What made you want to do the work you do? Please share the full story.
What pulled me into this work was seeing two different gaps that I ended up working on from two different sides of healthcare.
At Elite Pain Doctors, I’m on the patient care side, and most people think their only options are medication or surgery. I’ve always leaned toward that middle ground where there are other services and procedures that can get you out of pain without heavy opiates or jumping straight to metal rods and screws.
On the provider side, through the business and financial management work I do with clinics, I kept seeing fantastic doctors get buried by payroll, vendors, staffing, and finances, and they would lose sight of why they became a doctor in the first place. So a lot of what I do is built around the right order and sequence, for the patient and for the practice.
Tell us 3 surprisingly easy and 3 surprisingly difficult things about your job.
Three surprisingly easy things are seeing where a practice is weak, seeing when a doctor is stuck in things they should not be doing, and seeing when a patient has been pushed too quickly into one trade’s solution. Those things become obvious pretty fast when you ask the right questions.
Three surprisingly difficult things are changing the systems around a burnt-out provider, getting people to become informed instead of just accepting what they are told, and building the right staff structure so the practice supports the doctor instead of draining them.
What are the 3 things you like best about your work and why?
I like helping patients see there is a middle ground, because most of them do not even know it exists. I like getting doctors back to treating patients, because when the business burden comes off, they become more focused and the care gets better. And I like fixing broken scenes, because once the right systems and financial structure are in place, everything starts moving in the right direction.
What are the three things you need in work to achieve purpose? Why are they important to you?
I need to know that what I’m doing is actually helping people, whether that is a patient getting more life back or a doctor getting back to why they became a provider. I need clarity on the numbers and the structure, because when you are uninformed, you make bad decisions. And I need the right people in the right roles, because without that, even good work gets buried by distractions.
Tell us about a time where you saw a surprising outcome that you did not expect.
One thing that always stands out is how often a provider changes once the business side is stripped away. You take someone who is burnt out, worn down, and losing passion, and once the payroll, vendors, staffing, and operations are handled, they become rejuvenated as a caregiver. That shift is always a big outcome, because the same doctor is suddenly more focused, the patients get better care, and the practice becomes more successful.
What is the biggest challenge you face each day and how do you handle it?
A big challenge is that people are usually uninformed when it comes to care, and that creates bad decisions on both sides. Patients do not always know what they are taking or what it is doing, and providers do not always know their numbers, their profitability, or where the real bottleneck is. I handle that by asking direct questions, getting visibility into the scene, and figuring out the right next thing instead of trying to do everything at once.
What do you value most and why?
I value being informed. The biggest problem most people have is they do not know, and then they just listen to anybody. Once you understand what is actually happening, whether it is a care plan, a medication, or the financials of a practice, the decisions get a lot better.
What are you doing that is difficult? Please explain.
A difficult part of what I do is walking into scenes that are already broken and taking responsibility for turning them around. That can mean a practice with financial mismanagement, staffing problems, weak systems, and a doctor who is already worn down. It is difficult because you are not building from clean ground. You are fixing the machine while it is still trying to run.
Who is your favorite motivational speaker and why?
I’m not sure! What motivates me overall is seeing a clear problem, understanding the scene, and knowing there is a right next step that will actually improve it.
If you could go back 2 years and give yourself advice, what would it be?
I would probably tell myself to keep stripping things down to what actually matters. A lot of people get stuck in noise, and a lot of problems are really just a lack of visibility, structure, and sequence. The faster you identify the real bottleneck, the faster the whole scene starts to improve.
Are you willing to be a mentor? If yes, what is the best way to reach you?
I’m always interested in connecting with people in the industry who are trying to build the right way, especially around private practice, operations, financial management, and patient care models. LinkedIn is best to reach me!
Just for fun, what is your favorite ice cream flavor?
I can’t pick!