Lown Institute

What happens when clinicians come to rely too much on AI when diagnosing and their treating patients? In turn, should we begin cultivating a new kind of med student? Brenna & Vikas get into it in this episode of The Lowdown.

All over the world c-sections are viewed as an indicator of overuse. Yet, hospitals often prefer the profitable procedure over natural childbirth despite the medical risks it poses. Brenna and Vikas dig into some potential ways we can flip script to favor the patient.

It's Election Day! With so much on the ballot, including the future of our healthcare system, every voice counts. Make sure yours is heard. See you at the polls!

Getting a holistic picture of the state of hospital systems in the US can be a daunting endeavor. Which hospitals systems are growing? Which ones are shrinking? Who owns what? The Lown Institute's Tracking Hospital Ownership and Consolidation dataset maps the ownership of more than 3,000 U.S. acute care and critical access hospitals from 2020 through 2025. The dataset includes approximately 4,500 acute care and critical access hospitals. Check it out @ lowninstitute.org/hospital-s…

“People are starting to feel that pinch,” said Dr. Vikas Saini, a cardiologist and president of the Lown Institute, a think tank focused on a more affordable health care system. “Amounts for co-pays and deductibles are rising.” nytimes.com/2026/10/23/your-…

With AI rapidly reshaping the economy, scores of jobs are likely to be eliminated. What happens to all those folks who have relied on their employer for their healthcare coverage? Brenna & Vikas ask if this is the tipping point many have been warning about in this episode of The Lowdown.

If both hospitals and insurers are using AI to maximize profits, what happens to patients caught in the middle? Will AI be used to squeeze every last dime out of us? Brenna & Vikas shine some light on this question on this episode of The Lowdown.

Hospitals are bending to the Trump administration and refusing to offer gender affirming care for youth. Is this blackmail by the feds? Medical malpractice by clinicians? Something else? Brenna & Vikas dig into this question in this episode of The Lowdown.

Every three years, nonprofit hospitals work with their communities to assess their most important health needs and develop plans to address these concerns. But are hospitals really improving community health, or are they just checking a box? Senior Policy Analyst Judith Garber digs into this process and talks about a new tool, the CHNAudit, that's designed to assess just how hospitals are doing.

Pharma bro Martin Shkreli, the namesake of our annual awards for the most egregious examples of profiteering and dysfunction in healthcare, is back in the news and just in time for our 10th awards show! The Federal Trade Commission and a coalition of seven states asked a federal court on Tuesday to punish Martin Shkreli for “flagrantly and repeatedly” violating a lifetime ban from being involved in the pharmaceutical industry. In a court filing in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, the FTC said Shkreli has traded in at least 60 pharmaceutical stocks since being released from prison in 2022. A leopard, it seems, cannot change its spots. Submit your nomination by 10/31 for this year's awards at lowninstitute.org/shkreli-aw…

Is science too siloed, too beholden to certain points of view? If so, should the feds be able to drive federal dollars towards different points of view? Brenna & Vikas get into it in this episode of The Lowdown.

This Tuesday, October 13, at 12pm join the Lown Institute for a conversation with Dr. Patricia A. Gabow, former Denver Health CEO and immediate past chairperson of the Lown Institute board, to discuss her new book, The Women’s Guide to Healthcare Leadership. We'll talk about the persistent gender gap in top healthcare executive roles, insights from industry leaders, and practical exercises to help women navigate systemic barriers. Get your virtual seat and join the conversation @ us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi…

The Trump admin just kicked 760,000 people off of public health insurance, claiming these enrollees were fakes and frauds. In this episode of The Lowdown, Brenna & Vikas try and figure out how we can provide insurance for legit patients in need while also stopping frauds from stealing from us.

Following the uproar at a bar in Western Mass that tried a mask-optional policy for Saturday nights, Brenna asks Vikas - who has long COVID and chooses to mask in many settings - what his thoughts are on masking these days. Have we abandoned public health precautions, or should this be an individual choice? We get into it in this edition of The Lowdown.

When traditional medical interventions fail, patients facing chronic pain and even end of life diagnoses often have few other places to turn. Should they have early access to untested drugs that may or may not help? Brenna & Vikas dig into this difficult question in this episode of The Lowdown.

Shkreli Award nominations open through 10/31! Private equity firms running rural hospitals into the ground; doctors performing unnecessary surgeries to earn more cash; device companies hiding their knowledge of using carcinogenic ingredients; these are just a few examples of previous winners of the Shkreli Awards. We want to hear about the egregious examples from this past year – tell us who you think deserves a 2026 Shkreli Award! Nominations will close October 31, 2026. Add your nomination @ lowninstitute.org/shkreli-aw…

And it’s clear that worries about medical expenses are no longer relegated to people with little or no financial cushion. Dr. Vikas Saini, president of the Lown Institute, expects to see more people across the income spectrum facing medical debt burdens. “Either the prices have to moderate and come down, or insurance has to cover more,” Saini said. The real fix, he said, involves addressing a wider problem. “We need to reorganize health insurance so that everybody’s covered and the question of how doctors and hospitals and everybody else gets paid doesn’t land on the lap of working people who are struggling,” Saini said. thebeaconnews.org/stories/20…

A new report shows that preventable deaths from ectopic pregnancy have doubled since the overthrow of Roe V. Wade. In this episode of The Lowdown, Brenna & Vikas ask if it's time for hospitals to step up and protect their patients seeking care even in the face of lawsuits from the Feds.

With rural birthing centers closing at a breathtaking clip and federal funds for ob/gyn services drying up, what is U.S. maternity care going to look like in five years? Brenna & Vikas try to predict the magnitude of this coming storm in this episode of The Lowdown.

Tomorrow, 9/22 at 12pm (ET), join us for a lunchtime webinar about "The medical credit industry and public hospitals." At this session, Katryn Basso, MPH, public health intern at the Lown Institute and Manager in M&A Consulting at PwC, will present her research on how public hospitals offer medical credit products, and what this means for patients. Get your virtual seat @ ow.ly/E7uH50ZQcMf