June 14, 2025 • 19 mins
In this episode of the MGMA Week in Review podcast, hosts Daniel Williams and Colleen Luckett highlight key developments shaping healthcare in 2025. They recap powerful moments from the recent MGMA Summit—including a moving story from a trauma survivor—and share the latest data on provider compensation and procedural trends. Also in focus: the strong healthcare job growth reported in May, a closer look at rising operating costs, strategies to improve patient engagement, and the growing impact of federal budget cuts on public health funding. Tune in for timely insights and practical takeaways for medical practice leaders.
00:50 Introduction and Host Welcome
01:27 Highlights from the Summit Conference (MGMA Summit)
03:32 MGMA Data Team Announcement (MGMA DataDive)
05:28 Healthcare Job Market Update (Medical Economics)
08:18 Rising Operating Costs in Healthcare (MGMA Stat)
10:46 Strategies for Strengthening Patient Engagement (Physicians Practice)
14:40 Impact of Federal Budget Cuts on Public Health (Chief Healthcare Executive)
17:36 Conclusion and Listener Engagement
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.
Podcast Sponsor Boost Lingo
This episode is brought to you by Boost Lingo, the language services platform behind MGMA Translate, interpreter delays and high agency fees, strain budgets, and staff morale. Boost lingo on demand fixes both tap once and a qualified medical interpreter joins in about 13 seconds. Video or phone on any device. No steep learning curve. It just works. Tap, connect, care. Choose from 14,000 interpreters covering over 300 languages. Fully HIPAA compliant. Your staff will love the ease and your patients will too. Plus MGMA members save 20%. Visit https://boostlingo.com/mgma/ to see it in action today.
Podcast Sponsor MGMA Analytics
Are you making decisions based on gut instinct—or on real data?
With MGMA Analytics, you get the benchmarking and business intelligence tools to drive smarter strategies.
From provider compensation to operational costs, MGMA Analytics gives you access to the most trusted data in the industry.
So whether you’re adjusting staffing, setting salari
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Daniel Williams (00:54):
Hi, everyone. Welcome to the MGMA Weekend
Review podcast. I'm your host,Daniel Williams, senior editor
at MGMA, along with ColleenLuckett, editor and writer here
at MGMA. And in each episode ofthe Week in Review podcast, we
bring you the latest health careindustry news, some policy
updates, some expert insights,and what I like to think are
(01:16):
just stories that Colleen and Ifind that catch our fancy.
Colleen, how are doing?
Colleen Luckett (01:22):
I'm doing alright. Hopefully, it catches
our audience's fancy as well. Wetry. Anyway, I was gonna ask you
actually about the summitconference last week.
Daniel Williams (01:31):
Did you
Colleen Luckett (01:31):
have any standout moments for you?
Daniel Williams (01:34):
Everybody. And I talked about this in a podcast
recently, and I can't rememberwhich one. But we had some
really interesting sessions. AndI'll say the ones that really
got me. There was one, asurvivor of just a traumatic car
wreck, Alison.
I don't know her last name rightnow, but about eighty percent of
(01:56):
her body was burned. And boy didshe give an inspirational talk
about it put things intoperspective because I don't know
about anybody listening, butI'll stub my toe or I'll just
have something be dashed and Ijust think like the world's
ending. And it really puts intoperspective about things that
happen and how to overcome themand be resilient and how to
(02:21):
really take from tragedy andreally go to triumph there. So
Alison was amazing. Can'tremember her last name right
now, but if you search mainstage people because that is on
demand for a little bit longer.
I think we got a couple moreweeks. The other one was I got
to sit in on some of thecommunity live discussions and
(02:42):
there's just, it's so good tohear y'all's voices. Colleen and
I are always talking and I'malways in webinars with
consultants and everything andjust to get to hear MGMA members
talk about their lives, theirchallenges, their solutions that
they've found, and sharing thosewith each other is a really cool
thing. So you were listening inor attending any of it or no,
(03:06):
you were what were you hadwhat'd you have going on,
Colleen?
Colleen Luckett (03:08):
Yeah. I was way out of the loop on that. Okay.
That's why I asked. But, yeah,we were busy working on other
projects.
Daniel Williams (03:14):
If you get any free time, I know you could
reach out to the events team,and they probably give you a key
because they're all gonna be ondemand for about another two
weeks or so.
Colleen Luckett (03:25):
Cool. Yeah. Check out the headliner there.
That sounds pretty interesting.
Daniel Williams (03:29):
Oh, yeah.
Colleen Luckett (03:30):
Need some inspiration. Yeah. Alright. I'm
gonna start us off this weekwith an MGMA announcement,
actually. So big news from thedata team this week.
We have the twenty twenty fiveprovider compensation and
procedural profile. Both ofthose data sets, they have been
officially launched. And this isa shift actually from previous
(03:50):
years where the proceduralprofile data typically released
in September. But this year, welaunched both data sets together
to better serve our members andalign productivity benchmarks
with compensation data. So onecool thing is that we've
expanded the scope of thespecialties.
So we now include neurologyhospitalists, cardiothoracic
(04:12):
surgery generally, and then alsocardiothoracic surgery in
pediatrics, and nursepractitioner and physician
assistants in cardiovascularsurgery and hyperbaric medicine
and wound care. And for those ofyou who've been asking for
smoother data dive experience,we heard you. The platform has a
brand new look and feel withredesigned navigation, a left
(04:35):
side carousel for selectingfilters and benchmarks, and new
top menu buttons. Searchfunctionality is now built right
into the carousel, and you cantrend data across five years
without needing to build acustom report, which is awesome.
You'll also find enhanced exportoptions.
We have Excel, CSV, or PDF, pluseasier access to your saved
(04:58):
reports and recently viewedsessions. And this marks the
beginning of a more streamlinedintuitive data dive with more
improvements to come throughoutthe year, so stay tuned. And
congrats to all of my colleagueswho helped bring this launch to
life. If you all listeninghaven't had a chance to explore
the new tools yet, now is agreat time to jump in. You can
find all our data dive reportson our website at
(05:20):
datadive.mgma.com.
And as I said, more to come.Okay, Daniel. Over to you.
Daniel Williams (05:27):
Alright. Thanks, Colleen. You know that
feeling when your inbox is fullof doom and gloom? I'm sure you
do as I do and Colleen. And thenone little stat makes you sit up
straight.
This is that moment. It's now.Health care. I had to double
check this. Health care added ajaw dropping 62,200 jobs in May.
(05:50):
And it's not random. It'shappening where we need it most.
This scoop and this articlecomes from medical economics by
Richard Peyerchen. It waspublished on June the sixth of
this year and beyond theheadline, there are some
interesting details. Hospitalsbrought on 30 new hires.
(06:10):
Ambulatory, that's outpatientand physician services, 29, zero
and skilled nursing facilitiespicked up another 6,000 roles.
Put that in context, thehealthcare sector has been
averaging about 44,000 jobsadded per month over the past
year. So May is well above thattrend and get this, medical
(06:34):
equipment repair, those criticalfolks who power up MRIs and
ventilators are in crazy highdemand. So, if you're looking
for them, you're not alone. It'sprojected to grow 18% by, this
is out there a bit, 2033 withstarting salaries around 65,000
and no four year degree neededand a looming shortage as many
(06:57):
current technicians retire.
And this is according tobusinessinsider.com. On the flip
side, elder care roles, homehealth aides, assisted living
staff, these are under strain.Over the past three months,
hiring in elder care slowed to28,200 a month, down from 37,700
(07:19):
in 2024. This is partly due tofewer immigrant workers entering
the field according tobarons.com. You feel that these
roles aren't just jobs, they'repeople caring for our parents
and our grandparents.
Stepping back, The US economyadded a 139,000 jobs total in
(07:40):
May with unemployment steady at4.2, but not everything's rosy.
We've all heard about it. Thefederal government shed 22,000
jobs in May totaling 59,000 jobslost since January. So what's
the vibe here? Private sector,especially healthcare, is doing
(08:00):
the heavy lifting.
But within healthcare, we'reseeing both opportunity and
cracks with critical tech rolesskyrocketing while elder care
jobs are getting squeezed. Sothat's the gist of it. Colleen,
I'm gonna turn this over to you.
Colleen Luckett (08:18):
Alright. Turns out the only thing rising faster
than summer temperature is youroperating budget. According to
our June 10 MGMA stat poll, 90%of you said that your 2025 year
to date operating costs arehigher than this time last year,
and only 8% of you reportedcosts staying flat, and just 3%
(08:39):
saw any decrease. Basically, thesame story as 2024. The top
drivers of increased costs are,of course, labor, supplies, tech
investments, and vendorsurcharges.
So with salary with labor,salaries, benefits, and
competitive pay adjustments,they remain the biggest budget
eater of all. Supplies,especially with vaccines and
(08:59):
injectables, and then with techinvestments and vendor
surcharges, it's tied to globaleconomic factors as usual.
Here's mainly how they did it.So by reducing support staff and
optimizing team size, bringingbilling back in house, and
upgrading tech to streamline Asfor stable expenses, here's how
some of you did it. You improvedyour inventory tracking.
(09:22):
You tightened expense controland budgeting, facilitated
better vendor contracts, andfocused on workforce stability
and centralized services. Andhere's roughly where your money
is going. Support staff getsabout 20 to 30% of your revenue.
Provider compensation is up to40%. Clinical supplies and drugs
is about five to 15%.
(09:44):
IT facilities, billing, andother overhead, these are
getting smaller percentages, butthey still add up over the year.
So what's coming up next?Medical leaders should expect
continued pressure from ongoinglabor shortages, energy
volatility, high malpracticeinsurance, and slow moving payer
reimbursement changes. Sopractices are tackling rising
(10:06):
costs with a mix of creativity,tech, and negotiation. The
bottom line is that the newnormal isn't cheaper, it's just
smarter.
So as usual, we'll drop the linkto the article in the show notes
so you can check out the fullpoll results. And, hey, if
you're not already part of ourweekly text polls, sign up for
MGMA stat by texting s t a t orstat to 33550, or you can visit
(10:33):
our website, mgma.com/mgma-stat.Your insights shape the data we
share, so go ahead and sign up.Alright, Daniel. Back to you.
Daniel Williams (10:43):
Yeah. Thanks so much for that update, Colleen.
Alright. This next story reallyresonated with me. It's easy to
get caught up in systems andworkflows but sometimes, the
real win comes from getting backto basics and that's making sure
patients feel heard, understood,and taken care of and that's at
the heart of a piece I cameacross in Physician's Practice.
(11:06):
It was published on June 10 andit was written by a buddy of
ours who's appeared on the MGMAPodcast that's Susan Montmoney
and her co author MarleneEisenhower. The title says it
all, Three Strategies toStrengthen Patient Engagement
and Reduce Risk. And it's notjust a feel good advice that's
(11:29):
being put out there. There'sdata behind it as well.
According to the authors, 34% ofliability claims and 65% of
indemnity payouts trace back tosome kind of communication
breakdown.
And here's what really struckme. Almost half of those payouts
happen in office or clinicsettings. That's not in the OR.
(11:52):
It's not in the ER. This is thefront desk, the exam room, those
everyday moments.
So what can practices actuallydo to improve? The strategy the
authors offer is to makeengagement intentional. That
starts way before the patienteven walks through the door with
(12:12):
things like clear appointmentreminders. And I'll tell y'all
right now, I went to the dentistyesterday. My jaw and teeth are
still a little bit sore fromthat, but I love their
communication.
You know what they do? They sendme a text a couple of weeks
before because a dentistappointment, you make six months
in advance. So, a couple ofweeks out, I receive a text
(12:33):
reminder and then the nightbefore, I get another text
reminder they ask me, please puta C in here to confirm or an S
to stop saying I had to canceland need to reschedule my
appointment. I love that. So,let's get to the next thing.
The one is simple but so oftenoverlooked. Drop the medical
(12:54):
jargon. Instead, aim for a realconversation. Ask questions.
Listen.
Reflect it back. When a patientfeels like you're actually with
them, not just checking boxes,that's where trust is built. I'm
going go back to my dentalappointment yesterday. They know
who I am. Maybe they don'tmemorize every single thing
(13:16):
about me, but they've got it innotes somewhere and they pay
attention to them.
They know the name of my wifepatient and my daughter who's a
patient and they ask us what'sgoing on. So, they ask, what
kind of plans do you have thissummer? And I told them, the
whole family is going to be inBarcelona for a week for my wife
and me and eight weeks for mydaughter. So, we chatted all
(13:39):
about that and then the dentistsaid I'm going to Barcelona in
October. So we got a big chuckleout of that as well.
So that's the kind of thing thatcan really connect you with a
patient. The strategy. It'sabout training your whole team,
not just the physicians, torespond with empathy and
clarity. A receptionist whoknows how to de escalate a tense
(14:03):
moment or a nurse who canexplain a next step in plain
language. That can be thedifference between a smooth
visit and one that results in acomplaint or even worse.
Stronger engagement isn't justabout satisfaction scores. It's
a real strategy for reducingrisk, avoiding those untimely
(14:24):
missteps, and what my dentistdid for me, building loyalty.
I'm giving a referral to mydentist right now. And in this
environment, that kind ofconnection isn't just nice. It's
necessary.
So with that said, Colleen,what's next?
Colleen Luckett (14:40):
My last piece is titled public health has
taken a huge black eye withfederal cuts. It was published
on June 11, written by RonSouthwick. It's not often you
hear the phrase a huge black eyeused to describe federal policy
decisions, but that's exactlyhow public health leaders are
characterizing recent budgetcuts coming out of Washington.
(15:02):
Here's the story. There'sgrowing concern among health
care professionals after theTrump administration cut major
funding streams for medicalresearch, infection control, and
support for state and localhealth departments.
These aren't just administrativetrims. They're actually deep
cuts that experts say arealready weakening our public
(15:22):
health infrastructure. So what'sbeen cut? Hundreds of grants to
hospitals and universities,$11,000,000,000 in COVID relief
funds rescinded from state andlocal governments, and the CDC
Healthcare Infection ControlPractices Advisory Committee, a
behind the scenes but essentialbody that helped set national
standards for infectionprevention. It's been completely
(15:45):
dissolved.
That committee didn't grabheadlines, but its role was
critical. One expert compared itto a conductor guiding an
orchestra, and now there's noone at the podium. On the
ground, the consequences arealready showing up. Some
counties that once had sixinfection preventionists are
down to just one. Hospitals arelaying off infection control
(16:05):
staff, and local healthdepartments are watching
experienced professionals leave,worried that more funding cuts
are just around the corner.
The long term concern is clear.We're dismantling systems that
took decades to build. Andaccording to Devin Jopp, CEO of
the Association forProfessionals in Infection
Control and Epidemiology, Wedidn't learn the lesson of
(16:27):
COVID. He warns that if anotherinfectious disease outbreak
hits, we may not be ready orable to respond in time. Looking
ahead, the administration hasproposed even deeper cuts in the
2026 fiscal year, including morethan 40% slash from both the CDC
and the n I NIH.
Democratic attorneys general in23 states have filed suit to
(16:48):
stop the rollback of COVIDfunds, and a judge has
temporarily blocked it. But manypublic health leaders say the
damage is already being done.This goes beyond budgeting. It's
a workforce issue. It's areadiness issue.
And, ultimately, it's a patientsafety issue. As Jopp put it,
quote, we're not just steppingback. We're setting ourselves up
(17:09):
for serious danger down theline. We will be following this
closely, especially as healthcare organizations may be
expected to absorb more publichealth responsibilities without
the public health resources toback them up. So as a reminder,
that was from chief health careexecutive, and we'll provide a
direct link to that story andall of our resources in the
(17:32):
episode show notes.
So check those out. And that isa wrap for me, Daniel. Back to
you.
Daniel Williams (17:37):
And that is a wrap for this MGMA Weekend
Review podcast. Thank you somuch everyone for being part of
this community and beingfaithful listeners. And as
Colleen and I have said in thepast, please reach out to us.
We'll put our direct emails inthe episode show notes. So send
us a link.
Send us a story or let us knowif you wanna be part of MGMA
(18:00):
Weekend Review. Colleen and Iwere talking offline, and we'd
love to hear your voices. Youwant to call in, and we'll
record you, and let us hearwhat's going on in your
practice. Until then, thank youso much, and have a great
weekend.
Colleen Luckett (18:13):
See you next week.
Hi, everyone. Welcome to the MGMA Weekend
Review podcast. I'm your host,Daniel Williams, senior editor
at MGMA, along with ColleenLuckett, editor and writer here
at MGMA. And in each episode ofthe Week in Review podcast, we
bring you the latest health careindustry news, some policy
updates, some expert insights,and what I like to think are
(01:16):
just stories that Colleen and Ifind that catch our fancy.
Colleen, how are doing?
Colleen Luckett (01:22):
I'm doing alright. Hopefully, it catches
our audience's fancy as well. Wetry. Anyway, I was gonna ask you
actually about the summitconference last week.
Daniel Williams (01:31):
Did you
Colleen Luckett (01:31):
have any standout moments for you?
Daniel Williams (01:34):
Everybody. And I talked about this in a podcast
recently, and I can't rememberwhich one. But we had some
really interesting sessions. AndI'll say the ones that really
got me. There was one, asurvivor of just a traumatic car
wreck, Alison.
I don't know her last name rightnow, but about eighty percent of
(01:56):
her body was burned. And boy didshe give an inspirational talk
about it put things intoperspective because I don't know
about anybody listening, butI'll stub my toe or I'll just
have something be dashed and Ijust think like the world's
ending. And it really puts intoperspective about things that
happen and how to overcome themand be resilient and how to
(02:21):
really take from tragedy andreally go to triumph there. So
Alison was amazing. Can'tremember her last name right
now, but if you search mainstage people because that is on
demand for a little bit longer.
I think we got a couple moreweeks. The other one was I got
to sit in on some of thecommunity live discussions and
(02:42):
there's just, it's so good tohear y'all's voices. Colleen and
I are always talking and I'malways in webinars with
consultants and everything andjust to get to hear MGMA members
talk about their lives, theirchallenges, their solutions that
they've found, and sharing thosewith each other is a really cool
thing. So you were listening inor attending any of it or no,
(03:06):
you were what were you hadwhat'd you have going on,
Colleen?
Colleen Luckett (03:08):
Yeah. I was way out of the loop on that. Okay.
That's why I asked. But, yeah,we were busy working on other
projects.
Daniel Williams (03:14):
If you get any free time, I know you could
reach out to the events team,and they probably give you a key
because they're all gonna be ondemand for about another two
weeks or so.
Colleen Luckett (03:25):
Cool. Yeah. Check out the headliner there.
That sounds pretty interesting.
Daniel Williams (03:29):
Oh, yeah.
Colleen Luckett (03:30):
Need some inspiration. Yeah. Alright. I'm
gonna start us off this weekwith an MGMA announcement,
actually. So big news from thedata team this week.
We have the twenty twenty fiveprovider compensation and
procedural profile. Both ofthose data sets, they have been
officially launched. And this isa shift actually from previous
(03:50):
years where the proceduralprofile data typically released
in September. But this year, welaunched both data sets together
to better serve our members andalign productivity benchmarks
with compensation data. So onecool thing is that we've
expanded the scope of thespecialties.
So we now include neurologyhospitalists, cardiothoracic
(04:12):
surgery generally, and then alsocardiothoracic surgery in
pediatrics, and nursepractitioner and physician
assistants in cardiovascularsurgery and hyperbaric medicine
and wound care. And for those ofyou who've been asking for
smoother data dive experience,we heard you. The platform has a
brand new look and feel withredesigned navigation, a left
(04:35):
side carousel for selectingfilters and benchmarks, and new
top menu buttons. Searchfunctionality is now built right
into the carousel, and you cantrend data across five years
without needing to build acustom report, which is awesome.
You'll also find enhanced exportoptions.
We have Excel, CSV, or PDF, pluseasier access to your saved
(04:58):
reports and recently viewedsessions. And this marks the
beginning of a more streamlinedintuitive data dive with more
improvements to come throughoutthe year, so stay tuned. And
congrats to all of my colleagueswho helped bring this launch to
life. If you all listeninghaven't had a chance to explore
the new tools yet, now is agreat time to jump in. You can
find all our data dive reportson our website at
(05:20):
datadive.mgma.com.
And as I said, more to come.Okay, Daniel. Over to you.
Daniel Williams (05:27):
Alright. Thanks, Colleen. You know that
feeling when your inbox is fullof doom and gloom? I'm sure you
do as I do and Colleen. And thenone little stat makes you sit up
straight.
This is that moment. It's now.Health care. I had to double
check this. Health care added ajaw dropping 62,200 jobs in May.
(05:50):
And it's not random. It'shappening where we need it most.
This scoop and this articlecomes from medical economics by
Richard Peyerchen. It waspublished on June the sixth of
this year and beyond theheadline, there are some
interesting details. Hospitalsbrought on 30 new hires.
(06:10):
Ambulatory, that's outpatientand physician services, 29, zero
and skilled nursing facilitiespicked up another 6,000 roles.
Put that in context, thehealthcare sector has been
averaging about 44,000 jobsadded per month over the past
year. So May is well above thattrend and get this, medical
(06:34):
equipment repair, those criticalfolks who power up MRIs and
ventilators are in crazy highdemand. So, if you're looking
for them, you're not alone. It'sprojected to grow 18% by, this
is out there a bit, 2033 withstarting salaries around 65,000
and no four year degree neededand a looming shortage as many
(06:57):
current technicians retire.
And this is according tobusinessinsider.com. On the flip
side, elder care roles, homehealth aides, assisted living
staff, these are under strain.Over the past three months,
hiring in elder care slowed to28,200 a month, down from 37,700
(07:19):
in 2024. This is partly due tofewer immigrant workers entering
the field according tobarons.com. You feel that these
roles aren't just jobs, they'repeople caring for our parents
and our grandparents.
Stepping back, The US economyadded a 139,000 jobs total in
(07:40):
May with unemployment steady at4.2, but not everything's rosy.
We've all heard about it. Thefederal government shed 22,000
jobs in May totaling 59,000 jobslost since January. So what's
the vibe here? Private sector,especially healthcare, is doing
(08:00):
the heavy lifting.
But within healthcare, we'reseeing both opportunity and
cracks with critical tech rolesskyrocketing while elder care
jobs are getting squeezed. Sothat's the gist of it. Colleen,
I'm gonna turn this over to you.
Colleen Luckett (08:18):
Alright. Turns out the only thing rising faster
than summer temperature is youroperating budget. According to
our June 10 MGMA stat poll, 90%of you said that your 2025 year
to date operating costs arehigher than this time last year,
and only 8% of you reportedcosts staying flat, and just 3%
(08:39):
saw any decrease. Basically, thesame story as 2024. The top
drivers of increased costs are,of course, labor, supplies, tech
investments, and vendorsurcharges.
So with salary with labor,salaries, benefits, and
competitive pay adjustments,they remain the biggest budget
eater of all. Supplies,especially with vaccines and
(08:59):
injectables, and then with techinvestments and vendor
surcharges, it's tied to globaleconomic factors as usual.
Here's mainly how they did it.So by reducing support staff and
optimizing team size, bringingbilling back in house, and
upgrading tech to streamline Asfor stable expenses, here's how
some of you did it. You improvedyour inventory tracking.
(09:22):
You tightened expense controland budgeting, facilitated
better vendor contracts, andfocused on workforce stability
and centralized services. Andhere's roughly where your money
is going. Support staff getsabout 20 to 30% of your revenue.
Provider compensation is up to40%. Clinical supplies and drugs
is about five to 15%.
(09:44):
IT facilities, billing, andother overhead, these are
getting smaller percentages, butthey still add up over the year.
So what's coming up next?Medical leaders should expect
continued pressure from ongoinglabor shortages, energy
volatility, high malpracticeinsurance, and slow moving payer
reimbursement changes. Sopractices are tackling rising
(10:06):
costs with a mix of creativity,tech, and negotiation. The
bottom line is that the newnormal isn't cheaper, it's just
smarter.
So as usual, we'll drop the linkto the article in the show notes
so you can check out the fullpoll results. And, hey, if
you're not already part of ourweekly text polls, sign up for
MGMA stat by texting s t a t orstat to 33550, or you can visit
(10:33):
our website, mgma.com/mgma-stat.Your insights shape the data we
share, so go ahead and sign up.Alright, Daniel. Back to you.
Daniel Williams (10:43):
Yeah. Thanks so much for that update, Colleen.
Alright. This next story reallyresonated with me. It's easy to
get caught up in systems andworkflows but sometimes, the
real win comes from getting backto basics and that's making sure
patients feel heard, understood,and taken care of and that's at
the heart of a piece I cameacross in Physician's Practice.
(11:06):
It was published on June 10 andit was written by a buddy of
ours who's appeared on the MGMAPodcast that's Susan Montmoney
and her co author MarleneEisenhower. The title says it
all, Three Strategies toStrengthen Patient Engagement
and Reduce Risk. And it's notjust a feel good advice that's
(11:29):
being put out there. There'sdata behind it as well.
According to the authors, 34% ofliability claims and 65% of
indemnity payouts trace back tosome kind of communication
breakdown.
And here's what really struckme. Almost half of those payouts
happen in office or clinicsettings. That's not in the OR.
(11:52):
It's not in the ER. This is thefront desk, the exam room, those
everyday moments.
So what can practices actuallydo to improve? The strategy the
authors offer is to makeengagement intentional. That
starts way before the patienteven walks through the door with
(12:12):
things like clear appointmentreminders. And I'll tell y'all
right now, I went to the dentistyesterday. My jaw and teeth are
still a little bit sore fromthat, but I love their
communication.
You know what they do? They sendme a text a couple of weeks
before because a dentistappointment, you make six months
in advance. So, a couple ofweeks out, I receive a text
(12:33):
reminder and then the nightbefore, I get another text
reminder they ask me, please puta C in here to confirm or an S
to stop saying I had to canceland need to reschedule my
appointment. I love that. So,let's get to the next thing.
The one is simple but so oftenoverlooked. Drop the medical
(12:54):
jargon. Instead, aim for a realconversation. Ask questions.
Listen.
Reflect it back. When a patientfeels like you're actually with
them, not just checking boxes,that's where trust is built. I'm
going go back to my dentalappointment yesterday. They know
who I am. Maybe they don'tmemorize every single thing
(13:16):
about me, but they've got it innotes somewhere and they pay
attention to them.
They know the name of my wifepatient and my daughter who's a
patient and they ask us what'sgoing on. So, they ask, what
kind of plans do you have thissummer? And I told them, the
whole family is going to be inBarcelona for a week for my wife
and me and eight weeks for mydaughter. So, we chatted all
(13:39):
about that and then the dentistsaid I'm going to Barcelona in
October. So we got a big chuckleout of that as well.
So that's the kind of thing thatcan really connect you with a
patient. The strategy. It'sabout training your whole team,
not just the physicians, torespond with empathy and
clarity. A receptionist whoknows how to de escalate a tense
(14:03):
moment or a nurse who canexplain a next step in plain
language. That can be thedifference between a smooth
visit and one that results in acomplaint or even worse.
Stronger engagement isn't justabout satisfaction scores. It's
a real strategy for reducingrisk, avoiding those untimely
(14:24):
missteps, and what my dentistdid for me, building loyalty.
I'm giving a referral to mydentist right now. And in this
environment, that kind ofconnection isn't just nice. It's
necessary.
So with that said, Colleen,what's next?
Colleen Luckett (14:40):
My last piece is titled public health has
taken a huge black eye withfederal cuts. It was published
on June 11, written by RonSouthwick. It's not often you
hear the phrase a huge black eyeused to describe federal policy
decisions, but that's exactlyhow public health leaders are
characterizing recent budgetcuts coming out of Washington.
(15:02):
Here's the story. There'sgrowing concern among health
care professionals after theTrump administration cut major
funding streams for medicalresearch, infection control, and
support for state and localhealth departments.
These aren't just administrativetrims. They're actually deep
cuts that experts say arealready weakening our public
(15:22):
health infrastructure. So what'sbeen cut? Hundreds of grants to
hospitals and universities,$11,000,000,000 in COVID relief
funds rescinded from state andlocal governments, and the CDC
Healthcare Infection ControlPractices Advisory Committee, a
behind the scenes but essentialbody that helped set national
standards for infectionprevention. It's been completely
(15:45):
dissolved.
That committee didn't grabheadlines, but its role was
critical. One expert compared itto a conductor guiding an
orchestra, and now there's noone at the podium. On the
ground, the consequences arealready showing up. Some
counties that once had sixinfection preventionists are
down to just one. Hospitals arelaying off infection control
(16:05):
staff, and local healthdepartments are watching
experienced professionals leave,worried that more funding cuts
are just around the corner.
The long term concern is clear.We're dismantling systems that
took decades to build. Andaccording to Devin Jopp, CEO of
the Association forProfessionals in Infection
Control and Epidemiology, Wedidn't learn the lesson of
(16:27):
COVID. He warns that if anotherinfectious disease outbreak
hits, we may not be ready orable to respond in time. Looking
ahead, the administration hasproposed even deeper cuts in the
2026 fiscal year, including morethan 40% slash from both the CDC
and the n I NIH.
Democratic attorneys general in23 states have filed suit to
(16:48):
stop the rollback of COVIDfunds, and a judge has
temporarily blocked it. But manypublic health leaders say the
damage is already being done.This goes beyond budgeting. It's
a workforce issue. It's areadiness issue.
And, ultimately, it's a patientsafety issue. As Jopp put it,
quote, we're not just steppingback. We're setting ourselves up
(17:09):
for serious danger down theline. We will be following this
closely, especially as healthcare organizations may be
expected to absorb more publichealth responsibilities without
the public health resources toback them up. So as a reminder,
that was from chief health careexecutive, and we'll provide a
direct link to that story andall of our resources in the
(17:32):
episode show notes.
So check those out. And that isa wrap for me, Daniel. Back to
you.
Daniel Williams (17:37):
And that is a wrap for this MGMA Weekend
Review podcast. Thank you somuch everyone for being part of
this community and beingfaithful listeners. And as
Colleen and I have said in thepast, please reach out to us.
We'll put our direct emails inthe episode show notes. So send
us a link.
Send us a story or let us knowif you wanna be part of MGMA
(18:00):
Weekend Review. Colleen and Iwere talking offline, and we'd
love to hear your voices. Youwant to call in, and we'll
record you, and let us hearwhat's going on in your
practice. Until then, thank youso much, and have a great
weekend.
Colleen Luckett (18:13):
See you next week.
Popular Podcasts
United States of Kennedy
United States of Kennedy is a podcast about our cultural fascination with the Kennedy dynasty. Every week, hosts Lyra Smith and George Civeris go into one aspect of the Kennedy story.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com