Bridging Healthcare Disparities through Technology (ft. Maia Carter)

Ever wondered how virtual care can revolutionize healthcare? Today, we chat with Maia Carter, a dedicated primary care physician and virtual care pioneer. Carrying a unique perspective on patient care, Maia combines her passion for science and human connection, guiding her approach to medicine. She sheds light on how her focus on both the patient's environment and community can make a significant difference in disease processes and treatment plans. In this digital age, Maia assures us that virtual tools can cater to the immediate needs of Gen Z and help manage chronic pain.

In the second part of our chat, Maia dives into the vast potential of predictive analytics in healthcare. She helps us understand how it can be used to identify and bridge health care disparities. Offering invaluable advice to new physicians and inspiring thoughts on mentoring women leaders, Maia truly believes in empowering the next generation of healthcare professionals. As we conclude our insightful conversation, we look into the future of healthcare, discussing the significant role of technology and assuring that virtual care does not mean the loss of the crucial human connection. Don't miss out on this enlightening episode as we navigate the exciting intersections of technology, healthcare, and community.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:11

Hi everyone and welcome to the Vurge. Today we have Maia Carter. She is a primary care physician and a virtual care trailblazer. Thank you so much, Maia, for coming onto the Vurge and sitting in my podcast and my hot seat and talking to me today. It's so great to have you.

Speaker 2: 0:31

It's so great to be here. Thank you so much for having me and being able to share with you in this space. So you are in Nevada, is that correct, correct? I'm here in sunny Las Vegas Having a good time and just on this way, please.

Speaker 1: 0:46

I'm still cloudy here. Okay, I'd love for you to start out in telling us, so we can get to know you, your background and your career path, but also why you chose to become not only a physician but a primary care physician, because that role is so different than when my aunt started in primary care and really there's so much work to do as a primary care physician and so much happening in that ambulatory world, and so, yeah, tell us your career path and why you chose to become a PCP.

Speaker 2: 1:30

Sure, fantastic. You know I am from the Midwest. I'm originally from Ann Arbor, michigan.

Speaker 2: 1:37

Growing up, I have always had an interest in science.

Speaker 2: 1:41

I've had an interest in people and connecting with people and providing service to others.

Speaker 2: 1:47

And so growing up, whether it be volunteering at my church packing groceries, whether it be getting exposure in healthcare arenas and understanding that watching that patient doctor dynamic and that communication and connection really attracted me. And so, you know, growing up, having those influences and being able to pursue a career in medicine is something that really I just gravitated towards. I really enjoy just being one-on-one with patients and being able to connect with them, have them share with me their personal life, their things that they are struggling with and me being able to use, you know, my skillset, my scientific knowledge, but also my ability to understand their psychosocial, environmental factors that affect their health and being able to help them to reach their goals and narrow reach their goals health-wise. So I've always had this appreciation for not only okay disease process and treatment plan, but also the environment and community in which the patient comes from. And so that's what led me to not only receive my achieve, my medical degree, but also a master's in public health as well.

Speaker 2: 3:15

So I had the privilege of attending George Washington University in Washington DC, and so I had. I was enrolled in medical school four years and I also was enrolled in the School of Public Health, and so instead of doing the master's in two years, I did it in four years. So I would take my exam and then I would write my paper right. So, but I had these lenses where love, the deep connection I could have, the continuity of care, being able to follow up and see what happened, what happened after you saw cardiology, after you saw GI, after you went to physical therapy, and then that long-term relationship, but also really understanding how it happens at home, how it happens in your community, what else is going on that's going to be and that's outside of pharmaceuticals and that's we need to really address and talk about, and so that's been my core, and then from there, I've been privileged enough to be able to really just grow in that area and also create an interest in virtual tools and virtual care and and operations.

Speaker 2: 4:26

I had the privilege of being able to be a leader in operationalizing and providing guidance and being responsible for access and primary care clinics in my area, and so that gave me a lot of tools to understand how to reach our goals for effective and efficient care. What is the balance between really supporting our staff and also reaching operational goals? And then now kind of helping working to get through COVID pandemic and kind of this boom of virtual tools and virtual opportunities and realizing that the flexibility and versatility is important as far as how we reach our patients. And so now my main focus work-wise is to be able to help folks implement and expand virtual tools and really to help developers create tools that create an environment that is more efficient, that is our burnout protectors that are intuitive and user-friendly, that make a difference, that fill a gap, that where we're thinking about ethics, where we're thinking about equitable solutions from the start and that have the right stakeholders at the table.

Speaker 1: 6:00

Awesome, awesome. You do so much on like the cutting edge right In terms of virtual care. So what are some either use case scenarios or best tools that you're seeing being utilized or being implemented that patient and physicians are adopting together?

Speaker 2: 6:24

Wow. I just think that there's so many opportunities now. We're really just touching the surface of what is in store. I think we need to be prepared for Generation Z, who may not want to wait in a waiting room. I don't, no.

Speaker 2: 6:44

Or even Generations Before Z, generation X and I don't even want to wait right and so being able to put the patient at the center of their care and create the tools and flexibility and be nimble enough to be able to say let me meet you how you want to be met, in a safe, effective manner. So I think we're looking at tools where you can, literally in real time, beam into your healthcare team and doesn't necessarily need to be a physician it may be someone else on the team to be able to meet your needs. You're not necessarily having to come all the way back from your vacation to finally see your healthcare team.

Speaker 2: 7:25

You can be on vacation and still get treatment and so having that flexibility there, I think there's much opportunity for virtual reality and augmenting the perception we're dealing with chronic pain and now in primary care there's a lot of chronic illness and chronic pain and being able to help someone manage those things that may not go away completely but, being able to help them cope better with virtual tools is really exciting, I think, educational-wise and educating clinicians on different processes using virtual reality can also help.

Speaker 2: 8:06

You know, how do we improve the discharge process? How do we improve different other trainings? So I think there's a lot on the horizon. How do we improve dictation? Yeah, you know, administrative burden is huge with clinicians and just thinking back, you know what is it 18 years ago when I became a physician, you know we were the amount of administrative burden then and what it is now is just grown leaps and bounds. And so what can we do to automate as much as we can, automate as much as we can safely, but also, at the same time, you know, leverage that clinician for the judgment, for the ethics, for the compassion, right, yeah, and so forth, in a safe way, thinking about safety, security, thinking about privacy as we build things from the beginning.

Speaker 1: 9:08

Yeah, yeah, I think one of the interesting tools would be sort of the AI and chat GPT in the office and and and that sort of recording voice listening to you while you're talking to the patient and turning that into your note to be able to look at that real quick. Are you utilizing anything like that now or you've just seen it in a in process, maybe somewhere else or at a conference or something, not?

Speaker 2: 9:34

using it currently, but it's definitely a hot topic Definitely discussed in my circles and trying to see where we can go with it, because that is definitely a game changer, especially if it's something we can count on and it's reliable and it's clinicians will get on board with that.

Speaker 1: 9:55

Yeah, so are you using like a dragon or a voice recognition right now? I mean, I implemented, helped so many physicians utilize a voice recognition, but now it's at a whole nother level. It's going to be interesting and I also think it's going to help with coding right. It'll help and not help, right. So now physicians don't have to know the code because it's going to do it for them, but then maybe it's bad that they might not know the code and so maybe it's like it might go back and forth.

Speaker 2: 10:37

Yeah, I think that's an opportunity. We need to make sure we optimize our codes and sometimes there are some gaps there. So if we could leverage it to optimize coding, to really get really show and demonstrate and document the work that we do, and that would be great.

Speaker 2: 10:59

And then also, the ability for it to organize your note. So it's translated in a way which is a nice concise note that we can be proud of. That really illustrates the HPI the objective data, the work up, the plan, our assessment, right. Maybe that can even lay out. Okay, you know, I think this is where we're going, with having a good assessment of the patient and being able to create a plan which incorporates pharmaceutical solutions, non-pharmaceutical solution, virtual tools, right, that can be leveraged and if the AI system can recognize that, that's going to be huge.

Speaker 1: 11:49

Yeah, I know, I recently used it to fill out an RFP that we had and it was wonderful. And then you take the words and you kind of you know, add your own twist. But man, to get started, it was great. So where, and maybe what, are you using in terms of remote patient monitoring and bringing those tools to the homes of others but to be able to monitor that remotely for your team and not just having the burden on you know the physician anymore, but are you using any of those types of tools today, or ones that interest you that you might want to use going forward?

Speaker 2: 12:30

You know, remote monitoring has been around for a long time.

Speaker 2: 12:34

I think what's an area of interest is being able to think about wearable devices.

Speaker 2: 12:44

Think about patient generated health data leveraging in a way where it's uploaded into our systems in a clear, concise way that's digestible and ready for the clinician to make decisions on, making it clear to the end user, the patient, which wearable devices are appropriate. How do we know that this is going to make it may be able to troubleshoot, being able to ensure that this is accurate, you know, and being able to use that data to not have to wait for that patient to see you in clinic again and having them scratch their heads to try to remember what they ate three weeks ago and what their blood pressure. And where is that other sheet that I scribbled that blood pressure reading on and all of that? But you don't worry, it's already uploaded. I've already seen what's happened. We're ready to go ahead and save time during this visit and get on to the plan and our next steps together as a partner in a partnership. So I'm excited about that. I know that there's a lot of work being done to try to make that more streamlined.

Speaker 1: 13:59

And I'm excited about that. In the mental health world as well. I know that I saw a lot of startups, you know, dabbling in monitoring people's blood pressure and other items that might affect their mental health, but then them also being able to check in and saying they're okay today or not. And then how do we prevent an episode based on the data not just for mental behavioral health patients, but maybe even you're seeing the data come in and it's a diabetic patient or someone with epilepsy and be able to predict that there could be on their way to having something happen?

Speaker 1: 14:37

and stopping happening Like this is super exciting time.

Speaker 2: 14:40

Yes, predictive analytics and being able to give the healthcare team the information they need to predict and give a set of data that will help you understand who you need to reach first, who you need to reach out to first, and maybe also, in my mind, you know, layer in health equity as well, and so being able to utilize the right tools to be able to say, okay, you know where are the, where's the disparity here. You know whose blood pressure perhaps maybe be not under control in my panel, but now let's look and see. You know what are some other psychosocial, environmental factors affecting that? Which subject is affected most? Who should we target first? And so, again, leveraging our tools automation or AI to be able to give us the information we need so we can get closer to effective care.

Speaker 2: 15:35

So I think that a lot, a lot of exciting things. I think the key things is to be, you know, secure, safe, privacy issues, reliable, because, as a clinician, if it's not reliable, if I can't count on it, I don't believe it, then I'm out. So, getting that trust of the medical staff to be able to say, ok, now, this is a burnout protector. I feel like I can do my job better, easier, faster. I feel like I can utilize my skill set in a more productive way. I'm clear about my panel and what I'm doing today, and I'm not bogged down by all these administrative burdens, so I'm not going to turn around.

Speaker 1: 16:19

Yeah, I learned really quickly in my career that giving physicians the data, the analytics, and showing them how it works in a real life, setting right and showing them the data behind it, because there's skepticism is how I can win them over instead of like, oh, just use it, like that's not.

Speaker 2: 16:41

You're not winning. Show me the data, Show me the evidence. This is trying to prove it. And is this precise enough? Because we're thinking about the legalities, we're thinking about all these different factors involved. Exciting times Super.

Speaker 1: 17:03

So I have. Hopefully it's an easy question for you. I would think it's hard, but I'm not a physician and I'm just thinking it off the cuff. There's such a shortage in primary care physicians and there's new ones coming on board, even if they're whatever that title MD, do, mps what would you tell these new physicians coming on board to sort of focus on? There's lots and lots of noise in terms of tech and patients and their needs and I can imagine them just being like want to hold their head and scream with everything coming in at them. So how would you provide them some leadership words to help them navigate through their first year of of work?

Speaker 2: 17:51

Well, you know, they always have to say to yourself what are you gravitating towards, what's interesting to you, what are you excited about? So, if you're going into primary care, you know, you know, be clear about your why, Be clear about why you were. What's gravitating you towards having this continuity with patients and continue to be curious, asking questions. You know, and when we're doing our medical training, our residency training, we're always encouraged to ask a lot of questions and I want folks to continue to do that. I continue to do that. I'm a teacher but I'm also a forever student.

Speaker 2: 18:32

So I'm in the position now that I can teach other people and hopefully give some guidance and tools and some wisdom that I have acquired over the years. But I'm also a lifelong learner, so I still have a lot to learn. So I would encourage them to do that and listen to what is resonating with their soul and their spirit, to figure out what's where is my niche, what am I good at, what gives me joy, what lights me up? Is it electronic health record? Is it working on workflows and processes? And is it artificial intelligence and developing virtual tools? Is it communication strategies and that and that doctor patient relationship website manner? Is it health equity and figuring out how to layer those things on? Or is it our relationship with our specialists and how can we do that better?

Speaker 2: 19:24

And so everyone has a lot to say about everything, but being able to really figure out what you need to do and that might change over time. So 10, 12 years ago I could not have even thought that I would be doing what I'm doing now, but just really just opening, listening to myself and understanding where my gifts and talents are and understanding where I was gravitating towards and said, yes, this is my zone and going with that and taking a don't be afraid to take a little bit of a risk and leveraging your resources around you. If you don't know the answers, that's okay. You don't have to know all the answers, just know where your resources are to be successful.

Speaker 1: 20:09

Yeah, I love that leveraging your network and not burning a bridge right along the way, because all those people are so important in your career, so you are such an inspirational leader. What are you doing in your career, or even outside of work, to help other women leaders that are physicians, whether they're in it or not? Rise up and continue on.

Speaker 2: 20:35

Wow, that's such an interesting question. I've always seen myself as the mentee, so I'm signing up to be the mentee because I need mentoring, I need guidance, I need support. What do I do? And then, at some point, someone had moved me over to the mentor the mentor, literally and so one of my organizations that I belong to. I had signed up to be a mentee, as usual, and the next thing I know folks are contacting me to be their mentor.

Speaker 2: 21:11

That's what I realized, oh, I have some information I can share.

Speaker 2: 21:18

And so, as far as women go, I find that I reflect a lot on my own journey in the past, my own journey, my current journey and kind of my future vision for myself, my life, my family, my career, and so transparency is really important.

Speaker 2: 21:37

So I always have about folks where I can feel like I can share information with. I try to be as transparent as I can about the realities of the juggle between your work, your family, your kids, yourself, like your purpose in there too, and how to make sure we bring our A game. We as women a lot of times want to bring our A game on every area, and how do we do that safely? How do we do that and we still care for ourselves? How do we show ourselves the same compassion that we give everybody else and give ourselves that grace? And so I find myself having informal, impromptu conversations just as I navigate my day, whether it be at work, whether it be in organizations outside of a work, whether it be just I might be in the grocery store and running into someone and just say, wow, I'm connecting with this person and let me go into her and because she's probably pouring into me, and so I think we have to help each other.

Speaker 2: 22:43

I think we all can win, and so when he wins, I win, and so no one should be left to feel like they're alone in there. And so I feel like where we connect, the more wellness we have for each other, and then where we can move forward and have confidence and not have to worry so much about other people, you know yeah so I find myself mentoring early careerist, mid curious careers like myself, learning from those who are closer to retirement and can really celebrate what we do.

Speaker 1: 23:31

Yeah, yeah, one of my proudest moments in my career is not about me. It was a help desk individual when I was CIO who just recently worked her way up to be promoted to be a CIO, and just to think that I had a small amount of helping her get there, yeah, it makes me happy. So what unrelated to work? What other passions do you have out there?

Speaker 2: 24:01

Well, I love music, I love movement, so I love to exercise. I am an advocate and I'm not sure if I can say the name on your show, but I love orange theory fitness.

Speaker 1: 24:18

Yeah, yeah, yeah, you can say that. Yeah, we're. I've swore before here we're good, You're good.

Speaker 2: 24:26

So I love orange theory. Fitness, that is my favorite. Yeah, yes, and that has been one of those classes before now.

Speaker 1: 24:34

You're gonna have to get me to go. Do one. I don't do it, I'm telling you.

Speaker 2: 24:38

I started off just twice a week, you know, let me try it out. And then I just moved up to the, to the unlimited plan, and so I go I have to go at least four days a week Because it has really, I feel like it's it's changed the chemistry of my brain, like it's given me so much wellness for myself. It's a great community, you know, just welcoming and it really exercising on a regular basis and to the, to the intensity that gives you that level of endorphin coming out of that. It's like okay, you know, my issues are still there, my problems are still there, my, you know, challenges are still there in my life, but I'm able to navigate them better, in a more healthy manner, having put in that work. And you know, there's days when I'm just not feeling like doing it. But just one hour is just one hour and at that hour we're in a group, so we're all in there together and it's workout training, right. So that's that runner.

Speaker 1: 25:40

That runner I've done here in town. We have nine rounds, so it's like kickboxing, but it has nine different stations, so it's pretty similar. But yeah, it's not runners hide, like you know, be done, and then like, get that workout.

Speaker 3: 25:55

I totally agree, I'm grounded.

Speaker 1: 25:58

I have a really bad high hamstring tear. So like mentally, for like the last couple weeks I haven't been able to do anything. It's hard.

Speaker 2: 26:08

It's hard when, I travel too, although I have been able to travel and find orange series where I travel to, and that's when it's a little bit of maneuvering to kind of plan it out, especially if you're on a business trip or things like that but I'm telling you it makes a difference. I also like African dance and so that really connects me with my ancestry, and the African drum is just something that is just, it's important for my soul, right, and it gives me that, you know, shoulders back, heads up, I know who I am and I can move forward with confidence, and so I enjoy that and really finding new ways to connect with my children. So my children are tween stage and so they are. You know, everything's for purpose.

Speaker 2: 27:04

I believe I don't believe there's a consequence and a consequence. I don't believe there are coincidences. I believe there, everything is just predestined. And so, you know, I think that part of the reason why I have my two beautiful children is to teach me how to be present, to teach me how to be aware of my own emotions and the energy I bring into the room, so they reflect me. So yeah, true.

Speaker 2: 27:35

Yes, and so just being able to have a calm spirit, keeping it five and below. So we that's our motto in our house keep it five and below as far as the volume of our voice. Are we five and below? Let's go five and below, can you?

Speaker 1: 27:48

talk about that, because she's always at like 100 decibels, right, you know.

Speaker 2: 27:53

And so at baseline, I tend to have anxiety, worry. I'm thinking about tomorrow. I'm type A, thinking about what next week, what happened yesterday, but learning how to just be present in the now, because children are right here with you right now I'm going to stop here in the kitchen.

Speaker 3: 28:22

I'm going to stop.

Speaker 2: 28:23

I'm going to stop Right my momentum because I'm trying to pack for this trip. Right, I got to go. I'm going to stop, sit down and let you have is only was only two minutes 30 seconds. I wanted my attention right, but that investment goes a long way, and so realizing I have to dance with that, and so by me exercising, pouring into myself, you know, all those different things has helped me to, I think, be better for myself, my, my, my children, my family, my friends and, hopefully, the community at large.

Speaker 1: 28:59

Yeah, no, absolutely. You've had such an amazing impact in your community and you're such a great leader and physician. What would be your one superpower in this world? If you had to choose one, what would you choose?

Speaker 2: 29:17

Well, I love that question. The question helps myself and I think we as women affirm ourselves and understand and appreciate our gifts and our talents, our strengths. So I would say, for my superpower would be my ability to connect with people. I tend to connect with people pretty quickly and that probably one of the reasons that led me to primary care, because I tend to have a good rapport with patients pretty easily and they open up to me and I give me the information I need to be able to help them get live their most healthiest lives. And so I feel like my ability to connect and create valuable connections with folks is probably one of my things. I love that.

Speaker 1: 30:05

I think that's so needed as a primary care physician. So you're dead on and we thank you so much for being a primary care physician with so much happening in that you know area right now. You're so needed. So thank you so much for your time, your energy and all of your thoughts today. It was great to have you on the podcast.

Speaker 2: 30:30

Oh, thank you so much. I appreciate you having me on the podcast. This has been fun and inspirational for me too.

Speaker 3: 30:38

Thank you, thank you Thanks for tuning into the Verge podcast brought to you by Divergent, a leading healthcare IT consulting firm. We hope you enjoyed this episode. Be sure to hit the follow button to stay up to date with the latest IT developments and the exciting ways tech is transforming healthcare today.