Fixing Healthcare Podcast

Clinician burnout is a major problem in the United States. But as cohosts Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr discuss in today’s episode of Diving Deep, burnout is not a distinctly American problem. Recent data from The Commonwealth Fund indicates that primary care doctors in the United States are as satisfied as their peers in the UK, Germany, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. This seems surprising given the unique challenges and frustrations posed by the American healthcare system. But if the system isn’t the sole cause of doctor dissatisfaction, then what else is there? Dr. Pearl offers a surprising take on the global origins of clinician burnout and, in the second half of today’s show, he offers a technology-based solution to reverse our nation’s surge in chronic illnesses and the clinician burnout crisis. Finally, Pearl acknowledges and addresses the likely skepticism of doctors, especially considering the longstanding failure of heavily hyped tech when it comes to improving medical outcomes or professional satisfaction. Learn more about these two topics in today’s episode of Fixing Healthcare. Click play to learn more or check out the various links below for additional information. HELPFUL LINKS Burnout In US Healthcare: New Data, Surprising Insights (Forbes) ChatGPT Will Reduce Clinician Burnout, If Doctors Embrace It (Forbes) Monthly Musings on American Healthcare (Robert Pearl’s newsletter) * * * 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 #119: Diving deep into clinician burnout and ChatGPT as a solution appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

What a year it was for American healthcare. Generative AI exploded onto the scene and scored in the top echelon of test takers on the U.S. medical licensing exam. America’s largest retailers made several multibillion-dollar acquisitions in the primary care, telemedicine and home-health arenas. Diabetes drugs stunned researchers with their ability to help patients lose weight. These are just a few of the biggest stories from 2023 that cohosts Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr discuss on today’s episode of Fixing Healthcare, which also takes a bold look ahead at 2024. Which healthcare issues will matter most in this election year? Which technologies are set to make on impact on America’s health? Will the physician burnout crisis get better or worse in the year to come? Here’s a snapshot of the topics covered on today’s show:    The explosion of generative AI (ChatGPT) The rise of the ‘retail giants’ in healthcare Ozempic and other weight-loss drugs Medicare Advantage saw enrollment surge in 2023 The tech breakthrough to fight sickle cell disease Overdoses, suicides and other healthcare failures of the last year The threat of rationing in 2024 The Roe v. Wade fallout Addressing physician burnout in the U.S. The most promising medical technologies coming in 2024 Which healthcare issues will matter most at the polls? How to contain drug and care-delivery costs going forward Healthcare staffing shortages: causes and solutions A telehealth comeback in 2024? America needs a mental health check Who was Dr. Pearl’s greatest career influence? Click play to learn more or check out the various links below for additional information. MUST-READ ARTICLES FROM 2023 The AI-Empowered Patient Is Coming: Are Doctors Ready? (Forbes) 15 Innovative Ideas For Fixing Healthcare From 15 Brilliant Minds (Forbes) American healthcare: The good, bad, ugly, future (LinkedIn) How The U.S. Government Can Solve The Obesity Epidemic (Forbes) Burnout In Medicine: New Data, Surprising Insights (Forbes) Subscribe: Monthly Musings on American Healthcare (Robert Pearl’s newsletter) * * * 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 #118: 2023 in review plus 2024 preview and predictions   appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

Bubbly and precocious, Hunter was every parent’s dream child and every teacher’s ideal student. By age 14, she had already enrolled in classes at a local college to augment her course schedule. She played soccer, softball, basketball and ran track in high school. She was on the swim team. She even tried cheerleading, though that wasn’t her cup of tea, said Maria, Hunter’s mom. Maria describes her daughter with words like “amazing” and “beautiful” and “unstoppable.” But to truly appreciate the power of this mother-daughter duo, you have to understand what the two of them went through together. Theirs is a story of medical trials and tribulations, of heartbreaking diagnoses and difficult medical decisions. Their story challenges both conventional wisdom and the doctor-patient relationship. In today’s episode, Dr. Robert Pearl’s reads a chapter from his critically acclaimed book, “Uncaring: How the Culture of Medicine Kills Doctors & Patients.” All profits from sales of the book go to Doctors Without Borders. This episode is part of season nine of Fixing Healthcare, which tackles the difficult topic of death, examining end-of-life issues from multiple angles. Tune in and join the conversation on social media. You can also learn more about this topic and the book of Uncaring via the links below. HELPFUL LINKS Kirkus starred review: ‘Uncaring’ (Kirkus Reviews) Learn more about the book ‘Uncaring’ (RobertPearlMD.com) Monthly Musings on American Healthcare (Robert Pearl’s newsletter) * * * 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 #117: The Young and the Breathless appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

Welcome to season nine of Fixing Healthcare with cohosts Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. This season tackles the difficult topic of death, examining end-of-life issues from multiple angles. Today’s episode features a reading from Dr. Robert Pearl’s most recent book “Uncaring: How the Culture of Medicine Kills Doctors & Patients,” which is available in audio book, eBook and hardcover. All profits from sales go to Doctors Without Borders. What you’re about to hear is the story of David, a colleague and friend of Dr. Pearl’s at Kaiser Permanente. David lived a beautiful life that was cut short by illness. In his final years, he and his family faced a difficult decision, one that raises important questions for all of us about ethics, morality, the law and the choices we make at the end of life. Tune in and join the conversation on social media. You can also learn more about this topic and the book of Uncaring via the links below. HELPFUL LINKS Life’s most difficult decision: An excerpt from ‘Uncaring’ (RobertPearlMD.com) Learn more about the book ‘Uncaring’ (RobertPearlMD.com) Monthly Musings on American Healthcare (Robert Pearl’s newsletter) * * * 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 #116: Death of a Surgeon appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

As it was this time last year, ‘tis the season for sneezing once again. While carolers are coughing and shoppers are sniffling, podcast cohosts Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr are tracking the seasonal surge in Covid-19, influenza and RSV. Half a year has passed since the federal government declared an end to the public health emergency for Covid-19. But public health experts are worried that the lack of masking and social distancing this year could send tens of thousands of Americans to the hospital before winter’s end. On today’s episode of Medicine: The Truth, listeners will uncover critical insights about this season’s most important health trends. Here’s a snapshot of topics covered on today’s show: Tracking the ‘triple-demic’ this holiday The major downtick in vaccine boosters for Covid-19 A major uptick in another vaccine-preventable disease A scary new statistic concerning a mental health crisis The risk of viral spread in nursing homes New poll suggests most Americans know someone with long-Covid A (very small) rebound in life expectancy after the pandemic America’s ongoing struggles to rein in healthcare costs The latest news with weight-loss drugs A new technology to empower patients like never before A big breakthrough in the battle against sickle-cell disease The biggest health story affecting kids and parents today Training more primary care doctors Click here for more info: https://www.fixinghealthcarepodcast.com/ * * * 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 #79: Why do viruses love the holidays? appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

The 21st century has granted humanity incredible access to medications and procedures that can extend life almost indefinitely. Ventilators can breathe for us, intravenous tubes and pumps can nourish us, and hemodialysis machines can filter waste and excess water from our blood, all but replacing healthy kidneys. The fact that medicine can extend human lives almost indefinitely is considered by many to be a great scientific achievement. Still, many doctors feel beset by the gifts they’ve been given. In the ever-distressing, noise-polluted, sick-care environment of today’s hospital, it’s not clear whether patients nearing the end of their lives are being treated or tortured. So, how should our nation define “life?” Welcome to season nine of Fixing Healthcare with cohosts Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. Things are about to get emotional and philosophical. In this and future episodes, guests will tackle the difficult topic of death. Although it is a complex and uncomfortable subject, listeners will have the opportunity to learn from world experts regarding the ethical, legal and medical decisions that surround end-of-life care. This season’s first guest is Dorothee Caminiti, the director of the bioethics program at the Makkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University. She works at the intersection of digital ethics in healthcare and law, and focuses on the ethical problems associated with personalized medicine and the processing of health-related data. She received her master’s degree in bioethics from Harvard University. In this episode, Caminiti discusses: Whether doctors should “save a life at any cost” How the Terri Schiavo case influenced our nation’s views on end of life What are the rights of patients in terms of the “right to die” The purpose of advanced directives in medicine How ethics committees define “life” in medical disputes Weighing the input of doctors, patients and families The ethics of medical aid in dying laws Lessons from around the world about end-of-life care Tune in for the full interview and join the conversation on social media. * * * 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 #115: The bioethical dilemma of saving life ‘at any cost’ 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. Today’s show leads with an up-close look at a subject near and dear to Dr. Fisher’s heart, literally. “Empathy resides in the emotional heart, and it also has impacts on the physical heart and the physiologic heart, as well,” says Dr. Fisher adding that, “empathy helps steady the heart, lower heart rate, lower stress and, in the exam room, can even lower blood pressure.” As part of the conversation, Fixing Healthcare cohost Dr. Robert Pearl introduced a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association over the summer that got many in medical profession talking. Here’s how Dr. Pearl described it in a recent Forbes article: “Researchers compared doctor and AI responses to nearly 200 medical questions submitted by patients via social media. The answers were read by a team of healthcare professionals who didn’t know whether the author was a doctor or a bot. The team concluded that 80% of the AI-generated responses as more nuanced, accurate and detailed than those shared by physicians. But most surprising was ChatGPT’s bedside manner. While less than 5% of doctor responses were judged to be ‘empathetic’ or ‘very empathetic,’ that figure shot up to 45% for answers provided by AI.” Today’s show explores the importance of empathy and how healthcare professionals—many of whom suffer an erosion of empathy due to high stress and burnout—can better express their emotions with others, including their colleagues and patients. To discover more, press play and check out these helpful links: Presale: ‘Just One Heart’ (Jonathan Fisher’s new book) Doctors Vs. ChatGPT: Which Is More Empathetic? (Forbes) Do you have the emotional intelligence it takes to be a great hospital leader? (Becker’s Hospital Review) How AI, Empathy, & Capitation Can Transform Healthcare (Speaking Of Podcast) Breaking The Rules Of Healthcare (LinkedIn) * * * 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 #114: An unfiltered look at empathy in medicine appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

Listeners of Fixing Healthcare keep writing in and reaching out with questions about two hot-button healthcare topics: the high price of healthcare and the impact generative AI (like ChatGPT) will have on the future of medicine. This episode of Diving Deep begins with a look at “skimping,” which refers to the many ways in which healthcare prices are constrained, but at the expense of American patients. It’s equivalent to consumers purchasing a box of cereal at the regular price only to find 25% fewer flakes inside. Of course, the difference is that skimping on medical care as a means to flatten healthcare inflation proves destructive to our nation’s health. Cohosts Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr then focus on the future of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI). Tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Bard and Microsoft’s Bing are poised to give people significantly more power and control—not just over their personal lives and professional tasks, but over their own medical health, as well. What will this mean for the doctor-patient relationship going forward? Pearl explains that, if used correctly, GenAI “offers the opportunity to make the doctor-patient relationship more collaborative and create empowered patients who will improve their health.” Learn more about these two topics in today’s episode of Fixing Healthcare. Click play to learn more or check out the various links below for additional information. HELPFUL LINKS How America Skimps On Healthcare (Forbes) How Generative AI Will Upend The Doctor-Patient Relationship (Forbes) Monthly Musings on American Healthcare (Robert Pearl’s newsletter) * * * 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 #113: Diving deep into Dr. ChatGPT and healthcare ‘skimping’ appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

Season eight of the Fixing Healthcare podcast continues its focus on the role of leadership in driving change. Our guest today is an expert in this area. Jenny Chatman is Acting Dean at the Haas School of Business and the Paul Cortese Professor of Management at UC Berkeley. She’s a world-renowned researcher, teacher and consultant on leveraging organizational culture to boost team performance. Chatman is also editor-in-chief for the journal “Research in Organizational Behavior” (2019-2022) and co-director of the Berkeley Haas Center for Workplace Culture and Innovation. In this interview, Chatman shares lessons in leadership and cultural change with Fixing Healthcare cohosts Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. Throughout today’s episode, she discusses: Organizational culture: what it is and isn’t How doctors learn “the unwritten rules” of medical culture How norms form and what control leaders have over them Why handwashing isn’t as normal in medicine as you might think Auditing and assessing norms as part of the culture-change process The power of subcultures within a healthcare organization How new leaders should approach cultural change in medicine What to do if you find yourself in a toxic culture Creating collectivist (vs. individualistic) goals in healthcare More powerful: a common purpose or a common enemy? Why gratitude goes a long way How generative AI (like ChatGPT) will change medical culture Tune in for the full interview and join the conversation on social media. * * * 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 #112: How the culture of medicine can change appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

This year, the cost of health insurance for a working family of four exceeded $24,000 for the first time ever. That’s up 7% from last year (the largest rate increase since 2011). But increased spending has not equated to happier patients. New research has uncovered an “unprecedented decline” in patient satisfaction throughout United States. In today’s episode of Medicine: The Truth, podcast cohost Dr. Robert Pearl discusses the rise of medical costs alongside the rise in patient displeasure. But the bad news doesn’t stop there. New data suggest that infant morality and maternal mortality are on the rise in America. At the same time, doctors, nurses and medical staff are exiting the profession by the hundreds of thousands. However, listeners looking for good news will find some in today’s show, too.  Here’s a snapshot of the topics covered: AI is making massive inroads in predicting next Covid-19 strains Paxlovid prices are going up: why and by how much? The link between Long Covid and inflammation Average family health premiums topped $24,000 Why are patients less satisfied with hospital care? Telemedicine usage continues to dip following pandemic highs The results of 49 pilot programs since 2011 to reduce medical costs Study: daily exercise vs. anti-depressive medications How social determinants of health affect pre-teens The U.S. infant mortality rate is getting worse: Why? Hundreds of thousands exited healthcare profession in 2020-21 Efficacy updates on the Covid-19, flu vaccines How rural areas are affected by hospital closures Click here for more info: https://www.fixinghealthcarepodcast.com/ * * * 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 #78: How high will premiums rise? How low will patient satisfaction go? appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.