The truth about change in health care was never more perfectly captured than in an episode of Sex and the City, when Carrie Bradshaw lamented that we keep “should-ing all over ourselves.” As a nation, we’ve been bogged down in the “shoulds” for too long—what our providers “should” be doing, what patients “should” be experiencing, what […] Continue Reading

The patient experience is a trickle down of the doctor and practice experience. Layers and layers of new responsibilities are being pushed down onto their shoulders, and then ours. Given the weight, we have to ask, How do we make sure we’re getting the care we want and need? And how can we spend less […] Continue Reading

If we keep refusing to pay attention when patients, providers, and practice staff tell us what they want, we shouldn’t be surprised when they divorce themselves, in one way or another, from the goals we all aspire to—or even from healthcare entirely. This medical group sidestepped that problem at just the right moment by asking, […] Continue Reading

For physicians to do a good job, they need a partnership with their patients. They need to get to know them, their needs, and their social determinants of health so that they can build a therapeutic plan that makes sense. For patients, when there is trust and communication in the relationship, the outcomes are significantly […] Continue Reading

Today, women make up about 50 percent of all physicians, yet less than 25 percent of executive leadership positions in healthcare are held by women. We need to be able to call out the unconscious biases that keep women from ascending. Research by LeanIn.org and McKinsey & Co, which spawned a series about men, women, and […] Continue Reading

“Yes, we want more efficiency and precision, but medicine is losing its human touch.” A succinct description of why we need to balance the art of medicine with the business and science of medicine. But how do we achieve it? How do reengage professionals who feel burnt out and disenchanted. How do we carve away […] Continue Reading

I ended chapter 6 of Back to Balance with a hopeful vision: “We have all been present at the creation of something that could be extraordinary. I, for one, can’t wait to see where the technology takes us next.” When it comes to digital health technology, the greatest possible benefit is really excellence in delivery of […] Continue Reading

Our overly intense focus on standardizing health care processes is deteriorating a doctor’s ability to treat each patient as a unique person and focus on getting to the best outcomes. Technology plays a role in reinforcing the focus on process, and getting in the way of the physician-patient relationship. Here’s my challenge to Health IT […] Continue Reading