Insights: Using ideas, innovations and entrepreneurship to transform the business of healthcare

In this episode of the MGMA Insights podcast, we’re joined by Arlen Meyers, MD, MBA and professor emeritus of otolaryngology, dentistry and engineering at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and the Colorado School of Public Health. Meyers is also the president and CEO of the Society of Physician Entrepreneurs and has authored several books and articles related to healthcare entrepreneurship and innovation. 

Don’t quite have time to listen to the entire episode? No worries. We’ve compiled a handful of highlights for your convenience:

• (18:34) “All we do is put people together, and in the course of conversation and networking, they identify mutual interests. … It’s amazingly efficient. Because what happens is, people start connecting. Entrepreneurs are great connectors and networkers, and it’s all about connecting dots.”
• (20:44) “One of the biggest questions I get asked is, ‘How do I find money?’ … Well, it’s really about connecting to people and identifying and making relationships to the right people. It’s not a spray-and-pray endeavor. You have to figure out who it is you want to meet and make sure that person is in your network. It’s strictly a relationship business.”
• (23:04) “If you want to find medical innovation, you're not going to find it at a medical meeting. You're going to find it at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. You're going to find it at an energy conference discussing why Africa is dark. You're going to find it at a FinTech conference figuring out why blockchain is going to supposedly change the world. You're going to learn it from aerospace, advanced manufacturing, tech, data and intelligence, video, entertainment. All those places are creating solutions to problems that beset sick care but have not been applied. … So all of these things that are impacting medicine and everybody's getting all worked up about, that did not come from some doctor in a lab. It came from another industry, and the future changes of sick care are going to come from the same place.”
• (25:53) “If you don't innovate, it's unlikely that you will be successful in the future as a physician in a medical group practice. It's that simple. Your revenue stream will dry up. You may get burned out or dissatisfied. You will not be able to deliver the mission that you signed up for, which basically was to help take care of patients at scale. And your organization will fail. … So you can either watch the train go down the tracks or you can create your own future.”
• (35:25) “Read stuff that has nothing to do with your specialty. Go to meetings that have nothing to do with your specialty. Talk to people that don’t look and smell and taste and look like you. … That’s just an example of how you practice this stuff. But you have to make it a habit.”

Here are some links and references related to this week’s show:

• Why We Need More Physician Entrepreneurs 
• Barriers to Physician Entrepreneurship 
• 20 Inspiring Entrepreneurs Improving Health For All 
• Innerpreneurs, entrepreneurs, wannapreneurs and intrapraneurs 
• 5 Myths About Becoming A Physician Entrepreneur 
• 4 Ways Entrepreneurs Can Innovate in the Healthcare Space 

We love hearing from listeners about the show. If you have topics you’d like us to cover or experts you’d like us to interview, email us at podcasts@mgma.com or reach out to MGMA Sr. Editor and podcast host Daniel Williams on Twitter at @MGMADaniel. 

MGMA Insights is presented by Decklan McGee, Rob Ketcham and Daniel Williams.