Lyndean Brick of Advis: In Light Of The Pandemic, Here Are The 5 Things We Need To Do To Improve The US Healthcare System

An Interview With Luke Kervin

No doubt our frontline healthcare workers are the true heroes of the pandemic response. They wedded tremendous courage to their formidable expertise, and they saved many lives. The system as a whole showed its pragmatic streak. Tremendous benefits accrued to us all and the system as well. Innovation-on-the-run is what Americans do best. Advancements in Telehealth have been truly impressive and are very likely to become a fixture in the system. Advis has helped numerous clients at various stages of getting their systems up and running, from scratch to finish and all points in between. It’s impossible to pick just one. They’ve been successful in every instance.

The COVID-19 Pandemic taught all of us many things. One of the sectors that the pandemic put a spotlight on was the healthcare industry. The pandemic showed the resilience of the U.S. healthcare system, but it also pointed out some important areas in need of improvement.

In our interview series called “In Light Of The Pandemic, Here Are The 5 Things We Need To Do To Improve The U.S. Healthcare System,” we are interviewing healthcare leaders, doctors, hospital administrators, and nursing home administrators who can share lessons they learned from the pandemic about how we need to improve the U.S. Healthcare System.

As a part of this series, I had the pleasure to interview Lyndean Brick.

Lyndean Lenhoff Brick, J.D., is Founder, President and CEO of Advis, a modern healthcare consultancy at the forefront of American Healthcare. Lyndean specializes in innovative revenue enhancement and savings protocols at the intersection of regulation, compliance and provider operations.

Lyndean is the regulatory lead counsel to a base of clients across the country and is nationally recognized for her work and client representation in the field of Medicare and Medicaid rules and regulations.

Lyndean is Chairwoman of the Illinois Hospital Licensing Board and is the author or co-author of numerous books relevant to the healthcare industry.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive into our interview, our readers would like to get to know you a bit. Can you tell us a bit about your backstory and a bit about what brought you to this specific career path?

I’ve been in healthcare consulting for over three decades. After a while, I became widely recognized as a regulatory and compliance expert. Somehow the healthcare market has always fed my creative side. I enjoy solving problems for hospitals. I enjoy helping hospitals to get paid. The margins are thin. They deserve all the help and support that can be mustered.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

I have an important client who came to me with a problem his people couldn’t solve. After about an hour of consultation, I laid out the solution for him, a hospital system CEO. He was grateful, looked at me quizzically, and said “Why can’t my people do this?” I took it as a great compliment, smiled and said ‘Thank you.’

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

My growth as a healthcare consultant contained very little that was overtly humorous. Step by step, methodically, with the goal always firmly in mind, I built my career. I built Advis. I learned that process is important; that It’s important to plan well and execute.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

That’s easy: “Time’s on your side.” Because it isn’t. And you always need to remember that. Plan well and execute in a timely manner. Those are the keys to success.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

We are currently working with both hospitals and FQHCs to implement new and innovative ways to improve patient access and care quality.

How would you define an “excellent healthcare provider”?

A great provider understands and delivers for the human side of the equation. You can have the best continuum of care in the world, but if you’re not alive to the foibles of your patients and aren’t flexible and timely enough to meet their needs, then the care provided will inevitably fall short of the highest rank.

Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the main focus of our interview. The COVID-19 pandemic has put intense pressure on the American healthcare system. Some healthcare systems were at a complete loss as to how to handle this crisis. Can you share with our readers a few examples of where we’ve seen the U.S. healthcare system struggle? How do you think we can correct these specific issues moving forward?

The biggest problem early on was the politicization of the issue. Pandemics and electoral politics should never be mixed. The results are all too predictable. Not being able to test and trace from day one. Supply shortages and supply chain problems. The basis for a successful response needs to be in place before the outbreak occurs. It wasn’t. So many families are grieving. The country simply has to dedicate the resources necessary to staying prepared. There is no other way. And we shouldn’t be so foolish to think this was a ‘one-and-done’. We’re having problems enough just getting past Covid 19 and its mutations. We cannot explain often enough or too thoroughly what a vaccine is, how it works, how it boosts the immune system, our long and successful history with vaccines and what it’s meant for society. Remember, every child is vaccinated against polio and measles, etc., before they’re allowed to go to school. Vaccines shouldn’t be politicized, either. These days, we’re pretty good at science.

Of course, the story was not entirely negative. Healthcare professionals were true heroes on the front lines of the crisis. The COVID vaccines are saving millions of lives. Can you share a few ways that our healthcare system really did well? If you can, please share a story or example.

No doubt our frontline healthcare workers are the true heroes of the pandemic response. They wedded tremendous courage to their formidable expertise, and they saved many lives. The system as a whole showed its pragmatic streak. Tremendous benefits accrued to us all and the system as well. Innovation-on-the-run is what Americans do best. Advancements in Telehealth have been truly impressive and are very likely to become a fixture in the system. Advis has helped numerous clients at various stages of getting their systems up and running, from scratch to finish and all points in between. It’s impossible to pick just one. They’ve been successful in every instance.

Here is the primary question of our discussion. As a healthcare leader can you share 5 changes that need to be made to improve the overall US healthcare system? Please share a story or example for each.

1. The #1 problem with the American healthcare system is cost. Hospital diagnostics are way too expensive, but there’s no other way for them to recoup those revenues and they need those revenues to operate. This is precisely the kind of problem that needs to be ironed out of the system.
2. The second biggest problem is access, and cost and geography both negatively impact access. Rural Americans simply do not have access to the same quality of healthcare as urbanites. That’s a fact.
3. The third biggest problem is staffing. And to increase staffing means to increase costs. And the already significant problem has been compounded by COVID burnout. It’s a matter of staying committed and dedicating resources.
4. The fourth problem consists of the profit motivations that also serve to drive system costs. If everyone in the system worked off the same margins as the hospitals, there would be a lot more resources to go around. Additionally, there are too many specialty operations around the boundaries of a badly fragmented system.
5. And finally, over-regulation remains a persistent problem. That a patient must spend three days in a hospital before being transferable to a SNF is absurd. This kind of outdated, nonsensical regulation drives system costs as well.

Let’s zoom in on this a bit deeper. How do you think we can address the problem of physician shortages?

Healthcare must remain an attractive career option for our country’s best and brightest. If you strive to be a difference maker in your community, then a career in healthcare is for you.

How do you think we can address the issue of physician diversity?

The diversity issue is a problem throughout the economy. We need greater equality from top to bottom in the system. Give people a chance and the support they need and I believe they will respond to the challenges faced by American healthcare. It’s not a problem that the industry can solve on its own no matter how hard it tries. We need to do better as a culture and society.

How do you think we can address the issue of physician burnout?

The best way to deal with burnout is to head it off before it becomes too much for a physician to bear. Hospitals can do a better job of monitoring the psyche of their doctors and act accordingly. But it will take more staffing to allow physicians to cover for one another so that their equilibrium can be maintained.

What concrete steps would have to be done to actually manifest all of the changes you mentioned? What can a) individuals, b) corporations, c) communities and d) leaders do to help?

The individuals I work with and work for in the system aren’t the problem. They already do a fantastic job. If you want to improve individual performance, you must improve the system. Corporations, and I know this isn’t why they’re in business, need to focus less on their shareholders and more on results and system support. Communities already mean well. They must continue to support the providers and the corporations that serve them. And leaders must lead. Be decisive. Be creative. Most of all, be pragmatic. Work to solve the system’s problems by creating consensus.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

In the hope of fostering consensus and greater cooperation throughout the system, I would ask Americans to reflect on the difference between Freedom and Liberty. We seem to have a surfeit of freedom at the moment and its negatively affecting individual liberty. Think about it: everyone doing as they please whenever they please might be one definition of Freedom, but it’s also, clearly, a recipe for anarchy and anarchic systems. We have to make our systems run smoothly if we want the best chance of solving our problems. Liberty depends upon respect for the next person’s rights. We all have the same rights. But failure to remember that fact makes for failure throughout the system. And that hurts the system that means the most to me: the American Healthcare System.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

Go to Advis.com and look around. I’m certain you’ll find something of interest.

Thank you so much for these insights! This was very inspirational and we wish you continued success in your great work.