In this episode we discuss the opioid epidemic with Gary Olson, recently retired CEO of The Center for Drug and Alcohol Treatment in Duluth, Minnesota. Gary brings 50 years of experience in the substance use disorder world to this podcast. During those 50 years, he has stirred up the status quo in an attempt to find better solutions to serving people with the chronic disease of substance use disorder. Among his many accomplishments in the field, Gary has served as president and regional governor of the &nbsp;Minnesota Association of Resources for Recovery and Chemical Health. He also served on the board of the first Community Health Association, which focused on recognizing substance abuse as a chronic disease. Those affected by substance use are our brothers, sisters, children and parents. “They are us,” says Gary. “And we need to engage them sooner, keep them engaged and follow them longer.” We agree. In this podcast you’ll discover:  What it’s like to be on the frontlines of substance abuse disorder treatment How the opioid epidemic has shined a light on addiction and why that’s a good thing Why every community must craft its own unique response to opioid abuse Five parallel strategies that have been successful How someone as passionate as Gary can never truly retire

BIB 2: Opioid abuse and why every community must craft its own unique response with Gary Olson

This episode’s guest is Kevin Stranberg, director of strategy &amp; patient experience at Memorial Medical Center in Ashland, Wisconsin. He is also the founder of Stranberg &amp; Associates, a strategy firm, and senior consultant for the Baird Group, specializing in transforming culture. Like us, Kevin believes there’s a better way to think about—and deliver—health care. He’s spent years observing the many ways patients experience care and thinking about how caregivers can meet their patients’ needs better. In this podcast you’ll discover:  Why Kevin left his corporate job at Best Buy to pursue a career in health care. Why the patient experience matters How taking care of caregivers can make all the difference in the world Why Kevin’s biggest pet peeve is the phrase “short-staffed” Kevin’s answers to Bernard Pivot’s 10 Questions, as made infamous by James Lipton on “Inside the Actor’s Studio”

BIB 1: How patients experience their care with Kevin Stranberg

We invited Dr. William Maples, CEO and president of The Institute for Healthcare Excellence (IHE) to discuss the increasingly negative effect physician and caregiver team burnout is having on patient care. “Burnout rates among health care professionals are approaching 50 percent,” says Dr. Maples, “with 30 percent of primary care physicians leaving the profession in the prime of their careers because of issues related to burnout.” The work Dr. Maples and his colleagues are doing includes intensive training around patient experience and the relational skills necessary to create a culture that embraces trust, respect, compassion and teamwork. This in turn creates an environment where quality, safety, and efficiency efforts can flourish. And, where care providers can connect with the joy, the idealism and the purpose that originally called them to the medical profession. Dr. Maples practiced medical oncology for 25 years at Mayo Clinic and helped lead the Mayo Clinic quality, safety and experience journey. He then served as Senior Vice President and Chief Quality Officer at Mission Health in Asheville, North Carolina where he helped Mission Health navigate cultural transformation and become nationally recognized for its impeccable quality and safety. Today, Dr. Maples is an associate professor of oncology at the Mayo College of Medicine and Clinical Professor at Brooks College of Health at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville. In this podcast you’ll discover:  The effects of burnout on the patient care experience The six levers for creating the optimal experience for patients How creating a quality health care experience for patients can transform an organization’s culture Success stories—how physicians and care teams can find joy in their work

BIB 3: Caregiver Team Burnout: The erosion of the patient care experience and the cultural transformation that prevented it, with Dr. William Maples

“Children should be able to grow up loving their bodies and believing that they are amazing creatures,” says , chief strategy officer for The Emily Program, a nationally recognized eating disorder program with locations across the United States. “Instead, messages in our society are so early and so often about what you should look like, and how much you should weigh, and what you should eat, and how you should appear, and act and be.” Dr. Lampert has an expansive range of experience in policy, clinical research, teaching and program development in the area of eating disorders. She has authored numerous book chapters and articles and speaks regionally and nationally on eating disorder topics. In this episode we talk to her about an illness that is so serious it ranks second in mortality rates in the mental health sphere. In this podcast you’ll discover:  Some of the myths and misconceptions about eating disorders The lack of education and tools our primary care physicians are armed with to begin a conversation with their patients about eating disorders The four pillars for more constructive interaction between physicians and patients around weight How society is moving toward a more body positive conversation and how we can contribute to that conversation in our lives

Hailey Sault