#68: Change is a Game Changer Redux Episode

Ryan Jury (0:01)

This is the Coleman Associates Innovation Podcast. Innovation? Yeah, innovation, new, original and creative. This podcast is designed to challenge the way you think about how health care is delivered.

Ladies and gentlemen, the captain has turned on the Fasten Seatbelt sign.

Tim Spurrell (0:18)

If you haven't already done so, please take your seat and fasten your seatbelt.

Amanda Laramie (0:22)

Welcome to the Coleman Associates Innovation Podcast, the podcast that brings innovations and best practices in health care to your podcasting app. I'm Amanda, your host of this Redux episode. Today, we're bringing back one of our most shared and now one of our most listened to episodes of the pod. This one is Change is a Game Changer.

This conversation with Dr. Tim Spurrell has crossed over 1,000 downloads and likely many more listens. It's still the episode we point health centers and especially providers to when they ask, what does your work actually look like in practice? Because this one shows it. As burnout continues to define the reality of health care today, this episode feels more relevant than ever. Dr. Spurrell doesn't just talk about burnout, he walks through how he worked his way through it by changing what he could control and redesigning how he worked with his team.

You'll also hear the foundation in this episode of our sheep and shepherd methodology where clinicians lead clinically but aren't carrying the full burden alone. With the right team design and trust, care becomes more connected, more sustainable and really more human. If you're wondering whether real change is possible or what it actually looks like, this is where to start. Because in the right conditions, change really is a game changer. We hope you enjoy this Redux episode.

Ryan Jury (2:00)

Let's just kick this off to who are you? Why don't you just make a quick introduction about who you are?

Tim Spurrell (2:08)

Hi, so I'm Tim Spurrell. I'm a board certified OBGYN and I've been in practice now for 19 years.

I've worked in a variety of practice settings with a variety of practice styles. I'm also a medical director of a number of clinics. So I work as a clinician, so I still see patients and as an administrator.

Ryan Jury (2:32)

Okay, great. I'm glad to have you.

Most certainly excited to talk to you a little bit today. The theme of today's conversation is a little bit about the provider's perspective, and I don't know if provider is the right word, but we're talking about physician provider's perspective in patient care.

Tim Spurrell (2:54)

Provider works for me. I can do provider.

Ryan Jury (2:56)

Okay. How long have you been doing practice redesign? So how did you get into it?

Tim Spurrell (3:03)

So I think I've been doing practice redesign. I'm terrible with dates, probably for five or six years, somewhere around there. And the way that I got into it was in my own private practice. So I didn't really know it. So here's the thing, you'll learn stuff about yourself. I didn't really know it, but even in my OB-GYN practice, I was an access doctor. So I tried to see lots of patients. Because the truth is, even as an OB-GYN, like as a board certified doc, you pretty much see the same thing every day.

There's a lot of the really same diagnoses, just keep doing the same thing.

It's very rewarding, but it's not particularly interesting after five or six years. So you've pretty much seen it all. You've seen it all like maybe three or four times. So the thing that made work really interesting and fun for me, wasn't making a particular diagnosis, but it was making as many diagnoses as I can. So that's what I think an access doctor is.

Ryan Jury (4:08)

Okay.

So you said access doctor, you learned something about yourself. When you went into OB-GYN, was that not your initial thought?

Tim Spurrell (4:18)

Oh, well, the thing is, Ryan, you don't get taught anything in medical school about anything but medicine. You're not taught how to talk to people, you're not taught how to talk to patients, you're not taught how to talk to family members, you're not taught the business side of practice, you're not taught anything basically but medicine.

Ryan Jury (4:45)

Okay.

Tim Spurrell (4:46)

It wasn't until I met Coleman that I realized I was an access doctor.

Ryan Jury (4:50)

Okay.

Tim Spurrell (4:52)

Go ahead. I'm sorry.

Ryan Jury (4:53)

No, you're okay. Just so that we're speaking the same language, how would you define what access is?

Tim Spurrell (4:59)

So again, for me, it's not the diagnoses that matter because I've seen them all before, right? So I've seen so many of the same thing and I haven't really done a practice breakdown for my practice, but I would guess 90-95 percent of what I do is the exact same thing every day. So for me, the satisfaction I get from work isn't making a particular diagnosis, it's making a lot of diagnoses. So when I met Coleman, I realized that's what turned me on.