Clinical Changemakers Inspiring Clinicians to Thrive.

"There is a lot of mistrust between the two, the private sector thinks about government bureaucrats who've done the same way for 20 years...the public sector talks about the private sector... who just want to make money at any cost... and they're both wrong." - Dr Nirav Shah, Senior Scholar at Stanford.
In this episode, Dr Nirav Shah reflects on his early journey into healthcare, in particular how a patient error influenced his direct to focus on quality and safety, and how his mentors were a huge part in 'skip level opportunities'. Next, Dr Shah outlines how he navigated politics and responsibility as the Health Commissioner for New York State. Opportunities in digitizing processes, transparency and public engagement were way to effect change. Finally, we explore Dr Shah's experience working in the private sector and the need for bridges to be built across the public/private interface to ensure trusted relationships and a common goal. This episode is a treasure trove of enriching insights and inspiring stories from one of the key voices in healthcare. Don't miss this riveting conversation with Dr. Nirav Shah.
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About our guest:
About our guest:Nirav R. Shah, MD, MPH, is Senior Scholar at Stanford University’s School of Medicine. He is a distinguished healthcare leader with experience as an operator, scientist, innovator, and regulator. His expertise spans public health, public and private health insurance, and clinical operations across the continuum of care. At Stanford, Dr. Shah conducts research on improving healthcare quality and safety while lowering cost, driving adoption of digital technologies, and quantitatively evaluating the resulting value for US and international health care systems.
Additional resources mentioned in the podcast
* Article - Doctors Petition for Limits on Painkillers
* Article - A Boy’s Life is Lost to Sepsis. Thousands are saved in his Wake.
Contact information: If you have any feedback, questions or if you'd like to get in touch, reach out at jono@clinicalchangemakers.com
Intro and Out Music Attribution: Music by AudioCoffee from Pixabay


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“You can be successful as an innovator, even as a physician or any other background you have, as long as you follow the process and really focus on the needs. That's the key.” - Dr Josh Makower, Director and Co-Founder of the Stanford Byers Center for Biodesign.
In this episode, Dr Joshua Makower discusses his newest medical device approval "Moximed" and how his multi-disciplinary education of engineering, medicine and business has supported his successful career as an inventor. He goes on to highlight how clinicians and healthcare systems need to embrace innovation to solve some of our biggest challenges. Dr Makower puts forward how lessons working on innovation at Pfizer influenced the Biodesign approach to innovation. Finally, he covers the policy and investment landscape for progressing healthcare innovation.
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About the guest:Josh Makower, MD is the Boston Scientific Applied Bioengineering Professor of Medicine and of Bioengineering at the Stanford University Schools of Medicine and Engineering, and is the Director and Co-Founder of the Stanford Byers Center for Biodesign, and Founder of Stanford’s Biodesign Policy Program.  Josh also serves as a Special Partner on New Enterprise Associate's healthcare team supporting their medtech/healthtech practice.  Lastly, Josh is the Founder and Executive Chairman of ExploraMed, a medical device incubator that has created 10 companies over the past 20 years. 
Josh currently serves on the board of directors for DOTS Devices, ExploraMed, Allay Therapeutics, Lungpacer, Moximed, Willow Innovations, SetPoint Medical, X9 and Coravin. Josh holds over 300 patents and patent applications for various medical devices in the fields of cardiology, ENT, general surgery, drug delivery, plastic surgery, dermatology, aesthetics, obesity, orthopedics, women’s health and urology.
Additional resources mentioned in the podcast:
* Moximed
* Biodesign at Stanford
* Book - Biodesign: The Process of Innovating Medical Technologies
Contact Information for the Podcast: If you have any feedback, questions or if you'd like to get in touch, reach out at jono@clinicalchangemakers.com
Intro and Out Music Attribution: Music by AudioCoffee from Pixabay


This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.clinicalchangemakers.com

"There is a very evidence-based way to house people for people who are experiencing homelessness, it has been around a long time, it's been testing empirically, it's called housing first" - Dr Margot Kushel, Director of the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative.
In this episode, Dr Margot Kushel explores the moral injury of being a frontline clinician and having to discharge people back onto the streets. How her College told her that no medical school would ever accept her and her success has been to honor the commitment to others who face unfair treatment by our system. Dr Kushel elaborates on her landmark research into Homelessness in California, highlighting the moral, medical, social and economic impact that this issue has on those individuals, their families and society as a whole. She goes on to emphasise that homelessness is a housing problem and that this is one of the key areas that needs to be addressed. Dr Kushel outlines the less forgiving the structural and safety net factors are, the fewer individual factors it takes for people to end up homeless. Finally, she explains the types of activities that clinicians can get involved in to help solve this issue.
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About the guest:
Margot Kushel, MD is a Professor of Medicine at the University of California San Francisco, and Division Chief and Director of the UCSF Center for Vulnerable Populations, and Director of the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative. She is a practicing general internist at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital. Margot's research focuses on the causes and consequences of homelessness and housing instability, with the goal of preventing and ending homelessness and ameliorating the effects of homelessness and housing instability on health. She speaks at a local, state, and national level about issues of homelessness, and frequently provides testimony to legislative bodies.
Contact Information: If you have any feedback, questions or if you'd like to get in touch, reach out at: jono@clinicalchangemakers.com
Intro and Out Music Attribution: Music by AudioCoffee from Pixabay


This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.clinicalchangemakers.com

"Even though you trained them for something silly, like to predict the new word, new capabilities emerged, as in, now they can answer, which is something they weren't trained for" - Professor Nigam Shah, Chief Data Scientist for Stanford Health Care.
In this episode, Professor Nigam Shah shares his early experiences with AI, called 'application of reasoning', how this has evolved, and how AI and web applications like ChatGPT have changed the landscape of how AI is being used. He notes we should be guarded about their general application in healthcare without appropriate research and trials. Professor Shah explores his informatics consultation service at Stanford, which uses real-time research to support clinicians in challenging circumstances. Finally, Professor Shah outlines his teams’ framework for better understanding and evaluating AI tools.
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About the guest:Dr. Nigam Shah is Professor of Medicine at Stanford University, and Chief Data Scientist for Stanford Health Care. His research group analyzes multiple types of health data (EHR, Claims, Wearables, Weblogs, and Patient blogs), to answer clinical questions, generate insights, and build predictive models for the learning health system. At Stanford Healthcare, he leads artificial intelligence and data science efforts for advancing the scientific understanding of disease, improving the practice of clinical medicine and orchestrating the delivery of health care. Dr. Shah is an inventor on eight patents and patent applications, has authored over 200 scientific publications and has co-founded three companies.
Additional resources mentioned in the podcast:
* Shah Lab Stanford
* The Green Button - Research Paper
* Atropos Health (The Green Button Company)
Contact Information: If you have any feedback, questions or if you'd like to get in touch, reach out at jono@clinicalchangemakers.com
Intro and Out Music Attribution: Music by AudioCoffee from Pixabay


This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.clinicalchangemakers.com

"One of the conclusions I've drawn from COVID...in a sense, was that our communications approach was our most important public health intervention"
— Sir Ashley Bloomfield, Former Director General Of Health, New Zealand.
Listen on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
In this episode, Sir Ashley Bloomfield reflects on his humble upbringing and how he approached being a generalist and took on new opportunities. He goes on to explore early experiences as a doctor, and how he picked up on leadership behaviors from others. Sir Ashley Bloomfield goes on to describe what it's like to be at the nexus of public health, public service and politics. He elaborates on the importance of the public service in being a trusted institution and how this was vital to New Zealand's COVID-19 response. Sir Ashley's enlightening insights provide a roadmap for governments around the world to navigate public health crises.In the final segment of our discussion, we zoom in on Sir Ashley's perspective on leadership and communication during a pandemic. He underscores the power of learning from global contexts and how transparency and effective communication build public trust. His emphasis on continuous learning and growth is a testament to his journey and the lessons he has gleaned from it. This enriching and enlightening conversation with Sir Ashley Bloomfield isn't just a podcast episode—it's a masterclass in leadership in the face of unprecedented challenges.
Follow Sir Ashley Bloomfield: Twitter/X, LinkedIn.
About our guest: Sir Ashley Bloomfield trained in medicine at the University of Auckland and specialised in public health medicine. He has 25 years of experience in public policy and health leadership, including at the World Health Organization in Geneva. He was Director-General of Health from June 2018 to July 2022 and led the country’s health response to the COVID-19 pandemic. He was appointed a Knights Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (KNZM) in the 2023 New Year Honours for services to public health and is now a Professor at the University of Auckland's School of Population Health.
Additional resources mentioned in the podcast
Developing Future Public Service Leaders for Aotearoa New Zealand
New Zealand’s COVID-19 response saved 20,000 lives - research
Contact information: If you have any feedback, questions or if you'd like to get in touch, reach out at jono@clinicalchangemakers.com
Music attribution: AudioCoffee from Pixabay.


This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.clinicalchangemakers.com

"You have to be somewhat more strategic, you have to identify your sources of power and use those sources of power to influence the people you want to enact whatever it is you are asking of them"
— Professor Sara Singer, Director of the HELIO Labs at Stanford Medicine.
Listen on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
In this episode, Professor Sara Singer reflects on her early experiences of healthcare with her father being a surgeon and starting in strategy and policy. Professor Singer highlights that the best leaders and managers do a lot of really good listening and delegation and that there is an important distinction between the two concepts, even if they are being expressed by a single person. She goes on to explore the challenges that managers have in working with experts and the potential for parallel hierarchies within organizations. Professor Singer outlines how clinicians should reflect on their sources of power to better influence colleagues to enact the change they are seeking.  Next, she discusses the "Army Crew" case, as an example of when a team loses its identity and needs an intervention to improve the team culture and performance. Finally, Professor Singer packages up the well-studied literature on the science of teamwork as a framework for use in the healthcare setting.
Follow Professor Sara Singer: Twitter/X, LinkedIn
About our guest: Sara J. Singer, M.B.A., Ph.D., is a Professor of Medicine at the Stanford University School of Medicine and Professor of Organizational Behavior, by courtesy, at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. She is Associate Director of the Clinical Excellence Research Center in the Department of Medicine and Faculty Director of the Health Leadership, Innovation, and Organizations (HELIO) Labs in the Division of Primary Care and Population Health. She is affiliated faculty with the Stanford Department of Health Policy, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Clinical Excellence Research Center, Center for Innovation in Global Health, and Woods Institute for the Environment.
Additional resources mentioned in the podcast
Health Leadership, Innovation, and Organizations (HELIO) Labs
The Army Crew Team, Harvard Business School Case
Leading Frontline Covid-19 Teams: Research-Informed Strategies
Contact information: If you have any feedback, questions or if you'd like to get in touch, reach out at jono@clinicalchangemakers.com
Music attribution: AudioCoffee from Pixabay.


This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.clinicalchangemakers.com