In a new episode of the Rethinking Clinical Trials Podcast, David Zaas discussed key takeaways from his recent presentation: “Landscape of Healthcare in America: Gaps and Opportunities (That Researchers Need to Hear).”

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Zaas was the keynote speaker at the recent virtual workshop hosted by the NIH Pragmatic Trials Collaboratory: “Digging Into Dilemmas of Pragmatic Clinical Trials.” His presentation described the state of healthcare delivery in the United States and the constraints on healthcare systems that are important for researchers to understand. In a conversation with Adrian Hernandez, he expanded on some of his most important points.

“Too often I think we look at access as a transactional measure… We have to build systems where we deliver the same outstanding quality and excellence at every site, which means specialization and access to clinical trials as part of a standard of care,” Zaas said.

In addressing the mounting financial pressures faced by healthcare systems, Zaas emphasized the need for continued investment and structural change.

“We know that healthcare has been broken. We now have a burning platform for change… to redesign what we do in order to deliver more efficient, higher value care delivery—and still support the outstanding clinical care and the research that we need to,” Zaas said. “So, while I’m worried about some of the financial challenges, I think we need to use it as an opportunity to change the system for good.”

Zaas is the president of Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist and professor of internal medicine at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.