1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:03,060 Imagine this. You're at the Hyatt Regency Chicago 2 00:00:03,439 --> 00:00:06,000 immersed in insightful discussions with the health care 3 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:07,459 industry's top leaders. 4 00:00:07,839 --> 00:00:10,580 Welcome to Becker's 12th annual CEO 5 00:00:10,880 --> 00:00:14,740 and CFO roundtable from November 11th to 14th 6 00:00:15,134 --> 00:00:15,634 2024. 7 00:00:16,175 --> 00:00:19,315 Picture yourself networking with over a 1000 executive 8 00:00:19,454 --> 00:00:20,275 level attendees, 9 00:00:20,734 --> 00:00:23,795 collecting business cards, and forging valuable connections. 10 00:00:24,255 --> 00:00:26,654 Feel the excitement as you engage in 4 11 00:00:26,654 --> 00:00:28,675 days of sessions featuring 400 12 00:00:29,135 --> 00:00:30,870 elite health system speakers. 13 00:00:31,429 --> 00:00:35,049 Envision yourself diving deep into critical topics like 14 00:00:35,109 --> 00:00:37,450 rural health care, digital transformation, 15 00:00:38,070 --> 00:00:40,409 health equity, and c suite diversity. 16 00:00:41,270 --> 00:00:44,729 Now imagine being inspired by our celebrity keynotes, 17 00:00:45,195 --> 00:00:48,234 pro football hall of famers Troy Aikman and 18 00:00:48,234 --> 00:00:52,075 Emmett Smith, 43rd president George w Bush, and 19 00:00:52,075 --> 00:00:55,435 author and journalist Jenna Bush Hager. Their stories 20 00:00:55,435 --> 00:00:56,495 will leave you motivated 21 00:00:56,875 --> 00:00:57,695 and energized. 22 00:00:58,234 --> 00:00:59,535 Don't miss this unparalleled 23 00:00:59,995 --> 00:01:00,495 opportunity. 24 00:01:00,990 --> 00:01:03,329 Get registered today. Visit beckershospitalreview.com 25 00:01:05,230 --> 00:01:06,989 and click on the events page to find 26 00:01:06,989 --> 00:01:08,129 the conference website. 27 00:01:08,510 --> 00:01:09,489 That's the beckershospitalreview.com 28 00:01:11,709 --> 00:01:13,729 events page. See you in Chicago. 29 00:01:14,784 --> 00:01:17,825 Welcome to the Becker's Healthcare podcast. I'm Mariah 30 00:01:17,825 --> 00:01:20,405 Taylor, assistant editor, and I'm thrilled to interview 31 00:01:20,465 --> 00:01:24,325 Shlomit Shaul, chief physician executive at Houston Methodist 32 00:01:24,384 --> 00:01:27,659 and president and chief executive officer at Houston 33 00:01:27,659 --> 00:01:29,119 Methodist Physician Organization 34 00:01:29,659 --> 00:01:32,140 on the podcast today. Doctor Schall, thank you 35 00:01:32,140 --> 00:01:33,979 so much for joining me. I'm so excited 36 00:01:33,979 --> 00:01:35,979 for this conversation because you're one of our 37 00:01:35,979 --> 00:01:39,180 upcoming panelists at our CEO CFO conference, and 38 00:01:39,180 --> 00:01:40,754 we're really excited to get a sneak peek 39 00:01:40,754 --> 00:01:42,134 into some of your thought leadership. 40 00:01:42,435 --> 00:01:44,594 But before we dive in, I'd love if 41 00:01:44,594 --> 00:01:46,194 you could introduce yourself and tell us a 42 00:01:46,194 --> 00:01:47,575 little bit more about your background. 43 00:01:48,354 --> 00:01:50,674 Alright. Thank you so much for having me 44 00:01:50,674 --> 00:01:51,174 today. 45 00:01:51,474 --> 00:01:54,560 I'm Shlomi Chal. I'm a chief physician executive 46 00:01:54,560 --> 00:01:57,459 here at Houston Methodist. I'm also the CEO 47 00:01:57,520 --> 00:02:00,659 of our physician organization here at Houston Methodist. 48 00:02:01,200 --> 00:02:04,739 And, as a background, I'm a clinician scientist. 49 00:02:05,295 --> 00:02:06,915 I'm a retina surgeon. 50 00:02:07,614 --> 00:02:10,354 I've been in academic medicine my entire 51 00:02:10,655 --> 00:02:11,155 lifetime. 52 00:02:12,655 --> 00:02:14,094 Maybe you can hear a little bit of 53 00:02:14,094 --> 00:02:16,514 an accent in my voice, 54 00:02:16,814 --> 00:02:20,319 maybe a lot. I, made a journey all 55 00:02:20,319 --> 00:02:22,740 the way from Israel to Kentucky 56 00:02:23,120 --> 00:02:24,020 through Massachusetts 57 00:02:24,400 --> 00:02:26,879 where I was the chair of the Department 58 00:02:26,879 --> 00:02:28,900 of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences 59 00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:30,979 at University of Massachusetts. 60 00:02:31,855 --> 00:02:32,594 And then, 61 00:02:33,295 --> 00:02:34,115 that was 62 00:02:35,135 --> 00:02:35,635 really 63 00:02:36,015 --> 00:02:36,515 recent 64 00:02:36,895 --> 00:02:38,194 a year and a half ago 65 00:02:39,135 --> 00:02:39,635 and 66 00:02:40,015 --> 00:02:41,875 also was the President 67 00:02:42,495 --> 00:02:45,855 of the Medical Group at UMASS Memorial Medical 68 00:02:45,855 --> 00:02:48,930 Group. I moved to Houston, Texas about a 69 00:02:48,930 --> 00:02:50,069 year and a half ago 70 00:02:50,449 --> 00:02:52,549 and to take this job. 71 00:02:53,810 --> 00:02:56,289 And I'm really enjoying my time here, especially 72 00:02:56,289 --> 00:02:58,905 now that we're talking in August, which is 73 00:02:59,224 --> 00:03:01,224 the hottest month of the year here and 74 00:03:01,224 --> 00:03:03,645 the most human humid one in Houston. 75 00:03:04,584 --> 00:03:06,125 Oh, I can only imagine. 76 00:03:06,745 --> 00:03:08,905 Tell me a little bit about your most 77 00:03:08,905 --> 00:03:11,384 successful project or initiative from the last year. 78 00:03:11,384 --> 00:03:12,824 What did you do and what were the 79 00:03:12,824 --> 00:03:13,324 results? 80 00:03:14,620 --> 00:03:17,599 So in my role here, I am responsible, 81 00:03:19,259 --> 00:03:21,120 for everything to do 82 00:03:21,419 --> 00:03:24,639 quality and patient safety in our entire organization. 83 00:03:25,500 --> 00:03:28,560 That means all our hospitals and our clinics 84 00:03:28,824 --> 00:03:30,204 in our Greater Houston. 85 00:03:30,664 --> 00:03:31,564 I'm also 86 00:03:31,864 --> 00:03:32,364 responsible, 87 00:03:33,544 --> 00:03:35,245 for our physician organization. 88 00:03:35,944 --> 00:03:38,984 So I'm new to the organization, relatively new 89 00:03:38,984 --> 00:03:39,724 to the organization 90 00:03:40,104 --> 00:03:41,564 and it's a great organization. 91 00:03:42,185 --> 00:03:44,580 I'm sure you know that Houston Methodist is 92 00:03:44,580 --> 00:03:47,300 really a leader in quality patient safety. We 93 00:03:47,300 --> 00:03:49,879 are really leading also in 94 00:03:50,419 --> 00:03:51,960 our employee engagement. 95 00:03:53,540 --> 00:03:56,659 So we call ourselves leading medicine and as 96 00:03:56,659 --> 00:03:59,504 an executive, when you join such a strong 97 00:03:59,504 --> 00:04:00,004 team, 98 00:04:01,344 --> 00:04:03,344 and your job as an executive is to 99 00:04:03,344 --> 00:04:04,245 make the organization 100 00:04:04,625 --> 00:04:06,405 even better than it is, 101 00:04:07,264 --> 00:04:09,764 because really in healthcare, we always 102 00:04:10,465 --> 00:04:12,864 are on a journey to keep improving and 103 00:04:12,864 --> 00:04:13,685 getting better. 104 00:04:14,069 --> 00:04:15,290 How do you do that? 105 00:04:15,909 --> 00:04:18,389 And what I did together with my team, 106 00:04:18,389 --> 00:04:19,129 my excellent 107 00:04:19,830 --> 00:04:21,930 new team that actually I inherited 108 00:04:22,709 --> 00:04:24,170 when I started here, 109 00:04:25,189 --> 00:04:27,769 we went on a listening and learning tour 110 00:04:28,115 --> 00:04:30,514 through the entire organization. At the beginning, we 111 00:04:30,514 --> 00:04:31,175 did it 112 00:04:32,115 --> 00:04:35,175 with focus on quality and patient safety. 113 00:04:36,115 --> 00:04:36,855 And then 114 00:04:37,314 --> 00:04:38,134 this year, 115 00:04:39,154 --> 00:04:40,295 this 2024 116 00:04:40,675 --> 00:04:44,019 year, we actually focused on something that is 117 00:04:44,019 --> 00:04:45,560 very close to my heart, 118 00:04:45,939 --> 00:04:46,680 which is 119 00:04:47,139 --> 00:04:50,680 wellness and physicians, specifically physician well-being 120 00:04:51,300 --> 00:04:54,384 physician and clinicians. So it's physicians and APPs. 121 00:04:54,925 --> 00:04:59,024 And what we wanted to know is really 122 00:04:59,324 --> 00:05:01,985 how are we doing here at Houston Methodist 123 00:05:02,524 --> 00:05:05,745 and what could we do possibly better 124 00:05:06,850 --> 00:05:08,310 to make our physicians, 125 00:05:08,610 --> 00:05:10,470 clinicians and care providers 126 00:05:11,889 --> 00:05:14,209 better because I truly believe that this is 127 00:05:14,209 --> 00:05:15,189 in high correlation 128 00:05:16,290 --> 00:05:18,550 with quality of care. If you have a 129 00:05:19,245 --> 00:05:22,605 highly engaged physician, highly engaged clinician, they're going 130 00:05:22,605 --> 00:05:23,345 to deliver 131 00:05:25,004 --> 00:05:27,884 better quality and safer care to our patients. 132 00:05:27,884 --> 00:05:30,225 So this became a high priority 133 00:05:30,685 --> 00:05:32,064 in our physician organization 134 00:05:32,365 --> 00:05:33,185 this year. 135 00:05:33,620 --> 00:05:35,699 And what we did, we went on a 136 00:05:35,699 --> 00:05:38,759 tour and we call it a JIMMY tour. 137 00:05:38,899 --> 00:05:41,720 We're very proud of the name. JIMMY is 138 00:05:42,180 --> 00:05:43,319 Joy in Medicine 139 00:05:43,620 --> 00:05:44,120 Initiative. 140 00:05:44,579 --> 00:05:46,819 We went on that JIMMY tour and we 141 00:05:46,819 --> 00:05:50,074 started we focused on our primary care physicians. 142 00:05:50,855 --> 00:05:51,355 And 143 00:05:52,134 --> 00:05:54,295 you think about why are we focusing on 144 00:05:54,295 --> 00:05:57,975 primary care, because primary care physicians are really 145 00:05:57,975 --> 00:05:58,795 the door 146 00:05:59,175 --> 00:06:00,555 to our organization. 147 00:06:01,014 --> 00:06:02,279 A lot of our patients 148 00:06:03,160 --> 00:06:03,660 door 149 00:06:04,120 --> 00:06:06,560 to our organization. A lot of our patients 150 00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:09,259 are referred to our specialty physicians through our 151 00:06:09,399 --> 00:06:10,779 primary care providers. 152 00:06:11,240 --> 00:06:13,480 And I wanted to take a chance to 153 00:06:13,480 --> 00:06:15,480 take the opportunity and get to know them 154 00:06:15,480 --> 00:06:15,980 better. 155 00:06:17,125 --> 00:06:20,105 And together with my team and our executive 156 00:06:20,165 --> 00:06:21,625 team at the physician organization, 157 00:06:22,324 --> 00:06:23,464 we went 158 00:06:23,764 --> 00:06:25,464 from site to site 159 00:06:26,004 --> 00:06:26,985 and met 160 00:06:27,444 --> 00:06:28,345 in person 161 00:06:29,009 --> 00:06:29,509 with 162 00:06:29,810 --> 00:06:32,389 all of our primary care providers. 163 00:06:33,009 --> 00:06:35,810 These are both physicians and APPs and we 164 00:06:35,810 --> 00:06:38,229 really asked 3 questions. We asked, 165 00:06:38,689 --> 00:06:40,289 what are you doing here? Who are you? 166 00:06:40,289 --> 00:06:42,694 Get to know them. The second question is, 167 00:06:42,694 --> 00:06:44,875 what's good here at Houston Methodist? 168 00:06:45,254 --> 00:06:47,654 And then the third question is, what could 169 00:06:47,654 --> 00:06:48,634 we do better? 170 00:06:49,014 --> 00:06:51,574 And this was really a humble tour. I 171 00:06:51,574 --> 00:06:54,615 came from a place that I thought even 172 00:06:54,615 --> 00:06:55,970 though I'm 30 173 00:06:56,430 --> 00:06:59,230 years in medicine and in academic medicine and 174 00:06:59,230 --> 00:07:00,850 I'm a clinician and a surgeon, 175 00:07:01,389 --> 00:07:04,430 I came from a place of I do 176 00:07:04,430 --> 00:07:06,610 not know anything about Houston Methodist. 177 00:07:07,150 --> 00:07:08,670 Tell me how it is to be here 178 00:07:08,670 --> 00:07:09,810 and help me 179 00:07:10,175 --> 00:07:11,555 make your life better. 180 00:07:12,014 --> 00:07:13,235 So it was really, 181 00:07:14,495 --> 00:07:15,235 a wonderful 182 00:07:15,855 --> 00:07:18,495 tour where people told us what's good about 183 00:07:18,495 --> 00:07:20,275 us and what could 184 00:07:21,055 --> 00:07:22,435 we do better. 185 00:07:22,810 --> 00:07:25,790 And that helped us devise a 186 00:07:28,490 --> 00:07:29,389 strategy for our physician 187 00:07:29,930 --> 00:07:31,870 organization in terms of wellness. 188 00:07:32,250 --> 00:07:34,189 Now we just didn't only 189 00:07:34,810 --> 00:07:36,439 we're not only satisfied with these person, because 190 00:07:36,439 --> 00:07:37,335 these are group meetings, sometimes it was small 191 00:07:37,335 --> 00:07:40,775 group, sometimes it was bigger groups, our smallest 192 00:07:40,775 --> 00:07:43,735 group was maybe 14 people, the biggest group 193 00:07:43,735 --> 00:07:45,035 was more than 80. 194 00:07:50,970 --> 00:07:52,110 So we didn't 195 00:07:52,730 --> 00:07:55,850 just settle for these in person meetings. We 196 00:07:55,850 --> 00:07:56,750 also used 197 00:07:57,290 --> 00:07:59,230 a press gaining tool called 198 00:08:00,089 --> 00:08:00,589 crowdsourcing 199 00:08:01,770 --> 00:08:04,029 where we could get ideas 200 00:08:04,955 --> 00:08:06,095 from our own 201 00:08:06,475 --> 00:08:06,975 physicians 202 00:08:07,275 --> 00:08:08,095 and APPs 203 00:08:08,714 --> 00:08:11,514 of how to what to focus on in 204 00:08:11,514 --> 00:08:12,335 our strategy 205 00:08:12,955 --> 00:08:14,175 to make their 206 00:08:15,275 --> 00:08:16,574 lives better here 207 00:08:17,915 --> 00:08:19,775 as clinicians in Houston Methodist. 208 00:08:20,930 --> 00:08:22,789 And now we are in the process 209 00:08:23,250 --> 00:08:24,469 of getting information 210 00:08:25,490 --> 00:08:27,990 from Jimmy Tour, from our crowdsourcing 211 00:08:28,849 --> 00:08:30,469 and also from 212 00:08:32,049 --> 00:08:33,829 surveys that we distributed. 213 00:08:34,129 --> 00:08:35,350 And this is a survey 214 00:08:35,985 --> 00:08:37,684 out of PWAAC. PWAAC, 215 00:08:38,144 --> 00:08:40,384 I'm sure you know, but PWAAC is a 216 00:08:40,384 --> 00:08:42,725 professional well-being and academic consortium 217 00:08:43,585 --> 00:08:45,044 that is led 218 00:08:45,745 --> 00:08:46,245 by 219 00:08:46,625 --> 00:08:48,245 Stanford, but many 220 00:08:48,710 --> 00:08:52,410 healthcare systems and academic healthcare systems in particular 221 00:08:52,950 --> 00:08:55,850 are part of PWAs because physician well-being 222 00:08:56,470 --> 00:08:57,529 is a national 223 00:08:58,790 --> 00:09:00,629 priority, I would say. We are not the 224 00:09:00,629 --> 00:09:02,804 only ones who are focusing on it. 225 00:09:03,445 --> 00:09:06,004 And there is no silver bullet that can 226 00:09:06,004 --> 00:09:06,504 solve 227 00:09:07,205 --> 00:09:09,065 the situation. So we 228 00:09:09,524 --> 00:09:12,424 aligned ourselves with PWAC. We 229 00:09:12,884 --> 00:09:14,585 distributed their survey 230 00:09:16,019 --> 00:09:19,059 as really a site in a national survey 231 00:09:19,059 --> 00:09:20,120 that is distributed 232 00:09:20,980 --> 00:09:21,799 every year 233 00:09:22,179 --> 00:09:25,000 in many academic healthcare systems. So 234 00:09:25,620 --> 00:09:27,240 to devise the strategy, 235 00:09:27,725 --> 00:09:29,804 we are taking input from this 1 on 236 00:09:29,804 --> 00:09:31,585 1 meetings in person, 237 00:09:31,965 --> 00:09:32,625 from the 238 00:09:33,004 --> 00:09:33,504 crowdsourcing 239 00:09:34,524 --> 00:09:35,345 and also 240 00:09:36,045 --> 00:09:36,545 from 241 00:09:36,925 --> 00:09:37,425 the 242 00:09:37,965 --> 00:09:38,465 PWAC 243 00:09:38,845 --> 00:09:39,345 survey. 244 00:09:39,940 --> 00:09:41,320 And we are going to have 245 00:09:42,340 --> 00:09:44,040 a big first inaugural 246 00:09:44,740 --> 00:09:45,800 Jimmy Symposium 247 00:09:46,259 --> 00:09:47,940 on November 1. If you want to come 248 00:09:47,940 --> 00:09:50,200 to Houston, Mariah, I'm inviting you. 249 00:09:50,580 --> 00:09:52,120 And we will 250 00:09:53,139 --> 00:09:53,639 really 251 00:09:54,894 --> 00:09:55,394 unveil 252 00:09:55,934 --> 00:09:58,014 what our strategy is. What I can tell 253 00:09:58,014 --> 00:09:58,995 you as a preview 254 00:09:59,375 --> 00:10:02,095 is that we are focusing on really 3 255 00:10:02,095 --> 00:10:02,914 major things. 256 00:10:03,455 --> 00:10:05,475 One big thing is efficiency 257 00:10:05,934 --> 00:10:06,914 of practice. 258 00:10:07,580 --> 00:10:09,919 We heard so many times from our physicians 259 00:10:09,980 --> 00:10:12,320 that a good day is a day that 260 00:10:12,540 --> 00:10:13,600 starts on time, 261 00:10:13,980 --> 00:10:16,779 that all the patients show up, that our 262 00:10:16,779 --> 00:10:17,279 physicians 263 00:10:18,299 --> 00:10:20,524 are able to work at the top of 264 00:10:20,524 --> 00:10:23,884 their license and deliver care and everything is 265 00:10:23,884 --> 00:10:24,865 running smoothly. 266 00:10:25,404 --> 00:10:26,544 And as we know 267 00:10:27,004 --> 00:10:29,584 an integral part of our work as physicians 268 00:10:29,725 --> 00:10:30,784 is really technology. 269 00:10:31,644 --> 00:10:32,144 So 270 00:10:32,605 --> 00:10:34,944 we in the physician organization are 271 00:10:35,370 --> 00:10:38,110 here at Houston Methodist, we are focused on 272 00:10:38,889 --> 00:10:39,389 acquiring 273 00:10:39,769 --> 00:10:42,429 and piloting technologies to make 274 00:10:42,809 --> 00:10:46,669 the life of our physicians better. Something like 275 00:10:46,889 --> 00:10:48,429 some technologies for example 276 00:10:48,794 --> 00:10:50,174 like ambient listening 277 00:10:50,634 --> 00:10:52,875 where you don't have to document while you're 278 00:10:52,875 --> 00:10:53,695 with the patient. 279 00:10:54,075 --> 00:10:54,735 There is 280 00:10:55,995 --> 00:10:57,534 an artificial intelligence 281 00:10:58,315 --> 00:10:59,214 voice recognition 282 00:10:59,754 --> 00:11:00,254 software 283 00:11:00,714 --> 00:11:02,095 that really documents 284 00:11:02,714 --> 00:11:04,549 for you. And we have already 285 00:11:05,009 --> 00:11:07,269 piloted that and are piloting different 286 00:11:07,649 --> 00:11:10,950 companies and so far it's been a tremendous 287 00:11:12,049 --> 00:11:12,549 response 288 00:11:12,929 --> 00:11:15,169 from our physicians, but not only from our 289 00:11:15,169 --> 00:11:15,669 physicians, 290 00:11:16,095 --> 00:11:17,934 all of the teams that are taking care 291 00:11:17,934 --> 00:11:18,595 of patients. 292 00:11:18,975 --> 00:11:20,894 And there are other examples, but this is 293 00:11:20,894 --> 00:11:22,434 one efficiency of practice. 294 00:11:22,815 --> 00:11:24,195 The other thing is 295 00:11:25,134 --> 00:11:26,115 personal resilience. 296 00:11:26,574 --> 00:11:28,815 And when we talk about personal resilience and 297 00:11:28,815 --> 00:11:30,355 you read the literature, 298 00:11:31,740 --> 00:11:34,399 personal resilience is not only delivering 299 00:11:34,860 --> 00:11:35,840 yoga lessons 300 00:11:37,259 --> 00:11:39,820 and community events and book clubs. We are 301 00:11:39,820 --> 00:11:42,860 doing all this, but this is also something 302 00:11:42,860 --> 00:11:45,120 that we discovered during our tour. 303 00:11:45,725 --> 00:11:48,865 Personal resilience is also to teach our physicians 304 00:11:49,085 --> 00:11:49,585 how 305 00:11:50,125 --> 00:11:50,785 to delegate 306 00:11:51,245 --> 00:11:52,625 and trust others 307 00:11:52,925 --> 00:11:55,165 and feel that they can let go when 308 00:11:55,165 --> 00:11:57,965 they are on vacations, when they are using 309 00:11:57,965 --> 00:11:59,665 their time off from their organization 310 00:12:00,220 --> 00:12:02,539 that they feel that it's okay to trust 311 00:12:02,539 --> 00:12:03,519 somebody else 312 00:12:03,899 --> 00:12:06,620 to take care of their patients while they're 313 00:12:06,620 --> 00:12:07,120 gone. 314 00:12:07,500 --> 00:12:08,000 And 315 00:12:09,259 --> 00:12:12,559 it's very telling that our physicians take their 316 00:12:13,154 --> 00:12:16,674 laptops everywhere and they really can't feel that 317 00:12:16,674 --> 00:12:17,334 they can't 318 00:12:17,794 --> 00:12:19,714 really connect. So we are going to help 319 00:12:19,714 --> 00:12:20,375 with that 320 00:12:20,834 --> 00:12:21,334 and 321 00:12:21,955 --> 00:12:24,754 it's really a priority for us to teach 322 00:12:24,754 --> 00:12:27,334 these behaviors, so they can recover, 323 00:12:27,990 --> 00:12:30,629 because our physicians are human beings like all 324 00:12:30,629 --> 00:12:32,309 of us. We are all human beings and 325 00:12:32,309 --> 00:12:33,850 we all need to unplug 326 00:12:34,629 --> 00:12:36,789 sometimes. And then the third thing, we said 327 00:12:36,789 --> 00:12:39,429 efficiency of practice, we said personal resilience. The 328 00:12:39,429 --> 00:12:42,090 third thing is really the culture of wellness. 329 00:12:43,205 --> 00:12:45,685 I really want everybody to know that here 330 00:12:45,685 --> 00:12:47,705 at Houston Methodist Physician Organization, 331 00:12:48,325 --> 00:12:49,144 we care 332 00:12:49,605 --> 00:12:52,325 not only about the patients and their family, 333 00:12:52,325 --> 00:12:54,825 which is obvious, this is why we exist, 334 00:12:55,139 --> 00:12:57,720 but we also care deeply about 335 00:12:58,580 --> 00:13:00,820 our people, the people who work for us 336 00:13:00,820 --> 00:13:03,460 at the physician organization. And this is including 337 00:13:03,460 --> 00:13:06,259 physician, but not only physician, everybody that is 338 00:13:06,259 --> 00:13:07,000 our employee, 339 00:13:07,404 --> 00:13:09,884 we care about them because caring for our 340 00:13:09,884 --> 00:13:10,384 employees 341 00:13:10,764 --> 00:13:14,044 translates into good care for our patients. So 342 00:13:14,044 --> 00:13:16,284 this was a long way of answering your 343 00:13:16,284 --> 00:13:16,784 question 344 00:13:17,245 --> 00:13:19,105 about a successful project 345 00:13:19,565 --> 00:13:20,865 from the last year. 346 00:13:22,759 --> 00:13:25,000 Excellent. Looking ahead, what is the biggest challenge 347 00:13:25,000 --> 00:13:26,679 you're expecting to face in the next year 348 00:13:26,679 --> 00:13:27,980 and how are you preparing? 349 00:13:29,159 --> 00:13:30,440 So one thing that is, 350 00:13:31,159 --> 00:13:31,659 really, 351 00:13:32,279 --> 00:13:35,019 important to me personally because I have experienced 352 00:13:35,159 --> 00:13:36,120 this on my, 353 00:13:36,865 --> 00:13:39,825 my own skin if you will, is really 354 00:13:39,825 --> 00:13:40,325 preparing 355 00:13:41,024 --> 00:13:44,485 the leaders of the next generation, specifically physician 356 00:13:44,945 --> 00:13:45,445 leaders. 357 00:13:46,304 --> 00:13:47,365 A lot of time 358 00:13:49,870 --> 00:13:51,970 when we choose physician leaders, 359 00:13:52,429 --> 00:13:55,089 we just take the most experienced one, 360 00:13:55,549 --> 00:13:58,509 maybe the most dominant ones, maybe the one 361 00:13:58,509 --> 00:14:01,730 who speak louder or care the most. 362 00:14:02,909 --> 00:14:04,289 But to me, 363 00:14:04,995 --> 00:14:06,934 physician leaders can come 364 00:14:07,315 --> 00:14:09,254 from anywhere in the organization. 365 00:14:09,715 --> 00:14:12,355 They don't need to be the loudest. They 366 00:14:12,355 --> 00:14:14,115 don't need to be the ones that are 367 00:14:14,115 --> 00:14:15,495 close maybe to the 368 00:14:15,955 --> 00:14:19,220 senior executive team. They can come from anywhere 369 00:14:19,220 --> 00:14:21,080 and they can really make a big 370 00:14:21,700 --> 00:14:23,080 difference in our organization. 371 00:14:23,779 --> 00:14:24,279 But 372 00:14:25,059 --> 00:14:25,559 usually 373 00:14:26,019 --> 00:14:27,320 when somebody finishes, 374 00:14:27,779 --> 00:14:30,840 graduates from medical schools, go through internships, 375 00:14:32,100 --> 00:14:32,600 fellowships 376 00:14:33,235 --> 00:14:35,014 and then becomes an attending, 377 00:14:36,754 --> 00:14:39,174 they don't they're not trained 378 00:14:39,554 --> 00:14:42,535 we as physicians are not trained to be 379 00:14:42,995 --> 00:14:43,495 leaders. 380 00:14:44,115 --> 00:14:44,615 And 381 00:14:45,730 --> 00:14:47,750 once we are looking to identify 382 00:14:48,050 --> 00:14:49,830 a leader within our organization, 383 00:14:50,769 --> 00:14:51,750 it may be 384 00:14:52,050 --> 00:14:53,269 a hit or miss. 385 00:14:54,690 --> 00:14:57,330 Usually, they are very good people, but there's 386 00:14:57,330 --> 00:14:59,954 a difference between being a good person or 387 00:14:59,954 --> 00:15:02,174 a good physician or a good surgeon 388 00:15:02,634 --> 00:15:03,454 and a good 389 00:15:03,914 --> 00:15:06,554 leader. Really leadership, I truly believe is something 390 00:15:06,554 --> 00:15:08,875 that can be learned, that should be learned. 391 00:15:08,875 --> 00:15:09,855 It's an expertise 392 00:15:10,794 --> 00:15:12,894 like every other profession. 393 00:15:13,759 --> 00:15:14,899 And so 394 00:15:15,440 --> 00:15:16,580 in this 395 00:15:17,440 --> 00:15:18,500 year 2025, 396 00:15:19,279 --> 00:15:21,940 we're going to focus on physician leadership 397 00:15:22,399 --> 00:15:24,559 development. We're going to do it in really 398 00:15:24,559 --> 00:15:25,379 3 different 399 00:15:26,399 --> 00:15:27,620 avenues. 1 400 00:15:28,240 --> 00:15:31,044 is focusing on our employed physicians, 401 00:15:31,664 --> 00:15:33,664 physicians who are employed by the Houston Methodist 402 00:15:33,664 --> 00:15:34,565 Physician Organization 403 00:15:35,264 --> 00:15:36,245 and identify 404 00:15:36,865 --> 00:15:39,664 people who want to become leaders or who 405 00:15:39,664 --> 00:15:40,565 are already 406 00:15:41,190 --> 00:15:43,990 leading in some capacity. They may be chief 407 00:15:43,990 --> 00:15:45,529 quality officers. They 408 00:15:46,070 --> 00:15:49,129 may have a responsibility as medical directors. 409 00:15:49,830 --> 00:15:52,730 These physicians come from all over the Greater 410 00:15:52,790 --> 00:15:54,169 Houston, from all 411 00:15:54,950 --> 00:15:55,850 over our 412 00:15:56,384 --> 00:15:57,285 healthcare system 413 00:15:57,825 --> 00:15:59,684 and they come from different specialties. 414 00:15:59,985 --> 00:16:02,804 They can be primary care, neurology, neurosurgery, 415 00:16:03,504 --> 00:16:04,804 orthopedics, everything. 416 00:16:05,585 --> 00:16:07,845 And we developed a nomination 417 00:16:08,225 --> 00:16:08,725 process 418 00:16:09,170 --> 00:16:10,550 and we're going to select 419 00:16:10,930 --> 00:16:13,170 the best ones and this is a program 420 00:16:13,170 --> 00:16:14,870 that we developed in collaboration 421 00:16:15,809 --> 00:16:16,309 between 422 00:16:16,690 --> 00:16:17,190 us 423 00:16:17,649 --> 00:16:18,389 and Jones 424 00:16:18,850 --> 00:16:21,590 Rice Jones Business School here in Houston. 425 00:16:22,610 --> 00:16:23,430 We did 426 00:16:23,809 --> 00:16:24,309 one 427 00:16:25,304 --> 00:16:26,524 iteration of this 428 00:16:27,465 --> 00:16:28,845 physician leadership program 429 00:16:29,544 --> 00:16:30,924 this past year 430 00:16:31,465 --> 00:16:34,825 and now we are improving it, enhancing it 431 00:16:34,825 --> 00:16:37,304 and putting it into motion and we're going 432 00:16:37,304 --> 00:16:39,750 to start another cohort of physician 433 00:16:41,649 --> 00:16:42,389 leadership development 434 00:16:44,289 --> 00:16:47,889 here in Houston starting in January 2025. So 435 00:16:47,889 --> 00:16:49,350 very excited about that. 436 00:16:49,730 --> 00:16:51,990 But not only that, we are 437 00:16:54,054 --> 00:16:54,554 also 438 00:16:55,254 --> 00:16:55,754 investing 439 00:16:56,294 --> 00:16:59,574 in our existing leaders all the way up 440 00:16:59,574 --> 00:17:01,674 to the level of department chairs 441 00:17:02,214 --> 00:17:02,954 and also 442 00:17:03,894 --> 00:17:06,934 department administrators. So we developed something that is 443 00:17:06,934 --> 00:17:07,434 called 444 00:17:07,759 --> 00:17:10,500 the Chair Academy and the Administrator 445 00:17:10,879 --> 00:17:11,379 Academy. 446 00:17:11,839 --> 00:17:12,899 And these 447 00:17:13,359 --> 00:17:14,419 are really sessions 448 00:17:15,119 --> 00:17:16,819 that are tailored 449 00:17:17,119 --> 00:17:17,619 towards 450 00:17:18,240 --> 00:17:19,700 our really senior 451 00:17:20,079 --> 00:17:22,179 leaders. Department chairs are not 452 00:17:23,375 --> 00:17:24,195 are not new in 453 00:17:26,335 --> 00:17:27,955 their experience in this organization 454 00:17:28,414 --> 00:17:30,115 or in their journey in medicine. 455 00:17:31,295 --> 00:17:34,015 But we think that they still need to 456 00:17:34,015 --> 00:17:36,730 learn and they can still develop. And also 457 00:17:36,730 --> 00:17:38,429 perhaps most importantly, 458 00:17:39,369 --> 00:17:41,549 we're going to give them the basic education 459 00:17:41,769 --> 00:17:44,029 in parallel to their department administrators, 460 00:17:44,490 --> 00:17:46,190 so we can align everybody 461 00:17:46,890 --> 00:17:49,130 to become the best leaders that they can 462 00:17:49,130 --> 00:17:51,634 be. And this is very important because 463 00:17:52,654 --> 00:17:54,034 the entire organization 464 00:17:54,974 --> 00:17:57,634 is inspired and moved forward 465 00:17:58,255 --> 00:18:01,234 by leaders. And in order for the organization 466 00:18:01,454 --> 00:18:03,089 to move straightforward 467 00:18:03,789 --> 00:18:05,649 like a vector in one direction, 468 00:18:06,029 --> 00:18:07,250 we need all our 469 00:18:07,630 --> 00:18:10,750 leaders to be aligned. So last year, we 470 00:18:10,750 --> 00:18:14,049 had 3 topics that we discussed in this 471 00:18:14,190 --> 00:18:15,250 chair and 472 00:18:16,109 --> 00:18:19,305 administrator academy. The 3 topics were leadership, 473 00:18:19,924 --> 00:18:21,545 philanthropy and communications. 474 00:18:21,924 --> 00:18:23,065 This was last year. 475 00:18:23,365 --> 00:18:26,025 And this year, we already designed the 3 476 00:18:26,644 --> 00:18:29,365 topics and these are going to be everything 477 00:18:29,365 --> 00:18:31,465 that a leader needs to know about 478 00:18:31,799 --> 00:18:32,700 human resources, 479 00:18:34,120 --> 00:18:35,660 the art of storytelling, 480 00:18:36,120 --> 00:18:38,539 how to give a presentation that is engaging. 481 00:18:39,240 --> 00:18:39,740 And 482 00:18:40,519 --> 00:18:43,820 the third topic is diversity, equity and inclusion. 483 00:18:43,880 --> 00:18:45,900 And I have to say that these topics, 484 00:18:46,534 --> 00:18:48,554 they came to us by the 485 00:18:49,255 --> 00:18:50,154 our own leaders. 486 00:18:50,615 --> 00:18:53,095 This is our own leaders, our own chair 487 00:18:53,095 --> 00:18:56,214 saying I need more education and I need 488 00:18:56,214 --> 00:18:57,034 more training 489 00:18:57,654 --> 00:19:00,375 to know about these topics. So very excited 490 00:19:00,375 --> 00:19:01,809 about this, and I think it's, 491 00:19:02,609 --> 00:19:04,629 I'm looking forward to this in 2025. 492 00:19:05,809 --> 00:19:06,309 Absolutely. 493 00:19:06,769 --> 00:19:08,849 So many exciting things happening over there in 494 00:19:08,849 --> 00:19:11,750 Houston. This has been such a great discussion, 495 00:19:12,210 --> 00:19:14,129 and thank you for joining me on the 496 00:19:14,129 --> 00:19:15,315 podcast today. 497 00:19:15,855 --> 00:19:18,734 If you wanna catch more of doctor Shahl 498 00:19:18,734 --> 00:19:19,634 at our upcoming 499 00:19:20,015 --> 00:19:22,414 clinical leadership forum, you can join us at 500 00:19:22,414 --> 00:19:25,934 Becker CEO and CFO roundtable November 11th through 501 00:19:25,934 --> 00:19:27,075 14th in Chicago. 502 00:19:27,455 --> 00:19:29,535 We have limited space available for attendees and 503 00:19:29,535 --> 00:19:32,430 sponsors, so contact us at agenda team at 504 00:19:32,430 --> 00:19:32,930 beckershealthcare.com 505 00:19:34,029 --> 00:19:35,010 to learn more.