Episode Details

As one of our guests, Dr. Tony DiGioia (EP332), has said, healthcare has been pushed to its limits this past year; but that doesn't mean that nothing good has come of it. Celebrating our bright spots and using our experiences to inform future innovations is really the key to more accessible, equitable, and higher quality of care. While the timing of the celebration could, in general, be better given the latest pandemic news, as they say, there's no time like the present. So, let's do this thing.

Also, it's just definitely good from a mental health perspective to find bright spots and to be grateful for them. So, let me kick this off with all of the gratitude I can hold in my two hands for anybody listening who is on the so-called front line of healthcare. My appreciation cannot be expressed more fiercely. I wish, in fact, that there was more that I/we could do to address the systemic issues that plague our healthcare industry and really impact you directly.

Speaking of doctors as one of these frontline healthcare groups, in the Doximity Physician Compensation Report that was released for this past year, here's four stats to know:

1. Twenty-two percent of physicians are considering early retirement because of overwork.
2. Sixteen percent of physicians are looking for another employer because of overwork.
3. Twelve percent of physicians are looking for another career because of overwork.
4. Twenty-seven percent of physicians said they're not overworked, so I guess there's that—that's a bright spot.

So, all you docs, nurses, PAs, social workers, therapists of all kinds, any other healthcare workers: Thank you for all that you do even in the face of these adversities and a bunch of seemingly shortsighted policy and/or administrative decisions. Take care of yourself first and foremost. We need you; we appreciate you. Thank you.

I'd also like to thank everybody who listened to Relentless Health Value this past year. Thank you for being part of an inspired and inspirational community of individuals who are trying hard to do the right thing and learn and connect with others on a similar journey—even in the face of all the perverse incentives and calcified status quo processes, the whole host of factors that add up to formidable barriers to positive change.

All of us—and I'm thinking that includes you—we continue to press forward. This is important because the more of us there are, the more of us who link hands and do some combination of educate, cajole, scold, guilt into, demand, lead, vote, wear down … the more of us who consider ourselves part of the change, the more effective we can be. So, recruit your fellow thinkers and let's continue to make inroads.

I want to give a special thank you to the many of you who have reached out to me over this past year. You have encouraged, coached, and debated with me. You have added details and case studies. You've provided context. You have offered up topics to explore and introduced me and our team over here to some great guests. You have changed my mind. You have made me realize that there's some maybe underlying reason for something that is, in fact, valid or a consequence that maybe hasn't been thought through well enough by me and/or others.

I couldn't be more thankful or appreciative to every single one of you.

Each week on Relentless Health Value, Stacey uses her voice and thought leadership to provide insights for healthcare industry decision makers trying to do the right thing. Each show