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.

Brian Thompson's murder was shocking. But how much public hatred of the health insurance industry was smoldering just below the surface, was equally so. Wendy gives a powerful editorial on the events unfolding, and how schadenfreude is an attempt to restore moral balance that we condemn and dismiss at our peril.

The discussion about work structure in medicine can easily descend into a toxic altruism-fueled race to the bottom, but we think there's more to it. Matt and Wendy wrestle with whether the quest for a work-life balance should have more to do with how we work, rather than how long we work.

One year, 30+ episodes, thousands of downloads, dozens of guests, and countless f-bombs. We're celebrating our first anniversary in this special episode addressing listener emails, reviewing some of the most popular episodes in year one, and toasting the best part of our show: you.

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.

Are our “free markets” truly free? How can we achieve a balanced healthcare economy when we privatize profits but socialize losses? Andrew Leigh, member of the Australian House of Representatives and professor of economics at Australian National University, joins us to talk about how "economics can be defined as a social science that studies how people maximize their well-being in the face of scarcity", and how that applies to healthcare.

We're bringing you into the 'room where it happens' and broadcasting a panel discussion that we recorded live at the PHA leadership conference in Naples, Florida last month. Moderated by Dutch Rojas, speakers Mike Lipomi and our own Wendy Dean led a rousing conversation on what physician-led healthcare means, and what doctors and patients lose when we don't have control over care.