Click here:  Hear Robby’s Light Rock 105 with Heather in Hollywood interview now!

Robby found out Heather’s dad is Jeff Ringler. Jeff was the head of SVS the precursor to SONY Pictures, and he was responsible for green-lighting MODERN LOVE (SVS/Sony 1990) written, produced and directed by Robby and starring Benson, Karla DeVito, Burt Reynolds, Rue McClanahan, Louise Lasser, Frankie Valli, Cliff Bemis, and introducing LYRIC BENSON!

This was taken by Karla while Lyric was recording her album on Cape Cod.

Check out Lyric’s website for the latest!

Benson has had four open-heart surgeries at four different hospitals over the past 27 years for a congenital valve defect. In May of 2010 he had a successful reverse Ross Procedure at The Cleveland Clinic by the only man in the world who performs them, Dr. Gosta Pettersson. Impressed by the history of The Cleveland Clinic and the entire system headed by innovative CEO Dr. Delos ‘Toby’ Cosgrove, Robby speaks from real patient experience when he says he believes The Cleveland Clinic is the world leader in excellent and empathetic patient care, and should be the template for healthcare in America. Cleveland Clinic Heart Care has been ranked #1 in America for 16 years in a row by U.S. News & World Report.

Robby recently completed his upcoming book, I’M NOT DEAD… YET! a medical memoir of surviving a congenital valve defect while forging ahead with a dynamic career in and out of Hollywood. Benson’s goal is to help open heart patients and their loved ones get through surgery and recovery with knowledge and humor. He has mentored many cardiac patients and their families over the past twenty-seven years. Robby has spoken before the Senate Appropriation Committee in Washington, DC on behalf of heart research funding for the NIH, and he represented the American Heart Association with the late Senator Ted Kennedy and Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, in support of the Kennedy Hatch bill to stop tobacco companies from sponsoring sporting events and promoting their products to minors.

Below is information about the patient experience movement and May Summit from The Cleveland Clinic Website:

No provider can afford to offer anything less than the best clinical, physical and emotional experience to patients and families. As patients become savvier, they judge healthcare providers not only on clinical outcomes, but also on their ability to be compassionate and deliver excellent, patient-centered care.

Patient Experience: A Key Differentiator
The Empathy and Innovation Summit is a three-day, multidisciplinary conference devoted to exploring patient experience as a key differentiator essential to the future of healthcare delivery. Click here to see the complete agenda.

Summit Format
The Summit’s unique format provides specialty tracks for healthcare social media experts and a special agenda for nurses on Sunday, May 22. Click here to see the complete agenda.

Expert Panelists
The Summit features expert panel discussions about the national patient experience movement. The Summit provides participants from all disciplines the opportunity to identify shared challenges and inspire innovative solutions that will transform the patient experience and elevate customer satisfaction as a competitive differentiator.

Call for Abstracts
You are invited to submit an abstract describing established programs or developing programs which build empathy between caregivers and patients. Programs may be in developmental stages for consideration in the poster session. Programs with outcomes will be given highest priority.

Stakeholders include: Global thought leaders and providers in healthcare, academia and business.

Sponsors
The Empathy and Innovation Summit is sponsored by the Cleveland Clinic Office of Patient Experience and the generous support of these sponsors:

Partner – GE

Gold Sponsor – Press Ganey

Funny and revealing.

On Beast:  ”I’ve never been so perfectly typecast.”

On love:  ”I do completely believe in love…I’m a complete romantic.”

Also discusses his upcoming book I’M NOT DEAD… YET!

Click on the link  “Robby Benson’s role as the Beast” and check it out!

Robby’s new book coming soon!

An autobiographical journey to help patients and their loved ones navigate through open heart surgery and recovery with knowledge and humor.

Robby’s first book, WHO STOLE THE FUNNY? A NOVEL OF HOLLYWOOD published by HarperCollins (2007) made the best seller list of the L.A. Times.

Peter Travers tweets his lesson from Reggie Miller: ONE ON ONE with Robby Benson

REGGIE MILLER NBA legend and star of the new documentary WINNING TIME just screened at Sundance, gives film critic Peter Travers the definitive answer to the question — what hoops film Hollywood got right?  One on One with Robby Benson.

Thanks for schooling him Reggie!