A JOINT LOVE LETTER FROM PHYSICIAN OUTLOOK AND SENDTHANKSNOW

Dr. Wust-Smith writes:

When I founded Physician Outlook, my vision for the magazine and website was to partner with advertisers and sponsors that were completely different from those one typically finds in “medical magazines,” journals and other publications whose primary target audience are physicians and laypersons seeking medical information. I didn’t want us to find ourselves beholden to Big Pharma, Big Hospitals, Big Insurance or any of the many middlemen who control these entities and have, to a great extent, ruined the practice of medicine for many physicians and patients.

We are strategically choosing to partner with physician-owned businesses, grass-roots advocacy groups, state and county medical societies and also with non-medical commercial entities whose mission and core values align with ours.

We were extremely fortunate to meet the founders of SendThanksNow, who have developed a unique and wonderful platform where the language spoken is “GRATITUDE,” and where transactions occur in the currency of “HEARTS” which can be passed on to others or redeemed via PayPal/Venmo for whatever would help them get through and enjoy a “feel good” moment from a thankful person.

Jaime Schwarz and Adi Segal write:

It took all of two seconds to realize their gratitude network would be a wonderful extension of the stories we were telling, empowering our readers to connect and thank the healthcare professionals we highlight every month personally and directly.

When Dr. Wust-Smith (Publisher) and Pam Ferman (Executive VP of Marketing) reached out to us, being a startup of only a few weeks old, we were just grateful they had heard of us! Of course, when they started sharing their goals to report the deeper, human side of the people we all rely on at our worst moments, we knew how lucky we had just become to find a partner in them.

Although we started as an internal gratitude platform for hospital and nursing home administration, this pandemic we happened to launch in the middle of has given us the opportunity to tap into a world of pent up gratitude. Although we want to make sure everyone is able to thank anyone essential to them through SendThanksNow, we were founded in Healthcare and come from clinical, health tech and health marketing backgrounds. We can’t wait to help people discover more about the essential workers on our platform through Physician Outlook and empower readers to connect so easily with the very people they are reading about.

Through our Hearts currency (100 Hearts = $1), we can not only make sure text, emojis, pictures, and even video are passed on to essential workers, but a gesture of gratitude they can use to help them cope a little more easily with their stressful lives. We look forward to working very closely with Physician Outlook to showcase as many of these amazing people as possible for both readers and STN users (who hopefully, more and more, become the same people:)

Our First Feature Together:

The first physician we are featuring together is Dr. Leslie Easley. Dr. Easley is an Internal Medicine physician who works fulltime as a hospitalist for the Abrazo Medical Group in Phoenix, Arizona. She is truly on the front lines of the pandemic, and frequently posts daily inspirational musings and reflections about working in a hot spot city/state during COVID-19.

In August of 2019, after a healthy and uneventful almost full-term pregnancy she tragically lost both her daughter, Lucy (who was stillborn at 36 weeks), and 3 days later her husband Joe died of unusual complications from Hepatitis A. She is raising her son London with the help of her family, as her job requires for her to work for grueling week-long stretches at a time. She goes through an elaborate “decontamination” process upon arrival home, and has to avoid direct exposure with her loved ones in order to keep them healthy.

Losing both her daughter and husband are unimaginable tragedies for anyone to endure; but instead of being resentful, angry or despondent, Dr. Easley shows us all by example what it is like to be full of mercy and grace. She has touched so many with her words and her story, and has shown us all by example what resilience looks like. She is blessed to be surrounded by a tribe of fiercely loyal and thankful friends, family, and colleagues.

We hope to grow that tribe through our new partnership.

With Gratitude,

The entire teams of Physicians Outlook and SendThanksNow