This falls into the category of “not menopause-specific but still relevant” as it basically pertains to all of us who receive medical care.
I recently had the pleasure of being on the Patients at Risk podcast with host Rebekah Bernard, MD. We both share common values revolving around patient advocacy, safety and transparency of medical care, and pushing back against the increasingly corporatized healthcare system.
Here is the show opener:
Susan J. Baumgaertel, MD FACP, an internal medicine physician, author, patient advocate and ally to colleagues discusses how physicians can fight for patients. Trust in physicians has plummeted in the last few years, making it more and more difficult for doctors to do their jobs and potentially leading to a negative impact on patient care. While many point to handling of the COVID pandemic as the cause of growing distrust, a larger part of the problem may be that ordinary physicians have virtually no control over the healthcare system or even the day-to-day practice of medicine. Susan Baumgaertel (myMDadvocate) discusses her fight to help physicians regain the trust of our patients by making sure that they get the best care.
Access the 30 minute YouTube recording here.
Want a breakdown of the show? Here you go!
1:16 (SB)
- Background—Architecture & Urban Planning; medical training; career practice models (insurance, concierge, wellness program, patient pay, hybrid, telemed); pivot to myMDadvocate
2:50 (SB)
- Path to focusing on patient advocacy; being available to patients; supporting colleagues as well—a professional compass
4:10 (SB)
- Past organization’s “partnering” with Optum, aka UnitedHealth; moral injury over burnout
6:02 (RB)
- Corporatization of healthcare; small practices less sustainable; insurance overlay; cog in the wheel
7:27 (SB)
- Components of moral injury; death by a thousand clicks (EHR); importance & definition of autonomy; stepping away from all of this to be of better service to patients
- Sticking neck out; Boston STAT News conference; NYC ICCR conference
10:33 (SB)
- A rambling description of Wendell Potter 🙄
12:33 (RB)
- A more succinct description of Wendell Potter 😄
13:50 (SB)
- Private equity’s bottom line is money which does not support actual patient care; we need more transparency
15:00 (RB)
- Recent AMA panel discussion; companies intentionally try to make it harder to get Rx/Tx; more oversight needed
16:27 (SB)
- Regulation of the insurance industry; hold sacred: patient safety, transparency, doctor-patient relationship, basic decency and respect
18:48 (RB)
- Quoted from article, Please Stop Saying ‘Provider’!
19:15 (SB)
- Not from an ego position; use everyone’s title (WSMA Resolution passed, late 2021); safety and transparency; professional appropriation; everyone has a white coat; corporatization model promotes this
21:55 (RB)
- Physicians for Patient Protection (PPP): encouraging patients, “It’s OK to ask”; “Provider Susan”; stripping physicians of autonomy, etc. (cogs in a wheel)
23:20 (SB)
- There is a role for everyone (team care model) but all need to be identified by title
24:25 (RB, SB)
- Book, The Menopause Menu; menopause information sharing
26:38 (SB, RB)
- How to regain trust; helping patients navigating care; look at both sides of issues (patient/physician); empathy; stand up and speak out (on stage, to DOJ, in writing, in person, etc.); for all the right reasons
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Susan J. Baumgaertel, MD is an internal medicine physician who provides telemedicine medical consultation and advocacy for patients in WA state, and professional career pivot navigation support for physicians in the US. Find her at myMDadvocate.
Her book, The Menopause Menu, is an all-in-one giftbook, medical guide and recipe book for navigating menopause.