This Fixing Healthcare podcast series, “Diving Deep,” probes into some of healthcare’s most complex topics and deep-seated problems.

On today’s episode, hosts Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr discuss the “Anatomy of Healthcare Leadership,” a new way of looking at the skills and qualities needed to transform American medicine. According to Dr. Pearl, leaders must apply logic and creativity (a function of the brain), they must show passion and express empathy (via the heart) and they must also demonstrate courage and resilience (using the proverbial strong spine). Later in the show, Corr gets Pearl to describe his leadership journey and the nationally recognized success he experienced for nearly two decades as CEO at Kaiser Permanente.

For more information on healthcare leadership, check out Dr. Pearl’s latest columns on Forbes and LinkedIn. For listeners interested in show notes, here’s a discussion guide:

THE ANATOMY OF HEALTHCARE LEADERSHIP

• How can strong leadership defeat the “middleman mentality” in healthcare?
• What proof is there that U.S. healthcare lacks effective leadership?
• What kinds of healthcare problems will be hardest for leaders to address?
• Can healthcare leaders really change how healthcare is paid?
• What are the benefits of “capitation”?
• If capitation is the solution, why is it so rare in healthcare today?
• How does the middleman mentality slow healthcare’s financial reform?
• Why would anyone who’s profiting from healthcare’s dysfunction want to drive change?
• Where should aspiring healthcare leaders begin?
• Why has the trio of cost, quality and access been so hard to achieve?
• How can aspiring winning over the people who deliver care?
• What is the “Anatomy of Healthcare Leadership” and how can it change medicine for good?
• How can leaders apply logic and creativity (their brains) to the challenge?
• How can leaders apply passion and empathy (their heart) to the challenge?
• How can leaders demonstrate courage and persistence (the spine) to the challenge?

PEARL’S LEADERSHIP JOURNEY

• What was the arc of Pearl’s journey from plastic surgeon to CEO?
• How were healthcare problems similar/different early in Pearl’s career compared to today?
• How did Pearl become the CEO at Kaiser Permanente in 1998?
• What were his goals for the organization at the time?
•  What are the three biggest leadership lessons he learned as CEO?

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Dr. Robert Pearl is the author of a book about medicine’s invisible yet highly influential physician culture. Check out “Uncaring: How Physician Culture Is Killing Doctors & Patients.” All profits from the book go to Doctors Without Borders.

Fixing Healthcare is a co-production of Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. Subscribe to the show via Apple, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you find podcasts. Join the conversation or suggest a guest by following the show on Twitter and LinkedIn.

The post FHC #71: Diving deep into healthcare leadership appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.