Turn on the Lights Podcast

Brought to you by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI)
  • 4.8 (39)
  • HEALTH & FITNESS
  • UPDATED BIWEEKLY

Hosted by Don Berwick, MD, MPP, FRCP, and Kedar Mate, MD, Founder and CMO of Qualified Health, and Former President and CEO of Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), Turn on the Lights is a podcast that aims to improve health care worldwide by shedding light on health care issues through thought-provoking conversations. By demystifying health care problems, we hope to activate both the public and health care professionals to help us accelerate changes leading to health and health care improvements worldwide. Our discussions cover various topics such as health care delivery, health equity, quality, and social justice. The podcast features solutions from around the world and encourages listeners to take action. Brought to you by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI).

  1. 6D AGO

    Who Sets the Table for Quality Measurement in U.S. Health Care? with Brenna Rabel & Michelle Schreiber

    How do we decide what “good care” looks like, and who gets to choose the scorecard? In this episode of Turn on the Lights, Kedar Mate speaks with Dr. Michelle Schreiber of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and Brenna Rabel of Battelle about how quality measures are developed, adopted, and applied across Medicare and Medicaid programs. They explore why measurement is essential for accountability, patient choice, and improvement, while also acknowledging its vulnerability to politics, feasibility constraints, and “teaching to the test.” Using diabetes and sepsis as examples, they explain how performance cutoffs are established, why “all-or-none” measures often face resistance, and what makes complex measures difficult to report and score. The conversation also addresses efforts to reduce reporting burden, including CMS’s shift from broader MIPS reporting toward MIPS Value Pathways and the expansion of digital quality measurement through FHIR-enabled eCQMs. They conclude with a forward-looking discussion on how artificial intelligence could reduce manual chart abstraction and advance quality measurement, particularly as patient-reported outcomes play a larger role in shaping the future of value-based care. Tune in to hear how measures shape what health systems prioritize, what gets improved, and what “value” could look like in the future. Resources: Connect with and follow Dr. Michelle Schreiber on LinkedIn. Follow CMS on LinkedIn and explore their website! Connect with and follow Brenna Rabel on LinkedIn. Follow Battelle on LinkedIn and explore their website! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    49 min

  2. MAR 6

    AI, Interoperability, and the Next Era of Quality Measurement with Jeff Geppert

    How do health care quality measures get created, and are we measuring too much? In this episode, Jeff Geppert, Senior Research Leader at Battelle Memorial Institute, discusses the lifecycle and future of health care quality measurement in value-based care. He explains how measures move from multi-year development and evidence testing through endorsement and CMS rulemaking before being implemented in federal programs. He addresses concerns about measurement overload, noting that health care complexity has driven the growth in measures but that rising infrastructure costs, interoperability demands, and AI adoption may force greater focus and parsimony. He also shares why he’s optimistic that emerging technologies will better align quality measurement with quality improvement, helping uncover root causes of variation and drive meaningful value in care delivery. Tune in to explore where health care measurement is headed, and why the future may be more focused, fair, and impactful than ever. Resources: Connect with and follow Jeff Geppert on LinkedIn. Follow Battelle Memorial Institute on LinkedIn and explore their website! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    42 min

  3. FEB 27

    The Hidden Math Of Aging That Is Bankrupting Middle-Class Families with Dr. Joanne Lynn

    What would it look like if aging in America came with a real plan instead of a quiet free fall? In this episode, Dr. Joanne Lynn, a longtime geriatric and hospice physician and elder-care policy leader, explains how longer lives have outpaced the systems people rely on when disability arrives. She highlights how ageism and invisible, unpaid caregiving strain families, often forcing them to drain savings before support becomes available. She also examines staffing shortages in nursing homes, limited geriatric training for clinicians, and gaps in long-term care infrastructure. Finally, she shares promising solutions, including community villages, the PACE model, and policy reforms like catastrophic long-term care social insurance and stronger local accountability. Tune in to learn how we can build a future where aging remains meaningful, supported, and dignified. Resources: Connect with and follow Dr. Joanne Lynn on LinkedIn. Visiting medicaring.org to learn more about community-based eldercare improvements. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    43 min

  4. FEB 20

    The Cost Shifting Cycle Behind Your Rising Premiums with Chris Van Gorder

    Leading a major health system today means juggling patient-first ethics with a financing model that keeps tightening the screws. In this episode, Chris Van Gorder, President and Chief Executive Officer of Scripps Health, explains why health care is becoming structurally unaffordable amid soaring premiums, uncompensated emergency care, and rising input costs. He describes how hospitals have become the default safety net as county systems disappear, while underpayment by Medicare and Medicaid forces cost shifting onto employers and commercially insured patients. Van Gorder also highlights California’s seismic rebuilding mandates, which create massive capital pressure without matching reimbursement. He critiques managed care, value-based care, and Medicare Advantage for pushing risk onto providers through prior authorization and denials, recounting Scripps’ difficult decision to exit several Medicare Advantage contracts after heavy losses and the downstream impact on patients. Tune in and learn how payment design, intermediaries, and regulation shape what hospitals can sustain and what patients can access. Resources: Connect with and follow Chris Van Gorder on LinkedIn. Follow Scripps Health on LinkedIn and explore their website! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    39 min

  5. FEB 13

    Disrupting the Aging Services Model Through Community-Based Care with Marta Corvêlo

    What does it take to reimagine aging services in a complex health and social care system? In this episode, Marta Corvêlo, President & Chief Executive Officer at Somerville-Cambridge Elder Services, talks about her journey into health and human services and her approach to transforming community-based aging support. She shares how her upbringing in Portugal and early work with refugee families shaped her commitment to social impact and equity. Marta explains the mission of SCES and how its home-based, wraparound services help older adults, people of all abilities, and caregivers age with independence and dignity. She also discusses operating at the intersection of health care, behavioral health, and social supports to better navigate the systems serving aging populations. Tune in to hear how values-driven leadership and community-based innovation are reshaping the future of aging services! Resources: Connect with and follow Marta Corvêlo on LinkedIn. Follow Somerville-Cambridge Elder Services on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook, and explore their website! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    46 min

  6. FEB 6

    Why The US Pays More For The Same Medications Than Everyone Else with Dr. Jerry Avorn

    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

    45 min

  7. JAN 30

    The Power of Everyday Mindfulness: Healing, Community, and Public Health Impact with Brother Phap Luu

    Mindfulness isn’t a “nice-to-have”; it’s a low-cost public health lever that changes how people handle pain, emotions, and community life. In this episode, Brother Phap Luu, a monk in the Plum Village tradition founded by Thich Nhat Hanh, discusses how mindfulness can be practiced as “everyday meditation” through breathing, walking, eating, and even cultivating awareness of dreams. He shares his personal journey from activism and disillusionment to depression, and then to healing through mindful breathing and finding community at Plum Village. Brother Phap Luu explores the roots and global reach of Plum Village, why mindfulness naturally fosters compassion, and how “watering” emotions like anger through rumination can prolong suffering. He also unpacks mindfulness as an “invitation,” the challenge of scaling it, through training, ethics, trauma sensitivity, and limited profit incentives, and its potential integration into schools of public health and policy. Tune in and learn how mindful breathing, community practice, and compassion can become practical tools for healthier lives and societies! Resources: Connect with and follow Brother Phap Luu on LinkedIn. Learn more about Plum Village on their LinkedIn and explore their website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    46 min

  8. JAN 27

    Beyond Compliance: Vivek Garg on Patient-Centered Quality and Real-Time Improvement

    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

    43 min
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4.8
out of 5
39 Ratings

About

Hosted by Don Berwick, MD, MPP, FRCP, and Kedar Mate, MD, Founder and CMO of Qualified Health, and Former President and CEO of Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), Turn on the Lights is a podcast that aims to improve health care worldwide by shedding light on health care issues through thought-provoking conversations. By demystifying health care problems, we hope to activate both the public and health care professionals to help us accelerate changes leading to health and health care improvements worldwide. Our discussions cover various topics such as health care delivery, health equity, quality, and social justice. The podcast features solutions from around the world and encourages listeners to take action. Brought to you by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI).

Information

  • Creator
    Brought to you by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI)
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    127
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    Copyright © 2023 Institute for Healthcare Improvement. All rights reserved. 'Turn on the Lights' podcast is owned by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement and may not be reproduced or distributed without permission.
  • Show Website
    Turn on the Lights Podcast

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