Ep #013: Justin McKay
We Can Do Better: A Conversation with Justin McKay
What if one of healthcare's biggest safety risks has been hiding in plain sight, right under our noses… literally!
Lead aprons are used every day in hospitals, imaging suites, and dental offices to protect healthcare workers and patients from radiation exposure. But how often are they cleaned? Inspected? Repaired?
In this episode of Bluestock Talk, Allison sits down with Justin McKay, co-founder of RadCare Services, to explore this often-overlooked aspect of healthcare quality. What began with Justin developing an infection after wearing a shared lead apron became the catalyst for building a company dedicated to improving patient safety, PPE compliance, and quality assurance across healthcare.
His message is simple:
"We can do better."
Together, they discuss why quality shouldn't be viewed as a burden, why preventing problems is always better than reacting to them, and how innovation often begins by asking questions that everyone else has stopped asking.
Along the way, they explore:
The connection between proper maintenance, infection control, and patient safety
What organizations can learn from adopting a proactive, rather than a reactive, approach to risk
How perseverance helped transform an overlooked idea into a growing company
The conversation also highlights the importance of asking difficult questions, challenging long-standing practices, and remembering that innovation doesn't always require inventing something new. It can begin by improving the systems already in place. If that’s not a metaphor for life, then what is?!
Key Takeaways
Patient safety can often depend on the details that go unnoticed
Quality systems exist to protect people, not create bureaucracy
Preventative maintenance can reduce unnecessary risk for both patients and providers
Healthcare innovation frequently starts by solving overlooked problems
Chapters
00:00 Intro and Justin's healthcare journey
03:30 The story that inspired RadCare Services
08:30 Lead aprons, PPE, and hidden infection risks
14:30 Why quality systems matter more than most people realize
22:30 Changing the perception of quality and regulatory compliance
28:30 Growing a company through education and persistence
35:00 Rethinking long-standing hospital practices
Whether you work in healthcare, MedTech, QA, RA, infection prevention, or simply care about improving patient outcomes, this episode offers a look at how small changes can make a big difference.
Justin is the co-founder of RadCare Services, a company focused on helping healthcare organizations improve the cleaning, inspection, repair, management, and compliance of lead aprons and other radiological protective equipment. His mission is rooted in a simple belief: Healthcare can, and should, do better.
Learn more at https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinmckay22/ and https://www.linkedin.com/company/radcare-services/.
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