Eric Walser, MD, serves as the Distinguished Chair and Professor of Radiology at The University of Texas Medical Branch.
On May 11th, Dr. Eric Walser will present 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. Walser's session, click here.
Question: Who or what are the disruptors that have your attention? Why?
Eric Walser, MD: Our team is comprised of radiology and pathology. As we move forward, one major disruptor is the commoditization of our art, meaning that radiologic and pathologic diagnoses can be rendered by anyone with digital access to the information. Can we maintain universal quality given this unprecedented access to medical images? On the positive side, remote areas can be served by central locations providing diagnostic services by sub-specialized physicians with excellent credentials.
Q: Please share a new consumer-centric capability your organization has built or tapped into within the past 18 months.
EW: We are aggressively trying to change the delivery of medicine in an academic institution plagued by many years of heavy, archaic culture and systems offering convenience to the physicians more than the patients. Again, from the perspective of a diagnostician (radiologist, pathologist), we are invisible to the patient but critical in the care they receive. We started the diagnostic management team (DMT) to allow radiologists, pathologists, clinicians, schedulers and the patients themselves to participate in videoconferences about their condition in a single 30-minute session rather than multiple appointments over weeks or months. We are convinced that the convergence of these passions with the digital conveniences of the computer generation will make the DMT a preferred delivery model in the future.
Q: When was the last time your organization responded to concerns or needs expressed by physicians? What unfolded?
EW: Our physicians reacted negatively to incentive compensation based solely on productivity as defined by wRVU's. The chairs desire more of a role in incentivizing their faculty. Reaction by the dean and other leaders remains lukewarm but we think that, in the academic world, the pendulum will start to swing back and our faculty compensation will be based more on education and research (which is why we are in academics in the first place!).