Turn on the Lights Podcast

Brought to you by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI)
  • 4.8 (41)
  • Health & Fitness
  • Updated Biweekly

Hosted by Dr. Philip McAdoo, Director of Internal Equity and Workplace Well-Being at the 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, patient-centered conversations. By demystifying health care problems, we hope to activate both the public and health care professionals to help 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. 18h ago

    Public Health Memory, Prevention, and Preparedness with Dr. Eugene McCray

    What can four decades of HIV/AIDS response teach public health about preparing for the next crisis? In this episode, Dr. Eugene McCray, a physician, epidemiologist, and longtime public health leader, reflects on the lessons HIV/AIDS has taught about trust, stigma, data, prevention, equity, and community engagement. He explains how community advocacy helped accelerate surveillance, drug development, education, and access to care, and why effective interventions mean little if they do not reach the people who need them most. Dr. McCray also explores the importance of transparent communication, timely, locally relevant data, and the creation of safe environments where communities and public health teams can share concerns and solutions. Looking ahead, he argues that future public health responses must be community-centered, evidence-based, prevention-focused, and willing to take accountability when systems get things wrong. Tune in to hear why the lessons of HIV/AIDS are not simply history, but a blueprint for building more resilient public health systems. IHI Spotlight: The episode's spotlight connects the conversation to healthcare improvement, safety, equity, and public health learning. The central lesson is that public health needs memory: science and data must remain connected to people, prevention tools must be paired with systems that deliver them equitably, and community partnership must be treated as a condition for effectiveness rather than a courtesy. About Dr. Eugene McCray: Dr. Eugene McCray is a physician, epidemiologist, and public health leader whose career has contributed to the HIV/AIDS response in the United States and globally. His work has included HIV surveillance, prevention, healthcare-worker safety, global HIV programs, and leadership of the CDC's domestic HIV program. In this conversation, he draws on decades of experience to explore what public health can learn from HIV/AIDS about trust, community engagement, data, prevention, equity, and accountability. Things You’ll Learn: Community-led advocacy helped accelerate the HIV/AIDS response by strengthening surveillance, speeding drug development, and building trust with affected populations. Stigma and discrimination can undermine public health by discouraging people from testing, seeking care, and accessing services. Transparent communication is essential when science is uncertain, especially when leaders clearly distinguish what is known from what is not yet known. Public health leaders need to listen to communities and create environments where staff and community members feel safe sharing concerns, assumptions, and solutions. Data is most powerful when it is timely, local, actionable, and used to identify populations being left behind rather than to assign blame. Effective prevention tools such as PrEP cannot reduce inequities unless public health systems tailor delivery to the communities that need them and involve those communities in designing interventions. Meaningful community engagement should extend across research, implementation, evaluation, and the feedback loop that uses data to improve programs. Future public health crises will require systems that integrate trust, prevention, and accountability, take responsibility for mistakes, and build stronger community-centered partnerships. Resources: Connect with and follow Dr. Eugene McCray on LinkedIn.

  2. Aug 28

    HIV, Stigma, and Trust with Harold Phillips

    Healthcare can’t ask communities to trust systems that haven’t earned their trust. In this episode, Harold Phillips, the CEO of NMAC (formerly the National Minority AIDS Council), discusses what HIV reveals about stigma, trust, racial justice, and the communities still being left behind by healthcare. Drawing on his lived experience with HIV and decades of public health leadership, Phillips explores why healthcare must treat the whole person rather than simply the diagnosis. He explains how stigma, misinformation, and mistrust can keep people from accessing care even when effective treatments and prevention tools are available. Phillips also examines the difference between outreach and genuine community partnership, emphasizing the importance of listening to communities and using their lived experiences to shape healthcare systems and policy. Tune in to hear Harold Phillips share what healthcare leaders can learn from communities that have historically been left behind, and how those lessons can help build more equitable, trustworthy systems. IHI Spotlight - Sylvia Trent-Adams: This episode’s IHI Spotlight features Sylvia Trent-Adams, President and CEO at the Institute of Healthcare Improvement, who talks about the lessons HIV has taught her about dignity, trust, equity, and person-centered care. Drawing on her experience as a nurse caring for soldiers living with or affected by HIV, she emphasizes that treating a diagnosis and truly seeing a person are not the same thing. She also discusses why healthcare organizations must listen to marginalized communities and act on what they hear, making equity an essential part of quality and safety rather than a separate initiative. About Harold Phillips: Harold J. Phillips is a nationally recognized HIV policy leader and public health strategist with over 30 years of experience advancing equity, access, and innovation in the fight against HIV/AIDS. In 2025, he was appointed CEO of NMAC, where he leads eNorts to center racial justice and community leadership in the national response to HIV. Previously, Phillips served as Director of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy (2021–2024), overseeing the implementation of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy and shaping federal policy to accelerate progress toward ending the epidemic. He also held senior roles at the Health Resources and Services Administration’s HIV/AIDS Bureau, where he managed key programs including Ryan White, AIDS Education and Training Centers, and PEPFAR-funded initiatives. As a Black gay man living with HIV, Phillips brings lived experience and visionary leadership to his work. His career has been defined by a commitment to uplifting marginalized voices, modernizing HIV policy, and building sustainable systems of care. Things You’ll Learn: HIV continues to reveal how stigma, misinformation, and mistrust can create barriers to healthcare access. Treating the whole person requires healthcare systems to address the social and personal circumstances that shape health outcomes. Lived experience should inform healthcare policy, system design, and shared decision-making. Genuine community partnership requires ongoing listening, responsiveness, and action, not one-time outreach or consultation. Healthcare organizations can build trust by listening to communities, adapting their services, and creating systems that center historically marginalized populations. Resources: Connect with and follow Harold Phillips on LinkedIn. Follow NMAC on LinkedIn and explore their website!

  3. Aug 21

    Leading Humans Through Change with Sue Hassmiller

    What if the key to leading change isn't having all the answers, but knowing how to listen? In this episode, Sue Hassmiller, a nationally recognized nurse leader, leadership coach, and health care strategist, talks about the human side of leading teams through change and what it takes to build trust, psychological safety, and true ownership. She explains why deep listening and genuine relationships are more effective than simply telling people what to do. She also explores the difference between compliance and ownership, and how leaders can help teams take greater responsibility for improvement by connecting change to their values and giving them a voice. Finally, Sue shares how coaching, curiosity, and self-awareness can help leaders overcome judgment and better understand why teams may feel stuck, resistant, or exhausted. Tune in to learn how leaders can listen differently, build stronger connections, and create the conditions for meaningful, lasting change in health care! IHI Spotlight - Jesse McCall: In this IHI Spotlight, Jesse McCall, Senior Director at IHI, explains that sustainable healthcare improvement depends as much on people and culture as it does on technical methods. He emphasizes connecting frontline staff to a shared purpose, creating psychologically safe environments where people can speak up and test new ideas, and ensuring leaders close feedback loops so employees become partners in change rather than recipients of it. About Sue Hassmiller: Sue Hassmiller, PhD, RN, FAAN, is an executive and leadership coach for nurse executives and health care leaders. Across a distinguished career spanning frontline public health, nursing academia, high-level government policy, and 25 years leading national initiatives at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, she has dedicated her life to transforming health care systems from the inside out. An elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, recipient of the Florence Nightingale Medal, and recognized as a Living Legend by the American Academy of Nursing, Sue combines multi-sector expertise with certified coaching to help health care leaders navigate complex relationships, drive health equity, and champion compassionate care. She is also the author of Resetting: An Unplanned Journey of Love, Loss, and Living Again, which explores healing and the vital human element in modern health care. Things You’ll Learn: Deep listening is essential for understanding how people experience and respond to change. Leaders build ownership by listening to their teams, acknowledging their perspectives, and connecting change to shared values. Psychological safety enables teams to contribute ideas, innovate, and perform at their best. Effective behavior change requires leaders to change their own behaviors by becoming more curious, self-aware, and less judgmental. Leaders can better support stuck or exhausted teams by asking questions and seeking to understand the underlying causes instead of making assumptions. Resources: Connect with and follow Sue Hassmiller on LinkedIn.

  4. Aug 14

    The Workforce We Need: Nurses as Healers, Leaders, and the Future of Care with Dr. Beverly Malone

    What would health care look like if nurses had the power to shape the systems they work in? In this episode, Dr. Beverly Malone, President and CEO of the National League for Nursing, discusses why nurses must be recognized not simply as health care workers, but as healers, leaders, educators, and system shapers. She explains how nursing's unique combination of scientific expertise, empathy, advocacy, and whole-person care gives nurses a critical perspective on what patients and health care systems need. Dr. Malone calls on health care organizations to invest in nurses by providing career pathways, supporting well-being, fostering inclusion, and ensuring meaningful participation in decision-making, arguing that the future of health care depends on listening to and empowering the nurses already at the center of care. Tune in for an inspiring conversation about the power nurses already hold, and what health care systems can do to listen to, support, and empower them to lead!  About Dr. Beverly Malone: Dr. Beverly Malone is President and CEO of the National League for Nursing. A nurse, educator, clinician, and global health care leader, she has held senior leadership roles in the United States and the United Kingdom, including serving as Federal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health under President Bill Clinton and as General Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing in the UK. Her work has focused on nursing education, leadership, diversity and equity, evidence-based practice, and advancing nurses' roles in shaping health care systems. Things You’ll Learn: Nurses are healers whose work combines science, skill, empathy, trust, and hope. Nurses exercise leadership every day by coordinating complex systems around patient care. Health care organizations must replace gratitude alone with meaningful structural support for nurses. Nurses need a seat at decision-making tables because their frontline perspective can reveal what systems miss. Nursing education and clinical practice must collaborate to prepare and support nurses throughout their careers. Cultures of belonging and well-being are essential to retaining nurses and delivering quality care. Empowered nurses can help lead health care toward prevention, health promotion, and more coordinated care. Resources: Connect with and follow Dr. Beverly Malone on LinkedIn. Follow the National League for Nursing on LinkedIn and explore their website!

  5. Aug 10

    A New Season: What Health Care Needs Now

    What does health care truly need now, and who is already showing us the way forward? The newest season of Turn On The Lights centers on one defining question: What does health care need now? Host Philip McAdoo speaks with experts and changemakers about workforce well-being, public health, HIV prevention, aging, technology, AI, cybersecurity, patient advocacy, and health equity. Rather than focusing solely on problems, each conversation highlights practical strategies, innovative thinking, and the leaders driving meaningful improvement across the health care system. Together, these stories reinforce that better care begins with trust, safety, dignity, and a willingness to listen. If you're passionate about improving health care through leadership, innovation, equity, and human-centered care, this season offers inspiring conversations you won't want to miss. About Dr. Philip McAdoo: Dr. Philip Dorian McAdoo is an organizational strategist, educator, author, advocate, and storyteller whose work focuses on trust, culture, workplace well-being, belonging, and systems change. He serves as Director of Internal Equity & Workplace Well-Being at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, where he supports leaders and teams in strengthening the human and organizational conditions that make improvement possible. Philip’s career spans health care, education, environmental justice, consulting, policy advocacy, philanthropy, and the arts. He holds a doctorate in Educational Leadership from the University of Pennsylvania, where his research explored the identities and experiences of openly gay educators. He is the author of Independent Queers and Every Child Deserves…, and he has spoken and led work across national convenings focused on leadership, culture, equity, and institutional change. As host of Turn on the Lights, Philip brings a human-centered and systems-focused lens to conversations about what health care needs now and how better systems can be built. Things You’ll Learn: Health care improvement starts with supporting the workforce caring for patients every day. Equity requires addressing the communities that continue to be left behind. Public health lessons from HIV remain highly relevant today. Person-centered care should be designed around what matters most to patients. Technology should strengthen trust, not simply automate processes. AI, cybersecurity, and digital transformation require strong leadership and governance. Patient advocacy remains essential for reducing disparities. Meaningful improvement begins by listening to patients, caregivers, and communities. Resources: Connect with and follow Dr. Philip McAdoo on LinkedIn and visit his website! Follow the Institute for Healthcare Improvement on LinkedIn and explore their website!

    A New Season: What Health Care Needs Now

  6. Jul 24

    Encore Release: The Cost Shifting Cycle Behind Your Rising Premiums

    Welcome back to a special encore presentation of Turn on the Lights! As we continue our transition series, our new host, Dr. Philip, has selected one of our most impactful and widely listened-to conversations from the archives to revisit. He introduces this timely discussion with Chris Van Gorder, which explores how cost shifting, regulatory mandates, and Medicare Advantage risk transfer are pushing healthcare toward structural unaffordability. Summary: 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. About Chris Van Gorder: Chris Van Gorder, MPA, FACHE, is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Scripps Health in San Diego, where he has led the organization since 2000 after serving as its Chief of Healthcare Operations and COO. A veteran healthcare executive with decades of experience across California hospital systems, he previously held CEO and senior leadership roles at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, Anaheim Memorial Medical Center, and Little Company of Mary Hospital. Beyond health system leadership, he has served on multiple boards, including Prolacta Bioscience and previously Abiomed and Z-Medica, and he has been active in national and civic service as a commissioner for the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO. He also brings an uncommon public-safety background, including reserve service with the San Diego Sheriff’s Department and long-running involvement with California’s Emergency Medical Services Authority, earning a Distinguished Service Medal. An educator and author, he teaches at USC and wrote The Front-Line Leader (2014). Things You’ll Learn: Healthcare executives are dealing with an unprecedented volume of simultaneous operational, financial, and workforce demands, raising the stakes of everyday decisions.  Affordability isn’t just a household problem; it’s a system design problem that forces hospitals to cover the growing cost of unpaid care.  Cost shifting is not a theory; it is the mechanism that pushes public underpayment onto commercial premiums.  Regulatory and capital mandates can dramatically raise costs without generating new revenue, especially in California.  Medicare Advantage often adds friction through narrow networks, prior authorization, and payment disputes, while shifting risk downhill. Walking away from bad contracts can stabilize a system financially, but it creates real disruption for patients and exposes policy gaps in switching coverage. Resources: Connect with and follow Chris Van Gorder on LinkedIn. Follow Scripps Health on LinkedIn and explore their website!

  7. Jul 17

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

    Welcome back to a special encore presentation of Turn on the Lights! As we continue our transition series, our new host, Dr. Philip, is revisiting some of the most impactful conversations from the archives. For this episode, he selected a standout discussion with Dr. Michelle Schreiber and Brenna Rabel, exploring how quality measures are developed, adopted, and implemented across Medicare and Medicaid programs. Summary: 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!

  8. Jul 10

    Encore release: Medicaid Work Requirements and the Unraveling of Health Coverage with Ben Sommers

    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 brings back to attention this conversation with Dr. Ben Sommers on how Medicaid work requirements and reduced ACA subsidies are driving coverage losses through administrative barriers, with far-reaching consequences for patient health and the stability of safety-net hospitals and communities. Summary: Millions of Americans could lose health coverage in the coming years, and the consequences may be more profound than most people realize. In this episode, Dr. Ben Sommers, the Huntley Quelch Professor of Health Care Economics at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and Brigham & Women’s Hospital, talks about how new federal policies, including Medicaid work requirements and the rollback of Affordable Care Act subsidies, are reshaping access to health insurance in the U.S. Drawing on extensive research, he explains why these changes are expected to increase uninsured rates without meaningfully boosting employment. Dr. Sommers also shares evidence from prior state experiments showing that administrative red tape, not a lack of willingness to work, drives coverage loss. He outlines the ripple effects on patient health, safety-net providers, and hospitals, especially in rural and underserved communities. Tune in to understand what these policy shifts mean for patients, providers, and the future of the U.S. health care system. Things You’ll Learn: New federal policies could result in more than 15 million Americans losing health insurance over the next decade. Medicaid work requirements do not meaningfully increase employment but do lead to significant coverage losses due to administrative barriers. Evidence from Arkansas shows that most people who lost Medicaid coverage were eligible and already working or exempt, but were tripped up by reporting requirements. Losing health insurance is associated with worse health outcomes, delayed care, increased financial strain, and higher rates of preventable death. Expanding health coverage increases overall system spending, but it delivers substantial benefits in terms of health, stability, and longevity for individuals and families. Reduced Medicaid funding and rising uninsured rates will place a severe strain on safety-net hospitals and providers, especially in rural and underserved areas. Changes to ACA marketplace subsidies and Medicaid rules will affect patients, providers, and communities in phases, with political and health system consequences unfolding over several years. Resources: Follow the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health on LinkedIn and explore their website! Learn more about the One, Big, Beautiful Bill here!

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About

Hosted by Dr. Philip McAdoo, Director of Internal Equity and Workplace Well-Being at the 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, patient-centered conversations. By demystifying health care problems, we hope to activate both the public and health care professionals to help 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
    149
  • 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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