Laurie Baedke (00:03.98)
Well, hello and welcome to another episode of the Growth Edge Leadership Podcast. I am your host, Laurie Baedke and today's guest is Jill Arena. She is a dear friend and colleague, a nationally recognized expert in medical practice, finance, operations, revenue cycle management, and physician leadership development. Jill is the CEO of Health ePractices in Portland.
a serial entrepreneur and a trusted advisor to physician groups across the country. Over a career spanning more than 30 years, she has helped launch more than 90 medical practices and guided countless physicians through practice growth, leadership transitions, and organizational transformation. She is also the author of a fantastic book, Physician Heal Thy Financial Self, the host of Medical Money Matters podcast and co-founder of the Physician Leadership Project.
a year-long leadership development program for high potential physician leaders. I am delighted that you are here with me, Jill. Welcome to the Growth Edge. Introduce yourself, in a little color commentary for the listeners as to just who you are.
Jill Arena (01:15.064)
Thank you, Laurie. was quite an introduction. I'm already tired. I do love the work with physicians having been in healthcare for 33 years now. Nothing more, you know, refreshing and humbling and gratifying than knowing that we have walked with physicians through some critical transition points in their practices, in their career, in their development. So it's such a wonderful industry to be
part of I feel blessed every day with what I get to do. So it's just a treat. And it's a treat to be here with you too. Thank you so much for the invitation.
Laurie Baedke (01:53.57)
Yeah, well, you and I have lived kind of similar careers. You've obviously got a deep expertise in the deep finance and rev cycle space. And we overlap in that private practice passion and in the physician leadership passion. But before we dig in, I just think it's so relevant. We just got the privilege of spending some time together. I was in Portland for a gala that you hosted, and then we got to...
of course, sip some lovely Willamette Valley wine together. And as we were coming back into Portland, you were talking about some of the physician practices that were a part of your early career journey in the 90s. I was thinking about so much of like what healthcare looked like and what physician practices looked like three or four decades ago and just how much that has transitioned. There has been so much change, but I can't wait to dig into some of your expertise around that topic and specifically,
knowing that my physician listeners and all of my listeners who work closely with physicians just understand deeply how important well-being is, how important leadership is, and how big a role that finance and economics play to that. So with that being our canvas for the conversation, Jill, just maybe talk us a little bit about
the work that you've done in helping physicians to build financially healthy practices and becoming stronger leaders. What's one thing that sitting here today you wish physicians understood earlier in their careers about those topics?
Jill Arena (03:28.708)
question. One of the things I say frequently is that in this country, I believe we do a disservice to our physicians in the way we train them in that we do a phenomenal job of training clinical skills and diagnostics and pharmaceuticals and all of those things they learn in medical school. We really don't give them any background or training in business skills, financial literacy, any of the leadership things that we talk about as they get in
later into their career and start taking leadership positions. And I see that learning gap showing up in lots of different ways. And so that's my fun in this chapter of my career is really working on are there ways we can get ahead of that? Can we get some education to the physicians earlier in their career so that they understand more about the fiscal and the economic environment that their practices are operating in, whether they're in a private practice or they're an employed.
situation, so many of the drivers in healthcare come back to financial drivers and we really complete their training without giving them any of those financial foundation. And I think again, I think that's a disservice. So that's going to be my hobby when I retire. think Laurie is infiltrating the medical education system to see if we can't get some of that in there. But that's that's really where I see the gap. And as a financial professional working with physicians for the last 33 years,
I spent probably about the last 29 out of the last 33 years wandering around, sitting in board rooms, talking with physicians, and expecting that they spoke my language, you know, the language of finance
Laurie Baedke (05:11.662)
Mm.
Jill Arena (05:13.092)
And, you know, really just recently with the Physician Leadership Project and inside of that class, we get to sit down with the physicians. Two of the 11 sessions are devoted to finance. And in the first one, I always like to close the door to the conference room and say, OK, it's Vegas. You know, what's said here stays here let's make this a very safe environment to ask all of the questions you've always wanted to know the answers to, you know, about financial things.
Laurie Baedke (05:34.305)
Hmm.
Jill Arena (05:43.539)
And then my job is to hold a straight face while they list some very, very basic things. And it was only after doing that for a few years that I realized we have a lot of very intelligent, very well-educated people that I was speaking to as though they understood, you know, finance 301 and 401 and graduate level finance concepts. And they really don't, only because they've never been trained. And so that's a long answer to your short question, but that's...
That is one of the main things I really believe we need to do better in terms of how we prepare and how we train physicians.
Laurie Baedke (06:22.59)
I share that belief and I'm curious let's just kind of linger here and dig in and kind of get a couple of layers deeper because what are your observations that support why it is that you are so deeply committed to helping physicians to understand the economics of health care not just clinically but operationally and also personally?
Jill Arena (06:45.016)
The, well, one of the main things I like to say is that money doesn't fix all of your problems, but when the money part is handled, it just leaves space for everything else. It makes life much easier personally and professionally. So when there are money stressors, that can just overshadow everything else that's going on. That can rob you of the joy, whatever profession you're in, but I see it particularly with physicians. If the practice is performing poorly,
from a financial perspective, we have the compounded effect of first of all, they can understand that things aren't right, things aren't working as well as they should, and yet there's that frustration of not really having that training and that background to be able to dig in and do the diagnostics, like they're trained to diagnose, and they're trained to figure out what the problem is, but they don't have the tools to do that on the finance side. So the observations in general, I can
see the margins are shrinking in medical practice, right? The costs continue to go up. The payers are doing their level best to keep from paying anymore. So reimbursement is flat or declining in a lot of groups and that's not sustainable over time, right? Those lines are going to cross at some point, they're going to intersect and then it's not worth being in practice anymore. So that's one of the things I can observe. The other sort of harsh reality that I can see is
the number of practices that are coming to us either with a concern of embezzlement or who've already been embezzled and that is so rampant. It's actually the topic of my next book which should be out in about a month or two. But I've titled it The Embezzlement Epidemic in Medical Practices because that is what we have. The MGMA statistics are about 83 % of medical practices will be embezzled at some
point in their history. you know, for me, that's about 83 and a half percent too many, right? I also like to say, those are the ones we know about, right? The really talented, embezzlers come and take the money and then they move on to another practice and no one is wiser. So the 83 % it's the actual percentage is higher than that. And that kills me. That's really the we have so many well trained, hardworking physicians who are
Jill Arena (09:14.566)
of this sort of lack of training we've talked about and these other things, they're so focused on patients and patient care and have little time to do things like put in internal controls and really look at their financial systems and really spend any time with their dashboards and their metrics to understand what's happening in the practice. And that is a perfect storm. just, creates, unfortunately, it creates a very fertile environment for embezzlers.
Laurie Baedke (09:37.101)
Yes.
Laurie Baedke (09:42.444)
Yes. Well, and for our colleagues who are such highly trained and very, very capable professionals and who are also absolutely dialed in with eyes on all of those processes within the clinical side of the practice, when they are equipped with a greater awareness and understanding of the levers and the dials and the nuance.
of what pulls through and actually impacts the net margin or the revenue on the top, how much is collected of it that then supports any of the operating expenses, you're now pouring gasoline on the fire of a physician's ability to really have the best fighting chance at a thriving medical career.
Jill Arena (10:39.332)
is what we want, right? I like that, throwing gasoline on the fire. I thought you were headed somewhere negative with that. was, ooh, where are we going? No, that's amazing. I would love to see all medical practices absolutely on fire, thriving in a good way, you know? Because there's so much hard work. I don't need to tell the audience that. There's so much devotion to their training and devotion to their patients and giving of themselves and their life
Laurie Baedke (10:45.356)
No. No.
Jill Arena (11:09.286)
energy to really reaching out and I like to say healing your brothers and sisters really and your fellow man and woman that it's so selfless and that's why for me it's a double whammy when someone who goes out into the world that way every day then is taken advantage of by people who are less scrupulous.
Laurie Baedke (11:35.202)
Yeah. So a lot of physician listeners are probably nodding along and thinking, yeah, I get that. But how is it like if you're speaking directly to them, what is the, the, the antidote or what is maybe the root cause of why it is that either medicine and medical training or the current structure of healthcare in the U S has chronically undervalued.
business education for physicians or leadership development.
Jill Arena (12:08.804)
That's a great question. When I ask the medical educators, what I hear is the curriculum is already so full. Like in this short span of time we have for medical school and then residency and maybe a fellowship, there is no time for that. I like to translate anytime I hear the phrase no time, even if I'm saying it to myself, it's actually, there's time, it's just not being prioritized. So how can we prioritize more business education
the appropriate amount. I don't believe every person needs an MBA and you certainly don't need hundreds of hours of education, but enough so that we have a basic sense of financial literacy. The other piece for me in the education, and this may spark some conversation and it may have the audience thinking about it a little differently, what I understand from physician colleagues and friends is within our medical education system,
the knowledge shame culture is alive and well. Our medical director's daughter is going through her residency right now. So I have these conversations with people who are currently in our education system. along with that, there's also this notion that medicine is sort of trained as an individual sport, right? And then you get out into practice and you and I are gonna talk about a lot of leadership things today. So I'll reference this that leadership
and running a medical practice successfully as a team sport. And so there's another gap that we leave in training there too. we're so focused on really getting individual clinical and diagnostic skills to the absolute best that we can, which we should, that is job number one. But to the exclusion of things like how to run a business, how to read a financial statement, how to lead a team effectively, then again, we've done a disservice. So I would love to
the medical education system leaning in to those things. One of the things we like to say to the leaders who are coming through the Physician Leadership Project, and I state it this way on purpose, as a physician, you are never not a leader.
Jill Arena (14:26.946)
And I love the double negative because everybody stops and is twirling that around a little bit. But true, you are never not a leader. Just by virtue of your education and your position in any medical group or health system or wherever you practice, you are a leader.
Laurie Baedke (14:31.256)
Yeah.
Jill Arena (14:42.9)
And I think many physicians don't fully appreciate that. And many are a little bit taken aback when we say that at first. And then it's like, OK, I can sit in that space. Let me just, you know, let me just get a little comfortable sitting in that space of being a leader by virtue of my training and my job position, even if nobody ever told me, you hey, by the way, doctor, you are a leader.
in this group. So those are things I'd love to see us lean into as we think about how do we educate the next generation of physicians.
Laurie Baedke (15:21.888)
I agree wholly and I think yes, I mean, it is unfortunate. It is a serious disservice to the medical community and to the medical profession that there is so much distrust and an erosion of the high level of respect and nobility that medicine has historically carried. And I believe deeply can and hopefully will be restored. But you're spot on.
by nature of their credential and their training and their expertise and their commitment to serving patients. Physicians are seen as leaders. They're seen as leaders in the exam room, in the OR, they're seen as leaders in the community, they're seen as leaders in the organization. But I think also that can do a disservice to our physician colleagues and tell me if you would agree because if there's a gap between what a physician knows and are trained on in their area of expertise,
And that area of content that you're saying is so vital, which is financial acumen and an ability to understand the numbers or the columns and the lines on a financial statement, is that that role as a leader and an expert standing in the way of some of our physician colleagues as they want to pursue building a better awareness of those numbers and lines and columns on
said financial statement.
Jill Arena (16:52.224)
I believe it is a barrier and I hear that a lot with the graduates from our Physician Leadership Program. At the end of the year spent together with a deep dive into 11 different topics, we ask them at graduation what made the most impact for them over the years and consistently it is two things. And this goes to the conversation we're having today about leadership and skills. First is almost always the financial.
course feeling as though they have a better grasp on their group's financials. Again, it's not an MBA, it's not meant to be, but enough so that they can sit in the boardroom. One of our graduates said to me, I feel like now I can sit in the boardroom and take up my space and ask my questions. And that's one of the things that I love to hear our physicians getting from the course is they feel comfortable asking questions. And that is my encouragement to every physician, whether you are an owner,
or you're on a partner track or you are employed. By virtue of the fact that you're leader, you also have a fiduciary duty to your group to make certain that, you know, everybody is informed and you're making the best possible financial decisions you can make. So that's my wholehearted encouragement to any physician is there's anything you don't understand, ask questions. You are no longer in medical school. It's okay to say, don't know what that means. I need you to explain it to me and please hold your
financial people to account to explain it because as I like to say as a finance person when I pick up an income statement from a medical group it tells me a story it sings me a song I can tell a lot about what's going on with a business just by looking at the profit and loss and on the same by the same token if you hand me an EKG to read I've got nothing I don't know I don't know what that means so we all come into this with our own
specified training and we understand different things. And so if somebody asked me to read an EKG, I would need to ask for help. I would need to have somebody explain to me what a normal sinus rhythm looks like. And if there's a little blip somewhere, what that might mean. And so I really encourage physicians to do the same. If there's a little blip somewhere and you don't understand it, if it's your private practice or if it's your medical group in the health system, please, please ask questions.
Jill Arena (19:22.094)
I get funny messages from the CEOs of the medical groups here in the region. And they frequently say to me, I can always tell when one of our physicians is in your course, because they come in asking different questions. And that is for me to celebrate. I excellent. That's right where we want to be.
Laurie Baedke (19:35.917)
Yes.
Laurie Baedke (19:41.836)
love that so much, Jill, and I agree wholeheartedly. And if anyone who's listening has ever heard, because I know that some of our physician colleagues get essentially told to stay in their lane, right? And if that's ever been told to you, that is not a terminal piece of advice. That is one person's opinion. So keep knocking at the door of keep seeking out individuals who will in fact sit in a conversation.
to illuminate and share the insight that you need so that you can become more conversant and so that you can better understand and arm yourself with the skills and the understanding to be able to have eyes on things that help you to be a more informed consumer and a more informed contributor of the team.
Jill Arena (20:36.718)
Yes, please. And if that doesn't work, you can blame me personally. can say, Jill Arena said you would answer my questions. So please throw me right under the bus. do. Yes, I do. I do really mean that. And especially in private practices, if the finances are hard and they are everywhere and you're asking questions and not getting full and complete answers that satisfy you as to what's going on, that's a red flag for something that something is either being mismanaged out of ignorance
Laurie Baedke (20:44.674)
Me too. Throw us both under the bus.
Jill Arena (21:06.662)
or there's theft going on in the background. And as we just said, I like to say with that 83 % statistic, if you're a physician and you're out with four friends for a beer, only one of you has not been embezzled. So that's just sobering in and of itself. So again, please don't allow anyone to squelch your curiosity. If you have curiosity about the finances, keep asking questions until you find someone who will take the time to explain it.
Laurie Baedke (21:22.967)
indeed.
Laurie Baedke (21:34.126)
Yes, 100%. And I think there are so many significant headwinds against healthcare providers right now. Those in private practice, those in academic medicine, those are in community medicine. The US healthcare system is incredibly fragile and incredibly challenged for many reasons. But the fact that inside our own houses, occasionally there are barriers or walls. What do they say about a divided house? Right? So the suits versus scrubs,
Necessary, you know argument or tensions that exist and and those are natural They have to come down if we are to have any shot at thriving or surviving against the headwinds that are pushing against health care providers From the outside as you said very early in this conversation It's a team sport and everyone and a multidisciplinary approach is is really necessary to be able to innovate thrive
continue to advance our mission.
Jill Arena (22:35.876)
Couldn't agree more.
Laurie Baedke (22:36.962)
Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Let's stick on leadership for a moment. I'm curious because you have observed and read about and helped to train and been in the mix with so many amazing leaders. What separates those physicians who become exceptional leaders, extraordinary leaders and really high impact leaders from some who struggle after stepping into a leadership role?
Jill Arena (23:00.526)
would say.
maybe three things, curiosity being number one. And really the excellent leaders that I see and get to work with are approach things from a space of curiosity, the learning space, the beginner's mind. That for me is so key. And I have to stop myself as a leader when I go into something feeling like I already know what's happening here and really pull back and say,
Let me go in with questions before I go in with I already know and that's frequently you elicit a lot of new and different information As long as you don't have the door closed to that upfront Secondly, I would say listening This key to all of our communication and you know, the old adage two ears one mouth use them proportionately I love that. I think again and I don't mean to be so critical of the medical school training but
All of the studies you see show that a physician will listen to a patient for about 90 seconds before they interrupt. there's a little bit of that, you know, need a little more curiosity, need to let the patient go a little bit more before you think that you know what is happening. And if I would say I would suggest that if a physician listens to a staff person or somebody on their team who has an issue for only 90 seconds and then interrupts,
they may or may not get the full and complete story and they may not have all of the information they need in order to lead. So listening would be number two. Number three would be I think humility or sort of checking your ego at the door and that goes with the first two, right? It's getting over the need to always have the answer and I think again we tend to train that into the clinical training because in a clinical setting the doctor is expected to have the answer.
Jill Arena (25:02.126)
that dichotomy that needs to be managed. And I think that's why frequently physicians are reticent to step into leadership roles because what they can see is so different than what they've been trained for.
Laurie Baedke (25:18.22)
Yeah, I like that a lot. And I want to pick your brain about something that you said. There were so many amazing thoughts or insights in all three of those applications, but I want to go back to the first one. And when you talk about kind of that curiosity, that beginner's mindset, I know with a lot of certainty that not a single physician anywhere needs another task on their to-do list. But I'm curious if you have observed this brilliant paradox where when that
learner that beginner's mindset and that learning journey unfolds for physicians in seeking to understand something new. If it's actually rejuvenating and restorative, even though it's an output and an investment of their time and energy and effort, when because most physicians are of the most extraordinary cognitive and intellectual and, and, you know, minds among us and
when everything becomes so established and known and when mastery or establishedness in one's clinical practice has been found, is it, have you observed, I have, that people get really excited to actually unlock new capacity and to have their mind be challenged in a new way? Is that your experience as well?
Jill Arena (26:36.804)
absolutely is. It's such fun and so gratifying to walk with the physicians through our Physician Leadership Program series and to hear their stories unfold and to see what happens when they plug into that new space for them. And when it's, you know, it's a bit like a trust fall, right? Because we haven't thank you for any of this. You know, it's all very foreign. The suits speak a different language than the scrubs.
Laurie Baedke (27:00.599)
in this.
Jill Arena (27:06.818)
you know, and there's so much to learn and there's so much that's new. And so that's likely why I see the people who I sort of perceive as being naturally curious tend to really thrive when they will, you know, do the trust fall and say, okay, you know, I want to do leadership. We have a great slide at the beginning of the course where we talk about the difference between, you know, being a clinician and being a leader and making that shift.
It's not for the faint of heart, it is, I see it being extraordinarily gratifying when these physician leaders get to the other side, as we say, and are really comfortable in both worlds.
Laurie Baedke (27:51.566)
Yes, yes. And when they have the skills and the courage and the clarity to be able to sit at the table and contribute and be a part of the decisions that are made is our only fighting chance, I think, as entities or organizations.
Jill Arena (28:07.372)
Yeah, we tend to lose our focus if it's only the suits sitting around the table making decisions. And I saw that in the years that I was growing up inside of the regional health system here, that it's, we absolutely need physician voices at the boardroom table. And when they're where those decisions are being made at the highest level, we cannot lose the clinical input.
Laurie Baedke (28:27.598)
Yes.
Indeed. Yeah. So when you look through the windshield and we're looking ahead, what is one leadership capability that physicians absolutely need over the coming years or decades?
Jill Arena (28:44.484)
I'm gonna say financial literacy. That is my favorite thing. And I say literacy rather than fluency, two different things, right? When you're learning a new language, you need the basics. You need to be able to understand the basics of the language enough to get around. And for me, that's fluency, or excuse me, literacy. When you really are getting up into those echelons, and I know several physicians who have gone and completed an MBA or an MHA, that that is,
you know, gaining you more toward fluency, but at a minimum, physicians need to understand, be able to speak the language, be able to look at and interpret the financial reports, and understand what's necessary for creating a robust financial environment that has the right safeguards and also the right dashboards, so they can really monitor performance and take a few of those things off the list of things to worry about, right? When you have the right systems,
in place can rest easy, knowing things are working.
Laurie Baedke (29:49.486)
Indeed, that's a nice bridge or transition to kind of digging into your leadership just a little bit. We've talked about your expertise and the work that you do, but you have had a career where you've been inside systems and now you lead an organization that serves medical groups and healthcare organizations all over the nation. What is a lesson that leadership has taught you about yourself over the years?
Jill Arena (30:16.356)
so many, so many lessons to learn from. And I keep learning them every day. Probably the best is hire good people and get out of their way.
It is, yeah, it's all about trust. First, trusting your own instinct to pick good people. And then secondly, trusting them once you've been clear about what the job is and what the expectations are. And I routinely have to learn that lesson. You know, it's one that gets repeated. You know, the lesson will be repeated until you learn it. So I keep putting it. And I sat with our team this morning and our executive leadership team, and we start our 90 minute
Laurie Baedke (30:51.618)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Jill Arena (31:00.006)
meetings with a segue and it's meant to be five or 10 minutes. This morning it went for 23 minutes and it was everybody talking about what they are grateful for and we do what you're grateful for personally and what you're grateful for professionally and it's a beautiful clearing. It's a great space to create before we dig into the work of the day and it lets all of us know what's going on with each other, what's important in our lives and all of that and sometimes it's a bit more of a
poured out, know, pretty quick. And this morning, it was full of banter and joking and all kinds of things flying back and forth. And when it was my turn, our COO asked me to wrap it up. And I said what I was grateful for personally. And then I said, professionally, I'm grateful for the last 23 minutes and the humans in this meeting. So it is it's a team sport. It's all about the team. And yeah, getting out of their way.
Laurie Baedke (31:53.688)
Yeah, it is.
Yeah, well, and that speaks so much to your leadership style because you are a people person. You are a human centered leader and you have a very unique and powerful knack for convening people. When I think about you, you're such a connector, but you're a community builder. And I'm curious if that resonates with you. And if so, what do you think that great collaborators understand?
that others maybe miss.
Jill Arena (32:29.064)
We're back to the team sport. And I would say perhaps this is a Pacific Northwest phenomenon, but I choose to believe not. I don't know that there is much competition in medicine. I tend to think of it as an industry that's more cooptition or should be, in my humble opinion. And that frequently in most markets, in a few niche cases, there is competition, but in most markets, there are plenty enough patients to go around.
Some of them are not coming in for whatever it is they need. So there are times we need to go find them and encourage them to come and get some care. But I just choose to believe that medicine played in a co-optition kind of way is just makes for a stronger community. are all in this together and putting up, know, medicine is hard enough as it is, right? To practice in and to succeed in when we put up these artificial barriers.
and have this sort of notion that we're going to withhold information or we're going to withhold experience that might help someone else. To me, that doesn't serve. And certainly there are some things you need to keep confidential as an organization and certainly there's a little bit of that. But for the most part, I tend to be an open book and I think that's a much better way for the community to show up is how can we help lift each other up? How can we help support
one another. Again, it should be a team sport and it's challenging enough as it is, so let's be easy with each other.
Laurie Baedke (34:06.966)
Yeah, mean the times that I have been privileged to be in your orbit and be a part of the community that you've built in Portland and the greater Pacific Northwest, it is really, really special. And so much of the work that we do is so consuming that we can become isolated because our inbox and everything else in life professionally and personally will consume us and that will never not be the case. But additionally, you know, when we think about
Just the special magic of convening when you are connected and there is an abundance of confirmation in the literature about how we do need social connection. We do need, you know, community with others. And especially when that can be collaborative and multidisciplinary, that high tide rises all ships. And so I just, I'm gonna continue to be a frequent flyer to be party to anything that it is that you're building because it is special.
And if anyone is listening who's a part of that community in Portland, you're blessed. And for anyone who's not, we all need to be putting our shoulder into the rock of building that in our home communities because it's easily left on the back burner, but its power and impact can't be overstated.
Jill Arena (35:25.806)
Thank you. Thank you for that. I love the energy that happens when we get a bunch of very smart, very caring people into a room. And I would say for folks listening who are not in the Pacific Northwest or not on our list for the Portland Metro events that we do, one of the more powerful convening groups we have is an industry group that are all healthcare adjacent professionals. So my joke is there's a butcher a baker
and a candlestick maker. There is an attorney, there's an accountant, there's an architect, there's a consultant. So that has been a really amazing group. It's currently standing at 10 members and all of those members are absolutely in support of their physician clients. And so it's been very easy for us to organize as a group and to co-sponsor events for education. That really was born
of the pandemic because we all went home and you know kept on doing our thing you know on zoom and with our keyboards and we were watching our physician colleagues and friends continue to put themselves out on the front line and continue to take care of patients and put themselves at quite a bit of risk and so as business people we sat back and looked at that and said that's phenomenal and what can we do to support them right now and it turned into a series of zoom meetings where we were literally
Laurie Baedke (36:28.664)
Mm-hmm.
Jill Arena (36:55.526)
just pulling together all the good information we could about what was happening inside the pandemic and where medical groups should go for PPP funds and you know what all of the changes were that were happening in the employment law and just trying to bring all the data together in one place that was easy for medical groups that were really navigating some extraordinarily challenging times. And so we've just continued that now that you know we can gather back together in person in big groups without masks on that's a that's a celebration in and of itself.
And continuing that with education and as you know, we always since we're in the Pacific Northwest, we have to have decent wine and good food. So, but you know, when you put those kind of things together, just with this notion of education and community for the sake of that, it's an our groups pretty, pretty clear, you know, these are not meant to be sales events, you know, you're not going to be sold, you're a physician showing up to them. So that's been some of the secret sauce that's happened in the community here. And it's
certainly does take a few people putting their hands up in the air to say, I want to do that. But we have tremendous support from the bankers, from the accountants, from the attorneys, all of the professionals that support physicians. So I would say to anyone in the audience, if you'd like to have something like that in your community, please feel free to reach out. I'm happy to talk with you about the blueprint. It's not hard to do. It just takes some time and some intention.
Laurie Baedke (38:22.264)
Yeah, well, and I will include all of those links in the show notes. But Jill, our time is waning and I would love it if you'd be willing to take a spin around the dance floor with me in a rapid fire before we close. Okay, okay, so minimal, like one or two word answer or maybe a quick sentence, but what's a belief that you've changed your mind about?
Laurie Baedke (38:48.226)
What's the biggest waste of time in healthcare?
Laurie Baedke (38:55.614)
most underrated leadership skill.
Laurie Baedke (39:02.462)
one thing physician leaders need more of.
Laurie Baedke (39:09.41)
What's one thing they need less of?
Laurie Baedke (39:16.142)
prior authorizations.
Jill Arena (39:17.326)
Prior authorizations is a great example. Yes, peer to peers with the medical director at the edge.
Laurie Baedke (39:21.26)
Yeah, yeah. What's a daily habit that keeps you grounded?
Laurie Baedke (39:29.262)
That's the best career advice you've ever received.
Jill Arena (39:34.988)
If you don't like what you're doing, it's okay to do something different.
Laurie Baedke (39:40.27)
two more. What gives you hope about healthcare?
Laurie Baedke (39:50.07)
What is one thing that you hope physician leaders stop tolerating?
Laurie Baedke (40:01.004)
I'm with you and I'm linking arms with you in working to change that. Jill, thank you so much for this delightful conversation. Thank you for all of the important work that you're doing nationwide and specifically in your Portland community. I can't wait to share resources from your work with my listeners and I'm grateful for you.
Jill Arena (40:20.644)
Thank you, Laurie. It was a treat to be here with you.
