Health Care Rounds

Dr. David S. Hong is deputy chair of Investigational Cancer Therapeutics at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. He also serves as associate vice president for Clinical Research and clinical medical director of the Clinical Center for Targeted Therapy. Dr. Hong received a bachelor’s degree in biology from Yale University and a medical degree from Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He then completed an internship and residency at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and a medical oncology fellowship at MD Anderson, during which time he was appointed chief medical oncology fellow. In 2005, he joined MD Anderson’s faculty. Dr. Hong is the recipient of the 2004 Young Investigator Award from the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the Jesse H. Jones Fellowship in Cancer Education, MD Anderson’s Best Boss Award, the Irwin H. Krakoff Award for Excellence in Clinical Research, the Gerald P. Bodey Award for Excellence in Education and a research training fellowship from Howard Hughes Medical Institu

Bob Roth founded Cypress with his family in 1994 and has been at the helm as Managing Partner since December 2003. Experienced in consumer products, healthcare and software since 1984, Bob is considered an innovator of technologies used to enhance communication and effectively support customers and peers in the health and home care industries. Bob was a finalist for the 2015 Phoenix Business Journal’s prestigious Healthcare Heroes award. In 2013 Cypress was awarded the Better Business Bureau’s Business Ethics Award, the only home care agency to be nominated let along win this coveted award. His community involvement includes hosting a weekly radio show, writing publications, serving on various boards and advisory committees, representing Cypress at networking events and attending conferences. Nationally, Bob serves on the Home Care Association of America (HCAOA), locally; he serves on the Board of Directors for the Banner Alzheimer’s Foundation, DUET Partners in Aging and is on the ambassador committee for Ag

David RadleyDavid Radley is a senior scientist for The Commonwealth Fund’s Tracking Health System Performance program. Dr. Radley and his team develop national, state, and substate regional analyses on health care system performance and related insurance and care system market structure analyses. He is also a senior study director at Westat, a research firm that supports the Scorecard project. He joined the Commonwealth Fund in July 2010 from Abt Associates where he was associate in Domestic Health Policy with responsibility over a number of projects related to measuring long term care quality and evaluation of various Health Information Technology initiatives. His methodological expertise is in small-area analysis and in the design, implementation, and interpretation of observational studies that take advantage of large administrative and survey-based datasets. Dr. Radley received his bachelors from Syracuse University, a masters in public health from Yale, and a PhD from Dartmouth College in Health Policy a

Dr. Allen Weiss graduated from Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons and is board certified in Rheumatology, Internal Medicine, and Geriatrics. He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and the American College of Rheumatology.In 2017, Dr. Weiss became an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Mayo Clinic School of Medicine and was also elected to the American Hospital Association Board. He’s been named to Becker’s Top 100 Outstanding Physician leaders of healthcare systems several times now.John Marchica is a veteran health care strategist and COO of Darwin Research Group, a health care market intelligence firm specializing in health care delivery systems. He’s a two-time health care entrepreneur, and his first company, FaxWatch, was listed twice on the Inc. 500 list of fastest-growing American companies. John is the author of The Accountable Organization and has advised senior management on strategy and organizational change for more than a decade.John did his undergraduate wor

Scott Hylla, Director; Health Systems Scott Hylla is the Director of Health Systems for Sunovion Pharmaceuticals Inc. He has served in various roles spanning a 28 year career in the pharmaceutical industry, most recently in leading the Sunovion Health Systems team in the development and execution of collaborative strategies in the transformational IDN marketplace.Scott has a BS in Biology from St. John’s University and an MBA in Healthcare Management from the Opus College of Business, University of St. Thomas. He is a member of American College of Healthcare Executives and is a corporate participant in the Health Management Academy and Advisory Board.John Marchica, CEO, Darwin Research GroupJohn Marchica is a veteran health care strategist and COO of Darwin Research Group, a health care market intelligence firm specializing in health care delivery systems. He’s a two-time health care entrepreneur, and his first company, FaxWatch, was listed twice on the Inc. 500 list of fastest-growing American companies. Joh

 Dr. Curtis Page is quite invested in health care reform and currently serves as the CEO & president of the Commonwealth Primary Care Accountable Care Association, an entity that represents over 50 primary care practices in Maricopa County and Flagstaff. The Commonwealth ACO is primarily focused on redesigning the healthcare delivery system to place primary care and their patients at the center of the healthcare paradigm.Dr. Page went to Harvard Medical School and is double board certified in Family Practice and Addiction Medicine. In 2001, Dr. Page returned to Tempe and joined his father’s practice, then known as Tempe Primary Care Associates. Along with his ACO, to further engage in community health, Dr. Page has also developed AAFP sponsored Group Visit/Educational programs covering Smoking Cessation, Diabetes, COPD, CHF and Cardiovascular disease. John Marchica is a veteran health care strategist and COO of Darwin Research Group, a health care market intelligence firm specializing in health care deliv

Sean Sullivan, JDSean Sullivan is the Co-Founder, President and CEO of the Institute for Health and Productivity Management, as well as the WorkPlace Wellness Alliance which was created by the World Economic Forum, now managed and sustained by the Institute. Founded in 1997, the Institute is a global enterprise that serves as a catalyst and champion for a growing international movement to establish health as the new “human capital asset” and source of competitive workforce advantage for the 21st century economy.Sean speaks regularly at Forums in Europe and the United Kingdom and has held training and certification academies in Brazil, China and the United Arab Emirates. Prior to founding the Institute with two physicians, Mr. Sullivan was the original President and CEO of the National Business Coalition on Health for five years, and spent ten years as a Washington-based health economist and policy analyst – as a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) for Public Policy Research, and as Executive Vic

Joshua Lenchus, DO, RPh, FACP, SFHMJoshua Lenchus holds a pharmacy degree from the University of Florida, and graduated from Nova Southeastern University College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2000. He currently works as a hospitalist at Jackson Memorial Hospital for the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.In 2012, was elected as the youngest and the first osteopathic President of the Jackson Health System medical staff and chairman of its medical executive committee. He was subsequently re-elected in 2014 and 2016. In 2007 he developed a novel curriculum centered about simulation-based invasive bedside procedural instruction. Now in its eleventh year, the program has transformed the way procedures are taught and performed, decreasing complications thereby leading to safer patient care.Outside the hospital, Dr. Lenchus is incredibly involved, serving as a leader, in multiple county, state and national medical associations, including as the newly elected President of the Florida Osteopathic Medical Assoc

About Darwin Research Group   Darwin Research Group Inc. provides advanced market intelligence and in-depth customer insights to health care executives, with a strategic focus on health care delivery systems and the global shift toward value-based care. Darwin’s client list includes forward-thinking biopharmaceutical and medical device companies, as well as health care providers, private equity, and venture capital firms. The company was founded in 2010 as Darwin Advisory Partners, LLC and is headquartered in Scottsdale, Ariz. with a satellite office in Princeton, N.J.

This week on Health Care Rounds, as we wrap up our third season, we are celebrating our 100th episode! Tune in as John and podcast producer Kim Ascuitto share highlights from some of our best episodes, covering topics like Big Pharma, our aging population, care management, value-based care, and the changing health care delivery environment.In this episode, we include clips from the following guests:Ramon Soto, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, Northwell HealthDr. Curtis Page, CEO, Commonwealth Primary Care ACOScott Hylla, Director, Health Systems - Market Access, Sunovion PharmaceuticalsA.J. Loicano, CEO, Capital RxDr. David Hong, Associate Vice President of Clinical Research, MD Anderson Cancer CenterBob Roth, Managing Partner, Cypress Homecare SolutionsDr. Andy Lazris, Personal Physician CareSuzanne Delbanco, Executive Director, Catalyst for Payment ReformDr. Neil Meltzer, President and CEO, Lifebridge HealthDr. Joshua Lenchus, Regional Chief Medical Officer, Broward HealthRosemarie Day, Founder a

This week, John speaks with Debbie Welle-Powell, Chief Population Health Officer with Essentia Health. They discuss what it means to be a value-based organization and what services bring value to patients. They also identify opportunities for bending the cost curve for future value-based contracts and recognizing the need for coordinated care. Debbie shares some of her experiences in managing provider value to patients as well as maintaining patient engagement. She also touches on the positive impacts of telehealth during a global pandemic. 

Today on Health Care Rounds, John speaks with Kyle Swarts and Dr. Matt Lambert. They discuss their journey to simplify value-based care with Curation Health, an advanced clinical decision support platform serving the health care community in improving overall performance. In this episode, Swarts and Dr. Lambert emphasize their aim to navigate a strategy to close care gaps between providers and patients while maintaining overall satisfaction. They also discuss the high demand of value-based care in the industry as well as some major shifts happening in health care in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Today on Health Care Rounds, John sits down with Rosemarie Day, founder and CEO of Day Health Strategies. Rosemarie talks about her passion for health care reform and introduces her new book, Marching Toward Coverage: How Women Can Lead the Fight for Universal Healthcare. Rosemarie emphasizes the power that women bring to the health care reform movement and why women need to be at the forefront of change.

This week, Health Care Rounds welcomes Suzanne Delbanco, executive director of Catalyst for Payment Reform. Suzanne shares her experiences in improving the health care system and gives an outlook on payment reform and thought leadership. In this episode, Suzanne notes that employers and other health  care purchasers focus on the importance of integrated care, overall value, and the main cost drivers in health care. Suzanne reveals the relevance in addressing social determinants of health and seeks a solution on how to make drugs both available and affordable for patients.

This week, John speaks with Gail Zahtz about the intersection of system’s design and value in healthcare. They discuss what health systems can learn from Covid-19, the true meaning of value, and what it takes to achieve better patient outcomes. At Centers Healthcare — one of the largest post-acute providers in New York — Zahtz leads their efforts to improve care by executing better designed solutions. Zahtz shares her positive outlook on how our health care professionals are responding to the recent COVID-19 pandemic and recognizes their dedicated, hard work during this time. Zahtz also talks about her personal experiences in health care, which has uncovered her true passion for the industry. 

This week, John sits down with Stefan Behrens, PhD, co-founder and CEO of GYANT, an artificial intelligence (AI) driven chat tool to help steer patients to the appropriate site of care. Stefan talks about how AI can improve clinical outcomes, and can help health systems and payers lower costs. Most recently, the GYANT architecture is helping triage patients suspected of contracting COVID-19 at some of the nation’s prominent health systems, including Intermountain.

Today on Health Care Rounds, we welcome Christopher Robertson, Associate Dean for Research and Innovation and Professor of Law at the University of Arizona. With his diverse background in law and economics, Chris offers a unique and thoughtful perspective on the American health care system. In this episode, he offers unique insights about the unwarranted effects of co-pays and co-insurance on health care utilization and quality of care. John and Chris also discuss COVID-19 and the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic here and abroad. Chris is the author of Exposed: Why Our Health Insurance is Incomplete and What can be Done About It, recently published by Harvard University Press.

This week, John speaks with Assaf Shalvi, CEO and co-founder of Swift Shift. In creation of his business, Shalvi focuses on the demand for efficiency in home health care. He strives to improve the management and quality of the industry through partnerships of Homecare providers and Health Plans. This episode recognizes the common barriers of low caregiver presence in home health care while uncovering the arising opportunities in recreating a more reliable one. Shalvi talks about the efforts Swift Shift makes toward employee experience and driving success with data and analytic approaches. 

In this week’s Health Care Rounds, John sits down with Dr. Peter Cram, Director of General Internal Medicine and Geriatrics at Sinai Health System in Toronto. John and Peter discuss the similarities and differences between the U.S and Canada in health care delivery. Having trained and practiced in both the U.S. and Canada — and as a leading health care services researcher — Dr. Cram offers key insights and lessons about health care delivery and payment reform that health care leaders on both sides of the border will appreciate. 

Today on Health Care Rounds, John speaks with Dr. Scott Weingarten, CEO of Stanson Health and former Chief Clinical Transformation Officer for Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. He discusses the future of improving patient satisfaction and the prevention of physician burnout with new technology in electronic health records. Dr. Weingarten also touches on the development of next generation clinical decision support with an emphasis on creating valuable patient-provider relationships in order to improve overall patient quality.