Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / Trust, Workforce, and the Future of Care with Dr. Margaret-Mary Wilson

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Trust, Workforce, and the Future of Care with Dr. Margaret-Mary Wilson · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

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  Hi, everyone. This is Elizabeth Cassello with the
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  Becker's Healthcare podcast.
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  I'm thrilled today to be joined by doctor
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  Margaret Mary Wilson, chief medical officer and executive
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  vice president at UnitedHealth Group. Doctor Wilson, thank
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  you so much for joining us today.
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  Thank you so much for having me. I'm
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  looking forward to the conversation.
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  Yeah. Me too. So before we jump in,
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  can you tell us a little bit more
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  about yourself, your health care career background, and
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  your current role at UnitedHealth Group?
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  Absolutely.
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  So by way of background, I'm a physician.
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  I'm an internist and a geriatrician
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  and also completed a clinical cardiology fellowship in
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  The United Kingdom.
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  And so I would say that I've had
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  the opportunity to practice all over the world,
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  Africa,
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  The United Kingdom, The United States.
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  And currently, I serve as chief medical officer
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  for UnitedHealth Group,
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  working with other leaders across the enterprise to
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  oversee our clinical programs,
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  to advance our clinical and quality,
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  clinical quality and patient safety efforts for the
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  people that we serve.
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  Also,
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  leaning into,
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  helping
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  develop
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  and build out our clinical workforce
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  and
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  a clinical modernization and transformation in general. Just
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  simply stated, working with others to
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  build a health system that's focused on better
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  outcomes,
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  better access, and lower cost.
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  I'm excited to get into some of those
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  topics today.
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  So to start off, a 2025
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  KFF poll determined that social media is now
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  a major source for health information.
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  In recent months, you've been active on Instagram
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  sharing health insights.
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  So why is it important for clinical leaders
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  to engage directly with the public, especially young
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  people, through social media, and how effective has
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  this been for you?
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  So
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  there is no doubt that an increasing number
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  of adults are turning to social media for
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  health information.
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  And the study you cited, the KFF study,
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  I think says over about fifty five percent
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  of adults are doing this and it's disproportionate
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  it's even higher in younger adults.
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  The interesting thing though is that
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  there's also significant skepticism about the health information
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  that adults get.
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  And that same study actually showed that less
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  than 10%
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  of adults who look to social media for
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  health information
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  would actually characterize
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  most of the information as trustworthy.
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  So, you know, in my mind, it's it's
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  it's it's fairly logical.
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  The conversations about health care are happening in
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  the social media space.
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  And I think not only did I want
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  to be part of those conversations,
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  but it was important for me to be
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  part of the conversations.
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  I think that
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  it's a great venue to share some of
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  the insights that I have from working in
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  different
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  health systems across the world. Because pulling those
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  learnings through, one of the things that I've
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  been fortunate to experience is that no healthcare
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  system
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  is perfect.
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  There's always opportunity,
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  best practice, and most importantly, there's learning. So
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  I think there's an opportunity of me for
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  me to add my voice to some of
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  that
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  conversation
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  in a way that engenders trust, though, and
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  that is
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  authentic and just making
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  health information
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  out there more accessible,
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  easier to understand,
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  and more relatable to people.
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  And I just think conversations like that, human
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  conversations,
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  are just they they spark meaningful engagement when
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  you have them
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  in
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  a social media space, which is not the
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  typical space where health care conversations
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  would occur.
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  Yeah.
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  And leaning into that point a little bit
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  more,
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  as we know, social media can be
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  part of the problem with health misinformation.
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  Like, some of that skepticism may be valid.
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  How do you help your audience distinguish between
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  fact and fiction, and how do you recommend
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  other clinical leaders approach their social media and
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  similar public facing strategies?
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  I will say, you know, I I wish
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  I had all the answers. Right? But I
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  will start off by saying is it it's
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  not an easy task, and I want to
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  acknowledge that. And I do also want to
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  acknowledge your comments around misinformation
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  because there is a lot of misinformation
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  out there, some intentional,
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  but a lot of it unintentional.
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  And I think that there is a risk
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  of increasing misinformation
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  when you don't have credible voices
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  with experience in that space
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  to provide
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  consistent and clear input,
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  clear information.
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  I do think though that the reality is
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  that health care is becoming increasingly complex
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  and increasingly confusing.
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  That's one. And the reality is that people
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  are not just having conversations for the sake
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  of conversations.
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  They are actually genuinely looking for answers.
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  And so
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  I I would advise, you know, with the
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  advice I give myself is which is what
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  I would say to other clinical leaders,
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  this is a great forum to share
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  evidence based information, but to share it in
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  plain language.
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  One. Two, to acknowledge that there is a
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  lot of uncertainty out there and there are
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  limits, you know, to everyone's knowledge. And so
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  I think it's also incumbent upon us to
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  be respectful and curious of our audience.
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  Really thoughtful questions have been posed to me,
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  and I encourage those. And I also acknowledge
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  uncertainty
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  when and where it exists. I think it's
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  about,
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  you know, just being one more credible voice
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  out there, recognizing that it's a journey, one
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  starts small and advances,
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  and most importantly is that any successful engagement
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  in that space has to be built on
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  trust that is earned.
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  That makes a lot of sense. And moving
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  into something a little different,
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  previously on the Becker's Payer Issues podcast,
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  I spoke with the chief data and analytics
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  officer for UnitedHealthcare's commercial business. He talked about
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  how chronic conditions and health risks are becoming
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  more prevalent at younger ages.
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  So from your clinical perspective, what do you
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  think is driving that, and how could leaders
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  think outside the box as they address this
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  reality?
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  So that's that was and that is certainly
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  true. It was an interesting finding, almost counterintuitive,
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  that we also reference in our America's Health
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  rankings report.
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  One would expect would not expect that in
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  younger adults. However,
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  if one steps back and thinks about it,
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  we think of the multiple
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  lifestyle issues,
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  social drivers of health,
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  stress,
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  nutrition,
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  and just prioritizing
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  the time and the opportunity to prioritize
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  preventive care. I think one can see how
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  all this begins to
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  impact younger adults who may not have the
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  time or the space in their really busy
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  lives
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  to focus on preventive care or even engaging
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  a doctor
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  outside an acute illness or an emergency.
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  So I think when I think about that
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  from a clinical,
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  perspective,
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  you know, here's how I think we should
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  actually think about it.
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  The onus is on the health care system
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  to really think through how we
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  build an advocate for care models
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  that are outside
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  episodic and reactive care, and how we begin
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  to invest in care models
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  that really support
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  intervention
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  in the regular course of life
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  in a way that is holistic
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  and takes all these factors into consideration.
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  Because if you think about what a 65
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  year old or an 85 year old needs
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  in the preventive care space, it's completely different
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  from what a 30 year old or a
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  40 year old person might need.
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  So I think the key here is how
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  we all collectively and when I say we,
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  I mean all health care stakeholders,
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  how we work together collectively to challenge our
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  existent
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  traditional and sometimes rigid care models,
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  how we collaborate across
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  sectors,
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  settings of care to address root causes, not
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  just symptoms and acute illness.
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  You mentioned earlier how you're thinking about the
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  workforce.
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  So as we think about the next generation
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  of health care leaders,
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  what's top of mind for you when it
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  comes to effective recruiting and meeting young people
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  where they're at?
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  I think what comes to mind when I
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  think of the next generation of health care
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  leaders is really,
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  first of all, the workforce shortage. If you
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  think about it by 2036,
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  we're gonna have about an 86,000
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  physician shortage. And for nurses, it's almost a
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  quarter of it's over a quarter of a
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  million.
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  And so when I think about that shortfall,
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  it immediately causes I think we should all
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  be collectively thinking about how we build
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  and sustain
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  a pipeline that doesn't leak.
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  And I think the first way to do
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  that is really challenging a significant barrier amongst
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  clinical the clinical workforce today, which is really
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  the question of frustration with the system,
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  burnout,
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  and the,
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  sometimes overwhelming
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  administrative burden that comes with what they do.
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  So we need to resolve if we're going
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  to attract the workforce
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  to health care, then it's incumbent upon us
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  to immediately resolve those issues
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  and really build out systems,
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  leveraging technology, digitalization
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  to help clinicians
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  do what it is they do best, which
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  is care for patients. And then secondly,
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  we really need to make a concerted effort
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  to show the next generation of health care
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  workers that this is a sustainable
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  and it's a fulfilling career with multiple workforce
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  options that are expanding
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  beyond the traditional physician and nurse, you know,
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  move out into medical assistants, community health workers,
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  information technology experts, digital experts. It's going to
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  take all of us. And when we think
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  about these different components,
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  it actually ties back to our conversation, like
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  you said, on social media.
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  The ability to be able to speak directly
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  to the potential health care leaders and share
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  some of this with them.
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  So that's the way I think about it.
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  But I having said all that, what's also
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  important is it's one thing to talk about
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  it, but then it's another thing to support
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  the workforce.
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  And we are not,
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  dismissive of the cost that it takes to
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  train in these spaces.
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  And so this is one of the reasons
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  why it's about 2022,
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  Our UnitedHealth Foundation made a ten year commitment,
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  of a $100,000,000
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  that provides scholarships
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  and supports current and future health care professionals.
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  And the thinking is that,
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  we will be able to support
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  10,000
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  additional clinicians by 2033.
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  So those are some of the ways we're
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  thinking about this.
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  As we wrap up, what advice would you
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  give to other organizations
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  considering a more visible clinical presence online
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  or experimenting with different direct engagement strategies to
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  reach the public?
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  I think the simple advice that I've given
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  to myself, which I would give to others,
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  is find the conversation
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  and engage where it's happening.
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  Don't expect the conversation to come to you,
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  one. Two, I think it's also about understanding
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  and this has been a really great learning
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  for me.
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  People aren't really expecting perfection because I think
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  most people understand
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  that perfection is aspirational.
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  What they are expecting though is transparency,
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  humility,
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  authenticity,
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  and a learning mindset.
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  And I think when all that comes together,
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  particularly as it relates to social media engagement,
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  that's when we begin to engender and strengthen
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  trust and also humanize health care.
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  So, basically, there are lots of voices out
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  there. I think it's a question of each
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  leader
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  figuring out what they have to contribute to
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  the conversation,
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  identifying their lane, and letting their passion come
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  through.
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  Is there anything else on your mind for
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  industry leaders as we finish up our conversation?
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  I would say that
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  health care is evolving rapidly. It's evolving quickly.
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  And if we are going to make progress,
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  it's critical that there's collaboration among stakeholders
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  and again that we're willing to be flexible,
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  nimble,
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  listen and adapt.
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  I think that no we we let digitalization
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  and technology
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  is certainly going to fuel that
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  but I also believe that the most sustainable
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  in innovation is grounded in trust
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  and demonstrating that we are all genuinely committed
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  to better health outcomes. It's gonna take all
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  of us, all of us across the industry,
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  regardless of discipline to work together to make
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  things better. And I think we owe that
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  to the next generation of health care leaders
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  coming behind.
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  Well, doctor Wilson, thank you so much for
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  joining us today.
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  Thank you so much. It's been an absolute
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  pleasure. And thanks again for the opportunity.
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  Of course. And to our listeners, if you'd
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  like to listen to more podcasts from Becker's
• 13:15
  Healthcare, you can visit beckershospitalreview.com.
• 13:18
  Thank you.