I was talking recently to a health administrator about communication between different groups in the hospital system. He said, “Interdepartmental communication has been historically very difficult. There were different incentives that made working together something people didn’t want to do. If your department didn’t make the numbers, you’re in trouble, you’re the one out of […]
Interprofessional Communication
5 Tips to help your interprofessional communication
Over the last six weeks, four different health care professionals have asked me about interprofessional communication. Two were public health administrators, one was a medical educator, and one was a physician-administrator. All four were in different organizations. I don’t know why the sudden uptick. But I am taking notice, and taking this chance to share […]
3 communication hints for hotspotting teams
Hotspotting is hot! I have had friends on hotspotting teams telling me about it for some time now. Certainly there are other terms for the process of using claims data to identify those patients who frequently use healthcare systems, but are poorly served by them. It’s probably happening in a health system near you. Whatever […]
So, your organization is doing unconscious bias training? Three things to consider
Just over two weeks ago, I was giving a talk at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health about addressing unconscious bias in our language. At the end, one of the questions I received from a participant was: “It sometimes takes a lifetime to create those biases, that sometimes become innate. How do [we] unlearn […]
Why talking about ‘health’ across different groups is tough, and 3 things providers can do
This week, I was at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, giving a webinar through the Region 2 Public Health Training Center. It was about addressing unconscious bias in our language. While I was there, I was participating in, or overhearing, multiple conversations about health and healthcare. Some while walking across campus, some while […]
4 Questions to ask about mentoring in the health professions
About a year and a half ago, I began a series of conversations with an MD in Academic Medicine, who was interested in restarting the mentoring program at her medical center. She knew it would be a complex and significant undertaking. One ‘problem’ is the massive body of research on mentoring in the professions. Also, […]





