Sept. 17, 2023

Decoding the Supernatural: A Prosecutor’s Analytical Take on Spiritual Phenomena with Bernie Brown

Decoding the Supernatural: A Prosecutor’s Analytical Take on Spiritual Phenomena with Bernie Brown

Imagine if your daily interactions with the world were punctuated by the presence of supernatural phenomena. Join us as we sit down with Bernie Brown, a former prosecutor turned author, who reveals his intriguing journey of exploring personal superna...

Imagine if your daily interactions with the world were punctuated by the presence of supernatural phenomena. Join us as we sit down with Bernie Brown, a former prosecutor turned author, who reveals his intriguing journey of exploring personal supernatural experiences. Bernie, with his unique perspective, blends his prosecutor's analytical prowess with the compelling accounts of spiritual encounters, divine interventions, and telekinetic forces.

We dive into Bernie's latest book, 'A Prosecutor's Analysis of Personal Supernatural Experiences', a riveting collection of real-life testimonials that challenge our understanding of reality. Bernie gives us a taste of his book with a captivating story about how a lightning strike can distort our perceptions of the world. This episode is an eye-opener, pushing the boundaries of what we know about the interplay between the physical and supernatural world. Tune in for a discussion that will both educate and entertain, as we cross-examine the evidence and explore the credibility of these extraordinary accounts.

Choctaw Medical Group, Inc.
Healthcare Quality Leadership Education Group

Bernie Brown, ESQ
Author A Prosecutor's Analysis of Personal Supernatural Experiences

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The Host, Dr. William Choctaw; MD, JD, is a healthcare leadership expert, possessing a Medical Doctorate from the Yale University School of Medicine, and a Jurist Doctorate from Western University. Over a span of 50 years practicing medicine, he has served as Chief of Staff, Chief of Surgery, and as a member of the medical executive committee at Citrus Valley Medical Center over a 10 year period. Also, while practicing at Citrus Valley Medical Center, he served as Chief Transformation Officer, (developed a Robust Process Improvement/Lean Six Sigma program). Dr. Choctaw lectures nationally and internationally on medical leadership issues for hospital staffs, executives, and managers. He served as a Physician Surveyor on the Joint Commission. He's the author of 2 books, "Medical Malpractice: A Physician's Guide to the Law" and "Transforming the Patient Experience: A New Paradigm for Hospital and Physician Leadership, published by the Springer Publishing Co. He’s the President of Choctaw Medical Group, Inc., a clinical practice and medical legal consulting firm for medical staff executives, physician leaders, and hospitals.

Transcript
100:00:00,701 --> 00:00:02,406Speaker 1: Welcome to the Healthy, Wealthy and Wise 200:00:02,446 --> 00:00:06,043podcast with Dr William Chowk-Taw. In this episode, Dr 300:00:06,083 --> 00:00:09,518Chowk-Taw will continue his Leadership Masterclass series by400:00:09,518 --> 00:00:13,585covering healthcare's quality revolution. He'll explore a 500:00:13,705 --> 00:00:17,478number of factors that are driving this revolution, factors600:00:17,478 --> 00:00:19,966that include the latest developments in healthcare 700:00:20,007 --> 00:00:24,000quality and how it has changed the landscape of healthcare 800:00:24,079 --> 00:00:29,053delivery, the Affordable Care Act, patient-centered care, high900:00:29,053 --> 00:00:33,476reliability organizations, leanSix Sigma and medical 1000:00:33,517 --> 00:00:38,112malpractice. Dr Chowk-Taw will also explore data and analytics 1100:00:38,512 --> 00:00:42,043and how they are used and applied to help improve 1200:00:42,103 --> 00:00:46,109healthcare. So, whether you are a healthcare practitioner, a 1300:00:46,151 --> 00:00:50,021healthcare professional, a patient or just a consumer of 1400:00:50,101 --> 00:00:55,823good information, this podcast episode is for you. Join us now 1500:00:56,003 --> 00:00:59,816as we explore healthcare's quality revolution and discover 1600:00:59,875 --> 00:01:03,405how we can work together to helpimprove the quality of 1700:01:03,466 --> 00:01:08,361healthcare delivery for everyone. So let's get started. Here's 1800:01:08,421 --> 00:01:09,548Dr William Chowk-Taw. 1900:01:09,989 --> 00:01:13,501Speaker 2: Good morning. Good morning. I'm absolutely 2000:01:13,563 --> 00:01:18,631delighted to be here and I welcome you to the Masterclass 2100:01:19,111 --> 00:01:24,102Number Five. Masterclass Number Five Today we're going to talk 2200:01:24,143 --> 00:01:30,000about leadership in terms of healthcare's quality revolution 2300:01:30,281 --> 00:01:34,688quality revolution. I believe that life is about being of 2400:01:34,787 --> 00:01:38,822service to others. I believe knowledge is power. I believe 2500:01:38,903 --> 00:01:42,203leaders can change the world. You notice, i always start off 2600:01:42,242 --> 00:01:45,581with the same beliefs and these are my beliefs. And you may say 2700:01:45,602 --> 00:01:49,542with Dr Chowk-Taw why don't you talk about what you believe? I 2800:01:49,581 --> 00:01:54,867do this for two reasons. One is to emphasize the important point2900:01:54,867 --> 00:01:59,763that we started with the very first Masterclass about talking 3000:01:59,802 --> 00:02:03,486about the brain. That is what you believe that affects how you3100:02:03,486 --> 00:02:08,401think, and it is how you think that affects how you act, and so3200:02:08,401 --> 00:02:12,530it's always important for us togo back individually to our 3300:02:12,650 --> 00:02:16,506individual belief and make sure that they're in sync with where 3400:02:16,545 --> 00:02:20,848we want to be and where we thinklife is going for us. If they 3500:02:20,908 --> 00:02:26,144are not, then change them, but to always be aware of them. For 3600:02:26,183 --> 00:02:29,435the last five weeks, i've asked you to think like doctors as we 3700:02:29,474 --> 00:02:33,844talk about this Masterclass And,as Jesse mentioned earlier, 3800:02:34,284 --> 00:02:38,352we're going to deal with both medicine and law as we talk 3900:02:38,391 --> 00:02:43,066about healthcare. One of the things that I learned. Let me 4000:02:43,105 --> 00:02:47,322back up. I graduated from medical school in 1973. I 4100:02:47,361 --> 00:02:54,822graduated from law school in 1998. 25 years different. And 4200:02:54,882 --> 00:02:58,628one of the things that I learnedis the difference between 4300:02:58,669 --> 00:03:03,241doctors and lawyers. I did not know this before. We doctors 4400:03:03,260 --> 00:03:06,901think in terms of black and white. Either my patient has 4500:03:06,921 --> 00:03:09,048acute appendicitis or my patientdoes not have acute 4600:03:09,068 --> 00:03:12,625appendicitis. Either my patientshad a heart attack or my 4700:03:12,685 --> 00:03:17,717patient did not have a heart attack. Doctors like to have 4800:03:17,758 --> 00:03:22,604exactness. They like to be specific, but when we are not 4900:03:22,665 --> 00:03:26,888able to be specific To lawyers, there is no black and white. 5000:03:27,068 --> 00:03:29,979Think about this. Doctors think in terms of black and white. 5100:03:30,681 --> 00:03:34,503Lawyers there is no black and white. Lawyers think in terms of5200:03:34,503 --> 00:03:39,044grayness. Everything is gray. It's how you use the facts to 5300:03:39,104 --> 00:03:42,943make it a little dark or a little light. So it's one of the5400:03:42,943 --> 00:03:46,276reasons why, when a doctor is talking to a lawyer, they many 5500:03:46,296 --> 00:03:49,366times there's a conflict, because the doctor is saying but5600:03:49,366 --> 00:03:52,966I saved his life, so why in theworld is he suing me for 5700:03:53,007 --> 00:03:56,275malpractice? The lawyer is saying I don't care that you 5800:03:56,314 --> 00:04:00,735saved his life, you violated section one of XYZ, blah, blah, 5900:04:00,754 --> 00:04:03,563blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Therefore, you're going to be 6000:04:03,645 --> 00:04:08,645liable for malpractice. So it's a different welcome. So it's a 6100:04:08,687 --> 00:04:12,288difference in the way we think. Doctors think in terms of black 6200:04:12,328 --> 00:04:16,963and white, lawyers think in terms of grayness, and I'm 6300:04:17,043 --> 00:04:19,574definitely a black and white guyin terms of how I think and 6400:04:19,634 --> 00:04:22,843what an exactness of this and that. But what I have learned, 6500:04:23,444 --> 00:04:27,391what I have learned as I've gotten older, is that the world 6600:04:27,451 --> 00:04:30,824is probably gray. Most people probably do think in terms of 6700:04:30,845 --> 00:04:34,564black and in terms of grayness, but we'll go over that a little 6800:04:34,605 --> 00:04:38,382bit more as we move along. If you remember, this is your 6900:04:38,723 --> 00:04:44,007computer. Some people call it a cell phone, some people call it 7000:04:44,026 --> 00:04:48,348a smartphone. I call it an academic hand computer because 7100:04:48,387 --> 00:04:52,278you're in the master class and you're exceptional compared to 7200:04:52,418 --> 00:04:55,891other students. You're expected to use your academic hand 7300:04:55,932 --> 00:04:59,382computer and look up stuff all the time. Anytime you have a 7400:04:59,442 --> 00:05:03,271question about anything maybe a couple of times a day you should7500:05:03,271 --> 00:05:06,718go to your academic hand computer and put into the 7600:05:06,778 --> 00:05:10,723browser What is the meaning of artificial intelligence? Blah, 7700:05:10,742 --> 00:05:13,425blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I always want to make sure to 7800:05:13,464 --> 00:05:16,838remind you about that. As always, i always like to include an 7900:05:16,858 --> 00:05:19,545outline, and the purpose of the outline is to let you know what 8000:05:19,586 --> 00:05:22,480we're going to talk about. That's one purpose. Second 8100:05:22,500 --> 00:05:25,108purpose of the outline is to letyou know where we're just about8200:05:25,108 --> 00:05:28,980done. So I know you want to visit people and, god bless you,8300:05:28,980 --> 00:05:33,331you're taking time out of your Saturday to be here with us for 8400:05:33,370 --> 00:05:37,187an hour. So we're going to talk about change, and we always talk8500:05:37,187 --> 00:05:39,961about change to some extent. We're going to talk about the 8600:05:39,982 --> 00:05:43,271Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, as you probably heard8700:05:43,271 --> 00:05:46,598it, because that has been fundamental to the change in 8800:05:46,639 --> 00:05:49,930health care. We're going to talkabout something called HCAPS. 8900:05:50,680 --> 00:05:54,226This is a survey that the government started doing, 9000:05:54,708 --> 00:05:59,875probably about 20 years ago 15, 20 years ago of patients to help9100:05:59,875 --> 00:06:03,413to evaluate doctors and hospitals, and we'll go into 9200:06:03,434 --> 00:06:05,716detail about that. We'll mentionabout high reliable 9300:06:05,737 --> 00:06:09,201organizations. This is where hospitals want to be High 9400:06:09,221 --> 00:06:12,048reliable organizations, those organizations that are trying to9500:06:12,048 --> 00:06:20,307get to zero patient harm, zero patient harm. One of the codes 9600:06:20,326 --> 00:06:24,894that we take as positions in essence is to first do no harm. 9700:06:25,482 --> 00:06:28,685You may not help, but you don't want to harm anybody, so the 9800:06:28,745 --> 00:06:31,461first thing you want to do is not to harm anybody. We'll 9900:06:31,500 --> 00:06:35,127mention briefly about the Lean Six Sigma just as a process of 10000:06:35,228 --> 00:06:39,220excellence, and then we'll end with medical malpractice. So 10100:06:39,261 --> 00:06:41,245when we get to medical malpractice, you know what I'm 10200:06:41,264 --> 00:06:46,959just about done. Okay, all right, here we go Quality revolution.10300:06:46,959 --> 00:06:49,526One of the things you hear people talk about a lot in 10400:06:49,565 --> 00:06:55,427health care is quality, the essence of what you do to a 10500:06:55,487 --> 00:06:59,595person, or are you giving them the best type of care as 10600:06:59,634 --> 00:07:04,043compared to less? best type of care? And one of the truisms 10700:07:04,084 --> 00:07:06,749that I've learned that I want toshare with you, and I heard 10800:07:06,790 --> 00:07:10,165somebody say this to me a long time ago if you can control the 10900:07:10,206 --> 00:07:14,266dictionary, you can rule the world. Think about that If you 11000:07:14,307 --> 00:07:18,564can control the dictionary, you can rule the world. See, if I 11100:07:18,603 --> 00:07:21,672control the dictionary, things mean whatever I say. They mean 11200:07:22,139 --> 00:07:25,793Black, means white, up, means down and means out, because I 11300:07:25,853 --> 00:07:29,704control the dictionary Right? Soyou want to be very, very 11400:07:29,745 --> 00:07:32,072careful when you hear people talk about whatever they're 11500:07:32,091 --> 00:07:35,100talking about and ask yourself who controls the dictionary? Who11600:07:35,100 --> 00:07:39,596decides what's good? Who decides what's high quality, 11700:07:39,617 --> 00:07:43,646what's poor quality? Who makes that decision? And how did they 11800:07:43,706 --> 00:07:48,665get that ability to be able to do that? Another fundamental 11900:07:48,706 --> 00:07:52,718principle that we'll address multiple times today is health 12000:07:52,759 --> 00:07:58,362care. Is health care a privilegeor is it a right? Do you have a12100:07:58,362 --> 00:08:03,095right to quality health care, or is it a privilege that you've12200:08:03,095 --> 00:08:07,024been blessed with being able toexperience More and more? now, 12300:08:07,204 --> 00:08:11,012and I'm in the category that believes that health care is a 12400:08:11,091 --> 00:08:14,737fundamental right. I do not carewhere you are, i do not care 12500:08:14,757 --> 00:08:18,333what you do, i do not care what you look like, i do not care 12600:08:18,353 --> 00:08:21,545what your politics are, i do notcare whether you're a follower 12700:08:21,565 --> 00:08:24,192of Martin Luther King or you're the imperial wizard of the Ku 12800:08:24,211 --> 00:08:28,494Klux Klan. If I am your surgeon,i'm going to give you the very 12900:08:28,533 --> 00:08:31,648best care and it does not matterto me. I'm not even going to 13000:08:31,829 --> 00:08:35,225ask you about your policy. Does that make sense? Because, as a 13100:08:35,245 --> 00:08:40,822physician, my job is not to judge you, so I don't judge. I 13200:08:40,863 --> 00:08:44,009don't judge. Now, that's a little different from the way I 13300:08:44,049 --> 00:08:48,167grew up, where you do judge. I look at him and I judge this and13400:08:48,167 --> 00:08:51,392I judge that. But as a physician, my job is not to say 13500:08:51,754 --> 00:08:56,068well, he's wearing a black watch, therefore ABC, or he's wearing13600:08:56,068 --> 00:08:59,990a blue jacket, therefore I am aphysician. My job is to give 13700:09:00,009 --> 00:09:04,708you the best care possible, and that is irrespective of what you13800:09:04,708 --> 00:09:07,866believe in, who you are. Now, everybody does not believe that,13900:09:07,866 --> 00:09:11,746but I think it's fair to say that most in society are moving 14000:09:11,768 --> 00:09:15,822toward the fact that health careis a right. It is not a 14100:09:15,884 --> 00:09:19,621privilege. I don't care what your citizenship is, i don't 14200:09:19,682 --> 00:09:23,644care where you were born. If youlanded my hospital, on my 14300:09:23,826 --> 00:09:26,871operating room table, i'm going to give you the very best care 14400:09:26,932 --> 00:09:30,461possible, and all that other stuff does not matter to me. It 14500:09:30,520 --> 00:09:34,767is not relevant to the quality of care that I give you, and 14600:09:34,787 --> 00:09:37,057this is where we're trying to get doctors and nurses and 14700:09:37,119 --> 00:09:40,727hospitals to get to today. One of the other basic principles 14800:09:40,847 --> 00:09:44,734that the federal government figured out some years ago is it14900:09:44,734 --> 00:09:49,504pays most of the money in this country for health care. The 15000:09:49,625 --> 00:09:54,559federal government, washington DC, pays most of the money for 15100:09:54,620 --> 00:09:58,769health care in this country. So the government said if I pay 15200:09:58,809 --> 00:10:02,057most of the money, i think I should control that dictionary 15300:10:03,768 --> 00:10:06,873Right. If you can't do it without me paying you and you 15400:10:06,913 --> 00:10:11,106rely on me to pay you, then I can decide what's what. And so 15500:10:11,126 --> 00:10:15,316then the government said I will decide, or help to decide, what 15600:10:15,395 --> 00:10:18,731quality is. No, dr Choctaw, we're going to go by your 15700:10:18,772 --> 00:10:23,572definition because I'm paying you Right, so you can have your 15800:10:23,631 --> 00:10:26,645thoughts. That's good. I'll listen to your opinion, but at 15900:10:26,686 --> 00:10:30,091the end of the day, it is my responsibility. So I'm going to 16000:10:30,131 --> 00:10:34,828tell you what my expectations ofyou are. Hospital X I'm going 16100:10:34,849 --> 00:10:40,469to tell you what my expectationsof you are. Okay, one of the 16200:10:40,548 --> 00:10:44,115big ways this occurred in this country admittedly, you've heard16300:10:44,115 --> 00:10:47,067about this and you sort of knowabout it, but it may not have 16400:10:47,106 --> 00:10:51,986been obvious to you at the time is the Affordable Care Act. And 16500:10:52,006 --> 00:10:54,196you hear one party in this country saying they're going to 16600:10:54,235 --> 00:10:55,903repeal it and they promise they're going to repeal, they're16700:10:55,903 --> 00:10:58,528going to get rid of it. And theother party in this country 16800:10:58,568 --> 00:11:02,197said it's the best thing that's ever happened to health care in 16900:11:02,216 --> 00:11:05,610the last 20 years. And some evencall it Obamacare because it 17000:11:05,650 --> 00:11:09,748was President Obama who actuallypushed it through. It's similar17100:11:09,748 --> 00:11:15,240to the 1950s, where Medicare was first adopted. Medicare did 17200:11:15,279 --> 00:11:19,830not exist until the 1950s. What does Medicare do? Medicare helps17300:11:19,830 --> 00:11:24,219to ensure quality care for elderly patients in this country17400:11:24,219 --> 00:11:29,168, because when you're elderly, you probably no longer work, and17500:11:29,168 --> 00:11:32,375the older you get, the more andmore and more medical 17600:11:32,434 --> 00:11:36,187conditions you're going to develop. Just the way it is Okay17700:11:36,187 --> 00:11:40,355. So the government decides. Well, if you've worked hard all 17800:11:40,394 --> 00:11:45,634your life or you've lived a longtime, you should not be denied 17900:11:46,416 --> 00:11:50,528health care just because you're over 65 years of age. So 18000:11:50,589 --> 00:11:53,499Medicare says we're going to help pay for your health care 18100:11:54,019 --> 00:11:57,289And that's why we have Medicare.And I might add that some 18200:11:57,331 --> 00:12:00,860people who objected to that in the 1950s no, no, no, no, no, no18300:12:00,860 --> 00:12:04,760. That's socialized medicine. People ought to work for the 18400:12:04,841 --> 00:12:07,909health care. For instance, i've been working for the last 50 18500:12:07,970 --> 00:12:12,645years. I'm 75 years old, i'm notgoing to work anymore, but 18600:12:12,745 --> 00:12:16,874still it depends on whether you believe that health care is a 18700:12:17,014 --> 00:12:21,831right or a privilege. Should it only be for certain people who 18800:12:21,910 --> 00:12:25,326have a certain amount of income we have a certain amount of blah18900:12:25,326 --> 00:12:28,094, blah, blah, or live in a certain zip code or should it be19000:12:28,094 --> 00:12:31,850for everybody, because it's a God-given right to human beings 19100:12:31,910 --> 00:12:35,445and it should not matter who youare, what you look like. But 19200:12:35,485 --> 00:12:38,335that's the fundamental argument.That's the fundamental argument19300:12:38,335 --> 00:12:42,147. You hear it play out all the time, every day. Three things, 19400:12:42,668 --> 00:12:45,894very briefly, that the Affordable Care Act did or does,19500:12:45,894 --> 00:12:49,549because it's still with us. Theother part was not able to 19600:12:49,591 --> 00:12:53,606repeal it. They keep trying but they keep failing. One it 19700:12:53,746 --> 00:12:58,315covered more people and it paid for care for more people. A 19800:12:58,394 --> 00:13:02,648single parent, three to four children, may not have a job, 19900:13:03,028 --> 00:13:09,009stays on welfare or something like that. How do you pay for? 20000:13:09,229 --> 00:13:13,504if you have a sick child, how doyou pay for those expenses? The20100:13:13,504 --> 00:13:17,414Affordable Care Act helps to pay for that. It controls costs.20200:13:17,414 --> 00:13:21,693Does somebody believe? well, you know you pay whatever I 20300:13:21,714 --> 00:13:26,054charge. Well not really. If I don't control the dictionary 20400:13:26,745 --> 00:13:29,514Okay, because the first control is the dictionary that's in the 20500:13:29,533 --> 00:13:33,711chalkbook You can't charge $1,000 for cutting a toenail. 20600:13:33,913 --> 00:13:37,366That just doesn't work. You can't do that. I know you may 20700:13:37,386 --> 00:13:41,876have house payments. Get a smaller house. Get a smaller 20800:13:41,937 --> 00:13:46,874house, Okay. The other thing, and probably one of the most 20900:13:47,014 --> 00:13:50,186subtle and I think one of the most profound things that 21000:13:50,245 --> 00:13:55,794Obamacare did back in 2010, is that if forced hospitals and 21100:13:55,894 --> 00:14:02,253doctors help go all electronic, force us to use the computers, 21200:14:02,673 --> 00:14:07,648put down that pen and pencil andit drove the industry crazy. I 21300:14:07,687 --> 00:14:10,735know nurses they quit at hospitals because they had to 21400:14:10,794 --> 00:14:13,267learn how to use the computer. And the nurses I want to be at 21500:14:13,307 --> 00:14:17,509the bedside Doctors who said well, i'm a doctor, i operate on21600:14:17,509 --> 00:14:19,946people, i don't want to do all that paperwork. And the 21700:14:19,985 --> 00:14:23,033government said you know what. Icontrol the dictionary. I'm 21800:14:23,073 --> 00:14:27,553paying your salary. Quality is what I say. It is What I say it 21900:14:27,653 --> 00:14:31,232is And right, honestly, my personal opinion the government 22000:14:31,273 --> 00:14:34,892was correct Because if you're doing the right thing, why is it22100:14:34,892 --> 00:14:39,009a big deal for you? Okay, what are the other fundamental things22200:14:39,009 --> 00:14:43,937about this cold change? and theidea about quality healthcare 22300:14:44,378 --> 00:14:48,894is let me do it with a hypothetical, and I'm sure I've 22400:14:48,913 --> 00:14:53,070said this before. When I graduated from medical school in22500:14:53,070 --> 00:14:57,938the early 70s as a physician, we were told that we're in 22600:14:57,979 --> 00:15:01,572charge. We doctors, i mean, are in charge. People just do what 22700:15:01,592 --> 00:15:06,190we say in a hospital. And I think I've mentioned, you know, 22800:15:06,210 --> 00:15:09,576about how nurses used to stand when the doctor used to walk on 22900:15:09,596 --> 00:15:12,667to the ward and all that sort ofstuff. But basically the 23000:15:12,706 --> 00:15:17,696response to the thing was yes, doctor. I say do X, yes, doctor,23100:15:17,696 --> 00:15:22,244do Y, yes, doctor, no question,no, blah, blah, blah, none of 23200:15:22,283 --> 00:15:27,115that. And the government said you know what, if you go and 23300:15:27,216 --> 00:15:31,024stay a couple nights at the Ritz-Caulter, before you even 23400:15:31,063 --> 00:15:33,952get home, they will send you something and say how was our 23500:15:33,974 --> 00:15:37,144service? Did you like it? Were you okay? Were there any 23600:15:37,183 --> 00:15:41,437problems? Would you come back again? Would you recommend us to23700:15:41,437 --> 00:15:44,528your friends? Blah, blah, blah.What's my point? My point is 23800:15:44,548 --> 00:15:48,783that quality organizations are always interested in the opinion23900:15:48,783 --> 00:15:51,971of the customer. Who is the customer in health care? 24000:15:52,211 --> 00:15:56,355Doctor's not the customer, nurseis not the customer, patient is24100:15:56,355 --> 00:16:00,614the customer. And so one of thethings that might last seven or24200:16:00,614 --> 00:16:04,004eight years in full-time employment run around the 24300:16:04,063 --> 00:16:06,990country trying to help, along with the joint commission, 24400:16:07,110 --> 00:16:10,505educate physicians at hospitals about quality care, a 24500:16:10,605 --> 00:16:14,384fundamental thing, i would say it is no longer doctor about you24600:16:14,384 --> 00:16:19,355. Used to be about you. Seven isan eight. This is now 2023. 24700:16:19,375 --> 00:16:23,711It's about the patient. It's what the patient thinks, it's 24800:16:23,770 --> 00:16:26,885what the patient believes, it's what the patient feels And so, 24900:16:26,985 --> 00:16:30,192in effect, this is what the government who controls the 25000:16:30,231 --> 00:16:34,870dictionary, who pays the money has adopted and said it's 25100:16:35,212 --> 00:16:39,216patient-centered care. So what do you do with something that's 25200:16:39,255 --> 00:16:42,788patient-centered or customer-centered? The patient 25300:16:42,889 --> 00:16:46,807is your customer. You ask their opinion. So the government, many25400:16:46,807 --> 00:16:50,453years, came up with something called HCAPS and that stands for25500:16:50,453 --> 00:16:55,730Hospital Consumer Assessment ofHealthcare Provider and Systems25600:16:55,730 --> 00:17:00,341. What that means is hospital consumer assessment, patient of 25700:17:00,523 --> 00:17:04,853healthcare providers, doctors and nurses, and hospitals and 25800:17:04,932 --> 00:17:09,387systems, healthcare delivery systems. So two weeks after the 25900:17:09,448 --> 00:17:13,913Medicare patient is discharged from hospital, a hospital will 26000:17:13,953 --> 00:17:21,090send a correspondence, a letter with a survey, and it will have 26100:17:21,230 --> 00:17:25,60727 questions, only 27 questions,and the questions are in 26200:17:25,647 --> 00:17:28,976different areas, and I'll just deal with the question about 26300:17:29,017 --> 00:17:30,969doctor And the only three questions. They ask the patient 26400:17:30,989 --> 00:17:34,484about doctor and the concern here is zero patient harm And 26500:17:34,505 --> 00:17:38,913the answers to the questions areeither always, usually, 26600:17:39,755 --> 00:17:44,189sometimes or never. Okay, all the patients do is fill in the 26700:17:44,209 --> 00:17:49,565circle that says always, usually, sometimes or never. The three 26800:17:49,585 --> 00:17:55,415questions that they ask about doctors is how often does your 26900:17:55,455 --> 00:17:58,529doctor treat you with courtesy and respect? Real basic question27000:17:58,529 --> 00:18:02,209How often did your doctor, whenyou were in the hospital 27100:18:02,650 --> 00:18:07,416hospital ABC for two weeks how often did your doctor treat you 27200:18:07,877 --> 00:18:14,656with courtesy and respect? Always, usually, sometimes or 27300:18:14,737 --> 00:18:18,630never? And here's the deal If the patient's answer is not 27400:18:19,491 --> 00:18:24,240always or usually, medicare ignores the other two scores. 27500:18:24,865 --> 00:18:30,661They don't care about never and sometimes It is zero. You get a 27600:18:30,721 --> 00:18:34,412zero for that. The only thing they score are four for always, 27700:18:34,873 --> 00:18:39,628three for usually, that's all Okay. Second question they ask 27800:18:39,648 --> 00:18:42,875the patient about the doctor. How often does your doctor 27900:18:43,016 --> 00:18:47,070listen to you? Real basic stuff.Doctor comes in making rounds. 28000:18:47,111 --> 00:18:51,027Good morning, mr Smith. How are you this morning? Mr Smith says 28100:18:51,227 --> 00:18:54,676oh, you know, doctor, i had thishorrible headache and my eyes 28200:18:54,757 --> 00:18:58,667have sort of been watering and my neck is sore. He says okay, 28300:18:58,688 --> 00:19:07,346you have a nice day, mr Smith. God bless Anybody in the next 28400:19:07,366 --> 00:19:12,086section. How often does your doctor listen to you? Real basic28500:19:12,086 --> 00:19:15,613stuff, right? Third and final question They ask the patient, 28600:19:15,653 --> 00:19:20,346medicare patient in this survey they send out. How often does 28700:19:20,386 --> 00:19:26,126your doctor explain in ways thatyou can understand? How often 28800:19:26,166 --> 00:19:31,505does your doctor explain in waysthat you can understand? One of28900:19:31,505 --> 00:19:34,068my responsibilities that I won't mention the name, but a 29000:19:34,108 --> 00:19:36,833small hospital in West convenient California is that I 29100:19:36,853 --> 00:19:41,779would try to educate the doctorsabout sitting when you make 29200:19:41,839 --> 00:19:44,608rounds. You know, doctor comes in morning, mr Jones, blah, blah29300:19:44,608 --> 00:19:46,491, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Have a great 29400:19:46,512 --> 00:19:51,267day. Any questions? And you know, leave in the room. And usually29500:19:51,267 --> 00:19:53,751when the doctor says are there any questions, his hand is on 29600:19:53,771 --> 00:19:58,246the doorknob right Because he's going out the door. And do you 29700:19:58,306 --> 00:20:00,529know and this is what I would explain to the doctor, because I29800:20:00,529 --> 00:20:05,597learned this, most patients believe very strongly that 29900:20:05,698 --> 00:20:10,250doctors are extremely busy. Number one, number two most 30000:20:10,309 --> 00:20:15,077patients are extremely, extremely, extremely respectful 30100:20:15,157 --> 00:20:20,373of physicians. They will not askyou a question if they think 30200:20:20,413 --> 00:20:24,006you're too busy to answer. They will not. And they can have a 30300:20:24,026 --> 00:20:27,011question. Oh my God, i've been waiting all night and I, you 30400:20:27,051 --> 00:20:30,097know, i want to make sure that Igrab Dr Chalker this morning. 30500:20:30,545 --> 00:20:32,989And so what? I tell the doctor, you've got to give them 30600:20:33,048 --> 00:20:36,753permission to ask you a question. And how do you do that? You 30700:20:36,814 --> 00:20:43,670say thank you, mr Jones, do you have any questions? And you 30800:20:43,789 --> 00:20:50,510follow it up with one simple sentence I have the time. So 30900:20:50,691 --> 00:20:57,048take your hand off the doorknob And say do you have any 31000:20:57,087 --> 00:21:02,040questions? Mr Smith, i have the time. When you say I have the 31100:21:02,080 --> 00:21:06,422time now, you're saying okay, he's given me permission to ask 31200:21:06,481 --> 00:21:11,722him a question. They will not ordinarily, they will 98 percent31300:21:11,722 --> 00:21:15,260, 99 percent of the patients said I do have this pain, that I31400:21:15,260 --> 00:21:20,161want to answer Dr Bob, but Dr Choctaw is so busy. He's so busy31500:21:20,161 --> 00:21:24,617. I see him running up and down the place and this and that I'll31600:21:24,617 --> 00:21:29,364be okay. I'll be okay, but it is our responsibility to go to 31700:21:29,384 --> 00:21:32,182the patient. Patient should havetried to figure out what to ask31800:21:32,182 --> 00:21:37,098us. Our responsibility is do you have any questions? That's 31900:21:37,138 --> 00:21:40,661the huge change in health care where it's basically top down 32000:21:40,721 --> 00:21:44,278and you do what we say and you do the way I say it. I remember 32100:21:45,080 --> 00:21:47,497when I would go on rounds and I'm wearing my little white 32200:21:47,537 --> 00:21:51,209pants as an intern and then there's the middle resident and 32300:21:51,229 --> 00:21:53,842the senior resident, then there's the professor in surgery32400:21:53,842 --> 00:21:56,663at Yale. The professor would walk into the patient is going 32500:21:56,682 --> 00:21:59,212to have surgery and he would look at her and he would say 32600:21:59,252 --> 00:22:01,318something like this tomorrow morning I'm going to take you to32700:22:01,318 --> 00:22:03,617surgery at 730 in the morning and I'm going to do a 32800:22:03,657 --> 00:22:06,643colisostectomy. The operation will last approximately two 32900:22:06,722 --> 00:22:09,714hours and four to five minutes. You will have some discomfort, i33000:22:09,714 --> 00:22:12,578will give you pain medication, you will be in the hospital 33100:22:12,598 --> 00:22:16,137maybe about two weeks and then he walk out of the room. I had 33200:22:16,157 --> 00:22:20,537to answer the same What. What did he say? And what would 33300:22:20,576 --> 00:22:25,780happen was the resident would stop and say Mrs Smith, do you 33400:22:25,801 --> 00:22:31,025have any questions? Professor Choctaw is so busy, but I'll ask33500:22:31,025 --> 00:22:35,181you a question And that's how we used to do it. So hopefully, 33600:22:35,480 --> 00:22:40,157most of that chain where we stopped and we even tell the doc33700:22:40,157 --> 00:22:45,141sit in a chair by the bed. So if you feel comfortable, sit on 33800:22:45,161 --> 00:22:48,202the bedside. Some do that and say do you have any questions? 33900:22:48,434 --> 00:22:51,878Why? Because most communication is non-verbal, it is not what I 34000:22:51,999 --> 00:22:56,654say, it is what I do. So if I don't say I have the time, but 34100:22:56,675 --> 00:23:00,663if I sit on your bed or if I pull up a chair beside your bed,34200:23:00,663 --> 00:23:05,976i'm telling you yeah, i got some minutes. Talk to me Very 34300:23:06,057 --> 00:23:09,583important. And so this is what'shappening in healthcare. Then 34400:23:10,055 --> 00:23:15,198Some hate this. Some vicious hate this. Some in healthcare 34500:23:15,218 --> 00:23:19,483hate this, but I think it's fairto say that the majority of us 34600:23:20,115 --> 00:23:22,980are moving in this direction Andthis is one of my jobs, which I34700:23:22,980 --> 00:23:26,419loved, among other things, one of the things that I have 34800:23:26,479 --> 00:23:30,219learned, like a lot of times, doctors say well, you know, i 34900:23:30,278 --> 00:23:34,395practice in San Gabriel Valley and it is so diverse, you've got35000:23:34,395 --> 00:23:37,019so many different ethnic groupsand so many different, so many 35100:23:37,039 --> 00:23:41,777of that. I can't be responsible for making sure that everybody 35200:23:41,877 --> 00:23:45,617understands everything. It understands me and whatever, and35300:23:45,617 --> 00:23:48,580what I would do, what I would give, like my little 35400:23:51,056 --> 00:23:55,281quick-to-minute lecture to the doc I said respect transcends 35500:23:55,342 --> 00:23:59,015all culture. You don't have to be an expert in Mandarin or 35600:23:59,036 --> 00:24:05,415Chinese or Tagalog or Filipino or on and on and on. Just be 35700:24:05,455 --> 00:24:09,635respectful, be respectful. And how do you be respectful? Most 35800:24:09,655 --> 00:24:13,698communication is non-verbal. Read the room. You walk into a 35900:24:13,758 --> 00:24:19,954room and father is the patient, mother is sitting beside him and36000:24:19,954 --> 00:24:22,522the kids the adult kids are standing in the room. What do 36100:24:22,564 --> 00:24:26,817you do? One of the things you wanna do is you speak to father,36200:24:26,817 --> 00:24:30,159but you wanna speak to mother. I used to shake hands with the 36300:24:30,219 --> 00:24:32,357little kids. They'd all grin andlaugh cause they thought I was 36400:24:32,377 --> 00:24:36,942silly. But what's my purpose? Mypurpose is I am respecting you,36500:24:36,942 --> 00:24:41,141i see you. I see you, you're not just a chair up against the 36600:24:41,182 --> 00:24:44,999wall. We'll come back to that. Let me say a real quick word 36700:24:45,038 --> 00:24:47,380about Ling Six Sigma and I won'tspend a lot of time on this. 36800:24:47,914 --> 00:24:53,557But those of you who are very process-oriented and much of 36900:24:53,617 --> 00:24:59,502this has come from institutions like airlines, industry and 37000:24:59,663 --> 00:25:03,438others that have to get everything right And if they 37100:25:03,458 --> 00:25:06,079don't get everything right, if they make mistakes, so things 37200:25:06,099 --> 00:25:09,803don't go right, they all die many times along with the 37300:25:09,843 --> 00:25:12,996patient. Big incentive, big incentive, right, different from37400:25:12,996 --> 00:25:15,957healthcare. Different from healthcare where you say, well, 37500:25:16,057 --> 00:25:19,051he was 900 years old and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. 37600:25:19,375 --> 00:25:23,998But if you're on that same plane, right, you're on that same 37700:25:24,038 --> 00:25:27,596plane, you don't need a bigger incentive. One of the most 37800:25:27,678 --> 00:25:32,037important I think one of the most excellent systems is Ling 37900:25:32,057 --> 00:25:36,144Six Sigma. Ling, real quickly, just means eliminating waste. 38000:25:37,035 --> 00:25:41,202Eliminating waste which you guessed is one of the biggest 38100:25:41,403 --> 00:25:44,903waste when you go to the hospital or go to see the doctor38200:25:44,903 --> 00:25:47,857, what's one of the biggest waste, something that should not38300:25:47,857 --> 00:25:53,405happen. You think, what are those rooms that you fit in? 38400:25:53,875 --> 00:25:58,938waiting room waiting. Why do youhave to wait? What dictionary 38500:25:58,959 --> 00:26:02,076is that in? Who says that you gotta wait two hours before your38600:26:02,076 --> 00:26:05,935doctor sees you when you go to her office? Where is that 38700:26:05,996 --> 00:26:10,636written that you have to wait two hours? But one of the things38800:26:10,636 --> 00:26:17,646that I used to do in my office,in my office manager is sitting38900:26:17,646 --> 00:26:21,816right in front of me. She ran not only me but my office. We 39000:26:21,836 --> 00:26:26,576had a policy. Who started? We had a policy in my office If you39100:26:26,576 --> 00:26:30,078had a one o'clock appointment to see me but you arrived at 39200:26:30,098 --> 00:26:34,9811230, we would see you at 1230. Because we were already there 3039300:26:34,981 --> 00:26:37,957or an hour before your appointment time. Right, Because39400:26:37,957 --> 00:26:40,058we scheduled appointments. We know what time you're supposed 39500:26:40,078 --> 00:26:44,244to come in And we would see you because, the idea being number 39600:26:44,345 --> 00:26:48,895one, to show respect, my time isvaluable. Who is your turn? But39700:26:48,895 --> 00:26:51,999why should you have to wait forme? Why should I have to wait 39800:26:52,038 --> 00:26:57,757for you? Mutual respect okay, solean eliminates waste. What Six39900:26:57,757 --> 00:27:03,236Sigma does is Six Sigma the onethat eliminates variation. If 40000:27:03,296 --> 00:27:08,118there are six of us, seven of usin this room, and we all wanna 40100:27:08,138 --> 00:27:12,075get out that door, but we all wanna get out of this room, but 40200:27:12,115 --> 00:27:14,817we come up with seven different ways to do it. Some go out the 40300:27:14,857 --> 00:27:17,339door, some go out this door, some go out the window, some go 40400:27:17,400 --> 00:27:20,141out this other way. That's really pretty inefficient, 40500:27:20,221 --> 00:27:23,782wouldn't you say? Now, multiply that in a huge hospital delivery40600:27:23,782 --> 00:27:29,195system, a thousand beds with a thousand plus patients. So to 40700:27:29,277 --> 00:27:34,720have efficiency, to not make mistakes, you need to have a 40800:27:34,961 --> 00:27:38,740simple but effective process, and that's what Six Sigma does, 40900:27:39,001 --> 00:27:44,375right. Six Sigma says I would beon rounds in a hospital, c and 41000:27:44,856 --> 00:27:47,797Chicago, and they would be presenting to me about something41100:27:47,797 --> 00:27:51,843they're very proud of and they say you know, we decreased our 41200:27:51,923 --> 00:28:00,132infection rate from 80%, we improved our efficiency up to 41300:28:00,251 --> 00:28:07,69980%, 85%, and nobody in the areahas hit 80%. And I was saying 41400:28:08,541 --> 00:28:15,061you're good. I said but why not 90? I said, well, nobody does 9041500:28:15,061 --> 00:28:18,278. I said I'm not talking about all those other people, you're 41600:28:18,298 --> 00:28:25,356the superstar. I said well, why not 95? Why not 100? When did we41700:28:25,356 --> 00:28:30,615decide that 80% was excellent? Who wrote that dictionary? And 41800:28:30,655 --> 00:28:33,559then I would tell them true story. I said because if I'm a 41900:28:33,619 --> 00:28:37,401patient in your hospital, or my wife or my children or my 42000:28:37,461 --> 00:28:42,455grandchildren, i want 100%. I'm not impressed with the 85%. Good42100:28:42,455 --> 00:28:47,219job, good job, but I expect youto do more. I expect you. Six 42200:28:47,259 --> 00:28:55,028Sigma to break it down mathematically says 99.999666, 42300:28:55,429 --> 00:29:00,684that that distance between 99% and 100, you can do better. That42400:29:00,684 --> 00:29:04,336makes sense. Six Sigma says youneed to be not at 85%, it needs42500:29:04,336 --> 00:29:08,921to be at 99, but even at 99, you can do better before you get42600:29:08,921 --> 00:29:13,457to 100. It asks us you never stop improving. There's always 42700:29:13,518 --> 00:29:17,682something better that you can do. And that's actually been 42800:29:17,823 --> 00:29:20,140articulated. And I would encourage you to take that 42900:29:20,560 --> 00:29:25,276handheld computer that you have in Lookup Lean Six Sigma Real 43000:29:25,296 --> 00:29:28,317quickly. This is just the roadmap for it define, measure, 43100:29:28,417 --> 00:29:31,460analyze, improve, control. I'll just say a quick word about 43200:29:31,500 --> 00:29:37,816define, whenever there's a problem, a system. Let's say Dr 43300:29:37,855 --> 00:29:44,076McClure is the owner of a small hospital, 250 beds. In his 43400:29:44,135 --> 00:29:48,855hospital he has OBGYN departmentfor delivering babies. He has 43500:29:48,895 --> 00:29:51,696an emergency department where patients come in if they have 43600:29:51,737 --> 00:29:56,236emergencies. One of his managerscomes to him and he says Dr 43700:29:56,256 --> 00:29:59,060McClure, we have a problem. And he said but what's your problem?43800:29:59,060 --> 00:30:02,178And she says well, we have a lot of people who come to our 43900:30:02,238 --> 00:30:06,316emergency room but they leave before they see the doctor. They44000:30:06,316 --> 00:30:09,259leave before they see the doctor. We call it left without 44100:30:09,338 --> 00:30:13,936being seen. Okay, leave before they see the doctor. But he says44200:30:13,936 --> 00:30:16,936why are they leaving before they see the doctor? She says I 44300:30:16,957 --> 00:30:21,217don't know. She said what is theproblem? She said because we 44400:30:21,257 --> 00:30:25,182have all these people tired of and, more importantly, we aren't44500:30:25,182 --> 00:30:27,582doing anything for the community. So what are some of 44600:30:27,602 --> 00:30:29,895the reasons they can be leaving without seeing the doctor? Well,44700:30:29,895 --> 00:30:32,816maybe they have to wait too long See the doctor. If they 44800:30:32,836 --> 00:30:37,301have to wait six hours, 10 hours, would you leave your mother? 44900:30:37,835 --> 00:30:41,256You bring your kid in because hehad an ear infection. You got 45000:30:41,276 --> 00:30:43,739to go to work the next morning. You bring the kid in at two 45100:30:43,759 --> 00:30:47,482o'clock at night and you wait eight hours in an emergency room45200:30:47,482 --> 00:30:51,739before taking him, before having him seen. So is it 45300:30:51,759 --> 00:30:55,201waiting too long? Is it they feel uncomfortable in your 45400:30:55,241 --> 00:30:58,538emergency room? Maybe it's not clean, maybe there's a lot of 45500:30:58,617 --> 00:31:02,359activity and they don't feel safe in their emergency room. 45600:31:03,214 --> 00:31:06,778Maybe they've seen your doctors walk around in the emergency 45700:31:06,798 --> 00:31:12,180room and they wear flip flops inshorts And you said whoa, whoa,45800:31:12,180 --> 00:31:18,997am I in the right place? So what's my point? My point is, 45900:31:19,818 --> 00:31:24,018for those of you who are math enthusiasts, there's a formula 46000:31:24,058 --> 00:31:29,037for lane sixing. It says y equals a function of x. Y is 46100:31:29,057 --> 00:31:33,557your problem, y is what you're trying to solve. Y is what 46200:31:33,597 --> 00:31:37,422you've got to fix. X are the number of reasons that are 46300:31:37,461 --> 00:31:40,401causing your problems, but you don't know which one it is. 46400:31:41,015 --> 00:31:44,476Let's say you have five x's. Oneyou have to wait too long. Two 46500:31:44,516 --> 00:31:46,759your emergency room is dirty. Three they don't like to wear 46600:31:46,778 --> 00:31:49,875your doctor's. Look on, and on, and on and on and on. Lane 46700:31:49,895 --> 00:31:52,763sixing may help you identify which x you need to fix 46800:31:53,429 --> 00:31:57,382basically. And one final thing about defined. Whenever there's 46900:31:57,422 --> 00:32:01,739a problem in any organization orsomething has happened and see,47000:32:01,739 --> 00:32:04,338we got to fix that, first thingthat happens when you have a 47100:32:04,398 --> 00:32:07,118meeting. Everybody comes up witha solution Well, i think we 47200:32:07,138 --> 00:32:08,999should do this and this. And somebody says, well, i think you47300:32:08,999 --> 00:32:11,961should do EFG. Somebody said, well, i think you should A and B47400:32:11,961 --> 00:32:16,262. Albert Einstein once said and I always remember this when I 47500:32:16,303 --> 00:32:19,259have a problem and I've said this before when I have a 47600:32:19,318 --> 00:32:26,038problem, i spend and I have an hour fixing it. I spend 55 47700:32:26,098 --> 00:32:29,866minutes defining the problem andfive minutes solving the 47800:32:29,887 --> 00:32:33,417problem. What's my point? Most of the things that will help you47900:32:33,417 --> 00:32:38,538solve a problem is sitting downand talking about defining. 48000:32:38,578 --> 00:32:41,484What do you mean when you say enough without B and C? What do 48100:32:41,525 --> 00:32:45,067you mean? Blah, blah, blah. You would be amazed at how much 48200:32:45,133 --> 00:32:48,069miscommunication occurs because we say things but everybody has 48300:32:48,089 --> 00:32:51,935a different meaning. But we never asked. I think that's what48400:32:51,935 --> 00:32:56,877the roadmap looks like with Lean Six Sigma. Again, use your 48500:32:57,378 --> 00:33:02,099hand computer to look up Lean Six Sigma. Okay, medical 48600:33:02,181 --> 00:33:05,922malpractice. So I'm just about done, right, right, right, 48700:33:05,942 --> 00:33:10,859you've been following me, right?I'm just about done. So what is48800:33:10,859 --> 00:33:14,961medical malpractice Now I have been asking you for the last 48900:33:15,101 --> 00:33:18,655five weeks, five months, to think like doctors. I'm not 49000:33:18,675 --> 00:33:21,298going to ask you to think like lawyers. What about being a 49100:33:21,337 --> 00:33:25,894doctor? You're now an attorney. You're now attorneys. We're 49200:33:25,914 --> 00:33:35,667dealing with the Andrew Collins,hammons, jesse Hammons law 49300:33:35,708 --> 00:33:41,824practice. They are famous aroundthe area, particularly medical 49400:33:41,864 --> 00:33:51,319malpractice, So they're the top of the line. And one of the 49500:33:51,339 --> 00:33:54,788things I learned is that people tend to like doctors in general.49600:33:54,788 --> 00:33:59,119People don't tend to like lawyers in general. I'm just 49700:33:59,160 --> 00:34:02,161generalizing them, but somebody once said people tend to hate 49800:34:02,221 --> 00:34:06,256lawyers until you need one, Until you need one. When you 49900:34:06,276 --> 00:34:09,498need one, you need a good one. And one of the things that I 50000:34:09,557 --> 00:34:13,155learned when I went to law school was how little I knew 50100:34:13,275 --> 00:34:17,340about the law, and the reason for that is the law is 50200:34:17,400 --> 00:34:24,144deceptively complex. You read a line that says you for God, go 50300:34:24,164 --> 00:34:27,856to prison. And you say well, i understand that. I know what a 50400:34:27,896 --> 00:34:30,969God is. I know what a prison is.I know what you for God, god, 50500:34:30,989 --> 00:34:32,980go to prison. I know what that means. But that's not 50600:34:33,061 --> 00:34:36,615necessarily true. That's not necessarily true, and I can tell50700:34:36,615 --> 00:34:42,751you when I went to law school, I was older than the other 50800:34:42,791 --> 00:34:46,740students. They were 20 something, i was 40 something, whatever, 50900:34:47,061 --> 00:34:51,24040 or 50 something. And one of my favorite classes was TORT, 51000:34:51,641 --> 00:34:56,940p-o-r-t, and TORT means injury And that's connected to our 51100:34:56,960 --> 00:35:00,981subject. And I was sitting. You got to say I'm one of those 51200:35:01,021 --> 00:35:06,039students who gets a class an hour, 30 minutes ahead of time. 51300:35:06,394 --> 00:35:10,576I sit in the front row. I mean, you know the type, i got my 51400:35:10,635 --> 00:35:15,619pencils in my bag. You say them,come on, i'm that type of 51500:35:15,639 --> 00:35:18,956student, all right, so you get the picture. So I'm sitting in 51600:35:18,976 --> 00:35:23,898the front row, you know, ready, ready. And instructor gets up 51700:35:23,958 --> 00:35:28,155and says man walks up to anotherman, takes a gun, puts it to 51800:35:28,335 --> 00:35:32,103his head, pulls the trigger, puts him in the head, man drops 51900:35:32,164 --> 00:35:35,701and he's dead. Is that murder? And I jump up and I'm throwing 52000:35:35,721 --> 00:35:38,831my hand up. I'm on the front rowthrowing my hand up and he's 52100:35:38,851 --> 00:35:43,342still there. And he said, dr Chalkton, i said yes, it's 52200:35:43,402 --> 00:35:46,552murder. And the instructor looked at me and he says it 52300:35:46,572 --> 00:35:50,737depends. And I said well, even it depends. You just told me 52400:35:51,077 --> 00:35:53,503that the guy walked up, put the gun to his head, pulled the 52500:35:53,523 --> 00:35:57,914trigger. The guy was there. He said was it his house? I don't 52600:35:57,934 --> 00:36:02,775know. He said what was the man doing when the guy shot him? I 52700:36:02,795 --> 00:36:06,076said I don't know. He said was the man coming at him? Did he 52800:36:06,115 --> 00:36:10,862have a gun? also, i said I don'tknow what the instructor was 52900:36:10,942 --> 00:36:15,398telling me is it does depend. You've got to know the fact 53000:36:15,559 --> 00:36:19,942before you come to a conclusion.Braininess, it is not black and53100:36:19,942 --> 00:36:24,161white. I'm a doctor, not only I'm a surgeon. We really are 53200:36:24,202 --> 00:36:27,458black and white. Give me a knife, i'll find out what the problem53300:36:27,458 --> 00:36:35,119is. Right, no Longest, don't get nice. And so whenever you 53400:36:35,278 --> 00:36:39,894ask an attorney and I encourage you to take me up on this, any 53500:36:40,014 --> 00:36:44,097attorney ask him or her a question And I guarantee you the53600:36:44,097 --> 00:36:47,224first thing she will say to you. But he will say to you it 53700:36:47,264 --> 00:36:50,322depends. First thing they will say they'll say two words, it 53800:36:50,362 --> 00:36:52,961depends, because what they're saying is you got to give me 53900:36:53,001 --> 00:36:55,956more information, you got to give me more. You can't just 54000:36:55,996 --> 00:36:59,143tell me somebody got shot and expect me to come to a 54100:36:59,164 --> 00:37:03,076conclusion and not give me anything to work with. So that's54200:37:03,076 --> 00:37:07,782the fundamental difference between medicine and law. Right,54300:37:07,782 --> 00:37:14,652i would tell members of my hospital when I was people's bad54400:37:14,652 --> 00:37:18,280and they would bring to me a situation, let's say harassment 54500:37:18,882 --> 00:37:22,335of some type And they would say,oh, it's terrible, this this, 54600:37:22,376 --> 00:37:24,777this, this this, this, this, this, this. We need to do A, b 54700:37:24,836 --> 00:37:30,375and C And I would say have you talked to the other party? Do 54800:37:30,416 --> 00:37:32,619you have the other side of it? One of the things I learned in 54900:37:32,659 --> 00:37:35,815law school if I did not move before, there are always two 55000:37:35,876 --> 00:37:41,378sides, always, always, always. Idon't care if the guy put the 55100:37:41,418 --> 00:37:43,844handgun to the guy's head and shot, just like I was saying. 55200:37:44,954 --> 00:37:47,737What were the circumstances around that? But what was the 55300:37:47,757 --> 00:37:51,635guy holding the guy's family hostage? I don't know, i don't 55400:37:51,655 --> 00:37:56,063know. So my point is and I really believe this is where the55500:37:56,063 --> 00:37:59,759law helped me personally, i have, for the most part, always 55600:37:59,798 --> 00:38:02,815met a black and white type of guy. You know, blah blah, blah, 55700:38:02,856 --> 00:38:04,331blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, 55800:38:04,351 --> 00:38:07,842blah. What I have learned? what I have learned is to take a step55900:38:07,842 --> 00:38:12,586back, ask a few more questions,don't be so quick to judge, 56000:38:13,554 --> 00:38:16,880don't be so quick to think I have the answer, because many 56100:38:16,920 --> 00:38:20,568times are wrong and I don't wantto be wrong. That makes sense. 56200:38:21,175 --> 00:38:25,786So. So my point is that, regardsto what you think about lawyers56300:38:25,786 --> 00:38:29,762, one of the things that the lawdoes is that it makes you slow 56400:38:29,802 --> 00:38:33,096down and get all the facts, because you don't want to be 56500:38:33,155 --> 00:38:37,902wrong. Whatever conclusion you come to, you want it to be the 56600:38:37,963 --> 00:38:41,139right conclusion. You're right, so. So just keep that in mind. 56700:38:41,239 --> 00:38:45,791Okay, let's go. So. Chart is a type of law that means injury, 56800:38:45,992 --> 00:38:50,614porp. Now there are two main bigsections of the law. There's 56900:38:50,655 --> 00:38:55,918criminal and there's there's civil right. Criminal and civil 57000:38:57,355 --> 00:39:02,516Malpractice is civil law. It is not criminal. Let me explain the57100:39:02,516 --> 00:39:07,764difference. If I am found in violation of a civil statute, 57200:39:08,324 --> 00:39:12,221basically I pay money, i have injured somebody or I have 57300:39:12,260 --> 00:39:16,800created an injury And to make that person whole, i have to 57400:39:16,920 --> 00:39:21,958compensate them for their injury. Okay, if, on the other hand, i57500:39:21,958 --> 00:39:26,246am found guilty of a criminal statute, i go to jail. Think 57600:39:26,286 --> 00:39:30,119about that. Civil, you pay money, criminal, you go to jail. 57700:39:31,335 --> 00:39:36,025Civil. Somebody will sue me or some entity will sue me and blah57800:39:36,025 --> 00:39:40,061, blah, blah, blah. You defame me, you violated this or 57900:39:40,101 --> 00:39:44,820whatever, whatever, whatever. But if it's criminal, the 58000:39:45,463 --> 00:39:48,472District Attorney of the State of California will say, 58100:39:48,873 --> 00:39:52,880representing the citizens of theState of California, because my58200:39:52,880 --> 00:39:59,639crime is considered a violationof the state, i violated all 58300:40:00,001 --> 00:40:02,626the members of the State of California, and that's my other 58400:40:02,666 --> 00:40:05,918point Medical malpractice is a state law. It is not a federal 58500:40:05,978 --> 00:40:10,217law. That's why it may vary fromstate to state. Texas may be a 58600:40:10,257 --> 00:40:12,938little different from California, but the basic parts of it, 58700:40:12,978 --> 00:40:19,061though, is the same. What is thedefinition? going back to what 58800:40:19,101 --> 00:40:24,018was said before about defining What is the definition of 58900:40:24,099 --> 00:40:28,880medical malpractice, the definition is acting 59000:40:29,219 --> 00:40:34,135unreasonably under the circumstances. Acting 59100:40:34,235 --> 00:40:38,737unreasonably under the circumstances. There are three 59200:40:38,856 --> 00:40:41,960elements to that definition. Three elements, only three. 59300:40:43,114 --> 00:40:47,436Number one acting you got to do something. You got to do 59400:40:47,516 --> 00:40:53,005something. Number two unreasonably what you did was 59500:40:53,065 --> 00:40:58,059not reasonable. And third element under the circumstances.59600:40:58,059 --> 00:41:07,460Let me give you an idea. The patient comes into the emergency59700:41:07,460 --> 00:41:17,735room as part of a 50 car call up on the freeway. The patient 59800:41:17,775 --> 00:41:21,614comes in and the emergency room is just a big scramble. They 59900:41:21,655 --> 00:41:24,643call it down with trauma surgeons and we come down and 60000:41:24,663 --> 00:41:28,119we're taking different patients and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah60100:41:28,119 --> 00:41:35,302, and, let's say, one of the surgeons, at the end of the 60200:41:35,403 --> 00:41:40,820operation the scar of the surgery is longer than it 60300:41:40,920 --> 00:41:44,994normally would be. That's just for the sake of argument. And 60400:41:45,014 --> 00:41:48,021the patient decides to sue the surgeon because she didn't like 60500:41:48,043 --> 00:41:52,601the way her scar looked Surgeon's attorney will say 60600:41:52,621 --> 00:41:55,958there were 50 people in that emergency room. Dr McClure was 60700:41:56,059 --> 00:41:59,940operating on 25 of them By himself because he's a super 60800:41:59,960 --> 00:42:07,431doctor. So if the scar on patient number 10 was a little 60900:42:07,635 --> 00:42:12,621longer than patient number 11, under those circumstances that's61000:42:12,621 --> 00:42:17,918really okay. That's not a big deal. So it's important to 61100:42:18,039 --> 00:42:21,976understand the definition. You got to do something. Let's say 61200:42:22,657 --> 00:42:28,853you are at a meeting, so you're a church, and someone comes up 61300:42:28,932 --> 00:42:33,344and says you know, i've got thisblah, blah, blah, blah blah and61400:42:33,344 --> 00:42:37,427I've been taking medicine A or medicine B and I'm thinking 61500:42:37,447 --> 00:42:41,445about throwing out medicine A and just taking medicine B. Do 61600:42:41,485 --> 00:42:50,548you think that's okay, dr X? So what should Dr X do? True true, 61700:42:51,751 --> 00:42:55,228never was should not answer the question, but at the very 61800:42:55,349 --> 00:43:00,351minimum is to say I don't have enough information, which is 61900:43:00,391 --> 00:43:04,492true. I wanna think I should tell the young doctors coming up62000:43:04,492 --> 00:43:08,650don't make telephone diagnoses.People will call you up and say62100:43:08,650 --> 00:43:11,365you know, i just woke up and I got this pain that's on the 62200:43:11,405 --> 00:43:14,905right side and it's going aroundto the disc and to the that. Do62300:43:14,905 --> 00:43:17,847you think I need to go see the doctor? or just wait until 62400:43:17,887 --> 00:43:22,266morning And I would say do the safest thing, and that's 62500:43:22,306 --> 00:43:25,369probably go into the emergency room. But you don't know, you 62600:43:25,409 --> 00:43:29,389don't have a clue. You don't have a clue. Now, this is based 62700:43:29,628 --> 00:43:32,885on what's reasonable for the reasonable position. The 62800:43:32,925 --> 00:43:35,827standard is not the reasonable person, the standard is the 62900:43:35,867 --> 00:43:38,510reasonable position. So what they will do is that they will 63000:43:38,552 --> 00:43:46,431call in a expert doctor, dr Rebus, and say Dr Rebus, we want63100:43:46,431 --> 00:43:50,150you to review this record because there's been a concern 63200:43:50,190 --> 00:43:55,135about DrX and we want to make sure that you think that he did 63300:43:55,264 --> 00:43:59,626or did not operate reasonably under the circumstances. Okay, 63400:44:00,525 --> 00:44:03,355so, therefore, elements that plaintiffs counsel has approved 63500:44:03,505 --> 00:44:08,210to find reliable for malpracticeDid you have a duty to the 63600:44:08,250 --> 00:44:12,248patient? Did you have a duty to the patient. Now, if the patient63700:44:12,248 --> 00:44:15,130came into your office and you touched him, then you have a 63800:44:15,170 --> 00:44:18,126duty. If you saw the patient in the emergency room, you touched 63900:44:18,186 --> 00:44:23,626him, you have a duty. And I say you're at a dinner party and 64000:44:23,666 --> 00:44:31,931you're all drinking your sodas. Exploders. Cold, cold, whatever 64100:44:31,971 --> 00:44:36,925you like. You're getting the charm. You're getting the charm.64200:44:36,925 --> 00:44:41,769You didn't even miss that eventAnd you're drinking your sodas 64300:44:42,304 --> 00:44:46,429and someone asks you for advice.Do you have a duty to that 64400:44:46,449 --> 00:44:50,326patient? Probably not. So my point is. My point is you got to64500:44:50,326 --> 00:44:54,893have a duty to the patient. Didyou breach your duty for the 64600:44:54,934 --> 00:44:58,471patient? Second element breach means did you violate that duty?64700:44:58,471 --> 00:45:01,253That's why you called in the expert witness to review the 64800:45:01,313 --> 00:45:04,927record. It was gonna be another doctor to say, yeah, he did. It 64900:45:04,947 --> 00:45:08,925did not breach your duty. Did your breach cause damages? And 65000:45:08,985 --> 00:45:11,887indeed were there damages. So the four elements that 65100:45:11,907 --> 00:45:15,389plaintiffs counsel has to prove before you can be found liable 65200:45:15,851 --> 00:45:21,594for medical malpractice. Now, ifyou are inclined to find out 65300:45:21,695 --> 00:45:26,896more about this subject, there'san expert, expert, expert. No, 65400:45:26,936 --> 00:45:34,849it's not One of the things that I would give. I talk to doctors 65500:45:34,889 --> 00:45:39,106and I would give basically the same talk to the doctor. There 65600:45:39,126 --> 00:45:41,871are certain things I would tell them, and I'll summarize it like65700:45:41,871 --> 00:45:45,751this that I would tell them most patients will forgive you, 65800:45:46,144 --> 00:45:49,786even if you make a mistake. Theywill. I'm telling you they will65900:45:49,786 --> 00:45:54,188after 50 years of practice theywill. Most people will forgive 66000:45:54,289 --> 00:45:58,228you. They'll say, doctor, blah, blah, blah, whatever, whatever. 66100:45:59,284 --> 00:46:02,585And they won't even think about malpractice as soon. But there's66200:46:02,585 --> 00:46:06,291one exception And that exception is if you are injured.66300:46:06,291 --> 00:46:12,605If you are injured D-E-R-P, they will not forgive you. If 66400:46:12,666 --> 00:46:17,586you walk into the room and wife is the patient, husband standing66500:46:17,586 --> 00:46:22,793in the corner you ignore him. You just talk to her. You ignore66600:46:22,793 --> 00:46:25,708him. Or the family or the grandparents or whatever. I'm 66700:46:25,728 --> 00:46:28,811just making this up. You ignore them in the room. You're 66800:46:28,871 --> 00:46:32,985disrespectful. One of the hypotheticals I used to use in 66900:46:33,025 --> 00:46:36,170my presentation to the doctors patient comes and see the doctor67000:46:36,170 --> 00:46:39,186. Patient said to be Spanish-speaking only. Nurse 67100:46:39,246 --> 00:46:41,909gives a chart to the doctor and as the nurse is handing the 67200:46:41,929 --> 00:46:44,431chart to the doctor, the nurse says Spanish-speaking only. 67300:46:44,452 --> 00:46:46,746Doctor says okay, doctor doesn'tspeak Spanish. There's a 67400:46:46,766 --> 00:46:49,590patient in the room. Doctor goesinto the patient's room with 67500:46:49,610 --> 00:46:54,447the nurse who interprets for himand does his exam and history 67600:46:54,487 --> 00:46:57,630and all that sort of stuff, writes a prescription for the 67700:46:57,650 --> 00:47:04,347patient, okay, and before the doctor leaves the room he turns 67800:47:04,427 --> 00:47:08,666to the nurse and makes a commentabout the patient. Quite common67900:47:08,666 --> 00:47:13,094, real quick comment, but it's sort of a disparaging type of 68000:47:13,134 --> 00:47:17,144comment. Not anything, rude, rude, but it's not nice. It's 68100:47:17,186 --> 00:47:20,628not a nice comment. I'll put it like that, and one of the things68200:47:20,628 --> 00:47:25,893that I always tell the doctor. I said I don't care what the 68300:47:25,974 --> 00:47:30,045language is and I don't care what the nurse tells you. I 68400:47:30,085 --> 00:47:34,865don't care what language they say the patient speaks, or the 68500:47:34,905 --> 00:47:40,173patient speaks to everybody who is said to be Spanish-speaking, 68600:47:40,224 --> 00:47:42,746and you can fill in the blank with Spanish. You can put it 68700:47:42,766 --> 00:47:48,070into Gaelic, mandarin, cantonese, on and on and on and on. Speak68800:47:48,070 --> 00:47:52,385from English, so you do not have to speak the language to 68900:47:52,425 --> 00:47:57,527communicate. for a kind for the patient, i said so don't make 69000:47:57,588 --> 00:48:00,931stupid mistake, right? I mean, in my mind that's a stupid 69100:48:00,971 --> 00:48:05,166mistake or whatever, but there'sno excuse for that. And it goes69200:48:05,166 --> 00:48:09,831back to respect transcends all culture. Be respectful, just be 69300:48:09,871 --> 00:48:12,192respectful. Same thing your mother and father taught you 69400:48:12,505 --> 00:48:16,027when you were growing up be respectful. So I would always 69500:48:16,248 --> 00:48:20,528end my presentation with the docs by saying don't be a jerk. 69600:48:21,090 --> 00:48:25,186Real easy to remember, just don't be a jerk. In summary, 69700:48:25,206 --> 00:48:29,534transformation in healthcare is patient-centered. Obama was a 69800:48:29,594 --> 00:48:33,025landmark healthcare legislation.Hospitals are achievement high 69900:48:33,065 --> 00:48:36,907reliability with link six and similar types of processes. 70000:48:37,568 --> 00:48:43,452Respect transcends all culture and avoid medical malpractice by70100:48:43,452 --> 00:48:47,192not being a jerk. My basic principles is I always like to 70200:48:47,291 --> 00:48:52,027end up, god is in charge. I don't have bad days, don't sweat70300:48:52,027 --> 00:48:55,829the small stuff, and most stuffis small. Forgiveness really is70400:48:55,829 --> 00:48:59,349therapy and everything, everything, everything is a 70500:48:59,431 --> 00:49:04,275relationship, mutual respect, mutual trust, good communication70600:49:04,275 --> 00:49:05,409. Are there any questions? 70700:49:06,067 --> 00:49:12,471Speaker 3: Yes, Yes, we were talking about. It was a good 70800:49:12,510 --> 00:49:13,735question. Ha, ha, ha ha. 70900:49:16,764 --> 00:49:20,153Speaker 4: When you were talkingabout you doing things black 71000:49:20,193 --> 00:49:26,545and white and the way let's say,if I'm your patient, are you 71100:49:26,626 --> 00:49:33,791nice with me because of the way you think, or because of the 71200:49:34,432 --> 00:49:36,958privilege that I have, or the law? 71300:49:37,965 --> 00:49:41,170Speaker 2: Excellent question. Iam nice with you because you're71400:49:41,170 --> 00:49:46,967human And that's all you need is just to be human And all that71500:49:46,967 --> 00:49:50,235other stuff. I completely agree. Go ahead. 71600:49:50,844 --> 00:50:00,400Speaker 4: So there is no law, in other words, to tell you to 71700:50:01,061 --> 00:50:01,722respect the other. 71800:50:03,088 --> 00:50:05,173Speaker 2: There is a law, and that's an excellent question. 71900:50:05,213 --> 00:50:09,425I'll tell you why, because what we know is there are laws and 72000:50:09,445 --> 00:50:13,411then there's how you interpret. There is a law that says I need 72100:50:13,431 --> 00:50:22,376to treat you reasonably and responsibly. But a lot of times 72200:50:22,797 --> 00:50:26,710individuals can sort of do what they wanna do and sort of get 72300:50:26,751 --> 00:50:30,427around the law. But yes, there are rules that say I'm supposed 72400:50:30,467 --> 00:50:36,034to treat you a certain way. But a lot of that depends on whether72500:50:36,034 --> 00:50:39,027I think I can get away with it or whether I think you will tell72600:50:39,027 --> 00:50:42,490somebody, et cetera, et cetera.But the right way is it 72700:50:42,530 --> 00:50:46,313shouldn't matter that my approach should be the same as 72800:50:46,355 --> 00:50:49,592it is with everybody else, and that is with absolute respect. 72900:50:49,885 --> 00:50:51,891Speaker 4: And just to finish itup, this is not a question, 73000:50:52,626 --> 00:50:56,213that's a question. When I went to the office, the doctor's 73100:50:56,273 --> 00:51:03,449office, i saw a sign that said don't tell me, why'd you Google 73200:51:03,972 --> 00:51:04,853on your symptoms? 73300:51:08,146 --> 00:51:09,672Speaker 2: Oh, my God okay. 73400:51:09,824 --> 00:51:14,188Speaker 4: So why is that a problem? Well, why is that? 73500:51:14,449 --> 00:51:17,672Speaker 2: Okay, i would consider that rude if I were a 73600:51:17,692 --> 00:51:21,588period, because what he or she is saying is I don't wanna 73700:51:21,648 --> 00:51:24,932listen to you. But the reality is, and I think this is a good 73800:51:24,992 --> 00:51:28,407reality. Yeah, there are bad things about the internet or AI,73900:51:28,407 --> 00:51:31,626whatever it is, but I think thegood thing about it is that 74000:51:31,706 --> 00:51:35,971it's an harrowing patient. It used to be that we control all 74100:51:35,990 --> 00:51:40,052the information, but now you cando a check bot or you can go 74200:51:40,112 --> 00:51:45,429online and you can look up anything that I tell you. So 74300:51:45,469 --> 00:51:48,309what I would interpret that is that they are interested in 74400:51:48,369 --> 00:51:51,431listening to you. They just wantto tell me what they want to 74500:51:51,452 --> 00:51:56,186tell me, and for me that would be a non-star. I go to another 74600:51:56,206 --> 00:52:00,269doctor because I wanna have a discussion. Now, if I'm just a 74700:52:00,311 --> 00:52:03,110patient I'm not a doctor I at least want you to be able to 74800:52:03,130 --> 00:52:07,646explain to me what it is you're gonna do in plain English. Don't74900:52:07,646 --> 00:52:10,809use all those big words to try to impress me in plain English 75000:52:11,144 --> 00:52:15,646And just like that HGAP questionthat I can understand. So it's 75100:52:15,786 --> 00:52:19,266the patient's perspective, not the doctor's perspective. And if75200:52:19,266 --> 00:52:26,246someone was permanently puttingstuff on the door said don't 75300:52:26,327 --> 00:52:30,028even come in if you want me to ask a question. I'd pass them 75400:52:31,264 --> 00:52:33,744Because I would consider them rude. I would consider them And 75500:52:33,764 --> 00:52:36,664they already telling me they don't wanna talk to me, they 75600:52:36,686 --> 00:52:39,570just wanna tell me what to do And I'm not interested in that 75700:52:39,610 --> 00:52:43,168kind of thing. If I have the option, if I have the option, i 75800:52:43,188 --> 00:52:47,485pass them. I'm saying yes, sir, please go ahead. Gary, oh, can 75900:52:47,505 --> 00:52:47,867you hear me? 76000:52:48,824 --> 00:52:53,447Speaker 5: Yes, I had a questionabout what's the word. So, if 76100:52:53,467 --> 00:52:57,036there's a question of mild practice or anything like that, 76200:52:58,824 --> 00:53:00,967what is the statute of limitations as far as time 76300:53:01,007 --> 00:53:01,369period? 76400:53:01,824 --> 00:53:04,548Speaker 2: I think that's a goodquestion. I think it's about 76500:53:04,889 --> 00:53:08,871that's a various per state. I wanna say it's like a couple of 76600:53:08,911 --> 00:53:13,445years, but that would be a good thing to put into Google and say76700:53:13,445 --> 00:53:16,228it's now practice statute of limitation And they can tell you76800:53:16,228 --> 00:53:19,172exactly. But I think it's at least probably about a couple of76900:53:19,172 --> 00:53:19,514years. 77000:53:19,885 --> 00:53:23,155Speaker 5: Okay, and the B part to that is how would you then, 77100:53:24,465 --> 00:53:27,110if you do have a suspicion, how would you then acquire the 77200:53:27,190 --> 00:53:29,592information as far as what happened or what took place? 77300:53:29,684 --> 00:53:30,213Excellent question. 77400:53:31,266 --> 00:53:33,570Speaker 2: Excellent question. Ithink the first thing you would77500:53:33,570 --> 00:53:38,516do is that you wanna talk to anattorney. So then the question 77600:53:38,556 --> 00:53:41,106is well, how do you find an attorney? There are a couple of 77700:53:41,146 --> 00:53:45,414ways to do that. One is if you know friends who know an 77800:53:45,454 --> 00:53:49,072attorney. But the answer is mostpeople don't, quite honestly. 77900:53:50,125 --> 00:53:53,311And what I would do is I would get, i would go back to the 78000:53:53,351 --> 00:53:56,744search and I would put in a medical malpractice attorney is 78100:53:56,865 --> 00:54:00,326near me, medical malpractice attorney is near me. I would 78200:54:00,346 --> 00:54:04,250call them up and I would say I need a consultation on a 78300:54:04,349 --> 00:54:08,230possible malpractice case. Most of the times they'll give you a 78400:54:08,269 --> 00:54:11,532consultation about 30 minutes, 45 minutes and ask what their 78500:54:11,572 --> 00:54:14,927fee is And then you can shop around to make sure that fee is 78600:54:14,967 --> 00:54:17,927compatible with what you're willing to pay. And go in and 78700:54:17,967 --> 00:54:21,286talk to somebody, because what you wanna do is you wanna 78800:54:21,327 --> 00:54:26,545present the facts and have them use their legal expertise to let78900:54:26,545 --> 00:54:30,067you know is there anything there or not. And for a lot of 79000:54:30,128 --> 00:54:32,967people, just doing that is therapy. You know a lot of 79100:54:32,987 --> 00:54:35,510people are not interested in that, but they have a question. 79200:54:35,644 --> 00:54:39,086You know they're uncomfortable, they say I'm not sure. And just 79300:54:39,126 --> 00:54:42,409getting legal advice sometimes is worth it, but that's the way 79400:54:42,449 --> 00:54:42,851I would do it. 79500:54:44,668 --> 00:54:48,550Speaker 5: So does the hospital.Do you have a right to 79600:54:48,751 --> 00:54:51,612information? as far as that, as far as a release of information 79700:54:52,485 --> 00:54:53,951from the hospital or doctor? 79800:54:55,465 --> 00:54:57,994Speaker 2: Are you saying information about the hospital 79900:54:58,726 --> 00:55:00,452and about the doctor from the hospital? 80000:55:02,288 --> 00:55:06,528Speaker 5: Yeah, as far as your possible question, as far as 80100:55:06,588 --> 00:55:09,166what happened in a particular situation, does the hospital 80200:55:09,228 --> 00:55:12,791have a right to release information to you based on that80300:55:12,791 --> 00:55:13,233situation? 80400:55:13,565 --> 00:55:16,733Speaker 2: Okay, the hospital has a right to release your 80500:55:16,813 --> 00:55:21,067information. If you say I want my medical records, or let's say80600:55:21,067 --> 00:55:23,965, if it's a child, i want my child's medical records, then 80700:55:24,005 --> 00:55:26,688that's within your right. The hospital is not gonna tell you 80800:55:26,768 --> 00:55:30,268much else other than that because they have their own 80900:55:30,309 --> 00:55:34,768attorneys and the physicians have their own attorneys. Now 81000:55:34,889 --> 00:55:37,530you break up a good point that Ithink is important to emphasize81100:55:37,530 --> 00:55:41,469. Every hospital has a complaintdepartment. If you have a 81200:55:41,509 --> 00:55:46,458concern, you can put it in very general terms and say I was in 81300:55:46,478 --> 00:55:49,661the hospital blah blah blah, or my chairman blah blah, blah, 81400:55:49,681 --> 00:55:53,164blah blah and we didn't understand why blah blah blah 81500:55:53,204 --> 00:55:56,621happened. Please explain. You can write a very generic letter 81600:55:56,681 --> 00:56:00,184like that. The important thing is that when you do a complaint,81700:56:00,184 --> 00:56:03,856it has to be in writing. Most people don't know that You can't81800:56:03,856 --> 00:56:07,518just call up and talk to somebody. You have to put it in 81900:56:07,579 --> 00:56:10,755writing. One of the things that we used to do when we did 82000:56:10,815 --> 00:56:14,179evaluate at predational hospitals is how they deal with 82100:56:14,239 --> 00:56:17,519complaints in writing. They havea timeframe that they have to 82200:56:17,719 --> 00:56:21,135answer you specifically. So put it in writing. It doesn't have 82300:56:21,155 --> 00:56:25,722to be very long and say we have some questions about our case. 82400:56:26,074 --> 00:56:29,768We want more information. Mard hospitals will be very happy to 82500:56:29,809 --> 00:56:30,875talk to you about it. 82600:56:30,974 --> 00:56:31,255Speaker 5: Thank you. 82700:56:32,155 --> 00:56:34,139Speaker 2: You're welcome Any other questions? 82800:56:34,755 --> 00:56:41,945Speaker 6: Yes, Yeah, regarding that, usually if somebody calls 82900:56:42,106 --> 00:56:48,045in, they have some symptoms And not to give, what is it? you 83000:56:48,065 --> 00:56:53,501tell them Port of America or go see a doctor. And now sometimes,83100:56:53,501 --> 00:56:55,338when you want to make an appointment at the hospital, 83200:56:56,000 --> 00:57:00,485they say, well, we can give you online at such a time if you 83300:57:00,525 --> 00:57:04,039want to know what's wrong with you. Is that something that is 83400:57:04,119 --> 00:57:07,702going to be or is that somethingthat is just that hospital? 83500:57:08,074 --> 00:57:09,501Speaker 2: Well, that's something that's happening right83600:57:09,501 --> 00:57:13,262now And that's fine, Because what's happened is that now 83700:57:15,139 --> 00:57:20,143doctor of patient hospital in reaction is being virtual or in 83800:57:20,204 --> 00:57:24,159person That is perfectly OK, Where you put in your basic 83900:57:24,199 --> 00:57:27,496symptoms and then they'll ask you some questions And what 84000:57:27,516 --> 00:57:30,438they're doing is they're trying to decide is this something they84100:57:30,438 --> 00:57:33,860need to have them come in for Or is this something that they 84200:57:33,920 --> 00:57:36,601can answer for you online? That's the best way to be quite 84300:57:36,661 --> 00:57:39,402honest Absolutely, Absolutely. 84400:57:39,541 --> 00:57:42,422Speaker 3: Yes, lauren, just mentioning that they can also 84500:57:42,835 --> 00:57:44,644risk the very expensive. 84600:57:45,635 --> 00:57:50,065Speaker 2: Excellent point. Excellent point If it's sort of 84700:57:50,106 --> 00:57:53,902like a relationship that's aboutto go bad in a way, you see 84800:57:53,922 --> 00:57:57,016them saying I'm talking about doctor of patient. There it is 84900:57:57,197 --> 00:58:02,670reasonable to say, doctor, we have a lot of questions about 85000:58:02,974 --> 00:58:08,797what happened to my uncle that you took care of. It is smarter 85100:58:09,338 --> 00:58:12,827to ask to meet with the physician for number of reasons.85200:58:12,827 --> 00:58:19,217If he says no, that you want tomake a note on him. But a lot 85300:58:19,257 --> 00:58:23,621of times, to Lauren's point, this can be resolved just with a85400:58:23,621 --> 00:58:26,795quick conversation. Most of thetimes there are questions that 85500:58:26,835 --> 00:58:30,045have not been answered or have not been answered completely, 85600:58:30,735 --> 00:58:34,039And just by getting those thingsanswered all that stuff can go 85700:58:34,059 --> 00:58:38,478away. I would argue more than 50% of the time. It can go away 85800:58:38,878 --> 00:58:41,980if that position is willing to talk, Because the position, in 85900:58:42,019 --> 00:58:45,498my opinion, is more important than the hospital, unless it's a86000:58:45,498 --> 00:58:49,981possible related employee. Eventhen I would still start with 86100:58:50,001 --> 00:58:52,641the position, Because you want to get that position on your 86200:58:52,661 --> 00:58:56,257side. If it's this oh, you're exactly right, There's no way 86300:58:56,599 --> 00:58:59,740blah, blah, blah should have done that, Then that's important86400:58:59,740 --> 00:59:02,197for you to know. But excellent point, You want to have that 86500:59:02,237 --> 00:59:04,902meeting first, Because a lot of times the hospital will put 86600:59:04,922 --> 00:59:08,177together a team to meet with you, But it's always better to have86700:59:08,177 --> 00:59:11,385the meeting first. Have the meeting first, Absolutely Yes, 86800:59:11,405 --> 00:59:14,737sir. Do you have a question? I'll let you Any other questions86900:59:14,737 --> 00:59:14,737. 87000:59:15,157 --> 00:59:18,364Speaker 5: Yes, sir, Yes Dr, Oh,yeah Well go ahead, go ahead, 87100:59:18,405 --> 00:59:19,768william. Go ahead William. 87200:59:20,114 --> 00:59:20,637Speaker 2: Runsilkram. 87300:59:21,414 --> 00:59:25,617Speaker 5: I'm sorry. I was going to ask. So if you have a 87400:59:25,677 --> 00:59:31,094current doctor that you're not exactly gelling with right So 87500:59:31,115 --> 00:59:35,155let's say you feel like the office is always in a rush, your87600:59:35,155 --> 00:59:38,456appointment is kind of rushed through and stuff like that How 87700:59:38,536 --> 00:59:45,478do you go about getting another doctor as far as OK? so you call87800:59:45,478 --> 00:59:48,936your insurance, you get a list of whatever. Are there certain 87900:59:48,996 --> 00:59:52,878questions that you should ask those doctors when choosing a 88000:59:52,918 --> 00:59:57,061doctor? What would you say is the best process of doing that? 88100:59:57,574 --> 01:00:00,023Speaker 2: I personally think the best process of doing that 88201:00:01,197 --> 01:00:04,596is actually being there physically, if you can, because 88301:00:04,635 --> 01:00:08,257I think you're going to pick up some things that may not come up88401:00:08,257 --> 01:00:11,041in a normal question. You're going to look around the office 88501:00:11,195 --> 01:00:14,057Is it clean? Are there a lot of people? Are there a few people? 88601:00:15,994 --> 01:00:19,818You can certainly still ask questions in terms of what their88701:00:19,818 --> 01:00:22,842experience is. Let's say, if it's a procedure or whatever, 88801:00:22,894 --> 01:00:27,081you can ask some basic questions. But I think, if possible, make88901:00:27,081 --> 01:00:30,780an eye contact. Doing that person-to-person type of thing 89001:00:32,264 --> 01:00:36,215is worth doing, one of the things that my wife and I do. We89101:00:36,215 --> 01:00:40,619tend to do things differently sometimes, so I'd like to always89201:00:40,619 --> 01:00:43,639help her with me, or vice versa, because she's going to pick up89301:00:43,639 --> 01:00:46,400stuff that I'm going to miss. Well, i may pick up stuff that 89401:00:46,440 --> 01:00:52,259she missed. So I'm a big believer, if possible now, to 89501:00:52,318 --> 01:00:55,898have that in-person type of thing. If not, you can certainly89601:00:55,898 --> 01:00:59,762ask certain basic things about procedures in terms of how that 89701:00:59,822 --> 01:01:03,541person explains things to you orif they're even willing to talk89801:01:03,541 --> 01:01:06,335to you. All those things are things that you can sort of 89901:01:06,737 --> 01:01:10,280check the boxes in terms of pro or con or others. The other 90001:01:10,300 --> 01:01:11,210question. 90101:01:11,938 --> 01:01:15,460Speaker 4: I think, yes, i thinkI'm one of those persons that 90201:01:15,481 --> 01:01:20,135you said, that I think the physicians are always busy And 90301:01:20,257 --> 01:01:24,800unless I don't see some openness, i won't even ask about what I 90401:01:24,862 --> 01:01:31,221went for. I'm just waiting for them to tell me. But you're a 90501:01:31,260 --> 01:01:37,335doctor over here And we usually tend well I'm usually tend to 90601:01:37,356 --> 01:01:40,757know his doctor and he's not a simple doctor, i mean he's a 90701:01:40,797 --> 01:01:46,202surgeon, oh man I have it with me. So when we approach to you, 90801:01:46,282 --> 01:01:53,576if we do and we engage in a termof a conversation, do you or 90901:01:53,635 --> 01:01:58,164your duty to that person under the regulations, medical 91001:01:58,204 --> 01:01:59,806regulations? Oh, I see, OK. 91101:02:00,268 --> 01:02:07,960Speaker 2: It depends. I'm putting it on the hand, no, 91201:02:08,081 --> 01:02:10,378because it depends on the circumstances. Are you in my 91301:02:10,538 --> 01:02:15,521office Or are we in the No, we're here in Park lot. 91401:02:16,364 --> 01:02:19,019Speaker 4: Well, in Park lot, okYeah, in the field lot then 91501:02:19,039 --> 01:02:20,945there are probably no obligations. 91601:02:21,074 --> 01:02:23,864Speaker 2: But I'm going to go back to your original comment 91701:02:23,923 --> 01:02:28,277also In terms of because a lot of I would say 50% of, not more 91801:02:28,318 --> 01:02:32,342people are exactly like you, i would write down the question, 91901:02:32,574 --> 01:02:35,896because what that does that helps to slow you down. You can 92001:02:35,916 --> 01:02:38,538just say I just have a couple ofquestions And I wrote them down92101:02:38,538 --> 01:02:41,137, is that OK? And you just go down your list. That way you 92201:02:41,157 --> 01:02:43,478don't have to worry about getting flustered and trying to 92301:02:43,518 --> 01:02:46,722remember And I'll just write down two or three questions that92401:02:46,722 --> 01:02:51,644you have. Now, if it's at a social event, many times the 92501:02:51,684 --> 01:02:55,940doctor is not obligated to say anything, but that's on her what92601:02:55,940 --> 01:02:59,420she says and doesn't say, and what I do. I always reply 92701:02:59,440 --> 01:03:02,858because I think it's really not to type. You know what I mean, 92801:03:04,717 --> 01:03:09,260but just say well, i'm not sure,or refer I use just refer to 92901:03:09,280 --> 01:03:10,224the primary doctor. 93001:03:10,494 --> 01:03:12,856Speaker 4: Because there are persons I mean I work for the 93101:03:13,077 --> 01:03:17,217medical team management in the hospital There are people who 93201:03:17,297 --> 01:03:22,483know who they're looking for. Yes, A girl, a gap, good to get,93301:03:22,483 --> 01:03:27,077Just to get that person or thathospital. Yes, yes. The same. 93401:03:28,516 --> 01:03:31,063Speaker 2: There is no question that if one has an addiction, 93501:03:32,315 --> 01:03:36,481then a lot of it is intentional,where they're strategizing and 93601:03:36,501 --> 01:03:40,643that sort of thing, that I view them as a subset as compared to 93701:03:40,682 --> 01:03:44,561just a regular patient. But having said that, one of the 93801:03:44,601 --> 01:03:49,925things that we dogs have to be careful of is assuming that one 93901:03:50,005 --> 01:03:52,817is acting a certain way to causeaddiction, and one of the 94001:03:52,836 --> 01:03:56,996things I used to say drug addicts have pain too. They have94101:03:56,996 --> 01:04:02,304real pain too, and just becauseone is a drug, that doesn't 94201:04:02,324 --> 01:04:06,521mean it doesn't hurt. And so we have to make that separation, 94301:04:06,541 --> 01:04:09,922because it's very easy And I've seen this in the hospitals a lot94401:04:09,922 --> 01:04:12,974, oh so, and so is the blah, blah, blah, blah, blah It 94501:04:12,994 --> 01:04:15,463doesn't really hurt, it doesn't really hurt. Of course it hurts,94601:04:15,463 --> 01:04:19,757of course it hurts. And I'll end on this The whole thing 94701:04:19,797 --> 01:04:23,240about health care disparities iswhere we look at people a 94801:04:23,280 --> 01:04:27,097certain way and then come to conclusions about them based on 94901:04:27,137 --> 01:04:30,300how they look And nothing to do with science just based on how 95001:04:30,320 --> 01:04:33,860they look, and that's like the worst form of health care 95101:04:33,880 --> 01:04:37,556disparities. But there's no question, there are people who 95201:04:37,617 --> 01:04:41,117are manipulative, usually addicts. People who know the 95301:04:41,137 --> 01:04:45,442system know it very well. I've been doing it for years and know95401:04:45,442 --> 01:04:47,960how to work the system. Most ofthem are going to be in the 95501:04:48,000 --> 01:04:52,836minority, except it might be a drug addiction clinic where 95601:04:52,856 --> 01:04:55,003addiction is the primary issue. 95701:04:55,644 --> 01:04:58,356Speaker 3: Yes, do you think there's a span on the way about 95801:04:58,717 --> 01:05:02,717how a person can deal with theirnatural physician, how they can95901:05:02,717 --> 01:05:07,824go through their insurance fromthe end post-imperial to the 96001:05:07,844 --> 01:05:12,070end of the session, and it's really fine? 96101:05:12,090 --> 01:05:15,297Speaker 2: That's an excellent point, thank you. One of the 96201:05:15,317 --> 01:05:20,376things that we all know is that it doesn't always work. Nobody's96301:05:20,376 --> 01:05:23,436fault, not the doctor's fault, not the patient's fault. Your 96401:05:23,476 --> 01:05:25,777insurance company can certainly help you with that. Just say 96501:05:26,097 --> 01:05:28,699well, i went to see Dr Chalktop and I think I want to go see Dr 96601:05:28,719 --> 01:05:34,097Collins. He seems to be a nicer guy, he has a pretty watch, and 96701:05:34,157 --> 01:05:37,259I just think I want to go sit here And then it's your 96801:05:37,278 --> 01:05:39,476insurance company that will accommodate you Because, 96901:05:39,556 --> 01:05:44,195remember, it's patient-centered.Now the Lorrainez point 50 97001:05:44,235 --> 01:05:50,057years ago they'd say puff, chalktop's, all you have. But 97101:05:50,117 --> 01:05:54,141now you do have that leverage. And I would clearly encourage 97201:05:54,181 --> 01:05:59,097you to say it's just us or whatever. We just want to get a 97301:05:59,157 --> 01:06:02,956second opinion. But you want to explore that. You don't want to 97401:06:02,996 --> 01:06:08,362be uncomfortable all the way through. When you go into health97501:06:08,362 --> 01:06:12,797care And you know from day one it's not working And you're not 97601:06:12,836 --> 01:06:17,195communicating, you don't trust the trust, whatever, you don't 97701:06:17,237 --> 01:06:20,217have the feeling, whatever that is, then you want to get out of 97801:06:20,237 --> 01:06:22,998that before they even start, because it's not going to get 97901:06:23,038 --> 01:06:23,298better. 98001:06:24,302 --> 01:06:27,117Speaker 6: Yes, I would say, we should do that OK. 98101:06:28,356 --> 01:06:29,097Speaker 2: How did you do it? 98201:06:29,639 --> 01:06:33,777Speaker 6: Online. Online is a product doctor And when I needed98301:06:33,777 --> 01:06:43,215a disease. I was able to changeit. I had to get a first But, 98401:06:43,255 --> 01:06:47,186jamie, if it was not, i would have aligned and looked for 98501:06:47,226 --> 01:06:49,679someone else, and this thing I could do. 98601:06:50,101 --> 01:06:52,838Speaker 2: There you go. Yeah, and that's an excellent point 98701:06:53,554 --> 01:06:57,458That you have power, which is a whole bunch, and part of your 98801:06:57,498 --> 01:07:00,938power is that you can say no, that's like we talked about in 98901:07:01,079 --> 01:07:05,177other lectures. And part of yourpower is you will say I want 99001:07:05,217 --> 01:07:09,280another opinion or whatever. ButI would encourage you to do 99101:07:09,320 --> 01:07:11,737that, and it doesn't mean you'rea bad person, it doesn't mean 99201:07:11,757 --> 01:07:15,001the doctor is a bad person, it just means it's not working. 99301:07:15,715 --> 01:07:19,219Nobody has to be at fault, but you have the authority to change99401:07:19,219 --> 01:07:22,920that. Ok, all right, thank you.Thank you very much. Have a 99501:07:22,960 --> 01:07:25,202great week And happy Mother's Day to all the mothers. 99601:07:25,715 --> 01:07:27,643Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to the Healthy, wealthy and Wise99701:07:27,643 --> 01:07:31,797Podcast with Dr William Chokdough. We hope you enjoyed 99801:07:31,838 --> 01:07:35,996this episode on health care's quality revolution, and if you 99901:07:36,036 --> 01:07:39,920found this episode helpful, please subscribe to the podcast 100001:07:39,981 --> 01:07:43,157on your favorite podcast platform. This will help ensure 100101:07:43,197 --> 01:07:46,878that you don't miss any future episodes And then share it with 100201:07:46,938 --> 01:07:50,858your family, friends and or yourcoworkers. Well, thank you for 100301:07:50,878 --> 01:07:55,286it, and we thank you once again for listening to the Healthy, 100401:07:55,375 --> 01:07:59,755wealthy and Wise Podcast with DrWilliam Chokdough. Live your 100501:07:59,795 --> 01:08:01,442best life the best way.
Bernie Brown Profile Photo

Retired Assistant Los Angeles City Attorney and book author A Prosecutor's Analysis of Personal Supernatural Experiences

Biography of Bernie Brown

Bernie E. Brown was born in the southern town of Guthrie, Oklahoma. His family moved to Los Angeles, where Bernie grew up as a child. While attending junior high school, Bernie was recognized for his academic achievements and was placed in the College Capable Program. At a young age, Bernie became an entrepreneur, starting a car wash business at the local gas station and running an after school janitorial business while in high school.

Bernie began his college education at Los Angeles City College, where he acquired an Associate of Arts Degree in Speech. In 1972, at the Statewide Intercollegiate Speech Competition, Bernie finished in the top three speakers in the California State Persuasive Speaking Competition after delivering a stunning speech on nuclear disarmament, and he qualified for the National Intercollegiate Competition. Unfortunately, Bernie had to start full time employment to support his mom and sister, which prevented him from attending and competing in the National Speech Competition, but it did not stop his perseverance and thirst to become a lawyer. In 1973, he was accepted at the University of California at Los Angeles. He received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science from UCLA in just three years.

In 1976, Bernie was admitted to Hastings College of the Law. At Hastings, he served as Senior Class Student Body Representative. He also served as the Student Body Representative on the Hastings Faculty Standing Committee on Disadvantaged Students and the Hastings Faculty Standing Committee …Read More