Encore! EP176: Why We Think We're Getting Good Health Care, When We Aren't, With Dr. Robert Pearl, Author and Former CEO of the Permanente Medical Group. Co-hosted by Stacey Richter and Alex Akers

In this encore episode, Stacey Richter and Alex Akers talk with Robert Pearl, MD, former CEO of the Permanente Medical Group and author of "Mistreated: Why We Think We're Getting Good Health Care—And Why We're Usually Wrong," about why we think we're getting good health care, when we aren't. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN ✅ How the US health system lags according to objective, third-party data analysis ✅ How rampant overtreatment adds to the problem ✅ Dr. Pearl's four pillars for fixing American health care: integration, pay-for-value, technology, and physician-led organizations ✅ Why current health care technology is decades behind other industries ✅ Why waiting for disruption to force change is the wrong strategy WHY THIS MATTERS Robert Pearl argues that mistreatment in American health care is rampant, not rare—evidenced by paying more than twice as much per patient as other countries for a system that ranks 37th in the world. His prescription rests on four pillars: integration, pay-for-value, modernized technology, and clinician- and physician-led organizations. Pearl's closing message is a warning dressed as advice: disruption is inevitable, and organizations that wait for it rather than leading change will regret the delay. MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE 🔗 EP157, with Dr. Ethan Basch === LINKS === 🔗 Show Notes with all mentioned links: Episode Page 🔗 Healthcare Industry Acronyms and Terms ✉️ Enjoy this podcast? Subscribe to the free weekly newsletter 🫙 Support the podcast with a small donation to the Tip Jar 📺 Subscribe to our YouTube channel 🎤 Listen on Apple Podcasts 🎤 Listen on Spotify === CONNECT WITH THE RHV TEAM === ✭ LinkedIn ✭ Threads ✭ Bluesky ✭ X 00:00 Introduction 02:26 Dr. Robert Pearl, author of "Mistreated: Why We Think We're Getting Good Health Care—And Why We're Usually Wrong." 02:44 How bad is the problem in American health care? 05:25 How our health system lags in overall health, according to third-party, objective data analysis. 06:02 Rampant overtreatment, and how this adds to the problem. 09:11 How can context improve health care? 09:19 The four pillars of improving health care outcomes. 13:06 Integration as a crucial step to maximizing quality. 13:24 Pay-for-value as the second pillar of improving health outcomes. 17:39 Technology as the third pillar. 17:55 How current health care tech being utilized is 50+ years old. 19:38 Why video isn't utilized more in health care, despite being relatively inexpensive. 21:32 Do doctors hate technology? 22:52 "All of medicine is probability." 23:18 EP157 with Dr. Ethan Basch. 25:12 "We fail to do the things that we know we should do." 27:10 Physician- and clinician-led organizations as the fourth pillar. 29:00 "We don't have a system; we don't have a structure." 29:35 "To do that will require leadership." 29:56 Dr. Pearl's advice for actionable change. 31:10 "This is the time to change; don't wait for disruption to occur."