Posts tagged as:

Health care

Each week I’m highlighting 3 or 4 posts, surveys, and other news that I have read and/or tweeted about that you may not have seen. As the name implies, I think they deserve a second look.

  • How Ford Got Its Mojo Back: A must-read post about smart business strategy reveals how Ford CEO Alan Mulally valued employees and used a combination of transparency, energy, and long-term thinking to bring the automaker back from the brink.
  • Driving Value in Health Care: “Today’s health delivery system and payment framework does not reward innovation around health management, prevention, and real-time consumer engagement… To truly shift the business of health, we need to drive the right combination of structural change, innovation and use of technology to create a better system–essentially, drive real value for every dollar spent.” Smart thinking around shifting the model.
  • China’s First Entrepreneur: The BBC looks at the courage, smarts, and serendipity it took to become China’s first licensed entrepreneur.

Photo by omniNate (Flickr).

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Hip Hop Doc Takes on H1N1

by Daria Steigman on September 24, 2009

The H1N1 virus is serious business, but talking about flu prevention shouldn’t be deadly dull. Now it’s not, thanks to this public service announcement by “hip hop doc” John Clarke, whose day job is medical director for the Long Island Railroad.

Clarke had the winning entry in a contest this summer by the Departments of Health and Human Services and Education to solicit PSAs about flu prevention.

I like how the judges thought about their primary audience (H1N1 is disproportionately affecting kids, teens, and 20-somethings) and looked for an approach that focuses on how to communicate, not just what to say.

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Second Look: Hospitals, Blind Spots, and Spell Checkers

by Daria Steigman on September 16, 2009

Each week I’m highlighting 3 or 4 posts, surveys, and other news that I have read and/or tweeted about that you may not have seen. As the name implies, I think they deserve a second look.

Here’s your second look for this week:

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What Happens the Day After Health Reform?

by Daria Steigman on September 14, 2009

Marching for Health ReformEnacting health reform is the easy part. What happens the day after?

The University of Chicago held a terrific forum on health care on Sept. 10 in Washington. It was headlined by HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who said that “what we’re really talking about is transforming a system of care in America.”

So what comes next? A panel with some very smart people, including Kavita Patel from the White House Office of Public Engagement, offered their insights and a sense of how much hard work lies ahead. Some key takeaways:

  • Do we really want to reform health care, or do we want to reform the health of Americans? The latter means also tackling related issues, such as food deserts and the lack of sidewalks and open space.
  • Patients and providers need real-time data, which means we need to create information exchanges for outcomes-driven care based on objective, transparent information.
  • We need to reform the payment and incentive systems to get to better care rather than more care.
  • There is a moral imperative for health reform: the health of our community affects us. (Think SARS or H1N1.)
  • How are we going to handle the 46 million uninsured who will suddenly enter the health care pipeline?
  • When did it become socially acceptable for physicians not to take patients because they have no money?

My head’s still spinning. Your thoughts?

Photo by seiuhealthcare775nw (Flickr).

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Shots, School Kids, and Smart Branding

by Daria Steigman on September 10, 2009

childrens-hospital-dr-bearChildren’s National Medical Center is trying to take some of the ouch out of immunizations with this mobile health unit. I shot the picture when the health team was taking a break from getting school kids around the city up-to-date on their required shots.

What a great mix of public health, branding, and core mission.

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