Raise the Line

A strong, sustained sense of purpose is the bedrock of a successful company, with everything else flowing from that. So says Omar Ishrak, one of the most influential figures in medical technology and healthcare in the U.S. and globally. He earned that role in part by being Chairman and CEO of Medtronic, the world's leading medical technology company, from 2011 to 2020, but he was also president and CEO of GE Healthcare Systems earlier in his career. When it comes to having a durable purpose, Medtronic is hard to beat. Founded in the late 1940’s, the company has kept the same mission for more than 60 years – to apply biomedical engineering to alleviate pain, restore health, and extend life. Ishrak considers a major part of his legacy at Medtronic to be successfully stewarding that mission and making it possible for his successors to carry it forward for decades to come. Of course, there were other accomplishments in his tenure including the acquisition of Covidien, a $10 billion global manufacturer of surgical products and supplies, marking the largest medical technology acquisition in the history of the industry. In this thoughtful discussion with host Shiv Gaglani, Ishrak talks about drawing encouragement from how quickly different parts of the healthcare industry came together in response to COVID, and what he hopes the lasting improvements will be from this crisis. He also makes the case for shifting the focus of healthcare at both the industry and individual worker level to successful patient outcomes. “No matter what you do in healthcare, having a line of sight to improving outcomes is important. Tie your work to how people's lives get better.” If you like this podcast, please share it on your social channels. You can also subscribe to the series and check out all of our episodes at www.osmosis.org/podcast

“While the switch to distance learning was traumatic at first, I think we're going to end up in a much better place when it's all said and done,” says Scott Shaw, president and CEO of Lincoln Tech which has always taken a hands-on learning approach. That’s because the blended in-person and online learning model emerging from COVID gives the school’s adult students more flexibility to manage their jobs and childcare now that they don’t always have to be on campus to take classes.  Lincoln Tech started 75 years ago to educate WWII veterans in auto mechanics and HVAC.  Now, it has 22 campuses and nearly two dozen programs, including nine in the health professions. In fact, they produce 50% of the LPNs in New Jersey and are hoping to start offering an RN program in the Garden State as well, which has one of the biggest shortages of nurses in the country. In this episode with host Shiv Gaglani, Shaw also discusses the increased interest in health professions due to the pandemic, student debt, and the key traits today’s employers are looking for in their staff. If you like this podcast, please share it on your social channels. You can also subscribe to the series and check out all of our episodes at www.osmosis.org/podcast

If you are thinking about applying to medical school, or are already in the process, this episode of Raise the Line is a must-listen. Host Shiv Gaglani is joined by Dr. Sahil Mehta, widely regarded as one of the top experts in the country on medical school admissions. As the founder of MedSchoolCoach, he’s guided thousands of successful medical school applicants. It’s a business that started with the simple realization that most people are not good at selling themselves.  Helping some friends improve their applications led to a “basement” business that has grown over the years to become a major player in the field. Listen in as Mehta shares his insights on what you can do to increase your appeal to medical schools and the importance of being certain it is the profession you want to pursue.  If you like this podcast, please share it on your social channels. You can also subscribe to the series and check out all of our episodes at www.osmosis.org/podcast

If you like this podcast, please share it on your social channels. You can also subscribe to the series and check out all of our episodes at www.osmosis.org/podcast

“In less than a month we went from zero COVID patients to 285, and we’re only a 300-bed hospital,” says Dr. Brian Radbill, recalling the early weeks in March and April when coronavirus stormed New York City. As chief medical officer, Radbill oversaw the Manhattan hospital’s transformation into a COVID care facility, which required a lot of on-the-fly innovation. “It was a real team effort. I have to say, every single person stepped up in the hospital and we met every challenge.” For example, they had to get creative to maintain line of sight to critically-ill patients in spaces that were not built for it -- which initially included the use of baby monitors and iPads – and also had to figure out ways to create more negative pressure space, all while reacting to daily changes in their understanding of the disease. Listen as Radbill brings host Shiv Gaglani inside the early days of the COVID struggle and reflects on what lasting impact he thinks this experience will have on his hospital and the healthcare system at large. He also discusses ongoing work to improve the quality of care and patient flow and shares his perspective on the role of hospitals in the changing healthcare landscape. If you like this podcast, please share it on your social channels. You can also subscribe to the series and check out all of our episodes at www.osmosis.org/podcast

“Often, the real answer is at the bedside,” says Dr. Thomas Rebbecchi, who has worked as an ER doctor at Cooper Hospital in Camden, New Jersey for 23 years. “If you ask the right questions to people, they're going to tell you directly or indirectly what's going on with them.” Dr. Rebbecchi's educational mission is to teach students to focus less exclusively on technology and take the extra time for compassionate interaction with patients. In addition to his role on the National Board of Medical Examiners, Dr. Rebbecchi is also a scientific advisory board member at the Glut1 Deficiency Foundation. In this episode of Raise the Line, he speaks with Dr. Rishi Desai about his family's journey to discover their son’s diagnosis through genetic testing, improved COVID outcomes, and the need for better mental healthcare, especially as a result of the mounting psychological effects of pandemic life. If you like this podcast, please share it on your social channels. You can also subscribe to the series and check out all of our episodes at www.osmosis.org/podcast

COVID-19 has had a tremendous impact on dentistry, says Eve Cuny, who has worked in the area of dental infection prevention and patient safety for the past 30 years. Many dental procedures create fine mists and sprays, including respiratory secretions, that can travel long distances, so dental professionals have had to go to great lengths to adapt. Throughout the pandemic, Cuny has been a guiding voice in dentistry, counseling a number of professional organizations, including the American Dental Association. In this episode of Raise the Line, she speaks with Jannah Amiel about the airborne precautions dentists have had to adopt, and the permanent changes to dentistry that she envisions with regard to ventilation, PPE, and sick worker protocol. Tune in to hear Cuny's take on the pandemic-driven renewal of interest in the crossover between medicine and dentistry, as dentists are increasingly performing oral diagnostics and even administering vaccines. Plus, learn what drew Cuny to dentistry and hear her advice to those new to the field. If you like this podcast, please share it on your social channels. You can also subscribe to the series and check out all of our episodes at www.osmosis.org/podcast

If you’re one of the millions of Americans who just received a smart speaker as a holiday gift, you’re joining an enormous group. Earlier this year it was estimated that 90 million people in the U.S. own one, and that number is growing fast. They offer an easy way to get news, weather, listen to music and control functions in your home, but there are many other uses for these devices and health care is one area where they may play a major role, according to our Raise the Line guest Rachel Jiang who is Head of Alexa Health & Wellness at Amazon. COVID has only underscored this potential. “More than ever it's really important to help people remotely manage their health care needs, and we think Alexa is in a great position to do that,” she says. In fact, Jiang and her team have been working closely with health care providers to develop “skills” (the equivalent of an app on your smartphone) to facilitate safe care both in clinical settings and at home. As Jiang shares with host Jannah Amiel, RN, the video capability of the Echo Show adds power to the instructional value of these interactive devices. For instance, imagine videos showing post-op patients how to change a dressing or do physical therapy while at home. Check out this fascinating discussion to learn more about how this technology might help both patients and providers, how privacy concerns are being addressed and the role software developers will play in tapping what Jiang sees as the endless possibilities ahead. If you like this podcast, please share it on your social channels. You can also subscribe to the series and check out all of our episodes at www.osmosis.org/podcast

Sara Miller’s advice for those in training to be healthcare professionals is fairly simple. “This is your opportunity to learn to be nimble and develop a spirit of innovation.” Miller believes taking this approach early leads to embracing lifelong learning, the benefits of which can be implemented in a provider’s job everyday. As Senior Director of the Quality Improvement Institute at Med-IQ, a leading healthcare improvement company, Miller's work centers around helping healthcare systems identify areas for improvement and to develop and evaluate programs addressing those needs. She has obviously had her hands full helping providers rapidly adjust to the challenges of COVID-19, and believes healthcare professionals and consumers should demand that things not return to business as usual after the pandemic. COVID has revealed too many inadequacies in the old “normal” with regard to emergency preparedness, structural racism, senior care services, and approaches to mental health and substance abuse, she says. In this episode of Raise the Line, Miller also tells host Shiv Gaglani about her work and career, including programs that helped organizations shift Hepatitis C care from specialized settings to primary care, and a popular question/answer series that Med-IQ ran in response to COVID. If you like this podcast, please share it on your social channels. You can also subscribe to the series and check out all of our episodes at www.osmosis.org/podcast

Although the dental industry is not usually the first thing that comes to mind when you think of tech entrepreneurs, this is precisely where Alex Frommeyer has found himself. Frommeyer is the CEO and co-founder of Beam Dental, one of the country’s fastest-growing dental benefit providers offering employers a unique approach to coverage by incorporating dental hygiene behavior into policy pricing. This behavior is determined using artificial intelligence to interpret data gathered from the smart toothbrushes used by members. In this episode, Frommeyer describes to host Shiv Gaglani how Beam is trying to make dental hygiene more enjoyable, how their business has adjusted to the pandemic, and why you should aspire to be a disruptor in your field. If you like this podcast, please share it on your social channels. You can also subscribe to the series and check out all of our episodes at www.osmosis.org/podcast