Lyle Berkowitz, MD, FACP, FHIMSS is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of FutureHealth.
On May 10th, Dr. Lyle Berkowitz, will give a presentation at Becker's Health IT + Clinical Leadership 2018. As part of an ongoing series, Becker's is talking to healthcare leaders who plan to speak at the conference, which will take place May 10-11th 2018 in Chicago.
To learn more about the conference and Dr. Berkowitz's session, click here.
Question: Who or what are the disruptors that have your attention? Why?
Dr. Lyle Berkowitz: I think the most important disruptors are those using the same philosophy of consumer experience that allowed Amazon, Netflix and Uber to win in their categories. For patients, I am on the lookout for companies making it easier to buy and understand insurance; find, order and use drugs and medical devices; collect data ubiquitously; improve the experience of hospitalization or major procedures (where you have to be somewhere for a long time); and improve the convenience of more routine visits. For doctors, I am on the lookout for companies that make life easier for physicians by automating routine work, by helping collect and comprehend large data sets, and by presenting complex data in meaningful ways. Some key companies to follow include telehealth vendors, who may solve both access and cost problems for ambulatory care, workflow automation vendors offering tools that allow for hyper-efficient care, and eventually Amazon, who may quickly escalate from delivering meds to delivering virtual care.
Q: What did you notice about your healthcare experience the last time you were at the receiving end as a patient?
LB: It is amazing to me that we still make patients travel and wait in line. Every other industry has figured out how to automate, delegate and virtualize the majority of the routine work that needs to be done. We do have to deal with regulatory, financial and cultural issues, but they will eventually be addressed. Change may happen slowly in healthcare, but when it comes — it will come quickly.
Q: As a leader, what is the best investment you made in your own professional development in the past five years?
LB: Learning to better understand my personal drivers as well as what drives others has been key. I've become a fan of Enneagram personality typing, and have spent time reading and meeting with experts to help me understand my type and what causes me to make certain decisions, what types of people I should be partnering with, and how to better adjust myself when working with other types.