June 15, 2021
In this episode Chip is joined by Dr. Ken Sands – the Chief Epidemiologist at HCA Healthcare, whose system has treated tens of thousands of COVID patients. Together they look at a current Health Affairs blog co-authored by Chip on how COVID is impacting Medicare hospital quality reporting and value-based purchasing programs. These programs are critical for patient decisions and the evaluation of care provided at every hospital in the nation.
Learn more about hospital reporting by listening to Chip’s conversation on HCAHPS with Dr. Claudia Salzberg.
June 1, 2021
Inaugural episode of Making the Rounds begins with Roxy Hinojosa. She is a nurse at Mission Regional Medical Center in Texas. Roxy shares with Chip how she began her nursing career, what the profession means to her and how the last year has changed nursing on the front lines.
Join Chip as he hears from the health care heroes on the front lines in the new Hospitals In Focus short series: Making the Rounds.
April 28, 2021
COVID has drastically changed the health care delivery system, perhaps even permanently. Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities (IRFs), like those operated by Encompass Health, stepped up during the pandemic by partnering with acute care hospitals to help patients recover from the virus. It once again showed how critical IRFs are to the care continuum by making sure patients received the right care in the right setting.
Encompass Health President and CEO Mark Tarr discusses the impact of COVID-19 on IRFs, as well as the innovative ways his company is using new sources of data to inform clinical decisions and improve patient outcomes. Additionally, Chip and Mark touch on the importance of relevant, up to date data on implementation of the IMPACT Act and the Review Choice Demonstration.
Learn more about post-acute care providers in the time of COVID by listening to The Role of Long-term Acute Care Hospitals During COVID-19 with Ben Breier.
April 7, 2021
Patients often form strong and long-lasting bonds with their care providers and COVID-19 has drastically altered that ever-important doctor-patient relationship. Visits have moved online and fear of the virus has some patients skipping care altogether. This raises three concerning questions for physicians: how are patients with chronic diseases managing their treatment without regular in-person care; are patients putting their lives at risk unnecessarily by delaying care and screenings; and how will their practices survive through the pandemic so they can continue caring for their communities?
Dr. Susan Bailey, president of the American Medical Association, and a practicing allergist/immunologist, joined Chip to discuss how private physician practices have been handling COVID while caring for their patients and how Congress is helping.
March 24, 2021
Just a few weeks ago, COVID was ravaging hospitals across the country as cases were surging following the December holidays. St. Francis Medical Center is already one of Los Angeles County’s busiest trauma centers. During the surge, St. Francis was up to 120% capacity – and still caring for every patient that came through its doors. With the ER turned into a COVID unit, some emergency services were moved to tents in the parking lot. Chip spoke with St. Francis’ CEO Dan Jones who explained how the hospital was able to meet the challenge with their extraordinary staff, how they are working with staff to mitigate burnout, and how Prime Healthcare is investing in the hospital and the community it serves.
![The Role of Long-term Acute Care Hospitals During COVID-19 and Beyond with Ben Breier]()
March 10, 2021
Long-term acute care (LTAC) hospitals are caring for the some of the most medically complex patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a post-acute care provider, Kindred Healthcare has been right in the middle of the battle to defeat COVID-19 by partnering with short-term acute care hospitals to help treat patients and ease overcrowding in hot spots across the country. Kindred CEO Ben Breier spoke to Chip about how the company relied on its network of hospitals to ensure its staff were always prepared to provide patients with the highest quality of care.
Breier also discusses a recent report from the consulting firm ATI Advisory that highlights how LTAC providers have been able to bridge gaps and extend care within the care continuum during the pandemic. Based on the COVID experience, the report also recommends key considerations for LTAC hospitals as part of future health policy development. See the full report here.
Hear more about post-acute care from Chip’s conversation with Al Dobson, Getting back to Life: The Growing Demand for Post-Acute Care with Al Dobson.
February 24, 2021
It has been over a year since COVID-19 has disrupted life for Americans and everyone around the globe. We checked in with regular guest of the pod, Dr. Jonathan Perlin, to find out how HCA Healthcare has weathered the last year. The CMO and President of Clinical Services shared how HCA Healthcare is sharing the learnings from their millions of annual clinical interactions with others in a new consortium of private and public institutions to improve treatments, outcomes and patient care.
Check out Dr. Perlin’s previous appearances on Hospitals In Focus. Dr. Jon Perlin Discusses the Impact of Coronavirus on Hospitals and Dr. Jonathan Perlin Discusses How Patients Benefit from the Use of Big Data.
February 9, 2021
The ACA is starting a new era with President Biden at the helm of a new administration. We wanted to hear about what happens when a state not only fully embraces the ACA but keeps harmful regulations at bay that hurt marketplaces and patients. Chip is joined by the Executive Director of Covered California Peter Lee on the newest episode of Hospitals In Focus. The two discuss the basic tenets of the legislation, how and why California has been such a success at lowering its uninsured patient rate and what steps President Biden may take to encourage the hold out states to expand Medicaid.
Interested in learning more about Biden’s health agenda? Check out Building Biden’s Health Agenda with Chris Jennings and Doug Badger.
![Building Biden’s Health Agenda with Chris Jennings and Doug Badger]()
January 18, 2021
Two health policy experts joined Chip to discuss the new Biden administration’s approach to developing and implementing health policy. With COVID-19 raging across the country, Chris Jennings and Doug Badger touch on Biden’s first 100 days in office and how they expect Biden’s health teams to tackle the health and economic fallout from COVID in contrast to the Trump administration. Importantly, they touch on how the ACA can shore up health care coverage for uninsured Americans. Then they each provide an analysis on how the White House staff, regulatory agencies and Congress work together to achieve their goals. Chris provides the Democratic perspective while Doug responds with the Republican.
Chris Jennings has spent decades working in the White House, Congress and private sector. He spent time in both the Clinton and Obama White Houses as Senior Advisor to the President for Health Policy and helped pass, enact and implement the ACA, Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and numerous other health reforms. Most recently, President-elect Biden appointed Mr. Jennings to him on the Biden-Sanders Unity Task Force.
Doug Badger has been in public policy for many decades and has been a policy advisor to the White House, U.S. Senate, Department of HHS and the SSA. Doug worked in the Bush (43) administration and developed the administration’s proposal for adding prescription drug coverage to Medicare. Badger represented the White House in negotiations with Congress that resulted in the enactment of the Medicare Modernization Act.
Interested in learning more about how health care coverage can affect a population’s access to care? Listen to Chip’s conversation Advancing Health Equity: Bridging Social Gaps in Health Care with Dr. Chidinma A. Ibe.
November 16, 2020
The ACA is once again in front of the Supreme Court and a decision on its future will be likely handed down in June 2021. In the meantime, Larry Levitt joined Chip to discuss the ACA’s impact on hospitals and providers over the past decade. The EVP of Health Policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation shared his views on what we could expect from the Supreme Court and if the ACA is settled law once and for all.
