1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:03,459 This is Scott Becker with the Becker's Healthcare 2 00:00:03,520 --> 00:00:04,019 Podcast. 3 00:00:04,480 --> 00:00:06,740 I'm thrilled today to be joined by someone 4 00:00:07,120 --> 00:00:09,139 who's a brilliant leader of an orthopedic 5 00:00:09,439 --> 00:00:09,939 practice. 6 00:00:10,400 --> 00:00:13,119 We're joined today by Eric Witte. Eric's the 7 00:00:13,119 --> 00:00:15,460 chief operating officer at Genesis Orthopedics. 8 00:00:16,504 --> 00:00:18,024 It's real time a chance to visit with 9 00:00:18,024 --> 00:00:18,844 him. Genesys 10 00:00:19,304 --> 00:00:20,765 Orthopedics is sports medicine. 11 00:00:21,545 --> 00:00:24,504 In in addition to him being, a sports 12 00:00:24,504 --> 00:00:25,004 medicine, 13 00:00:26,504 --> 00:00:28,044 running orthopedic practice, 14 00:00:28,425 --> 00:00:30,750 he is also has something that that is 15 00:00:30,750 --> 00:00:33,149 very close to my heart. He's a University 16 00:00:33,149 --> 00:00:36,350 of Illinois graduate from Urbana Champaign. And at 17 00:00:36,350 --> 00:00:38,109 some point, I will bother him on whether 18 00:00:38,109 --> 00:00:39,630 he's a Cubs or Sox fan and a 19 00:00:39,630 --> 00:00:41,950 lot more. Eric, can can you take a 20 00:00:42,190 --> 00:00:43,890 and tell us a little bit about yourself 21 00:00:44,030 --> 00:00:47,094 and about Genesis Orthopedics in in sports medicine 22 00:00:47,094 --> 00:00:47,835 in the practice? 23 00:00:48,375 --> 00:00:50,134 Yeah. I'm so glad to. And and, hey, 24 00:00:50,134 --> 00:00:51,814 let's start out with an I l l, 25 00:00:51,814 --> 00:00:52,314 Scott. 26 00:00:52,774 --> 00:00:55,174 No. I n I, Eric. I can't even 27 00:00:55,174 --> 00:00:56,854 tell you how much I appreciate that, and 28 00:00:56,854 --> 00:00:58,614 let's hope they keep on getting better. We'll 29 00:00:58,614 --> 00:01:00,479 see how it goes. Thank you. We still 30 00:01:00,479 --> 00:01:02,240 have, one of the kids down there, so 31 00:01:02,240 --> 00:01:04,799 god bless. Eric, so tell us about about 32 00:01:04,799 --> 00:01:06,579 the practice and about your career. 33 00:01:07,040 --> 00:01:08,799 Yeah. Sure. I'm happy to. So, 34 00:01:09,520 --> 00:01:11,459 my background for getting into health care, 35 00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:13,840 so everything's fine now, but I had a 36 00:01:13,840 --> 00:01:15,724 blood disorder when I was back in junior 37 00:01:15,724 --> 00:01:18,284 high. And after going around from specialist to 38 00:01:18,284 --> 00:01:19,905 specialist for about six months, 39 00:01:20,364 --> 00:01:22,364 finally, my referral got sent over to a 40 00:01:22,364 --> 00:01:25,405 pediatric he monk at Loyola who came in 41 00:01:25,405 --> 00:01:27,584 on his day off to save my life. 42 00:01:28,045 --> 00:01:30,125 So just from a very young age, I 43 00:01:30,125 --> 00:01:32,289 was so curious about how the health care 44 00:01:32,289 --> 00:01:33,349 system worked together. 45 00:01:34,049 --> 00:01:36,049 Ultimately, I had some physical therapy on my 46 00:01:36,049 --> 00:01:38,049 back this summer going into freshman year of 47 00:01:38,049 --> 00:01:40,450 college, which helped me realize that we health 48 00:01:40,450 --> 00:01:42,789 care providers have this opportunity to 49 00:01:43,090 --> 00:01:45,090 improve the quality of life for our patients. 50 00:01:45,090 --> 00:01:45,590 So 51 00:01:46,084 --> 00:01:48,265 got my doctor of physical therapy degree, 52 00:01:49,444 --> 00:01:51,765 you know, kept asking more questions, got some 53 00:01:51,765 --> 00:01:52,504 great mentorship 54 00:01:52,884 --> 00:01:55,045 from, Ascension when I was working in one 55 00:01:55,045 --> 00:01:56,424 of their CIN ACOs, 56 00:01:57,045 --> 00:01:58,905 and got an MBA through there. 57 00:01:59,340 --> 00:02:01,500 I was then in hospital operations for a 58 00:02:01,500 --> 00:02:02,799 while, became a CEO, 59 00:02:03,659 --> 00:02:06,640 moved over to doing some consulting at Optum 60 00:02:06,700 --> 00:02:07,840 with some amazing 61 00:02:08,219 --> 00:02:10,479 leaders across the country who are building, 62 00:02:10,780 --> 00:02:12,800 just a great value based care infrastructure. 63 00:02:13,745 --> 00:02:15,424 And then had the privilege to jump over 64 00:02:15,424 --> 00:02:16,724 to the health plan side 65 00:02:17,185 --> 00:02:19,125 and try to solve the unsolvable 66 00:02:19,584 --> 00:02:21,264 problem here, which is how do we figure 67 00:02:21,264 --> 00:02:23,504 out how to make health care affordable but 68 00:02:23,504 --> 00:02:24,245 not horrible. 69 00:02:24,784 --> 00:02:27,044 So I've had this kind of nomadic backgrounds, 70 00:02:27,389 --> 00:02:29,150 you know, just built around this idea of 71 00:02:29,150 --> 00:02:31,469 how can we help our clinicians work together 72 00:02:31,469 --> 00:02:33,569 across these various stakeholder groups 73 00:02:33,949 --> 00:02:34,930 within hospitals, 74 00:02:35,629 --> 00:02:37,789 health plans, and medical groups, which has been 75 00:02:37,789 --> 00:02:38,930 just yeah. 76 00:02:39,229 --> 00:02:41,389 And what an amazing career. What an amazing 77 00:02:41,389 --> 00:02:42,974 origin story as to how you got there. 78 00:02:42,974 --> 00:02:43,875 Really fascinating. 79 00:02:44,655 --> 00:02:46,094 Take a moment. You talk about how do 80 00:02:46,094 --> 00:02:48,034 we make health care affordable and not horrible. 81 00:02:48,655 --> 00:02:50,414 And I I'm just having the hardest time 82 00:02:50,414 --> 00:02:52,094 seeing it as we get to 340,000,000 83 00:02:52,094 --> 00:02:53,694 people in our country and not nearly enough 84 00:02:53,694 --> 00:02:54,814 doctors, nurses, and so 85 00:02:55,775 --> 00:02:57,055 How do we do that? How do we 86 00:02:57,055 --> 00:02:59,280 start to make it affordable and not horrible, 87 00:02:59,280 --> 00:02:59,780 horrible 88 00:03:00,319 --> 00:03:02,319 and just accessible? How how are we gonna 89 00:03:02,319 --> 00:03:04,099 get there? Any thoughts there? 90 00:03:04,400 --> 00:03:06,400 Yeah. It's a great question. And, you know, 91 00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:08,479 even having worked in this environment, Scott, I 92 00:03:08,479 --> 00:03:10,819 I still call it the unsolvable problem. 93 00:03:11,905 --> 00:03:13,504 So it's something that a lot of us 94 00:03:13,504 --> 00:03:15,664 are working together across the industry. And I 95 00:03:15,664 --> 00:03:17,425 think one of the main things that I've 96 00:03:17,425 --> 00:03:19,604 learned just in being in these various settings 97 00:03:19,905 --> 00:03:22,705 is that we don't understand the challenges that 98 00:03:22,705 --> 00:03:25,650 exists in outside of the settings where we 99 00:03:25,650 --> 00:03:28,050 primarily work. So I think just as we 100 00:03:28,050 --> 00:03:30,629 can figure out how to work better across 101 00:03:30,689 --> 00:03:32,710 these different large stakeholder groups, 102 00:03:33,090 --> 00:03:34,849 when we have the empathy to understand the 103 00:03:34,849 --> 00:03:36,229 challenges that our executives, 104 00:03:36,689 --> 00:03:37,909 who sit in other seats, 105 00:03:38,254 --> 00:03:40,415 I think then we can find these win 106 00:03:40,415 --> 00:03:43,534 win scenarios that are gonna improve quality and 107 00:03:43,534 --> 00:03:45,875 access and affordability for our patients. 108 00:03:48,335 --> 00:03:50,574 Thank you. And and you're in a great 109 00:03:50,574 --> 00:03:51,715 orthopedic practice. 110 00:03:53,159 --> 00:03:54,680 Are you having a hard time recruiting, or 111 00:03:54,680 --> 00:03:56,039 I take it you're such a great practice 112 00:03:56,039 --> 00:03:57,560 that it's not that hard to recruit? What's 113 00:03:57,560 --> 00:03:58,539 your sense of that? 114 00:03:59,159 --> 00:04:00,060 Well, unfortunately, 115 00:04:00,919 --> 00:04:03,080 you know, charm isn't always enough to get 116 00:04:03,080 --> 00:04:05,239 great providers to join your group, although it 117 00:04:05,239 --> 00:04:06,759 is a great skill for the team that 118 00:04:06,759 --> 00:04:07,580 we have there. 119 00:04:08,144 --> 00:04:10,224 Genesis is probably one of the, 120 00:04:10,625 --> 00:04:11,604 the oddest 121 00:04:11,905 --> 00:04:13,525 orthopedic medical groups 122 00:04:13,984 --> 00:04:16,544 that I found in my professional career. So, 123 00:04:17,264 --> 00:04:19,504 they were sitting down about six or eight 124 00:04:19,504 --> 00:04:21,649 years ago, and they said, hey. What if 125 00:04:21,649 --> 00:04:23,729 we actually did that stuff on our website 126 00:04:23,729 --> 00:04:24,470 that says 127 00:04:25,329 --> 00:04:29,589 vulnerable patients of all kinds deserve extraordinary care? 128 00:04:29,649 --> 00:04:32,129 And so they did the most courageous thing 129 00:04:32,129 --> 00:04:34,389 that I've seen, and they said, well, let's 130 00:04:34,805 --> 00:04:37,285 let's change our financial policies over here. We're 131 00:04:37,285 --> 00:04:40,084 gonna sign on with every Medicaid health plan 132 00:04:40,084 --> 00:04:41,685 that we can find, and we're gonna make 133 00:04:41,685 --> 00:04:44,264 sure that regardless of their ability to pay, 134 00:04:44,564 --> 00:04:46,584 no one gets turned away from the practice. 135 00:04:47,060 --> 00:04:49,459 So the practice, you know, went from essentially 136 00:04:49,459 --> 00:04:50,599 0% Medicaid 137 00:04:51,220 --> 00:04:54,099 to being our largest portion of our payer 138 00:04:54,099 --> 00:04:54,599 mix. 139 00:04:55,060 --> 00:04:55,560 So, 140 00:04:56,180 --> 00:04:58,660 you know, then after doing this and having 141 00:04:58,660 --> 00:05:01,775 these increases, they were still dissatisfied and felt 142 00:05:01,775 --> 00:05:03,455 like they weren't living that out. And so 143 00:05:03,455 --> 00:05:06,275 they started to use the area deprivation index 144 00:05:06,814 --> 00:05:08,435 to figure out where there are, 145 00:05:08,895 --> 00:05:12,175 you know, deficient orthopedic access and started moving 146 00:05:12,175 --> 00:05:14,560 clinics into vulnerable communities to make sure that 147 00:05:14,560 --> 00:05:16,259 these people had access. So 148 00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:19,120 certain sacrifice And where did the passion and 149 00:05:19,120 --> 00:05:21,120 drive come for that? Because that that is 150 00:05:21,199 --> 00:05:23,060 you you you started off with, 151 00:05:23,680 --> 00:05:25,620 you know, so many orthopedic surgeons 152 00:05:26,495 --> 00:05:29,294 do so well. They work so hard. They 153 00:05:29,294 --> 00:05:30,435 make a great income, 154 00:05:31,214 --> 00:05:34,175 and their practices aren't focused like you say 155 00:05:34,175 --> 00:05:36,334 they are. There are certainly a high percentage 156 00:05:36,334 --> 00:05:38,254 that do everything they can to take care 157 00:05:38,254 --> 00:05:40,035 of those that can't afford to pay, 158 00:05:41,240 --> 00:05:43,399 You know, but but most don't position their 159 00:05:43,399 --> 00:05:45,819 practice that way and certainly any business leader 160 00:05:46,120 --> 00:05:48,360 from a strictly business perspective say no. No. 161 00:05:48,360 --> 00:05:49,019 No. No. 162 00:05:49,560 --> 00:05:52,360 You're in a beautiful suburb. Focus heavily on 163 00:05:52,360 --> 00:05:54,435 the affluent who have great insurance and could 164 00:05:54,435 --> 00:05:55,875 pay their co payments and could pay their 165 00:05:55,875 --> 00:05:58,355 deductibles and so Almost nobody says, you know, 166 00:05:58,355 --> 00:06:00,595 let's move the practice into the lower paying 167 00:06:00,595 --> 00:06:01,095 areas 168 00:06:01,395 --> 00:06:03,095 and let's take care of that, particularly 169 00:06:03,395 --> 00:06:05,014 with most private practices don't. 170 00:06:05,555 --> 00:06:07,634 And and god bless them for doing so. 171 00:06:07,634 --> 00:06:09,970 What a fantastic thing. But what was the 172 00:06:09,970 --> 00:06:12,129 motivation? Who had the spark? Who had the 173 00:06:12,129 --> 00:06:14,209 discipline drive to make that happen? Who who 174 00:06:14,209 --> 00:06:15,669 are the physicians that said, 175 00:06:16,129 --> 00:06:17,889 let's do this. What this is just the 176 00:06:17,889 --> 00:06:19,350 thing to do, and let's do it. 177 00:06:19,970 --> 00:06:22,610 Yeah. I mean, our our surgeons have very 178 00:06:22,610 --> 00:06:25,144 difficult lives. There is so much pressure on 179 00:06:25,144 --> 00:06:27,464 them. So all my empathy for, you know, 180 00:06:27,464 --> 00:06:29,384 the hard tenacious work that they have to 181 00:06:29,384 --> 00:06:29,884 do. 182 00:06:30,665 --> 00:06:32,345 You know, a lot of clinicians are often 183 00:06:32,345 --> 00:06:34,745 removed from, you know, having to think about 184 00:06:34,745 --> 00:06:37,564 these difficult questions like payer mix and contracting 185 00:06:37,704 --> 00:06:39,670 and those sorts of things. But, you know, 186 00:06:39,670 --> 00:06:40,810 when you think about orthopedics, 187 00:06:41,189 --> 00:06:42,870 you know, there's a mom out there who's 188 00:06:42,870 --> 00:06:44,569 calling on behalf of her child 189 00:06:44,949 --> 00:06:47,110 who fell at the playgrounds, and she's worried 190 00:06:47,110 --> 00:06:49,750 about a fracture for her her child. And, 191 00:06:49,750 --> 00:06:51,750 you know, the notion that somebody would call 192 00:06:51,750 --> 00:06:52,250 up 193 00:06:52,625 --> 00:06:55,025 and seek out care to turn them away 194 00:06:55,025 --> 00:06:57,345 and say, you're too poor. We can't take 195 00:06:57,345 --> 00:06:58,944 care of you. I mean, it's just something 196 00:06:58,944 --> 00:07:00,564 that the practice could not stomach. 197 00:07:00,944 --> 00:07:02,944 So I think all physicians out there, all 198 00:07:02,944 --> 00:07:04,645 of our health care provider infrastructures, 199 00:07:05,490 --> 00:07:07,649 you know, wanting to make a difference and 200 00:07:07,649 --> 00:07:09,829 improve the health outcomes for their community. 201 00:07:10,370 --> 00:07:12,050 So I think sometimes we can make a 202 00:07:12,050 --> 00:07:14,689 little bit of sacrifices here and there and 203 00:07:14,689 --> 00:07:15,189 still, 204 00:07:15,729 --> 00:07:17,349 you know, make sure that we can, 205 00:07:17,889 --> 00:07:19,589 you know, eat and live indoors. 206 00:07:20,115 --> 00:07:20,615 So 207 00:07:21,074 --> 00:07:23,875 we've had some challenges for for certainly figuring 208 00:07:23,875 --> 00:07:25,394 out how to make the books work in 209 00:07:25,394 --> 00:07:26,675 this regard, but I think a lot of 210 00:07:26,675 --> 00:07:28,035 people are willing to take a little bit 211 00:07:28,035 --> 00:07:29,794 of sacrifice if it means that they know 212 00:07:29,794 --> 00:07:32,615 that they're doing something that's truly transformative, Scott. 213 00:07:33,339 --> 00:07:35,580 That's really an amazing, amazing story, and I 214 00:07:35,580 --> 00:07:37,180 and I love that, Eric. I'm so glad 215 00:07:37,180 --> 00:07:38,300 to get a chance to hear about it 216 00:07:38,300 --> 00:07:39,360 and talk to you. 217 00:07:39,980 --> 00:07:41,580 Tell us a little bit more. Like, we 218 00:07:41,580 --> 00:07:43,899 got another half of the year left. What 219 00:07:43,899 --> 00:07:45,819 are you most focused on and excited about 220 00:07:45,819 --> 00:07:46,959 for the rest of the year? 221 00:07:48,214 --> 00:07:49,574 Yeah. It's a great question. I got a 222 00:07:49,574 --> 00:07:51,335 lot of things I'm looking forward to. I 223 00:07:51,335 --> 00:07:52,134 mean, for one, 224 00:07:52,694 --> 00:07:54,935 you know, the current administration calls it make 225 00:07:54,935 --> 00:07:57,415 America healthy again. And, frankly, I think it's 226 00:07:57,415 --> 00:07:59,095 a really good angle to play, and this 227 00:07:59,095 --> 00:08:00,935 is something that feels like it works well 228 00:08:00,935 --> 00:08:02,610 across the aisle at least as a North 229 00:08:02,689 --> 00:08:03,509 Star statements 230 00:08:03,889 --> 00:08:05,729 here. You know, because many of the health 231 00:08:05,729 --> 00:08:08,129 care challenges that we have, they're not red 232 00:08:08,129 --> 00:08:09,669 problems or blue problems, 233 00:08:10,129 --> 00:08:12,529 but these are problems that exist across, you 234 00:08:12,529 --> 00:08:15,750 know, our geographies, across urban and rural settings. 235 00:08:16,745 --> 00:08:18,824 So, you know, I look forward to having 236 00:08:18,824 --> 00:08:19,324 our, 237 00:08:19,865 --> 00:08:21,485 you know, our administrative, 238 00:08:22,264 --> 00:08:24,264 entities over here work together to do this 239 00:08:24,264 --> 00:08:24,764 stuff. 240 00:08:25,305 --> 00:08:27,384 There's been some, you know, things as simple 241 00:08:27,384 --> 00:08:28,620 as just trying to improve, 242 00:08:29,019 --> 00:08:31,259 compact licensure. You know, as a physical therapist, 243 00:08:31,259 --> 00:08:32,399 I've been working with 244 00:08:32,779 --> 00:08:34,539 the the PT compact in the state of 245 00:08:34,539 --> 00:08:35,039 Illinois. 246 00:08:35,899 --> 00:08:38,700 There are other clinical specialties like nursing who 247 00:08:38,700 --> 00:08:40,860 are also interested in this. And if we 248 00:08:40,860 --> 00:08:42,639 can improve our ability to, 249 00:08:43,154 --> 00:08:44,774 you know, allow our clinicians 250 00:08:45,154 --> 00:08:47,955 to practice autonomously and within their areas of 251 00:08:47,955 --> 00:08:48,455 expertise. 252 00:08:49,075 --> 00:08:51,315 You know, I consider my my role as 253 00:08:51,315 --> 00:08:53,714 in a a clinical executive here that I 254 00:08:53,714 --> 00:08:55,875 want the hardest thing our clinicians to do 255 00:08:55,875 --> 00:08:58,134 in the practice is to practice medicine. 256 00:08:58,769 --> 00:09:00,850 And I tell them, if something in your 257 00:09:00,850 --> 00:09:03,089 job is harder than just taking care of 258 00:09:03,089 --> 00:09:05,269 the patients, this is a failure of management. 259 00:09:05,329 --> 00:09:06,789 I'd like to hear about this. 260 00:09:08,289 --> 00:09:09,649 You know, I also think that, 261 00:09:10,129 --> 00:09:12,695 value based care still continues to have a 262 00:09:12,695 --> 00:09:14,954 lot of opportunity for improvement here. 263 00:09:15,334 --> 00:09:16,695 You know, I don't think that this is 264 00:09:16,695 --> 00:09:18,934 something that where we've cracked the code, and 265 00:09:18,934 --> 00:09:20,774 we need to continue to kinda unpack that 266 00:09:20,774 --> 00:09:22,294 a little bit more and find the next 267 00:09:22,294 --> 00:09:23,975 evolution of gains that we can make in 268 00:09:23,975 --> 00:09:24,634 this space. 269 00:09:25,559 --> 00:09:27,320 But but I love that perspective that your 270 00:09:27,320 --> 00:09:29,340 job as a leader of the practice, administrative 271 00:09:29,399 --> 00:09:30,920 leader of the practice is to make the 272 00:09:30,920 --> 00:09:31,820 doctor's job 273 00:09:32,360 --> 00:09:34,200 practicing medicine. And they could be in as 274 00:09:34,200 --> 00:09:35,799 well as the businesses that they want, but 275 00:09:35,799 --> 00:09:37,399 you want their stress to come from making 276 00:09:37,399 --> 00:09:39,634 sure they're doing the best possible care for 277 00:09:39,634 --> 00:09:41,794 patients, not for make sure the billing gets 278 00:09:41,794 --> 00:09:43,715 out, things get scheduled right, and so and 279 00:09:43,715 --> 00:09:45,254 so on. I just love that perspective. 280 00:09:45,794 --> 00:09:48,674 Eric, you've had this fantastic leadership career, and 281 00:09:48,674 --> 00:09:50,754 it it it's obviously clear you graduate from 282 00:09:50,754 --> 00:09:52,434 the University of Illinois because anybody from there 283 00:09:52,434 --> 00:09:54,730 must have a great career. But but take 284 00:09:54,730 --> 00:09:56,269 take a moment and tell us. 285 00:09:56,730 --> 00:09:58,090 well, I'll get to the I'll get to 286 00:09:58,090 --> 00:09:59,049 the real question in a 287 00:10:00,809 --> 00:10:02,509 Cubs fan, Sox fan, 288 00:10:03,049 --> 00:10:04,809 where are you at on the future? The 289 00:10:04,809 --> 00:10:07,049 beers, the bulls, the hawks? Any quick thoughts 290 00:10:07,049 --> 00:10:09,085 on Chicago sports as long as I've gotcha. 291 00:10:09,865 --> 00:10:12,184 Well, Chicago sports has certainly had some tough 292 00:10:12,184 --> 00:10:14,424 times in some recent years. But, Scott, I 293 00:10:14,424 --> 00:10:16,024 grew up just a couple miles away from 294 00:10:16,024 --> 00:10:17,705 Wrigley Field, so we were able to walk 295 00:10:17,705 --> 00:10:18,985 there when I was a little kid. So 296 00:10:18,985 --> 00:10:20,745 I got happy memories sitting out there in 297 00:10:20,745 --> 00:10:21,325 the bleachers, 298 00:10:21,870 --> 00:10:23,170 getting sprayed with the hose, 299 00:10:23,790 --> 00:10:24,929 waving at the outfielders. 300 00:10:26,830 --> 00:10:28,429 And and and did you have a favorite 301 00:10:28,429 --> 00:10:30,509 player growing up? Where were you at on 302 00:10:30,509 --> 00:10:31,009 that? 303 00:10:31,629 --> 00:10:34,269 Oh, man. You know, anyone who got to 304 00:10:34,269 --> 00:10:34,725 watch, 305 00:10:35,204 --> 00:10:37,764 Andre Dawson make a throw from the outfield, 306 00:10:37,764 --> 00:10:39,524 that guy could throw a strike from the 307 00:10:39,524 --> 00:10:41,605 Ivy. It's so funny you say that because 308 00:10:41,605 --> 00:10:43,125 that's the thing that came to my mind 309 00:10:43,125 --> 00:10:45,125 as I was asking the question. That's so 310 00:10:45,125 --> 00:10:48,519 funny, the hawk, an amazing, amazing, and exactly 311 00:10:48,519 --> 00:10:50,679 those those vivid memories I'm throwing from the 312 00:10:50,679 --> 00:10:53,160 outfield. It it's it's like watching Bo Jackson 313 00:10:53,160 --> 00:10:54,759 throw from the outfield. I am so happy 314 00:10:54,759 --> 00:10:56,120 you said it because it's exactly what I 315 00:10:56,120 --> 00:10:58,040 meant when there were so many other great 316 00:10:58,040 --> 00:11:00,279 players that we watched over the years. Oh, 317 00:11:00,279 --> 00:11:00,779 fantastic. 318 00:11:01,355 --> 00:11:03,274 Tell tell me now, what advice would you 319 00:11:03,274 --> 00:11:04,875 give to emerging leaders wanting to have an 320 00:11:04,875 --> 00:11:06,014 impactful great career? 321 00:11:06,554 --> 00:11:09,534 Oh, man. You know, thinking about my own, 322 00:11:09,995 --> 00:11:12,235 journey along there, I would say I I 323 00:11:12,235 --> 00:11:14,654 would encourage them to betray their ignorance. 324 00:11:15,230 --> 00:11:17,389 I felt so much pressure as a young 325 00:11:17,389 --> 00:11:20,269 leader that I needed to be credible in 326 00:11:20,269 --> 00:11:22,830 as many subjects as possible. And I feel 327 00:11:22,830 --> 00:11:24,670 like I stunted a lot of my early 328 00:11:24,670 --> 00:11:27,149 growth because I wanted people to think I 329 00:11:27,149 --> 00:11:29,485 was farther along than I actually was. So 330 00:11:29,485 --> 00:11:31,485 I actually joke with another fellow leader that 331 00:11:31,485 --> 00:11:32,304 I worked with, 332 00:11:33,085 --> 00:11:35,325 and we centered ourselves around the phrase, it's 333 00:11:35,325 --> 00:11:36,625 better to look uninformed 334 00:11:37,085 --> 00:11:38,384 than to be uninformed. 335 00:11:39,804 --> 00:11:41,644 I I I I love that. That might 336 00:11:41,644 --> 00:11:42,144 be 337 00:11:42,610 --> 00:11:43,750 my the favorite 338 00:11:44,129 --> 00:11:46,370 phrase of the day, and and if you're 339 00:11:46,370 --> 00:11:46,870 okay, 340 00:11:47,490 --> 00:11:49,170 I might use that and give you credit 341 00:11:49,170 --> 00:11:49,990 for it. 342 00:11:51,009 --> 00:11:53,110 It's better to look uninformed 343 00:11:53,490 --> 00:11:55,910 than be uninformed. Is is that the phrase? 344 00:11:56,225 --> 00:11:57,365 Yes, sir. That's correct. 345 00:11:57,825 --> 00:11:59,825 I just absolutely love that. And and that's 346 00:11:59,825 --> 00:12:01,585 the willingness to ask questions where you don't 347 00:12:01,585 --> 00:12:02,085 know 348 00:12:02,545 --> 00:12:04,865 versus pretending like you know and then being 349 00:12:04,865 --> 00:12:05,365 moronic. 350 00:12:05,745 --> 00:12:07,845 So it's it it's better to 351 00:12:08,459 --> 00:12:11,579 look uninformed than actually be uninformed. I love 352 00:12:11,579 --> 00:12:12,079 that. 353 00:12:13,100 --> 00:12:15,659 Yeah. It's been a huge asset. Yeah. I 354 00:12:15,659 --> 00:12:17,579 I just love that. Eric, I wanna thank 355 00:12:17,579 --> 00:12:19,659 you so much for joining us today on 356 00:12:19,659 --> 00:12:21,120 the Becker's Healthcare podcast. 357 00:12:21,825 --> 00:12:24,165 Obviously, a fantastic orthopedic practice. 358 00:12:24,705 --> 00:12:25,205 Congratulations, 359 00:12:25,904 --> 00:12:27,985 and what a magnificent career. Thank you for 360 00:12:27,985 --> 00:12:29,904 being with us today. Yes. Scott, I gotta 361 00:12:29,904 --> 00:12:31,585 take one more before I'm gonna allow you 362 00:12:31,585 --> 00:12:33,345 to go here and just say, one of 363 00:12:33,345 --> 00:12:34,785 the things that I feel like I'm so 364 00:12:34,785 --> 00:12:36,884 excited about what you've done here is collocating 365 00:12:37,105 --> 00:12:39,840 these hospital and payer conferences. You know, looking 366 00:12:39,840 --> 00:12:41,379 for ways to help our groups 367 00:12:41,840 --> 00:12:44,720 join together in in similar spaces to solve 368 00:12:44,720 --> 00:12:46,259 these kinds of challenges together. 369 00:12:46,720 --> 00:12:49,360 My background, you know, has just found the 370 00:12:49,360 --> 00:12:51,134 the crucial asset that we have in doing 371 00:12:51,134 --> 00:12:52,735 this kind of stuff. So I'm so grateful 372 00:12:52,735 --> 00:12:54,095 for the work that you're doing in helping 373 00:12:54,095 --> 00:12:56,335 us cross the aisle, understand each other, and 374 00:12:56,335 --> 00:12:58,735 solve these hard problems. Yeah. Well, thank you 375 00:12:58,735 --> 00:13:00,175 so much for that. Thank you. What a 376 00:13:00,175 --> 00:13:01,855 what a fascinating time that we're in and 377 00:13:01,855 --> 00:13:03,855 what a challenging time. Eric, thank you for 378 00:13:03,855 --> 00:13:06,450 joining us. Just fantastic. Thank you. Yeah. Be 379 00:13:06,450 --> 00:13:06,950 well, 380 00:13:11,250 --> 00:13:12,215 Scott. Thanks.