Creating a New Healthcare

It’s the start of a new year, and that means resolutions and recommitments to personal health and wellness. Undoubtedly, there were thousands of wearable devices purchased as presents over the holidays and many more in the post-holiday sale madness. Supplement commercials and social media ads are going strong as we start this new year. But, are these things actually necessary for health? 

Today, we kick off our Winter Season of Creating a New Healthcare with a deep dive into the wellness industrial complex. Jess Greenwood, Producer of the podcast, joins Host, Dr. Zeev Neuwirth to dissect what we’ve heard from the experts interviewed on the show as well as our own personal experiences. We debate the role of wearables in behavior change, the influence of the wellness industrial complex, where supplements fit into a healthy diet, and what the companies that make these products really want and need from their users.

If you’ve been a bit skeptical if that Oura ring can help you achieve max readiness or even if you’re convinced those Magnesium supplements will be the game changer this year, this conversation is for you.

As we close out the year, Dr. Zeev Neuwirth steps away from his usual interviews to share a heartfelt, personal message directly with you, our listeners.

Certified Nursing Assistants. They are the lifeblood of so much of what we do in healthcare, particularly in elder care, and yet they rarely share the limelight with the doctors, surgeons, and specialists. 

Our guest today, Peter Murphy Lewis, is a documentary film maker who started out just trying to educate the Nebraska government on the shortage of CNAs in their state. What started as a single, 20-min documentary has turned into multiple seasons of the hit show, People Worth Caring About. The docuseries highlights the work of CNAs in nursing homes, sharing their stories in order to change perceptions about the work they do and demonstrate the value and reward of this much-needed profession. 

Peter Murphy Lewis is a healthcare advocate and former CNA himself. His work spans television, podcasting, and marketing, with a focus on caregiving and long-term care. Born in Kansas, Peter’s path took a dramatic — and deeply personal — turn when a health scare forced him to reassess his priorities. What followed was a journey from academia and international politics to global media, entrepreneurship, and eventually founding Strategic Pete — a platform dedicated to helping small businesses and entrepreneurs grow. Now, Peter uses his storytelling skills to challenge misconceptions about caregiving, aiming to reshape how society values care and those who provide it.

We know that healthcare is broken, but how, exactly? And why is it that nothing seems to be helping? Well, as Chris Deacon says in this honest, open interview, “Until the chassis of healthcare is rebuilt…what we put on top of it is always going to be fundamentally broken.” 

Chris Deacon is a legal expert, a healthcare activist, and an author. Her most recent book, The Great American Healthcare Heist: Why We’re Paying More and Getting Less seeks to demystify the broken nature in order to help the recipients of that care…us…look at the world through a different lens. She believes that the one stop gap we haven’t yet employed in our efforts to change healthcare is the power of the American people and their vote, but they have to first understand the systemic reasons why healthcare is broken. 

Chris Deacon is a distinguished consultant in employer-sponsored healthcare, advocating for cost-effective strategies that benefit both employers and employees. As a seasoned national speaker and a reliable source for industry publications, she stands out for her integrity and impactful content in healthcare discussions. Deacon’s tenure at the New Jersey Department of Treasury was notable for implementing cost-saving measures exceeding $3 billion, reflecting her commitment to fiscal responsibility and healthcare quality. Her leadership at VerSan Consulting, LLC is marked by innovative solutions that have significantly reduced healthcare expenditures.

See, Believe, Create. Could it be so simple?

Our guest today believes so. Dr. Tom Frieden has spent his entire career working public health, and in his estimation, these three words hold the key to better health for our communities, our world, and ourselves. It’s, as he says, a formula. In our conversation, Dr. Frieden shares tangible examples of how this formula has been applied successfully, and what changes we need to make as a country and society to achieve more affordable, more effective healthcare.

Author of the book, The Formula for Better Health: How to Save Millions of Lives—Including Your Own, which distills four decades of public health leadership into a clear, actionable framework to prevent unnecessary deaths, Dr. Frieden is also the founder and CEO of Resolve to Save Lives, a global health organization that accelerates action against the world’s deadliest health threats. Resolve to Save Lives has worked with governments and other partners in more than 60 countries to save millions of lives. Dr. Frieden previously served as director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and New York City Health Commissioner, where he led efforts that increased life expectancy by 3 years and helped end major health crises including the largest US outbreak of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, the 2014 West Africa Ebola epidemic, and responses to H1N1, Zika, and other threats.