On this week's show host Phil Tower welcomes Jennifer FitzPatrick MSW, LCSW-C, CSP. Jennifer is a former psychotherapist and the Founder of Jenerations Health Education, Inc. and the author of Reimagining Customer Service in Healthcare and Cruising Through Caregiving: Reducing The Stress of Caring For Your Loved One. In the book, Reimagining Customer Service in Healthcare, Jennifer helps leaders and clinicians transform their organizations with simple, creative strategies. Jennifer is also a gerontology instructor at Johns Hopkins University's Certificate on Aging program. A frequent media contributor, she has been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, U.S. News & World Report, The Huffington Post, Forbes, Reader's Digest, Fast Company and The Chicago Tribune and many others. Online: https://www.jenerationshealth.com/
In part two of the program Phil welcomes author Jeff Shaara, author of the New York Times bestsellers Gods and Generals and The Eagle's Claw. In his newest book, bestselling author Jeff Shaara brings to life one of the most consequential and triumphant figures in U.S. history - Theodore Roosevelt - in THE OLD LION (St. Martin's Press). Shaara is an award-winning, New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal and Publishers Weekly bestselling author of seventeen great novels, including Rise to Rebellion and The Rising Tide, as well as Gods and Generals and The Last Full Measure - two novels that complete his father's Pulitzer Prize-winning classic, The Killer Angels. Jeff takes readers on a deep dive into many-layered history of the man, and the country he personified. JEFF SHAARA is the
Online: THE OLD LION
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Episode Transcript
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(00:01):
iHeartMedia West Michigan Weekend a public affairsprogram and it's West Michigan Weekend from iHeartRadio.
This is Phil Tower. Thank youso much for tuning in and in
this segment. I'm very pleased towelcome back to the program. It's been
a while since we've had her here. She is Jennifer Fitzpatrick, author of
(00:22):
several books, former psychotherapist, andfounder of Generation's Health Education. Her latest
book is Reimagining Customer Service in Healthcare. She also wrote a great book.
If you know anybody who is acaregiver or thinking about caring for a family
member, you'll want to write thisone down, Cruising through Caregiving Reducing the
Stress of Caring for your loved One. A great book and a very helpful
(00:46):
book. She's also Jennifer is alsoa gerontology instructor at Johns Hopkins University Certificate
on Aging Program and a frequent mediacontributor. She's been on this program before.
We always love having her on andJennifer fitz Patrick, welcome back.
Congratulations on the new books so well, and I know that's just released several
(01:07):
weeks ago. The book is ReimaginingCustomer Service and Healthcare boost loyalty, profits
and outcomes. It is out inpaperwork, paperback and available everywhere books are
sold. First of all, Imean everybody deals with a healthcare provider.
But just an obvious question, isthis written for patients? Is it written
(01:27):
for doctors and healthcare providers or isit written for both? Jennifer, Well,
it's primarily written for anybody that worksin healthcare, mental health, senior
living, anybody that wants to havean easier time at work, that they
want to provide a better experience forthe people that they serve, and or
(01:49):
they want to have less stress attheir job. And isn't that nice quote
a concept less stress at the job. There is a lot of stress in
the healthcare profession. And let's Jennifer, a lot of people just really have
a lot of anxiety, a lotof really reservations about even seeing a healthcare
professional. Men, especially at leastthat's what the stereotype has been. You
(02:12):
know, I don't need to seea doctor. It's just a cold,
or it's just that you know,I'll just suffer through the pain. And
that's part of it. But maybebehind it is not knowing if you can
trust the system. Not knowing whatkind of care you're going to get,
and we've all heard nightmare levels ofcare or stories of people being left in
(02:34):
waiting rooms for six seven hours beforethey were seen by anybody. I guess
in terms of that, you know, looking at the term of disconnected healthcare
provider, what are some things weshould look for if we feel like maybe
the hospital or the doctor we're seeingis not treating us as we should be
treated well. For one with duringthe COVID period, we got rid of
(02:58):
the visitors an advocate, and Ibelieve that that was a huge mistake.
I think there was a lot ofways to keep people from spreading COVID,
and that was a mistake to keepvisitors and advocates out. Everybody needs to
have somebody with them, So ifyou're interfacing with a doctor's office or a
hospital, or if you have anysort of choice in the matter, you
(03:21):
want to go somewhere where they're goingto allow you if it's a serious situation,
to have a loved one with you. When you're dealing with something serious
that you're not going to always rememberthe right questions to out, You're not
going to remember what the provider saysto you in lieu of that if you
can't for some reason, you getstuck in a situation where you don't have
an advocate or a visitor, youwant to make sure that you are able
(03:44):
to record the conversation with the provider, and of course you want to ask
permission, but that's one of themain reasons that you want to have somebody
with you if there's a serious condition, because you're not when you're under that
kind of stress, you're not goingto remember. So that would be a
red flag for me if you're notable to have a loved one with you.
Another risk like is definitely when you'renot able to share your thoughts about
(04:08):
the situation, if you feel likeyou're being blown off by the provider,
if you have done research or ifyou have had maybe maybe it's the condition
that you've had for a long time. You know your body, this is
what's normal for you, that it'snot if your provider isn't respecting that.
You know. Your provider is anexpert in whatever. They're a doctor,
they're a physical therapists, their nerves, the social work or whatever. But
(04:30):
you're as an expert in your bodyand what works for you what doesn't,
So you want to make sure thatthey're open to having a dialogue your doctor
is. I know, you canreally look at your doctor, your healthcare
provider as you could look at themas a vendor, but you also could
look at them. I think alot of older generations sort of looked at
them as sort of the deity oralmost like godlike. But I really recommend
(04:55):
you look at them as a partner. They're your partner that you yes,
your insurance or your private paid topay for, you know whoever, the
doctor, living community, the hospitalorganization that you're working with, but you
want to be collaborating together. Itshouldn't be a talking down situation. As
we look at the whole universe ofhealthcare, we know there are several factors
(05:18):
impacting burnout, including a difficulty inhiring enough nurses, a shortage of doctors
at all level, not only doctors, but physician assistance, and shortage for
people in just all areas of healthcare. And that is certainly an area where
provider burnout happens. Because of thatshortage, communication and mistakes, people that
(05:41):
aren't fully trained and not being ableto have that honest conversation with healthcare.
I'm soap with your healthcare professional.I'm so glad you mentioned the thing looking
at doctors as deities. It's somethingthat typically an older generation did, or
you wouldn't question the doctor. Well, what do you even do if the
doctor says one thing but you feelwhat they're saying is wrong? Are you
(06:08):
being unloyal to your long time familyphysician or primary care provider if you go
to another doctor, if you say, you know what, I'd like to
get another opinion, a second opinionfrom another medical professional. And if the
doctor doesn't respond positively to that,that's probably a sign Jennifer, you have
a bad doctor. Yeah, ahuge d reg flag. But I think
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that the healthcare system is recognizing thedays of the people older than baby boomer
age. There's a traditionalist generation.They still, to an extent they do
look at the doctors is infallible toan extent, not all of them,
but a lot of people in thegeneration. But I think the healthcare system
recognizes that the boomers, the Genxers, the millennials, the Gen zs,
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they do look at the healthcare relationshipsvery differently. Going back to what
you said, Philade burnout before thepandemic, about half of all doctors and
nurses said that they were I thinkactually it was seven I think it's seventy
percent as nurses, So they wereburned out before the pandemic. And three
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quarters of healthcare administrators said the samething. And so now we are at
unprecedented levels. I think there's alot of people still working in the field
who haven't fully processed what they wereput through and think about it. Just
Okay, in the beginning, wewere told, Okay, you touched a
surface and you could potentially die.That's a lot of strust to put and
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saying, okay, there's going tobe people in here that are going to
be coughing and sneezing on you,and you know, all of a sudden,
this is going to be a newenvironment where you could bring this home
to your family and kill your family. That's a ridiculous amount of streuss that
the providers had to go through.And of course we found out debt much
of that was incorrect information, thankfully, but just the psychological stress is that
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the fact that the rules would changeovernight. Okay, yes you should wear
a maths No you shouldn't, Yesyou should. The idea that there were
a lot of providers that's just walkedout. I know personally people that said
they were worried that the governor wasgoing to say you have to stay in
place where you are in whatever statethey resided, so they just quit their
jobs. They just walked out.So the amount of stress unprecedented for our
(08:22):
time period. I think one ofthe things I'm working and I consult with
the organizations on now is how doyou reduce that stress? Because people were
working and they had their heads down, But now is really when those aftermath
effects are happening to a lot ofour providers. Jennifer Fitzpatrick is with us.
(08:43):
Jennifer's latest book is Reimagining Customer Serviceand Healthcare, Boost Loyalty, profits
and Outcomes. It's out in paperbackas of February of this year, available
wherever books are sold. You canalso learn more about Jennifer get the book
at generations health dot com. That'sGenerations with A J E n as in
(09:05):
Jennifer Generations Health dot com JE NE R A t i o nshealth dot
com. As we're speaking about herlatest book, and we kind of have
talked about some of the warning signsyou may want to be seeking out a
different, different healthcare provider. Let'slook at some of the other ones,
(09:26):
and that might be just feeling noteven listened to, from the people at
the front desk to the nurse thatchecks you in if you're going in for
your annual physical, to the doctor. They just you feel like a lot
of times you just feel like you'reon an assembly, a line moving through.
You get your two minutes with adoctor, and then you're just ushered
out the door. Are there anyother signs, Jennifer that maybe you need
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to seek out a different healthcare provider? And part two of that question is
can you find a good healthcare provider, one that you feel like, has
a good bedside manner, really caresabout you. Well. I think one
thing these days to keep in mindis definitely talk to people that you trust
and respect. Who are they using, who do they utilize, who do
(10:09):
they feel like is good? ButI think another thing that is the sign
that you might want to look elsewhereis if you're from a group that's diverse,
maybe race, culture, religion,you know for your area where you
live, you know, sexual orientation, that sort of thing, and there's
really nobody at the organization that lookslike you, or if they're not asking
(10:33):
questions, Hey, is there anythingabout your background that I don't you think
I might not understand or that Ineed to be aware of? You know,
that is important also, I thinkmaking sure that you know, maybe
you're you're an Asian American person goingto an African American doctor, You're you're
(10:54):
coming from different backgrounds, or astraight doctor working with somebody who is you
know, okay, or something likethat. It's okay that they're different from
you, but are they open toheay? Tell me, is there anything
I should be aware of that youknow from your background you have any because
sometimes areas of diversity actually are notobvious. And the other part of that
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is also ah, because you know, now, I'm sure you've had this
experience though, where you go tothe doctor. I'm a gen xtor and
you've got a provider that's younger thanyou, and it's okay, that's perfectly
fine, but at different generations tendto think about things differently, and so
asking for just making sure that theyrespect the norms of your generation. For
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example, if it's maybe a millennialprovider working with an elderly person, so
that old the results want to becalled mister or missus or father or sister.
You know what I'm saying. Youknow, if they want to be
shown that sort of respect and theydon't want to be at a first name
basis, it's just want to examto just making sure that you're just being
(12:03):
mindful of making that person comfortable ifthey come from some kind of diverse backgrounds.
Yeah, that's a great point.Jennifer Fitzpatrick is with us. Her
latest book is Reimagining Customer Service inHealthcare, Boosting Loyalty, profits and Outcomes.
It's out in paperback and you canget it wherever you get your books.
(12:24):
There are a lot of issues youdeal with when you go to the
doctor. One of those is youdecide that you know, maybe it's just
time to leave your doctor. Youyou've been there a long time. You
just feel like the quality of careat every level has dropped. What recommendations
do you have, Jennifer Fitzpatrick forfinding a new healthcare provider. I know
(12:46):
you had mentioned talking to friends gettingrecommendations. Unfortunately, in that case,
this has happened to me. Whereyou say you know your friends or two
friends say they have a great doctor, happens to the same doctor that doctors
not except new patients very common thesedays, or other tips or thoughts you
have in terms of that. Thisone is tough because contier physician practices,
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they get it you're paying an extrafee, so they tend to get it.
A lot of the red tape isremoved. You're interfacing with the provider
mostly rather than support staffs. Unfortunately, that is cost prohibitive for a lot
of people. But that if dohave the funds, that is something to
examine and look at and see isthat a good fit for you? And
they are almost always taking new patients. But the other way that I would
(13:35):
say is consider going outside of yourgeographic area a little bit. I know,
we all want to be right aroundthe corner from our doctor. I
get that, Yeah, But becauseof the rise of telehealth and texting and
phone calls and you know, ofcourse of a type of compliance software,
there are a lot of better optionsnow, like maybe you need to go
(13:56):
to the doctor once a year,or maybe every other year or once every
six months, Like maybe go alittle outside of your geographic area that you're
mostly comfortable with, because maybe youcan deal with the rest of it.
Your Tallehealth. Your phone calls throughemailing, and so that gives you a
little bit of a wider landscape tolook for a provider. So because you
(14:16):
know, back even five years ago, it's how a health really wasn't much
of a thing, and they wouldsay, okay, you got a truck
into the office if you need something. Now we have a lot of really
great hippo compliance software, so itmight be look more outside of the geographic
area that you usually would and bewilling to travel a little bit for that
once a year appointment. Jennifer Fitzpatrickour guest on West Michigan Weekend from iHeartRadio.
(14:41):
Her latest book is Reimagining Customer Servicein Healthcare. It's available everywhere you
get your books, and it's onher great website, Generation seal dot com.
That's Generations instead of a G usea J as in Jennifer er Generation
Health dot com. Generation's Health Education. In fact, if you're a medical
(15:03):
professional listening to us, Jennifer helpshospitals, helps doctor's office get better,
and you can contact her through Generation'sHealth to learn more about that. A
lot of great educational opportunities with Jenniferand her other book, which we mentioned
earlier. For anybody who is acorrect caregiver or about to enter the process
(15:24):
of caregiving, don't miss her previousbook, Cruising through Caregiving, highly recommended.
Jennifer Fitzpatrick, our guest on thissegment of West Michigan Weekend. Any
final thoughts, Jen, There's alot of good happening in healthcare too.
I think they're you definitely want tobe respectful and let people know when they
are doing a good job. Andthen lastly, still have those feedback forms,
(15:50):
whether they're electronic or paper, becausehealthcare organizations do take them seriously and
they do use them to try toimprove indeed, Jennifer fitz Patrick, that'll
be our final word from Jennifer.She's been our guests in this segment of
West Michigan Weekend. Again. Thelatest book is Reimagining Customer Service in Healthcare.
You can get that at generationshealth dotCom, Generations with a J or
(16:15):
Amazon, or anywhere you get yourfavorite books. She's been our guests in
this segment of West Michigan Weekend.From My Heart Radio, more coming up
in just a moment. If youcame across someone struggling with hunger, how
would you recognize them. Would younotice an eight year old girl who's not
excited for summer break because she maynot be having lun jakan until September,
(16:36):
or a war veteran who's having ahard time landing a job and getting back
on his feet. I am theone in eight Americans who struggle with hunger.
I am Hunger in America. Hungercan be hard to recognize. Learn
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America and the AD Council and it'sWest Michigan Weekend. Thank you once again
for listening. This is Hostfield Toweralong with you, and I'm very pleased
(17:00):
in this segment. Boy am Iexcited to welcome New York Times bestselling author
Jeff Shara. He has written seventeengreat novels, and maybe his latest book
will be the one that he's mostremembered for. I know he's excited about
it. I'm excited about it becauseit profiles in novel fashion, one of
the most popular and maybe most misunderstoodpresidents of our time, Theodore Roosevelt.
(17:23):
The book is the Old Line.It's out in Saint Martin's Press May sixteenth,
and Jeff takes readers on a deepdive into the many layered history of
Theodore Roosevelt. Jeff sharers on ourlive line for this conversation, and Jeff,
thank you first of all for joiningus. Really excited to have you
with us. Well, thank you. It's a pointed to be here.
(17:45):
So let's start about the guy thatthe subject. I know this is something
that you were drawn to. Whatdrew you too? With all the great
novels you've written, what drew youto Teddy Roosevelt to profile, especially in
a novel fashion, Well, allof my books. If anybody's familiar with
anything I've done, you know thattheir character driven stories. I mean there
(18:07):
they take place in significant events throughoutour history, most of the military,
you know, the Civil War,American Revolution, World War One, World
War two. I wanted to getaway from that a little bit and focus
on a single character, and he'sthe one who jumped out at me.
I mean, this is a characterthat people know something about, Teddy Roosevelt,
but for the most part, youknow, most people don't know everything
(18:30):
about it, and they don't know, you know, just how complex the
man was, and some of it, you know, you may know,
obviously the rush riders, you know, writing up the San Juan Hill.
I mean, that's an important partof his life, but it's not the
only part of his life. Andyou know, going through his presidency,
going through his time into Dakotas asa cattle rancher, going through the Amazon
(18:52):
where which almost kills him. Hetakes an ill advised trip late in his
life that he really has no businessbaking and barely survives that. All of
these kinds of story lend themselves.You know, you mentioned the novel.
This is not a history book,it's not a biography. This is a
story called from heavy Roosevelt's own eyes, as he would tell it. So
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you're in his head and you're hearingthe dialogue and with the people around him
and feeling the experiences the way hefelt them. And by definition that has
to be called fiction. But youknow, the story is accurate. I
mean, everything's true, everything thathappens, and I think it makes a
good story. Well, there wasa lot of material that Roosevelt left.
(19:38):
In fact, what I know abouthim, he was quite the writer,
a prolific writer. He left afterhis death thousands of letters. I mean
that had to be really interesting asyou pour through this figure historically to see
his thoughts. Jeff, Well,it makes my life easier. There is
(20:00):
there is so much research and somuch material that he created himself as well,
and there are other original sources aswell people, which is what I
rely on, and every story I'vedone is you know, the accounts of
the people who were there. Hissister Corinne writes a wonderful book about growing
up with him, what his lifewas like as a younger man. I
(20:22):
mean, that's the invaluable resource,all of his writings as well, and
then you have the accounts again ofother people who were around him. All
of that's what I rely on toget it right, to hear the voices
so that I can give those voicesto you and have them be authentic.
Author Jeff shares with us his newestbook is The Old Lion, a great
(20:45):
profile President Teddy Roosevelt, out onMay sixteenth on Saint Martin's Press, available
wherever books are sold. You know, there's a question that is often discussed
amongst friends and fans of history,Jeff Shara, which is if you could
take a well known president, ormaybe a US president to lunch one that
(21:07):
would be your favorite. Do youthink Teddy Roosevelt would be on that list
or would he be maybe a difficultperson to sit down with in a pub
or over a meal and discuss life. I think he'd be a blast,
you know, if you just kindof run down the list of president.
I've always said, and not apresident, but I've always said Benjamin Franklin
(21:30):
would be the one character I wantto sit down with. Ye But now
that I've done the Roosevelt book anddone the research on Teddy, I think
he trumps Franklin even. I thinkhe would be a marvelous person to sit
all. You did a lot ofresearch on him for this great book,
The Old Lion. What surprised youin your research and just digging into the
(21:52):
man himself? Some of the episodesthat take place, for example, out
West and in the Dakota Territory whenhe goes out there to become a cattle
rancher. He has no idea whathe's doing, but he gets some good
people working for him, and hegets so involved and so enthusiastic about the
process out there, and again hemakes all kinds of mistakes, and he
(22:15):
makes enemies as well as friends.But it's a story that you know,
it just isn't told. When you'retalking about Teddy Roosevelt, you just over
you tend to overlook that. Sothat was one section of the book.
So I absolutely love because it's somethingwe just don't know. Jeff Sharer is
with us. The newest book fromauthor Jeff Sharer is The Old Lions.
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It is out on Saint Martin's Presson May sixteenth and available wherever books are
sold. What's what's interesting and thereare so many interesting facts and great history
books written about Roosevelt. He wasa very complex figure. He was kind
of a rough and tumble but asyou said, he kind of had a
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you know, a very protected,shall we say, comfortable upright upraising as
a young man, as a youngadult, and then he went out west
and he's just it's a complicated guy. But later in life, do you
think he knew himself the way hewanted to know himself or do you think
he was always trying to discover himself. No, I think he was always
(23:23):
trying to discover something new. Imean he's constantly, even during his presidency,
he's taking his own road. He'snot doing things the way you know,
it was always done or the waya lot of the politicians of Congress
expected him to do things. Hewas always looking for a new path,
and I think that's one of thethings that makes him so fascinating. It's
(23:45):
also one of the reasons why alot of people didn't like him at the
time, because he just didn't dothings the way he was expected to do
them. Well, to me,that's fun. I mean, that makes
for a great character. And hewas an outsider politically because the Republicans really
didn't want him as a young bullmoose Republican. He kind of had to
(24:07):
work the back rooms to be ableto, you know, get enough support
to be elected. Right. Well, again, he didn't play the game.
He didn't he didn't perform the wayhe was supposed to. He shot
his mouth a lot. He wasalways heard. But he was in the
State Assembly in New York in Albany, New York. Uh, he was,
you know, the youngest man inthe State Assembly. He made himself
(24:29):
really a pinion because he was alwaysspeaking up, always seeking attention and pushing
through programs that he felt were veryimportant. Uh. He was a firm
believer in the rights of the commonman and not everybody in those days we're
looking at the common man. Theywere looking at the robber barons of the
corporate interests. And Roosevelt fought againstthat. He fought against that his whole
(24:52):
life. But it made him unpopularwith a lot of his peers. But
it made him a norm wassly popularwith the general public, which is what's
how he got elected. Author JeffShara is with US author New York Times
bestselling author, author of several greatnovels, and his latest is The Old
Lion, Great profile of President TeddyRoosevelt on Saint Martin's Press were speaking with
(25:18):
him about the book. And youknow, a lot of people may forget
that Roosevelt was the father of themodern US Navy. He was fascinated with
anything to do with ships, andthe navy obviously very much connected with the
Panama Canal. Talk about that aspectof his life. It was an interesting
aspect of his life. Jeff.Well, he was an assist the assistant
(25:41):
Secretary of the Navy. He wasnot in charge, but the old secretary
who was in charge was sort ofon his way out, and he would
tend to take days off, orRoosevelt would take these opportunities. When he
was in charge for one day,he would issue all kinds of orders and
said paper war flying out of theNavy Department by buying ships, of making
(26:03):
sure they were well provided for andammunition and food stuffs and all of this.
And you know he and he wasagain to use the cliche, he
was the bull move so, Imean he was the bull in the china
shop getting things done. Again.That didn't make him very popular with the
older, the older gentleman that hewas working around, but it made him
(26:25):
enormously popular with the Navy. Imean, the Navy loved him because he
was he was looking out for theirinterests and the Panama Canal the same thing.
He knew if it was left upto Congress to debate and debate and
debate, it would be fifty yearsbefore the Panama Canal was dug. He
rammed through and lobbied himself with Congressto get the bills passed to get the
(26:45):
canal going, and was in thelarge part responsible for that being done in
a period of just a few years. I keep on thinking historically about leaders
and great presidents like Roosevelt. Doesn'tit make you long for this kind of
leadership in this kind of a figure. Do you think he would play well
in twenty twenty four? Jeff Shara, I've been asked that before, and
(27:08):
it's a hard question to weigh becausewe're a different world today. Yeah,
I would like to believe that,yes, that he would be extremely popular,
that he would be able to gethis job done as he did and
you know, in the early nineteenhundreds. I don't know. We're such
a cynical society today that it's hardto say that. I hope, So
(27:30):
I'll have to answer it that way, I hope. So I am absolutely
right along with you. I havereally enjoyed our opportunity to speak and wish
you nothing but the greatest success withyour newest book, The Old Lion.
It is out on Tuesday, Maysixteenth, available everywhere books are sold.
Author Jeff Shara, New York Timesbest selling author. Some of his great
(27:52):
books include The Gods and Generals andThe Eagles Claw and so many others.
Jeff, thank you so much forjoining us. There's my pleasure. He's
been our guest on this segment ofWest Michigan Weekend from iHeartRadio as a program
for this week. Thank you somuch for listening. iHeartMedia West Michigan Weekend,
a public affairs program
iHeartMedia West Michigan Weekend a public affairsprogram and it's West Michigan Weekend from iHeartRadio.
This is Phil Tower. Thank youso much for tuning in and in
this segment. I'm very pleased towelcome back to the program. It's been
a while since we've had her here. She is Jennifer Fitzpatrick, author of
(00:22):
several books, former psychotherapist, andfounder of Generation's Health Education. Her latest
book is Reimagining Customer Service in Healthcare. She also wrote a great book.
If you know anybody who is acaregiver or thinking about caring for a family
member, you'll want to write thisone down, Cruising through Caregiving Reducing the
Stress of Caring for your loved One. A great book and a very helpful
(00:46):
book. She's also Jennifer is alsoa gerontology instructor at Johns Hopkins University Certificate
on Aging Program and a frequent mediacontributor. She's been on this program before.
We always love having her on andJennifer fitz Patrick, welcome back.
Congratulations on the new books so well, and I know that's just released several
(01:07):
weeks ago. The book is ReimaginingCustomer Service and Healthcare boost loyalty, profits
and outcomes. It is out inpaperwork, paperback and available everywhere books are
sold. First of all, Imean everybody deals with a healthcare provider.
But just an obvious question, isthis written for patients? Is it written
(01:27):
for doctors and healthcare providers or isit written for both? Jennifer, Well,
it's primarily written for anybody that worksin healthcare, mental health, senior
living, anybody that wants to havean easier time at work, that they
want to provide a better experience forthe people that they serve, and or
(01:49):
they want to have less stress attheir job. And isn't that nice quote
a concept less stress at the job. There is a lot of stress in
the healthcare profession. And let's Jennifer, a lot of people just really have
a lot of anxiety, a lotof really reservations about even seeing a healthcare
professional. Men, especially at leastthat's what the stereotype has been. You
(02:12):
know, I don't need to seea doctor. It's just a cold,
or it's just that you know,I'll just suffer through the pain. And
that's part of it. But maybebehind it is not knowing if you can
trust the system. Not knowing whatkind of care you're going to get,
and we've all heard nightmare levels ofcare or stories of people being left in
(02:34):
waiting rooms for six seven hours beforethey were seen by anybody. I guess
in terms of that, you know, looking at the term of disconnected healthcare
provider, what are some things weshould look for if we feel like maybe
the hospital or the doctor we're seeingis not treating us as we should be
treated well. For one with duringthe COVID period, we got rid of
(02:58):
the visitors an advocate, and Ibelieve that that was a huge mistake.
I think there was a lot ofways to keep people from spreading COVID,
and that was a mistake to keepvisitors and advocates out. Everybody needs to
have somebody with them, So ifyou're interfacing with a doctor's office or a
hospital, or if you have anysort of choice in the matter, you
(03:21):
want to go somewhere where they're goingto allow you if it's a serious situation,
to have a loved one with you. When you're dealing with something serious
that you're not going to always rememberthe right questions to out, You're not
going to remember what the provider saysto you in lieu of that if you
can't for some reason, you getstuck in a situation where you don't have
an advocate or a visitor, youwant to make sure that you are able
(03:44):
to record the conversation with the provider, and of course you want to ask
permission, but that's one of themain reasons that you want to have somebody
with you if there's a serious condition, because you're not when you're under that
kind of stress, you're not goingto remember. So that would be a
red flag for me if you're notable to have a loved one with you.
Another risk like is definitely when you'renot able to share your thoughts about
(04:08):
the situation, if you feel likeyou're being blown off by the provider,
if you have done research or ifyou have had maybe maybe it's the condition
that you've had for a long time. You know your body, this is
what's normal for you, that it'snot if your provider isn't respecting that.
You know. Your provider is anexpert in whatever. They're a doctor,
they're a physical therapists, their nerves, the social work or whatever. But
(04:30):
you're as an expert in your bodyand what works for you what doesn't,
So you want to make sure thatthey're open to having a dialogue your doctor
is. I know, you canreally look at your doctor, your healthcare
provider as you could look at themas a vendor, but you also could
look at them. I think alot of older generations sort of looked at
them as sort of the deity oralmost like godlike. But I really recommend
(04:55):
you look at them as a partner. They're your partner that you yes,
your insurance or your private paid topay for, you know whoever, the
doctor, living community, the hospitalorganization that you're working with, but you
want to be collaborating together. Itshouldn't be a talking down situation. As
we look at the whole universe ofhealthcare, we know there are several factors
(05:18):
impacting burnout, including a difficulty inhiring enough nurses, a shortage of doctors
at all level, not only doctors, but physician assistance, and shortage for
people in just all areas of healthcare. And that is certainly an area where
provider burnout happens. Because of thatshortage, communication and mistakes, people that
(05:41):
aren't fully trained and not being ableto have that honest conversation with healthcare.
I'm soap with your healthcare professional.I'm so glad you mentioned the thing looking
at doctors as deities. It's somethingthat typically an older generation did, or
you wouldn't question the doctor. Well, what do you even do if the
doctor says one thing but you feelwhat they're saying is wrong? Are you
(06:08):
being unloyal to your long time familyphysician or primary care provider if you go
to another doctor, if you say, you know what, I'd like to
get another opinion, a second opinionfrom another medical professional. And if the
doctor doesn't respond positively to that,that's probably a sign Jennifer, you have
a bad doctor. Yeah, ahuge d reg flag. But I think
(06:28):
that the healthcare system is recognizing thedays of the people older than baby boomer
age. There's a traditionalist generation.They still, to an extent they do
look at the doctors is infallible toan extent, not all of them,
but a lot of people in thegeneration. But I think the healthcare system
recognizes that the boomers, the Genxers, the millennials, the Gen zs,
(06:50):
they do look at the healthcare relationshipsvery differently. Going back to what
you said, Philade burnout before thepandemic, about half of all doctors and
nurses said that they were I thinkactually it was seven I think it's seventy
percent as nurses, So they wereburned out before the pandemic. And three
(07:11):
quarters of healthcare administrators said the samething. And so now we are at
unprecedented levels. I think there's alot of people still working in the field
who haven't fully processed what they wereput through and think about it. Just
Okay, in the beginning, wewere told, Okay, you touched a
surface and you could potentially die.That's a lot of strust to put and
(07:32):
saying, okay, there's going tobe people in here that are going to
be coughing and sneezing on you,and you know, all of a sudden,
this is going to be a newenvironment where you could bring this home
to your family and kill your family. That's a ridiculous amount of streuss that
the providers had to go through.And of course we found out debt much
of that was incorrect information, thankfully, but just the psychological stress is that
(07:56):
the fact that the rules would changeovernight. Okay, yes you should wear
a maths No you shouldn't, Yesyou should. The idea that there were
a lot of providers that's just walkedout. I know personally people that said
they were worried that the governor wasgoing to say you have to stay in
place where you are in whatever statethey resided, so they just quit their
jobs. They just walked out.So the amount of stress unprecedented for our
(08:22):
time period. I think one ofthe things I'm working and I consult with
the organizations on now is how doyou reduce that stress? Because people were
working and they had their heads down, But now is really when those aftermath
effects are happening to a lot ofour providers. Jennifer Fitzpatrick is with us.
(08:43):
Jennifer's latest book is Reimagining Customer Serviceand Healthcare, Boost Loyalty, profits
and Outcomes. It's out in paperbackas of February of this year, available
wherever books are sold. You canalso learn more about Jennifer get the book
at generations health dot com. That'sGenerations with A J E n as in
(09:05):
Jennifer Generations Health dot com JE NE R A t i o nshealth dot
com. As we're speaking about herlatest book, and we kind of have
talked about some of the warning signsyou may want to be seeking out a
different, different healthcare provider. Let'slook at some of the other ones,
(09:26):
and that might be just feeling noteven listened to, from the people at
the front desk to the nurse thatchecks you in if you're going in for
your annual physical, to the doctor. They just you feel like a lot
of times you just feel like you'reon an assembly, a line moving through.
You get your two minutes with adoctor, and then you're just ushered
out the door. Are there anyother signs, Jennifer that maybe you need
(09:48):
to seek out a different healthcare provider? And part two of that question is
can you find a good healthcare provider, one that you feel like, has
a good bedside manner, really caresabout you. Well. I think one
thing these days to keep in mindis definitely talk to people that you trust
and respect. Who are they using, who do they utilize, who do
(10:09):
they feel like is good? ButI think another thing that is the sign
that you might want to look elsewhereis if you're from a group that's diverse,
maybe race, culture, religion,you know for your area where you
live, you know, sexual orientation, that sort of thing, and there's
really nobody at the organization that lookslike you, or if they're not asking
(10:33):
questions, Hey, is there anythingabout your background that I don't you think
I might not understand or that Ineed to be aware of? You know,
that is important also, I thinkmaking sure that you know, maybe
you're you're an Asian American person goingto an African American doctor, You're you're
(10:54):
coming from different backgrounds, or astraight doctor working with somebody who is you
know, okay, or something likethat. It's okay that they're different from
you, but are they open toheay? Tell me, is there anything
I should be aware of that youknow from your background you have any because
sometimes areas of diversity actually are notobvious. And the other part of that
(11:16):
is also ah, because you know, now, I'm sure you've had this
experience though, where you go tothe doctor. I'm a gen xtor and
you've got a provider that's younger thanyou, and it's okay, that's perfectly
fine, but at different generations tendto think about things differently, and so
asking for just making sure that theyrespect the norms of your generation. For
(11:41):
example, if it's maybe a millennialprovider working with an elderly person, so
that old the results want to becalled mister or missus or father or sister.
You know what I'm saying. Youknow, if they want to be
shown that sort of respect and theydon't want to be at a first name
basis, it's just want to examto just making sure that you're just being
(12:03):
mindful of making that person comfortable ifthey come from some kind of diverse backgrounds.
Yeah, that's a great point.Jennifer Fitzpatrick is with us. Her
latest book is Reimagining Customer Service inHealthcare, Boosting Loyalty, profits and Outcomes.
It's out in paperback and you canget it wherever you get your books.
(12:24):
There are a lot of issues youdeal with when you go to the
doctor. One of those is youdecide that you know, maybe it's just
time to leave your doctor. Youyou've been there a long time. You
just feel like the quality of careat every level has dropped. What recommendations
do you have, Jennifer Fitzpatrick forfinding a new healthcare provider. I know
(12:46):
you had mentioned talking to friends gettingrecommendations. Unfortunately, in that case,
this has happened to me. Whereyou say you know your friends or two
friends say they have a great doctor, happens to the same doctor that doctors
not except new patients very common thesedays, or other tips or thoughts you
have in terms of that. Thisone is tough because contier physician practices,
(13:11):
they get it you're paying an extrafee, so they tend to get it.
A lot of the red tape isremoved. You're interfacing with the provider
mostly rather than support staffs. Unfortunately, that is cost prohibitive for a lot
of people. But that if dohave the funds, that is something to
examine and look at and see isthat a good fit for you? And
they are almost always taking new patients. But the other way that I would
(13:35):
say is consider going outside of yourgeographic area a little bit. I know,
we all want to be right aroundthe corner from our doctor. I
get that, Yeah, But becauseof the rise of telehealth and texting and
phone calls and you know, ofcourse of a type of compliance software,
there are a lot of better optionsnow, like maybe you need to go
(13:56):
to the doctor once a year,or maybe every other year or once every
six months, Like maybe go alittle outside of your geographic area that you're
mostly comfortable with, because maybe youcan deal with the rest of it.
Your Tallehealth. Your phone calls throughemailing, and so that gives you a
little bit of a wider landscape tolook for a provider. So because you
(14:16):
know, back even five years ago, it's how a health really wasn't much
of a thing, and they wouldsay, okay, you got a truck
into the office if you need something. Now we have a lot of really
great hippo compliance software, so itmight be look more outside of the geographic
area that you usually would and bewilling to travel a little bit for that
once a year appointment. Jennifer Fitzpatrickour guest on West Michigan Weekend from iHeartRadio.
(14:41):
Her latest book is Reimagining Customer Servicein Healthcare. It's available everywhere you
get your books, and it's onher great website, Generation seal dot com.
That's Generations instead of a G usea J as in Jennifer er Generation
Health dot com. Generation's Health Education. In fact, if you're a medical
(15:03):
professional listening to us, Jennifer helpshospitals, helps doctor's office get better,
and you can contact her through Generation'sHealth to learn more about that. A
lot of great educational opportunities with Jenniferand her other book, which we mentioned
earlier. For anybody who is acorrect caregiver or about to enter the process
(15:24):
of caregiving, don't miss her previousbook, Cruising through Caregiving, highly recommended.
Jennifer Fitzpatrick, our guest on thissegment of West Michigan Weekend. Any
final thoughts, Jen, There's alot of good happening in healthcare too.
I think they're you definitely want tobe respectful and let people know when they
are doing a good job. Andthen lastly, still have those feedback forms,
(15:50):
whether they're electronic or paper, becausehealthcare organizations do take them seriously and
they do use them to try toimprove indeed, Jennifer fitz Patrick, that'll
be our final word from Jennifer.She's been our guests in this segment of
West Michigan Weekend. Again. Thelatest book is Reimagining Customer Service in Healthcare.
You can get that at generationshealth dotCom, Generations with a J or
(16:15):
Amazon, or anywhere you get yourfavorite books. She's been our guests in
this segment of West Michigan Weekend.From My Heart Radio, more coming up
in just a moment. If youcame across someone struggling with hunger, how
would you recognize them. Would younotice an eight year old girl who's not
excited for summer break because she maynot be having lun jakan until September,
(16:36):
or a war veteran who's having ahard time landing a job and getting back
on his feet. I am theone in eight Americans who struggle with hunger.
I am Hunger in America. Hungercan be hard to recognize. Learn
why, and I am Hunger inAmerica dot Org brought to you by Feeding
America and the AD Council and it'sWest Michigan Weekend. Thank you once again
for listening. This is Hostfield Toweralong with you, and I'm very pleased
(17:00):
in this segment. Boy am Iexcited to welcome New York Times bestselling author
Jeff Shara. He has written seventeengreat novels, and maybe his latest book
will be the one that he's mostremembered for. I know he's excited about
it. I'm excited about it becauseit profiles in novel fashion, one of
the most popular and maybe most misunderstoodpresidents of our time, Theodore Roosevelt.
(17:23):
The book is the Old Line.It's out in Saint Martin's Press May sixteenth,
and Jeff takes readers on a deepdive into the many layered history of
Theodore Roosevelt. Jeff sharers on ourlive line for this conversation, and Jeff,
thank you first of all for joiningus. Really excited to have you
with us. Well, thank you. It's a pointed to be here.
(17:45):
So let's start about the guy thatthe subject. I know this is something
that you were drawn to. Whatdrew you too? With all the great
novels you've written, what drew youto Teddy Roosevelt to profile, especially in
a novel fashion, Well, allof my books. If anybody's familiar with
anything I've done, you know thattheir character driven stories. I mean there
(18:07):
they take place in significant events throughoutour history, most of the military,
you know, the Civil War,American Revolution, World War One, World
War two. I wanted to getaway from that a little bit and focus
on a single character, and he'sthe one who jumped out at me.
I mean, this is a characterthat people know something about, Teddy Roosevelt,
but for the most part, youknow, most people don't know everything
(18:30):
about it, and they don't know, you know, just how complex the
man was, and some of it, you know, you may know,
obviously the rush riders, you know, writing up the San Juan Hill.
I mean, that's an important partof his life, but it's not the
only part of his life. Andyou know, going through his presidency,
going through his time into Dakotas asa cattle rancher, going through the Amazon
(18:52):
where which almost kills him. Hetakes an ill advised trip late in his
life that he really has no businessbaking and barely survives that. All of
these kinds of story lend themselves.You know, you mentioned the novel.
This is not a history book,it's not a biography. This is a
story called from heavy Roosevelt's own eyes, as he would tell it. So
(19:15):
you're in his head and you're hearingthe dialogue and with the people around him
and feeling the experiences the way hefelt them. And by definition that has
to be called fiction. But youknow, the story is accurate. I
mean, everything's true, everything thathappens, and I think it makes a
good story. Well, there wasa lot of material that Roosevelt left.
(19:38):
In fact, what I know abouthim, he was quite the writer,
a prolific writer. He left afterhis death thousands of letters. I mean
that had to be really interesting asyou pour through this figure historically to see
his thoughts. Jeff, Well,it makes my life easier. There is
(20:00):
there is so much research and somuch material that he created himself as well,
and there are other original sources aswell people, which is what I
rely on, and every story I'vedone is you know, the accounts of
the people who were there. Hissister Corinne writes a wonderful book about growing
up with him, what his lifewas like as a younger man. I
(20:22):
mean, that's the invaluable resource,all of his writings as well, and
then you have the accounts again ofother people who were around him. All
of that's what I rely on toget it right, to hear the voices
so that I can give those voicesto you and have them be authentic.
Author Jeff shares with us his newestbook is The Old Lion, a great
(20:45):
profile President Teddy Roosevelt, out onMay sixteenth on Saint Martin's Press, available
wherever books are sold. You know, there's a question that is often discussed
amongst friends and fans of history,Jeff Shara, which is if you could
take a well known president, ormaybe a US president to lunch one that
(21:07):
would be your favorite. Do youthink Teddy Roosevelt would be on that list
or would he be maybe a difficultperson to sit down with in a pub
or over a meal and discuss life. I think he'd be a blast,
you know, if you just kindof run down the list of president.
I've always said, and not apresident, but I've always said Benjamin Franklin
(21:30):
would be the one character I wantto sit down with. Ye But now
that I've done the Roosevelt book anddone the research on Teddy, I think
he trumps Franklin even. I thinkhe would be a marvelous person to sit
all. You did a lot ofresearch on him for this great book,
The Old Lion. What surprised youin your research and just digging into the
(21:52):
man himself? Some of the episodesthat take place, for example, out
West and in the Dakota Territory whenhe goes out there to become a cattle
rancher. He has no idea whathe's doing, but he gets some good
people working for him, and hegets so involved and so enthusiastic about the
process out there, and again hemakes all kinds of mistakes, and he
(22:15):
makes enemies as well as friends.But it's a story that you know,
it just isn't told. When you'retalking about Teddy Roosevelt, you just over
you tend to overlook that. Sothat was one section of the book.
So I absolutely love because it's somethingwe just don't know. Jeff Sharer is
with us. The newest book fromauthor Jeff Sharer is The Old Lions.
(22:38):
It is out on Saint Martin's Presson May sixteenth and available wherever books are
sold. What's what's interesting and thereare so many interesting facts and great history
books written about Roosevelt. He wasa very complex figure. He was kind
of a rough and tumble but asyou said, he kind of had a
(23:02):
you know, a very protected,shall we say, comfortable upright upraising as
a young man, as a youngadult, and then he went out west
and he's just it's a complicated guy. But later in life, do you
think he knew himself the way hewanted to know himself or do you think
he was always trying to discover himself. No, I think he was always
(23:23):
trying to discover something new. Imean he's constantly, even during his presidency,
he's taking his own road. He'snot doing things the way you know,
it was always done or the waya lot of the politicians of Congress
expected him to do things. Hewas always looking for a new path,
and I think that's one of thethings that makes him so fascinating. It's
(23:45):
also one of the reasons why alot of people didn't like him at the
time, because he just didn't dothings the way he was expected to do
them. Well, to me,that's fun. I mean, that makes
for a great character. And hewas an outsider politically because the Republicans really
didn't want him as a young bullmoose Republican. He kind of had to
(24:07):
work the back rooms to be ableto, you know, get enough support
to be elected. Right. Well, again, he didn't play the game.
He didn't he didn't perform the wayhe was supposed to. He shot
his mouth a lot. He wasalways heard. But he was in the
State Assembly in New York in Albany, New York. Uh, he was,
you know, the youngest man inthe State Assembly. He made himself
(24:29):
really a pinion because he was alwaysspeaking up, always seeking attention and pushing
through programs that he felt were veryimportant. Uh. He was a firm
believer in the rights of the commonman and not everybody in those days we're
looking at the common man. Theywere looking at the robber barons of the
corporate interests. And Roosevelt fought againstthat. He fought against that his whole
(24:52):
life. But it made him unpopularwith a lot of his peers. But
it made him a norm wassly popularwith the general public, which is what's
how he got elected. Author JeffShara is with US author New York Times
bestselling author, author of several greatnovels, and his latest is The Old
Lion, Great profile of President TeddyRoosevelt on Saint Martin's Press were speaking with
(25:18):
him about the book. And youknow, a lot of people may forget
that Roosevelt was the father of themodern US Navy. He was fascinated with
anything to do with ships, andthe navy obviously very much connected with the
Panama Canal. Talk about that aspectof his life. It was an interesting
aspect of his life. Jeff.Well, he was an assist the assistant
(25:41):
Secretary of the Navy. He wasnot in charge, but the old secretary
who was in charge was sort ofon his way out, and he would
tend to take days off, orRoosevelt would take these opportunities. When he
was in charge for one day,he would issue all kinds of orders and
said paper war flying out of theNavy Department by buying ships, of making
(26:03):
sure they were well provided for andammunition and food stuffs and all of this.
And you know he and he wasagain to use the cliche, he
was the bull move so, Imean he was the bull in the china
shop getting things done. Again.That didn't make him very popular with the
older, the older gentleman that hewas working around, but it made him
(26:25):
enormously popular with the Navy. Imean, the Navy loved him because he
was he was looking out for theirinterests and the Panama Canal the same thing.
He knew if it was left upto Congress to debate and debate and
debate, it would be fifty yearsbefore the Panama Canal was dug. He
rammed through and lobbied himself with Congressto get the bills passed to get the
(26:45):
canal going, and was in thelarge part responsible for that being done in
a period of just a few years. I keep on thinking historically about leaders
and great presidents like Roosevelt. Doesn'tit make you long for this kind of
leadership in this kind of a figure. Do you think he would play well
in twenty twenty four? Jeff Shara, I've been asked that before, and
(27:08):
it's a hard question to weigh becausewe're a different world today. Yeah,
I would like to believe that,yes, that he would be extremely popular,
that he would be able to gethis job done as he did and
you know, in the early nineteenhundreds. I don't know. We're such
a cynical society today that it's hardto say that. I hope, So
(27:30):
I'll have to answer it that way, I hope. So I am absolutely
right along with you. I havereally enjoyed our opportunity to speak and wish
you nothing but the greatest success withyour newest book, The Old Lion.
It is out on Tuesday, Maysixteenth, available everywhere books are sold.
Author Jeff Shara, New York Timesbest selling author. Some of his great
(27:52):
books include The Gods and Generals andThe Eagles Claw and so many others.
Jeff, thank you so much forjoining us. There's my pleasure. He's
been our guest on this segment ofWest Michigan Weekend from iHeartRadio as a program
for this week. Thank you somuch for listening. iHeartMedia West Michigan Weekend,
a public affairs program
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