← Becker’s Healthcare Podcast
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- [00:02]
A
This is where healthcare leadership comes together. Becker's 16th annual meeting brings more than 3,500 hospital and health system executives and nearly 800 speakers to Chicago, April 13th through the 16th. This year's event includes keynote conversations with Dallas Cowboys legend Troy Aikman and former President George W. Bush. For the agenda and event details, visit Beckershospitalreview.com and click on the Events tab in the upper right. We're looking forward to hosting you in Chicago.
- [00:32]
B
This is Scott Becker with the Becker's Healthcare Podcast. I am thrilled today to be joined by a brilliant leader. We're joined today by Dr. Margaret Larkins Pettigrew. And Dr. Pettigrew is a master's in education. She's a fantastic leader. Just a pleasure to visit with her today. Dr. Larkins Pettigrew, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about what you do?
- [00:59]
C
Okay. So it's a pleasure. Thank you for this opportunity. So I'm currently, I'm an expert in ob gyn and my specialty is in maternal and child wellness. My previous practice was was really looking at patients living with hiv. My goal now is to reduce the health and wellness gap for women in particular. And so I've been really concentrating on that space in my clinical practice. I'm a professor and an academic chair for OBGYN at Drexel University School of Medic, primarily responsible for cultivating engaging faculty to really foster what we can consider to be our future leaders. Right. So being mentors to our next leaders, our students, but also to make sure that the faculty feel that they are part of the Drexel community. Drexel has a model that spreads across the country as far as educating our advisor, our learners, as well as other faculty members. Hat that I wear just to tell you. Well, in addition to being a professor at this at the Drexler University, I'm also an adjunct professor at the School of Medicine at UPMC in Pittsburgh McGee Women's Hospital. And my last hat that I wear that I love most is I'm the co owner of LNP Consulting Group, which is a strategic planning group. We really work on strategic planning and improving the academic presence at all of our major institutions and looking at healthcare help, looking at insurance companies, how we really combine that relationship between both the academic institution as well as the healthcare providers. So that is who I am. You said my master's in education. I do and I need that. But I'm also a vet and I also make sure that I include that space that People in that space who've been in that role as well. So it's a pleasure to be here.
- [03:04]
B
I mean, that's an amazing, amazing background. I know professor of medicine Obghani, Assistant dean of students at Drexel and just an amazing background all the way around. And tell us a little bit about what are the trends you're watching most closely in healthcare today? Where are you most focused? What's most interesting to you, the trends that you're watching.
- [03:26]
C
So I'm really watching the relationship between academic institutions and training institutions as well as healthcare institutions because they've had a long standing history of how they navigate quality healthcare for everybody. And you know, I'm looking at how they're really many places are successfully navigating a lot of the political pressures that are out there right now. A lot of the issues we have around poverty and some of the social determinants of health. So I'm watching the, watching what is really happening and how there's so much investment in how to make a difference in the lives of everyone. And in this current climate that we have around insurance, what we're paying for, we're not paying for, what we can pay for. And just basically how we continue to practice humility in what we do on the healthcare system side, the insurance side and the academic side.
- [04:20]
B
Thank you. And when we talk about maternal and fetal child care, we continue to have absolutely very challenging stats in our country, to say the least. How can we improve upon that?
- [04:35]
C
Oh my God, I'm so glad that you asked that question. Because maternity owned child health has been a challenge for decades and we have not made much progress. But we now are making significant progress because we are coming up with strategies that are looking at root causes. We know that African American women have the highest rate of death, three times as much as our white counterparts in pregnancy, and that our babies are dying at a rate of 2 times the amount. But there should be no loss of babies or moms through pregnancy or any outcome because we have the technology and everything we need to make this happen. It's really making sure we give better wraparound care. There are some significant models that many institutions are using, including what we're ensuring as far as doula care, how we're making sure that women have access to transportation, housing, et cetera. So looking at some of the root causes of why we have such a high rate of morbidity mortality in moms and babes, looking at root causes, especially when it relates to African American women and long term stressors that cause them to have decrease in their immune systems. It can go on and on. But I am so excited because we are really starting to build models that are working and we're seeing them work in some of the models that I'm using that other people are using in different states.
- [05:58]
B
Thank you. And take a moment, if you don't mind. There's such a shortage of OB gynae that in many smaller communities they're shutting down labor and delivery. How do we fight back on this? How do we. How can we. What can we do to reverse that trend?
- [06:15]
C
Well, you know, one of the things that we're going to have to really do is really count on our community partners who are living in some of these OB deserts and GY and deserts to really build systems that allow us to communicate better what's going on in those, those lives in the homes of people who don't have access to, you know, brick and mortar. I think AI is going to play a significant role in how we take care of people who are living in many rural areas. And as we build algorithms that can help them, help us diagnose those things that we don't need to really worry about as far as acute episodes that need to have care, but we also really need to make sure that we are including, you know, doulas, our midwives, nurse practitioners who are in some of those areas. And even if they are not there, who's in the community to recognize that there is a problem, there's an issue, and they need to get to somewhere that they can get the quality of care. And so we really have to make sure we strategically plan to fill that gap because it's happening. We just don't have the workforce anymore. We're moving into a state where the workforce in both our physician population and specialist populations are shorter. And. But I believe that we're going to handle it. If we strategically look at this issue right now and what we're doing as far as the need to close some of these places, that I think that we're going to make sure that people can get quality care by using AI as one of the major tools.
- [07:47]
B
Thank you very, very much. And you've had this magnificent leadership career. Before I ask you about advice for leaders, tell us a little bit about your consulting firm so people can understand that a little bit and some thoughts. There's.
- [08:00]
C
So I've worked with major institutions dealing strategically around this area of diversity, equity, inclusion, which we talk about a lot as far as. But we do the work a lot more than we talk about it these days. But in that role, it is more than just making sure that everybody gets quality care in that role, to be a leader, to be the advisory individual who helps build strategy that aligns with the goals, the expectations, the values of an organization that allows them to give the care that they need. And that means that we have to look at, you know, how are we really interacting with our insurance providers? You know, I work for large institutions that both had insurance providers and they are key to making sure we get give better care. They're not the enemy. They are part of our economic system. And we need to make sure that we include all of our healthcare systems, our insurance care systems, and our community as a team to make sure that everybody gets quality care. So my organization basically does that looking at both the academic institutions, the healthcare providers, the community, bringing all of that together to help them build a model that includes many of those components that builds trust, builds the ability to really get the job done in a really productive way. So we're very excited about what we do related to building trust within the community, the communities of healthcare providers, the academic institutions, the insurance carriers, as well as the community. So that's kind of the basic thing that we do, pulling all those together.
- [09:51]
B
That's remarkable. And talk for a second. Dr. Larkins Pettigrew, what advice would you give to emerging leaders, to growing leaders? What advice do you give to people?
- [10:01]
C
Well, I think no matter where you are in your career, you need to continue to always have a mentor and a sponsorship, but to always seek clarity and transparency wherever you are, because that is going to help make those strategic plans that really will aid your institution, no matter whether large or small, to make those decisions that will be both profitable and productive for the communities that you serve. And then the second thing that I always think about in leadership is that you need to take care of yourself. Self care is so important. That means understanding what you want personally and professionally, how you are navigating where you are and if that's a good fit for you. And that comes from investing in yourself, investing in your own career. So that's the advice I would give any leader. But young leaders really need to hear that more than anything.
- [10:58]
B
Dr. Larkins Pettigrew, take a moment and tell us what you're most excited about and focused on this year. What are you most focused on and excited about?
- [11:07]
C
Well, I believe that this is a year for a tremendous change in how we look at medicine. And I think that there's this trend of, you know, who needs to really be in the hospital system and who can get self care, get home care. And I think that we're really moving in that direction, that we're really thinking about cost effectiveness and what we can treat at home and what we really do need to treat in the hospital systems and how we are really thinking about cost and how we reduce cost but continue to give quality care. And I really am focused on looking in that space this year, especially since we have so many changes in how we're giving OB care and how we're giving GYN care, you know, throughout this country for women. So I'm excited about watching so many trends that are happening in that space.
- [11:59]
B
Thank you very, very much. And Dr. Larkin's Pettigrew, where can people learn more about you? I know you've authored some books and about your consulting practice. Where can people learn more about Dr. Larkin's Pettigrew?
- [12:12]
C
So my Drexel email address is probably the simplest one to follow and that is MLP 92 at Drexel. Edu.
- [12:24]
B
Dr. Larkins Pettigrew, it's amazing the career that you're having. Thank you for joining us today on the Becker's Healthcare Podcast. Thank you very, very much for joining us.
- [12:33]
C
Thank you for having me. Appreciate it. Have a wonderful day.