Dr Lee Norman on the Role of Providers When Adopting New Care Models

Using evidence and being open-minded are 2 strategies for providers shifting to new models of delivering care, says Lee A. Norman, MD, MHS, MBA, senior medical director for Optum Care Kansas City.

Transcript

What role can physicians play in driving innovation and leadership in health care, particularly when it comes to adopting new models of care?

The role of physicians in how to lead in a value-based care world is one that I think we really have to be creative and innovative, because we need better and stronger models for care. Physicians should be open-minded to looking at new and challenging different ways to do things. Sometimes it means, as I said earlier, using evidence to change our practices, because there are certain things, quite honestly, that don't work. And yet they're very traditionally implemented. And we see lots of those specifically, in neurologic situations. A lot of cardiac, a lot of excess imaging is done, that doesn't really have a payback in terms of the clinical quality.

And then finally, clinical quality indicators. The data is getting more robust all the time, and we need to pay attention to outcomes, and especially where there is disparities and outcomes, we have to understand why. B physicians can lead by being creative and innovative, and it's really important to be open-minded.