Welcome to another episode of Flip Your Script, a vodcast by the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, hosted by ACLM President Dr. Padmaja Patel. In each episode, we explore five key takeaways on how lifestyle medicine is helping clinicians and leaders reimagine the future of healthcare. This episode, “Fixing the System: Making Value-Based Care Actually Work,” features Dr. Vivek Garg, President and CEO of the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). With a background spanning clinical care, health policy, and value-based care innovation, Dr. Garg brings a uniquely comprehensive perspective on what it will take to redesign healthcare systems to better serve patients—and the clinicians who care for them. The conversation dives into why value-based care, while promising in theory, often falls short in practice. Dr. Garg explores the structural barriers—misaligned incentives, fragmented measurement systems, and lack of care continuity—that prevent meaningful progress. He also shares why simply adding more metrics isn’t the answer, and how shifting toward aligned, patient-centered outcomes could unlock real change. You’ll hear thoughtful insights on the importance of prevention, the role of lifestyle medicine in slowing and reversing chronic disease, and the urgent need to rethink how we define and measure success in healthcare. From “a thousand lights pointing in different directions” to the vision of a more cohesive, outcomes-driven system, this episode offers a clear-eyed look at where we are—and what must come next. If you’re interested in value-based care, quality measurement, healthcare policy, or building systems that truly support whole-person health, this is an episode you won’t want to miss. Subscribe to ACLM on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsjJsNjWtUf30LiofumGRfQ The American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) is the medical professional society for physicians and other professionals dedicated to clinical and worksite practice of lifestyle medicine as the foundation of a transformed and sustainable healthcare system. Lifestyle medicine is a medical specialty that uses therapeutic lifestyle interventions as a primary modality to treat chronic conditions including, but not limited to, cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, and obesity. Lifestyle medicine-certified clinicians are trained to apply evidence-based, whole-person, prescriptive lifestyle change to treat and, when used intensively, often reverse such conditions. Applying the six pillars of lifestyle medicine—a whole-food, plant-predominant eating pattern, physical activity, restorative sleep, stress management, avoidance of risky substances, and positive social connections—also provides effective prevention for these conditions. Connect with ACLM Online! Visit lifestylemedicine.org: https://lifestylemedicine.org/ Find ACLM on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lifestylemed/ Find ACLM on X: https://x.com/ACLifeMed Find ACLM on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aclifemed/?hl=en Find ACLM on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/american-college-of-lifestyle-medicine/
