Turn on the Lights Podcast

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Latest Episodes:

The human impact of today's politics on the oldest public hospital in America - with Eric Wei Jun 20, 2025

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What if the hospitals serving society’s most vulnerable were actually delivering some of the most essential care in the country?

In this episode, Dr. Eric Wei explores the vital role of public hospitals in serving vulnerable populations and dispelling the myth that they provide second-tier care. He discusses system improvements through Lean strategies, the challenges of Medicaid reliance, Bellevue’s historic impact, and the urgent need for universal access and investment in social determinants of health.

Tune in to learn about the powerful story of Bellevue Hospital, the fight against health care inequity, and why public hospitals deserve a place at the heart of our health care future!

The connection between meaning and purpose to reduce staff burnout - with Steve Swensen Jun 13, 2025

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Burnout among health care professionals isn't just a staffing issue; it’s a crisis rooted in systems, culture, and misaligned values.

In this episode, Dr. Steve Swensen explores the growing crisis of burnout and moral injury among health care workers, highlighting its roots in emotional exhaustion, misaligned values, and lack of agency, and how it harms clinicians, patients, and organizational performance. He shares solutions, including five key leadership behaviors: understanding, recognition, belonging, transparency, and mentorship, along with better job design, removal of workflow obstacles, and a culture of kindness, which he calls “love in action” and a measurable business advantage.

Tune in and learn how transforming leadership and culture can heal both caregivers and the system itself!

Health Care AI at Speed – Recorded at IHI Leadership Alliance Spring Meeting 2025 with Brett Moran, Charles Binkley & Lucas Zier Jun 06, 2025

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AI in health care is advancing rapidly, with promising uses in imaging and admin tasks, but its diagnostic and patient-facing roles demand careful, human-centered oversight to ensure safety and equity.

In this episode, experts Brett Moran, Charles Binkley, and Lucas Zier discuss the evolving role of AI in health care, from established tools like imaging assistance to emerging solutions like ambient scribing that boost clinician satisfaction, alongside its benefits in billing and appeals and challenges such as ROI, AI errors, and patient transparency. They also explore future possibilities like agentic AI for patient communication, the ethics of AI empathy, and emphasize that AI should ultimately support clinicians in delivering more human-centered care.

Tune in to hear how health care leaders are using AI to improve care while staying grounded in what really helps patients and providers!

Upstream and downstream determinants of health and the water we drink - with Cydian Kauffman May 30, 2025

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Consumers must understand the crucial difference between legally permissible contaminant levels and true health-based goals for drinking water.

In this episode, Cydian Kauffman, CEO of Pure Water Northwest, shares how his experience in property management led him to focus on water quality. He explains the EPA’s standards /MCL versus MCLG) and why municipalities often prioritize the less health-focused option due to cost. Cydian explores how water treatment and distribution can introduce contaminants and stresses the importance of regular home water testing and effective filtration. He also addresses the politicization of water, inequities in access, and the potential for future solutions like desalination to improve water quality.

Tune in and learn practical advice on ensuring your water's safety and what the future might hold for this essential resource!

Join the patient revolution - with Victor M. Montori May 23, 2025

Show notes

CareQuest Institute for Oral Health is a national nonprofit dedicated to creating an oral health care system that is accessible, equitable, and integrated. Learn more about how their advocacy, philanthropy, research, and education are creating a better oral health system at carequest.org/turnonthelights

The current health care system often prioritizes industrial processes over genuine human connection, necessitating a revolution towards "careful and kind care."

In this episode, Dr. Victor Montori, a practicing endocrinologist at the Mayo Clinic and founder of The Patient Revolution, discusses the harmful trend of industrialized health care, where patients are often treated like tasks rather than people. He advocates for a patient-centered approach that takes into account an individual’s biology, life story, circumstances, and goals to create minimally disruptive care plans together. Victor explains the origins of The Patient Revolution, a movement striving to change health care so it better supports such personalized care. He also examines how AI could either worsen dehumanization or enhance human connection, emphasizing that reclaiming care requires both clinicians and patients to act together against systemic learned helplessness.

Tune in and learn how to collectively work towards a health care system that truly centers on human care and connection!

Imagine a public health system built on mutual aid, participation, and dignity with Eric Reinhart May 16, 2025

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What if the path to better health and stronger communities doesn’t start in hospitals, but in our relationships with each other?

In this episode, Dr. Eric Reinhart, a political anthropologist, social psychiatrist, and psychoanalytic clinician based in Chicago, reflects on how his experiences in medicine, anthropology, and advocacy have shaped his urgent focus on public health reform, especially around mass incarceration and its devastating effects on communities. He argues that incarceration is not only a symptom but also a cause of widespread mental illness and social breakdown, emphasizing the need to democratize caregiving and public health beyond bureaucratic systems. Reinhart critiques the U.S. health care model for being overly medicalized and profit-driven, calling for a bottom-up approach that empowers communities to care for one another. He warns against relying on political self-correction, stressing that meaningful change requires validating public anger and offering materially supported, ethical alternatives rooted in relational care. Drawing from models like Paul Farmer’s work and his own experiences in underserved communities, Reinhart envisions a public health system built on mutual aid, participation, and dignity.

Tune in as Dr. Eric Reinhart challenges us to rethink public health by examining how systems of incarceration and inequality undermine care and what we can do to build something better!

Has healthcare fully realized the potential of AI? with Eric Horvitz May 09, 2025

Show notes

What happens when the power of large language models meets the complexity of modern medicine?

In this episode, Eric Horvitz, Chief Scientific Officer of Microsoft, discusses the transformative impact of artificial intelligence in health care, particularly the shift from rule-based systems to data-driven models like GPT-4. He highlights how AI can reduce physician burnout by handling administrative tasks and supporting clinical decision-making. Eric emphasizes the importance of AI collaborating with, rather than replacing, health care professionals to improve diagnostic accuracy and patient safety. He also explores future possibilities, including personalized health companions, intelligent patient portals, and AI-powered tumor board simulations. Overall, he underscores both the exciting potential and the responsibility involved in integrating AI safely and meaningfully into health care.

Tune in for a thought-provoking conversation on how AI is transforming health care, from easing clinician burden to reimagining patient care and medical decision-making!

Democratizing Expertise with Sanjeev Arora May 02, 2025

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Democratizing knowledge is critical to bridging health care gaps and improving patient outcomes, especially in underserved communities.
In this episode, Dr. Sanjeev Arora, founder and director of Project ECHO, shares how he transformed a local hepatitis C treatment challenge in New Mexico into a global movement. He explains how the ECHO model leverages technology, best practices, case-based learning, and outcome tracking to extend specialist knowledge to underserved areas. Arora emphasizes the power of community, respect, and kindness in driving ECHO’s success and highlights a study showing rural clinicians can achieve outcomes equal to specialists with proper support. He also discusses ECHO’s global reach, funding, future plans, and the urgent need to address the supply-demand gap in health care through service to others.
Tune in and learn how democratizing knowledge can revolutionize health care delivery!

Keeping Patients over Profits with Dhruv Khullar Apr 25, 2025

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The erosion of government-funded science infrastructure is leading to a loss of competitive edge and innovation in the US.

In this episode, Dhruv Khullar, physician and health policy professor, explores how current policies are affecting science, health care, and academia, warning that funding cuts and tensions with universities could jeopardize innovation and global leadership. He reflects on the historical role of U.S. government investment in establishing biomedical dominance and cautions that countries like China may gain ground if these trends continue. Dhruv also critiques the "Gilded Age" of medicine, marked by corporatization, financialization, and a move away from patient-centered care, and proposes solutions like enforcing corporate practice of medicine laws and antitrust regulations. He further discusses physician unionization as a counterforce and the health risks of ultra-processed foods, calling for possible regulatory action.

Tune in and learn about the critical intersection of science, policy, health care, and the future of innovation!

Demystifying Dental Health with Melissa Burroughs Apr 18, 2025

Show notes

The separation of oral and physical health has created a significant crisis in the US, leaving millions without access to affordable dental care despite its crucial link to overall well-being.

In this episode, Melissa Burroughs, Director of Public Policy at the CareQuest Institute for Oral Health, discusses the historical reasons for this divide and its modern consequences, highlighting how poor oral health exacerbates conditions like diabetes and heart disease. She details the critical coverage gaps in Medicare, state-variable Medicaid adult benefits, and the VA system, explaining why dental care is often the most unaffordable service and outlining the profound equity issues affecting vulnerable populations. Melissa addresses the concerning trend of efforts to remove fluoride from public water systems and the potential negative impact of proposed Medicaid cuts on already fragile dental benefits. She also underscores that millions of Americans cannot access oral health care primarily due to cost, making it the number one medical service people report skipping.

Tune in and learn why integrating oral health is vital for a healthier America and what policy changes could bridge the access gap!

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