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Tanika Williams on Transitioning Healthcare Deserts Through Strategic Physician Placement · The Inspired Stories Podcast

0:04
Welcome to another edition of the Inspired Stories podcast,
0:08
where leaders share their experiences so we can learn from
0:12
their successes and be inspired by how they've overcome
0:15
adversity. My name is Anthony Kotaspodi and
0:17
today's guest is Tanika Williams, head of industry
0:21
relations at Jackson Coker. They are a leading healthcare
0:25
staffing firm that connects healthcare organizations with
0:28
physicians and advanced practitioners who share a
0:31
commitment to improving patient lives.
0:34
The company was founded over 40 years ago and has earned
0:37
multiple honors, including Clearly Rated's Best of Staffing
0:41
for Client and Talent Satisfaction and Recognition as
0:45
a Top Workplace by the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
0:50
Now. Tanika has been part of Jackson
0:52
Coker for eight years, during which she has held roles in
0:55
sales, marketing and leadership. She now leads strategic
1:00
marketing initiatives and collaborative efforts that build
1:04
the company's industry presence. In her time at Jackson Coker,
1:08
she helped the organization develop innovative solutions
1:11
designed to simplify and enhance locum tenant services for
1:15
healthcare providers. Now before we get into all that
1:18
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AD back benefits.com. All right, back to our guest
2:02
today, Head of Industry Relations at Jackson Coker,
2:05
Tanika Williams. Thanks for making the time to
2:07
Share your story today. Absolutely.
2:09
Thanks for having me, Anthony. OK, so Prior to joining Jackson
2:14
Coker, you didn't have a background in staffing of any
2:18
kind, let alone medical staffing.
2:20
What? What did your career look like
2:22
prior to that? The I didn't know about ruining
2:27
staffing, did not have a background in medical staffing,
2:30
so it was all a new world. But my journey to Jackson and
2:34
Cloaker did include a robust journey through healthcare.
2:38
So my time prior to Jackson and Coker was spent in the
2:42
pharmaceutical and medical device areas of healthcare,
2:46
working with both large names like Pfizer Pharmaceuticals and
2:49
Zol Medical. I also did some work in the
2:53
orthodontic and pharmacy space, working with independent
2:56
pharmacists to grow their businesses and developing
3:00
marketing perspectives. When you think about the
3:03
independent pharmacists, you think about family home grown
3:07
businesses that are now trying to compete with big box real
3:10
retailers. So that was a great place to get
3:13
a different perspective on marketing and engaging with the
3:17
customer. And then after that was my
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introduction to Jackson and Coker.
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How did that happen? Wow, all I can say is divine
3:27
intervention. Prior to Jackson and Coker I was
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95% travel so I was the epitome of a road warrior.
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Everything from planes, trains and automobiles.
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I covered territories all over the US.
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So once I decided to have a family, that completely changed.
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It sounds good in theory through the journey of pregnancy that
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oh, I can't wait to get back out there and you know, be a road
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warrior and connect with clients face to face.
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But the priorities definitely change.
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So that's what landed Mia, Jackson and Coker looking for
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something that was more stable, something that would allow me to
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transition into a mother and being local and being present
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and available for my family. That was really important to me
4:14
at that time. So Jackson and Coker allowed me
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to go from 95% travel to 20% travel at the time.
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It allowed me the stability of a very structured work format
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where I was working a nine to five.
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Obviously when you're on the road and traveling, your days
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are long, so it allowed me to have very structured and
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specific time frames to work in order to be able to pour into my
4:39
family. So I was referred to Jackson and
4:41
Coker from a friend from the Pharmaceutical industry who had
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transitioned here and loved the work, loved the impact, and just
4:49
thought I would be a good fit. And that was eight years ago.
4:52
Wow. You know, it's interesting
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because that is a difficult sort of life family balance.
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And it sounds like you were really enjoying what you were
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doing before. And so it can be like a kind of
5:06
an unstable kind of thing to, to go from I'm on the road, I'm
5:10
doing this, I'm moving, I'm moving, I'm moving to now like
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I, I've got different priorities, like shifting into a
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different phase of life. What was the thing that kind of
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surprised you the most about making that transition?
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I can do. I went to College in Florida and
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then moved to New York. So I my home base was New York
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for 15 years working at healthcare.
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So a couple of years prior to the Jackson and Cooker change
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and having my daughter, I moved to the Atlanta area where
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Jackson and Cooker is headquartered.
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So that in itself was a transition.
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And then to be going into motherhood and then to be going
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into a new job. But what surprised me is that,
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wow, I'm adaptable and I can do something different.
6:00
I can sit at a desk and I can still thrive and be successful
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and I can learn something new. If you think about the police is
6:09
that I told you I worked prior to Jackson and Coker.
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Why pharmaceutical sales in sales in the medical device
6:15
industry are slightly different. They're still very much the
6:18
same, you know, very much an exchange of goods.
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So I'm actually selling a product that is tangible, people
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can touch and they're going to use immediately.
6:28
Work with Jackson and Coker is very different.
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You're selling a service, but you're selling a people service.
6:33
So there has to be connection and camaraderie in order for
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that sale to be successful, but there also has to be a different
6:41
level of engagement. You know, it was very
6:44
transactional in my previous work.
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This is very relational and the people who do well in staffing,
6:52
whether it's medical or IT or whatever, it's because they
6:55
understand the power of relationships and not
6:59
transactional interactions. They also understand who and
7:02
what their end user is and what they need to be successful.
7:06
So it becomes more about that individual or customer you're
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partnering with. Then let's say those sales
7:12
quotas, which in traditional sales it's really about did I
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get enough product out the door? Well, you still have quotas to
7:21
me, right? So maybe for somebody listening
7:25
who is going through a similar transition themselves from
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something that's more transactional to more
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relational, what's something that you kind of learned in that
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that you could share with others?
7:37
Yeah, that's a great question. I think one of the things I
7:39
learned is looking at what photo looks like differently, right?
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And again, I talked about the end user.
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So I never really thought the quota for myself as an
7:48
individual contributor or for my team necessarily about how many
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doctors we put to work or necessarily how many hospital or
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health systems we work, but how many people did we help get
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access to care? So the why has to become
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different in those two scenarios.
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And really understanding that why.
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And I, I know why can be loaded, right?
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People think about the why, what gets me up in the morning and
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allows my feet to hit the ground.
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But it's really the why that once you walk in the building,
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allows you to sit down and approach the day with a
8:21
different perspective every because no matter what job
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you're doing, it can be challenging.
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And especially when you sell a service because you don't always
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get the direct interaction with the person that the service
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meets or is intended to help. So really making the connection
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with the why is important. So when you say that now you're
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sort of counting like how many people did I get to help today?
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Does that like help me understand what that metric
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looks like? Cuz it what, when you said that,
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what I heard was, oh, rather than I placed ten doctors today,
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I know that those 10 doctors can help 20 people a day.
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So now I've helped 200 people. You know, sick people get help
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today. Is that kind of how you think
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about it now? You nailed it.
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You placed ten doctors. Each doctor on average,
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depending on specialty and location, is gonna see 12 to 15
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patients. We've now given access to care
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to 150 people, right? I'm also thinking about what our
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world looks like. You know, I'm in the Atlanta
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area and obviously here, physician shortage is a thing,
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but it's not as prevalent as one would think.
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You can look at any street corner and you're going to find
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a private practice, a hospital, a care center.
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But if I'm I'm in Montana, you know, there are healthcare
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deserts there. People don't have that same
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access to care. So what we do here at Jackson
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and Coker is really expand access to care through a locum
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tenants physician, being able to go to rural Montana, even if
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it's just for two months out of the year and provide care to
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patients who otherwise would be quote, UN quote wait listed for
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healthcare. So the underlying metric is
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still there, like you still need to place more doctors, right?
10:07
This is a business model. But when you sort of layer in
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this heart driven metric on top of it, number of people I get to
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help, it just helps. I, I think you get out of bed in
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the morning, get get you more excited.
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You're not just, you know, pushing another widget.
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It's like there's there's more of a driving force there.
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Yeah, I would agree. You think this evening that I
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think so it's helped shape my my journey through leadership is as
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you grow your personal level of maturity, right when I worked
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for Pfizer started, I was 22 years old, two days after
10:40
college graduation. So my why was different, right?
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I wanted to jump into the workforce.
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I wanted to make lots of money and I wanted to travel and go to
10:49
Broadway shows because I was in New York and I was adult.
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Now, you know, as a more mature adult with a family, that
10:58
perspective changes and what I want my impact to be and what I
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want to be doing and what's important to me.
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So I think with that, it also helps you craft how you look at
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your quotas and the work that you do.
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So we've been using this Latin phrase several time.
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Locum tenants explain what that means.
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Yeah. So locum tenants is a Latin
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phrase for temporary placement. So essentially think about the
11:23
physician that you go to for OBGYN care.
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You've got a baby coming in the next nine months, but your
11:31
doctor's also pregnant. So she's going to be going on
11:34
leave during the same time that you're giving birth.
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For any woman and family, that would be a panic situation
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because you want the person you've been working with to
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deliver your doctor. You're not in a position where
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you can wait for her to get back.
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So a locums tenants provider would come into that
11:49
organization and they would work for the three months that that
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provider is on maternity leave, seeing their patients and
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providing a continuity of care so that healthcare business can
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continue to function, Patients continue to have access to care.
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So it's really that gap in between when a physician isn't
12:08
in place for some reason. It can also be used as a growth
12:12
strategy. If you think about large
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metropolitan areas as they're growing in particular
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specialties and they want to, let's say, expand a cardiology
12:20
department, but they want to ensure that they have the senses
12:23
or the patient population to sustain it before they hire a
12:27
ton of doctors or expand a hospital wing.
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They can bring in locum tenants providers as a temporary
12:34
placement while they figure those things out.
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So these doctors would work for two to three months and see if
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that patient census is consistent for them to actually
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do the expansion project that they think is necessary.
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Got it. So Jackson Coker is placing
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physicians in all kinds of environments, right?
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Maybe there's maternity leave, maybe, you know, somebody has
12:57
another family issue they need to be out or an injury or, or a
13:01
hospital's growing. And you know, rather than sort
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of take on the the complexities of hiring people in full time,
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they want to, OK, let's dip our toe in the water.
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Let's get some temporary folks in here.
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Let's see if the growth is sustainable.
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And then down the road we can make the decision to hire full
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time. Or, you know, like Montana, like
13:20
healthcare desert. They just don't have enough
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physicians out there. And so you're helping to people
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there. So I get where the need is.
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Why would some physicians want to work in this model rather
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than saying hey I am just going to go find a steady full time
13:38
position somewhere? Yeah, it's, you know, like most
13:43
things, it's the individual pull or tug and your connection to
13:48
the work. So many physicians, like most
13:50
Americans, you start at a hospital or healthcare system
13:53
and you're there until retirement.
13:55
What's interesting and about as medicine evolves and changes, so
13:59
does the way that we practice, the instruments that we use, the
14:03
type of procedures we do in protocols.
14:05
Ideally, if I stay with the same hospital and healthcare system,
14:09
I only know our way of practice. Some physicians choose to do
14:13
locums because it allows them a bird's eye view and to how
14:17
others are using the same processes and protocols, right.
14:21
You think about all physicians have taken an oath.
14:25
Ultimately what they want to do is serve and provide care.
14:29
And when you live in a place where care like I mentioned,
14:31
like Atlanta is robust, they want to go somewhere and help
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other communities that don't have access to this.
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You often hear about physicians doing mission medical missions
14:41
and things like that. Locums kind of scratches that
14:44
itch in a way because it's an opportunity for them to get
14:47
back. It's also a great financial
14:51
boost. When you think about people in
14:53
the early stages of their career, right out of resident
14:56
fee fellowship, they have an enormous amount of bills.
15:02
So locums as a supplement to their income allows them.
15:06
Again, they're still doing clinical work.
15:09
They're not going to just doing charting somewhere and sitting
15:12
behind a desk. They're still staying very much
15:14
entrenched in the clinical work that they do, but they're also
15:17
making additional income. That makes a lot of sense.
15:21
And so Jackson and Coker's been around for more than 4 decades
15:26
and it continues to get recognized for innovation and
15:28
client satisfaction. What do you think sets the
15:31
company apart from other similar staffing organizations?
15:37
That's a great question. I think what really sets us
15:39
apart, and if you've used 100 people out of 350 associates
15:44
here at Jackson and Coker, they probably all answer in one of
15:46
two ways, our culture and our people.
15:49
And I know in some perspectives people say, oh, that's the same
15:52
thing kind of, but you've got to have great people in order to
15:56
have a great culture because a great culture can be easily
15:59
diluted with the wrong people. So I think it's really those two
16:02
things because again, we have people here who understand their
16:06
why and the impact of the work that they do and they're really
16:09
tied to that with that. I'd also say the people that we
16:11
serve externally are amazing. It's one of the few companies
16:16
where the culture permeates externally for me that I've
16:20
worked at. And I really feel like our
16:22
customers and clients, our partners, our friends, you
16:25
always hear that phrase, oh, I work in a family friendly
16:27
environment. No, no, it's not the drink, the
16:30
kool-aid. It really is a family friendly.
16:34
Just an example, I'll say it's this literally just happened
16:38
this morning. I'm going to a convention and
16:42
received a list of some of the attendees and reached out to one
16:45
of those attendees about his attendance.
16:48
Hey, I'm going to be there too. And he said, oh, great, my
16:51
wife's coming. This is the CEO of a hospital or
16:53
health system that I've now known for four or five years.
16:57
And his next reply was, I can't wait to let her know that you're
17:00
going to be there too. When are we doing dinner?
17:04
It's amazing. I have that kind of personal
17:06
connection. That personal.
17:08
To introduce you to his family. Yes, we are excited to see and
17:12
meet and collaborate. And I think what's really great
17:16
about building strong relationships is the ask from a
17:20
business perspective actually comes easier, right?
17:23
Because you've built that level of trust.
17:26
They know who you are. And it just makes business to me
17:30
run smoother, right? Some people say it's harder to
17:32
ask people that they know for something.
17:34
I think it's easier, right? Because they know my intent,
17:37
they understand my heart. So it's a lot easier than me
17:41
trying to convince a stranger of what I want or what I need or
17:44
about the service that I provide.
17:47
So we're talking about people and culture.
17:49
What have you tried and found success with in terms of
17:53
identifying, recruiting and then retaining good folks?
17:59
The hardest part, I think is the retaining big part, but I think
18:04
attracting is how we message what your culture looks like.
18:11
And I think we're most organizations struggle is the
18:14
idea or concept of a good culture is usually somewhere on
18:19
a plaque and not actually lived and felt.
18:22
And I again, I think that's what enamoured me immediately about
18:25
Jackson and Coker. When you walked in the door, you
18:28
felt it in the room. And that's often feedback that
18:32
we get from clients and customers as they say when they
18:36
do a visit here that wow, your people are so great.
18:40
Like I felt so welcomed whether I remembered every name and
18:43
every face. It felt like home, it felt like
18:46
family. So I think it's really important
18:48
when you're attracting people that they can feel that you
18:51
think about the world that we live in now.
18:53
It's not often that people are coming into a business to do an
18:57
interview and get that face to face connection.
18:59
So how do you still make that resonate over the phone and via
19:03
video? And then really feeling and
19:05
understanding culture. I think it's also people's
19:07
ability to see themselves in the organization.
19:11
I want to see people who look like me.
19:13
I want to see people who move like me.
19:16
I want to see people who are motivated by some of the same
19:20
things that I'm motivated for. I have to see myself in the
19:23
business, thereby creating the connection.
19:27
And I think when we talk about retaining people, it's really
19:30
about people understanding the business, why, why the business
19:36
does what it does, how the organization thrives, and then a
19:39
fostering of their personal development and growth.
19:43
Often there's these catalogs you can go to in an organization if
19:46
you want to take training, but really having leaders that are
19:49
identifying things and people that they may not identify in
19:52
themselves and connecting them or giving them the ability to
19:56
foster those things. It's one thing to say, hey, I
19:59
think you might be a great future leader.
20:01
It's another thing to say I think you might be a great
20:03
future leader. And here's 2 podcasts for you to
20:05
listen to. Here's a book I'm reading.
20:08
Would you like to read it to? I'll grab you a copyright.
20:10
I think it's really about the investing in people and
20:14
understanding and meeting them where they are.
20:17
And so I think, you know, a big part of your answer probably
20:19
applies a lot to sort of the what I'm going to call the
20:22
internal staff at Jackson and Coker.
20:26
How do you sort of translate that or expand that into, you
20:31
know, physicians that you don't get to have sort of that
20:34
day-to-day contact with? How do you get them to sort of
20:39
drink the proverbial Kool-aid and, you know, buy into the
20:43
system and say, hey, we want to stay here for a while?
20:46
Yeah, I think part of it is the relationship we talked to being
20:51
personal, talk about their accountant or their financial
20:54
planner and how they know so much about each other.
20:57
It always, in my younger years, seems so odd to me.
21:00
Like, why would your banker know that much about you, right?
21:03
It's the same thing here. How would your talent
21:06
acquisition person or why does your recruiter right, or your
21:10
temp agency as some people like to call us, why do they know so
21:13
much about you? You're sharing that with that
21:14
person. But again, it's that
21:16
connectivity, I think that happens there.
21:19
I think it's also understanding the Jackson and Coker
21:22
differentiators. We do things within the
21:25
industry. Our people are involved in
21:28
things within the industry and externally that impact our
21:31
providers directly. So when we talk about what
21:34
partnership looks like and what others first looks like, we
21:37
partner with the Doctor Lorna Brain Heroes Foundation and we
21:41
are really advocating for physician well-being, for their
21:44
mindset to eliminate the woes of administrative burden, to make
21:50
sure that they have a voice when it comes to their mental health.
21:54
We advocate for taking care of the people who take care of us.
21:58
So creating partnerships that aren't just checks in the box or
22:02
additions to our website, but things that are important to the
22:06
people that are our end users, to those providers, things that
22:10
are important to patients. We do a lot of philanthropic
22:14
work. So actually, when we're going to
22:16
different cities and states across the country, we're trying
22:19
to do work that impacts their immediate community.
22:23
You know, it's great to say, hey, we partner with the United
22:26
Way or Habitat for Humanity. We have a group of people going
22:29
to Asheville, NC at the end of September.
22:33
And we're actually working with their local charity for what
22:36
they need to continue to help rebuild that community after
22:39
disaster. I think those are the things
22:42
people want to know that you're connected and tied to the same
22:44
things that are important to them.
22:46
That's the organization I want to partner with.
22:48
That's the partner that I want to work with to provide care.
22:53
I like that. Tanika, how have you seen the
22:57
locum tenant model kind of evolve over the years?
23:02
It's evolved greatly. As you mentioned, Jackson and
23:04
Coker's one of the oldest and most reputable agencies in the
23:08
industry. We've been around for almost 40
23:10
plus years. So you can imagine back then
23:14
locums was kind of that thing that people didn't want to talk
23:18
about or do, right? You thought stigma to it.
23:20
It was a stigma and a lot of the stigma was why do you want to
23:26
bounce around and do this type of work?
23:28
So I think again, understanding the story, a lack of
23:31
understanding for the impact that locums physicians could
23:34
have, that model has changed greatly.
23:38
Kind of as we've talked about, locums has gone from being a
23:41
temporary fix so much, even though that's what it is by
23:44
definition, to actually a part of the strategic plan for
23:49
growing hospitals and health systems, right?
23:52
As we mentioned in that example that I talked about, if they're
23:54
trying to develop or expand a wing, right?
23:58
If they're in a case where there's financial or budget
24:02
constraints, you know, they can use locums in different ways in
24:06
those instances as well. We have a lot of hospitals and
24:09
health systems that are transitioning to a model of
24:12
telehealth and providing remote care.
24:15
Remote care doesn't mean you got to hire a whole bunch of people
24:17
in your local city or state. You can use locums for a lot of
24:21
that work. So I think the model has changed
24:24
and it doesn't look so one-dimensional anymore.
24:28
There's more facets to it. I think there's a greater level
24:31
of respect for what a locums physician can do within a
24:36
hospital or health system. And we've also expanded the
24:40
number of specialties that these physicians are working in.
24:43
You know, I say when locums first came on the scene, they
24:46
were kind of working in the big ones, right?
24:48
The things you think about. We need more cardiologists.
24:51
We've got an aging population, but we need more pediatricians
24:54
because we're having more babies.
24:56
But now you have locums physicians that are doing
24:58
dermatology work, they're doing gastro and urology work.
25:02
You have locums, physicians that are advanced practitioners, so
25:05
there's PAS and MPs. So it really has just expanded
25:10
to be available in all areas of healthcare, which I think is
25:15
just helping to just grow the market.
25:17
Again. We keep talking about access to
25:19
care. It's just growing what that
25:21
looks like and our reach so our tentacles can go a lot farther.
25:25
So do your physicians typically have downtime in between
25:31
placements? Yeah, some of them do.
25:33
It really depends on the provider.
25:35
A locums assignment can be anywhere from one day a month to
25:41
a one time stent where you go while someone's on vacation for
25:43
two weeks. So for a full time locums
25:47
provider, typically they're going to a a location for a
25:50
longer period of time. So in between those long stents,
25:54
they likely want to take a break because there is travel
25:56
involved. Great.
25:57
So I'd say probably about 65% of our locum's physicians are
26:01
traveling to their assignments from their home base.
26:04
In some cases, they're traveling from home to an assignment, to
26:08
another assignment, and then back home.
26:10
OK. So is it kind of up to the
26:13
physician if they want a little bit of downtime or if they just
26:16
want to go from one job right to the next?
26:19
Yeah, it really is up to them and their capacity.
26:23
It's really speciality specific when you think about a hospital
26:26
list, which is that physician that you might see that's kind
26:29
of taking care of the whole totality of the patient before
26:32
they get referred to specialist within a hospital system.
26:35
Those physicians typically work A7 on 7 off schedule.
26:38
So for many of them they're doing locums on those off weeks.
26:41
So they might just take that break in between instead of
26:45
working full 4 weeks straight. They might say, hey, I need a
26:48
break in between here. But again, with the work we do
26:51
with the Doctor Lorna Brain Heroes Foundation, our people
26:54
are trained in their relationship to understand the
26:58
physician as well. If I know that you have a family
27:01
at home, I love your commitment to the work that you do.
27:05
But I'm likely going to suggest, hey, Doctor Williams, you've
27:08
been on three assignments back-to-back.
27:10
What if we take a little break and you go home and you just
27:14
stay for a month and we'll be working on your next assignment
27:17
to start immediately 30 days after that?
27:19
You know, a part of that work and caring for those who care
27:22
for us is US understanding what their life looks like.
27:26
You know, some physicians are going from a hospital where
27:29
they're seeing 2025 patients a day.
27:31
We may need to give them a little break and send them to an
27:34
assignment that's not as busy, you know, a lower tiered level
27:38
hospital in a more remote area where they can kind of get back
27:42
to basics. They can level set, they can see
27:44
7 to 10 patients a day before they just continue on this kind
27:48
of the hamster wheel, right? And then we have physicians that
27:52
are birthed out. We have physicians that are
27:53
retiring and exiting the market area or we're having physicians
27:57
where we have a decline in the quality of care they can provide
28:01
because they are just tired. You mentioned this foundation
28:05
that you work with at least a couple of Times Now.
28:08
This foundation is sort of training your internal team on
28:13
the mental health aspects of these physicians being in these
28:16
high pressure situations and being moved around and being
28:19
away from their homes and their families for a while.
28:22
Yes, exactly. They do a lot of work from from
28:25
a legislative perspective and changing what state regulations
28:30
look like as it relates to the mental health and Wellness of
28:33
physicians. What many people don't know is
28:35
obviously like any job, your application process can be
28:39
intense for a physician, but sometimes the language that are
28:42
in those applications is a little intrusive.
28:46
So when I came to work at Jackson and Coker, no one asked
28:49
me if I suffered from depression or I had other mental barriers
28:55
within my health history. But for many physicians, they're
28:58
getting asked these questions, and then there's stigma and
29:01
judgement that comes along with those as they report that they
29:04
may have them. Just because I have these things
29:07
in my medical history doesn't mean I'm inadequate to do my
29:10
job, doesn't mean I can't perform with excellence.
29:13
So it really becomes that fine line between what is important
29:17
and what is necessary and what is just intrusive and
29:20
information we're asking for. So the Doctor Lorna bring Heroes
29:23
Foundation really advocates on the physician's behalf to
29:27
eliminate that intrusive language to allow them a space
29:30
where if they are suffering with a well-being issue, they can
29:35
report it knowing that they're going to get compassion and
29:38
care. So it's really the work that we
29:41
do to help with advocacy for them and then the work that they
29:44
do and that kind of two way St. and helping to train our
29:47
associates so that they can better serve the providers that
29:52
they're placing on assignments. Tanika, what are some major
29:55
trends that you're seeing in healthcare and healthcare
29:58
staffing that might surprise people who are outside that
30:02
inner circle? Yeah, I think generally speaking
30:06
in healthcare, you know, we talked about earlier especially
30:09
like in a metro need and say there's a doctor's office, but I
30:13
think the general public might be surprised to know that
30:15
there's actually a physician shortage, right.
30:18
And what we mean by that is while there's hundreds of
30:22
thousands of individuals in medical school, in residency,
30:26
that number pales in comparison to the number of people that we
30:30
need to provide care for. And then the deployment of those
30:34
resources is also lacking. You know, people are graduating
30:38
from residence fellowship and going mostly to larger
30:42
metropolitan areas or back to their home.
30:45
So that's why we have these huge healthcare deserts.
30:49
And I think that would be surprising for most people as
30:51
well. We tend to just think there's
30:53
hospitals and health systems and doctors everywhere.
30:56
We don't think about rural Montana, where is, if I live in
30:59
one city or state, I may have to get flown hours to get the care
31:04
that I want. We may not have an orthopedic
31:07
surgeon, right when something happens or my child gets hurt on
31:10
the baseball field. I don't think as a society we're
31:14
looking at healthcare and its demand in the supply of
31:18
physicians in that way. So I think that would be
31:22
surprising. Again, I think would be
31:24
surprising about locum tendons in particular is that the veil
31:29
of the stigma has been lifted quite a bit.
31:31
So that strategic placement is happening more often than not
31:36
and that there's a greater number of physicians with
31:40
astonishing credentials that are now doing locums work.
31:44
Previously, again, they thought these were the people who
31:46
couldn't find a full time job, maybe they didn't do well in
31:50
residency or fellowship. Now you're seeing some of the
31:53
industry's biggest thought leaders saying no.
31:56
I'm a locum tenants physician as well.
31:59
Well, I think one of the cool things that you mentioned
32:00
earlier was that a lot of physicians enjoy doing this work
32:04
for a period of time because it's a way for them to see how
32:08
other systems are practicing care.
32:11
What can they sort of two fold, Like what can they contribute,
32:16
you know, from their own experiences to that environment?
32:18
And also, what can they learn that maybe, you know, they
32:22
hadn't been exposed to before? Yeah, absolutely.
32:25
It's it's really about the collaboration and connection to
32:29
what good looks like. And we always think where we're
32:33
at and what we're doing it's good and it looks great.
32:35
But that perspective can very differently.
32:39
I think also with anything, when you're doing the same thing all
32:42
the time, that's the way you do it, right?
32:45
We could all deserve to have it shaken up a little bit.
32:48
Yeah, You know, I'm a big proponent.
32:51
It's been helpful for me personally.
32:53
I talked with a lot of guests who, you know, they have peer
32:56
groups, they have masterminds, they have business coaches.
32:59
And it occurs to me that Locum Tenon's work is kind of a, a
33:04
variation of that where you get to go and be around these other
33:07
environments and see how things are done.
33:09
And you know, there's a lot of that cross pollination of ideas.
33:12
So it's something I'd never thought about and I think it's
33:16
it's a really attractive component of the kind of work
33:18
that you guys are doing. Yeah, I love that perspective.
33:21
It's like throwing yourself into a mini focus group, right?
33:25
Yeah, now you've got a certification in something
33:29
called Total SDI. What is that?
33:33
So total SDI have a couple of different little things.
33:37
They're really about how you manage your different functions
33:44
within your role to the activity that you're doing.
33:49
So think about total SDI and a lot of these different
33:52
certifications are about personality type, your readiness
33:55
for the work, how work is given to you.
33:59
So that and some of the others I did as I was branching into
34:02
leadership to really be able to understand placement of my
34:06
people. So when we talked about that
34:08
kind of attracting good people, we attract them, but then we
34:12
also have to make sure that they're in the right roles and
34:14
that we understand the most effective way to coach them.
34:17
So SDI is telling me that, but it's also helping me understand
34:21
how they learn, how they retain information, and what's the best
34:25
way to communicate with them. And you've also got a
34:29
certification in persuasive speaking.
34:31
How has that helped in your role?
34:35
I'll tell people I am a salesperson through and through,
34:38
SO everything I do is about persuasion.
34:43
And I would say that's probably my superpower now.
34:46
But I think it really helps you understanding how to paint and
34:50
tell the story. You know, every organization
34:52
goes through challenging times. Every organization goes through
34:55
change in the hardest part, I think, for associates is being
34:59
able to adapt to that and wondering where they fit and how
35:02
it's going to impact them. The persuasive speaking courses
35:06
have helped me understand how to tell the story and manage
35:10
expectations in a different way through that story that I'm
35:13
telling about why we're making a change, how it's going to impact
35:17
them. I think it's been very helpful
35:19
with customers and clients and being able to adapt to even
35:23
their different learning styles or the level in which they're
35:26
at. You know, my conversation with
35:28
AC Suite executive of a hospital is very different than my
35:32
conversation with a physician who owns his own private
35:36
practice. He's a different type of
35:38
business model. So understanding how to tailor
35:41
the same message in two different ways for those
35:44
audience is one of the key things that I learned in
35:47
persuasive speaking. So would it be accurate to say
35:51
that from a very young age you were sort of well equipped with
35:57
these sales skills and then these courses and the other, the
36:02
experiences that you've had along the way have helped you
36:05
greatly refine them? Or were you a young child or,
36:09
you know, a young adult and this was very uncomfortable to you
36:12
early on and you kind of had to be pushed into these kinds of
36:17
sales roles? It is very much the SO as a teen
36:24
and a young adult and even through college, I participated
36:27
in a ton of oratorical contest and went around my local and
36:32
city and state and speaking. I held some leadership roles
36:35
within my church, which had me on a platform and talking to
36:40
people. So I think I had a great
36:43
baseline of skills and these courses have helped me kind of
36:47
push them over into greatness. What growth strategy do you
36:52
think has been most effective for Jackson and Coker?
36:57
Oh, that's a great question. The growth strategy that I
37:01
think's been most effective for Jackson and Coker is not moving
37:06
too fast. I think in any industry, as
37:10
things morph and change, you see opportunity and you want to
37:14
quickly pounce on that opportunity.
37:17
Jackson and Coker has taken a slow but steady approach to
37:21
growth. We align our strategy and
37:26
revisit it often to make sure it's adequate and that it's the
37:31
right time frame for what we're doing.
37:34
And I think about how staffing has changed and you have four or
37:38
five agencies new that will enter the market.
37:41
They're not always still there in two or three years later.
37:45
I think another growth strategy is we're not necessarily going
37:48
after the new and shiny thing. So we think about specialties
37:53
that are areas of opportunity. We're really trying to
37:55
understand the patient and physician dynamics there and how
37:59
it impacts the hospital and healthcare system and what a
38:03
locums provider could really provide there.
38:05
And in some cases, we say, hey, that's not the best place for us
38:09
to play. So I think another key component
38:12
to our growth strategy is knowing where we need to be and
38:14
where we don't need to be. Interesting, so a shiny object
38:18
in your industry would be like a a particular medical specialty?
38:24
Yeah, I think about as you know, I think people say, oh, it's not
38:27
a whole lot of new specialties coming out, very true.
38:29
But there are lots of specialties that don't use locum
38:32
tendon physicians. So just thinking, oh, there's a
38:35
gap, let's fill the gap, right. But there's a level of
38:38
understanding to why that has, why they have a gap there.
38:41
Is this just something that's happened randomly is just going
38:45
to be a consistent problem? Is it kind of cyclical?
38:48
And how do we impact that in the best way?
38:51
And locums may not always be the best answer, but I think it is
38:55
an option. So just understanding that
38:58
perspective, not to just say, hey, they need some pathologist.
39:03
We should just go feel pathologist.
39:04
And we've never once talked to a pathology physician.
39:08
So we don't even understand their world.
39:10
We can't speak their language right.
39:12
We don't know what's important to them.
39:14
We don't know what the patients need.
39:16
We're just doing a thing. Gotcha.
39:20
What advice, Tanika, would you have for others working to
39:24
achieve their own success? That's a great question.
39:29
The first piece of advice I would say is never stop
39:32
learning. It is very easy when you get
39:36
into leadership to spend so much of your time pouring into others
39:41
that you forget to pour into yourself.
39:43
So really taking that down time to make sure you're working on
39:47
your growth and development. Always keep a development plan
39:50
for yourself. Whether you're trying to add
39:53
another layer to your leadership repertoire or you want to stay
39:56
where you are, just always be in a place of continuing to learn
40:01
and grow and pour into yourself. The other thing is, I would say
40:04
don't be afraid of the word no. Boundaries are important, so as
40:10
a leader, you want to always do all the things and be available
40:13
for all of the people. But you can't pour from an empty
40:17
cup. I can't give what I don't have.
40:19
And often as leaders, in an effort to help everyone and do
40:23
those things, we're saying yes to a lot of stuff, right?
40:28
So it's really understanding what are the most important
40:31
things and putting those first and valuing those things.
40:35
And my last one that's probably the most important is don't be
40:38
afraid to say I don't know. You know, we want to be experts
40:44
in our fields. We want to be rights.
40:47
We want to be admired. But sometimes the people that I
40:51
admire most are the ones who said, I have no clue how to do
40:54
that. Let's figure it out together or
40:56
let me phone a friend, you know? But we can't be a yeah, use a
41:01
lifeline. But we just can't be afraid to
41:04
say, I don't know, right? And I think those are the people
41:09
that people want to follow, right?
41:11
Because you don't know everything and you're willing to
41:13
learn. I was at an event recently when
41:17
a lot of really smart people in the room, people working on kind
41:21
of next level projects and having a great conversation with
41:26
somebody, and he had fantastic answers to all the questions I
41:30
was asking until we hit one and he didn't know the answer.
41:33
And he says just very flatly, I don't know.
41:37
And I my respect for him was already here.
41:39
It went up to here because especially when like you're,
41:44
you're in a position of power, you're seen as, you know, very
41:46
bright and in control of your situation.
41:49
Like you feel like you need to have some kind of an answer for
41:52
everything. But I agree 100% that sometimes
41:56
the best answer is I do not know.
42:00
And the other thing I want to call out here, Tanika, is there
42:03
is this thread of self-care that's coming out of our
42:08
conversation. You know, it's a big part of
42:10
what you kind of started with there.
42:12
It's a big part of the work that you're doing with the foundation
42:14
to be able to help the physicians that you're placing,
42:18
you know, maybe identify before they're recognizing that there
42:21
are some, you know, things that they need to do to kind of care
42:26
for themselves and put themselves and their families
42:28
1st. And so I wanted to call that out
42:30
because I think that's great. Thank you.
42:32
We've got to take care of ourselves, right?
42:34
If you're not taking care of you, who else will?
42:36
And as I say, I, I love that example you gave, like, because
42:39
sometimes our egos get the best of us, right?
42:41
And you also think I know it all.
42:43
And then you get that question and it's that gut check, like,
42:46
wait a minute, let's go back. If you were going to recommend a
42:52
resource to our listeners, maybe it's a book, it's a podcast,
42:56
it's one of the courses or the certifications that you've
42:59
obtained, but what would you, what would you suggest for
43:02
folks? Yes, I actually do it every few
43:06
years. There's a book called
43:08
Boundaries, I think it's Cloud and Townsend, I want to say is
43:11
who it's by. But there is a book and there's
43:14
also a workbook and it's really about what you know, I talked
43:17
about no and the power of no, but creating those boundaries in
43:20
your life and boundaries, it's a red and white, but it's the
43:25
first in the series. But then they have others
43:27
boundaries and relationship boundaries in the workplace.
43:30
So it really gives you that kind of pull through of how to set
43:33
the boundaries, how to work on it, and then just identifying
43:36
your blind spots in that area. I think that is a really great
43:41
one. Another resource that I would
43:44
recommend to people was probably a non traditional one.
43:47
But in my older age, I'm finding a lot of value in meditation and
43:53
just quiet time and sitting with my own thoughts.
43:56
And I'm finding the more that I do that I don't have what I call
44:01
leadership limbo while I'm trying to go to sleep.
44:04
So leadership limbo for me is when it's bedtime and I lay down
44:08
in the bed all those things that were in limbo during my day that
44:11
I didn't get to. They all flood over me, right?
44:15
Meditation has really helped me just get to a place where I can
44:19
drown out the noise. And I think, let's be clear,
44:22
people think meditation is sitting quietly with no thoughts
44:24
are happening where human or brain is going, you're still
44:26
going to have thoughts, but it's being able to control what those
44:30
thoughts are. So it helps me not be in this
44:33
place of, again, I call it leadership limbo, where all the
44:37
things that were floating in the air now that I've laid down fall
44:40
on me and I'm like, OK, how do I solve all the world's problems
44:44
in 22 minutes before I fall asleep?
44:49
And have you ever gotten to that point?
44:51
That I solved all the problems Oh no that's why I know it takes
44:55
me 22 minutes to fall asleep because I did an app and it you
44:58
know when you doze off and I was like wow I'm trying to do all
45:02
the things in a very short period of time I couldn't do
45:04
them in an 8 hour work day and now I'm going to do them in 22
45:07
minutes foof talk about a suit it's.
45:09
More about I think like you said, it's more about just
45:11
bringing calm and peace to your mind.
45:13
Just it's kind of like as a reset point.
45:16
It is and you know, I we one thing we didn't talk about with
45:19
Jackson and Coker, if you're ever in the Alpharetta area
45:23
again, we're about 20-30 minutes north of Atlanta, but we have an
45:26
amazing campus and I don't know if it was the founders intent,
45:30
but it allows for a very tranquil work environment.
45:34
We have a koi pond. We have things where you can
45:38
just sit. We have the game room if you
45:40
need to go and decompress, right?
45:42
Often in work you take care of the woes and the challenges of
45:46
your customers, right? If my customer is they're doing
45:49
layoffs or you know, they're having a riff and they call me
45:52
with that frustration, that kind of weighs heavy on me.
45:56
So just having these outlets even in our work environment to
45:59
decompress is super helpful. What's your philosophy on
46:07
success like? How do you approach things in
46:10
terms of we want this project to work, I want to move forward in
46:15
my career? What kind of framework do you do
46:19
you use there? Oh, that's great.
46:22
I think I am insatiably curious, so I ask a lot of questions.
46:30
So my philosophy is around understanding, It is around
46:35
knowing, right? I want to know all the things, I
46:38
want to dig deep because that's how I make good decisions,
46:41
right? I have to be well informed and I
46:45
like the kind of collaboration and connection, right?
46:49
The questions show that I care about what's happening and I
46:53
want to understand all aspects of it so I can connect to it
46:56
better to create something good or to solve a problem well.
47:02
So it's really the homework for me.
47:05
That's the most important part of my philosophy.
47:09
Everything effects everything is something that I always say.
47:12
And that's why when we we miss something, it's because we
47:15
likely didn't ask the right questions, right?
47:17
We have gaps in our process. I'm a very process driven
47:21
person. We don't have a procedure for
47:23
that, right? Where's the blueprint?
47:26
How do we learn from what already happened before we go
47:29
and reinvent the wheel? Are you utilizing AI at all to
47:35
help in developing processes or refining them?
47:39
I. Reluctantly.
47:44
OK, say more about that. So you know, I talked a little
47:47
bit about the ego, right? So the ego in me is like, call
47:51
her Coco, but copilot, who are you to tell me that?
47:54
The way I wrote the process isn't great, but it's
47:58
perspective, right? So when you think about what AI
48:01
does in terms of formulating thoughts and pulling from so
48:05
many different places, it's like that locums work, right?
48:09
It's giving me perspective on what we're doing.
48:12
So I think it's very valuable. I think we all as a society just
48:15
have to be careful of where and what we use it for, but still
48:20
understanding that we have a great knowledge base.
48:23
So I think they have to be used in tandem.
48:26
It's been helpful especially in revisiting and revising
48:30
processes and procedures that have been in place for a long
48:32
period of time, right? Because unfortunately, in our
48:35
fast-paced society, while you need to make a change in
48:38
something, you may not have the time to do what works best for
48:42
me, and that's ask the questions or ping the people.
48:45
You know, I think about when I left Pfizer, there was a
48:49
transition, right? Even with me exiting and someone
48:52
else coming in that was built into that exit plan or that exit
48:56
strategy, a transition of knowledge.
48:58
That doesn't happen often anymore, right?
49:01
So AI is a great way to fill the gaps from a knowledge
49:05
perspective. You know, the way that I've
49:07
found it to be most useful and I've tried sort of lots of
49:11
different approaches is as a very powerful brainstorming
49:15
partner, I have something I want to improve.
49:19
How can I make the guest experience better on podcasts?
49:24
How can I deliver more value? How can I find, you know, and
49:27
reach out to more guests think, you know, and hey, let's
49:29
brainstorm some ideas together. And maybe it gives me 8 ideas
49:33
and six of them are terrible in my opinion, 2 are interesting
49:39
and one's really got promised. So let's dive into that one
49:43
more. And where I think I've seen some
49:46
people you get tripped up is sort of taking whatever they get
49:51
from AI and, and plugging it in verbatim, right?
49:55
Like I've heard some people be like, I've got this Co worker
49:58
that just sends these messages that are so clearly AI
50:02
generated. And, and it's frustrating
50:04
everybody because we don't feel like we're talking to a human
50:06
being anymore. And, and so I think those are
50:08
probably some of the, the, the, I don't know the obstacles or
50:12
the, the, the ways that it shouldn't be used that you're
50:15
kind of referencing. Yes, yes, I would agree.
50:18
I think for us from a marketing perspective, it's really helped
50:22
to make sure that our marketing is hitting the right target
50:25
audience. I think that's a great area or
50:29
place to use it. You know, we're crafting a lot
50:31
of content and different things that we may think the content is
50:36
most impactful for one area of the business or one set of our
50:41
customers and clients. And then looking at AI and it
50:43
kind of giving you all these other options are places of use.
50:48
That's been extremely helpful. I think for our sales teams,
50:52
it's been helpful. And it's funny enough, I mean,
50:55
it's a person, right? It feels like a real person and
50:58
helping us understand personalities.
51:00
And you know, a lot of our work because physicians are busy
51:03
people is we're doing things over e-mail.
51:05
So we're trying to break down and explain application
51:09
processes and different things in that way.
51:11
So I think for someone who has very A1 very specific
51:15
communication style, I think AI can help them adapt their
51:20
communication to other people as well.
51:23
Yeah, Tanika, growth often times comes from our biggest
51:28
challenges. Would love to hear about a
51:30
serious challenge that you've been through.
51:33
What was it? How did you get through?
51:35
What did you learn? Yeah, I think the biggest
51:39
challenge or the one that jumps out to me first is being a
51:45
single mom, really personal. But you don't realize the strain
51:52
of having two jobs, one that you get to keep for a lifetime,
51:56
right. So I talked about kind of that
51:59
transition from that 95% travel that I was doing before to
52:05
taking an in office job with 20% travel prior to that.
52:10
My office was in my home always in forever, you know, during the
52:13
pandemic when everyone was trying to adapt to video calls
52:17
and all of this. My team was amazed to know that
52:20
I had a fax machine at home and all of the things.
52:24
So when I think about like that challenge, that for me was an
52:28
easy transition. The transition of single working
52:32
person to now single mom working was difficult.
52:38
How do I balance the things? How do I show up for my as my
52:41
best self for this little person?
52:44
Is that little person and the work that I need to do in that
52:48
capacity of life going to force me to compromise things in my
52:52
career? It was really tough.
52:56
What I learned about myself is I can do hard things.
52:59
I learned that I had a great support system.
53:03
I think often when you are working and you're climbing the
53:06
corporate ladder, there's this fear of asking for help, for
53:10
feeling inadequate. And as a mother, all of us are
53:14
learning. There is no rule book to this
53:17
thing. There is no action guide.
53:21
You've got to ask people and you've got to ask for help.
53:25
I learned to give myself grace again.
53:28
It was during that phase that I learned that power of no and I
53:32
did the boundaries books. That was kind of when I found it
53:35
back in 2016 because I said I'm just not going to be able to
53:40
take on the weight of the world as much as it fills my cup.
53:42
And I like it. I just can't do it.
53:45
So it's a lot of things, giving grace, being OK with not being
53:49
OK. Those things were hard for me,
53:54
but I think I'm not only a better employee and associate
53:58
for it, I'm a better leader because I have more compassion
54:02
and care for my people as a result of that.
54:06
Anyone would tell you I'd always say, oh, I'm old school.
54:08
No, we're going to grind this thing out and we're going to
54:10
hustle hard. But I had to adapt to what
54:12
hustle hard and grinding it out looked like for every individual
54:17
and not paint with a broad brush.
54:19
Being a mom taught me that you don't.
54:22
Know what's going on behind the scenes for that person?
54:25
You don't and just like a little person, especially when they're
54:27
2 and under and they can't really articulate what they're
54:30
thinking and they're feeling, you're really drawing on what
54:33
you see in their face or how they're moving.
54:36
It'll, it has just, I mean, I think motherhood has just taught
54:39
me so much. But it's also probably one of
54:42
the hardest jobs I've ever had to do.
54:43
And I think anyone who's a parent would probably say that,
54:47
that, you know, whether you got one kid or five, it's still
54:50
hard. You know, my wife and I, we're,
54:53
we're great partners. We've got two boys that we're
54:56
raising. And there are times where we
54:58
feel like we're barely keeping our heads above water, keeping
55:01
up with everything. And so we've made the comment to
55:03
each other before, like, how do single parents do it?
55:07
You know, like, at least for us, there's like, hey, I can't step
55:11
in here, can you? And I think this goes to your
55:14
point about asking for help. So who have you asked for help
55:19
and and how did you kind of get through the discomfort of kind
55:23
of raising your hand saying I can't do this on my own?
55:28
Yeah, I think my greatest source of help is my family.
55:31
And then I have an amazing friend village.
55:35
And I think for family it's probably a little bit easier,
55:37
right, Because you think, oh, grandparents, they're going to
55:39
kind of do it because they want to and they're just going to
55:41
step in and interject. So that's awesome.
55:43
But it's those people outside of and you know, I hate, I know
55:45
we're talking personal, but I've got to take it back to Jackson
55:48
and Coker. I talked about how you go to a
55:49
lot of organizations and they say we have this family friendly
55:52
environment. Well, I tell people and it's
55:55
still amazing to my personal family and friends at the number
55:59
of people in my work environment that I call and that are friends
56:03
and family when I couldn't do. And I'm not going to cry.
56:08
You're not going to make me cry. Anthony.
56:10
There were people in this Jackson and Coker building who
56:12
said I've got you, I've got Harper.
56:16
I'm not going to wait for you to ask me.
56:18
I'm just going to go and do. And I think it's that when you
56:21
can't and you don't want to ask for help, those people that take
56:24
it upon themselves to know that my strong friend needs something
56:28
too. And they just jump in and do it
56:29
for you. And it's just been amazing
56:32
because once they do it and I say, you know what, this is OK.
56:35
I kind of am not in this by myself.
56:38
Like it's OK for them to do it now.
56:41
If I'm in a vine, I don't feel like I have to be superwoman.
56:44
I am immediately texting 3 or 4 people and whoever replies
56:48
first. That's the answer right for me.
56:50
I was like, oh Yep, you're the God.
56:51
Sent 1, you got it. Pickups at 3:00.
56:55
I love that. Thank you for opening up and
56:57
sharing about that. And I think that that right
57:00
there said volumes about the culture of Jackson and Coker.
57:06
Obviously, it says a lot about you and the strength of being
57:09
able to reach out and ask for help and accept help, which is
57:11
really hard for most of us, especially people who, you know,
57:16
view themselves as being very strong and independent.
57:19
But I think it says just a a ton about the the culture of the
57:24
people there. You know, it's one thing to be
57:26
able, you know, we put these words on a plaque or, you know,
57:29
a sign over the door, but, you know, to see your reaction and
57:34
talking about the way that folks there, you know, volunteered and
57:37
stepped up to help you out and, and continue to do so.
57:40
I I think that says it says a lot about Jackson and Coker.
57:45
Yeah, we say others first, but to your point, we always tell
57:48
when I'm interviewing people to join the organization, they were
57:52
like, oh, I see your values. What do you connect with?
57:55
I said we are truly an others first organization.
57:58
It's not just words on a plaque. It's what we live by.
58:02
It's ingrained in who we are. It's the fabric of our being.
58:05
Yeah. Tanika, what's the best decision
58:09
you ever made for your career? Oh, the best decision I ever
58:14
made for my career was taking a step back from leadership to
58:20
understand how to do the role of my people.
58:23
When I initially came to Jackson and Coker, I know you mentioned
58:26
in the beginning I was a client consultant, but I came from
58:29
another organization where I was already in a leadership role and
58:33
and looking at the leadership roles available at the time for
58:36
Jackson and Coker, while they were an option, in my head, I
58:40
was like, I don't know a lot about this industry.
58:43
I don't know a lot about the work that they do.
58:47
So I could have come in the door and gone straight to being a
58:49
director again and saying I'll learn on the fly, but it was
58:53
important to me to understand the seat that those I would be
58:56
leading was sitting in. So I took the step back in my
59:00
career. A hard decision, but a valuable
59:03
decision because not only did I learn the business from a
59:07
different perspective, it allowed me to better be able to
59:10
pour into my people. But I think it gave me different
59:13
leadership perspective because now I want to do that in every
59:17
role that I have as a leader, right?
59:19
I want to take the 30 to 60 days to get to know all the people,
59:23
to sit in their seat, to understand their jobs, right?
59:26
And not just the 30 minute intro connect that you do, but I want
59:29
to understand the insurance and outs.
59:31
What makes you happy when you walk through the door every day?
59:34
What are the things that challenge you and frustrate you?
59:36
And is no better way to do that than, as one of my mentors says,
59:39
than to carry the bag and sit in the seat.
59:43
What I heard there was sometimes you have to slow down to speed
59:46
up. Exactly.
59:48
Yeah, that's cool. What's something you wished more
59:52
people knew about your industry? Something I knew, I wish that
59:57
people knew about the industry is that.
1:00:01
We are a strategic plan for healthcare.
1:00:08
We provide access to care locum tenants.
1:00:11
Physicians are an extension of your practice.
1:00:15
They're not a hindrance to your practice.
1:00:19
Our partnerships are vast and wide, and we are intentional,
1:00:24
attentional about who and what we serve.
1:00:27
And your patients are important to us, just like they're
1:00:30
important to you. I like that.
1:00:33
I've just got one more question for you, Tanika.
1:00:35
But before I ask it, I want to do 2 things.
1:00:38
First of all, everyone listening today, I'm going to ask you to
1:00:40
pause for just a brief second. Go ahead and hit that follow or
1:00:43
subscribe button on your favorite podcast app.
1:00:45
We've had a wonderful conversation with Tanika
1:00:48
Williams from Jackson Coker today, and I want you to
1:00:51
continue to get more great content like this in your feed.
1:00:54
And if you can take just one extra 2nd and leave a review, a
1:00:57
little bit of feedback, a comment for us, that helps other
1:01:00
folks find the show too. So before I ask the last
1:01:04
question, Tanika, I want to let people know the best way either
1:01:08
to get in touch with you, Jackson and Coker, or to
1:01:11
continue to follow your story. What would that be?
1:01:14
Yeah. So the best way to get in
1:01:16
Jackson, to get in touch with Jackson and Coker would be to
1:01:18
follow us on any of your social platforms, LinkedIn, Instagram,
1:01:23
Facebook. We are on there as Jackson and
1:01:25
A&D Coker locum tenants and you can also visit our website.
1:01:31
If you are physicians or hospitals or health systems that
1:01:35
are in need of physicians for locum tent emplacement, we there
1:01:38
is a quick form there you can fill out and we're happy to
1:01:40
connect with you. In terms of staying in touch and
1:01:43
connecting with me, I would encourage anyone to reach me on
1:01:47
LinkedIn. I love connecting with new
1:01:50
people, learning about you, sharing my resources and even
1:01:53
picking your brains for yours. So it's just Tanika Williams,
1:01:56
you'll see me on there and the nice Jackson Coco logo under my
1:02:00
name. Love.
1:02:01
It we'll find links for that and put them in the show notes for
1:02:03
everybody. So last question for you,
1:02:05
Tanika. As we look to the future, what
1:02:07
exciting changes do you see coming to your industry?
1:02:14
That's a loaded one. In a crazy year.
1:02:19
Exciting changes that I see is US changing what early career
1:02:30
entry into the locum tenants industry looks like for
1:02:33
physicians. I think as we continue to do
1:02:36
work with academic programs and allowing residents and fellows
1:02:41
to understand locums as a pathway and not something that
1:02:45
they have to think about once they've already hit the
1:02:48
marketplace, I think that's going to be really exciting.
1:02:52
It's going to expand the work that we can do greatly.
1:02:55
It's going to expand the number of patients that can be treated.
1:02:58
And I think it's just going to be amazing.
1:03:02
I think it's also as Jackson and Coca grows, how we innovate
1:03:07
technologies that can help physicians do their work better,
1:03:11
things like electronic time and expense and record keeping, how
1:03:15
we help them create repositories for their paperwork that can be
1:03:18
so daunting to a person who their primary focus's service,
1:03:23
right. So how we continue to expand
1:03:26
resources from a technology perspective.
1:03:29
Those are two things that really excite me about the future of
1:03:33
Jackson and Coker in our presence in the industry.
1:03:36
In in that latter one, are we talking about some AI components
1:03:40
that kind of help reduce the time spent on the paperwork so
1:03:43
the doctors can spend more time interacting with the patients
1:03:46
directly? Yeah, they'll be a little bit
1:03:49
more, I'll say, AI infused in there, but also just easy stuff.
1:03:55
I mean, people would probably be surprised to hear that in many
1:03:59
hospitals and healthcare systems, doctors still kind of
1:04:01
punch a time card, right? You see nurses all the time
1:04:04
coming in and do that. How do we change those things
1:04:07
even to make days easier? You know, locals, providers, we
1:04:10
talk about them going from assignment to assignment.
1:04:12
How do they have an electronic database of the work that they
1:04:15
do, their practice logs, and all of those things because you're
1:04:19
traveling, so you're not necessarily tied to 1
1:04:22
electronical medical record system in one place.
1:04:25
So just how do we advance technologies to help them do
1:04:28
their work better and more efficiently?
1:04:32
Tanika Williams from Jackson and Coker, I want to be the first to
1:04:35
thank you for sharing both your time and your story with us
1:04:37
today. I really appreciate it.
1:04:39
Thank you so much, Anthony. It's been a pleasure.
1:04:41
Folks, that's a wrap on another episode of the Inspired Stories
1:04:44
podcast. Thanks for learning with us
1:04:45
today.