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.
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.
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:
Step 2: Fix the Problem: The Joint Commission, which assesses hospitals on their success in meeting patient safety standards, has decided to help solve the problems it identifies. As the Wall Street Journal health blog points out, the Joint Commission decided to launch its new Center for Transforming Healthcare after hearing hospital executives say, “You need to stop telling us only about the problems and start telling us how to fix them.”
Leadership Blind Spots: Good article from Business Week about recognizing three key leadership blind spots–going it alone, situational cluelessness, and silence.
Enacting 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 someverysmartpeople, 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?
Children’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.
Am I missing something? I really don’t get all the handwringing among insurers and the pharmaceutical industry about a public health plan component to reform. One of the latest naysayers is Eli Lilly’s CEO, John Lechleiter, who said that a public plan is “a slippery slope towards the days when all Americans would get their health insurance through a government-run plan.”
As a business owner, I face competition every day. And almost all of it is from companies that are far bigger players in the marketing communications field. Heck, unless you’re also a solopreneur, everyone is bigger than I am.
I realize that insurers fear that Americans will drop their private insurance and flock to a government plan. That’s likely true. But companies typically lose their customers because they aren’t valuing them or providing value to them. This happens every day. And yet, while cost alone may determine some purchasing decisions, examples abound where we will pay a premium to support a brand we love. Nike makes money selling high-end running shoes; Apple’s enthusiasts pay top dollars for a mobile phone. In the insurance arena, I’ve accepted higher auto premiums in exchange for terrific service.
My advice to the insurance industry: Stop worrying about possible competition and look at what you can do to deliver what your customers want.
Welcome to Steigman Communications and the Independent Thinking blog. Daria Steigman is a business-savvy communications strategist who helps organizations develop and execute communications solutions to help them achieve their business goals. Her blog looks at the business of running a business, entrepreneurship, communications, social media, strategic thinking, and--of course--Independent Thinking.
Enacting health reform is the easy part. What happens the day after?
