Yvonne Robinson-Hawkins, MD has some straight talk for Dan in this episode (as in, “your health is not a spectator sport”, people!) about how to be your best and most engaged advocate—or in her words, the CEO of your own body. What it takes to be a good CEO, actually makes sense when you consider what we should be doing to keep a strong relationship with our healthcare providers to meet our personal health goals. If you have ever felt embarrassed, dismissed, mistreated, unsure, or uncomfortable...take Yvonne’s crash course on how to take charge and act like a CEO for the sake of your own health by listening to this podcast.
Stick to the end to hear Yvonne’s (literally, one and only) choice of podcasts, her late night guilty pleasure (as a busy mom and professional), and how her FREE healthy habit to start each day keeps her grounded and grateful.
Connect with us!
Yvonne Robinson-Hawkins, MD has some straight talk for Dan in this episode (as in, “your health is not a spectator sport”, people!) about how to be your best and most engaged advocate—or in her words, the CEO of your own body. What it takes to be a good CEO, actually makes sense when you consider what we should be doing to keep a strong relationship with our healthcare providers to meet our personal health goals. If you have ever felt embarrassed, dismissed, mistreated, unsure, or uncomfortable...take Yvonne’s crash course on how to take charge and act like a CEO for the sake of your own health by listening to this podcast.
Stick to the end to hear Yvonne’s (literally, one and only) choice of podcasts, her late night guilty pleasure (as a busy mom and professional), and how her FREE healthy habit to start each day keeps her grounded and grateful.
Connect with us!
When it comes to their own health, they have to function as a CEO, a chief executive officer in order to achieve and maintain optimal health.
Crossover Health:happiness, success, freedom, energy, fun, balance, strength, peace. It all stems from our physical and emotional well being. You're in the right place for a healthy discussion with experts to show you the way. This is be well, a podcast from crossover health. Not sick is not enough. Being Well is a movement to get the most we want out of life. In each of our episodes, we pick a health or lifestyle topic, bring in one of our doctors from the frontlines and have a real conversation. Be well do good. Enjoy life. What's up everyone, this is Dan Lord, Program Director for crossover health. You're in the right place for a healthy discussion. Just a reminder, the following presentation is for informational purposes only, and is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. Please do not apply any of this information without first speaking with your doctor. Today we get to talk to Dr. Yvonne Robinson Hawkins about how to be your own advocate. She has been practicing medicine for nearly 20 years board certified family physician. She is a native of Kansas and graduated from the University of Kansas School of Medicine. Yvonne then completed her residency at St. Luke's Aurora in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Her professional interests include women's health and integrative medicine. Having trained in a medically underserved area, she is passionate about promoting health equity and reducing disparities in health care, Yvonne, how's it going?
Yvonne Robinson-Hawkins:It's going great, Dan. It's great to be here.
Crossover Health:Thanks so much for hanging out with us today. So give me a little idea of your practice and how you practice today. Sure, sure.
Yvonne Robinson-Hawkins:So yes, for many years, I did practice traditional family medicine in the communities in which I lived. And I lived in a few states before settling here in Texas. And at this time, I'm actually practicing from a virtual perspective. So I'm a virtual physician for crossover health serving a variety of clients all over the US really.
Crossover Health:That's awesome. So virtual has changed the game the last few years. I love it.
Yvonne Robinson-Hawkins:I love it, I find that it has made access to health care, so much easier for patients, particularly in this time where we're going through this pandemic, and there's this worry about being present in offices if one doesn't have to be. So yes, I think it's fantastic.
Crossover Health:Yeah, that dovetails into I think our subject, as well. Patients have to be their own advocates. Absolutely, especially in this space. So maybe frame it up for us. Yeah. What is that? What does that mean to you?
Yvonne Robinson-Hawkins:I think now more than ever, patients are recognizing the importance of partnering with their health care providers. There's been this real emphasis by the CDC and the US Preventive Task Force to educate patients about what can and should expect from a health perspective. And then we pair that with patients who come from different cultures, maybe different backgrounds and different experiences. And it's a great setup to really educate patients on how they can advocate for themselves. Because the system isn't necessarily designed to walk a patient through Hand in Hand of having patients become the CEOs of their own bodies. That's where that term originates, is in helping patients to recognize that when it comes to their own health, they have to function as a CEO or chief executive officer in order to achieve and maintain optimal health. And especially when interacting with the medical establishment, we have to basically treat our health like a business.
Crossover Health:Yep, no, I love that comparison. It's I think it's a good one. And it also speaks to hey, you need to be responsible. Absolutely. You need to go the extra length. And it's about your actions and your engagement with your own health that it wants is what should drive it.
Yvonne Robinson-Hawkins:I think so I here's the thing is that we're here as healthcare providers, ready and willing aim to partner with patients. But they have to meet us here we want to we want what they have to come into our space, whether that's virtual, or in a building. And then we're going to partner and walk arm in arm through this experience. But there are things that patients need to know there are characteristics, which we'll get to in a little bit, that I think would be very beneficial for patients to exhibit in the healthcare environment. Right. Very recently, my mother who just just recently retired and experiencing some health issues of her own nothing serious, but she's been engaging with her primary care doctor more. And she came to me just last week, and she said, Hey, I'd like for you to call my doctor, I'm not sure I don't understand why they want me to take this medicine. And I said, well, listen, I mean, I'm happy to speak with your doctor. But I want you to know that you have every right to ask the same questions that I will ask. And so it really made me think more about how can I empower my mother, who, who is obviously at this point, a bit uncomfortable with a doctor she's been established with for years, but now she's been asked to do something, and, and she's not comfortable enough to question the legitimacy of the recommendation. And so a few things that, you know, the conversation that I had with her was very similar to what I'm going to talk to you about, because more than ever, patients of all ages, you know, adult patients, at least do need to be empowered to advocate for themselves. And, you know, I'm a physician, but I'm a daughter, right? And so the in the same way, I have had to teach my mom how to own her own health.
Crossover Health:Yeah, I love that I would love our listeners to know, how can they be the CEOs of their health?
Yvonne Robinson-Hawkins:Love it, okay. So there are four characteristics that that I've identified in a successful CEO. Okay. And when we think about successful CEOs, one of the characteristics is communication. So, you know, most CEOs that you hear about in in the marketplace, are very good at communicating either to media, to their business partners, to their employees, and staff. And so I just encourage all patients, that part of communication is, is to be heard, but also to actively listen. And so part of that means when you're in the presence of your healthcare provider, or in preparation for that visit, make sure that you write down whatever your questions are. Get your thoughts down on paper, when you're actually deciding what what the subject matter will be for that appointment, prioritize your, your concerns and organize it, come forward with an agenda the same way you would if you were facing a boardroom, and have the expectation that you'll be heard, but also recognize that you should be actively listening as well. And so you might need to take notes, you know, you're not going to be expected to remember everything. But But, but if you're taking notes, or you bring someone along with you, who can take notes for you while you listen and engage, then that's going to create a very good exchange verbal exchange between you and your provider. So communication is key.
Crossover Health:I think it's so important to think about the communication in a really focused way, like you mentioned, prioritizing your concerns, so that you can set up the conversation in the right way, will allow that interaction to become so much more successful. And you can drive it because you've already put that into motion, you're acting as a CEO.
Yvonne Robinson-Hawkins:Absolutely. It is. And that and that leads me to the next point is once you've organized, your concerns, and those concerns are being addressed, this is a time when you want to build a collaboration and really partner with your provider. On the more integral approaches to your care, there may be details about a particular treatment plan that you have some doubts or concerns for. And this is when you practice what we call shared decision making. So if you have reservations, concerns or questions, those are things that your provider is more than happy to hear out. And then with the combination of evidence based medicine, and your own personal preferences, beliefs and concerns there there can you guys can arrive at what would be an appropriate care plan.
Crossover Health:I think the other consideration is, it's so much easier to collaborate now than it used to be right, we started talking about your role today is in the virtual space. And if you've created that relationship, you've had a visit with one of your patients, and they have ongoing concerns that they're trying to unwind some problems or trying to solve about their health care. It could be as easy as some messaging, and that can force in order to create that collaboration. Right?
Yvonne Robinson-Hawkins:You're right, you're right. And, and I encourage patients to share their expectations, because what they are expecting to get out of that visit may be far off from what my expectations are. And so I want to make sure that we're meeting somewhere towards their expectations, so that they can have their needs fulfilled in a way that still manages to respect what is considered standard of care. And, and, and, of course, patient education. Right. So that's also part of collaboration is getting educated on what it is that whatever that healthcare issue is that you're dealing with. And there are lots of good resources I often share with my patients. There's a Harvard Health Clinic website, I recently directed my mom to the Mayo Clinic website with regard to her medical condition, because of course, I can arm her with information personally in my own experiences. But I want her and all of my patients actually, to again, be an active part of that education. And that means finding the materials that have been sourced specifically with patients in mind. So it's written in plain English, none of that medical jargon to weed through. And additionally, because these are patient facing websites, they are designed to create a dialogue help patients create a dialogue for their providers, when they are seeing so lots of great tools, lots of great tools on these websites.
Crossover Health:Part of it, too, I imagine is being open, being coachable. And that that can be a barrier to write
Yvonne Robinson-Hawkins:it can be and that's, that leads me actually to my third point, which is honesty, okay. And so, when I say honesty, I don't just mean truthfulness, I mean, be honest with yourself as a patient, recognize that there might be some barriers, some personal barriers that you have to engaging with your primary care provider, perhaps you've had some negative experiences in health care, perhaps you're part of a community that has not had the best history with the medical establishment, maybe you're an ethnic minority, or a member of the LGBTQ community. And, and, and in order for us, and in order for you to build trust with your provider, we need for you to bring forth those concerns, that negative experiences, so that we can create a safe space for you our desire when we partner with patients is to create a safe space, we have the capacity to handle all that negative information that you might provide for us. So I don't I want patients to know that they don't have to protect our feelings as providers, that if they have had experiences that have been less than desirable, and they have some doubts about this current experience, that they should feel they can voice that because that is where we can then meet and move forward. And so that's what I mean by honesty. If, if providers in many of us are no, no, I'm not going to say that we're all there yet. And so there will be occasions when a patient may engage with a provider that they simply can't connect with. Maybe there maybe they are there, they feel as if they're not being heard, and maybe there are biases, there maybe unconscious bias, maybe the provider is not even aware that they hold these negative stereotypes, okay. And, and that's and that happens and so we'd have to be realistic and and recognize that that can occur and that's when we expect the same level of honesty from the patient. This This isn't working for me and this is why and sometimes that gives that provider an opportunity to grow in that area, right? Just where humans to And our biases can be just as unconscious as anybody else out there. If we're not aware and you make us aware, then it's on us to make that decision to to recognize it and mitigate that bias. It's not a failed relationship, just because it doesn't start off beautiful. I don't think many of us would still be married today.
Crossover Health:Sure, but to your point, you have to create a safe space. Yes. So that there's clear communication. Yes, absolutely. And trust can be built that right. If that's the point it, you might be starting at a different step. Yes. But if we are building trust together, and we have that, that safe space, yes, then we're on our way.
Yvonne Robinson-Hawkins:Exactly. And so and so when we talk about my mom and her recent experience, one of the things that she voiced was, you know, I'm just not sure that I'm comfortable to, to question my doctor, right? Like, he says, I should take this medicine, but I really don't know why. And I'm uncomfortable doing it. So then be honest with him, you know, it's not going to offend him, it shouldn't offend him, for you to ask why you need to take this medication. And if it does, then we have another issue here, right. So patients should feel no shame in not understanding something that it's taken most of us as professionals years and years to learn, right. And this and part of our job as healthcare providers is in education, we want to give our patients autonomy, we want to give our patients the freedom to a partner in in these decisions, but they have to be educated, right, in order for them to make an informed decision about their health care. Right. And then the final and fourth characteristic that I've identified as something that's really very, very close to home, actually, is this idea of staying curious, you know, our own CEO, Scott Shri has a similar a similar values, right. And this ideology, I think, is very appropriate in this setting as well. So you know, when we talk about Stay curious when I'm saying to patients, is make sure that you're seeking solutions, the same way that business and the business environment changes, so does your body. Okay, so as a CEO, many times they have to adapt to things that change in the marketplace. And in the same way, we have to adapt as our bodies change in age or just do unexpected things from time to time. And in optimal health takes work. All right. And it's going to require us to continually be engaged. This is not a spectator sport, right. Health care is something that as individuals, we want our patients to be very active participants in. Okay. And, and in that way, I think that we can be reminded that health never stops. And, and so neither should we.
Crossover Health:I love it. That's, that's perfect. That's perfect. I think one of the other keys that I'd love to touch on all of these, you know, attributes your Ford tributes to being a CEO, a big part of it is the relationship that's built. And, you know, primary care, I think, is the entryway to all of this health care. And it shouldn't be any other barriers that you would want to call out that you see that that makes it a challenge for someone to start that pathway take a first step towards health and well being in order for them to really be their own advocate. Anything else that you'd like to point out?
Yvonne Robinson-Hawkins:What I will say is that there's always this, I would consider it a perceived barrier. Because until we interact with an individual, as a patient, we really don't know what that engagement will yield. But if we've had hurt or harm in an healthcare environment previously, it can make it more difficult to reengage and so I hope that by educating our patients and and by podcasts like be well, that patients will recognize that we are poised and ready to embrace them, to have them bring their whole authentic self into our presence. Our offices are our virtual You know rooms and, and really partner with them moving forward. That is truly our agenda and our goal. And I know that not all patients will be fortunate enough to access crossover health care providers, right. So some people will have to utilize who some listeners to this podcast, might not even be a crossover member and they may have to utilize community resources for health care, I want them to have the same expectation that this is a global movement. This isn't just crossover, these these barriers will be being are being broken down every day there are people hard at work throughout our communities, working hard to increase access to care and reduce the perceived barriers that are that have been president for for a long time.
Crossover Health:Thank you so much. We've just created a whole bunch of healthcare. So that's the goal. Can we fire some questions that you have for you? Okay, you're on? You're on the hot seat. All right. I'm ready. So what's your favorite podcast at the moment?
Yvonne Robinson-Hawkins:So fun fact, be well, is actually the only podcast I've ever listened to. Right? No, I just I recently started listening to podcast after a recent recording by one of my teammates that you guys did Dr. Matthew tester. And I was so enamored with be well, and in its intent, and I think it delivers and so yeah, right now, it's just be Well,
Crossover Health:thank you. That means a lot. Appreciate that. What's your guilty pleasure, then?
Yvonne Robinson-Hawkins:Oh, wait, no. I mean, I'm a busy mom and wife and obviously a full time physician. So what, when once the kids are in bed, one of the things that I've been doing lately, probably since school started again, is just spending a little time on Pinterest. Like I really enjoy getting recipes that I'll never make. Do a little shopping on Pinterest because it cost nothing. So yeah, that's it. It's um, hooks. That's fantastic.
Crossover Health:I love it. I love it. What's the one thing you do everyday to stay healthy?
Yvonne Robinson-Hawkins:Without doubt I meditate every day, every morning. And wake up before everybody is hard. This discipline takes a lot of discipline. And I haven't always meditated. It's probably been in the past three years, that I have consistently meditated each morning. And it does mean setting the alarm clock a little earlier, but it's so worthwhile
Crossover Health:three years. So you wouldn't you would not keep doing it unless you saw the benefit.
Yvonne Robinson-Hawkins:Oh, it without a doubt. It's beneficial. It sets it sets my day, in a healthy way, you know, the spirit of gratitude is a great way to start a day. And you know, just even recognizing that there are some folks who just didn't wake up today and thought that they would I mean, that's enough to be grateful for. But I mean, even beyond that meditation has been proven to be beneficial. It's free. And really all it takes is just a little time, you know, just a little time.
Crossover Health:There you go, everyone. Thanks so much for inviting us. Yeah, so appreciate you.
Yvonne Robinson-Hawkins:I appreciate it. I've enjoyed it tremendously. I really hope that what we've said today touches. Even if it's just one person who gained something from this, it will have been worthwhile. When you CEO out there at least
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