Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / Building Culture and Purpose in a Growing Health System with Dr. Kevin Bozic

Transcript

Building Culture and Purpose in a Growing Health System with Dr. Kevin Bozic · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

• 0:02
  - The playbook for running a successful ASC in
• 0:04
  - 2026
• 0:06
  - looks almost nothing like it did a few
• 0:07
  - years ago.
• 0:08
  - And the one for 2029
• 0:10
  - probably won't look like this one either.
• 0:12
  - Case complexity is increasing. Payer models are shifting.
• 0:16
  - Technology is creating new possibilities
• 0:18
  - and new cost pressures at the same time.
• 0:21
  - The spine and orthopedic leaders who are staying
• 0:24
  - ahead aren't just keeping up with the changes.
• 0:27
  - They are in rooms where the changes get
• 0:28
  - talked about honestly.
• 0:30
  - Becker's twenty third annual spine, orthopedic, and pain
• 0:33
  - management driven ASC conference is such a space.
• 0:37
  - More than 1,000 attendees,
• 0:39
  - 275
• 0:40
  - plus physician and ASC speakers, three days of
• 0:43
  - programming across the clinical,
• 0:45
  - operational, and strategic
• 0:47
  - with CME credits available.
• 0:49
  - Join us June 11 through the thirteenth. For
• 0:52
  - the agenda and event details, visit Becker's hospital
• 0:55
  - review and click on the events tab in
• 0:57
  - the upper
• 0:58
  - right. This is Grace Lim Keller with the
• 1:00
  - Becker's Healthcare podcast, and we are recording live
• 1:02
  - at the twenty third annual Spine Orthopedic and
• 1:05
  - Pain Management Driven ASC Conference.
• 1:07
  - I'm currently joined by doctor Kevin Bozek, who
• 1:10
  - is a professor and chair of surgery and
• 1:12
  - perioperative care at Dell Medical School
• 1:15
  - at UT Austin. So doctor Bozek, thanks for
• 1:17
  - joining me today. And I would love to
• 1:19
  - have us start by you briefly introducing yourself,
• 1:22
  - your role, and the scope of your organizations,
• 1:25
  - and then sharing what's currently commanding most of
• 1:27
  - your attention.
• 1:29
  - Yeah. Well, thank you for having me. This
• 1:31
  - is an exciting conference, and it's great to
• 1:33
  - be able to sit down and chat and
• 1:34
  - reflect on some of the things that we've
• 1:36
  - been learning over, the course of the day.
• 1:38
  - So,
• 1:39
  - I'm, as you mentioned, I'm a a chair
• 1:42
  - of surgery at a,
• 1:44
  - relatively nascent academic institution,
• 1:47
  - Dell Medical School at,
• 1:49
  - at UT Austin. So
• 1:51
  - we were founded in 2015,
• 1:56
  - and we are the the first medical school
• 1:58
  - built on a tier one research university in
• 2:00
  - The US in fifty years.
• 2:03
  - So a unique opportunity,
• 2:05
  - to build both a medical school and a
• 2:07
  - and a health system in a in a
• 2:09
  - growing,
• 2:10
  - vibrant city in Austin.
• 2:12
  - I would say,
• 2:14
  - what is
• 2:17
  - captivating
• 2:18
  - my attention at the moment is,
• 2:21
  - so when I came to Austin, I was,
• 2:23
  - a department of one, just me.
• 2:26
  - Since then, we've,
• 2:28
  - recruited over 70 faculty and 250
• 2:31
  - staff. And so,
• 2:33
  - as you go from a a small organization,
• 2:37
  - to a big bigger organization,
• 2:40
  - trying to
• 2:42
  - evolve and preserve a culture that has led
• 2:44
  - to a very high,
• 2:46
  - rate of retention,
• 2:48
  - as well as mission alignment is something that
• 2:50
  - I really,
• 2:51
  - think about all the time.
• 2:54
  - And starting our conversation off, in a year
• 2:56
  - marked by rapid change, what recent decision or
• 2:59
  - pivot required the most leadership conviction from you,
• 3:02
  - particularly when it came to aligning people, resources,
• 3:04
  - or capabilities?
• 3:06
  - Yeah. That's a great question.
• 3:08
  - I would say, as I mentioned,
• 3:10
  - growth for the sake of growth,
• 3:13
  - is not necessarily
• 3:14
  - strategic
• 3:15
  - or advantageous.
• 3:16
  - And so
• 3:18
  - we were in a, a very rapid growth
• 3:21
  - mode probably
• 3:23
  - eighteen months, two years ago,
• 3:25
  - and we've had to pause and slow down
• 3:27
  - and think about,
• 3:29
  - growth,
• 3:30
  - for what purpose and at what cost.
• 3:32
  - And so,
• 3:33
  - if we're growing as a health care organization
• 3:36
  - to try to expand our our scope
• 3:38
  - and our reach, we need to make sure
• 3:40
  - that we have,
• 3:42
  - a captured pay patient population to be able
• 3:45
  - to support that growth.
• 3:47
  - And at the same time, as I I
• 3:49
  - mentioned in my prior response,
• 3:51
  - make sure that we're very cognizant
• 3:53
  - about how we are,
• 3:55
  - preserving a culture that is aligned with our
• 3:57
  - mission of revolutionizing
• 3:59
  - the way people get and stay healthy
• 4:01
  - as the organization grows.
• 4:04
  - So when you think about the forces reshaping
• 4:06
  - health care right now, where do you believe
• 4:08
  - leaders need to be more decisive, especially when
• 4:10
  - balancing speed, risk, and having the right teams
• 4:12
  - in place?
• 4:14
  - Yeah. I think it's a great question. I
• 4:15
  - think the job of a leader is to
• 4:17
  - mobilize people,
• 4:19
  - around a mission and a vision and, to
• 4:22
  - move people in a direction.
• 4:24
  - I think that organizations
• 4:26
  - that feel that they're not connected,
• 4:29
  - to a purpose that's larger than themselves tend
• 4:32
  - to struggle. They tend to struggle with,
• 4:34
  - with retention and with performance no matter how
• 4:37
  - you define that financial, clinical,
• 4:40
  - or otherwise.
• 4:41
  - I'm a big believer in
• 4:44
  - Daniel Pink's work on the three things that
• 4:46
  - motivate professionals are mastery, autonomy, and purpose.
• 4:51
  - People wanna be good at what they do.
• 4:52
  - They wanna be left alone, and they wanna
• 4:55
  - feel that their work is tied to something
• 4:57
  - bigger than themselves. And the job of the
• 4:59
  - leader,
• 5:00
  - is to provide the opportunity for, people on
• 5:03
  - the team to master,
• 5:05
  - a skill set, to give them a sense
• 5:07
  - of autonomy and agency over their work,
• 5:11
  - and to make sure that they feel they're
• 5:12
  - tied to something bigger,
• 5:15
  - than themselves. And that's what,
• 5:17
  - enhances job satisfaction and overall performance in the
• 5:20
  - organization.
• 5:22
  - And as we wrap our conversation up, I'd
• 5:24
  - love to know as uncertainty has become the
• 5:26
  - norm, what leadership habit or mindset has been
• 5:29
  - most critical
• 5:30
  - in keeping your organization and your people moving
• 5:32
  - forward?
• 5:33
  - Great question. I, always reminds me of a
• 5:36
  - question I was asked on one of the
• 5:38
  - panels I sat on this morning, and I,
• 5:41
  - I I brought up that I was recently
• 5:43
  - asked to speak on a, on a panel
• 5:46
  - at a a large meeting, and the the
• 5:48
  - name of the panel was leading in times
• 5:50
  - of uncertainty.
• 5:52
  - And and I asked as opposed to leading
• 5:55
  - in times of stability, I I don't think
• 5:57
  - that's a session that anyone would sign up
• 5:59
  - to attend.
• 6:01
  - I've been in health care for
• 6:03
  - thirty years, and I can't remember a period
• 6:06
  - of time in that thirty years where we
• 6:08
  - didn't talk about unprecedented
• 6:10
  - change in health care.
• 6:12
  - There I think that,
• 6:14
  - the only constant is change.
• 6:17
  - And I think that there are a couple
• 6:19
  - things in terms of, mindset that have helped
• 6:21
  - me and that I try to remind my
• 6:23
  - team of. One is practicing gratitude.
• 6:26
  - I wake up every day and remind myself
• 6:28
  - what
• 6:29
  - I'm thankful for. I'm thankful for the opportunity
• 6:31
  - to,
• 6:33
  - to work in the health care space and
• 6:35
  - to be able to treat people, and help
• 6:37
  - people improve the quality of their lives, which
• 6:39
  - is a incredibly
• 6:41
  - virtuous thing, but it's also it's an honor,
• 6:44
  - to be able to be in a profession
• 6:46
  - where you actually get to help people.
• 6:48
  - And I'm thankful for the people around me
• 6:50
  - that share my, passion for our,
• 6:53
  - mission and vision.
• 6:55
  - And then, at the same time, I'm reminded
• 6:57
  - that we need to be nimble.
• 6:59
  - I think that organizations
• 7:01
  - that are able
• 7:02
  - to respond to the environment and the, external
• 7:05
  - environment around them while staying focused on their
• 7:08
  - mission,
• 7:10
  - rather than try to control the external environment
• 7:13
  - and or,
• 7:15
  - preserve the status quo are the ones that
• 7:17
  - are going to be best positioned for success
• 7:19
  - in the future.
• 7:21
  - Absolutely. Well, thank you so much for joining
• 7:23
  - me today on the Becker's Healthcare podcast to
• 7:25
  - share these thoughts and insights. Again, we are
• 7:27
  - recording live at the twenty third annual Spine
• 7:29
  - Orthopedic and Pain Management Driven ASC Conference.
• 7:33
  - And thanks for having me.