Decoding Healthcare

How many doctors have more than a million Facebook followers, their own YouTube channel, and a stage name? Zubin Damania, also known as ZDogg, MD, has carved out a unique niche – and a booming social media franchise – by skewering the dysfunction and absurdity at the core of what he calls "Health 2.0." For this episode of "Decoding Healthcare," athenahealth's CMO Kevin Ban, M.D., and podcast host Jessica Sweeney-Platt enjoy a wide-ranging conversation with Zubin about his twisty path from hospitalist to healthcare entrepreneur to the “constructive disruptor" he is today. We dig into the roots of and remedies for provider burnout, the failed promise of the data-hungry, soul-crushing EHR, and the role of collegiality and connection in restoring joy to medicine. We even get Zubin to freestyle some of the findings from athenahealth's recent survey on organizational capability. Who can't get down to that beat? You can listen to more episodes of “Decoding Healthcare" on your favorite podcast app, including Apple's podcast app, Stitcher, and Google Play. Browse all our episodes here. Have an idea for an ideal podcast guest, topic, or health organization we should spotlight on the show? We're all ears. Email us! Decoding Healthcare is a production of athenahealth. For more stories and big ideas about healthcare in America today, go to athenaInsight.com. And follow us on Twitter @athenahealth and @KevinBanMD. Thanks for listening!

If the word "telehealth" conjures up for you images of scrappy startups challenging big hospital behemoths, get ready to check your assumptions. In this episode of "Decoding Healthcare," we learn how one of the largest health systems in the U.S. is disrupting itself, and virtualizing care, to better serve its patients and mission. Hosts Jessica Sweeney-Platt and Kevin Ban, M.D., hear from Marc Harrison, M.D., president and CEO of Utah-based Intermountain Healthcare, about how the 40-year-old nonprofit is striving to make high-quality care more affordable and accessible across a vast, largely rural region the size of the U.K. Harrison describes what it took to streamline 35 different telehealth programs into a “virtual hospital" with both B2C and B2B offerings. And we learn about the leadership challenges Marc faced – and the positive ripple effects he's seen – moving an old ship through new waters. You can listen to more episodes of “Decoding Healthcare" on your favorite podcast app, including Apple's podcast app, Stitcher, and Google Play. Browse all our episodes here. Have an idea for an ideal podcast guest, topic, or health organization we should spotlight on the show? We're all ears. Email us! Decoding Healthcare is a production of athenahealth. For more stories and big ideas about healthcare in America today, go to athenaInsight.com. And follow us on Twitter @athenahealth and @KevinBanMD. Thanks for listening!

We take (virtually) to the streets of New York with Mount Sinai’s Prabhjot Singh, M.D., who’s learned hands-on that frontline caregivers are the key to building a solid ground game for population health in the U.S. You can listen to more episodes of “Decoding Healthcare" on your favorite podcast app, including Apple's podcast app, Stitcher, and Google Play. Browse all our episodes here. Have an idea for an ideal podcast guest, topic, or health organization we should spotlight on the show? We're all ears. Email us! Decoding Healthcare is a production of athenahealth. For more stories and big ideas about healthcare in America today, go to athenaInsight.com. And follow us on Twitter @athenahealth and @KevinBanMD. Thanks for listening!

This episode finds our intrepid podcast duo getting down and geeky in the name of healthcare innovation. Trigger warning: APIs will be discussed! athenahealth CMO Kevin Ban, M.D., and athenaInsight editor-in-chief John Fox check in with Robert Van Tuyl, who, as chief innovation officer at Easterseals Bay Area, relishes his role as a Silicon Valley veteran bringing an outsider's perspective to the venerable California healthcare institution. Van Tuyl talks about his experience at Easterseals integrating best-in-breed systems through APIs (that's "application programming interface" for you landlubbers) and the potential for creating consumer-grade experiences for providers and patients alike. The trio finishes up by spitballing how and whether Big Tech's moves into healthcare will spur innovation. You can listen to more episodes of “Decoding Healthcare" on your favorite podcast app, including Apple's podcast app, Stitcher, and Google Play. Browse all our episodes here. Have an idea for an ideal podcast guest, topic, or health organization we should spotlight on the show? We're all ears. Email us! Decoding Healthcare is a production of athenahealth. For more stories and big ideas about healthcare in America today, go to athenaInsight.com. And follow us on Twitter @athenahealth and @KevinBanMD. Thanks for listening!

As the adage goes, all healthcare is local. In this episode we turn our focus to Trenton, New Jersey where an experiment in data sharing and institutional collaboration is putting high-risk patients at the center of care. We speak to Dr. Kemi Alli, CEO of Henry J. Austin Health Center about the Trenton Health Team initiative and how community networks can save lives. You can listen to more episodes of “Decoding Healthcare” on your favorite podcast app, including Apple’s podcast app, Stitcher, and Google Play. Decoding Healthcare is a production of athenahealth. For more stories and big ideas about healthcare in America today, go to athenaInsight.com. And follow us on Twitter @athenahealth and @KevinBanMD. Thanks for listening!

“Decoding Healthcare” goes on the road to Unity Farm in Sherborn, Mass., to talk with farmer-slash-healthcare visionary John Halamka, M.D., CIO of Beth Israel Deaconness Medical Center in Boston. In addition to determining exactly why llamas spit, Halamka and podcast hosts athenahealth CMO Kevin Ban, M.D., and athenaInsight editor-in-chief John Fox delve deep on sharing patient records, moving care beyond hospital walls, battling physician burnout, tapping the power of telemedicine, and hooking up with “ambient listening” devices (Alexa, can you hear us?). You can listen to more episodes of “Decoding Healthcare” on your favorite podcast app, including Apple’s podcast app, Stitcher, and Google Play. Decoding Healthcare is a production of athenahealth. For more stories and big ideas about healthcare in America today, go to athenaInsight.com. And follow us on Twitter @athenahealth and @KevinBanMD. Thanks for listening!

As incentives shift and innovation takes hold, old information siloes are breaking down and healthcare is opening up in ways that that are surprising and inspiring. In this kickoff episode, we frame up our second season theme and indulge in some word play to get us started. Decoding Healthcare is a production of athenahealth. For more stories and big ideas about healthcare in America today, go to athenaInsight.com. And follow us on Twitter @athenahealth and @KevinBanMD. Thanks for listening!

Building an ACO is a multilayered challenge — but it can be done. Kevin Hoppe, Chief Operating Officer of the Lahey Clinical Performance ACO, talks about the trial-and-error process his organization went through as it developed a clinically integrated network, from figuring out the right physician incentives to putting operational structures in place. Decoding Healthcare is a production of athenahealth. For more stories and big ideas about healthcare in America today, go to athenaInsight.com. And follow us on Twitter @athenahealth, @JoannaWeiss and @KevinBanMD. Thanks for listening!

Value-based payments are built on the idea that money drives behavior. But have the incentives so far been swift and tangible enough to bring about real change? Paul Levy, former CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, offers a reality check about the promise and pace of payment reform, and offers some real suggestions for driving down healthcare costs. Decoding Healthcare is a production of athenahealth. For more stories and big ideas about healthcare in America today, go to athenaInsight.com. And follow us on Twitter @athenahealth, @JoannaWeiss and @KevinBanMD. Thanks for listening!

When it comes to caring for the most vulnerable populations, the social determinants of health can be varied, broad, and unexpected. Sachin Jain, M.D., the CEO of CareMore, talks about a new initiative to treat loneliness in senior citizens — and the lessons he learned from helping to develop the Affordable Care Act. Decoding Healthcare is a production of athenahealth. For more stories and big ideas about healthcare in America today, go to athenaInsight.com. And follow us on Twitter @athenahealth, @JoannaWeiss and @KevinBanMD. Thanks for listening!

Building a clinically integrated network is like building a baseball team: It takes utility players, specialists, and some data-driven magic. Julie Bietsch, RN, vice president of population health at Dignity Health, shares her strategies for building a network and reducing out-of-network migration, or “leakage” – plus the technological tools that can make the process easier. Decoding Healthcare is a production of athenahealth. For more stories and big ideas about healthcare in America today, go to athenaInsight.com. And follow us on Twitter @athenahealth, @JoannaWeiss and @KevinBanMD. Thanks for listening!

Traditionally, physicians have been at the center of patient care. But population health depends on expanded care teams that include nurses, care coordinators, and even clinical pharmacists. Rob Fields, M.D., medical director of the Mission Health ACO, talks about managing those teams — from encouraging doctors to embrace clinical standards of care to measuring the work of community partners. Decoding Healthcare is a production of athenahealth. For more stories and big ideas about healthcare in America today, go to athenaInsight.com. And follow us on Twitter @athenahealth, @JoannaWeiss and @KevinBanMD. Thanks for listening!

What does the cure for scurvy have to do with the transition to population health? It shows that in healthcare, change — even change that’s unequivocally good — takes time. Emergency room physician Kevin Ban, M.D., head of athenahealth’s population health service, talks about his own journey from treating individuals to managing large groups of patients — and the mindsets that need to shift as healthcare embraces the future. Decoding Healthcare is a production of athenahealth. For more stories and big ideas about healthcare in America today, go to athenaInsight.com. And follow us on Twitter @athenahealth, @JoannaWeiss and @KevinBanMD. Thanks for listening!