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- Welcome everyone to the Becker's

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Healthcare podcast series.

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I'm Mariah Moham, writer

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and moderator with Becker's Healthcare,

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and I'm absolutely thrilled to have

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with me today Jason Rebar,
executive administrator

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of the Department of Ophthalmology

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and Visual Sciences at
the UChicago Medicine

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and Biological Sciences.

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Jason, it's very nice to have
you on the podcast today.

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To get us started, would
you mind please introducing

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yourself and telling us a
bit about your background?

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- Sure. First of all,
thank you for having me.

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As far as my background goes,
I have been in healthcare

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for now just over 21 years.

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Just a little brief background,
I came into healthcare

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by chance, uh, through my network.

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It wasn't planned that way,

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but I decided to stick
around these past 21 years.

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'cause I've really enjoyed my career.

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I've worked in a variety
of different settings.

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Currently I'm an academic
medical center in charge of, uh,

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ophthalmology services for
the University of Chicago.

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But prior to that I've worked
for safety net organizations,

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public, uh, health organizations.

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I've worked for private, uh,
medical groups as well as, uh,

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non-for-profit, uh, medical
groups owned by hospitals

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or independent from hospitals.

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Uh, I've seen a variety
changes over this time

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and, uh, I, I've enjoyed every minute

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of my time in healthcare.

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Uh, a little bit more
about my current work.

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Um, I have been, uh, traveling here

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and there, uh, thanks to,
uh, some of the opportunities

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through Becker's

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and other organizations to
speak about employee engagement

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and culture and, and how

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to improve on those things
within organizations.

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I also serve as the legislative liaison

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and a board member of mgma,
uh, Illinois State Chapter.

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And, uh, as far as, uh, other
professional endeavors, just

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as a side non-healthcare related,

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I am a plan commissioner
in my hometown currently.

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So that's just a little bit about me.

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- Yeah, absolutely. Thank
you so, so much for sharing.

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Um, and to jump right into
the real questions I wanted

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to ask you for today, the
first thing I wanted to, um,

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address is what are the biggest
issues you're following in

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ophthalmology right now?

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- Sure. So I, I think
there's, uh, two different,

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uh, issues and they're kind
of competing one A, one B,

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so I think they're both important.

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Uh, recently I traveled to Austin, Texas

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to attend the A UPO conference.

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Um, it is the, uh, association
of university professors

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of Ophthalmology had a chance to meet many

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of my colleagues throughout
the United States.

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And I think when we talked
about this, Medicare cuts

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every specialty, everybody,
no matter which, uh,

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service you're providing, in
what setting, whether you're,

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uh, you know, in an urgent care center,

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you're providing GI
services, ophthalmology,

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everyone is dealing with the cuts.

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And the cuts. Even small cuts are drastic

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because as expenses go up,

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as we've seen over the last
couple years since we've come

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out of covid, uh, it can be detrimental

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to certain healthcare
organizations bottom line.

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And in many cases, we've seen
certain organizations either

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have to be purchased, merge,
or they cease to exist.

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So that, that is of, I
think, everyone's concern,

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not just in ophthalmology, but
throughout the United States

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if you are a healthcare provider.

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I think one B to that is
specific to ophthalmology.

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Some of the changes in some

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of the states in the United
States as far as, uh,

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reimbursement specifically to, uh, changes

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with certain plans of making
any kind of surgical services,

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uh, site agnostic, meaning if
I need to have a cataract done

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currently, many plans offer
that to be done in an OR

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or an A SC, but insurance
companies are starting to change

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that, where they want the care to be

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provided in the lowest cost setting.

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And so the reimbursement,
whether it's done in the OR

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or the A SC, will be the lowest cost,

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which will be the a SC reimbursement.

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And that will also hit the bottom line

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of some ophthalmology groups

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and departments throughout the

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United States as that changes.

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So that's on the radar as well for us.

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- Wonderful. Thank you
so much for sharing that.

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And is there anything

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that's happening right
now in your organization

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or anything that you're doing
that you're most excited about

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or anything that's making you nervous?

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- You know, I, I would
say, you know, specific

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to my organization, I'm very fortunate

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to be able to work here.

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I have a, a wonderful chair,
uh, senior Harry Psad, uh,

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named full chair last year.

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He brought me in in 2022.

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Um, as far as my department
goes, we've had a lot

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of positive changes and
expansion of our department.

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The university itself has had a lot

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of good positive expansion.

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Uh, Dean Mark Anderson
is, was brought in, uh,

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I think at this point a little,

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little over a year ago there, thereabouts,

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maybe a little less than a year.

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And he has really brought, uh, really good

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strategic plan and a approachable culture

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to the organization that's palatable.

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People notice. And I think the leaders

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that have been brought in

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after him, uh, exemplify
that culture, culture

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of positivity, culture of inclusion.

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And I think that along with some

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of our more strategic changes,
including our new, uh,

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Crownpoint Hospital

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and, uh, ambulatory
center, which will be open

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and about a month or
two, um, our partnership

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and purchase of 51% of, uh,
advent Health's Midwest, uh,

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medical group and four
hospitals in the suburban area.

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A lot of those expansions,
those are all positive things.

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I do enjoy the progressiveness
of University of Chicago

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and the direction that it's going.

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As far as things that make me
nervous, I think that's more

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of a global issue.

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I think when I think about healthcare.

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And I remember I was at a
Becker's event speaking, uh,

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this past fall.

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And similar question was asked

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of me if there's anything I could change,

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which I'm gonna kind of pivot and,

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and answer your question
with the same answer.

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I think the lack of physicians

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and providers in this country,

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you were really starting to see the pinch.

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Um, now that many of the
baby boomers have retired

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or are retiring in multiple
numbers every day, um,

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you are seeing a
disproportionate amount of people

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who need a certain level
of high acuity care

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or just a certain amount of care.

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And we don't have the number of physicians

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or providers to get those patients in.

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I, even myself, when
I've needed appointments

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with different organizations,

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I've noticed a little bit
more delays than I would've

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noticed five years ago, 10 years ago.

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Um, everyone's feeling the pinch.

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We probably don't have enough
time on the podcast to go over

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what the fixes are solutions,

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but I would say that is
kind of point of mind of

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what makes me nervous, makes
me nervous for my generation.

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I'm in my mid forties, makes
me more nervous for people

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that are my child's age.

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So that is something
that's heavy on my mind.

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- Yeah, definitely. I
completely, completely agree.

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Um, and, and kind of on
that same topic, you know,

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with the culture of
healthcare rapidly changing

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and people coming

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and going, I wonder if there's
any advice you've received

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that you can share with us?

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- Sure. I mean, as far as a leader goes,

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if we're talking about, um, how
you can keep an organization

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as stable as possible

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and what you can do within
your own power, your own span

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of control, I, I think there's
a few different things.

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I think being yourself is important.

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That was a good piece
of advice I received.

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I remember my CFO at Advent,
uh, good 10 years ago,

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Rick Byer gave me that advice.

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And in any situation, being
yourself is important.

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Um, people trust those that they like,

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um, those that they feel
comfortable with, um,

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they'll do more business with you.

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They'll, they'll be more agreeable to work

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with you and trust is earned.

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But if you are upfront yourself,

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if you're upfront transparent,
if you're upfront, honest,

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both good and bad, because
usually it's very easy to manage

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and, and supervise when
everything is positive.

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But even when things are
negative, if you are truthful

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and transparent and you are
yourself, you'd be surprised,

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even the toughest environments,
what you and your colleagues

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and, and the folks that you
work with can get through.

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- Yeah, absolutely. Thank
you so much for sharing that.

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And Jason, before I let you
go, the last thing I wanted

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to ask you is, what would
the most effective healthcare

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leaders need in order to be
successful in the next two

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to three years, do you think?

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- Sure. So I think it is,
uh, a little bit of a,

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a couple different buckets.

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I think if you are someone
that's a healthcare leader,

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whether you are in a practice manager role

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or you're in a director role or,

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or something a little bit higher, VP

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or c-suite, I think as I mentioned prior,

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I think being honest

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and transparent, having a high level

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of motion intelligence is very
important so that you're seen

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as trusted, you're seen as approachable.

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So I think those are things that can spawn

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and develop good culture, good
relationships, and usually,

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or hopefully a, a
positive, uh, bottom line.

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And most importantly, an engaged
base of patients that, uh,

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both increase in number

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but increase in compliance
as far as some of their, uh,

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healthcare quality outcomes
as your physicians and

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and advanced practice
providers work with them

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and your team works with them.

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I think the other things
that are important too is

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to have leaders that
understand the difference.

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And I heard this, I think
it was on an Instagram reel

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and I, I can't remember who
it was from, so I apologize,

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I'm not giving credit,
but it is not my own, um,

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chasing the noise versus looking

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for the sound or hearing the sound.

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And I think a lot of
times as leaders, we get

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very much inundated
with a lot of the issues

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and yes, we need to deal with them.

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But I think understanding
root causes quickly

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and being able to reduce the
noise, so to speak, as I'm kind

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of sharing with you, I
think it's important so

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that we can be more progressive
in our approach of, of

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how do we wanna expand
in a certain market?

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How do we want to improve
a certain program?

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How do we want to improve things such

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as the bottom line or even morale?

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I think understanding those root

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causes are very, very important.

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I think having the pulse on
what's going on in whatever

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market, I think this is
applicable beyond healthcare,

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but understanding what
having vision means,

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both short term, medium
term, and long term.

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And if you can understand that

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and you can understand trends
kind of before they happen

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or as trends happen, how do
you pivot and not just react

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but be proactive.

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And we've seen this all
the time in the NFL, right?

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You have coaches who understand
when rule changes, how to

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maximize rewards and benefits
from those rule changes

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and ones that don't.

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And so kind of using all
those examples together,

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I think it's important
being, having vision

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and being proactive,

248
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but in a way that you're
not chasing just noise.

249
00:11:21,465 --> 00:11:24,765
You're not just putting
out fires, is just doing

250
00:11:24,765 --> 00:11:26,685
that is not gonna be productive long term.

251
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And in the end, your
team will get frustrated.

252
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Nothing will really progress
and you'll look back

253
00:11:31,325 --> 00:11:32,685
and say, that was a lost opportunity.

254
00:11:33,065 --> 00:11:34,765
But hopefully people
will heed this advice.

255
00:11:34,865 --> 00:11:38,165
And uh, certainly, um, if
anybody wanted to chat about it,

256
00:11:38,325 --> 00:11:40,325
I have a profile on
LinkedIn, they can message me

257
00:11:40,325 --> 00:11:43,805
and I always love to just
chat about shop, so to speak.

258
00:11:44,955 --> 00:11:46,445
- Yeah, absolutely. Thank you so much

259
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for sharing those final thoughts.

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It's definitely been an amazing and

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00:11:49,945 --> 00:11:51,325
and informative discussion.

262
00:11:51,545 --> 00:11:52,765
So again, I wanna thank you so much

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00:11:52,765 --> 00:11:54,365
for coming up at this healthcare podcast

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00:11:55,065 --> 00:11:56,845
and I look forward to
connecting with you again soon.

265
00:11:57,735 --> 00:11:59,885
- Thank you so much. Have
a good afternoon. You too.