July 14, 2025 • 25 mins
In this episode of the MGMA Member Spotlight podcast, host Daniel Williams talks with Linda Carroll, a certified medical practice executive and co-facilitator of MGMA’s AAPI Healthcare Leaders Resource Group. The discussion explores Linda’s work and life in Alaska, the value of resource groups, and the importance of culturally responsive leadership. Linda shares how telehealth is bridging gaps in rural care and how MGMA communities help foster mentorship, connection, and visibility for Asian American and Pacific Islander leaders in healthcare.
Timestamps:
- [00:50] – Introduction and Host Welcome
- [01:24] – Meet Linda Carroll: Experience and Background
- [01:54] – Life in Alaska: Winter and Work
- [03:53] – Linda's Journey into Healthcare
- [07:03] – Healthcare in Anchorage: Challenges and Innovations
- [11:26] – MGMA Resource Groups: An Overview
- [12:06] – AAPI Healthcare Leaders Resource Group
- [16:39] – Cultural Conversations and Shared Experiences
- [22:30] – Upcoming Events and Final Thoughts
Resources:
- MGMA Member Resource Groups Live
- MGMA AAPI Resource Group Live: Tuesday, July 15th at 12:00 PM EDT – Register Here
- Crying in H Mart: A Memoir, by Michelle Zauner – Purchase on Amazon
Additional Resources:
Email us at dwilliams@mgma.com if you would like to appear on an episode. If you have a question about your practice that you would like us to answer, send an email to advisor@mgma.com. Don't forget to subscribe to our network wherever you get your podcasts.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Daniel Williams (00:04):
Well, hi, everyone. I'm Daniel Williams,
senior editor at MGMA and hostof the MGMA Podcast Network.
We're really excited about a newseries we're starting. You may
not be aware of this, but MGMAhas launched some MGMA Resource
Groups. And these ResourceGroups are inclusive spaces
(00:26):
where members can come together,share experiences, lift each
other up, solve problems, all ofthese things and today, we have
Linda Carroll who is a CMPE andLinda has more than twenty years
of experience as a medicalmanager with a background in
orthopedic surgery and maternalfetal medicine.
(00:48):
She is also one of the dedicatedfacilitators of the AAPI
Healthcare Leaders ResourceGroup here at MGMA. Linda,
welcome to the podcast.
Linda Carroll (01:00):
Hi, thank you. Good morning.
Daniel Williams (01:02):
Good morning. So you and I were talking
offline before we got startedand you shared with me, and I
didn't realize this until wewere connecting earlier this
week, but you're in Alaska,right?
Linda Carroll (01:16):
Yes.
Daniel Williams (01:18):
Wow. That's so neat. You know, I'm in Colorado.
That's where a lot of the MGMAemployees are. Most of us are
here in the Denver area and I'mfrom the South originally.
So, I complain a lot when it'swinter time but then I saw you
were from Alaska. What what iswinter like in Alaska? What's
that like?
Linda Carroll (01:39):
Well, I'm in Anchorage. So, we're, you know,
we're coastal so it's it's notas it doesn't get as cold as it
does in what we call theinterior of the state. But
definitely it's cold and dark.And when I say dark, in
Anchorage will get probablyabout six to eight hours of
(02:01):
daylight and really like around3PM, it starts to get dusky kind
of at the height of winter forus, which is around December. I
know winter solstice isn't untillike December, but for us, we
really consider our winterseason starts kind of at the
(02:22):
October, like Halloween.
So by the time, like wintersolstice comes, we have been
pretty pretty swamped in our ourwinter season per se. But, yeah.
So, you know, it's basicallygetting up in the dark and going
to work in the dark and thencoming home in the dark. So,
those that are lucky enough tohave windows, we get a little
(02:44):
bit of daylight between ten andtwo in the height of winter and
then, yeah. So.
Daniel Williams (02:49):
That is incredible. Well, thank you so
much for that and it's just sogood to have you here today. So,
we are going to talk about theseresource groups. So, before we
do that, let's just kick offsomething here. Tell us a little
bit about your background inhealth care.
How did you did you pickhealthcare as a profession?
(03:10):
Anything you wanna share aboutthat?
Linda Carroll (03:11):
Sure. So while I was in college, I got a job at a
physician's office. It was ahand surgeon here in Anchorage
and it was for front desk. Theschedule worked very easily with
my school schedule. And Iactually found, that was my
first foray into medical.
(03:33):
I found that I really liked it.And one of the gals I worked
very closely with, she did thebilling and the coding. And so I
was talking with her about that.And the office just encouraged
me if I was interested toexplore getting credentialed.
AAPC, American Academy ofProfessional Coders, was
(03:53):
something new at that timebecause that was very, very long
time ago that, you know, it waslike the late nineties when I
was getting into this.
And so, yeah, they were a fairlynew group, but they had some
good information. The one galthat I worked closely with who I
did a lot of mentoring with, sheactually had her CPC
(04:16):
certification. And again, justthrough a lot of support after I
was done with school, I wasstill working there. They
encouraged me to do that. So Idid that.
And I was getting a degree. Iwas a business major for
business administration and Iknew I was enjoying healthcare.
I did not want to be on thehands on clinical side. So it
(04:39):
just made sense with myeducational background and what
I found interesting on theadministrative side was to stay
in admin. And so, yeah, andthat's how I got my first taste
of you know, medical managerlife.
I got my coding certificationand yeah, so then I just went on
(05:01):
from there. So, I feel verylucky for me here in Anchorage.
The medical community is prettystrong. It it's small and close
knit but definitely, I haveworked with some wonderful
surgeons over the years and thenthe opportunity to switch to
something totally different,maternal fetal medicine with my
(05:25):
longtime friend who is also thephysician. Was coming back to
Alaska and said, let's dosomething for ourselves.
And so seven years later, herewe are at our practice.
Daniel Williams (05:35):
Wow, that is so cool. So tell us a little bit
about that practice then as Iwas talking to you earlier about
Alaska. It just seems foreign tome because I've never been
there. I've read a couple ofbooks that at least touch on
Alaska a little bit into thewild. Not not a happy ending
(05:56):
there with Into the Wild ifyou've read that by John
Krakauer but love the book andso tell us about what a little
bit about what health care islike in Anchorage and
particularly in your practice.
Linda Carroll (06:13):
Certainly. So definitely a few other states
are like Alaska and that it'sit's very rural. Okay. A lot of
things are spread out. And soAnchorage really serves as you
know, it's the biggest city.
It's the main hub and any of ouradvanced medical stuff that we
(06:34):
have here in Alaska is all basedout of Anchorage. Okay. Know,
Alaska certainly for a long timehas been somewhat in its own
little bubble in terms of thingsthat would affect or that we saw
happening administrativelyinsurance, you know, health
(06:55):
insurance wise that arehappening in what Alaskans refer
to as the Lower 48 are reallynot affecting us here in Alaska,
not for a very long time. And soI mean, certainly now we are
starting to feel and see some ofthose same effects. But again,
we've just I think being inAlaska practicing medicine here,
(07:18):
it really requires physiciansto, you know, kind of be kind of
thinking outside of the box andhow you're going to get care to
your patients, for yourpatients.
They really have to beinnovative in what we're doing.
Even ten years ago, kind of whenpeople were talking about like
(07:41):
telehealth and being able toprovide services that way, Part
of the thing is, here in Alaska,we had a conference with one of
our local state representativesand it wasn't so much that the
physicians here, because not alot of physicians here were
doing that. They weren't reallyembracing that. And it's not
(08:01):
because they didn't want to beinvolved in that kind of
technology. It's just that thattechnology in these outlying
areas, I mean, they still haddial up Internet.
They did not, we didn't have thesatellites that we do now. We
don't have, There was noStarlink and getting any sort of
like Internet, especially somesort of video capability was
(08:23):
very, very difficult, even atthe smaller facilities that were
in these outlying locations. Andso, again, that's where the
challenge comes in, right? Sothen how do you get this care to
individuals without making theindividual have to travel half a
(08:44):
day to come to Anchorage. And sowe definitely in Alaska, I think
probably make more use of medflights than some other states
just because of the necessity ofgetting someone who lives in a
village of 200 people with verylimited resources, getting them
to the care that they needrequires a little bit more.
(09:08):
So and I think that's yeah, thatalso is what I think helps make
the medical community here soclose knit because the few
specialists that we have in thestate, it really takes them
communicating and workingtogether when they're working on
getting someone from a ruralsite to Anchorage and making
(09:28):
sure that then we have all ofthe care that they need kind of
lined up or who they need to seebasically ready to go knowing
that patient Linda is coming inon this med flight and these are
the services that she will need.
Daniel Williams (09:42):
That is incredible. Thank you so much
for sharing that because itreally paints a picture of what
you're experiencing there, whatthose physician patient
relationships are like, and thatgreater healthcare community.
Because you said it may be alittle bit smaller. It's very
close knit. Many of you knoweach other.
So you really rely on eachother. It becomes a true
(10:05):
network. Thank you for paintingthat picture. That's really
cool.
Linda Carroll (10:09):
Absolutely.
Daniel Williams (10:10):
Yeah. We may do a whole podcast on just Alaskan
health care. I had so manythoughts when you said, well,
we're the lower 48 here. IsHawaii just Hawaii? Are they
that state that's out there inthe Pacific?
How do you refer to them?
Linda Carroll (10:27):
Yeah, Hawaiians are is Alaska's vacation
hotspot.
Daniel Williams (10:31):
There you go. Hey, mine too. Mine too. So,
let's talk about something thatis so top of mind right now.
About a year or so ago,everybody, if you're not aware
of these, MGMA launched LeadersResource Groups.
We have several in our episodeshow notes of this episode. I'm
gonna provide additionalinformation and a direct link so
(10:54):
you can just click on those andsee if there are any resource
groups groups you're interestedin and in this series of
discussing the resource groups,I'm going to have facilitators
from each one of those to comeon and that's what Linda's doing
here to explain a little bitabout what they're experiencing
in them. So, let's just startthere. Linda, the AAPI
(11:17):
Healthcare Leaders ResourceGroup is the one where you're
one of the facilitators. Tell usa little bit about this group.
Just wherever you want to startat the beginning or how your
involvement began. What do youwanna share about this resource
group initially for us?
Linda Carroll (11:33):
Sure. Well, I saw the launch and that MGMA was
creating these resource groups,which I thought was great. And
then of course, know, I signedup to join a couple different
ones. AAPI being one of themjust because of my my
demographic. And so yeah, thenwhen the leaders conference was
(11:54):
approaching, you know, they puta call out for volunteers,
individuals that were interestedin co hosting the first AAPI or
the well, any of the resourcegroup breakouts that they were
having at leaders conference inOctober, last October.
And I thought this was just agreat way to volunteer, be
involved. So I had signed up todo that. I think it's great. One
(12:18):
of the first things for us, ourgroup, when we met, it was a
very small group, I think,compared to maybe some of the
other different resource groupsthat we're meeting. But one of
the things that really hit us interms of having the safe space,
people with similar backgroundsand things where we could
(12:40):
connect.
You know, we talked about, atleast for AAPI, it was, you
know, we see a lot of peoplethat fall into that or classify
themselves as part of thatdemographic more on the hands on
clinical side. And we didn't seea lot on the business
administrative side and themanagement side. So it was
(13:02):
really great to get togetherwith a group of individuals and
talk about some of our sharedexperiences, how some of our
experiences were different basedon whether we were working in
private practices, working forinstitutions, whether they were
educational institutions orhospitals, groups, and based on
(13:25):
where we were located. I again,being here in Alaska at that
meeting, it
Daniel Williams (13:31):
was
Linda Carroll (13:31):
great. I met an individual from Hawaii And I
know that Hawaii used to have anMGMA chapter and made up of a
group of islands. It was verydifficult, I know, for them to
meet and get together. I felthonored that I think at one of
their last state MGMA meetingsthat they had, I got to fly in
(13:54):
on behalf of MGMA as a liaisonand kind of talk about some of
the things that were happening.So yeah, it was just, it was
really great to meet individualsjust from across The US and see
where we were at.
And to know that, again, despitewhat types of institutions we
(14:15):
were working with, what ourbackground particularly was in
medicine. There were a handfulof very similar shared
experiences.
Daniel Williams (14:26):
Okay. Tell us a little bit about, just a
sentence or so about your cofacilitator, and then what's the
kind of space you're trying tocreate for anyone who would join
in and discuss healthcare, AAPI,anything else in those
discussions? What does that looklike?
Linda Carroll (14:46):
My co facilitator, Deepa, she's
amazing. And again, she works. Ithink it's great because again,
we have different backgrounds interms of how we're working in
medicine. She's working at alarge institution, whereas I'm
in a small private practice. SoI think that's great.
Bring different perspectiveseven though we have again some
(15:06):
similarities. The space that weare creating is definitely we
talked about this, one ofbelonging safety amongst our
peers to be open and honest andhave conversations and a place
where we truly understand someof the challenges and issues
that are specific to AAPI, howwe have dealt with them,
(15:29):
offering support to our peers ifthey're experiencing something
similar and kind of being ableto coach and mentor them through
that.
Daniel Williams (15:38):
Okay, that that's wonderful. Yeah, that's
where I I was wondering how muchyou just get into a meeting and
then it's just, can you believepatient access or billing or
coding? Or if you do includesome time for what it's like to
be an AAPI healthcare leader andthen really getting to the
(15:58):
cultural conversation as well.Yeah.
Linda Carroll (16:02):
Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. We had a good at at the
leaders conference. We in one ofour sessions, we had a very
interesting conversation basedon like cultural background and
being in management and justkind of what some of the
perceptions of course are ofindividuals with our background
(16:24):
and how we work and such.
So yeah, it was a really goodconversation again to have with
individuals that, you know,again, just have the same shared
experiences can easily relateand, you know, have that open,
honest, safe conversation.
Daniel Williams (16:43):
Yeah. And it's so interesting because you led,
we didn't, I didn't have anyidea you were going to go there
by being in Alaska. That's aclose knit community but it
seems like you've expanded thatto this AAPI resource group
where this is a close knitcommunity where y'all can really
have some shared experiences andwhere things are maybe different
(17:05):
depending on where you are inthe country or anything of that
nature. Was that anything thatwas designed by you and your co
facilitator or something thatjust came about organically?
Linda Carroll (17:17):
I definitely think it's something that came
about organically as we openedup the conversation and we're
talking with individuals. It'sjust something that naturally
developed and conversation justnaturally flowed to that topic.
Daniel Williams (17:32):
Okay. And then as far as the patient
population, are there any of themembers of the resource group
where they may be in a heavierAAPI patient population and
where there is an opportunity togain trust, communicate,
understand the backgroundsculturally with those patients
(17:55):
as well.
Linda Carroll (17:57):
Absolutely, I mean, here in Alaska in
Anchorage, we do have a highAsian population. Some of the
other individuals that we met,you know, like the individual
from Hawaii, the there were acouple from California, San
Francisco area. So definitelyareas with demographics that we
certainly could relate to. Andwe talked about really how, and
(18:21):
I think this happens across anydemographic, right? If you're
someone who also relates tothat, understands that, it does
make it a little bit easier, Ithink, to interact with those
patients to when they come inand if they see someone who they
feel looks like them, they feela little bit more at ease, that
(18:42):
more comfortable.
And I think especially for someof us, when we talked about one
of the practices I was atpreviously, we had a lot of
elderly Asian patients. And justagain, from my experience,
working with my mom and havinggrown up with her and being able
to understand some of thecultural nuances, Connecting
(19:07):
with those individuals, I think,was a little easier for me.
Helping staff understand some oftheir behaviors or the way that
they were speaking was acultural thing for them. It
wasn't something that wasintended to be unkind or that
they didn't understand what wasbeing asked or said to them. Was
(19:28):
just it was a cultural thing.
And kind of being able to bridgethat gap in between for the
patients and the rest of thestaff. Again, I think that
really always when a patientfeels like they have somebody
else there that really canempathize with them, I think it
helps overall just with theircomfort level of being at
whatever office they're at.
Daniel Williams (19:49):
Yeah. Hearing you talk and when you brought up
your mom and your eyes kind oflit up a little bit talking
about your mom, it reallyreminded me at MGMA, we have a
book club and we had that bookCrying in H Mart that we read. I
don't know if you've heard. Haveyou read that or heard about?
Linda Carroll (20:05):
Oh, yes. Yeah.
Daniel Williams (20:06):
Yeah and it just started thinking about that
because there's this incredible,beautiful, and complicated
relationship between the authorand her mom and it's really,
wow, it's just giving me kind ofgoosebumps talking about it but
so you have read that and it itgave us all a glimpse inside at
least a little bit about whatit's like being a Korean
(20:28):
American and you know, thattransition and what that's like.
And so anything you wanna shareabout it might have been a
minute since you read the book,but you have read it though.
Linda Carroll (20:38):
I have read it. Yes. So the the author,
Michelle, so she is actually ina band that I.
Daniel Williams (20:45):
Yeah, she is.
Linda Carroll (20:46):
And so I was already familiar with her and
the band. I've seen them live.It's been great. And then I saw
that she wrote this book andtalking about her relationship
with her mom and everything. Andso as soon as it came out, yeah,
I immediately was like, I'mgetting this book.
So yeah, it's been a while sinceI read it. Like, you know, I
read it when it first came out,but, and for me, of course, it's
(21:07):
something that really, resonatedwith me. I could really connect
with it and yeah.
Daniel Williams (21:11):
Yeah. And the one other thing, everybody, if
you haven't read the book,there's a real connection to
Korean food in there as well,her love for that food, or
sometimes not, you know, butjust her she's a foodie and
really talks about thepreparation and how that was
passed down. I believe it's beena minute since I read it, but I
think one of her mom's sisters,one of the author's aunts,
(21:34):
really has a connection to thatfood as well. So it's a great
read and I'm going to putsomething in the episode show
notes. So in the remaining time,you have another resource group
coming up.
Let me get this right,everybody. It's Tuesday, July 15
at 12PM Eastern Time. You canfind more details and register
at mgma.comevents but Linda,when you you know you've got
(21:58):
this coming up, you and your cofacilitator, July 15, do y'all
set together certain themes ortopics you want to address? What
can people expect? If anybody'sgoing to hear this and join
that, what can they expect forthis particular resource group
meeting?
Linda Carroll (22:15):
For this particular meeting, we're
breaking down communication andnot just with staff. We talked
about really how you have totailor your conversation to your
audience, right? So I could saythe same thing that if I wanna
talk about patientrelationships, how I talk to
physicians about that isdifferent than how I talk to
(22:39):
staff about that. And so we'rebreaking that down and we're
gonna cover different topics.Like for instance, I will talk
about the conversations and howyou tailor your conversations to
your physicians and workingwith.
My facilitator, she is going tobe talking about then how you
have that same conversation andreally what it sounds like and
(23:01):
how you change it to have speakwith your staff members in
regards to that. So I think it'sgoing to be really great. We're
super excited. We're lookingforward to being able to offer
some additional support foranybody that wants to come and
join the group.
Daniel Williams (23:20):
That is wonderful. So last thing then,
how often do the resource groupsmeet your particular one?
Linda Carroll (23:27):
We were trying to meet on a quarterly basis at the
minimum. So we're going to bemeeting quarterly. If we have
enough interest, I think Deepaand I had talked about maybe
perhaps being able to do it likeevery other month versus
quarterly.
Daniel Williams (23:42):
Okay. Okay. Well, Linda Carroll, it has been
such an honor and just so coolto get to meet you. Thank you so
much for joining us.
Linda Carroll (23:50):
Oh, thank you. Thanks for having me. This has
been wonderful.
Daniel Williams (23:53):
Yeah. So everybody, I'm gonna give you
this information again. The nextAAPI Healthcare Leaders Resource
Group meeting, again, it'sTuesday, July 15, 12PM Eastern.
You can find all the details andinformation on registering at
mgma.com/events. You'll find itthere but I'll also put that
(24:15):
information in our episode shownotes.
We also, Linda, I'm not sure ifI told you this, but we turn
this conversation into anarticle that lives on the MGMA
website as well. So, we'll have,all kinds of great information
in there. Maybe we'll even talkfood and crying in H Mart, all
kinds of things. We're going towe really want to shine a light
(24:38):
on here and bring that awarenessto these resource groups. So,
again, Linda, thank you so muchfor joining.
Linda Carroll (24:44):
Thank you.
Daniel Williams (24:45):
Great to have you here. And, everybody, look
for that, those episode shownotes as well, and you can just
click right through and registerfor this. So until then, thank
you all for being MGMA podcastlisteners.
Well, hi, everyone. I'm Daniel Williams,
senior editor at MGMA and hostof the MGMA Podcast Network.
We're really excited about a newseries we're starting. You may
not be aware of this, but MGMAhas launched some MGMA Resource
Groups. And these ResourceGroups are inclusive spaces
(00:26):
where members can come together,share experiences, lift each
other up, solve problems, all ofthese things and today, we have
Linda Carroll who is a CMPE andLinda has more than twenty years
of experience as a medicalmanager with a background in
orthopedic surgery and maternalfetal medicine.
(00:48):
She is also one of the dedicatedfacilitators of the AAPI
Healthcare Leaders ResourceGroup here at MGMA. Linda,
welcome to the podcast.
Linda Carroll (01:00):
Hi, thank you. Good morning.
Daniel Williams (01:02):
Good morning. So you and I were talking
offline before we got startedand you shared with me, and I
didn't realize this until wewere connecting earlier this
week, but you're in Alaska,right?
Linda Carroll (01:16):
Yes.
Daniel Williams (01:18):
Wow. That's so neat. You know, I'm in Colorado.
That's where a lot of the MGMAemployees are. Most of us are
here in the Denver area and I'mfrom the South originally.
So, I complain a lot when it'swinter time but then I saw you
were from Alaska. What what iswinter like in Alaska? What's
that like?
Linda Carroll (01:39):
Well, I'm in Anchorage. So, we're, you know,
we're coastal so it's it's notas it doesn't get as cold as it
does in what we call theinterior of the state. But
definitely it's cold and dark.And when I say dark, in
Anchorage will get probablyabout six to eight hours of
(02:01):
daylight and really like around3PM, it starts to get dusky kind
of at the height of winter forus, which is around December. I
know winter solstice isn't untillike December, but for us, we
really consider our winterseason starts kind of at the
(02:22):
October, like Halloween.
So by the time, like wintersolstice comes, we have been
pretty pretty swamped in our ourwinter season per se. But, yeah.
So, you know, it's basicallygetting up in the dark and going
to work in the dark and thencoming home in the dark. So,
those that are lucky enough tohave windows, we get a little
(02:44):
bit of daylight between ten andtwo in the height of winter and
then, yeah. So.
Daniel Williams (02:49):
That is incredible. Well, thank you so
much for that and it's just sogood to have you here today. So,
we are going to talk about theseresource groups. So, before we
do that, let's just kick offsomething here. Tell us a little
bit about your background inhealth care.
How did you did you pickhealthcare as a profession?
(03:10):
Anything you wanna share aboutthat?
Linda Carroll (03:11):
Sure. So while I was in college, I got a job at a
physician's office. It was ahand surgeon here in Anchorage
and it was for front desk. Theschedule worked very easily with
my school schedule. And Iactually found, that was my
first foray into medical.
(03:33):
I found that I really liked it.And one of the gals I worked
very closely with, she did thebilling and the coding. And so I
was talking with her about that.And the office just encouraged
me if I was interested toexplore getting credentialed.
AAPC, American Academy ofProfessional Coders, was
(03:53):
something new at that timebecause that was very, very long
time ago that, you know, it waslike the late nineties when I
was getting into this.
And so, yeah, they were a fairlynew group, but they had some
good information. The one galthat I worked closely with who I
did a lot of mentoring with, sheactually had her CPC
(04:16):
certification. And again, justthrough a lot of support after I
was done with school, I wasstill working there. They
encouraged me to do that. So Idid that.
And I was getting a degree. Iwas a business major for
business administration and Iknew I was enjoying healthcare.
I did not want to be on thehands on clinical side. So it
(04:39):
just made sense with myeducational background and what
I found interesting on theadministrative side was to stay
in admin. And so, yeah, andthat's how I got my first taste
of you know, medical managerlife.
I got my coding certificationand yeah, so then I just went on
(05:01):
from there. So, I feel verylucky for me here in Anchorage.
The medical community is prettystrong. It it's small and close
knit but definitely, I haveworked with some wonderful
surgeons over the years and thenthe opportunity to switch to
something totally different,maternal fetal medicine with my
(05:25):
longtime friend who is also thephysician. Was coming back to
Alaska and said, let's dosomething for ourselves.
And so seven years later, herewe are at our practice.
Daniel Williams (05:35):
Wow, that is so cool. So tell us a little bit
about that practice then as Iwas talking to you earlier about
Alaska. It just seems foreign tome because I've never been
there. I've read a couple ofbooks that at least touch on
Alaska a little bit into thewild. Not not a happy ending
(05:56):
there with Into the Wild ifyou've read that by John
Krakauer but love the book andso tell us about what a little
bit about what health care islike in Anchorage and
particularly in your practice.
Linda Carroll (06:13):
Certainly. So definitely a few other states
are like Alaska and that it'sit's very rural. Okay. A lot of
things are spread out. And soAnchorage really serves as you
know, it's the biggest city.
It's the main hub and any of ouradvanced medical stuff that we
(06:34):
have here in Alaska is all basedout of Anchorage. Okay. Know,
Alaska certainly for a long timehas been somewhat in its own
little bubble in terms of thingsthat would affect or that we saw
happening administrativelyinsurance, you know, health
(06:55):
insurance wise that arehappening in what Alaskans refer
to as the Lower 48 are reallynot affecting us here in Alaska,
not for a very long time. And soI mean, certainly now we are
starting to feel and see some ofthose same effects. But again,
we've just I think being inAlaska practicing medicine here,
(07:18):
it really requires physiciansto, you know, kind of be kind of
thinking outside of the box andhow you're going to get care to
your patients, for yourpatients.
They really have to beinnovative in what we're doing.
Even ten years ago, kind of whenpeople were talking about like
(07:41):
telehealth and being able toprovide services that way, Part
of the thing is, here in Alaska,we had a conference with one of
our local state representativesand it wasn't so much that the
physicians here, because not alot of physicians here were
doing that. They weren't reallyembracing that. And it's not
(08:01):
because they didn't want to beinvolved in that kind of
technology. It's just that thattechnology in these outlying
areas, I mean, they still haddial up Internet.
They did not, we didn't have thesatellites that we do now. We
don't have, There was noStarlink and getting any sort of
like Internet, especially somesort of video capability was
(08:23):
very, very difficult, even atthe smaller facilities that were
in these outlying locations. Andso, again, that's where the
challenge comes in, right? Sothen how do you get this care to
individuals without making theindividual have to travel half a
(08:44):
day to come to Anchorage. And sowe definitely in Alaska, I think
probably make more use of medflights than some other states
just because of the necessity ofgetting someone who lives in a
village of 200 people with verylimited resources, getting them
to the care that they needrequires a little bit more.
(09:08):
So and I think that's yeah, thatalso is what I think helps make
the medical community here soclose knit because the few
specialists that we have in thestate, it really takes them
communicating and workingtogether when they're working on
getting someone from a ruralsite to Anchorage and making
(09:28):
sure that then we have all ofthe care that they need kind of
lined up or who they need to seebasically ready to go knowing
that patient Linda is coming inon this med flight and these are
the services that she will need.
Daniel Williams (09:42):
That is incredible. Thank you so much
for sharing that because itreally paints a picture of what
you're experiencing there, whatthose physician patient
relationships are like, and thatgreater healthcare community.
Because you said it may be alittle bit smaller. It's very
close knit. Many of you knoweach other.
So you really rely on eachother. It becomes a true
(10:05):
network. Thank you for paintingthat picture. That's really
cool.
Linda Carroll (10:09):
Absolutely.
Daniel Williams (10:10):
Yeah. We may do a whole podcast on just Alaskan
health care. I had so manythoughts when you said, well,
we're the lower 48 here. IsHawaii just Hawaii? Are they
that state that's out there inthe Pacific?
How do you refer to them?
Linda Carroll (10:27):
Yeah, Hawaiians are is Alaska's vacation
hotspot.
Daniel Williams (10:31):
There you go. Hey, mine too. Mine too. So,
let's talk about something thatis so top of mind right now.
About a year or so ago,everybody, if you're not aware
of these, MGMA launched LeadersResource Groups.
We have several in our episodeshow notes of this episode. I'm
gonna provide additionalinformation and a direct link so
(10:54):
you can just click on those andsee if there are any resource
groups groups you're interestedin and in this series of
discussing the resource groups,I'm going to have facilitators
from each one of those to comeon and that's what Linda's doing
here to explain a little bitabout what they're experiencing
in them. So, let's just startthere. Linda, the AAPI
(11:17):
Healthcare Leaders ResourceGroup is the one where you're
one of the facilitators. Tell usa little bit about this group.
Just wherever you want to startat the beginning or how your
involvement began. What do youwanna share about this resource
group initially for us?
Linda Carroll (11:33):
Sure. Well, I saw the launch and that MGMA was
creating these resource groups,which I thought was great. And
then of course, know, I signedup to join a couple different
ones. AAPI being one of themjust because of my my
demographic. And so yeah, thenwhen the leaders conference was
(11:54):
approaching, you know, they puta call out for volunteers,
individuals that were interestedin co hosting the first AAPI or
the well, any of the resourcegroup breakouts that they were
having at leaders conference inOctober, last October.
And I thought this was just agreat way to volunteer, be
involved. So I had signed up todo that. I think it's great. One
(12:18):
of the first things for us, ourgroup, when we met, it was a
very small group, I think,compared to maybe some of the
other different resource groupsthat we're meeting. But one of
the things that really hit us interms of having the safe space,
people with similar backgroundsand things where we could
(12:40):
connect.
You know, we talked about, atleast for AAPI, it was, you
know, we see a lot of peoplethat fall into that or classify
themselves as part of thatdemographic more on the hands on
clinical side. And we didn't seea lot on the business
administrative side and themanagement side. So it was
(13:02):
really great to get togetherwith a group of individuals and
talk about some of our sharedexperiences, how some of our
experiences were different basedon whether we were working in
private practices, working forinstitutions, whether they were
educational institutions orhospitals, groups, and based on
(13:25):
where we were located. I again,being here in Alaska at that
meeting, it
Daniel Williams (13:31):
was
Linda Carroll (13:31):
great. I met an individual from Hawaii And I
know that Hawaii used to have anMGMA chapter and made up of a
group of islands. It was verydifficult, I know, for them to
meet and get together. I felthonored that I think at one of
their last state MGMA meetingsthat they had, I got to fly in
(13:54):
on behalf of MGMA as a liaisonand kind of talk about some of
the things that were happening.So yeah, it was just, it was
really great to meet individualsjust from across The US and see
where we were at.
And to know that, again, despitewhat types of institutions we
(14:15):
were working with, what ourbackground particularly was in
medicine. There were a handfulof very similar shared
experiences.
Daniel Williams (14:26):
Okay. Tell us a little bit about, just a
sentence or so about your cofacilitator, and then what's the
kind of space you're trying tocreate for anyone who would join
in and discuss healthcare, AAPI,anything else in those
discussions? What does that looklike?
Linda Carroll (14:46):
My co facilitator, Deepa, she's
amazing. And again, she works. Ithink it's great because again,
we have different backgrounds interms of how we're working in
medicine. She's working at alarge institution, whereas I'm
in a small private practice. SoI think that's great.
Bring different perspectiveseven though we have again some
(15:06):
similarities. The space that weare creating is definitely we
talked about this, one ofbelonging safety amongst our
peers to be open and honest andhave conversations and a place
where we truly understand someof the challenges and issues
that are specific to AAPI, howwe have dealt with them,
(15:29):
offering support to our peers ifthey're experiencing something
similar and kind of being ableto coach and mentor them through
that.
Daniel Williams (15:38):
Okay, that that's wonderful. Yeah, that's
where I I was wondering how muchyou just get into a meeting and
then it's just, can you believepatient access or billing or
coding? Or if you do includesome time for what it's like to
be an AAPI healthcare leader andthen really getting to the
(15:58):
cultural conversation as well.Yeah.
Linda Carroll (16:02):
Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. We had a good at at the
leaders conference. We in one ofour sessions, we had a very
interesting conversation basedon like cultural background and
being in management and justkind of what some of the
perceptions of course are ofindividuals with our background
(16:24):
and how we work and such.
So yeah, it was a really goodconversation again to have with
individuals that, you know,again, just have the same shared
experiences can easily relateand, you know, have that open,
honest, safe conversation.
Daniel Williams (16:43):
Yeah. And it's so interesting because you led,
we didn't, I didn't have anyidea you were going to go there
by being in Alaska. That's aclose knit community but it
seems like you've expanded thatto this AAPI resource group
where this is a close knitcommunity where y'all can really
have some shared experiences andwhere things are maybe different
(17:05):
depending on where you are inthe country or anything of that
nature. Was that anything thatwas designed by you and your co
facilitator or something thatjust came about organically?
Linda Carroll (17:17):
I definitely think it's something that came
about organically as we openedup the conversation and we're
talking with individuals. It'sjust something that naturally
developed and conversation justnaturally flowed to that topic.
Daniel Williams (17:32):
Okay. And then as far as the patient
population, are there any of themembers of the resource group
where they may be in a heavierAAPI patient population and
where there is an opportunity togain trust, communicate,
understand the backgroundsculturally with those patients
(17:55):
as well.
Linda Carroll (17:57):
Absolutely, I mean, here in Alaska in
Anchorage, we do have a highAsian population. Some of the
other individuals that we met,you know, like the individual
from Hawaii, the there were acouple from California, San
Francisco area. So definitelyareas with demographics that we
certainly could relate to. Andwe talked about really how, and
(18:21):
I think this happens across anydemographic, right? If you're
someone who also relates tothat, understands that, it does
make it a little bit easier, Ithink, to interact with those
patients to when they come inand if they see someone who they
feel looks like them, they feela little bit more at ease, that
(18:42):
more comfortable.
And I think especially for someof us, when we talked about one
of the practices I was atpreviously, we had a lot of
elderly Asian patients. And justagain, from my experience,
working with my mom and havinggrown up with her and being able
to understand some of thecultural nuances, Connecting
(19:07):
with those individuals, I think,was a little easier for me.
Helping staff understand some oftheir behaviors or the way that
they were speaking was acultural thing for them. It
wasn't something that wasintended to be unkind or that
they didn't understand what wasbeing asked or said to them. Was
(19:28):
just it was a cultural thing.
And kind of being able to bridgethat gap in between for the
patients and the rest of thestaff. Again, I think that
really always when a patientfeels like they have somebody
else there that really canempathize with them, I think it
helps overall just with theircomfort level of being at
whatever office they're at.
Daniel Williams (19:49):
Yeah. Hearing you talk and when you brought up
your mom and your eyes kind oflit up a little bit talking
about your mom, it reallyreminded me at MGMA, we have a
book club and we had that bookCrying in H Mart that we read. I
don't know if you've heard. Haveyou read that or heard about?
Linda Carroll (20:05):
Oh, yes. Yeah.
Daniel Williams (20:06):
Yeah and it just started thinking about that
because there's this incredible,beautiful, and complicated
relationship between the authorand her mom and it's really,
wow, it's just giving me kind ofgoosebumps talking about it but
so you have read that and it itgave us all a glimpse inside at
least a little bit about whatit's like being a Korean
(20:28):
American and you know, thattransition and what that's like.
And so anything you wanna shareabout it might have been a
minute since you read the book,but you have read it though.
Linda Carroll (20:38):
I have read it. Yes. So the the author,
Michelle, so she is actually ina band that I.
Daniel Williams (20:45):
Yeah, she is.
Linda Carroll (20:46):
And so I was already familiar with her and
the band. I've seen them live.It's been great. And then I saw
that she wrote this book andtalking about her relationship
with her mom and everything. Andso as soon as it came out, yeah,
I immediately was like, I'mgetting this book.
So yeah, it's been a while sinceI read it. Like, you know, I
read it when it first came out,but, and for me, of course, it's
(21:07):
something that really, resonatedwith me. I could really connect
with it and yeah.
Daniel Williams (21:11):
Yeah. And the one other thing, everybody, if
you haven't read the book,there's a real connection to
Korean food in there as well,her love for that food, or
sometimes not, you know, butjust her she's a foodie and
really talks about thepreparation and how that was
passed down. I believe it's beena minute since I read it, but I
think one of her mom's sisters,one of the author's aunts,
(21:34):
really has a connection to thatfood as well. So it's a great
read and I'm going to putsomething in the episode show
notes. So in the remaining time,you have another resource group
coming up.
Let me get this right,everybody. It's Tuesday, July 15
at 12PM Eastern Time. You canfind more details and register
at mgma.comevents but Linda,when you you know you've got
(21:58):
this coming up, you and your cofacilitator, July 15, do y'all
set together certain themes ortopics you want to address? What
can people expect? If anybody'sgoing to hear this and join
that, what can they expect forthis particular resource group
meeting?
Linda Carroll (22:15):
For this particular meeting, we're
breaking down communication andnot just with staff. We talked
about really how you have totailor your conversation to your
audience, right? So I could saythe same thing that if I wanna
talk about patientrelationships, how I talk to
physicians about that isdifferent than how I talk to
(22:39):
staff about that. And so we'rebreaking that down and we're
gonna cover different topics.Like for instance, I will talk
about the conversations and howyou tailor your conversations to
your physicians and workingwith.
My facilitator, she is going tobe talking about then how you
have that same conversation andreally what it sounds like and
(23:01):
how you change it to have speakwith your staff members in
regards to that. So I think it'sgoing to be really great. We're
super excited. We're lookingforward to being able to offer
some additional support foranybody that wants to come and
join the group.
Daniel Williams (23:20):
That is wonderful. So last thing then,
how often do the resource groupsmeet your particular one?
Linda Carroll (23:27):
We were trying to meet on a quarterly basis at the
minimum. So we're going to bemeeting quarterly. If we have
enough interest, I think Deepaand I had talked about maybe
perhaps being able to do it likeevery other month versus
quarterly.
Daniel Williams (23:42):
Okay. Okay. Well, Linda Carroll, it has been
such an honor and just so coolto get to meet you. Thank you so
much for joining us.
Linda Carroll (23:50):
Oh, thank you. Thanks for having me. This has
been wonderful.
Daniel Williams (23:53):
Yeah. So everybody, I'm gonna give you
this information again. The nextAAPI Healthcare Leaders Resource
Group meeting, again, it'sTuesday, July 15, 12PM Eastern.
You can find all the details andinformation on registering at
mgma.com/events. You'll find itthere but I'll also put that
(24:15):
information in our episode shownotes.
We also, Linda, I'm not sure ifI told you this, but we turn
this conversation into anarticle that lives on the MGMA
website as well. So, we'll have,all kinds of great information
in there. Maybe we'll even talkfood and crying in H Mart, all
kinds of things. We're going towe really want to shine a light
(24:38):
on here and bring that awarenessto these resource groups. So,
again, Linda, thank you so muchfor joining.
Linda Carroll (24:44):
Thank you.
Daniel Williams (24:45):
Great to have you here. And, everybody, look
for that, those episode shownotes as well, and you can just
click right through and registerfor this. So until then, thank
you all for being MGMA podcastlisteners.
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