The Day You Realize “This Is Why I Do What I Do!”

The Story

It’s 6:30 a.m. and I just boarded my flight to work with one of our partners who want to disrupt the health ecosystem. Actually, they want to more than disrupt it. Like me, they want throw it out and create something meaningful for the patient, caregiver, healthcare professionals, and every human. And then it hits me: This is why I do what I do.

I am now 30,000 feet in the air (see, here is my view), and have had the last 48 hours to reflect on my own healthcare journey and the journeys of the ones I love. Frankly, I am concerned, scared, and frustrated.

I’ve spent a great deal of my life traveling all over the country working with amazing people within this complex, convoluted system. I see and feel their frustration with the bureaucracy they’re forced to engage each day, when what they really want to do is just care for people.

Over the years, I’ve watched my mother navigate an extraordinary healthcare experience and ultimately die prematurely. I’ve watched my father live to be over 90 years old and see the care (or sometimes lack of care) he received in the system. Most recently, I’ve watched my brother battle through some health challenges. Along the journey, I’ve wondered: Why does it have to be this way? Why does it have to be so hard for the patients, caregivers, and families?

What I Have Learned And What You Can Learn

My learning this morning is simple. I do what I do, in partnership with amazing organizations and people, because it is my calling. I am called to change the lives of humans by changing their healthcare experiences. I’m called to be in the trenches with others who are moving the needle in this overly-complex system.

I love disruption. I love innovation. I love patient, member, consumer experience. But, more importantly, I love people. I want to see people live to their fullest potential as they fulfill their life’s calling.

My hope for you is that, in some way, you’re also motivated by the people whom you serve. When life gets tough, I hope that you will focus on the faces of the people you love and the people whom you have affected through your presence and work in the world. I hope that focusing on these faces will give you the energy to continue make this world a better place.

Remember, it’s not always about the bottom line, or what is best for the business. Sometimes, it just has to be about the human experience.

What I Will Do And What You Can Do

As my flight lands and I hit the ground running this morning, I will commit to making one life better today. I will commit to breaking down the silos and bull sh** of this very complex system called healthcare.

What can you do today to affect your industry by focusing on a human? Let’s start changing the work by focusing on one person at a time. Let’s take responsibility for our world so that we don’t have to depend on a politician to make the change for us.

You will make it. I will make it. We will make it.

Remember, this is why we do what we do!

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