions from across the internet. Our intent isn’t to discredit these claims, but to examine them today from all sides. We’ll look at both the scientific facts as well as the fears that stoke people’s suspicions. We’ll address all of these Covid-19 topics honestly and sympathetically. As always, the goal of this podcast is to provide listeners with the information they need to keep them and their loved ones safe. Here are the questions/conspiracies/claims covered in today’s episode: [05:30] Where did the virus come from? Was Covid-19 created in a Chinese lab? [12:35] One of President Trump’s top medical advisers urged a controversial “herd immunity” strategy to combat the pandemic. What does the science say? [19:08] Trump claimed that doctors and hospitals have inflating their COVID-19 patient counts in order to, quote, “get more money.” Is it true? And are we over-counting our nation’s Covid-19 cases? [22:05] In July, the Trump administration announced shifted control of coronavirus hospital data from the CDC over to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Has there been any evidence of foul play with Covid-19 reporting? [25:37] A lot of claims on social media suggest that masks don’t work or can actually prove harmful. What are the facts? [29:14] Do other countries test their populations significantly less than the United States? Is there truth to the claim that other nations are fudging the numbers on cases and deaths? [32:45] Is it possible that the efficacy of drugs like Regeneron, Hydroxychloroquine and Remdisivir has been underplayed by people who just didn’t want to give the Trump administration a win? [35:43] Is there any truth to the rumor that Pfizer may have delayed the good news about its Covid-19 vaccine tests until after the election? [36:33] The coronavirus pandemic has been politicized since day one. What are the most incendiary claims from both sides? This episode is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify and other podcast platforms. To get in touch, please visit the contact page or send us a message on Twitter or LinkedIn. *To ensure the credibility of this program, Coronavirus: The Truth refuses to accept sponsorship, outside funding sources or guests with any financial or personal conflicts of interest. The post #25: Is there any truth to these Covid-19 conspiracy theories? appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

Back in June, a young Black physician stood outside the Sterling Hall of Medicine at Yale University with a sign in her hands that read: “Stop Killing Black People.” Then she set down the sign, removed her mask, grabbed a megaphone and opened people’s eyes. “My name is Dr. Amanda Calhoun,” she told the crowd, “and I am a Pediatrics and Psychiatry intern at Yale. But long before I was a doctor, I was a Black person in America. And this white coat does not protect me.” This episode of Fixing Healthcare asks the question: Is the culture of medicine racist? Dr. Calhoun, an Adult/Child Psychiatry Resident at Yale and an emerging voice in the national discussion about race relations in medicine, believes every doctor should be an anti-racism advocate. She sat down with co-hosts Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr to share her experiences and insights. Season five of Fixing Healthcare focuses on the culture of American medicine, covering what Dr. Robert Pearl calls, “the good, the bad, the beauty, the ugliness, the things that inspire, and the things about which we are embarrassed.”   Highlights from Episode 27 with Dr. Calhoun On Calhoun’s own experience with racism in medicine I’ve been on units where it’s common to make jokes about a patient’s hair texture, it’s okay to joke and say that a Black patient wants to join a gang, to joke and say a patient is ghetto, to me that’s institutionalized racism because if you would go to the individual person, they would say they aren’t racist, but that’s really almost a racist institutionalized culture that’s been baked into the system and then people start to believe that it’s okay. It’s very insidious. On distrust between black patients and white doctors A lot of my Black patients have concerns about whether they trust what the attending is saying, whether doctors are going to be experimenting on them. And I’ve had colleagues say, ‘That’s so funny. That’s ridiculous. Why would we experiment on them?’ And I said, are you aware of Henrietta Lacks, the Havasupai Tribe lawsuit, Tuskegee, and a number of other studies that have shown that medicine has a history of experimenting on Black people and other people of color? On undertreating pain in Black patients We know that Black patients are undertreated for their pain compared to white patients. Meaning that if a Black patient and a white patient comes into the clinic or the emergency department with similar pain symptoms for presentation, the white patients are more likely to be worked up more, they receive more testing and also studies have come out that have shown that minority patients in general are less likely to be treated with empathy and understanding compared to white patients. On educating doctors about racism   A 2015 survey showed that white residents and medical students still felt that Black people felt less pain, which is wild to me because Black is a race. It’s not biological, right, it’s a social construct that was made up and they still think that Black people feel less pain. Then when you bring in the history of it, you start learning about J. Marion Sims, the father of gynecology, and the fact that he experimented on African slaves with anesthesia to perfect his vestigial vaginal fistula repair, and then would take those perfected procedures and perform them on white women with anesthesia. So you can see how this historical belief that Black people felt less pain has persisted and continues to persist today. On sexism vs. racism in medicine The sexism I experienced pales in comparison to the racism I experience. I mean, it’s not even on the same level. White women are benefiting far more from societal advantages than Black women. That’s just a fact. White women are paid more in the same jobs than Black women are. There are more white women represented in psychiatry, for example, than Black women by far. And so, I don’t want to minimize sexism. Of course, sexism is terrible and there is a lot that needs to be done on that front, but I do not think the sexism that I experienced is nearly as damaging as the racism. On getting Black people vaccinated against COVID-19 When this vaccine comes out it’s going to be very interesting because trying a new vaccine requires trust and I think that trust has been eroded and really, honestly eroded, and was never truly earned in the Black community. I think one of the biggest things that we can do as the medical system is work on rebuilding that trust with the Black community. On Black mothers dying in childbirth   For me, as a Black woman, one of the studies that really touched me was looking at the rising maternal mortality in Black women due to preventable childbirth complications and the fact that for the longest time people were citing poverty and lack of education as the reason behind these racial disparities. However, recent studies have shown that college graduate Black women are more likely to die due to preventable childbirth complications than white women who have never completed high school. That argument that it’s just poverty, it’s just education, falls to the wayside when you still see that these disparities exist. READ: Full transcript of our discussion with Dr. Amanda Calhoun  Listener note: Dr. Robert Pearl has spent years researching and reporting on the culture of medicine. That work will culminate in the publication of his 2021 book, “Uncaring: How Physician Culture Is Killing Doctors And Patients.” To learn more, subscribe to his newsletter Monthly Musings on American Healthcare. * * * Fixing Healthcare is a co-production of Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. Subscribe to the show via Apple Podcasts or wherever you find podcasts. Join the conversation or suggest a guest by following the show on Twitter and LinkedIn. The post Episode 27: Dr. Amanda Calhoun on white coats and Black Lives appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

Podcast cohost Jeremy Corr is the father of a four-year-old son. Like many parents, Jeremy is inundated with information (much of it conflicting) about the coronavirus, its spread among children and the threat of transmission between kids and adults. In this episode of Coronavirus: The Truth, Jeremy and his cohost Dr. Robert Pearl discuss the latest scientific findings, including an interesting Yale study, which concluded that childcare is not associated with spread of COVID-19. Tune in for more on this and the following topics and questions: [00:50] What was the biggest news concerning the coronavirus this past week and what does it mean? [06:26] What have scientists learned about Covid-19 infections among young children? [07:47] What to make about the promising study in Science concerning antibodies? [09:47] College campuses are accounting for high rates of infection. What’s going on here? [11:28] Why did the CDC change its definition of “close contact” (close proximity)? [15:52] What’s the latest news on vaccine development? [19:04] Listener question: Is it safe to fly home for the holidays? [21:15] Listener question: Is it unsafe for parents to send their kids to school? [25:03] Has mask-wearing increased in rural America with the latest surge in cases? Next week’s show will focus on conspiracy theories about Covid-19. Tune in then and let us know if you have any questions ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday. To get in touch, please visit the contact page or send us a message on Twitter or LinkedIn. This episode is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify and other podcast platforms. *To ensure the credibility of this program, Coronavirus: The Truth refuses to accept sponsorship, outside funding sources or guests with any financial or personal conflicts of interest.   The post #24: Are the kids alright? What about their parents? appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

Last Thursday, Dr. Anthony Fauci warned Americans to rethink their Thanksgiving plans. Reactions have been mixed. Some people agree with public health officials. Others are outraged. Regardless of the reaction, one thing’s for sure: People are already feeling down about the holidays. According to one recent poll, less than a quarter of Americans are equally or more excited about the upcoming holidays as they were in 2019. Three in four people say they are less (or much less) excited to celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Eve. The question is: should we gather? For Dr. Robert Pearl, this question is “Déjà vu all over again. The same lessons are having to be learned again, and again, and again. We tend to leap to the conclusion rather than starting where I believe we should, with the facts.” This episode of Coronavirus: The Truth addresses the all-important holiday question, along with the following questions about the coronavirus pandemic: [00:47] What was the biggest news concerning the coronavirus this past week and what does it mean? [03:22] Why are some drug makers halting treatment and vaccine trials? [05:30] Why have premature births dropped significantly during the pandemic? [07:08] Cases on college campuses are still surging. What, specifically, isn’t working? [08:55] Should we cancel/scale-back our Thanksgiving plans per Dr. Fauci? [13:26] Two Harvard economists claim Covid-19 will cost the country $16 trillion: Accurate or alarmist? [16:41] Why are Black Americans more skeptical of a coronavirus vaccine? [18:53] Which two groups of Americans are struggling most to maintain social relationships?   [21:11] How has the culture of medicine helped (and harmed) patients during the pandemic? (For more on this subject, check out the new episode of Fixing Healthcare, featuring Dr. Zubin Damania, aka ZDoggMD)  [25:14] Are patients too optimistic, too pessimistic or reasonably objective when it comes to the vaccine timeline? [28:26] Why does Dr. Pearl believe 500,000 people will die from Covid-19. Listeners wanted to know more about this number and how you derived it. Can you tell them? This episode is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify and other podcast platforms. If you have coronavirus questions for the hosts, please visit the contact page or send us a message on Twitter or LinkedIn. *To ensure the credibility of this program, Coronavirus: The Truth refuses to accept sponsorship, outside funding sources or guests with any financial or personal conflicts of interest.   The post #23: Should I cancel my Thanksgiving plans? appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

In this episode, Fixing Healthcare hosts Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr welcome their first returning guest, Zubin Damania, a physician and entertainer known to his legions of followers as ZDoggMD. Damania hosts the internet’s No. 1 medical news and entertainment show, reaching tens of millions of people weekly. He is a leading voice for patient-centered healthcare, focusing on prevention and team-based medicine. He, along with Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh, started Turntable Health in Las Vegas as an alternative to the broken U.S. healthcare system. Damania returns to Fixing Healthcare program to kick off season five, which focuses entirely on the culture of medicine, including as Dr. Robert Pearl puts it: “the good, the bad, the beauty, the ugliness, the things that inspire and the things about which we are embarrassed.” Highlights from this interview with ZDoggMD 1. On the good parts of medical culture “Ever since the first day of medical school … we start getting exposed to this culture, which is an adaptation of a group of humans to their environment and the challenges at hand. It’s a culture that values science and knowledge and learning. We value human connection. We value empathy, feeling someone else’s pain and then acting from it to alleviate suffering. Those are the real positives.” 2. On the bad parts of medical culture “The culture of medicine is conformity- , inertia- and fear-based. There’s this high sheen of professionalism, which allows us less latitude to be authentically who we are, so we have to sensor how we behave under this perception that, ‘Oh, that’s not professional’ … and there’s this idea that if you deviate too much from the standard practice, you will be squashed.” 3. On how money makes doctors fear change  “Part of the culture of medicine is that our payment models have changed how we actually view what is right and wrong. And that’s been a real problem in moving forward with any kind of real change in medicine. So, medicine by its nature, by its culture, resists change.” 4. On nurses vs. doctors “Let’s just look at doctors and nurses. Wow. Here’s a team. They cannot exist without each other. And then you drill into how different they are … You have this really interesting dynamic. Because you have a power hierarchy, you have a gender hierarchy, you have a difference in how they see the world.” 5. On medicine’s generational differences “There’s this old saying, ‘Medicine changes one retirement or one funeral at a time.’ That’s because the old guard changes and the new guard comes in. What I’m starting to see now, culturally, is, medicine used to be a little more professionally conservative. That’s starting to open up and change. There’s a lot more push in the younger generation to consider issues around, say, climate change, social justice, race, inequity, social determinants of health, than there were in the older generation.” 6. On whether medical culture will change after Covid-19 “If I’m being fully honest, I have a lot of skepticism that anything will change. Even a disaster like this, what I think will happen is we’ll fire up the retrospectoscope and we’ll look back and be like, ‘Ah, we probably overreacted to this thing and under-reacted in certain ways. We didn’t keep our frontline troops safe with PPE. Our administrators, who had one job, which is to prepare us and keep us staffed, didn’t really plan for this. We’ll try to do better next time.’ And people will just go back to a business as usual. Overall, I’m very skeptical that the culture will change.” 7. On specialists vs. primary care physicians “The power dynamic between specialists and primary care is one of the oldest and most interesting. There’s a perception in the culture of medicine that specialists tend to view primary care people as the weak medical students, the people who couldn’t get the board scores or the rotation honors to become a specialist. Because why would you do primary care? It’s miserable, you don’t get paid enough. It’s just drudgery. You never get to really do anything smart. These are perceptions.” READ: Full transcript of our latest discussion with ZDoggMD Listener note: Years of research and reporting on the culture of medicine will culminate in the publication of Dr. Robert Pearl’s 2021 book titled, “Uncaring: How Physician Culture Is Killing Doctors And Patients.” To learn more, subscribe to his newsletter Monthly Musings on American Healthcare. * * * Fixing Healthcare is a co-production of Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. Subscribe to the show via Apple Podcasts or wherever you find podcasts. Join the conversation or suggest a guest by following the show on Twitter and LinkedIn. The post Episode 26: ZDoggMD diagnoses the culture of medicine appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

President Donald Trump tweeted today that he will soon leave Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where he has been receiving treatment for Covid-19. Trump’s physician said the president is not “entirely out of the woods yet” but that the patient could continue his ongoing treatment regimen from the White House. In this episode Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr examine the available facts about the U.S. president’s illness, current condition and ongoing medical care. In addition, our co-hosts have answers to the following Covid-19 questions: [00:51] What’s the latest on President Trump’s health status following his diagnosis of COVID-19 late last week? What treatment(s) has he received? Why was he given them under a “compassionate use” request? And what’s next? [04:17] Does Trump have a legal right to patient privacy or do Americans deserve to know the president’s health status? [07:18] What are the latest virus developments *outside* of the White House? [10:42] The U.S. mortality rate: what is it for Covid-19 and why is it important? [14:46] What’s happening economically in the county right now? [17:23] Where do drug makers stand with vaccine development? [22:11] People remain skeptical about the safety of the vaccine. Are they wise to be concerned at this stage? [25:07] Trump continues to tout new treatments. Do any of them look scientifically promising yet? [28:50] News outlets are reporting about a new strain of the virus. What are the medical implications? Is it more lethal? [30:41] Which healthcare topics did the presidential candidates fail to touch on in last week’s debate? [32:07] Will the healthcare specifics (or lack of) in last week’s debate sway votes? [34:14] Listener question: If the Supreme Court strikes down the Affordable Care Act in the near future, how would that impact coronavirus treatments? This episode is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify and other podcast platforms. If you have coronavirus questions for the hosts, please visit the contact page or send us a message on Twitter or LinkedIn. *To ensure the credibility of this program, Coronavirus: The Truth refuses to accept sponsorship, outside funding sources or guests with any financial or personal conflicts of interest. The post #22: What do (and don’t) we know about Trump’s illness and treatments? appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

There has been no shortage of surprising statistics to emerge from this pandemic. Dr. Robert Pearl’s upcoming Forbes article, “Three Misleading, Dangerous Coronavirus Statistics” (available here on Tuesday, Sept. 21), examines a trio of figures that are based on actual data but have proven to be misleading and hazardous to the nation’s health. This episode of Coronavirus: The Truth features several statistics that might surprise you. Take the recent CBS opinion poll, which found that just 21% of voters would take a free vaccine if one became available in the near future (more on that at the 18:32 mark of this podcast). Or what about the new Axios poll, which found that 51% of college students who say it was not the right choice for their schools to allow students on campus (see 21:56 below). Tune in for more surprising stats, along with answers to the following Covid-19 questions: [00:51] What did health experts learn this past week about the coronavirus? [06:28] How are other nations dealing with resurgences of the diseases? [07:47] What are the latest “miscommunications” to come out of the CDC? [09:41] Where are we on the passage of a new stimulus bill in Congress? [12:02] What’s the status of Covid-19 vaccine development? [16:28] How will we know if a vaccine is truly safe and effective? [18:32] Will Americans trust and be willing to take an FDA approved vaccine? [19:49] What’s known about the potential long-term health effects of the virus? [21:56] What’s the deal with college campuses and spikes in cases? [24:54] Why do people in different parts of the country interpret the threat of this virus so differently? [26:36] Elected officials in New York are under fire from critics and local business owners. What’s the latest? [29:28] Listener question: “Is there any chance this virus will be here forever?” [34:42] What hobbies/activities keep our co-hosts happy and mentally healthy? This episode is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify and other podcast platforms. If you have coronavirus questions for the hosts, please visit the contact page or send us a message on Twitter or LinkedIn. *To ensure the credibility of this program, Coronavirus: The Truth refuses to accept sponsorship, outside funding sources or guests with any financial or personal conflicts of interest. The post #21: Do these coronavirus statistics surprise you? appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

No expert has gained more insight into the organizational factors associated with physician and health-system performance than Stephen M. Shortell. He is a graduate school professor and dean emeritus of UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health. He is currently conducting research on Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) integrated care models, innovations in healthcare delivery, and examining the application of the Lean management in U.S. hospitals. He is the author or co-author of 10 books and has published more than 300 peer-reviewed papers in a variety of organizational and health services/health policy research journals. Dr. Shortell is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine (formerly the Institute of Medicine), past editor of Health Services Research, and past president of the Association for Health Services Research (Academy Health). He holds PhD, MBA and MPH degrees. In this episode of Fixing Healthcare, he explains how perverse financial incentives combine with a lack of technology to prevent American doctors from providing high-value, patient-centered care. In addition, Dr. Shortell dives deep into the current state of U.S. healthcare and what it will take to emerge from the coronavirus crisis better than before. Also in this episode, we cover the following topics: Why so many doctors fail to follow evidence-based approaches. Why a third of Medicare beneficiaries receive low-value services. What Dr. Shortell has learned from studying the “social determinants of health” and their impact on clinical outcomes. The role of race and the effects of racism in American healthcare. Whether the Affordable Care Act will survive, adapt, or die. What American healthcare has gotten right and wrong during its coronavirus response. How to address the rapidly rising cost of drugs. What to do about the decline of hospitals in the United States. How to improve rural healthcare. Whether a program like Medicare Advantage could be a national solution to high costs and poor quality. READ: Full transcript of our discussion with Stephen Shortell  * * *  Fixing Healthcare is a co-production of Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. Subscribe to the show via Apple Podcasts or wherever you find podcasts. Join the conversation or suggest a guest by following the show on Twitter and LinkedIn.  The post Episode 25: Why U.S. doctors provide low-value care appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

In this, the 20th episode of Coronavirus: The Truth, hosts Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr address the most pressing questions concerning the COVID-19 pandemic. What are “super spreaders”? Will the FDA approve a COVID-19 vaccine before phase-three testing wraps up? What do we know about latest testing controversy enshrouding the CDC? And how did Iowa, of all places, become the latest coronavirus hotspot? Since March 2020, this podcast has delivered science-based updates on the coronavirus, insights from public health officials and clinicians, along with an unbiased look at how the COVID-19 news and information impact American life. With informed commentary, helpful context and reporting from only the most credible sources, Coronavirus: The Truth cuts through the politics and misinformation to bring listeners the truth. Questions answered in this episode include: [00:50] What did we learn last week about the coronavirus pandemic?  [03:22] The CDC is at the center of another COVID-19 testing controversy. What are the details?   [05:48] Research on the much-ballyhooed saliva test was just published in NEJM. Are these less-painful tests accurate or not? [07:51] The FDA said it might approve vaccines before phase-three testing results are in. Will that spook the public and would Dr. Pearl take it, himself? [10:51] Why are men faring worse in this pandemic than women? [12:27] Listener question: What is a super spreader? [14:17] What’s with this 6% statistic that pandemic deniers are touting?    [19:15] Do scientists know anything about the psychological consequences of the pandemic so far? [21:43] Jeremy Corr’s home state of Iowa now has highest incidence of coronavirus infection. What’s going on there? [23:40] Why are meat packing facilities continuing to see such high rates of coronavirus infections? Is further disruption to the food chain possible? [25:41] Is “planned herd immunity” (allowing ~150 million relatively healthy people to get infected) a feasible strategy for ending the pandemic in this country? [33:06] Listener question: Should the United States join the global search for a vaccine or continue to go it alone? This episode is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify and other podcast platforms. If you have coronavirus questions for the hosts, please visit the contact page or send us a message on Twitter or LinkedIn. *To ensure the credibility of this program, Coronavirus: The Truth refuses to accept sponsorship, outside funding sources or guests with any financial or personal conflicts of interest. The post #20: What’s the truth about super spreaders, saliva tests and vaccine safety? appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, Americans have time and again seen highly touted solutions fall short of their hype. Remdisivir, once thought to be a miracle treatment, was recently determined to be statistically no better than standard care. Meanwhile, Russia’s Vladimir Putin announced with great fanfare the production of a Covid-19 vaccine. Yet Western critics point out that the drug “Sputnik V” hasn’t undergone late-stage, large, randomized control trials. The world seems to be starving for good news concerning Covid-19 that isn’t fake news. On this episode of Coronavirus: The Truth, hosts Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr separate the superlative claims from the true scientific advances while also offering answers to the following coronavirus questions: [00:52] Update: What should listeners know about the week that was?  [06:56] Per reports, has the coronavirus mutated? Is this good news or bad? [08:21] What is convalescent plasma andhow does it work? [12:19] Yale’s saliva test received FDA approval. What’s the benefit of this Covid-19 test over the alternatives? [14:37] What are the biggest Covid-19 threats facing sports? [17:24] What should we make of Russia’s vaccine, now in production? [18:56] New Zealand had great success containing the virus early on. Last week, the country reported over a dozen new cases. What happened? [21:27] What’s the latest on schools reopening? [24:20] How will voters think about healthcare overall, and the coronavirus in particular, this November? [26:37] What’s the mood on in Iowa, where co-host Jeremy Corr lives? [28:16] Assuming March was the real onset of this pandemic in the United States, we’re nearing the half-year mark. Where are we now? This episode is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify and other podcast platforms. If you have coronavirus questions for the hosts, please visit the contact page or send us a message on Twitter or LinkedIn. *To ensure the credibility of this program, Coronavirus: The Truth refuses to accept sponsorship, outside funding sources or guests with any financial or personal conflicts of interest. The post #19: What’s the most promising scientific development so far? appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.