Health & Veritas: Yale's Healthcare and Health Policy Podcast

Howie and Harlan discuss new research into the biological mechanisms behind long COVID and other post-infectious syndromes, how the FDA can ensure the safety of AI-powered medical tools, and why prior authorization can discourage necessary care even when treatments are ultimately approved. They also examine an early flu season, the changing calculus of COVID vaccination, and the continuing surge in measles cases.

Howie and Harlan are joined by Yale School of Medicine cardiologist Eric Velazquez to discuss how advances in treatment have transformed cardiovascular medicine and how technology could make care more accessible and equitable. Howie reports on a possible case of plague in Russia; Harlan reflects on how AI is changing the relationship between doctors and patients—and what that means for medical education.
Show notes:
Plague
"Pneumonic plague: WHO says it wants more details from Russia in death of worker at research lab"
"Dozens quarantined after researcher at Russian plague laboratory dies of 'unknown' infection"
"U.S. Seeks Information From Russia on Possible Plague Death"
"Rumors Are Swirling of a Plague Outbreak in Russia. Here's What We Know."
"What to know about pneumonic plague
"World Health Assembly adopts historic Pandemic Agreement to make the world more equitable and safer from future pandemics"
CDC: International Health Regulations
WHO: Biological weapons
Eric Velazquez
Yale School of Medicine: Cardiovascular Medicine
Yale Cardiovascular Research Center (YCVRC)
Center for Outcomes Research & Evaluation (CORE)
Interventional Cardiology
Myocardial Infarction (MI)
Stent
Statins
Beta-Blockers
Atrial fibrillation
Structural Heart Disease
Heartbeat Health
"What Is an Ambulatory Center? How It Differs From a Hospital"
Expertise and AI
Harlan Krumholz: "Beyond Information Asymmetry in Medicine: The Changing Nature of Medical Authority and Expertise"
"Why Do London Taxi Drivers Have Larger Hippocampuses?"

In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time.
Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings.
Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

Howie and Harlan are joined by journalist Gary Wolf, author of the new book The Quantified Self: Learning to Observe, and patient researcher Sara Riggare, who has spent years studying her own experience with Parkinson's disease to better understand and manage her health. They discuss how systematic self-observation can help people ask better questions and learn more about their own health. Howie examines Sweden's use of AI as a second reader of screening mammograms; Harlan asks whether AI will streamline healthcare billing or fuel an arms race between providers and insurers.
Show notes:
AI Radiologists
"Health system will use AI instead of radiologists for breast imaging 2nd reads"
"Lunit Expands AI-Powered Breast Cancer Screening Across the Stockholm Region"
"Artificial intelligence for breast cancer detection in screening mammography in Sweden: a prospective, population-based, paired-reader, non-inferiority study"
Joann G. Elmore, MD, MPH
The Quantified Self
Quantified Self: Self-Knowledge Through Numbers
Gary Wolf: The Quantified Self: Learning to Observe
Quantified Self: Personal Science Research Group
"N-of-1 Trial Design: Single-Patient Crossover Methodology"
What is Parkinson's?
Sara Riggare: "The Red Dot and the Blue Dots: My ISDM 2026 Keynote"
Sara Riggare: "Precision Medicine in Parkinson's Disease—Exploring Patient-Initiated Self-Tracking"
Sara Riggare: "The Burden of Tracking"
TED Talk by Gary Wolf: "The Quantified Self"
Gary Wolf: "The Data-Driven Life"
"What Is Biohacking and Is It Safe?"
Gary Wolf: "A Conceptual Framework for Personal Science"
AI Billing
"What Is Revenue Cycle Management (RCM)?"
"Agentic AI and the race to a touchless revenue cycle"
"Analysis examines AI in hospital billing as spike in complex patients adds nearly $1 billion in extra costs"
"Hospital Coding Intensity Analysis"

In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time.
Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings.
Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

Howie and Harlan are joined by pediatric cardiologist Emily Bucholz to discuss her work treating fetal heart abnormalities across a multistate region and the challenges of bringing specialized pediatric care to patients far from major medical centers. For Suicide Prevention Month, Howie examines evidence that restricting access to lethal means can prevent suicide; Harlan pays tribute to the late Yale political scientist Theodore Marmor and remembers a moment when Marmor's mentorship changed his professional path.
Show notes:
Preventing Suicide
Suicide Prevention Month
CDC: Leading Causes of Death
"Declining gun homicides, record gun suicides in 2024"
"Banning pesticides saves lives from suicide"
Strong Star Training Initiative: Caring Contacts
Emily Bucholz
Children's Hospital Colorado:Fetal Cardiology Program
"Fetal Cardiology: What is it? Why is it important?"
Children's Hospital Association: About Children's Hospitals
"Telemedicine: Definition, uses, benefits, and more"
Children's Hospital Colorado
"Differences Between Primary, Secondary, Tertiary, and Quaternary Care"
CDC: About Congenital Heart Defects
Mayo Clinic: Electrocardiogram
Cleveland Clinic: Chambers of the Heart
NIH: Medical Scientist Training Program
Yale Center for Outcomes Research & Evaluation (CORE)
"Ensuring Readiness for Practice: Advancing Competency-Based Subspecialty Training"
The Children's Heart Foundation
Remembering a Mentor
Harlan Krumholz: "The Return on Mentorship"
Yale School of Management: "Remembering Professor Emeritus Theodore Marmor, 1939–2026"

In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time.
Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings.
Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

Howie and Harlan are joined by Omar Lateef, CEO of Chicago's Rush University System for Health, to discuss balancing the financial pressures facing hospitals with commitments to patient care, community health, and research—and why healthcare leaders will need to rethink traditional models of care. Howie examines how proposed changes to student and exchange visitor visas could affect international researchers and physicians; Harlan discusses proposed changes to Medicare payment for remote patient monitoring.
Show notes:
Visa Rules
"Judge blocks Trump administration plans to limit visa length for grad students, postdocs"
NAFSA: Duration of Status Rule
"AAMC Statement on Duration of Status Final Rule"
"What does the new duration of status rule mean for international students and workers?"
Memorandum and Order on Motion for Preliminary Injunction
Omar Lateef
Rush University Medical Center
Stat Status List 2025: Omar Lateef
"Modern Healthcare Again Lists Rush CEO Among Most Influential"
Rush Remains Among Nation's Best in Vizient Quality Rankings"
"Corporate Finance Institute: Debt Covenants
"Bond Covenants Demystified: What You Need to Know"
"Health Equity as a System Strategy: The Rush University Medical Center Framework"
"A Community Anchor for Health Equity"
Fillmore Center Laundry Linen
"Rush Signs on as First Partner for Local Laundry Service"
"Key Facts About Hospitals": Profit Margins
"Despite sectorwide financial recovery, not all are hospitals are finding their footing"
"Hospital Margins Rebounded in 2023, But Rural Hospitals and Those With High Medicaid Shares Were Struggling More Than Others"
Payments for Remote Monitoring
Remote Patient Monitoring
"Billing for Remote Patient Monitoring in Medicare"
"States are betting millions on remote monitoring. Providers, tech groups say proposed Medicare policy could undercut it"
"CMS Proposes Transformational Medicare Reforms to Expand Accountable Care, Modernize Physician Payment, and Shift from Sick Care to Healthcare"
CMS: "Medicare and Medicaid Programs; CY 2027 Payment Policies Under the Physician Fee Schedule and Other Changes to Part B Payment and Coverage Policies; Medicare Shared Savings Program Requirements; and Medicare Prescription Drug Inflation Rebate Program"
"Telemonitoring in Patients with Heart Failure"
CMS: ACCESS (Advancing Chronic Care with Effective, Scalable Solutions) Model

In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time.
Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings.
Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.