It’s no secret that doctors hold themselves to incredibly high standards, driven by a dedication to patients and a desire to save lives. It’s also understood that, in medicine, self-imposed high standards are fully reinforced by colleagues, administrators and an endless chain of performance metrics.

However, less commonly understood (and almost never discussed) is how the pursuit of 24/7 perfection creates an environment where people are afraid to admit their wrongdoings, failures and limitations. The fear of making mistakes or acknowledging uncertainties frequently deters healthcare professionals from voicing concerns or proposing innovative solutions.

This kind of psychological safety vacuum has adverse consequences, says Amy C. Edmonson, the Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at the Harvard Business School and a nationally recognized expert in leadership. She is the author of the new book “Right Kind of Wrong: The Science of Failing Well.”

In this episode of Fixing Healthcare, Edmondson discusses:

Tune in for the full interview and join the conversation on social media.

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Dr. Robert Pearl is the author of a book about medicine’s invisible yet highly influential physician culture. Check out “Uncaring: How Physician Culture Is Killing Doctors & Patients.” All profits from the book go to Doctors Without Borders.

Fixing Healthcare is a co-production of Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. Subscribe to the show via Apple, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you find podcasts. Join the conversation or suggest a guest by following the show on Twitter and LinkedIn.

The post FHC #107: Amy C. Edmonson on ‘failing well’ in medicine appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

He’s back! Dr. Zubin Damania (aka ZDoggMD), one of the show’s most popular returning guests, rejoins Fixing Healthcare hosts Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr for a heartfelt look at the ugly, imperfect and oh-so human side of medicine.

In this episode, the trio discusses:

Dr. Z is a UCSF- and Stanford-trained internist and founder of Turntable Health, an innovative primary care clinic and model for Health 3.0. His persona, ZDoggMD, amassed an army of followers—owing to his clever healthcare parody videos and cutting take on modern medicine.

Hit the play button to start the episode or check out more background about our guest via the links below.

Helpful links:

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Dr. Robert Pearl is the author of a book about medicine’s invisible yet highly influential physician culture. Check out “Uncaring: How Physician Culture Is Killing Doctors & Patients.” All profits from the book go to Doctors Without Borders.

Fixing Healthcare is a co-production of Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. Subscribe to the show via Apple, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you find podcasts. Join the conversation or suggest a guest by following the show on Twitter and LinkedIn.

The post FHC #106: ZDoggMD on patient anxiety, medical bias & the Barbie movie appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

Albert Einstein pointed out that time is relative. And when it comes to healthcare, five years can feel like a long and short amount of time.

That’s certainly true of this podcast, which began five years ago and recently eclipsed 100 episodes. During that time, this show has welcomed dozens of world-renowned experts, both inside and outside the healthcare arena. Cohosts Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr have engaged in difficult yet meaningful conversations with the likes of Malcolm Gladwell, Eric Topol, Don Berwick, Jen Gunter, Lisa Sanders, Zeke Emanuel and many others.

Their hope was that spotlighting big ideas and bold solutions would have a positive impact on American medicine. In this episode of Diving Deep, the hosts look back and examine how healthcare has improved (“the good”)—and how American medicine has become more problematic (“the bad” and “the ugly”).

The second half of today’s show focuses on the future. If the kinds of bold solutions featured on Fixing Healthcare are proving too big and audacious to implement, then which actions stand a reasonable chance of healing healthcare quickly (in the next five years) and affordably?

Click play to learn more or check out the various links below for additional information.

HELPFUL LINKS

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Dr. Robert Pearl is the author of a book about medicine’s invisible yet highly influential physician culture. Check out “Uncaring: How Physician Culture Is Killing Doctors & Patients.” All profits from the book go to Doctors Without Borders.

Fixing Healthcare is a co-production of Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. Subscribe to the show via Apple, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you find podcasts. Join the conversation or suggest a guest by following the show on Twitter and LinkedIn.

The post FHC #105: Diving deep into the good, bad and ugly of U.S. healthcare appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

The weight-loss drug Wegovy reduces serious heart disease, the nation’s No. 1 cause of death, according to a new clinical trial.

Proponents of the drug describe this finding as an added bonus to the drug’s prescribed purpose: shedding excess pounds.

In a nation where 60% of the population is obese or overweight and where 600,000+ die from cardiovascular events each year, the question is how can we afford not to prescribe more of these lifesaving medications?

The answer is complicated, says podcast cohost Dr. Robert Pearl, who explains that the cost of drugs in the U.S. remains disproportionately higher than in all other nations. The price of Ozempic (another drug known to assist with weight-loss) costs five times more in the United States than in Japan and 10 times more than in most European nations.

When it comes to paying for drugs that could make a huge difference in our nation’s health, who’s on the hook? That question and many others are answered on this episode of “Medicine: The Truth.”

Also featured on today’s program:

Click here for more info: https://www.fixinghealthcarepodcast.com/

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Dr. Robert Pearl is the author of a book about medicine’s invisible yet highly influential physician culture. Check out “Uncaring: How Physician Culture Is Killing Doctors & Patients.” All profits from the book go to Doctors Without Borders.

Fixing Healthcare is a co-production of Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. Subscribe to the show via Apple, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you find podcasts. Join the conversation or suggest a guest by following the show on Twitter and LinkedIn.

The post MTT #76: Can Rx weight-loss drugs help prevent heart attacks, too? appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

Dr. Robert Burgelman is the Edmund W. Littlefield Professor of Management and the Director of the Executive Program at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

As a worldwide expert on strategy, Burgelman has authored multiple books on leadership and consulted with more than 100 companies around the globe.

Throughout the program, Burgelman:

Listener note: Given Dr. Burgelman’s high-level focus on strategy, today’s episode will include occasional interjections from cohosts Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr to link the material to the day-to-day experiences of healthcare professionals and patients.  

Tune in for the full interview and join the conversation on social media.

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Dr. Robert Pearl is the author of a book about medicine’s invisible yet highly influential physician culture. Check out “Uncaring: How Physician Culture Is Killing Doctors & Patients.” All profits from the book go to Doctors Without Borders.

Fixing Healthcare is a co-production of Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. Subscribe to the show via Apple, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you find podcasts. Join the conversation or suggest a guest by following the show on Twitter and LinkedIn.

The post FHC #104: Robert Burgelman on strategic leadership in healthcare appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

This “Unfiltered” episode of Fixing Healthcare welcomes back Dr. Jonathan Fisher, a respected cardiologist and renowned advocate for physician well-being, for a fascinating debate about American healthcare.

Alongside cohost Jeremy Corr, Dr. Robert Pearl kicks off the conversation with this observational question:

“There are two views about American healthcare. There are some who point to the massive U.S. expense compared to other countries and view it through the lens of abundance. Then there are those who see tens of millions of people who can’t access care, and the day-to-day stresses on clinicians, and view it through the lens of scarcity. What do we have too much of in American medicine today? And what do we have too little of?”

Dr. Fisher concludes that, as a practicing cardiologist, he and his colleagues have too many patients on their schedule and too little time to spend with them. Too much “administrative burden” (paperwork and computer filings) and too many costs to patients, which leads to too much uncertainty about what patients are paying for and what to expect. Too much stress and not enough high-quality care or access to physicians and mental-healthcare professionals.

In this episode, the trio discusses who can correct these healthcare imbalances and how, what AI can do to help clinicians,

To discover more, press play and check out these helpful links:

Presale: ‘Just One Heart’ (Jonathan Fisher’s new book)

These 3 Healthcare Threats Will Do More Damage Than Covid-19 (Forbes)

Saving US Healthcare From Disaster (Forbes)

15 Innovative Ideas For Fixing Healthcare From 15 Brilliant Minds (Forbes)

Breaking The Rules Of Healthcare (LinkedIn)

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Fixing Healthcare is a co-production of Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. Subscribe to the show via Apple Podcasts or wherever you find podcasts. Join the conversation or suggest a guest by following the show on Twitter and LinkedIn.

The post FHC #103: Too much or not enough in American healthcare? appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

Time and again, researchers have confirmed that the American healthcare system is ineffective, too expensive and falling further behind its international peers in critical measures of performance.

In this episode of Diving Deep, cohosts Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr go in search of medicine’s holy grail: the provision of higher quality care that’s more convenient and more affordable—all at once. In short, this episode focuses on the quest for value-based care.

The journey begins as our hosts explore the recent mega-merger between Kaiser Permanente and Geisinger Health. Could this union help spark a national value-based care movement? Or is that kind of transformative change likelier to come from one of healthcare’s newer entrants (among the most imposing are the retail giants: Amazon, Walmart and CVS).

Other questions answered on today’s show: What are the biggest difficulties Kaiser and Geisinger will need to overcome? What are the hurdles the retail giants will need to overcome to topple healthcare’s incumbent powers? How does system-ness fit into the equation? Why is capitation so important? And which organization(s) will emerge as healthcare’s next superpower?

Click play to learn more or check out the various links below for additional information.

HELPFUL LINKS

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Dr. Robert Pearl is the author of a book about medicine’s invisible yet highly influential physician culture. Check out “Uncaring: How Physician Culture Is Killing Doctors & Patients.” All profits from the book go to Doctors Without Borders.

Fixing Healthcare is a co-production of Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. Subscribe to the show via Apple, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you find podcasts. Join the conversation or suggest a guest by following the show on Twitter and LinkedIn.

The post FHC #102: Diving deep into value-based care and the need for ‘system-ness’ appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

Dr. Sachin Jain joins the podcast for the first time to talk about leadership in American healthcare. And his diagnosis is grim.

“In American healthcare, we’ve lost our ethical and moral compass,” Jain says. “We say we’re about one thing and we do other things. And I think we’re all complicit in this leadership crisis because not only do we not acknowledge our own failings, but we also fail to acknowledge the failings of each other.”

Early in his career, Jain held leadership positions in both the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. More recently, he served as president and CEO of the CareMore Health System for five years and is now President and CEO of the SCAN Group & Health Plan, one of the nation’s largest not-for-profit Medicare Advantage plans.

In this interview, hosts Jeremy Corr and Dr. Robert Pearl ask Jain to discuss the problem of physician burnout (and how to bring about change at a time of low morale), the AI revolution and the threat of automating clinicians, the failings of American medical education, and much more.

Tune in for the full interview and join the conversation on social media.

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Dr. Robert Pearl is the author of a book about medicine’s invisible yet highly influential physician culture. Check out “Uncaring: How Physician Culture Is Killing Doctors & Patients.” All profits from the book go to Doctors Without Borders.

Fixing Healthcare is a co-production of Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. Subscribe to the show via Apple, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you find podcasts. Join the conversation or suggest a guest by following the show on Twitter and LinkedIn.

The post FHC #101: Sachin Jain on the leadership crisis in American healthcare appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

More Americans over the age of 65 are now selecting Medicare Advantage over traditional Medicare for their health insurance coverage, according to the U.S. Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

What’s more, Medicare Advantage is expected to widen its lead in the years to come—projected to cover 60% of the eligible senior population by the year 2030.

It’s a major win for the “little brother” that blossomed out of a Congressional effort in the 1990s to improve the quality of Medicare-provided medical care while also lowering costs, says podcast cohost Dr. Robert Pearl.

Unlike Original Medicare, which is government-provided health insurance, Medicare Advantage plans are administered by private insurers. Medicare Advantage plans also include extra benefits like out-of-pocket maximums, dental or hearing coverage, and even fitness stipends. While there are many differences between the two options, the most important, according to Dr. Pearl, is how these programs pay hospitals and healthcare professionals to provide care.

On this episode of “Medicine: The Truth,” Dr. Pearl explains why “capitation” sets Medicare Advantage apart from traditional Medicare, which is a “fee-for-service” program. Anyone who’s 65+ or nearing that age should tune in for the full conversation. As always, Dr. Pearl and Jeremy Corr eagerly follow the facts, uncover the truth, and help listeners understand the world’s biggest medical stories.

Also featured on today’s program:

Click here for more info: https://www.fixinghealthcarepodcast.com/

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Dr. Robert Pearl is the author of a book about medicine’s invisible yet highly influential physician culture. Check out “Uncaring: How Physician Culture Is Killing Doctors & Patients.” All profits from the book go to Doctors Without Borders.

Fixing Healthcare is a co-production of Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. Subscribe to the show via Apple, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you find podcasts. Join the conversation or suggest a guest by following the show on Twitter and LinkedIn.

The post MTT #75: Original Medicare or Medicare Advantage? appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

Welcome to the 100th episode of Fixing Healthcare. To kick things off, hosts Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr are taking the opportunity to examine what has improved (and, notably, hasn’t improved) in healthcare since this podcast began five years ago.

Leading off, Dr. Pearl shares:

That discussion is followed by a look at two important healthcare topics. The first is the use of Ozempic, a diabetes drug, for weight loss. Dr. Pearl’s recent op-ed on the topic, called for the U.S. government to fund the development of a new *affordable* class of weight-loss medications to tackle the U.S. obesity epidemic.

To close out the show, Pearl then shares five toxic leadership traits in healthcare—each inspired by a character on the hit HBO show Succession. You won’t want to miss his insightful breakdown.

HELPFUL LINKS

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Dr. Robert Pearl is the author of a book about medicine’s invisible yet highly influential physician culture. Check out “Uncaring: How Physician Culture Is Killing Doctors & Patients.” All profits from the book go to Doctors Without Borders.

Fixing Healthcare is a co-production of Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. Subscribe to the show via Apple, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you find podcasts. Join the conversation or suggest a guest by following the show on Twitter and LinkedIn.

The post FHC #100: Diving deep into weight-loss drugs + toxic leadership appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.