Tag: event

Brews and Views events pivot to online format

Brews and Views icon green and purple As members of the MSU community continue to work remotely and practice social distancing, Brews and Views has pivoted to online-only “at home editions” of the series that addresses the implications and ethical considerations of biomedical innovations and topics at the forefront of scientific investigation.

The first Brews and Views: At Home Edition was held on March 20 on the topic “Novel Coronavirus Pushes our Limits— We Need to Push Back, Thoughtfully and Fast.” Discussants were Brett Etchebarne, MD, PhD (College of Osteopathic Medicine), Leonard Fleck, PhD (College of Human Medicine), Maria Lapinski, PhD (College of Communication Arts and Sciences and College of Agriculture & Natural Resources), and Richard Lenski, PhD (College of Natural Science). Dr. Chris Contag, Director of the Institute for Quantitative Health Science & Engineering (IQ) and Chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering, served as moderator.

The group of experts addressed scientific, communication, medical, societal, and ethical challenges presented by the novel coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 disease. Their goal was to inform and help those in the audience as we all navigate this global crisis. A recording of the event is available to watch on the IQ website.

On April 17, a second “at home edition” event took place, titled “COVID-19 and Our Children: Worry Now or Worry Later?” Moderators Dr. Chris Contag and Dr. Keith English, Professor and Chair of the Department of Pediatrics and Human Development, were joined by discussants from across the university: Carrie Shrier (MSU Extension), Kendal Holtrop, PhD (College of Social Science), Dawn Misra, MHS, PhD (College of Human Medicine), and Amy Nuttall, PhD (College of Social Science and C-RAIND).

Given the various ways that the current pandemic will impact children, they considered several questions: How will social distancing impact children? How can we use online learning to facilitate education? How can we prepare for the next epidemic? How do we deal with the direct and indirect effects and the social sequelae of this pandemic? How do we effectively communicate information to our children without increasing or generating fear?

To receive notice of future Brews and Views events, subscribe to IQ’s email newsletter. The next Brews and Views: At Home Edition is scheduled for Friday, May 29 from 5:00-7:00 pm on “The Dollars and Sense of Economic Convalescence from COVID-19.” The discussion will feature members of the local business community as well as Sanjay Gupta, PhD, Dean of the Eli Broad College of Business. Registration for the online event is open.

Brews and Views is presented collaboratively by the Center for Ethics and Humanities in the Life Sciences and the Institute for Quantitative Health Science & Engineering at Michigan State University.

Bioethics for Breakfast: Can Pharmaceutical Cost Control Be Achieved Ethically with Surgical Precision?

Bioethics for Breakfast Seminars in Medicine, Law and SocietyPaula Cunningham and Craig Hunter presented at the February 6th Bioethics for Breakfast event, offering perspectives and insight on the topic “Health Reform: Can Pharmaceutical Cost Control Be Achieved Ethically with Surgical Precision?”

This year’s Bioethics for Breakfast series is focused on a central theme: “Is There a Cure for Our Sick Health Care System?” The series is generously sponsored by Hall, Render, Killian, Heath & Lyman.

There is virtually unanimous agreement among health policy analysts that something must be done to control health care costs, especially pharmaceutical costs, which are often a major burden for the elderly. Consumers and taxpayers are also demanding that health care costs be controlled and reduced, most often with regard to drugs. This is why the recent focus has been on the price of drugs. However, any practical proposal to reduce drug health care costs has been denounced as rationing and/or as a threat to medical innovation. The result has been political inertia and economic exuberance (for for-profit health care corporations), with $3.8 trillion in U.S. health spending in 2019 and projections of $6.0 trillion total health spending for 2027. What forms of drug-related health care cost control are you willing to accept for yourself and those you care about? What do you see as the ethical challenges that must be addressed by any effort to control such health care costs, especially for the elderly?

Speaker Paula Cunningham, State Director of AARP Michigan, highlighted the struggles that people in Michigan face regarding the price of prescription drugs, noting that some individuals travel to Canada because the cost there is drastically lower. Cunningham shared the AARP “Stop Rx Greed” campaign as an example of their advocacy work in this area. She also noted that there are several pieces of legislation being worked on in Michigan and at the national level, such as an importation bill, that would reduce prescription drug costs. She finally stressed that this issue is not just about data and facts, it is about people’s lives.

Speaker Craig Hunter, Director of Specialty Program Outcomes and Analytics for CVS Health, brought industry expertise to the discussion and provided an economic perspective on the issue. He shared three main points, the first being that we need to rethink the question “can medical outcomes be achieved ethically with surgical precision?” because economic structures in the U.S. are not set up in a way that drives synergy. Hunter then discussed the need for structural changes to encourage creative solutions. When asking those in attendance if they believed that drugs in the U.S. are a public good, a minority responded in agreement. Hunter pointed out that this question has been answered very differently in other countries. Finally, Hunter noted that, regardless of “right or wrong,” the market is responding to its own stimulus; the business has been incentivised for certain outcomes.

Attendee questions and comments came from a variety of perspectives, including physicians, legislative staff, and community leaders. There was discussion of direct-to-consumer advertising, drug patents, and the barriers that exist for the consumer within this complex system.

About the Speakers

Paula Cunningham
Paula Cunningham, MLIR, is State Director of AARP Michigan, which has more than 1.4 million members. She is former President of Lansing Community College, and in the business community was CEO of Capitol National Bank. She serves on numerous boards, including, but not limited to, Davenport University and McLaren Health Systems-Lansing. Paula is in the Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame and was the first African American woman in the country to be president of a majority owned bank.

Craig Hunter
Craig Hunter is the Director of Specialty Program Outcomes and Analytics for CVS Health, providing leadership and oversight for outcomes-based financial reconciliations negotiated across specialty drug and patient management products. Previously Craig worked at Eli Lilly, first as the Lead Outcomes Scientist for the U.S. Alzheimer’s and Oncology franchises, and later leading U.S. Outcomes Customer Engagement. Additional previous experience includes time consulting as well as Primary Investigator for a USAID-funded project examining the intersection of traditional and western medicine in South Africa. Craig earned his MPP from the University of Chicago and a BA in Communications (Rhetoric)/Political Science from Furman University.

About Bioethics for Breakfast:
In 2010, Hall, Render, Killian, Heath & Lyman invited the Center for Ethics to partner on a bioethics seminar series. The Center for Ethics and Hall Render invite guests from the health professions, religious and community organizations, political circles, and the academy to engage in lively discussions of topics spanning the worlds of bioethics, health law, business, and policy. For each event, the Center selects from a wide range of controversial issues and provides two presenters either from our own faculty or invited guests, who offer distinctive, and sometimes clashing, perspectives. Those brief presentations are followed by a moderated open discussion.

Bioethics for Breakfast: Our Sick Health Care System: What’s the Differential Diagnosis?

Bioethics for Breakfast Seminars in Medicine, Law and SocietyLaura Appel and Marti Lolli presented at the December 5th Bioethics for Breakfast event, offering perspectives and insight on the topic “Our Sick Health Care System: What’s the Differential Diagnosis?”

This year’s Bioethics for Breakfast series centers on the theme “Is There a Cure for Our Sick Health Care System?” The series is generously sponsored by Hall, Render, Killian, Heath & Lyman.

Our health care system is exhibiting multiple symptoms of serious illness. Treating symptoms is rarely a good idea. What we need is a differential diagnosis. What are the root causes for skyrocketing costs, increasing access barriers, physician burnout, patient non-adherence and dis-satisfaction, failed therapies, and so on? Too many greedy profit-takers? Too many stingy insurers? Too much administrative bureaucracy? Too much competition? Too little competition? Too much unhealthy behavior by patients? Too little time for patients? Too much technology? Large empathy deficits? Too little prevention? Too many medical specialists? Too few primary care physicians? Not enough evidence-based medicine? Too much waste and inefficiency? Too many hospital mergers? Too fragmented a financing system? Patients demanding too much care? Unregulated drug prices? Too many special interests shaping health care policy?

Addressing these questions, Priority Health’s Marti Lolli first emphasized that these challenges are complex and cannot be simplified. She posited that there is enough money in the system—collectively we must get creative. In “diagnosing” our health care system, she put forward three items: 1) radically overhaul the fee-for-service system, 2) move away from the “one size fits all” health care model, and 3) accept data, technology, and transparency.

Michigan Health & Hospital Association’s Laura Appel then shared her perspective. Her three-item “diagnosis” began with the first point that there is a focus on health care when the underlying problem is health. One example she gave was that kidney disease in Michigan cost Medicaid $1 billion, stating, “We cannot change the output if we don’t change the input.” Her second item was that we don’t really have a “system,” also discussing the need for more behavioral health resources. Her third item focused on evidence, and that overall, to have a “system,” the system needs to respond to the evidence, recognizing what needs to change.

 
Attendee questions and comments addressed a variety of topics, including caregiver education, advance care planning, evidence-based medicine in practice, and social and structural determinants of health. Finally, one overarching point that those in attendance seemed to agree on: change is hard.

Marti Lolli Laura Appel and Leonard Fleck speaking to audience
Image description: pictured left to right are Marti Lolli, Laura Appel, and Leonard Fleck during the question and answers portion of Bioethics for Breakfast on December 5. Image source: Liz McDaniel/Center for Ethics.

About the Speakers

Laura Appel
Laura Appel is senior vice president and chief innovation officer at the Michigan Health & Hospital Association. She focuses on healthcare policy, hospital finance, legislation and governance. At the federal level, she represents the interests of Michigan hospitals and health systems in both the legislative and regulatory arenas on key issues, including federal healthcare reform and Medicare. She is an expert in auto insurance and legislative policy and has a proven ability to influence legislation and healthcare policy through her understanding of the issues, educating influencers and policymakers, and introducing fresh ideas.

Marti Lolli, MBA
Marti Lolli is chief marketing officer and senior vice president of consumer and government markets at Priority Health, a nationally recognized health plan. She oversees the individual market, Medicare advantage and Medicaid markets, and market intelligence. She also oversees all marketing, digital strategy, communications and customer experience at Priority Health. Her areas of expertise include consumerism in health care, market trends in health care, competitive and consumer analytics, health care reform, health care innovation and strategic planning.

About Bioethics for Breakfast:
In 2010, Hall, Render, Killian, Heath & Lyman invited the Center for Ethics to partner on a bioethics seminar series. The Center for Ethics and Hall Render invite guests from the health professions, religious and community organizations, political circles, and the academy to engage in lively discussions of topics spanning the worlds of bioethics, health law, business, and policy. For each event, the Center selects from a wide range of controversial issues and provides two presenters either from our own faculty or invited guests, who offer distinctive, and sometimes clashing, perspectives. Those brief presentations are followed by a moderated open discussion.

Bioethics for Breakfast: Medicare for All: What Should That Mean?

Bioethics for Breakfast Seminars in Medicine, Law and SocietyStacey Hettiger and Rick Murdock presented at the September 26th Bioethics for Breakfast event, offering perspectives and insight on the topic “Medicare for All: What Should That Mean?”

“Medicare for All” has become a contentious political slogan. Advocates for various versions of the slogan want to see everyone have access to needed and affordable health care. Critics see all versions of the slogan as unaffordable and hostile to individual liberty. Is compromise possible? Can we have some level of affordable health care for everyone in our society? Can this be accomplished in ways that are congruent with our most fundamental political values? Event speakers addressed these questions and more, inviting response and discussion from those in attendance.

This year’s Bioethics for Breakfast series centers on the theme “Is There a Cure for Our Sick Health Care System?”

About the Speakers

Stacey Hettiger
Stacey Hettiger is Director of Medical and Regulatory Policy at Michigan State Medical Society. Her responsibilities include developing materials, programming, and member communications in the areas of legal and regulatory compliance and State and Federal quality initiatives. This includes advocacy and outreach on issues affecting the delivery of health care such as HIPAA, physician payment models and incentives, and practice transformation. Prior to joining MSMS, Stacey worked for twenty years in the Michigan State Legislature.

Rick Murdock
Rick Murdock retired from the Michigan Association of Health Plans in 2017 after 12 years as executive director, and has since been consulting with the MAHP Foundation to coordinate the Michigan ACE (adverse childhood experiences) Initiative. Prior to joining MAHP, he spent three years working in the Michigan legislature, followed by 18 years in the State Budget Office (mental health and Medicaid and health planning). Additionally he spent 6 years in Medicaid administering the Medicaid managed care program. He has a master’s degree in public health from the University of Michigan School of Public Health.

About Bioethics for Breakfast:
In 2010, Hall, Render, Killian, Heath & Lyman invited the Center for Ethics to partner on a bioethics seminar series. The Center for Ethics and Hall Render invite guests from the health professions, religious and community organizations, political circles, and the academy to engage in lively discussions of topics spanning the worlds of bioethics, health law, business, and policy. For each event, the Center selects from a wide range of controversial issues and provides two presenters either from our own faculty or invited guests, who offer distinctive, and sometimes clashing, perspectives. Those brief presentations are followed by a moderated open discussion.