PAC's All Access Pass Podcast

Patient safety is often associated with what happens inside the exam room, operating room, or hospital bedside. But what if one of the greatest threats to patient safety occurs long before a patient ever receives care?In this thought-provoking episode of All-Access Pass, Elizabeth Woodcock sits down with Dr. Victor Hassid, Associate Vice President of Access Services and Professor of Plastic Surgery at UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, to discuss his groundbreaking JAMA article, Patient Safety Begins with Access. Together, they explore the powerful argument that delays, barriers, and failures in patient access should be viewed not simply as operational challenges, but as patient safety events. Dr. Hassid shares how fragmented referral processes, scheduling barriers, authorization delays, and care coordination failures can directly impact diagnosis, treatment, and patient outcomes. The conversation also examines the concepts of visibility, accountability, high reliability organizations, and the critical role of data in identifying and preventing access-related harm.Tune in to hear discussions on patient safety, access-related harm, high reliability principles, referral and scheduling barriers, access performance metrics, patient advocacy, health equity, and the future of treating access as a core component of quality and safety in healthcare.

Join us for a dynamic conversation with two powerhouse leaders in patient access: Alexandra Blake Martinez, MHSA, Associate Vice President of Access Strategic Operations at MD Anderson Cancer Center, and Tesha Montgomery, BSN, MHA, Senior Vice President of Access at Houston Methodist. Speaking from their shared hometown of Houston, the site of the 2025 Patient Access Collaborative Symposium, these visionary leaders reflect on the event’s key themes — from the rising strategic importance of access to transformative innovations like AI. You'll hear candid insights on moving from reaction to prevention, navigating workforce challenges, embracing data-driven leadership, and redefining access as a strategic imperative. Whether you attended the symposium or not, this episode delivers valuable takeaways and fresh perspective from two of the nation’s top access executives.

Joy of Practice is the beating heart of healthcare.It represents the very reason our clinicians practice medicine in the first place, underscoring the fundamental purpose behind their care delivery. Despite their passion for patients, clinician burnout is threatening to destabilize the entire supply of the already-burdened healthcare industry. In this month’s inspiring episode, we explore why clinicians’ well-being is essential to patient access, and how access leaders can uplifttheir efforts through compassionate leadership. Elizabeth Woodcock, Founder and Executive Director of PAC,is joined by Lisa Griffin, MBA, CCCM, Chief Consumer Officer atUniversity Hospitals, and Dr. Christine Sinsky, Vice President ofProfessional Satisfaction at the American Medical Association. Together, they unpack the recent surge in clinician burnout,and the responsibility of access leaders to build meaningful relationships with the clinicians who make up the ambulatory enterprise. Tune in on Spotify and Apple podcasts for more!

Wildfires have ravaged South California in recent months, forcing health system leaders to navigate patient access disruptions while ensuring continuity of care. Beyond the immediate crisis, these disasters create lasting "access debt"—a backlog of delayed appointments and unmet patient needs that can overwhelm health systems long after the flames have died down. How can access leaders prepare for and recover from such disruptions?This month, Founder and Executive Director Elizabeth Woodcock sits down with Aimee Corke, Director of Emergency Management and Business Continuity at Northwell Health; Connie Lee, MPH, FACHE, Senior Director of Patient Access at UCLA Health; and Leigh Bouskila Turk, MHA, Director of Practice Development and Support Services at Nicklaus Children’s.The leaders share firsthand experiences managing patient access during wildfires, hurricanes, and other emergencies—discussing business continuity strategies, recovery planning, and how to maintain access in the face of disruption.

Leading health systems all face the same problem: how can we maximize clinician efficiency while ensuring patients receive timely care? This month, the podcast features two distinguished leaders from Geisinger Health; special guest host Patrick Kokoruda, MHA, CCSL, Vice President of Clinical Access Management sits down for an episode with George Ruiz, MD, Chair of Cardiology. Together, they explore innovative and collaborative strategies for optimizing capacity, structuring clinicians’ time, and leveraging technology to deliver scalable, patient-centered care.

Despite our best efforts, non-attendance remains one of the most persistent and damaging challenges for access leaders. In this episode, Founder and Executive Director Elizabeth Woodcock is joined by non-attendance experts Allison Gornik, PhD, Licensed Clinical Psychologist at the Kennedy Krieger Institute, and Lorna Kernizan, FACHE, MBA, Chief Ambulatory Officer at Children's Mississippi. Together, they explore the pervasive effects of missed appointments and share strategies to tackle non-attendance while enhancing patient care and optimizing resources.

Mayo Clinic's Innovation Contact Center is where new tools, technologies, and workflows are tested to refine patient access initiatives. Join us as Founder and Executive Director Elizabeth Woodcock hosts esteemed guests Elissa Nelson, MA, Senior Director, Systems Transformation, Enterprise Office of Access Management Infrastructure Services, Mayo Clinic, and Courtnie Garteski Bergler, Director of Digital New Appointment Learning and Innovations - Systems and Transformation, Mayo Clinic, as they discuss their insights on minimizing disruptions and scaling improvements across the health system.

The Patient Access Collaborative had the honor of working with our friends and esteemed colleagues at Emory Healthcare to host this year’s PAC Symposium in our home city of Atlanta. In review, Founder and Executive Director Elizabeth Woodcock sits down with Emory’s own Sarah Kier, Senior Vice President of Enterprise Patient Access at Emory Healthcare, to reflect on the Symposium’s highlights. Together, they explore the groundbreaking EmoryNow initiative, which achieved over a 10% increase in ambulatory volumes using existing capacity. They also celebrate the legacy of access legend Bill Gable, whose contributions continue to inspire leaders across the field.