Interviews

Lalan Wilfong, MD, senior vice president at Thyme Care, highlights the substantial advantages of patient navigation in enhancing patient outcomes and the need for balancing cost and performance when integrating these services into payment models.

With the advances in cancer care, focus has mostly been on lamenting the high cost of these innovations instead of making patients and populations healthier, said A. Mark Fendrick, MD, director of the Center for Value-Based Insurance Design at the University of Michigan.

In a session at AIDS 2024, the International AIDS Conference, global leaders and community advocates gathered to discuss why stigma and shame continue to attach themselves to an HIV diagnosis and why policy efforts to overcome both must persist.

Sarah Hogue, PharmD, director of oncology services at St. Luke's Cancer Institute, discusses trends of pharmacists and technicians taking on more clinical responsibilities in oncology, improving patient care, and efficiency.

This interview accompanies the second podcast in our National Recovery Month series with Mandy Faubel, PhD, LCSW, UPMC Western Behavioral Health at Safe Harbor, and Rebekah Sedlock, DSW, LCSW, UPMC Insurance Services Division with Community Care.

Jennifer Green, MD, of Duke University, explained that while CMS-negotiated drug prices under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) may not immediately lower patients' costs, they could improve access to expensive medications.

Dax Kurbegov, MD, senior vice president of Sarah Cannon Cancer Network, discussed divides between payers, health systems, and oncology care providers, as well as the impacts these divides can have on patients.

Heather Wakelee, MD, Stanford University, discusses the pros and cons of different durations of immunotherapy in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and the future outlook for patient-specific care.

Matthew Smeltzer, PhD, University of Memphis, shares insights into his team's quality-of-care initiative to identify and combat gaps in care for patients with early-stage non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

The transition to value-based care is extremely challenging because everyone is also still being paid by fee for service, said Lalan Wilfong, MD, senior vice president, value-based care, Thyme Care.

Klaus Rabe, MD, PhD, chest physician and professor of medicine, University of Kiel, shares the latest clinical discoveries from the BOREAS trial on type 2 inflammation in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Bellinda King-Kallimanis, PhD, LUNGevity Foundation, reflects on her experiences in patient-focused research to discuss the current state of patient education, the importance of patient advocates, and mediating barriers to health care access.

John Heymach, MD, PhD, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses exciting developments in HER2-targeted therapies that he foresees making a difference in the treatment of non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

There are concerns that the negotiated drug prices under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) are leading to large provider reimbursement cuts, explained Nick Ferreyros, managing director, Community Oncology Alliance.

Ken Cohen, MD, of Optum Care, advocates for glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) tiering for patients with diabetes based on comorbidities, like body mass index (BMI) and cardiovascular disease (CVD).

Ana Baramidze, MD, PhD, Todua Clinic, Tbilisi, Georgia, details exciting findings from the EMPOWER-Lung 1 trial regarding cemiplimab and patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Eva Otter, president of Pulmonary Hypertension Association Europe, discusses the significance of shared decision-making for patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension.

Samyukta Mullangi, MD, MBA, medical director at Thyme Care, explained her excitement to meet with industry leaders, share best practices, and learn about new innovations in oncology care at Patient-Centered Oncology Care® (PCOC) 2024.

Siow Ming Lee, PhD, FRCP, University College London Hospitals, discusses essential advancements necessary for improving immunotherapy outcomes in special patient subgroups with lung cancer.

September is National Recovery Month, and we are bringing you another limited-edition month-long podcast series with our Strategic Alliance Partner, UPMC Health Plan. In this second episode, we speak with Rebekah Sedlock, DSW, LCSW, and Mandy Fauble, PhD, LCSW.

Alexander Mathioudakis, MD, PhD, clinical lecturer in respiratory medicine at The University of Manchester, shares findings from the FLAME trial on blood eosinophil changes in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder.

Wanda Phipatanakul, MD, MS, professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and director of the Clinical Research Center at Boston Children's Hospital, discusses some of the most significant health disparities impacting respiratory care.

Io Hui, PhD, researcher at The University of Edinburgh, discusses how artificial intelligence (AI) is being applied in respiratory care for both clinicians and patients.

There are general risk factors for patients with rheumatic disease developing interstitial lung disease, but there are also disease-specific risk factors depending on which rheumatic disease they have, explained Anna-Maria Hoffmann-Vold, MD, PhD, a senior consultant and leader of inflammatory and fibrotic research area at Oslo University Hospital.

Susan Sabo-Wagner, MSN, RN, OCN, of the American Oncology Network, expressed excitement toward networking, innovative discussions, and panels on patient advocacy at Patient-Centered Oncology Care® (PCOC) 2024.

As the pharmacist’s role has evolved in the last decade, they’ve become an important part of reducing costs and better managing patients, explained Scott Soefje, PharmD, MBA, BCOP, FCCP, FHOPA, assistant professor, Mayo Clinic College of Medicines and Science.

The 2024 World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC) marks the 50th anniversary of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer. Sandip Patel, MD, joined for an interview looking forward to the unique features of this year's meeting.

Lead investigators, presenters, and the chair of this year’s European Society of Cardiology Congress, John McMurray, MD, discussed the meeting highlights and recapped important data.

This interview accompanies the first podcast in our National Recovery Month series with Michael Lynch, MD, attending emergency physician and medical toxicologist at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

Ty J. Gluckman, MD, FACC, FAHA, of Providence St. Joseph Health, emphasizes the need for better prevention of cardiovascular risks and discusses upcoming advances in glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) therapies.