For most of history, medical diagnosis came through a series of chaotic steps. Patients experienced a string of studies, samples, and images coupled with a doctor’s judgment offering a best-guess answer. Or, in many cases, just a guess. Increasingly, diagnosis is being be reduced to simple transactions. Clean point-of-care testing based on molecular and marker ... Continue Reading about The Opportunity of Scarcity in Healthcare
Burnout is a sign
There’s lots of talk about physician burnout. There’s even more talk about how we get rid of it. Everyone has a solution. But the problem with the conversation is that burnout is a sign, not a disease. Burnout is the downstream result of a number of complex upstream problems. But it's rarely the problem. Focusing on fixing burnout is like trying to eliminate fever ... Continue Reading about Burnout is a sign
Suboptimization as a Healthcare Strategy
Optimization has become a defining feature of modern healthcare. We optimize, review, tweak, and measure our systems and ourselves against a super-optimized standard. Better, faster, safer, more productive, efficient and effective. We’re always looking for improvement. And for good reason. 21st century healthcare has worked to prioritize safety and quality ... Continue Reading about Suboptimization as a Healthcare Strategy
The Circle of Safety and Physician Burnout
In his book, Leaders Eat Last — Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t, Simon Sinek discusses the importance of a safe work environment for innovation, productivity and survival. He calls this leader-driven space the Circle of Safety. It is easy to know when we are in the Circle of Safety because we can feel it. We feel valued by our colleagues and we feel ... Continue Reading about The Circle of Safety and Physician Burnout
Three Conditions That Define Healthcare
Since the pandemic healthcare has undergone a remarkable transformation. Before COVID dropped in as our latest wicked problem, technology was upending everything we do. I’ve been thinking a lot about the burnout, confusion, uncertainty, and exhaustion that we’re facing. I've been thinking about the conditions that define healthcare. When we talk about these ... Continue Reading about Three Conditions That Define Healthcare
Refusing Telemedicine – Can Patients Opt-out of Remote Care?
With the sweeping rise of COVID19 telemedicine has taken healthcare by storm. During the local surges, this served as a mandated way of maintaining safe distancing. But as things come back to a new normal and as we decide where telemedicine fits in to a clinic structure it might be worth asking: should patients have the option for in-person care. Is refusing ... Continue Reading about Refusing Telemedicine – Can Patients Opt-out of Remote Care?