Dr. Katz is a Rock Star

April, 2014

In early February, we wrote a post about Marc Katz, M.D., a surgeon at Bon Secours Heart and Vascular Institute who believes in taking the long view on patient experience.  Dr. Katz has spoken to members of the Experience Innovation Network about how he makes choices in the kinds of procedures he does not based on volume and throughput, but on how they affect patients’ lives.

Last week, Dr. Katz’s wisdom was featured in the Richmond Times Dispatch.  He talks about the value of participatory medicine, a concept defined by the Society for Participatory Medicine (S4PM) as “a movement in which networked patients shift from being mere passengers to responsible drivers of their health and in which providers encourage and value them as full partners.”

In Dr. Katz’s words, “A primary function of the physician should be to deliver the knowledge, resources and skills that will enable patients to make informed medical decisions, thereby empowering them to become active participants in determining their own outcomes. By playing central, meaningful roles in their medical care, patients are far more likely to establish — and accomplish — their health and wellness goals.”

He describes a “flip the clinic” model that Bon Secours is pioneering,  which reimagines the clinical encounter as a space where informed and empowered patients can meet with enlightened clinicians to create workable strategies for achieving health and wellness.  These encounters may include knowledge prescriptions or farmer’s market prescriptions to help patients make the most of their community and online resources.

Dr. Katz says that he now asks patients at the end of each visit, “Did I get it?” Based on our experience of working with physicians around the country, we can wholeheartedly say, “Yes, Dr. Katz.  You absolutely got it!”

Members of the Experience Innovation Network who attend the April 30-May1, 2014 CXO Roundtable will learn more about innovations at Bon Secours that are improving experience and outcomes.