Dr. Ken Yamaguchi: Leading Health Innovation at a Fortune 500 Company

The Slice

How does an orthopedic surgeon with no experience in the corporate world become the executive VP of a Fortune 500 company? In this episode, Dr. Ken Yamaguchi joins the show to talk about his prominent career as a medical innovator, from his college experience to his work inside Centene, a $120 billion company. We also talk about how his work is driven by the ‘kaizen’ philosophy, what it means to stray from the traditional path as a doctor and the rise of clinical decision support as one of the most important trends for the future of medicine.

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(01:05) - Introducing Dr. Yamaguchi: His college experience and the events that led him to orthopedics - “There was certainly a gap at that time in terms of information as compared to the knee and hip. So there seemed to be an area of opportunity where you could really make a difference.”

(06:19) - The ‘kaizen’ philosophy: Dr. Yamaguchi keys to creativity and innovation. - “What I'm saying is pretty well documented in research and other in just personal experience that the best ideas usually come from younger people.”

(10:22) - A curiosity-driven leader: Explaining the purpose behind Dr. Yamaguchi’s MBA - “I realized that there was a huge world of information that physicians don't even have a clue about. There's not much in our training that helps us to understand how to manage people.”

(14:49) - Clinical insights into designing better implants: Dr. Yamaguchi’s work in medical device design and the pivotal moment when he joined Centene - “As doctors, we say ‘we want this widget and that widget’. And we never put in the context of the costs of the widget and those things become extremely important in today's world.”

(20:32) - Learning curve inside Centene and walking away from the traditional doctor’s path - “Even in the business world, I talk to people and they go, wait a second. You went from absolutely no experience in corporate America, in a public poor profit environment to being an executive VP of fortune 50 companies. How did that happen?”

(26:30) - Clinical decision support and other exciting technology trends to look after - “The knowledge information that we need to know in order to take care of people will surpass what a brain can utilize and become more what a computer needs to assimilate for us.”

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Connect with Dr. Ken Yamaguchi on LinkedIn

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The Slice is produced by Sterling Shore and Rachael Roberts at StudioPod Media, and Shauna Davis at Osso VR. Engineered by nodalab.