EP266: When the Scrubs and the Suits Partner Together, Everybody Is Happier … Except Maybe Those Looking to Exploit Patients, With Matt Anderson, MD, MBA

In this episode, recorded prior to COVID-19 hitting the US, Stacey Richter talks with Matt Anderson, MD, MBA, innovation lead at Banner Health, about why partnership between "scrubs" and "suits" leads to better outcomes for everyone except those looking to exploit patients.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

✅ Why physician leadership matters more than ever when fast, good decisions are required

✅ The difference between technology that burdens clinicians and technology that strengthens the clinician-patient bond

✅ Why low-revenue care sometimes serves patients better than high-revenue care

✅ Why building a culture where it's okay to fail matters for innovation in health systems

✅ How educating clinicians on the business of health care earlier could change decision-making

WHY THIS MATTERS

Matt Anderson argues that when "the suits" and "the scrubs" make decisions together, patients and the business both come out ahead — but decisions made about care delivery from far outside the exam room tend to go poorly. He connects this to the Shkreli Awards and a broader theme of physicians demanding a seat at the leadership table, not to undermine administrators, but to ensure clinical reality and sustainability inform each other. Recorded before COVID-19 hit, the conversation reads as a case for exactly the kind of physician-administrator partnership a crisis demands.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

🔗 EP260, with Shannon Brownlee and Vikas Saini, MD

=== LINKS ===

🔗 Show Notes with all mentioned links: Episode Page

🔗 Healthcare Industry Acronyms and Terms

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00:00 Introduction.

02:30 Distinguishing between billing technology and technology improving bonds between clinicians.

04:03 "The scribe is literally just there to take the burden of the EMR off the physician."

04:41 "If all of your goals begin and end with patients, you're not gonna go wrong."

06:07 "We gotta get a little bit tribal in medicine."

06:27 "Physicians have to be leaders in this space."

07:21 Suits vs scrubs.

08:47 Why low-revenue care is sometimes better than high-revenue care.

13:49 EP260 with Shannon Brownlee and Vikas Saini, MD, from the Lown Institute.

16:11 "There's a role to play for all of our clinical partners in the leadership of our health care systems."

16:38 "You have to be able to be curious."

18:35 The movement to humanize medicine with technology, led by Eric Topol.

20:45 Creating a culture where it's okay to fail.

22:31 Starting the educational process on the business of health care earlier.

25:48 Technology as top-down vs physicians as bottom-up.