By Evan Falchuk

Kaihan Krippendorff of Fast Company magazine has written two interesting profiles of Best Doctors for Fast Company.

Kaihan is an expert in business strategy, keenly interested in what it takes to build a successful business.   We talked about how the work we do at Best Doctors impacts people’s lives, and how those stories inspire us to make a great company.

One of those stories was the woman I talked about in the article.  She was one of the first cases I learned about when I joined Best Doctors.

She was in her 30s, and over the course of a few months, she started to lose her vision.  Specialists diagnosed her with a brain tumor.   It seemed that a tumor had grown in an area of her brain that was pressing on the optic nerve.  As it grew, her vision got worse.  She was scheduled for surgery to remove the tumor.

She had Best Doctors as a benefit of her job, and called for help, asking the questions many people ask us.  Is this the right treatment for me?  Are there other alternatives?

We reviewed all of her medical information.  It raised some important questions about the original diagnosis, and our team thought it was important to involve an expert in differentiating brain tumors from other kinds of problems.  He agreed something might not be right.

It was possible, he said, that what appeared to be a tumor was actually an inflammatory disease called sarcoidosis.  It’s a chronic illness that can create the kinds of problems the woman was facing.  His recommendation: before taking her into surgery, treat her with anti-inflammatory medication, and see what happens.  If it’s sarcoidosis, the “tumor” will shrink, and her vision will come back.  If not, then, you know the original diagnosis was correct.

We delivered this information to her and to her doctor.  They agreed to follow this recommendation – and in a short time, her sight started to come back.  A follow-up study confirmed the expert’s suspicion – she had sarcoidosis.

Now, she still had a disease needed treatment.  But she avoided an unnecessary surgery, that carried great risks, and a painful recovery.

It’s stories like these that inspire us, and it’s what Kaihn calls building “moral force:”

Stories like this move people. They give your employees a sense of meaning and pull the community to cheer for your success. They also show your clients that you exist for a bigger purpose than making profit.

I will be speaking with Kaihan on a free executive briefing, hosted by Fast Company on Monday, January 24 at noon ET.  Kaihan is a terrifically insightful person, so it promises to be an interesting conversation that you won’t want to miss.  

Click here to register and listen in.

UPDATE: Don’t miss Kaihan’s third piece on Best Doctors, which you can read here.