Raise the Line

Battling stage 4 Hodgkin’s lymphoma as a teenager exposed Dr. Omar Dawood to many flaws in the healthcare system and sparked a desire to find ways to improve them. Although his early experience in medicine was in the public health realm, he eventually saw how he could blend his clinical expertise and strategic mindset to make an impact in the business world, thereby expanding the positive difference he could make in people’s lives. He had opportunities to do just that in leadership positions at Ginger IO and AliveCor -- two of the leading companies in digital health – and has brought that experience plus decades of work as a clinician and researcher to his post as Chief Medical Officer and Head of Sales at Calm. It’s not exactly surprising that this hugely popular app has seen usage grow due to pandemic-related stress. In this episode, he joins host Shiv Gaglani to talk about Calm’s commitment to addressing clinician burnout, its growing work with employers to offer Calm to employees, the launch of Calm Coaching and the wisdom in building mental fitness and resiliency to handle whatever life throws at you. If you like this podcast, please share it on your social channels. You can also subscribe to the series and check out all of our episodes at www.osmosis.org/podcast

Dr. Benjamin Young knows what it’s like to confront a pandemic early in one’s medical career but in his case, we’re talking about AIDS, not COVID-19. Trained as an enzymologist, Young was studying drug resistance in cancer cells, but he quickly pivoted to become an HIV specialist when AIDS surfaced in the U.S. “You would have to have a heart made of a lump of coal not to understand the human spectrum and burden of what it meant to live and die of AIDS,” says Young, who is now the Head of Global Medical Directors for ViiV Healthcare, a pharmaceutical company focused on advancements in research and development of new medicines for people living with HIV. After decades of work in science, medicine, policy development and human rights, Young sees all of these fields as being very closely connected. “The distance between discovery in the basic science lab, what happens in the clinic, what happens in therapeutics, what happens at the governmental level and what happens in a social, racial, or judicial justice environment is very short.” Join Young and host Jannah Amiel to learn about the current state of the global AIDS fight, and lessons from the long HIV journey that can apply to today’s struggle with COVID and pandemic battles yet to come. If you like this podcast, please share it on your social channels. You can also subscribe to the series and check out all of our episodes at www.osmosis.org/podcast

Have you wondered what it was like for the doctors who treated the very first COVID-19 patients when so little was known about the disease? Well, you can find out directly from the source in this episode of Raise the Line. The initial cases were in Seattle where Dr. Amy Compton-Phillips works as the chief clinical officer at Providence Health, one of the nation’s largest health systems. In that role, she was deeply involved in quickly creating protocols to triage, test and treat the COVID patients who started to flow in. She was also involved in making masks for providers in the basement of the hospital as the crisis took hold. The COVID experience has deepened her commitment to make great healthcare available and affordable for everyone in the U.S., and in this insightful conversation with Shiv Gaglani, she shares many examples of the innovations Providence is employing to reach that goal. If you like this podcast, please share it on your social channels. You can also subscribe to the series and check out all of our episodes at www.osmosis.org/podcast

If you like this podcast, please share it on your social channels. You can also subscribe to the series and check out all of our episodes at www.osmosis.org/podcast

If you like this podcast, please share it on your social channels. You can also subscribe to the series and check out all of our episodes at www.osmosis.org/podcast

If you’re curious about the impact “big box” retailers are going to have on healthcare delivery in the U.S., this episode of Raise the Line has some answers. Host Shiv Gaglani welcomes Marcus Osborne, a senior leader at Walmart Health, who is helping to build a new approach that could shake-up the whole industry. “If we can create a model that is actually compelling for consumers, and consumers are willing to pay for it, then we don't really care what the payers do about us,” says Osborne, who has plenty of other candid insights to share. For instance, he believes the challenge the U.S. is facing is a “vast underconsumption” of healthcare, not overconsumption as many healthcare policy experts contend. His point is that too many people simply don’t get the care they need due to the cost and complexity of the current system, and that delay inevitably drives costs up over time. He’s hoping to change that with in-store clinics that will offer a variety of medical and dental services under one roof at an affordable price. Check out this fascinating discussion as Osborne speculates that worsening shortages of healthcare workers will make it necessary to find new ways to leverage new technology and types of providers, and that much greater accountability for the quality of care delivered will be a reality sooner rather than later. This is a great opportunity to get a peek at the future of healthcare. If you like this podcast, please share it on your social channels. You can also subscribe to the series and check out all of our episodes at www.osmosis.org/podcast

Two out of three doctors did not vote over the past decade, laments Dr. Atul Nakhasi, a Los-Angeles-based physician and policy advisor who the Wall Street Journal once dubbed “Campus Kingmaker” for his role as head of the Iowa College Democrats. This represents a lower voter turnout rate than that of the general population, and in Dr. Nakhasi's estimation, it's got to change. Dr. Nakhasi believes the role of the physician should expand outside the exam room into Congress and City Hall. In this episode, he shares personal stories of patients dealing with poverty, talks about why national leadership matters, and calls for “brilliant” people to enter the healthcare profession. Tune in to learn more about this winter’s potential “twindemic,” some potential challenges of a COVID vaccine, the need for better public communication to combat misinformation, and the ripple effect of the pandemic on underserved populations. If you like this podcast, please share it on your social channels. You can also subscribe to the series and check out all of our episodes at www.osmosis.org/podcast

One of the most dramatic changes to the field of telemedicine since COVID began is the shift from it being a facility-based to a primarily home-based service, and that’s been good for patients, says Samir Malik. It’s unknown if the emergency repeal of longstanding federal rules that previously limited the use of telemedicine will stay in effect in a post-COVID world, but Malik is hoping so because “patient-centeredness” is key to the work of his company, Genoa Telepsychiatry, which serves patients in all 50 states. In this episode of Raise the Line, Malik speaks with Dr. Rishi Desai about the increase in anxiety, depression, and loneliness brought on by COVID, the disproportionate impact that mental health is having on underserved populations, and the destigmatization of mental health in countries like India, Brazil, and China. Tune in to this informative episode in which you’ll also learn about the passion for patient service at a community mental health agency on Long Island, and discover resources for further information on psychiatry and wellness. If you like this podcast, please share it on your social channels. You can also subscribe to the series and check out all of our episodes at www.osmosis.org/podcast

While serving in the army decades ago, Dr. Larry Benz noticed the importance of bedside manner and other nonclinical factors in determining clinical success. Keeping that top of mind has served him well over his 30 years as a physical therapist. In fact, he argues that these so-called “soft skills” can be even more important in affecting outcomes than clinical skills. Benz is the author of the newly released book Called to Care, about putting the humanity back in healthcare. His curriculum by the same name has been adopted by many PT schools around the country and even some medical schools. In this interview with Shiv Gaglani, Benz talks about the need to be intentional about empathy and compassion -- to exercise the “caring muscle” as you would any other muscle. Tune in to learn about how Confluent Health measures compassion, the impact of COVID on the field of physical therapy, the difference between dehumanization and burnout, and why Benz considers patient loyalty to be the key data point in an organization's success. If you like this podcast, please share it on your social channels. You can also subscribe to the series and check out all of our episodes at www.osmosis.org/podcast

As a pediatrician, Dr. Ryan Padrez was frustrated by the challenges of navigating education and health systems to get his patients the services they needed – whether it was speech therapy, mental health counseling or other important care. That’s why he’s gratified to be involved in building a model for early education, developed by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, that integrates learning with health care and family support services. Padrez is medical director of The Primary School which is currently serving two lower income communities near San Francisco, but has ambitions to develop best practices that will be adopted nationally. The emphasis is on supporting all of a child’s needs from very early in their life and working closely with parents to build child and family well-being at the same time. COVID has increased the challenge because many of the school’s parents have lost jobs and health coverage, and levels of stress are on the rise. Padrez, who is also an assistant clinical professor of Pediatrics at Stanford University, says COVID has shined a light on just how much schools do to support the health needs of children and families, and the connection between the two systems needs to be strengthened going forward if kids are going to thrive. Padrez and host Dr. Rishi Desai also touch on trauma-informed care, the trust schools need to build with families, and what the evidence says about the safety of opening schools in the midst of COVID. If you like this podcast, please share it on your social channels. You can also subscribe to the series and check out all of our episodes at www.osmosis.org/podcast