Expert Interviews

As pulmonary fibrosis treatment options grow, Rachael Prusi of Prime Therapeutics says health plans should lean on guidelines and strong case management.

Patients with pulmonary fibrosis wait about two years for a diagnosis. Rachael Prusi of Prime Therapeutics explains how health plans can find them sooner.

Hiva Pourarsalan at AMCP Nexus explains how MFP shifts Medicare drug pricing, disrupting rebates and contracting and forcing payers to rethink formularies.

New studies reveal hidradenitis suppurativa affects up to 1% globally, with shifting gender patterns, frequent misdiagnosis, and worse outcomes for Black patients.

New studies reveal hidradenitis suppurativa affects up to 1% globally, with shifting gender patterns, frequent misdiagnosis, and worse outcomes for Black patients.

Managed care leaders should vet AI tools before use and recheck them over time, and pharmacists need AI literacy, according to two AMCP Nexus 2026 presenters.

AI is speeding up managed care pharmacy work, but two pharmacists say human review remains key when tools affect patients' access to medications.

A review of 16 studies linked presurgical melatonin and zolpidem to less postoperative pain, with over 30% less opioid use in some patients.

Sempre Health CEO Anurati Mathur says affordability dollars should reach patients on every fill, and reversed claims show plans when they don’t.

COPD patients who saw a care navigator had a 20% readmission rate vs. 35% for those who didn’t, in a quality improvement project at St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa, Florida, according to research presented at CHEST 2026 meeting last week in Phoenix..

A standardized discharge checklist and care coordination cut 30-day COPD readmissions from 27.9% to 18.2%, according to research presented at CHEST 2026.

Christine Johnston says biosimilar interchangeability bills, plus 2026 PBM reforms, would force PBMs to justify preferring higher-cost brands.

Will Carroll, Pharm.D., of Sutter Health says future pharmacy leaders need business, finance and AI skills, and health systems need real sponsorship.

Will Carroll, Pharm.D., of Sutter Health says pharmacy is often handed strategy to execute instead of shaping it, and must show value in C-suite terms.

Ty Gluckman, M.D., says undertesting and undertreatment are the biggest gaps in lipid care and calls on leaders to invest in cardiovascular prevention.

Ty Gluckman, M.D., says the 2026 dyslipidemia guideline brings back risk-based LDL goals, and clinical inertia, not access, is now the biggest barrier.

Stanford Health Care’s Janjri Desai, Pharm.D., says pharmacists improve outcomes but often can’t bill for it, making billing parity key to growing services.

Stanford Health Care’s Janjri Desai, Pharm.D., says pharmacy should be treated as a clinical service line, not just a 340B financial workhorse.

At CHEST, Staci Beamer weighs lobectomy vs segmentectomy for stage 1 lung cancer, urging personalized surgical decisions based on tumors and margins.

Robotic lobectomies grew from 49% to 70% of cases from 2020 to 2024 as access and training expanded, says Staci Beamer, M.D., of HonorHealth.

Consistent bedtime routines, screen-free bedrooms and therapist support for night waking help children with ADHD sleep better, said Alison Pritchard, Ph.D.

Jamilia Sherls, DNP, MPH, RN, CPN, CDP, of Washington’s health department says health systems should look to AAP and AAFP schedules and build on patients’ trust in providers.

Jamilia Sherls, DNP, MPH, RN, CPN, CDP, of Washington’s health department says a stayed schedule overhaul cutting recommended child vaccines from 17 to 11 could upend coverage.

Melody Chang, R.Ph., says payers cover bispecific and CAR-T drugs but not the monitoring that lets community practices deliver them safely at lower cost.

Continuous glucose monitoring cut mean A1C from 8.8% to 7.2% over 26 weeks in adults with type 2 diabetes not on insulin, 0.9 points more than routine care in the CONNECT trial.

American Oncology Network’s Melody Chang, R.Ph., says 18% of its first 70 outpatient bispecific patients had CRS, all low grade with no hospitalizations.

UC Davis Health’s Tiffany Phung, Pharm.D., and Tim Cutler, Pharm.D., say staff-driven ideas protect research independence in industry partnerships.

UC Davis Health’s Tiffany Phung, Pharm.D., and Tim Cutler, Pharm.D., say research justifies services and opens doors to limited distribution drugs.

Pooja Roy, M.D., of Houston Methodist Hospital, discusses how Precedex (dexmedetomidine), an ICU sedative, sometimes triggers noninfectious fever, sparking costly sepsis workups, and the need for a test could help clinicians identify the drug as a cause of fever in ICUs.

Pope Leo early-stage adenocarcinoma is a reminder that lung nodules often cause no symptoms and that people who never smoked can get lung cancer.