Health & Veritas
Howard Forman and Harlan Krumholz, two Yale physician-professors, discuss the latest news and ideas in healthcare and seek out the truth amid the noise.
Produced with the Yale School of Management and the Yale School of Public Health. New episodes are available every Thursday.
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Episodes
- PodcastEpisode 121Duration 30:16
Robert Alpern: Creating an Inspired Medical School
Howie and Harlan are joined by Robert Alpern, a Yale nephrologist and the former dean of the Yale School of Medicine, to discuss the importance of a fiscal base for enabling a medical school to deliver top-quality training, research, and clinical care. Harlan asks whether widespread norovirus is a reason to call it quits on shaking hands. Howie reports on a study of the increased mortality among those with ADHD.
“Nephrologist Robert Alpern Named Dean of Yale School of Medicine”
“UT Southwestern: From Army” Shacks to Research Elites”
“National Clinician Scholars Program”
“A ‘bittersweet’ end: Historic merger creates one of the nation’s largest hospitals”
“Yale New Haven Health: Smilow Cancer Hospital”
“Alpern will not seek a fourth term as School of Medicine dean”
“Alpern to Step Down After Current Term as Dean”
“State of Affairs: March 12: Flu, measles, norovirus, and interesting Pew results”
“Norovirus has entered the chat”
“ADHD Pharmacotherapy and Mortality in Individuals With ADHD”
“Overdiagnosis of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Children and Adolescents”
Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM.
- PodcastEpisode 120Duration 31:45
Robert Rohrbaugh: Bringing Antiracist Tools to Clinical Practice
Howie and Harlan are joined by Robert Rohrbaugh, professor of psychiatry and deputy dean for professionalism and leadership at the Yale School of Medicine, to discuss his work training doctors in antiracist practices and ensuring the wellbeing of clinicians during the pandemic. Harlan reports on the problematic history of medical journals promoting eugenics; Howie highlights a cyberattack that has paralyzed Change Healthcare, the country’s largest payments processing hub.
Links:
Antiracist Documentation Practices — Shaping Clinical Encounters and Decision Making
American Psychological Association | Implicit Bias
“YSM Ranks #1 in U.S. News Survey for Psychiatry”
COVID-19 Traumatic Disaster Appraisal and Stress Symptoms Among Health Care Workers
Application of Artificial Intelligence on Psychological Interventions and Diagnosis: An Overview
Is AI the Future of Mental Healthcare?
ChatGPT outperforms humans in emotional awareness evaluations
“Ridding the Race of His Defective Blood” — Eugenics in the Journal, 1906–1948
Problems Underlying Public Hospital Administration
Eugenics and Involuntary Sterilization: 1907–2015
“Cyberattack Paralyzes the Largest U.S. Health Care Payment System”
“Physicians beg for relief amid Change Healthcare payment crisis”
- PodcastEpisode 119Duration 42:18
A Cheating Scandal, Abandoned Research, and Other News
Howie and Harlan discuss health and healthcare headlines, including a cheating scandal that has led to the invalidation of hundreds of scores from Nepal on the U.S. Medical Licensing Examination, the problem of research that never sees the light of day, new anti-obesity medications, and Florida’s unorthodox approach to measles.
Links:
Standardized Testing
“Cheated out of the American Dream”
“MCAT scores and medical school success: Do they correlate?”
“Medical School Admissions — A Movable Barrier to Ending Health Care Disparities?”
“Yale Reinstates Standardized Test Score Requirement For Admissions”
“New SAT Data Highlights the Deep Inequality at the Heart of American Education”
Research at Universities
Good Science Project: Stuart Buck
“Why Are We Screwing Over Researchers Who Make Innovative Discoveries?”
Intellectual Property: Ownership and Protection in a University Setting
Measles in Florida
“From COVID-19 to Measles, Florida’s War on Public Health”
Obesity Drugs
“Heard on the Street: Viking Therapeutics Invades Eli Lilly’s Obesity Territory”
Unreleased Research Data
“The Ghost Research Haunting Nordic Medical Trials”
“Publication of NIH funded trials registered in ClinicalTrials.gov: cross sectional analysis”
Harlan Krumholz: “What have we learnt from Vioxx?”
A Transformative Gift
“$1 Billion Donation Will Provide Free Tuition at a Bronx Medical School”
IVF in Alabama
The Alabama Supreme Court’s Ruling
“Florida Suspends Bill to Protect ‘Unborn Child’ After I.V.F. Ruling”
Faculty for Yale
“The Need For Institutional Neutrality At Universities”
Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. - PodcastEpisode 118Duration 30:35
Lucila Ohno-Machado: AI and the Art of Medicine
Howie and Harlan are joined by Lucila Ohno-Machado, the Yale School of Medicine’s deputy dean for biomedical informatics. She explains how expanding use of data science, informatics, AI, and technology could enable doctors to spend more time with patients. Harlan celebrates mentorship while marking the death of Irwin Birnbaum, a mentor to many in his time as COO of the Yale Medical School and long after retiring. Howie discusses the mixed evidence from a study on vaping as a tool for helping cigarette smokers quit.
Links:
“Lucila Ohno-Machado, MD, PhD, MBA, Will Lead Biomedical Informatics and Data Science”
“Lucila Ohno-Machado: Yale Medicine Profile”
“Halıcıoğlu Data Science Center”
“2024 AI in Medicine Symposium at Yale School of Medicine”
“Doctors Vs. ChatGPT: Which Is More Empathetic?”
“A Randomized Trial of E-Cigarettes versus Nicotine-Replacement Therapy”
- PodcastEpisode 117Duration 38:22
Farzad Mostashari: Aligning Incentives to Fix Primary Care
Howie and Harlan are joined by Farzad Mostashari, co-founder and CEO of Aledade, an "accountable care organization" that seeks to align patient-provider incentives so doctors can make a profit by prioritizing preventive care. Harlan discusses a study suggesting that physical exercise may be protective from severe COVID. Howie highlights the introduction of Apple’s VR headset and the importance of further study to understand the technology’s capacity to “rewire” our brains.
Links:
“Farzad Mostashari: Man On A Digital Mission”
“Health Reform and Physician-Led Accountable Care:The Paradox of Primary Care Physician Leadership”
“Staggering Rise in Catheter Bills Suggests Medicare Scam”
“Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs): General Information”
“Prepandemic Physical Activity and Risk of COVID-19 Diagnosis and Hospitalization in Older Adults”
“2024 Outlook: Despite hurdles, stakeholders bullish on VR in behavioral health”
“AI therapy and ICU training: A first look at health apps for Apple Vision Pro”
“Virtual Reality for Management of Pain in Hospitalized Patients: Results of a Controlled Trial”
“Virtual Reality Reduces Pain in Laboring Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial”
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Learn more about the Pozen-Commonwealth Fund Fellowship in Health Equity Leadership.
- PodcastEpisode 116Duration 30:38
Christopher O’Connor: Hospital Leadership in Trying Times
Howie and Harlan are joined by Christopher O’Connor, CEO of Yale New Haven Health, to discuss his career path and his experience leading hospitals through Hurricane Katrina and COVID-19. Harlan reports on promising AI tools for taking clinical notes; Howie looks at the financial headwinds facing the companies offering Medicare Advantage plans.
Links:
AI Notetaking
“OpenAI-backed healthcare AI startup raises $70 million Series B”
“Burnout Related to Electronic Health Record Use in Primary Care”
“Ambient Artificial Intelligence Scribes to Alleviate the Burden of Clinical Documentation”
“Ambience Healthcare reels in $70M for generative AI tools to battle clinician burnout”
Hospital Leadership
"After 20 Years and $16,000, A Hospital Debt Is Canceled"
"Connecticut hospitals face record financial losses"
"Update on Effect of Hurricane Katrina on Ochsner Clinic Foundation, LA"
"YNHH and Hospital of Saint Raphael become one"
Medicare Advantage
“Humana slashes profit predictions amid soaring Medicare Advantage costs”
"Cano Health’s downfall offers a warning for Medicare Advantage"
Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. - PodcastEpisode 115Duration 30:14
Manisha Juthani: Solving Infectious Disease Mysteries
Howie and Harlan are joined by Manisha Juthani, a Yale infectious disease specialist and commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Public Health. They discuss her research, including a study casting doubt on the use of cranberries to prevent urinary tract infection, and her priorities for Connecticut. Harlan reports on a wave of study retractions from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute; Howie reflects on the progress made toward eradicating Guinea worm and malaria.
Links:
Retractions from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
“Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Researchers Accused of Manipulating Data”
“Top Cancer Center Seeks to Retract or Correct Dozens of Studies”
Pubpeer: The Online Journal Club
“‘A lot of it is sloppiness’: the biologist who finds flaws in scientific papers”
Manisha Juthani
“An Outbreak of Domestically Acquired Typhoid Fever in Queens, NY”
“Reduction of Bacteriuria and Pyuria After Ingestion of Cranberry Juice”
Connecticut Department of Public Health
Connecticut Department of Public Health: About the Commissioner
Connecticut Department of Public Health: Statistics and Research
“Court: CT can keep law that ends religious exemptions for vaccines”
“Congenital syphilis cases in the U.S. have skyrocketed, CDC says”
Eradicating Parasites
“Jimmy Carter took on the awful Guinea worm when no one else would—and he triumphed”
“Cape Verde reaches malaria-free milestone”
Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. - PodcastEpisode 114Duration 33:04
Claudine Litman: Designing Better Healthcare Solutions
Howie and Harlan are joined by Yale SOM alum Claudine Litman, a designer and the director of Yale‘s Center for Outcomes Research & Evaluation, to talk about using the tools of design to build more effective healthcare spaces and processes. Harlan looks at seven charts illustrating the state of healthcare in 2023; Howie reports on the FDA reprimanding a drug company for misleading advertising.
Links:
Healthcare in 2023
"Seven Charts That Sum Up U.S. Healthcare In 2023"
Designing Better Healthcare
Yale School of Medicine:Center for Outcomes Research & Evaluation
Design for Care: Innovating Healthcare Experience
This Is Service Design Doing: Applying Service Design Thinking in the Real World
The Design of Business: Why Design Thinking is the Next Competitive Advantage
Misleading Advertising
"FDA scolds Novartis over a misleading TV ad for a breast cancer treatment"
Public Law 87-781, 76 STAT 780
NIH: Direct-to-Consumer Pharmaceutical Advertising
Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. - PodcastEpisode 113Duration 35:14
Reshma Ramachandran: Will the Supreme Court Upend Healthcare Regulation?
Howie and Harlan are joined by Reshma Ramachandran, a Yale family physician and co-director of Yale Collaboration for Regulatory Rigor, Integrity, and Transparency. They discuss the potential ramifications for healthcare regulation if the Supreme Court overturns the Chevron decision requiring judges to defer to federal agencies. Harlan looks at surveys suggesting an erosion of trust in medicine; Howie reports on the growing measles outbreak.
LInks:
Trust in Healthcare
“Nurses First, Doctors Distant Second in Healthcare Provider Ratings”
Reshma Ramachandran
“Agencies’ Power Under Scrutiny in Supreme Court Arguments”
“Supreme Court could reel in power of federal agencies with dual fights over fishing rule”
“Case brought to Supreme Court by herring fishermen may gut federal rulemaking power”
Reshma Ramachandran: “Do Advocacy Groups Always Put Patient Interests First?”
The Measles Outbreak
“DC Cautions Residents of a Potential Measles Exposure”
CDC: Measles Cases and Outbreaks
Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. - PodcastEpisode 112Duration 31:33
Another Winter Wave, and Other News
Howie and Harlan discuss the winter wave of COVID-19 and Howie’s experience with the Novovax vaccine, report on potential side effects of the next-generation weight-loss drugs, and unpack the economics of Florida’s plan to import drugs from Canada.
Links:
Sid Wolfe
“Sidney M. Wolfe, Scourge of the Pharmaceutical Industry, Dies at 86”
COVID-19
“Florida surgeon general calls for halt on mRNA covid vaccines, citing debunked claim”
"Safety and Adverse Events Related to Inactivated COVID-19 Vaccines and Novavax;a Systematic Review"
“Paul Offit Debunks Florida Surgeon General's Anti-Vax Warning”
“Does Novavax's Covid vaccine cause fewer side effects?”
Weight-Loss Drugs
“Semaglutide and risk of suicidal ideations”
Elevance and Medicare
“Elevance sues HHS over Medicare Advantage star ratings”
“How the Tukey Method Could Impact Star Ratings”
TriNetX: Explore. Discover. Connect
Large Language Models
“Diagnostic Accuracy of a Large Language Model in Pediatric Case Studies”
“Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in Clinical Medicine, 2023”
Drug Imports
“US FDA to allow Florida to import cheaper drugs from Canada”
“FDA approves Florida's request to import cheaper drugs from Canada”
“Price-Fixing Case Reveals Vulnerability of Generic Drug Policies”
June Jackson Christmas
“June Jackson Christmas, Pioneering Psychiatrist, Dies at 99”
Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM.