The Buzz Podcast
Welcome to THE BUZZ PODCAST, where business, technology, and innovation collide! We dive deep into candid conversations with the leaders who are pushing the boundaries in healthcare, technology, and beyond—people who are rewriting the rules, and in some cases, breaking them.
The Buzz Podcast
Episode 12: Dr. Sarah Matt, F Word Friday and the New Book!
In this episode of The Buzz Podcast, hosts Mike Mosquito and Maureen Nylin engage with Dr. Sarah Matt, a surgeon and tech expert, discussing her upcoming book, 'The Borderless Healthcare Revolution.' The conversation delves into the critical issue of healthcare access, exploring the challenges faced by rural communities, the administrative burdens on healthcare providers, and the importance of trust in the healthcare system. Dr. Matt emphasizes the need for technology to enhance access and the necessity of meeting communities where they are. The episode also touches on the role of engaging communication in healthcare, highlighted by Dr. Matt's fun initiatives like Taco Thursday and F Word Friday.
Be sure to find us on TheBuzzPodcast.Net
Hello everyone, Mike Miskita, along with my fabulous co-host, Maureen Nylene. And we've got another episode of the Buzz Podcast coming at you. The Buzz Podcast is here to bring you provocative topics, thought leadership, and solutions that will help you become a better thinker in your world. But today, Maureen, who we've got with us?
SPEAKER_03:We have the lovely Dr. Sarah Matt. Sarah, it's always so good to see you. And I am so excited because you have so many fabulous things coming up. But in just a couple of weeks, you're going to be launching yourself as an author. So before we take any more time, tell the audience a little bit about yourself. And then let's dive into more questions about what to expect with your book.
SPEAKER_01:I love that. Thank you, Maureen. Thank you, Mike. So I'm Dr. Sarah Matt. For those of you who have seen me online or have met me in person, I'm a surgeon. However, I moved into tech very early in my career. So I've been building product development strategy teams all over the world for large and small tech companies, everything from several startups with fun exits to mid-size like next gen. And then I was at Oracle for quite some time and got to work through the Sterner acquisition with them, which was certainly an interesting and exciting part of my career. And right now I'm on my book tour. So just in two weeks, my book, The Borderless Healthcare Revolution, is actually coming out. Wiley's publishing it. And it's all about healthcare access and how technology can decrease various to care. So a lot of excitement going on right now.
SPEAKER_00:That's a lot of excitement. I mean, I got my copy at SOAR. So I signed up, and I think it's coming a day early. You said December 10th instead of the 11th.
SPEAKER_01:December 10th. Yes, we moved it up. Why not? Because it's December. People are busy. Let's get everyone the book in their hands. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, it's going to be a lovely read. So I'm looking forward to that. And again, for our doctors who become authors that are technologists and thought leaders, that's important because you get to see and then translate and then deliver a new message to us via your books, your articles you write. So I commend you for stepping to this realm to give us something to read over our holiday break.
SPEAKER_01:I appreciate that. Well, you know, we're in a crazy time right now. And I know everyone says that every year. Every generation says that too. But when it comes to healthcare, we have so much work to be done. And when I was writing this book, I was trying to decide what is the most impactful topic I could write about and where could I bring everyone back together? We're in a very polarized time. What topic is it that everyone is having an issue with where we can all come together and think about solutions and work together? And healthcare access is that. It doesn't matter if you're in a big city in rural America, if you're making serious bank or if you're really on the poverty line or below, you know, everyone's having a hard time getting the care that they need for themselves, their kids, their parents, their friends. And so when it comes to access, I think everyone knows this is something that we all should be working on.
SPEAKER_03:Absolutely. I think all the time about, especially these smaller rural towns where we're seeing more and more primary care providers leaving those areas in search of, you know, more urban populations. And while I understand it, it's also such a detriment to the community. So tell me a little bit more about why you wanted to explore this topic in particular. I know you said that it was something that everybody could relate to, but I think you've got a deeper knowledge of it because you've actually seen it in practice.
SPEAKER_01:Absolutely. So, from a practice perspective, you know, I started out in the operating room, but I've actually done primary care for most of my career because when you're not doing surgery every day, it's not particularly safe. So you don't do surgery. So I've actually done urgent care or charity medicine my entire career after I stopped doing surgery. So I actually do work in a charity clinic out in a night in New York. So pretty rough little town these days. The economy has hit it pretty hard over the last several decades. But when you think about normal, regular people, everyone's really, I'd say, on a struggle bus these days. Yeah. So people are losing jobs, people are losing opportunities. And when it comes to healthcare, you can only keep doctors in certain areas because they have to make a living too. And it's not the 80s. I mean, being a doctor is hard work. It's 24-7 for a lot of folks. And it's also a very administratively tasked role. It's a lot of legal liability. And we think about making the job of a practitioner, and you know this, Maureen, you know, for nurses, doctors, et cetera, all over the place, it's really hard work and it's often very times thankless. So we don't have enough providers at all levels, anywhere. You can't make them fast enough. And with everything changing so quickly, it's really important for us to find new ways to help bring those providers to where they need to be and help patients get the care that they require to.
SPEAKER_00:And that's most of America. We we talk about a shortage of doctors in our cities, but or in rural America, but most of America is rural. And you you step outside that metropolitan area, the the care deficit grows exponentially. And I I don't think that's going to go down because we aren't putting doctors, nurses, and engineers through school at the pace we did we used to. Right? And and and as you said, the administrative headache for doctors has gone up. While we we talk about automation, we talk about giving doctors pajama time back. On the back end of that, still a lot of administrative work, right? Um, to be done. So yes, we we may have helped them on the medical records side, but what about the processes of being a doctor, the administrative duties of being a doctor on a day-to-day basis, or running an office nowadays? What does that look like?
SPEAKER_01:It's a lot.
SPEAKER_00:It's a lot.
SPEAKER_01:So yeah, I mean, most doctors don't do private practice anymore. I don't see many nurse practitioners going into a practice where they can be basically solo. Why is that? Because it's hard to run a business, it's hard to be a provider. It they're all difficult things to do. And not everyone has the skills for all those things either. So we're seeing more and more people joining groups, joining large healthcare systems. But again, I don't think people realize this that most hospital systems are running on single-margin, single-digit margins, because this is like not a super profitable business. It's just a volume business. There's so much healthcare that needs to be given and received, but it's not like a hospital system has oodles of funding for extras, even though it may look like that from the outside.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I think we have this conversation fairly frequently with the general population that thinks that especially when you talk about how large the GDP is as part of the healthcare economy, they think, oh gosh, we just must be rolling in the dough when it comes to a hospital system. But that's just not the case at all. So here's here's my next question, Sarah. I got to thinking about this as we were talking. We met with some folks that were from Germany while we were at our last conference. And it was interesting the similarities that they talked about, how healthcare and the access to healthcare is as much of a problem in Germany as it is in the United States. And oftentimes, I think we're really hard on ourselves as a country, thinking that everybody else in the world must have it figured out, and we just can't seem to get our arms around it. What's what's your thoughts on that?
SPEAKER_01:I think that unfortunately, access is a problem in the United States. Access is a problem everywhere. We just feel it in different ways. So in lots of places where the system's more single payer, um, so Germany is a good example of that, they end up with wait lists. And that's a little bit different than what we might feel here in the US. Here, you have folks that can get care or can pay outside of commercial insurance or can get private pay, et cetera. In Germany and in other countries that are more single payer, you get the care, but you you have to wait on a list to get it. However, in lots of more single-payer nations, there's still private insurance and there's still the ability to pay above that. So unfortunately, the haves will continue to have in a lot of places, the have nots will continue to have not. Um, it just depends on what that basement level is. How much is everyone going to get no matter what? And then where is the sky the limit for those who have means? And unfortunately, here in the United States, we see that with people not getting any care at all. Um, in places like Germany, the population has a baseline of care that's given no matter what, as part of their economy, their government structure, their culture. Um, it's different here in the United States.
SPEAKER_00:Do you think the have nots are getting ready to see a bigger divide under this current situation that we're in with the Affordable Care Act and the big beautiful bill? All of these things are to come together to prove that you're gonna have to figure out something for care, or people are just gonna start presenting themselves in every emergency room in America, and then what happens?
SPEAKER_01:So we already have huge overload in all emergency departments across the US. Let's not even pretend about that. It's already at emergency and urgency levels. What I'd say is that we often think of healthcare access as either just financial or just geographic. Just in our discussion today, we've talked about funding and we've already talked about rural versus urban. Um, in my book, which I'm really excited about coming out, I really dig into a different layer of that. To me, healthcare access is actually five pillars that I defined as financial, geographic, cultural, trust and knowledge, and digital. And so when you have a barrier in any of those areas, it might mean you're not going to get the care you need. So when we think about the financial or the geographical areas, it's easier for us to see where a rural farmer may not be able to get the specialty care they need because it's far away. Or we may be able to see how someone who's not insured or is underinsured getting the care they need. But what I'd suggest is that a lot of times people are trying to assist with access by offering a patient portal or offering this app or offering this service. But if you don't speak the right language, you don't have the right cultural context, you don't have the digital means, or you just don't trust the system, which is huge right now, more so than ever, then you really still don't have access, even though tools have been provided. Right. I think that's so will the haves continue to have, they will. Will the have nots continue to have not? Yes. Unfortunately, it's just about how that presents itself because I may be in a rural area and I might not have geographical access. But if I have digital access, then maybe I can use telehealth. Maybe if I have trust in the system, then I'll have XYZ. But I think that when it comes down to it, especially with the new AI tools and the new ways of doing things, trust and knowledge are humongous. And that cuts across all economic, socio, cultural, everything. If you don't trust the healthcare system, and again, there's huge historical barriers here for lots of groups. We'll use the United States as an example, but just over the last five years with the pandemic, the trust of the medical system has gone down pretty hard. And so if you don't trust the system, it doesn't matter what is out there, you may not be able to access it because you're not going to trust.
SPEAKER_03:So how do we fix this? I mean, is there a way that we can start to make the change happen so that we can move from lack of trust to fully trusting?
SPEAKER_01:I think right now there's such a push on the technology side to push forth AI solutions, to push forth new technologies. And you know what? As a technologist and builder myself, yes, of course, the technology will continue to evolve at an exponential pace. What I think that we have to remember is that it's not just about trust in health care. Providers, nurses, doctors, you name it, need to trust the tools they're using. They need to understand them enough to be able to say, oh, this isn't a black box. I can get behind this. I trust it. Then you need patience to say, you know what? Wow, I appreciate this. I feel like I'm getting value from this. I will share my data. Oh, I understand this enough. I will take that vaccine or I will consider that therapeutic. So it's a multi, I'd say, aerial kind of piece we have to do here. We can't just try trust in one spot or the other. You have to go providers and nurses and doctors, all of them. You have to go patients, but then the technology companies have to do their piece. The government has to do things with regulation, safety, and with, again, the right ways of messaging things so that people feel like they all are part of the system, they all are contributing to it, but they're all receiving value from it. And I think that when you consider the tools you use every day, we're all hooked up to like, I don't even know how many wearables right now. I've got my phone here. I I literally should be a sponsor for Oura, Oura in call me. And ideally, like this data would be flowing in ways that would give everyone value, right? But I think everyone uses Google Maps. I'll put that out there. And we all feel like sharing our actual location data with Google is worth it to us to get places and know what traffic's gonna be. No questions asked, pressy asked, trust, assured. But when it comes to some of the other pieces, we don't. And I think it's because patients, doctors, healthcare systems, you name it, parts of this ecosystem don't feel like they get the value out of sharing data, out of utilizing something, out of changing the workflow that they would have used before. And so if we can find real value for all the parts of the ecosystem, I think we're gonna find more knowledge is acquired, more trust is given. Now we all get to move forward together.
SPEAKER_02:Very well.
SPEAKER_00:So I think out of your book, you said you you cover trust. It's one of those pillars. And I agree. You know, in most communities, um, when you're not a native English-speaking community, you gotta have trust first. Uh, one of my other partners, uh Karen, she she came from Venezuela three, four years ago, didn't speak any English. And when she went to the doctor the first time, she selected I want I could be communicated to in Spanish. And the rest of it in a header in Spanish and the rest of her instructions in English.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Probably didn't help her with that access now, did it?
SPEAKER_00:Did not help her at all. And then now now the pace from the patient standpoint, you're not listening to me, right? You you asked me a question as if you cared, but then in the end, you still gave me what everybody else gets. So this whole access, this whole understanding that technology is here and can do so much, but for those that are underserved, what are they really getting? And when you're sitting around these round tables, these thought leadership roundtables, these think tanks, I had one last year in Nashville at one of the conferences, and one of the telecommunications companies was having a tank focus group. And it was really about, hey, how can we do more? What do we need to do? And I'm like, you need to show up. You're collecting bills every day in these communities. That's just kind of what it is. You're wanting to stream Netflix and all these other apps over your channels so they don't go to third parties. Why don't you keep people in their communities and provide access to care in their and their homes so they can get these devices? I said, you're you're collecting the wrong dollar if you want to be more humanitarian, if that's what you're trying to achieve. But you're a telecom company that still wanted people to watch TV and care comes across that same line. And if you do the right thing in those communities, you'll see more benefit. But, you know, again, it's still about the dollar I need to make. I can't make that sub-dollar for humanitarian sake, because that doesn't keep profits nor shareholders very happy.
SPEAKER_01:But you know what? To me, access is actually good for business. And so, you know, to me, access is a very nonpartisan issue. We all can agree on this, but it's actually an economic issue too. So if you have a business, whether it's in clinical trials and pharmaceuticals, whether it's in construction, you name it, giving everyone healthcare access actually helps your business. It helps keep people employed, working, productive. It helps folks sell things. So if I'm a big pharmaceutical company and I include only one kind of demographic in my clinical trial, well, then I can only really market to that group with confidence. But if I make it so that I'm looking at lots of different groups of people, now I can say, hey, this is gonna work for you, Sarah, and it's gonna work for you, Mike, and it's gonna work for you, Maureen. Now I've actually expanded my market. I've been able to increase the number of segments that I can go after so it's good for business. And so I think that when we consider, first of all, that telco is a business, healthcare is a business, hospitality is a business, retail is a business, everyone's trying to do good for their business too. If we use access as a key differentiator in your business, you'll see that it's opening up new markets and it's actually gonna keep you going stronger when other organizations that are not actually considering expanding access will start to become less and less relevant because they're not going to attract all the different consumers to their products and solutions.
SPEAKER_03:Well, I think it's really the key of it, feels like what you're saying is meeting people where they're at. Not where you want them to meet to be, but rather you're meeting them where they are. And I think that is a real differentiator in terms of being able to change the progress or the pace of somebody's interventions or their recoveries or their outcomes. And though those are the things that we're really looking for.
SPEAKER_01:Agreed. You know, having been a builder for my whole career, I really liked what you mentioned there, Mike, about, you know, how can we improve it for these communities that may not have been listened to in the past. And as a builder, you know, product management is all about buying out what we should build, who it's gonna serve, what solution it's gonna be, and then how to actually go to market with it and market it. But it means you have to talk to the people that are gonna use it. You have to talk to the people that are gonna buy it. And I think unfortunately, you know, in the healthcare business, sometimes decisions are made in boardrooms instead of with community health workers, instead of with people in the community. And you know what? Well, when you think about it, whether you're building big tech, little tech, pharma, whether you're doing hospitality, you need to understand who your audience is, who's gonna be the users and the buyers of your solutions. So if you are making those decisions without really considering the needs of those users and buyers by speaking that community or inviting them to the table, unfortunately, you're probably not gonna hit the mark.
SPEAKER_00:100%. And I think we missed the mark more than we've hit it. I think we mask it with technology. Um, and as I we we ran the game last week um at one of the conferences. Um, and I when I first started the game show for healthcare and IT, I I I if anyone's ever seen this and what we've done, um, it's transformed over time. But when it first started, I just had a bag of gifts there. Bag of goodies in this blind. I like this.
SPEAKER_01:I would have been there for your bag of gifts. I like this one.
SPEAKER_00:We got it to a stage near you. But I did this as an example. So in this bag were some of the best technology offered for that day in time. Um, and in that also in that bag were some of the worst gag gifts and white elephant gifts you would never want to be seen attached to your name. And so I explained it this way. Uh this game is being run just like life and healthcare. Not everything in this bag is valuable to anyone. And this is how we offer technology sometimes. We call it the best thing ever, and no one can really use it. And so life is like a is like this ugly game that we play, especially when it comes to technology, and we offer things to make it look good on the surface, but ultimately it's not delivering on what patients need, what care delivery has to be needs from a physician, clinician, nurse, doesn't matter. It's not delivering what they need in their community at the time. And so we've got to get back to is it really offering value, or is this a money grab, or is this just us trading water like we've always traded water, just to say we're in this healthcare game? And I think it's time that we turn up the volume on those that are doing good and those that are not.
SPEAKER_01:And so I think the uh the funding institutions, the VCs, the PE firms, the market in general is actually responding to that exact sentiment. So I do a ton of startup advisory. And what I'm seeing now is that if you have a great and amazing shiny AI tool, which you are touting, you know, and asking for funding for, investors are getting particularly savvy about the fact that the technology might be amazing. But if you don't have a real plan for implementation, for integration, and for the ability of doctors, nurses, patients, et cetera, to gain that value, like you mentioned, or have trust as part of their strategy, then ultimately you're not going to get past that next run into funding. Um, it's harder with some of the larger, I'd say, mega organizations because when you think about it, you know, we're all completely part of this ecosystem. I was at NextGen during the Meaningful Use one, two, three times. And as a product person during that time, I was in charge of our patient engagement strategy. And I would have loved to have made features that were to the delight of my customers. Unfortunately, when you're pushing regulations into things, oftentimes you have to do it at the expense of usability. And so we're in a spot that's tough because we have 20, 30 years of technology that's there, which is really difficult to displace and start over with. So we have to work within the constraints of the existing system. I love the idea of just kind of knocking all down, starting from scratch, but that is not a reality that we can actually work with in the US healthcare system. So, how do we make the right decisions now as organizations, big and small, to move that forward and not just at a snail's incremental pace, but true steps in better directions. But again, we have to be realistic about the foundation that we're here with, what we got to work with, and what the system is, because the reality is really important. Because, you know, Mike, if we're gonna burn down the whole system, I will call you first. But in the meantime, we we still have to take care of patients right now. And we have to do it with the systems that are in place.
SPEAKER_03:Oh, I love it. I love it. I'll call you too, Maureen. Don't worry. It's equal opportunity here.
SPEAKER_01:We're all gonna go together.
SPEAKER_03:I think it's it is realistic and it is the approach that we have to keep in mind. The I guess the good news is we have access to more data than we've ever had access to. And that and of itself is just potential that exists and how we harness it, what we do with it in these next coming months and years is really going to change the trajectory of how we see healthcare, not just locally, but globally. Okay, so I want to switch the script just a little bit and the theme of all the fun things that you do. Let's talk about Taco Thursday or F-Word Friday. These are two of my favorite posts that are put out on LinkedIn. So we'll lighten the mood a little bit, but also you always draw back to healthcare. So tell us the genesis of how you put that together and let's have some fun with that.
SPEAKER_01:So, you know, it's one of those things communicating healthcare and technology ideas is important. How do you communicate them and how people absorb them, also important. You two are some of my favorite communicators, and I love what you do. And so this has been my take on that. So, how could I bring my expertise from building and clinical and business together to improve the system? Well, one taco Thursday at a time. So, for those of you who know me, tacos are near and dear to my heart. I'm literally in Austin right now on a taco tour. I'm also seeing my family for Thanksgiving, but I'm really here to eat tacos every day, as many times as I can. And when it comes down to it, this is one of my true loves is tacos. I live in upstate New York and tacos are hard to come by. Let's just be honest. So you may have seen my post the other day. The new Manlius Taco Bell Cantina has opened. I was there on opening day because I love tacos, and that's all there is to it. So Taco Thursday is kind of, I'd say, a play on Taco Tuesday. Everyone does tacos on Tuesday. Me, every day can be Taco Tuesday. So I made it Thursday. I really know I've done my best to use all of my taco puns and all of my amazing content on Thursdays, sometimes inspired another, because you know what? There's only so many things you can rhyme with a word avocado. So here we are. This is what we're doing. And then on Fridays, I do F word Fridays and a little provocative, a little difficult to figure out words that are not the typical word that might start with F. Because some weeks are better than others. But um I found it's a great way to not only bring forth knowledge, but also bring forth a little bit of me because there's so many creators out there right now. And when you think about what's exciting to listen to, what's exciting to be messaged about, um, I think that authenticity is real. And I know the two of you are very real. For those of you who are not here during the pre-recording of this show, very real. You'll notice their expressions right now, very real. Um, but I think that the fact that I am a little bit off script, I'm a little bit rough around the edges. I eat too many tacos, is is pretty much my brand. I'm gonna stick with it.
SPEAKER_00:And that's what we like, that's what we want here. This is a bit this is how we bring it to our audience. You know, sometimes it's um the the the telling of a story and a narrative is very special, right, when it's when it's from a personal nature. But when you're talking to a lot large audience and you can make them feel that personal touch, that's important. And I mean, I have people who don't need tacos, but we feel very sorry for them. Um but again, we're still telling a message through how you're making light of it. And again, if anyone knows this show, we're we will make fun of ourselves, each other, and you if you get on this show and do something crazy. But our job is to still deliver a message to the audience. And so, Sarah, we thank you for joining us on the Buzz Podcast today. But for you out there that have listened to us today, Sarah, where can everyone find your fabulous book?
SPEAKER_01:Well, let me tell you, Mike Mosquito, you can get my book anywhere that books are sold. So it's called The Borderless Healthcare Revolution. It is coming on December 10th. It is being published by Wiley, or you can also visit me at my website, drsarahmatt.com. And I'm always excited to engage with my audience and with folks near and far because this is such an important topic. So I would love you to contact me because this is a topic we should all be talking about right now in 2026 and beyond.
SPEAKER_00:Well, all right. Well, we want to make sure that everyone knew where to find you in the book. Lines on order, as I said at the beginning of the episode. I think Maureen's given away to all of her family members, so you should see at least 50 books ordered right out of there.
SPEAKER_01:Maureen, is that true? Because we can move that to 100, maybe a thousand. I didn't even know that I'd love to support you.
SPEAKER_03:I feel like I only have a couple. It's a family you choose.
SPEAKER_01:No. This just keep in our own.
SPEAKER_00:I already have my cop.
SPEAKER_01:You'll get my invoice, Mike. Love you. Bye.
SPEAKER_00:Sarah, thank you so much for joining us and sharing with our audience where to find your fabulous book. And we can't wait to have you back on after it comes out and everyone can provide their feedback.
SPEAKER_01:Absolutely. We're on a bestseller push, so if we make that, I will let you know because I would love to talk about that.
SPEAKER_00:Sounds great. All right, everyone, have a wonderful day. And again, like and subscribe on the buzzpodcast.net. And if we don't see you again, keep buzzing.