Edward Stanford, MD, MHA, FACOG, FACS, serves as the Chief Medical Officer for Central Valley California, Tenet Hospitals, as well as the Clinical Chief Operating Officer for Doctor's Medical Center of Modesto (Calif.).
On May 10th, Dr. Edward Stanford will speak at Becker's Health IT + Clinical Leadership 2018. As part of an ongoing series, Becker's is talking to healthcare leaders who plan to speak at the conference, which will take place May 10-11th 2018 in Chicago.
To learn more about the conference and Dr. Stanford's session, click here.
Question: Who or what are the disruptors that have your attention? Why?
Dr. Edward Stanford: I will take a somewhat different approach to this answer. Newer technologies and new treatments are usually considered disruptors — for example, robotic surgery. It was a disruptor of sorts. Now, however, it is merely one more surgical option that is not always supported as the best or only one. Further, it can create bottlenecks in a surgical department's throughput.
What I find to be a true disruptor is an age-old problem of poor adoption of evidence-based protocols and difficulties reducing variations in care. It is pretty clear in the literature that evidence-based care for sepsis, congestive heart failure and enhanced surgical recovery reduce costs and morbidity. Yet, physicians continue to question them and are often reluctant to adopt them into their routine care. There is nothing more disruptive to progress than hearing, "That's the way I've always done it."
Q: Describe one of your best colleagues. What it is that person does/brings that makes them indispensable to your organization?
ES: I would have to say all of my physician leaders deserve this credit. In recent months, my lead hospitalists and intensivists have been key colleagues. Clearly, 85 percent of patients flow through either the intensive care unit, hospitalist service or both. When I need to address quality of care issues, hospital throughput, documentation improvement or many of the other day-to-day measures surrounding effective and efficient hospital care, I start with these physician leaders. These leaders are able to set the bar and disseminate the message in a timely and collegial fashion.
Q: All healthcare is local. What about your market influences your organization's business or operations most?
ES: The lack of outpatient, post-hospital care and community resources, not only for chronic disease patients, but also for those who are homeless or who suffer from mental illness or drug dependency, influences operations. In my central California market, there is a lack of primary care providers that is 35 percent below government recommendations. Other influencers include a relatively low number of physicians accepting under-insured patients, difficulties arranging home healthcare, lack of transportation, expensive pharmacy costs and delays in getting the patient into a provider. These all contribute to higher readmission rates and increased visits to the emergency department.