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We are so focused on the politics and finances of healthcare that
it's easy to forget there are stories to each life, moments that shape
hope in the face of struggles big and small.
Recently I had the pleasure of sitting with my friends from the
Scottsdale Workforce Development group led by Ted Tyler, and we were
treated to a session led by the organizational development team at the
Mayo Clinic Scottsdale. The story one of those leaders told about what
happens when patients first arrive stuck, and fit with something I've
been thinking for a while.
She stated the obvious, that the Mayo Clinic is a place of last hope.
People usually don't go directly to Mayo. They end up there after a
journey through other healthcare providers, often in far away places,
who haven't quite been able to figure things out for them.
 What
she shared next is something that hadn't crossed my mind yet. She said
today's patients arrive with a suitcase, physical or virtual, of
information from their search for answers. That suitcase contains what
they see as hope, but she said it unfailingly actually contains three
types of information: 1/3 crap, 1/3 doesn't apply, and 1/3 in the
neighborhood.
It's up to the Mayo team to sort this out, remembering that it's in the suitcase because it gave someone hope.
The 1/3 crap part is a mix. There are always people trying to sell
snake oil. There are well-intended folks trying to help but not armed
with the skill. There are incorrect conclusions from research. There are
folks confusing faith with facts, or those with some other agenda. The
big problem is there's a shred of truth in most of that information,
enough to cause someone to hang on to it.
The 1/3 doesn't apply part is harder to sort out. It's perfectly
accurate stuff, if that's what the patient actually has, which it isn't.
Since nobody else has been able to determine what's going on, the
information seems just as plausible as anything else, and the sources
are often highly credible. Backing up and taking a look at the facts,
reconnecting the dots, is vital to sorting this out. It's just as
important and sometimes more comforting to know what's not the problem.
The 1/3 in the neighborhood can then be dealt with. Once they
understand, together, this is what the situation is, it can be dealt
with. Mayo has a incredible survival rate, plus or minus around 70%
averaged across conditions, because of their ability to look at things
from a wide range of angles and experience. They are on salary, and not
paid to "turn and burn" seeing volumes of patients, and not paid by the
test. This is one of the new healthcare places where hope is restored.
There are great lessons in this for both providers and patients and loved ones as we take a bigger stake in our own care.
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