The Digital Patient - Episode 58 - Dr. Abdelrahman Nimeri: Drivers of Surgical Quality, Bariatric Digital Patient Engagement & Patient-Reported Outcomes

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Audio:

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In this episode of the SeamlessMD Podcast, Dr. Joshua Liu, Co-founder & CEO at SeamlessMD, and marketing colleague, Alan Sardana, chat with Dr. Abdelrahman Nimeri, Section Chief for Bariatric & Metabolic Surgery and Medical director of Atrium Health Weight Management at Atrium Health, about "Drivers of Surgical Quality, Bariatric Digital Patient Engagement & Patient-Reported Outcomes."

See the full show notes below for details.

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Guest(s):

Dr. Abdelrahman Nimeri (@Nimeri_MD), Section Chief for Bariatric & Metabolic Surgery and Medical director of Atrium Health Weight Management at Atrium Health

Dr. Joshua Liu (@joshuapliu), Co-founder & CEO at SeamlessMD

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‍Episode 58 – Show notes:
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[0:00] Introducing Dr. Abdelrahman Nimeri, Section Chief for Bariatric Surgery & Metabolic Surgery, Medical director of Atrium Health Weight Management and Program director for the Carolinas Bariatric fellowship program;

[4:20] How Dr. Nimeri views Surgical Quality improvement as a measure for success, drawing inspiration from Dr. Ernest A. Codman (1869-1940), who would write his patient’s information down on an index card and call them a year later to find out if the procedure was truly successful;

[5:55] Why Dr. Nimeri seeks to remove the significant bias & stigma surrounding obesity as it is unfairly viewed as the patient’s fault, whereas other diseases are not;

[7:45] Why Dr. Nimeri advocates for “trying your best with whatever comes your way” and “being open-minded” as this advice led to his decision to be a Bariatric surgeon after receiving mentorship from Dr. Kelvin D. Higa at UCSF Fresno;

[9:00] Why Dr. Nimeri values mentorship because of the influential mentors he’s had throughout his career;

[9:30] Why Dr. Nimeri believes the skills necessary to be a surgeon are not innate abilities but can be learned through “Deliberate Practice” (coined by Dr. K. Anders Ericsson) – a program setup to take someone from Point A to Point B;

[11:25] Why Dr. Nimeri believes the best surgeons habitually apply the scientific method, forming a hypothesis and remaining open-minded and willing to accept when you are wrong (and learned something new);

[14:25] Why Dr. Nimeri believes collecting Patient-Reported Outcomes is important for Quality Improvement because it allows the team to better understand the patient’s recounting of their experience, which, in human psychology is more important than the experience itself;

[17:50] Why Bariatric surgery relies on education as it’s often thought that the way to control obesity is through food intolerance and restriction, whereas in reality people lose weight because the surgery changes their metabolism, hormones, satiety and makes it easier to get control over obesity from the number of calories you put in;

[20:55] How Dr. Nimeri learned about SeamlessMD through Atrium Health and why it made perfect sense to implement Digital Patient Engagement for his patients since they are often tech-savvy and it allowed him to control the educational content his patients consumed;

[23:10] How COVID-19 was a catalyst for Dr. Nimeri and the Atrium Health Weight Management to offer outpatient (same-day) bariatric surgery for select patients, which requires patients to use SeamlessMD and stay connected to their healthcare team while at home via “digital check-ins” and a video visit on POD 2;

[25:45] How patients have always been the drivers of innovation in healthcare as their desires such as recovering at home and how patient experience & convenience shape the direction for healthcare;

[29:06] Why, when implementing innovation, Dr. Nimeri has his team focus on the patient’s needs first to help the team involve the patient in decisions so they can deliver what is best for the patient;

[31:25] Why Dr. Nimeri believes bariatric programs in the future will operate like a cancer center, where surgery is viewed as one tool in the toolbox and bariatric surgeons would collaborate with other specialties such as geneticists to view the patient and their journey more holistically;

[34:50] Why Dr. Nimeri believes advancements in genetic research can help identify patients earlier who are at-risk of developing obesity and how this can lead to proactive care;

Fast 5 / Lightning Round:

1. What is your favorite book or book you’ve gifted the most?
   "The Power of Habit” by Charles Duhigg or “Thinking Fast and Slow” by Daniel Kahneman.
   
   

2. How has an apparent failure set you up for greater success?
   “Identifying that venous thromboembolism (VTE) is something you can predict & prevent.”
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3. Would you rather have Super strength, super speed, or the ability to read people’s minds?
   “Mind reading."
   
   

4. What is something in healthcare you believe that others might find insane?
   “That outcomes are the same everywhere.”
   
   

5. COVID-19 lockdown related – what is 1 hobby or activity you’ve gotten into since the pandemic?
   “Connecting with family.”