What happens when people are betrayed by the system they took an oath to protect? Tim Heaphy, lead investigator for the January 6 Committee, as well as the independent investigation into the 2017 riot in Charlottesville, VA, joins us us to talk about what these events reveal about preparing for (and protecting yourself from) moral injury within government systems, and what healthcare practitioners can learn from them.

Clinicians have agency, but leveraging it on our own behalf means knowing sh*t and owning it.  Matt and Wendy breakdown what you need to know on the practice side, and the business side, of medicine, and what it means to ‘own it’ as a physician.

Corporatized healthcare increasingly views physicians as ‘interchangeable workers’ rather than the irreplaceable specialists they are. Many are turning to unions to strengthen their voice.  Kelly Nedrow, a lawyer and senior advisor for health issues with the American Federation of Teachers, talks with us about how organizing in healthcare unions can help physicians strategize for shared governance and better work environments.

We’re losing play in medicine.  Why should that matter? Because play isn’t immature, idle nonsense or about just blowing off steam in the moment. It has deeper roles in how we engage in groups, how we connect with each other, and how we process difficult situations.

In our version of a stock ticker, this new segment will get you up to speed on who’s gone bankrupt, who’s sold out, and any other juicy healthcare market news you need to know to be an informed participant in this thing called US healthcare.

It’s all about the money… until it isn’t.  Ron Howrigon, a former health insurance executive with some of the largest insurance companies in the U.S., takes us behind the scenes to look at how these companies put profit over patients, why he left the business, and what he’s doing now to help doctors fight the very industry he started in.

Medical practices around McAllen, Texas have been under a journalistic microscope for years. But no one knows what’s happening on the ground better than the doctors themselves – especially those who are trying to build up, not tear down, their local medical systems. Dr. Carlos Cardenas, Chairman of the Board and Chief Administrative Officer at DHR Health in the lower Rio Grande Valley, joins us to talk about the challenges he faces in delivering patient care, and how he overcomes them.

Corporate practice of medicine laws are on the books, but the loopholes are widening and seemingly endless. Does legislation work? Or will CPOM forever find a work-around?  To help sort this out, Matt and Wendy get wonky with Hayden Rooke-Ley, a federal judicial law clerk, a recent graduate of Stanford Law School, and Senior Fellow for Healthcare at the American Economic Liberties Project.

The 2024 election is over. Navigating the results has just begun. Our advice? Ski the gaps.

To learn more about some of the ideas mentioned in this episode, check out Jennifer Pahlka on Substack, and Ezra Klein in the New York Times.