New NCQA Limited-Series Podcast Focuses on Accelerating Quality Improvement

Breakthrough thinkers and bold leaders join NCQA's founder to discuss how health care can improve faster.

WASHINGTON, DC / ACCESS Newswire / May 21, 2025 / The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) today announced the launch of "Quality Talks With Peggy O'Kane," a limited-series podcast hosted by the organization's president and founder. The podcast features conversations with leaders across the health care industry, and covers quality, avenues to progress and barriers to improvement. Each episode explores how technology, primary care revitalization and systematic strategies can drive better patient outcomes and value.

"Health care is in a transformative period, and now is the time for a new conversation about quality," says O'Kane. "Each ‘Quality Talks' episode features mavericks and breakthrough thinkers who challenge the status quo and forge new solutions. These discussions aim to advance how we improve-confronting the crisis of rising costs and getting better health outcomes."

Why now?

NCQA-and O'Kane-have been at the forefront of health care quality improvement since 1990. As she prepares to retire (at the end of 2025), O'Kane notes "unfinished business" and the need to accelerate improvement. Despite decades of progress, fundamental issues hold back quality and value: Fee-for-service payments, fragmented care delivery and inadequate support for primary care all lower quality and increase costs. O'Kane sits down with executives, researchers and innovators to ask, Why isn't health care better at getting better?

Featured Guests

The first four leaders joining O'Kane for conversation explore payment reform, Medicare Advantage and primary care:

• Sachin Jain, CEO, SCAN Health Plan, tackles complacency and issues of access, affordability and burdensome quality measurement to rethink accepted approaches to managed care.

• Rita Redberg, MD, Cardiologist/Professor, UCSF Medical Center, explains how adhering to evidence and a "less is more" strategy reduces waste and harm by helping ensure that "new" doesn't overshadow what is truly "better."

• Will Shrank, MD, Venture Partner, Andreessen Horowitz, urges creation of a cohesive health care system through aligned incentives, meaningful measurement of patient outcomes and an emphasis on prevention and thoughtful implementation of value-based care.

• Susan Dentzer, CEO, America's Physician Groups offers a vision of accountable care that builds on the strengths of Medicare Advantage, citing large physician practices that are using emerging payment models to achieve better patient outcomes at lower cost.

Listen to the "Quality Talks with Peggy O'Kane" podcast series at QualityTalksWithPeggyOKane.

About NCQA

NCQA is a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to improving health care quality. NCQA Accredits and Certifies a wide range of health care organizations. It also Recognizes clinicians and practices in key areas of performance. NCQA's Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS^®) is the most widely used performance measurement tool in health care. NCQA's website (ncqa.org) contains information to help consumers, employers and others make informed health care choices. NCQA can also be found at X @ncqa and on LinkedIn.

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Media Contact

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NCQA@shiftcomm.com

SOURCE: NCQA