Brent James, M.D., M.Stat., the quality and patient safety expert, finds fault with singular focus on COVID-19. Watch James' interview in this part two of three video series.
Human beings are “wonderful pattern matchers,” Brent James, M.D., M.Stat., the quality and patient safety expert, said in a video interview with Managed Healthcare Executive® this week.
“But when we ask people to assess patterns, probabilities, we are absolute crap. I don’t care how smart you are, how well trained you are.”
“I have as much as experience as anybody at this, and I am still crap,” James added.
But James said “good leaders have to look at the whole picture and balance the risks back and forth.” And James says he believes that has been in short supply in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We have had some people in the space, when challenged on this, have basically said, ‘Hey, my only assignment is Covid. I am going to focus exclusively on Covid.’”
“And I tell you, and I do mean this as a criticism,” James continued, “when I see somebody say that I realize they are saying, ‘Don’t look at me as a leader. I am not going to position myself as a leader.’ I think you have to see the whole picture.”
Asked whether he was referring to Anthony Fauci, M.D., director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, James sidestepped.
“You be the judge. It is a number of people in leadership roles who needed to see the whole picture.”
James said early data show that heart disease mortality rates are increasing. International health efforts dealing with nutrition and malaria may have suffered with so much focus on COVID-19. James spoke of a secondary price to the pandemic.
“Don’t get me a wrong. I am not saying that Covid is not important. It is. I am just saying, sorry, you gotta keep an eye on the whole picture. “
Did we fail to do that?
“We are human beings and human beings, by definition, are imperfect,” answered James. “But we didn’t do as well as we could in my opinion — not just in the U.S. but worldwide.”
It is “fascinating topic” to look at why people tend to focus on a single risk, James said. “It seems to be hardwired in our evolutionary brain.”
Today, the clade 2b outbreak has reached alarming proportions, with over 94,000 confirmed cases reported across 117 countries, including significant numbers in the U.S. and Brazil, and up to 103 deaths. The virus has been found to affect younger men who have sex with men, who are linked to high rates of HIV co-infection.
Read More
In this latest episode of Tuning In to the C-Suite podcast, Briana Contreras, an editor with MHE had the pleasure of meeting Loren McCaghy, director of consulting, health and consumer engagement and product insight at Accenture, to discuss the organization's latest report on U.S. consumers switching healthcare providers and insurance payers.
Listen
In our latest "Meet the Board" podcast episode, Managed Healthcare Executive Editors caught up with editorial advisory board member, Eric Hunter, CEO of CareOregon, to discuss a number of topics, one including the merger that never closed with SCAN Health Plan due to local opposition from Oregonians.
Listen