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Our Spotlight on Action podcast series highlights LAN stakeholders’ work on the ground to affect positive change in the nation’s health care system. Through leading alternative payment model (APM) adoption, to addressing systemic disparities in both access and quality of care, LAN stakeholders are passionate about improving the healthcare system for everyone.
These are their stories from the front line of health care transformation.
Spotlight on Action Episodes

EPISODE 9: Accountable Care in Action, featuring Leah Binder, the Leapfrog Group and Jeff Micklos, the Health Care Transformation Task Force
The LAN’s newest initiative, the Accountable Care Action Collaborative (ACAC), is turning talk about healthcare payment reform into action. The ACAC is thinking beyond payment reform to ensure the delivery of quality care for every patient, every time. Listen to ACAC Co-Chairs Jeff Micklos and Leah Binder as they sit down with Frank McStay and share how their experience in health care aligns with ACAC goals and the importance of accountable care in improving patient healthcare experiences and outcomes!
EPISODE 8: Improving the Patient Perspective through an Equity Lens, featuring Sinsi Hernández-Cancio,National Partnership for Women & Families
Host Aparna Higgins, LAN Senior Advisor and Senior Policy Fellow at the Duke–Margolis Center for Health Policy, interviews Vice President of Health Justice at the National Partnership for Women & Families, Sinsi Hernández-Cancio. In this episode, Sinsi discusses her perspective on patient–centered care and the crucial changes needed to transform health equity. She also shares her personal and professional experiences with the health care system, emphasizing the inequities that need to be addressed to provide effective, value-based care.
EPISODE 7: Innovative Transformations for Assuring American Healthcare Equity, featuring Dora Hughes and Purva Rawal, CMS Innovation Center
Host Aparna Higgins, LAN Senior Advisor and Senior Policy Fellow at the Duke Margolis Center for Health Policy, interviews Chief Medical Officer for the CMS Innovation Center, Dora Hughes, and Chief Strategy Officer for the CMS Innovation Center, Purva Rawal. In this episode, Dora and Purva share how the CMS Innovation Center is approaching specialty care. They discuss insightful information including the strategic objectives for improving access to high quality care and the critical elements of integrating specialty care into the future of APMs.
EPISODE 6: Incorporating Patient and Community Voices in State-Level APM Implementation, featuring Dr. Judy Zerzan-Thul, Washington State Health Care Authority
Washington State’s Chief Medical Officer and LAN Executive Forum Co-Chair Judy Zerzan-Thul, M.D., M.P.H., joins host Aparna Higgins, senior policy fellow at the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy at Duke University and senior advisor to the LAN, in this episode of Spotlight on Action. They discuss why it’s critical to incorporate patient and community voices into state-level APM implementation and how to accomplish that. Dr. Zerzan-Thul shares examples of progress and success from her experiences in Washington State and Colorado. The episode also covers the need to move from fee-for-service into more value-based payments and the biggest challenges for effective health equity initiatives.
EPISODE 5: Meeting Patients Where They Are in a Value-Based Care System, featuring Dr. Chris Chen, ChenMed
Dr. Chris Chen, CEO of ChenMed and a LAN CEO Forum member, joins host Aparna Higgins, Senior Policy Fellow at the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy at Duke University and Senior Advisor to the LAN, for an in-depth conversation that covers topics such as why risk must be two-sided, how value-based providers fared during the COVID pandemic, and Dr. Chen’s own experiences as both a COVID patient and a provider. The episode also delves into social determinants of health, how value-based payment systems and two-sided risk can promote health equity, and the better outcomes ChenMed patients experienced during COVID due to ChenMed’s risk and value-based approach.
EPISODE 4: At the Intersection of Equity and APMs, featuring Dr. Marshall Chin, HEAT Co-chair
Host Aparna Higgins, senior policy fellow, Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy at Duke University and senior advisor to the LAN, interviews Dr. Marshall Chin, HEAT Co-Chair. Dr. Chin shares how Dr. Chin shares how APMs and other value-based payment models can contribute to and improve health equity. The conversation also delves into the issues of social determinants of health, incorporating health equity into APM plan design, and highlights some of the key points of the HEAT’s recently published guidance document, Advancing Health Equity through APMs.
EPISODE 3: Healthcare Resiliency – Lessons from the Front Lines
EPISODE 3, PART 3: Marc Harrison, Intermountain Healthcare
Marc shares his insights on the benefits of transitioning to APMs, how to advance health equity, and what COVID-19 has revealed about the nation’s healthcare system.
EPISODE 3, PART 2: Emily Brower, Trinity Health
Emily shares how Trinity Health is responding to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of considering health equity in care delivery, and how APMs can support resiliency during public health emergencies.
EPISODE 3, PART 1: Will Shrank, Humana
Will shares how Humana is responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, eliminating barriers to telehealth, and how healthcare is evolving to address equity, access, and inclusion.
EPISODE 2: Meeting Patients Where They Are: A Community-Based Approach to Overcoming Health Barriers,
Featuring Dr. Andrea Gelzer and Karen Dale, AmeriHealth Caritas
Host Jeff Goldman, Director of the LAN through the MITRE-operated Health FFRDC, interviews Dr. Andrea Gelzer, Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer for AmeriHealth Caritas, and Karen Dale, Market President of AmeriHealth Caritas District of Columbia. In this episode, they share how their organization is responding to issues of equity and access while promoting value-based payment initiatives to improve outcomes.
EPISODE 1: Aligning Healthcare Value with the Nation’s Values,
Featuring Frederick Isasi, Families USA
Host Aparna Higgins, LAN Senior Advisor and a Senior Policy Fellow at the Duke Margolis Center for Health Policy, interviews Frederick Isasi, Executive Director at Families USA, one of the nation’s leading nonpartisan nonprofit healthcare advocacy organizations. In this episode, Aparna and Frederick take a deep dive into health equity and discuss creating solutions to reduce disparities in the U.S. healthcare system through APMs and value-based payments.