Dr. Bryan Vartabedian is a pediatric gastroenterologist, or a “[g]astroenterologist to small people,” as he describes his specialization on his popular Twitter profile. Pediatrics is a complicated job, he explains, in the latest episode of The Resonance Test. In an intense conversation with our Jonathon Swersey, Dr. Vartabedian says: “We really serve two masters: we are morally and ethically obligated to that child who’s under our care, while at the same time we have an obligation to the surrogate or the parent who’s bringing that child in.” Listen in and you’ll hear him talk about the extreme metricization of patient experience: “As we strive to get those [patient satisfaction] numbers to link with Medicare reimbursement, there’s kind of this pressure to kind of operationalize human encounters, which is a little bit icky” and how “being a pain at times is part of the job of the parent looking after” a sick child. This honest and informed conversation will leave you with a strong sense of where healthcare is heading. “As medicine becomes more precise and more predictive and preemptive, the amount of data that’s emanating from us, via these genomic studies or imaging or what have you, is going to become greater and greater,” says Dr. Vartabedian. “And I think our role as physicians is going to be to act as a mediator or moderator of all these incoming inputs.”
Host: Pete Chapin
Editor: Kyp Pilalas
Producer: Ken Gordon
About the Author
- Jonathon Swersey
A highly creative and analytical leader, Jonathon specializes in developing implementable strategies for senior executives.
Previously, Jonathon has worked at Innosight, Dell, and BCG where led teams and partnered with c-level clients to develop their innovation strategies, build their innovation capabilities, and accelerate the development and impact of their new products and services.
Jonathon lives in Newton, Massachusetts, with his wife Julie and daughters Belle (7) and Sadie (4). Outside of work, he raises money to fight childhood cancer by riding the 192 mile Pan Mass Challenge. Jonathon holds an MBA from Yale with concentrations in Strategy and Finance and a B. Sc. in Biology from Binghamton University.
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Ken GordonChief Communications SpecialistKen makes EPAM Continuum’s work visible to the necessary people. He creates superlative content, works with colleagues to do the same, and employs social networks to share it widely.
A card-carrying humanist, Ken co-founded QuickMuse, the improvisational writing website, and JEDLAB, the Jewish education community. He has written for TheAtlantic.com, the New York Times, and many other pubs.
Ken has an English degree from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and an MA in English from the State University of New York at Albany. He framed both diplomas long ago, but can’t seem to find them now—a fact he considers all-too-human.
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