The Shift Report

Resa Lewiss shares lessons from her professional service, The Visible Voices podcast (170 episodes and growing) and book "MicroSkills: Small Actions, Big Impact." Three simple lessons - Time can only be spent, the world is not equal, and learning is limitless if only it is accessible.

Find her book at HarperCollins - MicroSkills

Resa Lewiss LinkedIn

Thank you to our sponsor Lotus Clinician Wellbeing

Kim Tranquada has built Healthcare Alliance for an Equitable World from her experiences developing a telemedicine system for the VA and her passion about serving the 84% of the world's population who lack access to even basic medical care. From the Philippines to border regions of Kenya and Uganda, she brings hope to a vastly underserved group. A truly inspiring story, and an opportunity for you to serve - even if for only a few hours a year.

Thank you to our sponsor Lotus Clinician Wellbeing

Recap: 

Til Jolly and Kim discussed their professional backgrounds and shared interests in telemedicine, rural healthcare, and community building. Kim, an emergency medicine doctor, founded the Healthcare Alliance for an Equitable World (HAEW) to connect doctors with underserved populations. She described the success of HAEW’s telehealth program in the Philippines, which treated over 1,000 patients in a year, and its upcoming expansion to Uganda and Kenya in February. Partnering with Global Telehealth Network and I Triple E, HAEW is able to support rural hospitals, clinics, and schools. They discussed the challenges in rural healthcare, such as the lack of specialists, infrastructure, and emergency transport, emphasizing the importance of public-private partnerships to navigate regulatory and connectivity barriers. Kim outlined her goal of recruiting 1% of the world’s doctors to provide 700 daily telehealth hours and integrating telehealth into medical education, starting with a project in South Africa.

Moving forward, Kim is continuing to recruit doctors and launch telehealth initiatives.  Their conversation underscores the need for increased visibility, addressing burnout, and strengthening healthcare communities worldwide.

Jesse Pines - perhaps the leading health services researcher in emergency medicine - speaks with The Shift Report about the complexities of our health insurance system, the effects of the No Surprises Act, and why boarding is still a problem.

Follow his work with USACS at https://www.usacs.com/about-us/academics/usacs-research-group, read his columns in Forbes and look for his upcoming book "Quality Measurement in Healthcare."

Thank you to our sponsor Lotus Clinician Wellbeing

Summary

Til Jolly and Jesse Pines discussed various topics during Podcast #24, including Jesse’s career journey, the complexities of the U.S. healthcare financing system, and the No Surprises Act. They also explored hospital boarding practices and potential healthcare system changes.

Jesse shared his career trajectory, starting from his time at Penn, internships with Senator Joe Lieberman and the White House, and medical studies at Georgetown. His interest in the business of medicine led him to pursue an MD/MBA program. Despite the economic downturn in 2001, he continued practicing emergency medicine due to his passion for the work.

The discussion on healthcare financing highlighted the disparities in payment rates between private and public insurance and the resulting challenges for physician practices. Jesse emphasized how these dynamics impact emergency physicians, who are obligated to provide care regardless of payment.

The No Surprises Act was examined for its role in eliminating unexpected out-of-network medical bills, while also shifting negotiation power toward insurance companies. Jesse noted the act’s success in preventing large patient bills but pointed out its challenges for physician groups.

Hospital boarding, a profit-driven strategy where emergency departments handle less profitable patients, was also discussed. Jesse and Til explored how elective surgeries and patient flow patterns contribute to this issue and proposed potential remedies, such as reallocating RVUs or government intervention.

They concluded by discussing possible healthcare reforms under the new administration, including shifting focus from acute to chronic diseases and regulating processed foods. Jesse outlined his upcoming projects, including a Forbes column, a book on healthcare quality measurement, and further research with the USACS group.

Dr. Kevin Spencer joins the Shift Report to discuss his invention and growing company Ring Rescue. Newer rings made of metals like titanium and tungsten carbide can be impossible to remove with those old flimsy ring cutters. Many of us have tried makeshift hardware store solutions that are ineffective and dangerous. Ring Rescue solves the problem.

After he launched, he also learned that his product's reach was far beyond his expectations and intended target market. Kevin shares with us how he has taken this innovation from idea to commercial success. When you need this device, you really need it.

Ring Rescue - https://www.ringrescue.com/

Kevin Spencer LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/drkevinspencer/

Thank you to our sponsor Lotus Clinician Wellbeing

Dr. Gina Siddiqui joins The Shift Report to discuss her growing venture Carte Clinics. She and her team are creating a map to help patients navigate test, specialists, and medical breakthroughs. She also shares how she blends clinical practice and entrepreneurship. A truly compelling story.

Learn more about her work at https://www.carteclinics.com/

Thank you to our sponsor Lotus Clinician Wellbeing

Cedric Dark - emergency physician, specialty leader, gun owner - discusses his book Under the Gun: An ER Doctor's Cure for America's Gun Epidemic. He has a personal and compelling story to tell as he advocates to solve one of America's public health crises.

Thank you to our sponsor Lotus Clinician Wellbeing

The Shift Report welcomes Dr. Torree McGowan, a veteran and emergency physician. She discusses fatigue, sleep, and how we fall far below the safety standards of the aviation industry. You and your patients are better off when you apply some science and common sense to managing your sleep cycles.

Dr. Torree McGowan can be found at https://www.erdisasterdoc.com/

Thank you to our sponsor Lotus Clinician Wellbeing

Many know Dr. Leon Adelman from his extensive social media presence devoted to empowering emergency physicians. He shares with The Shift Report his growing venture dedicated to making the arcane EM job search process more user-friendly – sort of like Zillow is to house hunting.  As only Leon can, he breaks down some of the key problems emergency providers face, and we can all try to fix them. Learn more at Ivyclinicians.  

Thank you to our sponsor Lotus Clinician Wellbeing

Dr. Mike Granovsky is truly the leading emergency physician voice in the critical area of billing and coding.  He tells the fascinating story of how he turned the revenue cycle challenges of a very small startup emergency medicine group serving a small hospital in a new contract into LogixHealth, the largest EM revenue cycle management company in the industry.  Find out more at www.logixhealth.com.

Thank you to our sponsor Lotus Clinician Wellbeing

In this installment of The Shift Report, EMcentric welcomes Janelle Banat. Listen to her very personal story of dealing with grief, and watching a physician deal with grief, and turning that experience into a large and growing professional growth and leadership coaching practice. She and her nationwide team help clinical leaders manage many of the struggles not anticipated or taught in medical school or training. Janelle shares lessons we can all learn from. 

Find Janelle and her team at Footlamp Consulting

Thank you to our sponsor Lotus Clinician Wellbeing