Latest / Becker’s Healthcare - Clinical Leadership Podcast / Jason Raidbard, Executive Administrator at UChicago Medicine and Biological Sciences

Transcript

Jason Raidbard, Executive Administrator at UChicago Medicine and Biological Sciences · Becker’s Healthcare - Clinical Leadership Podcast

• 0:00
  - Welcome everyone to the Becker's
• 0:01
  Healthcare podcast series.
• 0:03
  I'm Mariah Moham, writer
• 0:04
  and moderator with Becker's Healthcare,
• 0:06
  and I'm absolutely thrilled to have
• 0:07
  with me today Jason Rebar, executive administrator
• 0:10
  of the Department of Ophthalmology
• 0:12
  and Visual Sciences at the UChicago Medicine
• 0:14
  and Biological Sciences.
• 0:16
  Jason, it's very nice to have you on the podcast today.
• 0:19
  To get us started, would you mind please introducing
• 0:21
  yourself and telling us a bit about your background?
• 0:24
  - Sure. First of all, thank you for having me.
• 0:26
  As far as my background goes, I have been in healthcare
• 0:30
  for now just over 21 years.
• 0:33
  Just a little brief background, I came into healthcare
• 0:36
  by chance, uh, through my network.
• 0:38
  It wasn't planned that way,
• 0:40
  but I decided to stick around these past 21 years.
• 0:43
  'cause I've really enjoyed my career.
• 0:45
  I've worked in a variety of different settings.
• 0:47
  Currently I'm an academic medical center in charge of, uh,
• 0:51
  ophthalmology services for the University of Chicago.
• 0:54
  But prior to that I've worked for safety net organizations,
• 0:57
  public, uh, health organizations.
• 0:59
  I've worked for private, uh, medical groups as well as, uh,
• 1:03
  non-for-profit, uh, medical groups owned by hospitals
• 1:06
  or independent from hospitals.
• 1:09
  Uh, I've seen a variety changes over this time
• 1:12
  and, uh, I, I've enjoyed every minute
• 1:14
  of my time in healthcare.
• 1:15
  Uh, a little bit more about my current work.
• 1:18
  Um, I have been, uh, traveling here
• 1:21
  and there, uh, thanks to, uh, some of the opportunities
• 1:24
  through Becker's
• 1:25
  and other organizations to speak about employee engagement
• 1:29
  and culture and, and how
• 1:30
  to improve on those things within organizations.
• 1:33
  I also serve as the legislative liaison
• 1:36
  and a board member of mgma, uh, Illinois State Chapter.
• 1:40
  And, uh, as far as, uh, other professional endeavors, just
• 1:45
  as a side non-healthcare related,
• 1:47
  I am a plan commissioner in my hometown currently.
• 1:49
  So that's just a little bit about me.
• 1:53
  - Yeah, absolutely. Thank you so, so much for sharing.
• 1:56
  Um, and to jump right into the real questions I wanted
• 1:59
  to ask you for today, the first thing I wanted to, um,
• 2:02
  address is what are the biggest issues you're following in
• 2:06
  ophthalmology right now?
• 2:08
  - Sure. So I, I think there's, uh, two different,
• 2:13
  uh, issues and they're kind of competing one A, one B,
• 2:15
  so I think they're both important.
• 2:17
  Uh, recently I traveled to Austin, Texas
• 2:20
  to attend the A UPO conference.
• 2:23
  Um, it is the, uh, association of university professors
• 2:27
  of Ophthalmology had a chance to meet many
• 2:29
  of my colleagues throughout the United States.
• 2:31
  And I think when we talked about this, Medicare cuts
• 2:36
  every specialty, everybody, no matter which, uh,
• 2:40
  service you're providing, in what setting, whether you're,
• 2:42
  uh, you know, in an urgent care center,
• 2:44
  you're providing GI services, ophthalmology,
• 2:46
  everyone is dealing with the cuts.
• 2:49
  And the cuts. Even small cuts are drastic
• 2:52
  because as expenses go up,
• 2:54
  as we've seen over the last couple years since we've come
• 2:56
  out of covid, uh, it can be detrimental
• 2:59
  to certain healthcare organizations bottom line.
• 3:02
  And in many cases, we've seen certain organizations either
• 3:05
  have to be purchased, merge, or they cease to exist.
• 3:09
  So that, that is of, I think, everyone's concern,
• 3:13
  not just in ophthalmology, but throughout the United States
• 3:15
  if you are a healthcare provider.
• 3:18
  I think one B to that is specific to ophthalmology.
• 3:22
  Some of the changes in some
• 3:24
  of the states in the United States as far as, uh,
• 3:28
  reimbursement specifically to, uh, changes
• 3:32
  with certain plans of making any kind of surgical services,
• 3:36
  uh, site agnostic, meaning if I need to have a cataract done
• 3:42
  currently, many plans offer that to be done in an OR
• 3:46
  or an A SC, but insurance companies are starting to change
• 3:50
  that, where they want the care to be
• 3:53
  provided in the lowest cost setting.
• 3:56
  And so the reimbursement, whether it's done in the OR
• 3:58
  or the A SC, will be the lowest cost,
• 4:00
  which will be the a SC reimbursement.
• 4:02
  And that will also hit the bottom line
• 4:04
  of some ophthalmology groups
• 4:06
  and departments throughout the
• 4:07
  United States as that changes.
• 4:08
  So that's on the radar as well for us.
• 4:13
  - Wonderful. Thank you so much for sharing that.
• 4:15
  And is there anything
• 4:16
  that's happening right now in your organization
• 4:19
  or anything that you're doing that you're most excited about
• 4:22
  or anything that's making you nervous?
• 4:25
  - You know, I, I would say, you know, specific
• 4:27
  to my organization, I'm very fortunate
• 4:30
  to be able to work here.
• 4:31
  I have a, a wonderful chair, uh, senior Harry Psad, uh,
• 4:36
  named full chair last year.
• 4:37
  He brought me in in 2022.
• 4:39
  Um, as far as my department goes, we've had a lot
• 4:42
  of positive changes and expansion of our department.
• 4:45
  The university itself has had a lot
• 4:47
  of good positive expansion.
• 4:49
  Uh, Dean Mark Anderson is, was brought in, uh,
• 4:52
  I think at this point a little,
• 4:54
  little over a year ago there, thereabouts,
• 4:56
  maybe a little less than a year.
• 4:58
  And he has really brought, uh, really good
• 5:03
  strategic plan and a approachable culture
• 5:07
  to the organization that's palatable.
• 5:08
  People notice. And I think the leaders
• 5:11
  that have been brought in
• 5:13
  after him, uh, exemplify that culture, culture
• 5:16
  of positivity, culture of inclusion.
• 5:19
  And I think that along with some
• 5:21
  of our more strategic changes, including our new, uh,
• 5:23
  Crownpoint Hospital
• 5:25
  and, uh, ambulatory center, which will be open
• 5:28
  and about a month or two, um, our partnership
• 5:32
  and purchase of 51% of, uh, advent Health's Midwest, uh,
• 5:36
  medical group and four hospitals in the suburban area.
• 5:40
  A lot of those expansions, those are all positive things.
• 5:43
  I do enjoy the progressiveness of University of Chicago
• 5:46
  and the direction that it's going.
• 5:48
  As far as things that make me nervous, I think that's more
• 5:52
  of a global issue.
• 5:54
  I think when I think about healthcare.
• 5:56
  And I remember I was at a Becker's event speaking, uh,
• 5:59
  this past fall.
• 6:01
  And similar question was asked
• 6:03
  of me if there's anything I could change,
• 6:05
  which I'm gonna kind of pivot and,
• 6:06
  and answer your question with the same answer.
• 6:09
  I think the lack of physicians
• 6:11
  and providers in this country,
• 6:13
  you were really starting to see the pinch.
• 6:16
  Um, now that many of the baby boomers have retired
• 6:19
  or are retiring in multiple numbers every day, um,
• 6:23
  you are seeing a disproportionate amount of people
• 6:26
  who need a certain level of high acuity care
• 6:30
  or just a certain amount of care.
• 6:33
  And we don't have the number of physicians
• 6:35
  or providers to get those patients in.
• 6:37
  I, even myself, when I've needed appointments
• 6:40
  with different organizations,
• 6:41
  I've noticed a little bit more delays than I would've
• 6:43
  noticed five years ago, 10 years ago.
• 6:45
  Um, everyone's feeling the pinch.
• 6:48
  We probably don't have enough time on the podcast to go over
• 6:50
  what the fixes are solutions,
• 6:52
  but I would say that is kind of point of mind of
• 6:55
  what makes me nervous, makes me nervous for my generation.
• 6:58
  I'm in my mid forties, makes me more nervous for people
• 7:02
  that are my child's age.
• 7:04
  So that is something that's heavy on my mind.
• 7:10
  - Yeah, definitely. I completely, completely agree.
• 7:13
  Um, and, and kind of on that same topic, you know,
• 7:16
  with the culture of healthcare rapidly changing
• 7:18
  and people coming
• 7:19
  and going, I wonder if there's any advice you've received
• 7:23
  that you can share with us?
• 7:25
  - Sure. I mean, as far as a leader goes,
• 7:28
  if we're talking about, um, how you can keep an organization
• 7:33
  as stable as possible
• 7:35
  and what you can do within your own power, your own span
• 7:39
  of control, I, I think there's a few different things.
• 7:41
  I think being yourself is important.
• 7:42
  That was a good piece of advice I received.
• 7:45
  I remember my CFO at Advent, uh, good 10 years ago,
• 7:48
  Rick Byer gave me that advice.
• 7:50
  And in any situation, being yourself is important.
• 7:53
  Um, people trust those that they like,
• 7:59
  um, those that they feel comfortable with, um,
• 8:02
  they'll do more business with you.
• 8:03
  They'll, they'll be more agreeable to work
• 8:05
  with you and trust is earned.
• 8:07
  But if you are upfront yourself,
• 8:10
  if you're upfront transparent, if you're upfront, honest,
• 8:15
  both good and bad, because usually it's very easy to manage
• 8:18
  and, and supervise when everything is positive.
• 8:21
  But even when things are negative, if you are truthful
• 8:24
  and transparent and you are yourself, you'd be surprised,
• 8:28
  even the toughest environments, what you and your colleagues
• 8:32
  and, and the folks that you work with can get through.
• 8:38
  - Yeah, absolutely. Thank you so much for sharing that.
• 8:40
  And Jason, before I let you go, the last thing I wanted
• 8:42
  to ask you is, what would the most effective healthcare
• 8:45
  leaders need in order to be successful in the next two
• 8:48
  to three years, do you think?
• 8:50
  - Sure. So I think it is, uh, a little bit of a,
• 8:54
  a couple different buckets.
• 8:57
  I think if you are someone that's a healthcare leader,
• 8:59
  whether you are in a practice manager role
• 9:02
  or you're in a director role or,
• 9:04
  or something a little bit higher, VP
• 9:05
  or c-suite, I think as I mentioned prior,
• 9:08
  I think being honest
• 9:09
  and transparent, having a high level
• 9:11
  of motion intelligence is very important so that you're seen
• 9:15
  as trusted, you're seen as approachable.
• 9:17
  So I think those are things that can spawn
• 9:20
  and develop good culture, good relationships, and usually,
• 9:24
  or hopefully a, a positive, uh, bottom line.
• 9:26
  And most importantly, an engaged base of patients that, uh,
• 9:30
  both increase in number
• 9:32
  but increase in compliance as far as some of their, uh,
• 9:35
  healthcare quality outcomes as your physicians and
• 9:37
  and advanced practice providers work with them
• 9:39
  and your team works with them.
• 9:41
  I think the other things that are important too is
• 9:45
  to have leaders that understand the difference.
• 9:47
  And I heard this, I think it was on an Instagram reel
• 9:50
  and I, I can't remember who it was from, so I apologize,
• 9:53
  I'm not giving credit, but it is not my own, um,
• 9:56
  chasing the noise versus looking
• 9:58
  for the sound or hearing the sound.
• 10:00
  And I think a lot of times as leaders, we get
• 10:04
  very much inundated with a lot of the issues
• 10:07
  and yes, we need to deal with them.
• 10:10
  But I think understanding root causes quickly
• 10:13
  and being able to reduce the noise, so to speak, as I'm kind
• 10:16
  of sharing with you, I think it's important so
• 10:19
  that we can be more progressive in our approach of, of
• 10:22
  how do we wanna expand in a certain market?
• 10:24
  How do we want to improve a certain program?
• 10:25
  How do we want to improve things such
• 10:27
  as the bottom line or even morale?
• 10:30
  I think understanding those root
• 10:31
  causes are very, very important.
• 10:33
  I think having the pulse on what's going on in whatever
• 10:37
  market, I think this is applicable beyond healthcare,
• 10:40
  but understanding what having vision means,
• 10:44
  both short term, medium term, and long term.
• 10:47
  And if you can understand that
• 10:49
  and you can understand trends kind of before they happen
• 10:53
  or as trends happen, how do you pivot and not just react
• 10:58
  but be proactive.
• 11:00
  And we've seen this all the time in the NFL, right?
• 11:03
  You have coaches who understand when rule changes, how to
• 11:08
  maximize rewards and benefits from those rule changes
• 11:11
  and ones that don't.
• 11:12
  And so kind of using all those examples together,
• 11:15
  I think it's important being, having vision
• 11:17
  and being proactive,
• 11:18
  but in a way that you're not chasing just noise.
• 11:21
  You're not just putting out fires, is just doing
• 11:24
  that is not gonna be productive long term.
• 11:26
  And in the end, your team will get frustrated.
• 11:29
  Nothing will really progress and you'll look back
• 11:31
  and say, that was a lost opportunity.
• 11:33
  But hopefully people will heed this advice.
• 11:34
  And uh, certainly, um, if anybody wanted to chat about it,
• 11:38
  I have a profile on LinkedIn, they can message me
• 11:40
  and I always love to just chat about shop, so to speak.
• 11:44
  - Yeah, absolutely. Thank you so much
• 11:46
  for sharing those final thoughts.
• 11:48
  It's definitely been an amazing and
• 11:49
  and informative discussion.
• 11:51
  So again, I wanna thank you so much
• 11:52
  for coming up at this healthcare podcast
• 11:55
  and I look forward to connecting with you again soon.
• 11:57
  - Thank you so much. Have a good afternoon. You too.