Turn on the Lights Podcast

Welcome back to a special encore presentation of Turn on the Lights! As we continue our transition series, our new host, Dr. Philip, has hand-selected one of our most-listened-to and impactful conversations from the archives to highlight once again. Dr. Philip introduces this essential dialogue with Dr. Vivek Garg, reflecting on why its core message, moving past basic compliance toward true, real-time healthcare improvement, is so vital to where the podcast is headed next. Summary: Quality measurement matters only if it helps patients and clinicians deliver better care in real time, not just prove compliance after the fact. In this episode, Vivek Garg, President and CEO of NCQA, reflects on how growing up with an immigrant physician father, living with his mother’s undiagnosed bipolar disorder, and training in internal medicine shaped his commitment to patient-centered improvement. He explains why he pursued “edge-case” primary care roles at innovative organizations and how those experiences led him to focus on quality, value-based care, and complex populations. Vivek also clarifies NCQA’s role in convening standards, accrediting health plans and practices, and validating performance through audits and support. He critiques today’s bloated measurement ecosystem and argues for digital, interoperable, clinically meaningful metrics that reduce burden and truly improve care delivery. Tune in and learn how quality standards can evolve from checklists into a continuous improvement engine that patients can actually feel! Resources: Connect with and follow Vivek Garg on LinkedIn. Learn more about the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) on their LinkedIn and website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

America’s drug crisis isn’t a science problem; it’s a pricing and policy problem that blocks patients from medicines that already exist. In this episode, Dr. Jerry Avorn, a professor of medicine and leading expert in pharmacoepidemiology and medication policy, discusses why many patients still can’t afford essential treatments even as breakthrough drugs for cancer and inflammatory disease proliferate. He shares a personal case where “nonadherence” was really unaffordability, then unpacks how US exceptionalism in drug pricing, patent “thickets,” and delayed competition keep costs unsustainably high. Dr. Avorn also contrasts access failures with overuse concerns, explores why other countries negotiate on the basis of value, and addresses objections to innovation and rationing, including a sobering example of cystic fibrosis in the UK. Finally, he explains how academic detailing spreads evidence-based prescribing and evaluates recent US attempts to let Medicare negotiate prices alongside more deal-driven approaches. Tune in and learn how drug prices, patents, and public funding shape what patients can actually access! Resources: Connect with and follow Dr. Jerry Avorn on LinkedIn. Follow Harvard Medical School on LinkedIn and explore their website! Learn more about Brigham and Women’s Hospital on LinkedIn and visit their website. Visit Dr. Avorn’s personal website. Buy the Rethinking Meds book here and learn more about it here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Quality measurement matters only if it helps patients and clinicians deliver better care in real time, not just prove compliance after the fact. In this episode, Vivek Garg, President and CEO of NCQA, reflects on how growing up with an immigrant physician father, living with his mother’s undiagnosed bipolar disorder, and training in internal medicine shaped his commitment to patient-centered improvement. He explains why he pursued “edge-case” primary care roles at innovative organizations and how those experiences led him to focus on quality, value-based care, and complex populations. Vivek also clarifies NCQA’s role in convening standards, accrediting health plans and practices, and validating performance through audits and support. He critiques today’s bloated measurement ecosystem and argues for digital, interoperable, clinically meaningful metrics that reduce burden and truly improve care delivery. Tune in and learn how quality standards can evolve from checklists into a continuous improvement engine that patients can actually feel! Resources: Connect with and follow Vivek Garg on LinkedIn. Learn more about the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) on their LinkedIn and website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Trust in health care AI won’t happen by hype. It will be earned through transparent standards, independent evaluation, and real-world performance monitoring. In this episode, Dr. Brian Anderson, President & CEO and Co-Founder of the Coalition for Health AI (CHAI), discusses why health care needs a technically specific, use-case-by-use-case definition of “good” AI and how CHAI is building voluntary consensus-driven guidelines around fairness, transparency, safety, robustness, and privacy. He shares how his frustration with bloated EHR workflows pushed him into digital health innovation, then into pandemic-era public-private coordination during Operation Warp Speed, where rapid collaboration revealed what’s possible when incentives align. Brian explores CHAI’s “AI nutrition labels” (model cards), an emerging registry, and why vendors may opt into scrutiny to speed sales cycles and prove value. He also digs into ambient clinical documentation, performance metrics that matter to clinicians, cost pressure through apples-to-apples comparisons, agentic AI to expand rural access, and the alignment and biosecurity risks that demand vigilance. Tune in and learn how to build and verify AI that improves care without sacrificing safety, equity, or trust! Resources Connect with and follow Brian Anderson on LinkedIn. Learn more about the Coalition for Health AI (CHAI) on LinkedIn. Explore CHAI’s website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The energy is electric at the IHI Forum, even before the forum officially begins. In this episode, co-hosts Kedar Mate and Don Berwick discuss how AI, patient safety, and administrative waste are shaping the future of health care. They explore the excitement and uncertainty around AI’s growing role in diagnostics, coordination, and clinical decision-making. They discuss why clinicians need real training to use AI safely and effectively, and how learning health networks are driving continuous improvement. They also delve into the persistent administrative burdens, especially in Medicaid and fee-for-service systems, that hinder true efficiency in health care. Tune in to hear how innovation, policy, and technology are colliding at this year’s IHI Forum! Resources Connect with and follow Kedar Mate on LinkedIn or reach out via email! Connect with and follow Don Berwick on LinkedIn or reach out via email! Check out the Turn on the Lights podcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices