NEJM Catalyst

NEJM Catalyst Practical innovations in health care delivery:

Ideas, solutions, and case studies to improve patient care and drive value in health organizations.

Health care delivery is undergoing a major transformation around quality, cost, and access. NEJM Catalyst brings health care executives, clinician leaders, and clinicians together to share innovative ideas and practical applications for enhancing the value of health care delivery. NEJM Catalyst brings insightful articles and real-life examples from a network of top thought leaders, experts and advisors to provide:

Practical innovations in health care delivery;

Impeccable quality and impact;

Active contributions from renowned authorities, thought-leaders, and advisors;

Independent and impartial curation; and

An exchange of ideas among executives and clinicians. NEJM Catalyst is produced by NEJM Group, a division of the Massachusetts Medical Society, located in Waltham, Massachusetts.

Food Is Medicine (FIM) programs promote patients’ access to healthy foods to help prevent, manage, and treat diet-relate...
10/20/2025

Food Is Medicine (FIM) programs promote patients’ access to healthy foods to help prevent, manage, and treat diet-related health conditions. Although these programs have burgeoned in recent years, they have remained siloed in health care and represent a missed opportunity to fight climate change and promote community health resilience. Addressing these aspects of community health and well-being requires new strategies and interventions for FIM programs.

In this article, the authors describe the University of California, Davis Health’s Foodways to Health approach as a regional food system, which increases access to fresh produce and medically tailored meals while promoting climate-friendly food production practices and community engagement.

They highlight five key pillars of the approach, share a framework to evaluate climate-friendly FIM programs, and underscore lessons learned for health systems embarking on FIM programs to improve healthy eating, climate protection, and community resilience: https://nej.md/4h6jrU6

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality in the United States, driving a decades-long effort to deve...
10/20/2025

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality in the United States, driving a decades-long effort to develop an effective screening strategy. In 2013, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommended lung cancer screening (LCS) using annual low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) to screen high-risk individuals. More than a decade later, the implementation of national screening recommendations remains poor, with fewer than 1 in 5 eligible patients in the United States receiving LCS.

The authors developed and implemented a comprehensive LCS program structured around a broad evidence-based approach, including (1) educational outreach to practices, (2) population health initiatives integrated into primary care, (3) a coordinated recall process to ensure follow-up for annual screening and abnormal results, and (4) a centralized program to supplement screening and provide consultative support. Patients aged 50–80 years were eligible for the LCS program based on the 2021 USPSTF guidelines.

Screening rates more than doubled from 32.8% in March 2022 to 71.6% in June 2025 and were not statistically different by race in the April 2025 reporting period or s*x. On-time completion of annual LDCT scanning exceeded 94% over the year ending June 2025. In 2023 and 2024, the program diagnosed 63 cases of lung cancer, of which 49 (77.8%) were diagnosed at an early stage.

Overall, the authors found that a well-coordinated LCS program built on a shared population health infrastructure can elevate LCS rates to levels comparable to other established cancer screening programs, such as those for breast and colon cancer: https://nej.md/478ae9d

Out now: the November 2025 issue of NEJM Catalyst Innovations in Care Delivery: https://nej.md/4mXWOlS
10/17/2025

Out now: the November 2025 issue of NEJM Catalyst Innovations in Care Delivery: https://nej.md/4mXWOlS

The U.S. faces a convergence of health care pressures: a surge in chronic diseases, with most individuals 65 years or ol...
10/16/2025

The U.S. faces a convergence of health care pressures: a surge in chronic diseases, with most individuals 65 years or older having multiple chronic conditions; a growing deficit of clinicians to care for an aging population, creating access challenges and suboptimal outcomes; a strong desire for health systems to transition to more value-based care contracting up against financial constraints and uncertainty, creating challenges to commit to this transition at scale.

Health systems and clinicians need effective, scalable solutions for chronic disease management with measurable outcomes addressing the Quadruple Aim. Comprehensive remote patient monitoring, with technology-enabled, guideline-directed medical therapy through remote patient care (RPC), has the potential to fill this gap by enabling continuous, real-time vitals monitoring and timely clinical care outside of traditional settings.

Implementing comprehensive RPC is challenging. Health systems must overcome three critical obstacles: improving clinical outcomes without creating more work for an already overburdened clinical workforce, creating a scalable program that can be deployed across a multistate health system, and delivering a financially sustainable model that increases access for all patients, especially rural and underserved populations.

Providence co-developed such a program with Cadence, which provides RPC for patients with hypertension, heart failure, and type 2 diabetes by leveraging a nurse practitioner–led team of multidisciplinary clinicians that act as a fully integrated practice extension for the primary care clinician.

Program-eligible patients are identified with a proprietary algorithm for enrollment according to the provider’s discretion. The clinical solution includes virtual visits during which behavioral, lifestyle, and pharmacologic recommendations are made according to national guidelines to optimize patients’ vitals, symptoms, and medications. Patients’ vitals measured at home are monitored by a clinical team available 24/7/365 to appropriately triage and provide clinical care, and address individual patient needs and questions: https://nej.md/3KCB3ea

NEJM Catalyst Insights Council members say that maternal health services at their organizations provide high clinical qu...
10/16/2025

NEJM Catalyst Insights Council members say that maternal health services at their organizations provide high clinical quality, timely access, and positive experiences for patients and providers, but members identify particular concerns in workforce trends and the negative impact of inequities.

In July 2025, NEJM Catalyst turned to its Insights Council — composed of clinicians, clinical leaders, and executives at organizations worldwide that are directly involved in care delivery — to survey them on the current state of maternal health care in their own organizations and beyond. Council members completed survey questions about maternal health services offered, factors that may affect maternal morbidity and mortality, workforce issues, the impact of governmental restrictions on abortion, and more.

Read the full report: https://nej.md/4qmOUpp

The November 2025 issue of NEJM Catalyst Innovations in Care Delivery shows how existing technology and careful care red...
10/15/2025

The November 2025 issue of NEJM Catalyst Innovations in Care Delivery shows how existing technology and careful care redesign can solve long-standing problems in health care. Read or listen to From the Editors - The Technology-Driven Paradigm Shift in Care Delivery https://nej.md/3KKP1dR

In the November 2025 issue: telehealth-enabled primary care, remote care for chronic diseases, a health system command c...
10/15/2025

In the November 2025 issue: telehealth-enabled primary care, remote care for chronic diseases, a health system command center, lung cancer screening, physician leadership training, teaching value-based care in medical school, a holistic Food Is Medicine program, and maternal care

📑 View the issue: https://nej.md/4mXWOlS

🎧 Read or listen to the letter from our editors, The Technology-Driven Paradigm Shift in Care Delivery https://nej.md/3KKP1dR

🤰 (Insights Report) High Marks for Maternal Care, but Challenges Remain https://nej.md/4qmOUpp with expert advisor Rose Molina

📲 (In Depth) Scaling Remote Patient Care: The Mechanics of a Paradigm Shift in Chronic Disease Management https://nej.md/3KCB3ea

🫁 (Case Study) A Comprehensive, Multidisciplinary Approach to Improving Lung Cancer Screening https://nej.md/478ae9d

🥗 (Case Study) Foodways to Health: Transforming a Health System’s Food Is Medicine Program to Address Climate Change and Community Health Resilience https://nej.md/4h6jrU6

🎓 (Case Study) Leadership and Value in Health Care: A University–Industry Collaboration to Teach Value-Based Care in Medical School https://nej.md/4nPPABO

👨‍⚕️ (Article) Connected Primary Care: Using Nurse Practitioners via Telehealth to Boost Patient Access and Physician Well-Being https://nej.md/3IYH0l5

🏥 (Article) Designing a Hospital Command Center with Proven ROI: The University of Michigan M2C2 Model https://nej.md/42yUhHC

👩‍⚕️ (Commentary) A Framework for Developing Physician Leaders in Hospitals and Health Systems, from Conversations with Physician Executives https://nej.md/4q5Jsa0

How Optum is tackling the primary care crisis by reducing burnout, building team-based models, and using technology to c...
10/14/2025

How Optum is tackling the primary care crisis by reducing burnout, building team-based models, and using technology to create a better practice environment. Listen to our Q&A with Christopher Andreoli, CEO of Optum New England: https://nej.md/3KzckaC

Sustainably Advancing Health AI: A Decision Framework to Mitigate the Energy, Emissions, and Cost of AI Implementation h...
10/13/2025

Sustainably Advancing Health AI: A Decision Framework to Mitigate the Energy, Emissions, and Cost of AI Implementation https://nej.md/3VN8X1Y

A Centralized Virtual Care Support Model for Improved Telehealth Operational Outcomes https://nej.md/3ViH2GZ
10/10/2025

A Centralized Virtual Care Support Model for Improved Telehealth Operational Outcomes https://nej.md/3ViH2GZ

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Innovations in Health Care Delivery

Health care delivery is undergoing a major transformation around quality, cost, and access. NEJM Catalyst brings health care executives, clinician leaders, and clinicians together to share innovative ideas and practical applications for enhancing the value of health care delivery.

Since December 2015, NEJM Catalyst has brought together a network of health care leaders to share insightful ideas and real-life examples of innovations in health care delivery, in the form of articles, case studies, quarterly events, and monthly surveys of our Insights Council.

NEJM Catalyst is produced by NEJM Group, a division of the Massachusetts Medical Society, located in Waltham, Massachusetts.