For my series of interviews with established physician entrepreneurs, called “Conversations with Trailblazers”, I spent a wonderful 30 minutes on the phone today interviewing Dr. Tray Dunaway. He is an expert on physician-healthcare relations who describes his mission as “connecting the dots in healthcare”. You’ll get to listen as he elaborates on this concept in this physician entrepreneur interview.

As a busy general surgeon bumping up against the bureaucracy of compliance regulations, Dr. Dunaway was dragged off to a coding conference by his office manager (his idea of doctors' hell is an endless coding seminar!).

Despite being bored stiff at the seminar, he paid enough attention to figure out a much less painful alternative to coding by developing an algorithm. A chance meeting with a colleague, who noted his improved chart documentation and praised the algorithm, was enough to encourage him to write a book for other physicians. 

From there a business and ultimately a new career were born.

What struck me the most, as I listened to his story, was how successful entrepreneurs parlay their frustrations with their industry, or even their everyday experiences, into solutions not only for themselves, but also for others who are as irked as they are. Instead of grumbling and submitting, they fight back creatively – often with a product or service that reduces or removes a widely-felt pain. Their solutions adhere to a solid business principle: address a need and, above all, solve a problem!

As you move through your day, pay attention. What bugs you the most? In what ways could you imagine doing things better? Or providing a solution? Any good ideas coming up?