arrie Nelson, MD, MS, FAAFP, serves as Chief Clinical Officer for Advocate Physician Partners.
On April 3rd, Dr. Nelson will speak at Becker's Hospital Review 10th Annual Meeting. As part of an ongoing series, Becker's is talking to healthcare leaders who plan to speak at the conference, which will take place April 1-4, 2019 in Chicago.
To learn more about the conference and Dr. Nelson's session, click here.
Question: Healthcare takes a lot of heat for not innovating quickly. What's your take on this?
Carrie Nelson: I agree. We are unaccustomed and in fact programmed to avoid taking risks. This contributes to slow execution. Healthcare organizations are also very bureaucratic which is an additional rate limiting factor. I believe healthcare organizations need to create some form of a protected environment for innovators to work so as to relieve them from these barriers in order to effectively and efficiently innovate.
Q: Tell us about the last meaningful interaction you had with a patient.
CN: I had a couple who came to see me who I learned had immigrated from Argentina to better the lives for their children. They were both professionals in their home country but could find only factory assembly line positions in the US and had been employed full time in these positions for over one year. They were able to be classified as “temporary” workers by the factory so they were ineligible for the company sponsored health benefit. They were therefore buying insurance on the public exchange. While it’s great that insurance is available to them through the exchange, such loop holes that allow a company to avoid providing needed health coverage for truly long term full time employees need to be closed.
Q: Can you share some praise with us about people you work with? What does greatness look like to you when it comes to your team?
CN: The people I work with are energized by the opportunity to change the traditional care model to one that creates more value. They are passionate about this purpose and it shows in their tenacity, unwavering commitment and creative problem solving. There are many forces working against this ideal.