The First in the Breech
By Dr. Nick van Terheyden aka Dr. Nick
Twitter: @drnic1
Host of Dr. Nick: The Incrementalist – #TheIncrementalist
On this episode I talked to Luis Saldana, MD (@lsaldanamd), an Emergency room physician and CMIO Clinical Informaticist who was at the center of the first Ebola case that reached US shores in 2014. He is a clinician first but like many in the profession went through a period of burnout that opened up some new opportunities including taking an MBA and implementing an Electronic Medical Record (EMR) before the government mandates.
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Their early experiences were importantly driven by the need to focus on improving clinical care and with multiple sites taking an incremental approach that focused on physician satisfaction as a success factor that helped get excellent physician engagement and support, all driven from the top of the organization.
The early experience with the first case of Ebola which came in through the Emergency Room Luis was working in and importantly required his insights in the information sharing through the EMR. The experience was informative and many incremental insights came to this:
- Dig deep and look inside of yourself
- Ask how you can do the best for the patient in front of me
- The importance of excellent communications
- Including all the stakeholders including the CDC and the press
Ultimately much boiled down to people and execution
Fast forward to the COVID19 pandemic and thanks to these experiences and the incredible sharing of information he has found himself at the nexus of helping organizations, colleges, schools, and businesses on how to open safely.
Navigating the oftentimes overwhelming nature of changing data requires a flexible approach centered on public health and tempered with humility that helps simplify the messages for widespread use and consumption.
Listen in to hear his thoughts on the new testing paradigm that requires a different thinking approach and how to interpret the data from the CDC. He shares his thoughts about where we will be and what our future can look like re-opening our lives safely.
As we continue our journey through the COVID19 pandemic health and wellness will continue to play a central role, and delivering on this for employees is log in to require long term commitment by employers and the importance of having a Virtual Public Health Officer either on staff or available virtually.
About the Show
For years Dr. Nick van Terheyden aka Dr. Nick, has served as a voice on the impact of new technologies on healthcare, earning a reputation as a leading authority on where the future of medicine is going. Combining powers of observation and real world experience, Dr. Nick has seen many predictions come true and makes the case that innovations in healthcare can be accomplished incrementally, not just by moonshot events. Tune in to hear Dr. Nick: The Incrementalist and his guests discuss what the future of healthcare looks like, how we will get there, and what it will take to improve healthcare for all.
This article was originally published on the Dr. Nick – The Incrementalist blog and is republished here with permission.