Healthy Communities Online

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Don Berwick, President Emeritus of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement and former CMS Administrator who oversaw the launch of the Affordable Care Act. He talks about inherent political challenges in American health care, the need for providers to get active politically, and the promise of real innovations in the health system coming from outside the industry.

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with renowned addiction expert Dr. Tom McLellan, Founder and CEO of the Treatment Research Institute, committed to promoting evidence-based approaches to drug treatment and drug policy. He discusses addiction as a chronic disorder, the effectiveness of Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) for opioid and alcohol addiction, and the need to improve addiction medicine training for clinicians and health care providers.

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with David Pogue, long-time personal tech critic and founder of Yahoo Tech. He discusses the great promise in the growth of consumer technology innovations – Apple Watch, Fitbit and voice recognition platforms like Alexa – to transform health care by informing and empowering consumers and providers.

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Shelley Lyford, CEO of the Gary and Mary West Foundation which is dedicated to reducing costs and improving care for America’s seniors. She discusses the launch of Civica Rx – a not for profit entity that will supply low-cost generic drugs to a consortium of partner foundations and hospitals to disrupt monopolies and price gouging in the pharmaceutical industry.

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Iyah Romm, CEO of Cityblock Health, a venture with Alphabet’s Sidewalk Labs aimed at improving care and outcomes for underserved populations in urban areas by deploying tech-based solutions supporting patients and care teams. He talks about Cityblock’s development of digital and telehealth tools that enable real time monitoring of patient data, and a network of interventions addressing social determinants of health.