Dr. Robert Pearl is the former CEO of The Permanente Medical Group, America’s largest medical group, and former president of The Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group. In these roles he led 10,000 physicians, 38,000 staff and was responsible for the nationally recognized medical care of 5 million Kaiser Permanente members on the west and east coasts. Named one of Modern Healthcare’s 50 most influential physician leaders, Dr. Pearl is an advocate for the power of integrated, prepaid, technologically advanced and physician-led healthcare delivery. He serves as a clinical professor of plastic surgery at Stanford University School of Medicine and is on the faculty of the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he teaches courses on strategy and leadership, and lectures on information technology and health care policy.

Dr. Pearl is the author of two books: Mistreated: Why We think We’re Getting Good Healthcare—And Why We’re Usually Wrong, a Washington Post bestseller, and Uncaring: How the Culture of Medicine Kills Doctors & Patients. All proceeds from these books go to Doctors Without Borders. Dr. Pearl hosts the popular podcasts Fixing Healthcare and Coronavirus: The Truth, publishes a newsletter with over 12,000 subscribers called Monthly Musings on American Healthcare, and is a regular contributor to Forbes.

In this episode of Intersections, Prof. Hitendra Wadhwa has a conversation with Dr. Robert Pearl on the topic “How the Culture of Medicine Kills Doctors and Patients”.

What can we learn from the powerful journey of a healthcare changemaker to bring reform and reinvention to our own professions?

What cultural and systemic flaws exist in America’s healthcare system today? Why are physicians fast burning out, and how is it impacting the lives of patients and their treatment? What key lessons can the culture of medicine draw from business? And how can physicians be empowered to take full control of their own destinies, and serve their patients with greater impact?

“[Your profession's] culture can be a faithful campanion, a demanding teacher, and a destructive force all in the same day.”

Dr. Robert Pearl

The episode “How the Culture of Medicine Kills Doctors and Patients” offers key insights on:

• A 5-part change framework that any changemaker in any industry could adopt

• How anyone can positively impact humanity at the individual, collective and cultural level

• The reality of the American healthcare industry, and how the present culture is killing both doctors and patients

• Why heroism is a double-edged sword, in both the medical profession and beyond

• Three key ways to empower physicians to save more lives and maximize their impact