Precision Medicine in Childhood Cancer Treatments

Dr. Andrew Kung shares about his team’s focus, the clinical implementation of sequencing precision medicine, and how they tailor treatment plans to support children and their families during all stages of the treatment process. Andrew Kung, MD, PhD, is Chief of Pediatric Hematology, Oncology, and Stem Cell Transplantation at Columbia University. His clinical expertise is […]

Addressing the Question of Who Should Pay the High Costs of Drugs

Former Pfizer Chairman and CEO Jeff Kindler shares how the pharmaceutical industry is a “very unusual and unique business.” He discusses the increasing challenges of the various stages of drug discovery, drug development, registration and marketing. Kindler also stresses the impact mentors have had on his career as an executive. Jeff Kindler is the former […]

The Process of Identifying Opportunities for Innovation

The key to successful innovation is developing processes that uncover a company’s key competencies and then using those competencies to form innovative solutions through workforce development. Gottfried Dutine, Chief Innovation Officer at Royal Philips, shares how Philips used this process to enhance medical image processing used by pathologists to diagnose medical conditions. Gottfried H. Dutine […]

The Rise of Specialty Pharmacy

Pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) traditionally determine two things facing American taxpayers: the affordability and accessibility of drugs. According to industry expert Albert Thigpen, the scope of PBM’s influence is shrinking as the federal government solidifies its place as the largest single payer of prescription drugs. Thigpen is hopeful, however, that the rise of specialty pharmacy […]

Evaluating Best Practices in Medical Device Reprocessing to Improve Public Health

Larry Kessler, ScD, is a Professor in the Department of Health Services at the University of Washington School of Public Health. Previously, he spent over 13 years at the FDA, most recently from 2002-2009, as Director of the Office of Science and Engineering Laboratories (OSEL) at the Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH). In […]

Personalized Care for Crohn’s Disease Patients

Gastroenterologist Robert Burakoff discusses how personalized treatment for Crohn’s disease and other chronic inflammatory diseases can improve the lives of patients. He shares how personalized treatment impacts the pharmaceutical industry and why it is the most promising approach. Robert Burakoff MD, MPH is a Clinical Chief of the Division of Gastroenterology and Director of the […]

Overseeing the Post-9/11 U.S. Military Health System

Stepping into a new role comes with any number of challenges, especially if that new job was leading the entire U.S. military’s healthcare efforts just 10 days after 9/11. Bill Winkenwerder assumed the role on September 21, 2001, having spent his early career as a physician and executive for large health insurance companies. While this […]

The Future of Healthcare in the United States

The Affordable Care Act has transformed the future of U.S. healthcare. Kathleen Sebelius was instrumental in shaping and passing The Affordable Care Act. In this video, she shares on the process and what it means. Kathleen Sebelius is one of America’s foremost experts on health policy, healthcare reform, human service delivery, and executive leadership. From […]

A Case Against Fee-for-Service Healthcare

The fee-for-service healthcare model divides policy makers and thought leaders across the healthcare industry. Many believe third-party payments encourage overusing healthcare services and, in turn, contribute to inflation. Howard Dean, a champion of healthcare reform, hopes to shift the incentives of physicians and hospitals away from offering more procedures and imaging toward providing more efficient, […]

How Big Data Can Improve Individual Care

The notion of healthcare as well care—as opposed to sick care—has become increasingly popular in this country. To combat high costs, health insurance companies now offer higher deductible plans with built-in health savings accounts, requiring payers to better educate themselves about services and treatments. Higher out-of-pocket expenses have encouraged patients not only to demand more […]

Measuring the Value of Healthcare Products

How do we measure a drug’s value? Of course safety and effectiveness matter, but Tim Riley, Executive Chairman and CEO of Wellstate Group, tells us that price has become an increasingly important criteria of value. One of the leaders in drug pricing is the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), formerly the National […]

Lessons from a Pharmaceutical Industry Veteran

Research and development for new drugs can take as much as sixteen years. For the former President of R&D at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Bob Ruffolo, that leaves no time for indecision. Having spent thirty-five years in the pharmaceutical industry, Dr. Ruffolo realized “indecision is paralysis”. It’s better, he believes, to correct a wrong decision than to […]