Transforming the Culture of Medicine | Robert Pearl, MD

Jul 12, 2022

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As former CEO of the Permanente Medical Group, Robert Pearl, MD was responsible for the work of 50,000 healthcare workers and the medical care of 5 million Americans through Kaiser Permanente hospitals across the country. A leading expert on healthcare management and strategy, Dr. Pearl is the author of two bestselling books, “Mistreated: Why We Think We’re Getting Good Healthcare–And Why We’re Usually Wrong” and “Uncaring: How the Culture of Medicine Kills Doctors and Patients,” a regular contributor to Forbes, and the host of several popular medical podcasts. He is a board-certified plastic and reconstructive surgeon, clinical professor at Stanford Medicine, and lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. In this episode, Dr. Pearl shares his thoughts on why American healthcare is failing not only patients but also physicians, and what we can do to address inherent problems in the culture of medicine.

In this episode, you will hear about:

Dr. Pearl’s journey to a career in plastic surgery - 2:13
Grappling with complications that arise during surgery - 9:40
Dr. Pearl’s transition from surgeon to CEO of the Permanente Medical Group - 12:49
The mission that Dr. Pearl brought to his role as CEO and how he implemented that mission - 17:21
How Dr. Pearl paved a path for increasing both the quality of care and physician satisfaction, while keeping costs low, and why so often these goals seem at odds with each other - 20:32
The toxic culture of denial in medicine and why it is killing doctors and patients - 27:45
How status and compensation disparity contributes to physician burnout, and what to do about it - 35:47
Dr. Pearl’s administrative strategy that led Kaiser Permanente to much success during his tenure as CEO - 43:08
Dr. Pearl’s advice to physicians on how to stay connected and empowered in their careers - 46:38

Dr. Robert Pearl is:

Author of two books: Mistreated: Why We Think We’re Getting Good Healthcare - And Why We’re Usually Wrong; and Uncaring: How the Culture of Medicine Kills Doctors & Patients, with all proceeds going to Doctors Without Borders
A frequent contributor to Forbes Magazine
The host of two podcasts: Fixing Healthcare and Coronavirus: The Truth

Find more information at RobertPearlMD.com or follow Dr. Pearl on Twitter @RobertPearlMD

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