For the past 20 years, under both Republican and Democratic administrations, the ONC has played a pivotal role shaping and regulating the health tech market. On the eve of the election, Micky Tripathi joined me to discuss the agency’s recently expanded role. Now, two months later—though it feels like a decade—the future is uncertain. Will the ONC and ASTP continue as market regulators and opportunity catalysts, or is a new direction on the horizon?

Here’s what we covered:

• The government’s role in shaping and regulating the health tech ecosystem
• AI in healthcare: balancing the risks of misuse vs. the risk of “missed uses”
• Health information sharing: why Micky is optimistic about the future
• Can technology take the pain out of prior auth?

Micky thinks we are standing on the edge of a transformative era:

“We are just at the beginning of the most exciting decade...health information technology can really start to show… the return on investment for patients. We've done a lot of hard work over the last 10 years… [With that foundation in place] we have the opportunity to say there's an ROI here for patients.”

Relevant Links

• Blog post on ONC reorganization: ONC’s Next Chapter
• TEFCA overview
• Forbes interview: Where is interoperability headed?
• Healthcare Dive: HHS AI Task Force Takes Shape (March 2024)
• Blog post by Micky: Getting real about information blocking and APIs (October 2024)

About Our Guest

Micky Tripathi is the Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, and Acting Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, where he leads the formulation of HHS technology and data strategy and coordinates technology policies, standards, programs, and investments.

Dr. Tripathi has over 20 years of experience across the health IT landscape. Prior to joining the federal government he served as Chief Alliance Officer for Arcadia, a health care data and software company focused on population health management and value-based care, the project manager of the Argonaut Project, an industry collaboration to accelerate the adoption of FHIR, and a board member of HL7, the Sequoia Project, the CommonWell Health Alliance, and the CARIN Alliance.

Dr. Tripathi served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Massachusetts eHealth Collaborative (MAeHC), a non-profit health IT advisory and clinical data analytics company. He was also the founding President and CEO of the Indiana Health Information Exchange, a statewide HIE partnered with the Regenstrief Institute, an Executive Advisor to investment firm LRVHealth, and a Fellow at the Berkman-Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University.

He holds a PhD in political science from the Massachusetts...

There’s a lot of concern right now about healthcare affordability, but not enough action. Paul Markovich, the CEO of Blue Shield of California, is on a mission to bring down health costs by reducing administrative overhead and negotiating lower drug prices. In this episode we dive deep into Paul’s call to action for healthcare leaders to tackle the affordability crisis head-on.

Paul and I discuss:

• How Blue Shield slashed the cost of arthritis drug Humira, by offering a biosimilar at 25% of the cost
• Why reducing healthcare costs is critical to averting a national economic crisis
• Whether we need a new national mandate for health data sharing
• Paul’s advice on tackling fear and being a brave leader

Paul says healthcare affordability isn't just a pocketbook issues for patients, it’s also a huge economic issue for the nation:

“The reality is we are facing a huge affordability crisis, a fiscal crisis right now. Even though our economy is running pretty much at or near full employment, we have record fiscal deficits… We cannot keep spending on this program the way that we are. We need to bring the spending down... Even our dysfunctional political system is going to have to deal with that.”

Relevant Links

California’s new data sharing law

Announcement of new Humira biosimilar

Investment in nonprodit Civica for lower cost generics

New prior authorization platform with Salesforce

About Our Guest

Paul Markovich is Chief Executive Officer of Blue Shield of California, a nonprofit health plan with $25 billion in annual revenue serving 4.8 million members in the state's commercial, individual, and government markets. Markovich has launched and led numerous initiatives to drive innovation and help reimagine healthcare, including funding support for a statewide provider directory to make it easier for Californians to find physicians and facilities in their plan; supporting development of a statewide health information network for patients’ records, enabling more seamless and holistic care; and investing in a partnership with the California Medical Association to help physicians pilot new care delivery models and leverage technology.

Markovich is a North Dakota native and Rhodes Scholar with a master’s in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford University. He is a graduate of Colorado College, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in International Political Economy and played Division I hockey.

Source: https://www.blueshieldca.com/en/home/about-blue-shield/corporate-information/leadership/paul-markovich

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On so many issues, Congress has not been willing or able to act. But when faced with horrifying stories of death and mismanagement, Congress finally passed legislation to reform the US organ transplant system. They did so because people like Donna Cryer, a transplant recipient and patient advocate, demanded a better system for Americans who need lifesaving organ transplants. Now, as the new law moves into implementation, the work continues.

In this episode, Donna and I discuss:

• The new legislation that is breaking up the deadly organ transplant monopoly
• How ignoring the expertise and insights of patients dooms us to slow progress making healthcare safer and better
• Her advice for young people: “take your shot”

Donna says we all need to start listening more closely to patients with lived experience:

“I often think if you... had many people with great deals of experience and intelligence who were highly motivated to help you achieve your goal. Why would you not want to use them? Why would you not want to partner with them? Why would you work really, really hard to keep them away from solving the problem? And that's how people treat patients and patient advocates.”

Relevant Links

Donna Cryer’s testimony to the Senate Finance Committee on organ transplant system failures (just past the 48:00 mark)

Summary of the new law to break up the organ transplantation monopoly

More about the Global Liver Institute

See more details about the Advanced Advocacy Academy Donna's organization launched

Visit UNOS’ website

About Our Guest

Donna R. Cryer, JD is the Founder and former Chief Executive Officer of Global Liver Institute, the only patient-driven liver health nonprofit operating across the US, EU, and UK. GLI convenes the NASH, Liver Cancer and Pediatric and Rare Liver Disease Councils, as well as the Liver Action Network, collectively more than 200 organizations.

Mrs. Cryer has channeled her personal experience as a patient with inflammatory bowel disease and a 29-year liver transplant recipient into professional advocacy across a career in law, policy, consulting, public relations, clinical trial recruitment, and nonprofit management.

At GLI, Mrs. Cryer has raised more than $10 million for liver health initiatives. She is a frequent speaker on the topic of patient-centeredness and patient engagement in healthcare transformation and created a unique model for advocacy that mobilizes patients, influences policy, and coalesces clinicians to improve patient outcomes.

Mrs. Cryer serves on the Boards of Directors for the Council of Medical Specialty Societies, Sibley Memorial Hospital/Johns Hopkins Medicine, the Innovation and Value Initiative (IVI), and the Clinical Trials Transformation Initiative. She was the first patient to serve on the ABIM Gastroenterology Specialty Board, was one of the founding members of the AASLD Patient Advisory Committee and is the Community Representative on the AASLD NASH Task Force. She has been named one of the Top Blacks in Healthcare by the Milken Institute at GW School of Public Health and BlackDoctors.org, one of the Top 10 Patients Who Make An Impact by Health 2.0 and one of PharmaVoice’s 100 Most...