Making "Every Effort" in Medical Decisions of Healthcare Consumers Today - Interview with Talya Miron-Shatz, PhD

Alloutcoach

I recently sat down with Talya Miron-Shatz, PhD, a researcher, speaker, consultant, organizational psychologist, behavioral economist, science communicator, and author of the book “Your Life Depends on It: What You Can Do to Make Better Choices about Your Health”. The book (link to order it: https://talyamironshatz.com/your-life-depends-on-it/) has received glowing reviews so far: Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman - “People who expect to stay healthy forever need not read this wonderful book. The rest of us should. With a fine combination of humor, compassion and vast knowledge, Talya Miron-Shatz offers clear and useful guidance for the hardest decisions of life.”; Next Big Idea Club (Adam Grant, Malcolm Gladwell, Daniel Pink, Susan Cain) “The past year has shown that confusion exists prominently in our medical conversations. We need a new guide to navigating these complex decisions, and psychology professor Miron-Shatz is here to provide one.” Talya has spent two decades as a researcher – including at Princeton University where she worked with the Nobel Prize laureate Daniel Kahneman, as well as a lecturer at Wharton University. She is now a full professor at Ono Academic College and a Visiting Researcher at Cambridge University. Miron-Shatz also has extensive industry experience, as she consults numerous pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer, Abbvie, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Novartis, and others on projects around leading physician advisory boards, designing patient outreach, and sales rep training. Talya has worked with technology giants, such as NantMobile, where she led teams of engineers in introducing an entire layer of psychological drivers to facilitate adherence to medication and she has helped multiple startups – from Healarium to Glucome to hone their operating mechanisms in conveying health information to change patient behavior. Here are some of the highlights from our discussion with its timeline: 2:47 – Why Talya pursued researching Medical Decision Making 3:32 – Gap between knowledge and understanding in genetic counseling, organizational psychology 4:28 – Work with Nobel Prize Laureate Daniel Kahneman 5:43 – What do we mean by “Healthcare Consumers” 6:44 – Real world cancer treatment example of the impact of medical decision-making 7:24 – Why Healthcare Consumerism is a “hit or miss” 7:36 – Patients now demand medical treatments – 2017 research from Dr. Heather Lu showing physicians prescribe medications/treatments they do not believe in themselves 10:35 – Key factors in Patient Outcomes: Comprehension of and Adherence to Treatment 11:50 – Health Literacy & Ability to Ask healthcare providers 12:24 – 90 Million Americans indicate low health literacy – e.g. role and probability of prenatal testing, hereditary cancer 13:47 – 2007 Exercise with Genetic Counselors 16:07 – Medication Adherence, errors, and patient education rooms in doctor’s offices 19:29 – Problem with Continuity of Care across health insurance plans (payers), providers, hospital systems, polypharmacy 21:02 – Role of the Patient-Doctor relationship 22:24 – A trusted healthcare profession – pharmacy 23:40 – The real world value of physician’s empathy from Mount Sinai Hospital’s palliative care oncologist 26:42 – Why medical credentials and personality equally critical 28:16 – The definition of making “Every Effort” in a Medical Decision – case: unplanned cesarean section deliveries 32:08 – Specific Tips to make better, more informed medical decisions 33:24 – Ask physicians what matters to you first – 1) risks, then 2) benefits, and finally 3) alternatives 36:14 – Final Conclusions for patients and healthcare professionals 39:48 – How to contact Dr. Miron-Shatz 41:00 – New book release details – available for pre-order now, officially to be release on September 28, 2021