A particularly creative chief medical officer has captured the sometimes bizarre and contradictory world of modern healthcare, building on his online comic series with a new book devoted to addressing today’s industry challenges.
Peter Valenzuela, MD, MBA, CMO, Mercy Medical Group, and former CMO for Sutter Medical Group in Sonoma County, has an artistic side that he’s been sharing with the healthcare community in the form of satirical online comics devoted to the often unpredictable nature of medical practices. He’s been illustrating “Doc-Related” for about five years with the goal of pulling back the curtain on the healthcare system, “as seen through the eyes of healthcare professionals.”
“I’m flattered that they’ve been referred to as the Dilbert for healthcare,” Valenzuela said of his comics on an episode of the MGMA Insights podcast. “It’s really been what’s fed me on the side when I’m not being a physician, executive or leader. It’s something that I love to do.”
Hear more from Valenzuela in this episode of the MGMA Insights podcast:
In early December 2021, Valenzuela compiled a collection of those strips as part of “Doc-Related: A Physician’s Guide to Fixing Our Ailing Health Care System,” a book he hopes will be humorous and helpful for both healthcare insiders and the general patient population.
“Humor is one of the best ways to create a positive work environment,” he said. “I decided to put together some of my comics in a book to help others better understand how difficult it is to provide excellent care today, while trying to balance the demands of the healthcare bureaucracy we all deal with. It was kind of also my way of coping with the stress of the pandemic in a more productive way. I’ve been doing this and working on it for two years now.” Valenzuela’s book includes a quote from author and journalist Malcolm Gladwell, who said, “Comedians have become the truth-tellers. Satire allows you to say almost anything. That’s where truth is spoken to power in our society. When you sugarcoat a bitter truth with humor, it makes the medicine go down.”
“I really liked that quote. [It’s about how] this comedian (Harry Enfield) found a way to relay what others were thinking through a character who could say things that nobody else could say out loud without fear of some type of retribution,” Valenzuela said. “That’s kind of how I felt about my comics. Being a physician and a physician leader, you get to see both sides of the table. You’re on the frontline, taking care of patients, but you’re also on the other side, trying to keep the business open, and sometimes, they’re not in alignment. [My comics] are my voice for providing examples of our broken system without directly calling it out.”
Valenzuela said his creative side has always been a part of his personality, from his earliest days at medical school. After years of trying to make people laugh, he began to note the endless ironies found in the mechanisms and language of healthcare management and decided to launch his comic strip.
“I was at a conference about five years ago, and we were discussing provider satisfaction. The presenter was this executive of a medical group. At the end, he boasted and said, ‘We had an 80% provider satisfaction survey response rate,” Valenzuela recalled. “I raised my hand, and I asked, ‘So, what did you do with the feedback that you received from the providers?’ He looked at me and said, ‘Well, our incentive dashboard is based on response rates, not on the actual satisfaction scores.’ I kept thinking, ‘We’re missing the boat here.’ And that was my very first idea for a comic.”
Peter Valenzuela, MD, MBA, CMO, Mercy Medical Group, and former CMO for Sutter Medical Group in Sonoma County, has an artistic side that he’s been sharing with the healthcare community in the form of satirical online comics devoted to the often unpredictable nature of medical practices. He’s been illustrating “Doc-Related” for about five years with the goal of pulling back the curtain on the healthcare system, “as seen through the eyes of healthcare professionals.”
“I’m flattered that they’ve been referred to as the Dilbert for healthcare,” Valenzuela said of his comics on an episode of the MGMA Insights podcast. “It’s really been what’s fed me on the side when I’m not being a physician, executive or leader. It’s something that I love to do.”
Hear more from Valenzuela in this episode of the MGMA Insights podcast:
In early December 2021, Valenzuela compiled a collection of those strips as part of “Doc-Related: A Physician’s Guide to Fixing Our Ailing Health Care System,” a book he hopes will be humorous and helpful for both healthcare insiders and the general patient population.
“Humor is one of the best ways to create a positive work environment,” he said. “I decided to put together some of my comics in a book to help others better understand how difficult it is to provide excellent care today, while trying to balance the demands of the healthcare bureaucracy we all deal with. It was kind of also my way of coping with the stress of the pandemic in a more productive way. I’ve been doing this and working on it for two years now.” Valenzuela’s book includes a quote from author and journalist Malcolm Gladwell, who said, “Comedians have become the truth-tellers. Satire allows you to say almost anything. That’s where truth is spoken to power in our society. When you sugarcoat a bitter truth with humor, it makes the medicine go down.”
“I really liked that quote. [It’s about how] this comedian (Harry Enfield) found a way to relay what others were thinking through a character who could say things that nobody else could say out loud without fear of some type of retribution,” Valenzuela said. “That’s kind of how I felt about my comics. Being a physician and a physician leader, you get to see both sides of the table. You’re on the frontline, taking care of patients, but you’re also on the other side, trying to keep the business open, and sometimes, they’re not in alignment. [My comics] are my voice for providing examples of our broken system without directly calling it out.”
Additional resources:
- Are you in the right mind to lead? Exercises and tips to train and nourish your creative side
- Insights: Wildfires, comic strip keep Northern Californian healthcare executive on his toes
- Tragedy at home takes precedence for 2017 Harwick Award winner
Valenzuela said his creative side has always been a part of his personality, from his earliest days at medical school. After years of trying to make people laugh, he began to note the endless ironies found in the mechanisms and language of healthcare management and decided to launch his comic strip.
“I was at a conference about five years ago, and we were discussing provider satisfaction. The presenter was this executive of a medical group. At the end, he boasted and said, ‘We had an 80% provider satisfaction survey response rate,” Valenzuela recalled. “I raised my hand, and I asked, ‘So, what did you do with the feedback that you received from the providers?’ He looked at me and said, ‘Well, our incentive dashboard is based on response rates, not on the actual satisfaction scores.’ I kept thinking, ‘We’re missing the boat here.’ And that was my very first idea for a comic.”
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