April 11, 2025 • 19 mins
In this week’s MGMA Week in Review podcast, cohosts Daniel Williams and Colleen Luckett explore the tech and trends shaping the future of medical group practices. From AI chatbots transforming patient communication to new research on stress in the healthcare workforce, we cover actionable insights, policy shifts, and human-centered stories from the field. We also discuss how practices can navigate rising drug costs amid new tariff threats—and what it takes to rebuild the doctor-patient bond in a tech-driven world.
🔑 Key Takeaways from This Episode:
- 🤖 AI Chatbots in Healthcare
Only 19% of medical group practices use AI chatbots, despite their growing capabilities in scheduling, triage, and multilingual patient communication. Weill Cornell saw a 47% increase in digital bookings after implementation. - 🧠 Stress Awareness Month – Workplace Mental Health Trends
Nearly 50% of employees report feeling regular stress. Studies from Deloitte, Headspace, Oxford, and NAMI show that meaningful connections and proactive mental health support create healthier, more resilient workplaces. - 🩺 Rekindling the Doctor-Patient Relationship
A MedCity News article reveals staggering burnout among physicians and patients’ struggles to self-advocate. Holistic engagement models and health literacy tools are critical to restoring trust. - 💻 Healthcare IT & MGMA's Julia Rosen
Daniel interviews MGMA’s SVP of IT, Julia Rosen, on documentation burdens, tech integration, and her Big Bird elevator story. Spoiler: Julia’s childhood neighbor was Caroll Spinney. - 💊 Pharma Tariffs & Financial Planning
Proposed tariffs on imported pharmaceuticals could spike prices on generic medications. Practices are urged to audit supply chains, adjust financial forecasts, and attend MGMA’s upcoming cost management webinar.
🕒 Timestamps
00:00 Introduction and Welcome
01:11 MGMA Staff Poll Results: AI in Healthcare
04:10 Interview with Julia Rosen: Healthcare IT Insights
09:56 Impact of Pharmaceutical Tariffs
12:24 Stress Awareness Month: Mental Health in the Workplace
17:19 Rekindling the Doctor-Patient Relationship
19:13 Conclusion and Farewell
🔗 Resources & Links from the Episode:
- MGMA Stat Article
Read the full results and analysis - AI Chatbot Case Study & Tools
Explore AI integration success stories in MGMA Connection magazine - Mindful Leader April Trends Roundup
Visit Mindful Leader's roundup on workplace wellbeing - Headspace 2025 Workforce Mental Health Report
Download the Headspace report - MedCity News: Rekindling Doctor-Patient Trust
Read the full article by Ashley Tyrner-Dolce - MGMA Insights Podcast – Julia Rosen Interview
Listen to the full episode - Healthcare Dive – Pharmaceutical Tariff Report
Read the latest report - MGMA DataDive: Financials and Operations
Explore the DataDive resource - Upcoming MGMA Webinar – Navigating Hidde
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Daniel Williams (00:06):
Well, hi, everyone. I'm Daniel Williams,
senior editor at MGMA and hostof the MGMA Podcast Network. We
are back with another MGMA WeekReview podcast along with our
cohost Colleen Luckett, who's aneditor and writer here at MGMA.
And just as a note, if you'renew to MGMA's Week in Review, in
(00:26):
each episode, we bring you thelatest health care industry
news, some, occasionally, somepolicy updates, lots of expert
insights, and sometimes we findjust some really good stories we
wanna share with y'all andthings that can keep medical
practice leaders informed andinspired. So let's get into this
week's episode.
(00:47):
First of all, Colleen, it's sogood to see you this week. How
are things going?
Colleen Luckett (00:51):
Yeah. Good to see you too. Thanks, Daniel.
It's it's going well. You know,nothing really new this week.
Daniel Williams (00:57):
We're Awesome.
Colleen Luckett (00:58):
You know, we're doing lots of transforming and
at MGMA, and it looks likereally good stuff. So we're all
a little busy lately, but, yeah,it's all good.
Daniel Williams (01:08):
Nice. What what did you got for us this week?
What do you wanna kick us offwith?
Colleen Luckett (01:12):
Yeah. Let's kick this off with some MGMA
stat poll results. First up. Soif your front desk staff is one
patient call away from staging arebellion, it might be time to
bring in some backup of theartificial intelligence kind.
But results from our poll thisweek revealed that only 19% of
medical group practices areusing chatbots or virtual
(01:35):
assistants for patientcommunication.
That means 81% of you stillaren't taking advantage of this
fast growing tech, even aspatients are using AI tools
everywhere else in their livesfrom banking to takeout orders.
Meanwhile, the global healthcarechatbot market has already hit
$1,000,000,000 this year and isexpected to grow tenfold over
(01:57):
the next decade. So what exactlycan chatbots and virtual
assistants do? A lot more thanjust answer FAQs. Today's AI
tools can send appointmentreminders and reduce no shows,
handle 20 fourseven appointmentscheduling and registration,
provide basic clinic info likehours, directions, and policies,
(02:17):
triage symptoms and suggest nextsteps, assist with medication
refills and billing questions,offer multilingual support to
reduce access disparities.
For example, Weill CornellMedicine reported a 47% increase
in digital bookings afterlaunching an AI chatbot. But to
really deliver value, chatbottools need deep integration with
(02:40):
EHR and practice managementsystems. That means the bot can
not only read patient data, butalso write back into your
system, booking appointments,checking insurance, and logging
outcomes all in real time.Practices should track metrics
like no show rates, call volume,patient satisfaction, same day
scheduling, and even revenuechanges to measure ROI. And
(03:03):
while bigger systems might seethe largest returns, smaller
practices can benefit too,especially with vendors offering
scalable pricing.
Want to see one in action? Headover to mgma.com and try our ask
AI assistant to navigate MGMAresources. And check out the
latest issue of MGMA Connectionmagazine to see how Garnet
Health is using AI to automatepreregistration and improve
(03:27):
follow-up. We'll add a link tothe latest issue in the show
notes. Well, bottom line, AIchatbots aren't just a shiny
tech toy.
They're becoming essentialmembers of the care team. And as
practices look for ways tostreamline operations, reduce
burnout, and boost revenue, moreare realizing it's time to stop
playing phone tag and startchatting smarter. You can read
(03:48):
the full article at m g m a dotcom slash m g m a hyphen stat.
And as always, if you want tohelp shape future MGMA
resources, sign up for MGMA statby texting stat, s t a t, two
three three five five zero.Okay.
Daniel, over to you.
Daniel Williams (04:08):
Alright. Thanks for that update, Colleen. And
interestingly enough, I have asort of health care IT story as
well. So some of you may haveheard the interview recently
with Julia Rosen. She's MGMA'snew senior vice president of IT
and recently had a really coolopportunity to welcome her into
(04:31):
our studio.
And we got to sit down and andtalk through the health care IT
landscape, what's changing,what's challenging, and what all
of it means for MGMA members. Wealso spent some time getting to
know the human side of Julia.There's some interesting stuff
here at the end of this story,which I can't wait to share with
(04:52):
y'all. So we do have a fullpodcast and a feature article
linked in the show notes.They're both found on MGMA.com,
and the podcast you can findwherever you listen to your
podcast.
So I want to share this with youabout Julia. She her path into
health care IT isn't yourtypical tech origin story. She
(05:14):
told me, I thought I wanted towork in the nonprofit world and
even interned for a nonprofit inNew York during college, but she
found herself drawn to theadvocacy side focused on women
in business. And then shepivoted, which led her to Epic
Systems and eventually to techleadership roles at Centura
(05:38):
Health and Parahealth. As sheput it, that sorta was the
turning point for me in terms ofturning from some sort of the
more liberal arts part of myeducation background to more of
the business part.
One of the most memorablemoments from the interview was
Julia describing her role inhelping stand up Colorado's
(06:00):
COVID mass vaccination sites.Working with Centura Health and
COVID Check Colorado, she helpedcreate a digital infrastructure
for scheduling and call support.And as she says, it was just a
great example of how quickly youcan stand up something when the
need is really there and whenthose partnerships work really
(06:21):
well together. We also talkedabout approaching tech today,
and she had this advice.Identify a real business problem
that you're trying to solve withtechnology and that's relevant
to you, then work to solve thatproblem versus looking at all
the major tech trends out thereand then just trying to fit that
(06:42):
into your practice, and thatmakes perfect sense.
Also, Julia talked about thedocumentation burden that weighs
heavily on medicalprofessionals. She says a huge
complaint of people in allaspects of the medical practice
is, I spend too much time indocumentation. And she said when
(07:03):
it comes to how MGMA can help,she's clear about her
priorities. She said that ispriority number one to create a
seamless user experience for ourmembers so they can take the
best advantage of our productsand services. And we both shared
a small chuckle.
I'm sure if anybody's ever goneout to MGMA's website, it may
(07:25):
have been a challenge, and weapologize for that, but Julia
has that as priority number one.And this is the story I wanted
to share with y'all. Before wewrapped up, Julia shared a story
that completely kind of it gotmy attention because I'm of a
certain age group that I grew upwith Sesame Street. And she said
she grew up in New York City. Inher grandmother's apartment
(07:48):
building, had a very uniqueneighbor, someone named Carol
Spinney.
You might go, who is CarolSpinney? Well, Carol Spinney was
the puppeteer behind both BigBird and Oscar the Grouch. And
Julia said she would run into,Carol in the elevator, and he
would talk to me in his big birdvoice. So she said that was a
(08:11):
pretty exciting moment from herchildhood and wanted to share
that with y'all so you could getto know our new senior VP of IT
a little bit better, JuliaRosen. And, hey, who in the
Sesame Street fan these days?
I don't know. But, Colleen, Ihave to ask before we switch to
the next story. Do you have afavorite Muppet?
Colleen Luckett (08:33):
Well, first, that was a great story that
Julia shared. I had not heardthat. That's amazing. I was a
big fan of Sesame Street afterafter school every day when I
was little, and I have to say,Muppet, though, like, I guess
miss Piggy. Yeah.
We're talking about Muppet.Yeah. I love miss Piggy. She's a
(08:54):
great female, you know, strongfemale role model.
Daniel Williams (08:57):
That's right.
Colleen Luckett (08:57):
Growing up, and all of her her hair are, like,
know, really. But, SesameStreet, I really liked,
Snuffleup, I guess, because ofthe eyelashes because I was that
shallow as a little girl, Iguess. But, no, I just love
Snuffleup because it's just sucha cool character. So Yeah. How
about you?
What's your who's your favorite?
Daniel Williams (09:17):
Well, I just I like the banter of them. So I go
old school and, Bert and Ernie,you know, just the way they
would interact with each otherand kind of
Colleen Luckett (09:28):
Classic.
Daniel Williams (09:28):
I mean, they were like the odd couple, you
know, kind of pairing. And sothey would always you could tell
they really cared about eachother, but they could get under
each other's skin as well. So Ialways thought
Colleen Luckett (09:38):
they We can all relate. Yeah.
Daniel Williams (09:42):
For sure. What's our next story?
Colleen Luckett (09:46):
Yeah. And I was just gonna say, Julia is she's
super cool, and I'm so excited.She's joined us and, to see what
she's going to come up with forour teams. So you know it's bad
when your generic meds startshowing brand name energy
because thanks to new tariffs,they just might. In her April 9
piece for Health Care Dive,Kristen Jensen reports that
(10:09):
Trump is planning a major tariffon pharmaceuticals targeting
drugs manufactured abroad,particularly in China and India.
While details are still scarce,global pharmaceutical stocks
dropped fast, and the healthcare sector is bracing for price
hikes. For smaller medicalgroups, this isn't just DC
(10:29):
drama, though. It's a realoperational risk. Generic meds
like antibiotics and chroniccondition treatments could
become significantly moreexpensive, squeezing supply
budgets and complicating yourrevenue cycle strategy. So what
can you do now?
Audit your supply chain to seewhere you might be exposed to
tariff impacted drugs. Get intouch with your group purchasing
(10:52):
organizations or vendor reps todiscuss alternate sourcing or
contract updates. Build drugpricing volatility into your
2025 financial planning andforecasting, and definitely get
ahead of patient concerns withclear proactive communication
about potential medicationchanges or cost shifts. And of
course, we here at MGMA, we'vegot your back. We've got member
(11:16):
resources that can help youtrack cost trends and improve
your operational flexibility inthese turbulent times.
So check out our data divefinancials and operations data
report. It's packed with supplycost benchmarks, staffing
efficiency data, and RCM metricsthat can help you assess how
prepared your practices forthese price shocks. And you can
(11:37):
also sign up to watch ourupcoming webinars next week.
It's called navigating hiddencosts in your practice. It's on
Tuesday, April 15.
And tune in for practicalstrategies to uncover
inefficiencies, reducedocumentation burdens, and adopt
smaller payment models, allaimed at protecting your margins
and boosting financial stabilitythis year and to help you make
(11:59):
room for the cost of thesetariffs perhaps. So pharma
tariffs might be beyond yourcontrol, but protecting your
margins, patient trust, andoperational stability, that's
where you can lead withconfidence. And as always, we'll
drop the links for this article,the data dive report, and where
to register for our navigatinghidden costs webinar coming up
(12:19):
next week in the show notes.Alright. Back to you, Daniel.
Daniel Williams (12:23):
Alright. Thank you for that. Now since it's
April, April, everyone, isstress awareness month. So I
wanted to slow things down for amoment and talk about something
we all feel whether we admit itor not, and that is stress. Not
just the kind that shows up inpacked schedules and inboxes,
but the kind that follows youhome, sits with you at dinner,
(12:45):
and occasionally wakes you up at3AM.
I am totally telling my lifestory here, but, yeah, that kind
of stress. So this month,mindful leader pulled together a
roundup of research from severalmajor organizations, Deloitte,
Oxford's Well-being ResearchCenter, Headspace, and NAMI,
(13:06):
which is the National AllianceOwned Mental Illness. And the
findings paint a powerfulpicture of where we are right
now, especially when it comes tostress, happiness, and mental
health in the workplace. Solet's start with Deloitte and
their research. They found thatnearly half of employees report
(13:26):
feeling stressed on a regularbasis, and one in three say they
don't feel supported by theiremployer.
But here's the twist. Thecompanies that do address that
stress proactively throughflexibility, open dialogue, and
support systems are actuallymore resilient and competitive.
(13:46):
So what we're seeing is thatcaring about mental health isn't
just a nice to have. It's abusiness advantage. Then there's
Oxford's Well-being ResearchCenter.
It dug into what actually makespeople happy across nations.
Their answer, social connection.Deep, meaningful relationships
(14:07):
at work and at home were the topindicators of happiness, even
more than income or job title.So while stress may be
unavoidable, isolation doesn'thave to be. And that's something
we can all take to heart,especially in health care where
the weight of caregiving cansometimes leave you feeling
(14:27):
alone.
And then there's Headspace. Theyadded more to the mix with their
2024 workforce attitudes towardmental health report. They found
that only 14 of employees usedemployer provided mental health
benefits, not because theyweren't needed, but because
people didn't feel safe orcomfortable using them. Think
(14:49):
about that. The support might bethere on paper, but the culture
around culture around mentalhealth still has a long way to
go.
And NAMI backed that up,highlighting that burnout and
anxiety remained widespread withemployees craving more empathy
and transparency fromleadership. Now here's the
(15:10):
paradox. Even with all thisstress, many employees report
feeling happy at work. Thatmight sound contradictory, but
it's not. People can feelstretched thin and still find
joy when their work aligns withpurpose, when they're part of a
supportive team, and when theyfeel seen and valued.
(15:30):
That's the key. It's not abouteliminating stress altogether.
It's about creating a spacewhere people can talk about it,
manage it, and not feel likethey're carrying it alone. So
this stress awareness month,maybe take a minute to ask
yourself, how am I doing really?What's one area where I could
(15:51):
ask for support or offer it tosomeone else?
And how can we create workplaceswhere stress is acknowledged but
not ignored? Now before we go toour last story, I wanted to
share something personal. Hereat MGMA, we're coming up on the
five year anniversary ofsomething we call Mindful
Monday. It's a simple program westarted back in May of twenty
(16:15):
twenty right in the middle ofthe lockdown. Every Monday
morning at 8AM mountain timewhere we are in Denver, a group
of us gathers for just fifteenminutes to slow down, breathe,
and check-in with ourselvesthrough mindfulness or a short
meditation.
And over these five years, it'sbecome something really
meaningful, a way to start theweek with intention and bring a
(16:37):
little more awareness and selfawareness into our work and our
lives. If that sounds likesomething you'd like to bring to
your team or if you're an MGMAmember and would like to see
Mindful Monday or something likethat as a member benefit, shoot
me a note at DWilliams@MGMA.com.I'd love to hear from you.
Alright, Colleen. What's next?
Colleen Luckett (16:59):
Well, you know, I love your mindful Monday
meditations, but for a whilenow, I've been mindfully
sleeping right through them. Iwake up just in time to feel
calm adjacent. That's stillprogress. Right?
Daniel Williams (17:11):
There you go.
Colleen Luckett (17:12):
Well, speaking of calm and connection, let's
talk about something we don'talways make time for in health
care, the relationship betweendoctors and patients. In her
April 9 article for Med CityNews titled Rekindling the
Doctor Patient Relationship,Ashley Turner Dolce explores how
this vital connection is frayingunder pressure and what can be
(17:34):
done to mend it. Citing a studyfrom the Journal of General
Internal Medicine, she pointsout that primary care providers
would need an average of twentysix point seven hours a day to
deliver both high quality careand keep up with administrative
demands. Spoiler alert (17:48):
that's not mathematically possible. And
it's leading to staggeringburnout rates.
Forty nine percent of physiciansreport feeling burned out, while
forty seven percent of patientssay their providers appear
overburdened. But this isn't aone-sided issue. The article
also highlights the patient Manypeople come into appointments
(18:09):
without the tools, language, orconfidence to effectively
advocate for themselves Onlyeight percent of adults for
instance are receiving all thepreventive services recommended
for long term health. So what'sthe fix? Well, according to
Turner Dolce, we need a holisticapproach, one that includes
better communication models,creative engagement tactics, and
(18:30):
stronger collaboration betweenhealth plans, third party
support services, and clinicalteams.
Turner Dolce calls out promisingsolutions like language specific
health literacy efforts and evenfood delivery programs that
improve engagement withvulnerable populations. When
implemented well, these effortscan boost adherence, increase
preventive screenings, and helpher build that elusive trust
(18:53):
between doctors and patients.The takeaway? You can implement
all the AI chatbots in theworld, but if patients don't
feel heard and providers feellike they're drowning, the tech
won't fix what's broken.Sometimes what we need most is a
better conversation and maybe alittle outside help to get it
started.
Okay, Daniel. That's it for metoday.
Daniel Williams (19:13):
Well, thank you, and that's gonna do it for
this episode of MGMA Week inReview. So if you liked what you
heard, be sure to follow andsubscribe to the MGMA Podcast
Network wherever you get yourpodcast. And you'll find links
in the show notes to today'sfull stories as well as
additional resources for medicalpractice leaders. As always,
(19:34):
thanks for listening, and we'llsee you next time.
Colleen Luckett (19:37):
Thanks, everyone. See you later.
Well, hi, everyone. I'm Daniel Williams,
senior editor at MGMA and hostof the MGMA Podcast Network. We
are back with another MGMA WeekReview podcast along with our
cohost Colleen Luckett, who's aneditor and writer here at MGMA.
And just as a note, if you'renew to MGMA's Week in Review, in
(00:26):
each episode, we bring you thelatest health care industry
news, some, occasionally, somepolicy updates, lots of expert
insights, and sometimes we findjust some really good stories we
wanna share with y'all andthings that can keep medical
practice leaders informed andinspired. So let's get into this
week's episode.
(00:47):
First of all, Colleen, it's sogood to see you this week. How
are things going?
Colleen Luckett (00:51):
Yeah. Good to see you too. Thanks, Daniel.
It's it's going well. You know,nothing really new this week.
Daniel Williams (00:57):
We're Awesome.
Colleen Luckett (00:58):
You know, we're doing lots of transforming and
at MGMA, and it looks likereally good stuff. So we're all
a little busy lately, but, yeah,it's all good.
Daniel Williams (01:08):
Nice. What what did you got for us this week?
What do you wanna kick us offwith?
Colleen Luckett (01:12):
Yeah. Let's kick this off with some MGMA
stat poll results. First up. Soif your front desk staff is one
patient call away from staging arebellion, it might be time to
bring in some backup of theartificial intelligence kind.
But results from our poll thisweek revealed that only 19% of
medical group practices areusing chatbots or virtual
(01:35):
assistants for patientcommunication.
That means 81% of you stillaren't taking advantage of this
fast growing tech, even aspatients are using AI tools
everywhere else in their livesfrom banking to takeout orders.
Meanwhile, the global healthcarechatbot market has already hit
$1,000,000,000 this year and isexpected to grow tenfold over
(01:57):
the next decade. So what exactlycan chatbots and virtual
assistants do? A lot more thanjust answer FAQs. Today's AI
tools can send appointmentreminders and reduce no shows,
handle 20 fourseven appointmentscheduling and registration,
provide basic clinic info likehours, directions, and policies,
(02:17):
triage symptoms and suggest nextsteps, assist with medication
refills and billing questions,offer multilingual support to
reduce access disparities.
For example, Weill CornellMedicine reported a 47% increase
in digital bookings afterlaunching an AI chatbot. But to
really deliver value, chatbottools need deep integration with
(02:40):
EHR and practice managementsystems. That means the bot can
not only read patient data, butalso write back into your
system, booking appointments,checking insurance, and logging
outcomes all in real time.Practices should track metrics
like no show rates, call volume,patient satisfaction, same day
scheduling, and even revenuechanges to measure ROI. And
(03:03):
while bigger systems might seethe largest returns, smaller
practices can benefit too,especially with vendors offering
scalable pricing.
Want to see one in action? Headover to mgma.com and try our ask
AI assistant to navigate MGMAresources. And check out the
latest issue of MGMA Connectionmagazine to see how Garnet
Health is using AI to automatepreregistration and improve
(03:27):
follow-up. We'll add a link tothe latest issue in the show
notes. Well, bottom line, AIchatbots aren't just a shiny
tech toy.
They're becoming essentialmembers of the care team. And as
practices look for ways tostreamline operations, reduce
burnout, and boost revenue, moreare realizing it's time to stop
playing phone tag and startchatting smarter. You can read
(03:48):
the full article at m g m a dotcom slash m g m a hyphen stat.
And as always, if you want tohelp shape future MGMA
resources, sign up for MGMA statby texting stat, s t a t, two
three three five five zero.Okay.
Daniel, over to you.
Daniel Williams (04:08):
Alright. Thanks for that update, Colleen. And
interestingly enough, I have asort of health care IT story as
well. So some of you may haveheard the interview recently
with Julia Rosen. She's MGMA'snew senior vice president of IT
and recently had a really coolopportunity to welcome her into
(04:31):
our studio.
And we got to sit down and andtalk through the health care IT
landscape, what's changing,what's challenging, and what all
of it means for MGMA members. Wealso spent some time getting to
know the human side of Julia.There's some interesting stuff
here at the end of this story,which I can't wait to share with
(04:52):
y'all. So we do have a fullpodcast and a feature article
linked in the show notes.They're both found on MGMA.com,
and the podcast you can findwherever you listen to your
podcast.
So I want to share this with youabout Julia. She her path into
health care IT isn't yourtypical tech origin story. She
(05:14):
told me, I thought I wanted towork in the nonprofit world and
even interned for a nonprofit inNew York during college, but she
found herself drawn to theadvocacy side focused on women
in business. And then shepivoted, which led her to Epic
Systems and eventually to techleadership roles at Centura
(05:38):
Health and Parahealth. As sheput it, that sorta was the
turning point for me in terms ofturning from some sort of the
more liberal arts part of myeducation background to more of
the business part.
One of the most memorablemoments from the interview was
Julia describing her role inhelping stand up Colorado's
(06:00):
COVID mass vaccination sites.Working with Centura Health and
COVID Check Colorado, she helpedcreate a digital infrastructure
for scheduling and call support.And as she says, it was just a
great example of how quickly youcan stand up something when the
need is really there and whenthose partnerships work really
(06:21):
well together. We also talkedabout approaching tech today,
and she had this advice.Identify a real business problem
that you're trying to solve withtechnology and that's relevant
to you, then work to solve thatproblem versus looking at all
the major tech trends out thereand then just trying to fit that
(06:42):
into your practice, and thatmakes perfect sense.
Also, Julia talked about thedocumentation burden that weighs
heavily on medicalprofessionals. She says a huge
complaint of people in allaspects of the medical practice
is, I spend too much time indocumentation. And she said when
(07:03):
it comes to how MGMA can help,she's clear about her
priorities. She said that ispriority number one to create a
seamless user experience for ourmembers so they can take the
best advantage of our productsand services. And we both shared
a small chuckle.
I'm sure if anybody's ever goneout to MGMA's website, it may
(07:25):
have been a challenge, and weapologize for that, but Julia
has that as priority number one.And this is the story I wanted
to share with y'all. Before wewrapped up, Julia shared a story
that completely kind of it gotmy attention because I'm of a
certain age group that I grew upwith Sesame Street. And she said
she grew up in New York City. Inher grandmother's apartment
(07:48):
building, had a very uniqueneighbor, someone named Carol
Spinney.
You might go, who is CarolSpinney? Well, Carol Spinney was
the puppeteer behind both BigBird and Oscar the Grouch. And
Julia said she would run into,Carol in the elevator, and he
would talk to me in his big birdvoice. So she said that was a
(08:11):
pretty exciting moment from herchildhood and wanted to share
that with y'all so you could getto know our new senior VP of IT
a little bit better, JuliaRosen. And, hey, who in the
Sesame Street fan these days?
I don't know. But, Colleen, Ihave to ask before we switch to
the next story. Do you have afavorite Muppet?
Colleen Luckett (08:33):
Well, first, that was a great story that
Julia shared. I had not heardthat. That's amazing. I was a
big fan of Sesame Street afterafter school every day when I
was little, and I have to say,Muppet, though, like, I guess
miss Piggy. Yeah.
We're talking about Muppet.Yeah. I love miss Piggy. She's a
(08:54):
great female, you know, strongfemale role model.
Daniel Williams (08:57):
That's right.
Colleen Luckett (08:57):
Growing up, and all of her her hair are, like,
know, really. But, SesameStreet, I really liked,
Snuffleup, I guess, because ofthe eyelashes because I was that
shallow as a little girl, Iguess. But, no, I just love
Snuffleup because it's just sucha cool character. So Yeah. How
about you?
What's your who's your favorite?
Daniel Williams (09:17):
Well, I just I like the banter of them. So I go
old school and, Bert and Ernie,you know, just the way they
would interact with each otherand kind of
Colleen Luckett (09:28):
Classic.
Daniel Williams (09:28):
I mean, they were like the odd couple, you
know, kind of pairing. And sothey would always you could tell
they really cared about eachother, but they could get under
each other's skin as well. So Ialways thought
Colleen Luckett (09:38):
they We can all relate. Yeah.
Daniel Williams (09:42):
For sure. What's our next story?
Colleen Luckett (09:46):
Yeah. And I was just gonna say, Julia is she's
super cool, and I'm so excited.She's joined us and, to see what
she's going to come up with forour teams. So you know it's bad
when your generic meds startshowing brand name energy
because thanks to new tariffs,they just might. In her April 9
piece for Health Care Dive,Kristen Jensen reports that
(10:09):
Trump is planning a major tariffon pharmaceuticals targeting
drugs manufactured abroad,particularly in China and India.
While details are still scarce,global pharmaceutical stocks
dropped fast, and the healthcare sector is bracing for price
hikes. For smaller medicalgroups, this isn't just DC
(10:29):
drama, though. It's a realoperational risk. Generic meds
like antibiotics and chroniccondition treatments could
become significantly moreexpensive, squeezing supply
budgets and complicating yourrevenue cycle strategy. So what
can you do now?
Audit your supply chain to seewhere you might be exposed to
tariff impacted drugs. Get intouch with your group purchasing
(10:52):
organizations or vendor reps todiscuss alternate sourcing or
contract updates. Build drugpricing volatility into your
2025 financial planning andforecasting, and definitely get
ahead of patient concerns withclear proactive communication
about potential medicationchanges or cost shifts. And of
course, we here at MGMA, we'vegot your back. We've got member
(11:16):
resources that can help youtrack cost trends and improve
your operational flexibility inthese turbulent times.
So check out our data divefinancials and operations data
report. It's packed with supplycost benchmarks, staffing
efficiency data, and RCM metricsthat can help you assess how
prepared your practices forthese price shocks. And you can
(11:37):
also sign up to watch ourupcoming webinars next week.
It's called navigating hiddencosts in your practice. It's on
Tuesday, April 15.
And tune in for practicalstrategies to uncover
inefficiencies, reducedocumentation burdens, and adopt
smaller payment models, allaimed at protecting your margins
and boosting financial stabilitythis year and to help you make
(11:59):
room for the cost of thesetariffs perhaps. So pharma
tariffs might be beyond yourcontrol, but protecting your
margins, patient trust, andoperational stability, that's
where you can lead withconfidence. And as always, we'll
drop the links for this article,the data dive report, and where
to register for our navigatinghidden costs webinar coming up
(12:19):
next week in the show notes.Alright. Back to you, Daniel.
Daniel Williams (12:23):
Alright. Thank you for that. Now since it's
April, April, everyone, isstress awareness month. So I
wanted to slow things down for amoment and talk about something
we all feel whether we admit itor not, and that is stress. Not
just the kind that shows up inpacked schedules and inboxes,
but the kind that follows youhome, sits with you at dinner,
(12:45):
and occasionally wakes you up at3AM.
I am totally telling my lifestory here, but, yeah, that kind
of stress. So this month,mindful leader pulled together a
roundup of research from severalmajor organizations, Deloitte,
Oxford's Well-being ResearchCenter, Headspace, and NAMI,
(13:06):
which is the National AllianceOwned Mental Illness. And the
findings paint a powerfulpicture of where we are right
now, especially when it comes tostress, happiness, and mental
health in the workplace. Solet's start with Deloitte and
their research. They found thatnearly half of employees report
(13:26):
feeling stressed on a regularbasis, and one in three say they
don't feel supported by theiremployer.
But here's the twist. Thecompanies that do address that
stress proactively throughflexibility, open dialogue, and
support systems are actuallymore resilient and competitive.
(13:46):
So what we're seeing is thatcaring about mental health isn't
just a nice to have. It's abusiness advantage. Then there's
Oxford's Well-being ResearchCenter.
It dug into what actually makespeople happy across nations.
Their answer, social connection.Deep, meaningful relationships
(14:07):
at work and at home were the topindicators of happiness, even
more than income or job title.So while stress may be
unavoidable, isolation doesn'thave to be. And that's something
we can all take to heart,especially in health care where
the weight of caregiving cansometimes leave you feeling
(14:27):
alone.
And then there's Headspace. Theyadded more to the mix with their
2024 workforce attitudes towardmental health report. They found
that only 14 of employees usedemployer provided mental health
benefits, not because theyweren't needed, but because
people didn't feel safe orcomfortable using them. Think
(14:49):
about that. The support might bethere on paper, but the culture
around culture around mentalhealth still has a long way to
go.
And NAMI backed that up,highlighting that burnout and
anxiety remained widespread withemployees craving more empathy
and transparency fromleadership. Now here's the
(15:10):
paradox. Even with all thisstress, many employees report
feeling happy at work. Thatmight sound contradictory, but
it's not. People can feelstretched thin and still find
joy when their work aligns withpurpose, when they're part of a
supportive team, and when theyfeel seen and valued.
(15:30):
That's the key. It's not abouteliminating stress altogether.
It's about creating a spacewhere people can talk about it,
manage it, and not feel likethey're carrying it alone. So
this stress awareness month,maybe take a minute to ask
yourself, how am I doing really?What's one area where I could
(15:51):
ask for support or offer it tosomeone else?
And how can we create workplaceswhere stress is acknowledged but
not ignored? Now before we go toour last story, I wanted to
share something personal. Hereat MGMA, we're coming up on the
five year anniversary ofsomething we call Mindful
Monday. It's a simple program westarted back in May of twenty
(16:15):
twenty right in the middle ofthe lockdown. Every Monday
morning at 8AM mountain timewhere we are in Denver, a group
of us gathers for just fifteenminutes to slow down, breathe,
and check-in with ourselvesthrough mindfulness or a short
meditation.
And over these five years, it'sbecome something really
meaningful, a way to start theweek with intention and bring a
(16:37):
little more awareness and selfawareness into our work and our
lives. If that sounds likesomething you'd like to bring to
your team or if you're an MGMAmember and would like to see
Mindful Monday or something likethat as a member benefit, shoot
me a note at DWilliams@MGMA.com.I'd love to hear from you.
Alright, Colleen. What's next?
Colleen Luckett (16:59):
Well, you know, I love your mindful Monday
meditations, but for a whilenow, I've been mindfully
sleeping right through them. Iwake up just in time to feel
calm adjacent. That's stillprogress. Right?
Daniel Williams (17:11):
There you go.
Colleen Luckett (17:12):
Well, speaking of calm and connection, let's
talk about something we don'talways make time for in health
care, the relationship betweendoctors and patients. In her
April 9 article for Med CityNews titled Rekindling the
Doctor Patient Relationship,Ashley Turner Dolce explores how
this vital connection is frayingunder pressure and what can be
(17:34):
done to mend it. Citing a studyfrom the Journal of General
Internal Medicine, she pointsout that primary care providers
would need an average of twentysix point seven hours a day to
deliver both high quality careand keep up with administrative
demands. Spoiler alert (17:48):
that's not mathematically possible. And
it's leading to staggeringburnout rates.
Forty nine percent of physiciansreport feeling burned out, while
forty seven percent of patientssay their providers appear
overburdened. But this isn't aone-sided issue. The article
also highlights the patient Manypeople come into appointments
(18:09):
without the tools, language, orconfidence to effectively
advocate for themselves Onlyeight percent of adults for
instance are receiving all thepreventive services recommended
for long term health. So what'sthe fix? Well, according to
Turner Dolce, we need a holisticapproach, one that includes
better communication models,creative engagement tactics, and
(18:30):
stronger collaboration betweenhealth plans, third party
support services, and clinicalteams.
Turner Dolce calls out promisingsolutions like language specific
health literacy efforts and evenfood delivery programs that
improve engagement withvulnerable populations. When
implemented well, these effortscan boost adherence, increase
preventive screenings, and helpher build that elusive trust
(18:53):
between doctors and patients.The takeaway? You can implement
all the AI chatbots in theworld, but if patients don't
feel heard and providers feellike they're drowning, the tech
won't fix what's broken.Sometimes what we need most is a
better conversation and maybe alittle outside help to get it
started.
Okay, Daniel. That's it for metoday.
Daniel Williams (19:13):
Well, thank you, and that's gonna do it for
this episode of MGMA Week inReview. So if you liked what you
heard, be sure to follow andsubscribe to the MGMA Podcast
Network wherever you get yourpodcast. And you'll find links
in the show notes to today'sfull stories as well as
additional resources for medicalpractice leaders. As always,
(19:34):
thanks for listening, and we'llsee you next time.
Colleen Luckett (19:37):
Thanks, everyone. See you later.
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