How Many Doctors Does It Take to Start a Healthcare Revolution? (Replay)

Season 5, Episode 41

In part one (“How Many Doctors Does It Take to Start a Healthcare Revolution?”), we continue conversations from last week’s episode, (“How Do We Know What Really Works in Healthcare?”). Anupam Jena, a physician, economist, and professor at Harvard Medical School, told us about his study that shows mortality rates improve when cardiologists are away at medical conferences. One possible explanation: in certain cases, it may be better for doctors to do nothing than to carry out certain procedures.

We then return to Jeffrey Brenner, a physician and the executive director of the Camden Coalition of Healthcare Providers, whose mission is to lower the cost of quality healthcare. “I’ve always felt that the trick to healing and the trick to wellness and to change, like changing behavior, is relationship-building,” says Brenner. Unfortunately, as he points out, relationship-building is not a big profit center for hospitals.

In part two (“What’s the ‘Best’ Exercise?”), three experts talk about the “best” possible exercise. Gretchen Reynolds, who writes for the New York Times’s Well blog, likes the squat. Dr. Peter Attia, co-founder of the Nutrition Science Initiative, suggests flipping tires. And the University of Chicago’s David Meltzer tells us that just about any activity can be a workout, and you can measure its impact with a metabolic equivalent score.

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