Welcome to another enlightening episode of "The Patients Speak." I'm your host, Mark Stinson, and today we're diving deep into the intricacies of healthcare processes, focusing on patient empowerment and improved experiences. Our special guest is Dr. Doug Slakey, a renowned transplant surgeon, educator, healthcare professional, and administrator. He's also the author of the thought-provoking book, "The Process Manifesto."
Patient-Centered Care
Our conversation kicks off by stressing the importance of patient-centered care. Dr. Slakey emphasizes that patients should be seen not just as cases but as individuals on unique health journeys. A patient's perspective often differs significantly from the healthcare system's, and understanding this shift is crucial. "We have to realize that at some point in our lives, each of us is a caregiver and each of us is a patient, and it really is a continuum."
Compassion in Healthcare
We explore the role of compassion in healthcare. Compassion, Dr. Slakey argues, is action-oriented and a foundational element that should guide interactions between patients and healthcare providers. It fosters communication, empathy, and a more human-centered approach to care. "Compassion is action-oriented. It's about recognizing individual needs and providing care that extends beyond mere empathy."
Empowering Patients
Dr. Slakey stresses the importance of patients actively participating in their healthcare journey. Patients should educate themselves, ask questions, and clearly articulate their expectations. Additionally, they can play a more proactive role by sharing personal context that may affect their care.
Outcome-Oriented Care
Shifting from traditional process-centric care, we delve into the importance of measuring patient outcomes. This involves evaluating whether patients are achieving their desired health goals. Outcome-based care holds the potential to realign payment models and drive improvement in healthcare processes.
Aligning Processes with Patient Expectations
Aligning healthcare processes with patient expectations is the key to success. Dr. Slakey highlights that healthcare providers should be transparent in communicating the journey, so patients can actively participate in their care and understand what's happening at each stage.
Decentralizing Control
A vital call to action is the decentralization of control in healthcare. Placing control at the front lines, where providers directly interact with patients, enables the use of knowledge, education, compassion, and empathy to create positive change in the patient experience.
The conversation with Dr. Slakey reinforces that healthcare is a multifaceted journey and that acknowledging the patient's voice, experiences, and expectations is pivotal. With continuous quality improvement and a patient-centric approach, we can reshape the healthcare landscape to ensure better outcomes, more compassionate care, and enhanced patient experiences.
Douglas Slakey
Dr. Douglas Slakey is an internationally recognized transplant surgeon, educator, author, healthcare professional, and administrator. Doug is currently a professor of surgery at the University of Illinois, Chicago, and the president of Process Health Consulting, a healthcare consultancy focused on enhancing and optimizing operations and process flow, emphasizing complex system management strategies that optimize patient outcomes. He is a global educator and speaker who inspires healthcare teams to provide effective, compassionate patient care.
Join us in our next episode of "The Patients Speak" as we continue to explore and advocate for the patient's voice in healthcare. Thank you for listening.
BSB Media
Popular Podcasts
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
The Burden
The Burden is a documentary series that takes listeners into the hidden places where justice is done (and undone). It dives deep into the lives of heroes and villains. And it focuses a spotlight on those who triumph even when the odds are against them. Season 5 - The Burden: Death & Deceit in Alliance On April Fools Day 1999, 26-year-old Yvonne Layne was found murdered in her Alliance, Ohio home. David Thorne, her ex-boyfriend and father of one of her children, was instantly a suspect. Another young man admitted to the murder, and David breathed a sigh of relief, until the confessed murderer fingered David; “He paid me to do it.” David was sentenced to life without parole. Two decades later, Pulitzer winner and podcast host, Maggie Freleng (Bone Valley Season 3: Graves County, Wrongful Conviction, Suave) launched a “live” investigation into David's conviction alongside Jason Baldwin (himself wrongfully convicted as a member of the West Memphis Three). Maggie had come to believe that the entire investigation of David was botched by the tiny local police department, or worse, covered up the real killer. Was Maggie correct? Was David’s claim of innocence credible? In Death and Deceit in Alliance, Maggie recounts the case that launched her career, and ultimately, “broke” her.” The results will shock the listener and reduce Maggie to tears and self-doubt. This is not your typical wrongful conviction story. In fact, it turns the genre on its head. It asks the question: What if our champions are foolish? Season 4 - The Burden: Get the Money and Run “Trying to murder my father, this was the thing that put me on the path.” That’s Joe Loya and that path was bank robbery. Bank, bank, bank, bank, bank. In season 4 of The Burden: Get the Money and Run, we hear from Joe who was once the most prolific bank robber in Southern California, and beyond. He used disguises, body doubles, proxies. He leaped over counters, grabbed the money and ran. Even as the FBI was closing in. It was a showdown between a daring bank robber, and a patient FBI agent. Joe was no ordinary bank robber. He was bright, articulate, charismatic, and driven by a dark rage that he summoned up at will. In seven episodes, Joe tells all: the what, the how… and the why. Including why he tried to murder his father. Season 3 - The Burden: Avenger Miriam Lewin is one of Argentina’s leading journalists today. At 19 years old, she was kidnapped off the streets of Buenos Aires for her political activism and thrown into a concentration camp. Thousands of her fellow inmates were executed, tossed alive from a cargo plane into the ocean. Miriam, along with a handful of others, will survive the camp. Then as a journalist, she will wage a decades long campaign to bring her tormentors to justice. Avenger is about one woman’s triumphant battle against unbelievable odds to survive torture, claim justice for the crimes done against her and others like her, and change the future of her country. Season 2 - The Burden: Empire on Blood Empire on Blood is set in the Bronx, NY, in the early 90s, when two young drug dealers ruled an intersection known as “The Corner on Blood.” The boss, Calvin Buari, lived large. He and a protege swore they would build an empire on blood. Then the relationship frayed and the protege accused Calvin of a double homicide which he claimed he didn’t do. But did he? Award-winning journalist Steve Fishman spent seven years to answer that question. This is the story of one man’s last chance to overturn his life sentence. He may prevail, but someone’s gotta pay. The Burden: Empire on Blood is the director’s cut of the true crime classic which reached #1 on the charts when it was first released half a dozen years ago. Season 1 - The Burden In the 1990s, Detective Louis N. Scarcella was legendary. In a city overrun by violent crime, he cracked the toughest cases and put away the worst criminals. “The Hulk” was his nickname. Then the story changed. Scarcella ran into a group of convicted murderers who all say they are innocent. They turned themselves into jailhouse-lawyers and in prison founded a lway firm. When they realized Scarcella helped put many of them away, they set their sights on taking him down. And with the help of a NY Times reporter they have a chance. For years, Scarcella insisted he did nothing wrong. But that’s all he’d say. Until we tracked Scarcella to a sauna in a Russian bathhouse, where he started to talk..and talk and talk. “The guilty have gone free,” he whispered. And then agreed to take us into the belly of the beast. Welcome to The Burden.