Health Care Strategist

(You may want to skip this post if you’re tired of airport stories.) Do you knowingly hire idiots? I hope not, but if so, take a moment to idiot-proof your products. Last weekend, I had the misfortune to fly to and from the Minneapolis airport (if you’ve been there you know what I mean.)  Breaking up the interminable journey from parking to gate, I stopped at a Bluwire kiosk to buy new headphones. Seated at my gate several thousand steps later, the a-JAYS Two fashion-forward, style-above-all case resisted my increasingly profane “Open Sesame” entreaties. Arrgh. Back to Bluwire. “No refunds and, by the way, you need something sharp to open the case ” said the idiot.  (Apparently they're way nicer to "prospects" than to "customers."  Got it.  You've banked my money and now want me to board a plane to some far-off destination.) Something sharp…in an airport…on the “clean” side of security…tick-tock…wait for it. (Cue Homer Simpson) “Doh! You ...

Perhaps a useful model for hospitals planning an ACO... "The nonprofit Center for Health Value Innovation (CHVI) has developed a new online tool to help U.S. employers faced with staggering health care costs design benefits to get more value for their money – resulting in healthier, engaged employees. Released today, the Health Value Accelerator™ is an easy-to-use online tool that allows an employer to create an actionable report founded on value-based benefit design to maximize their health care investments." [...] "Employer data securely entered into the online tool includes: the number of employees and covered lives; total health care costs for recent years; percentage of health costs spent on pharmaceuticals; percentage of population diagnosed with cardio-metabolic conditions (a group of risk factors such as obesity, hypertension, high cholesterol, smoking, diabetes and depression) and level of medication adherence for these conditions; percentage of employee p...

Chicago-area Adventist Midwest Health comes clean about “merely average” costumer service results. It’s an unusual approach, but far better than pretending. Is your service merely average? If so, I’ll bet you’re hesitant to dish publicly. It’s tough to say “We know we’re not very good and here’s what we’re doing about it.” But exactly whom do you think your silence is fooling? Your customers already know. Their friends know. Your employees know, and their friends, too. Silence Is Not Golden That leaves you, dear leader, stuck and alone in a conspiracy of silence. Sure, you want to fix everything, touch greatness, and THEN brag about it. That could work. But if it did you wouldn’t be in this mess in the first place, now would you? You needn’t be perfect to begin winning back that lost loyalty. Confession, we're told, is good for the soul.  It's a healthy habit for businesses, too. Better to admit the obvious and get the discussion back on your side.  ...

From Maggie Mahar's Health Beat blog , what happens when a local newspaper investigates  cost variations and quality issues at local hospitals?  At least in Dallas, the results aren't pretty. Many organizations have a love/hate relationship with the media. They love the warm fuzzies and hate probing questions. My philosophy is to take 'em as they come and "Never pick a fight with someone who buys ink by the barrel" (a quote variously attributed to Mark Twain and Oscar Wilde.)

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"If you want to build a ship, don't drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea." - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

ATTN: Hospital Marketers! You're in the somewhat fortunate position of being your organization's "captive agency." But what if your internal customers were empowered to buy marketing services from anybody, anywhere, including from outside agencies? Would they still buy from you? Are you and your team good enough to compete on that basis? Are you world-class builders of competitive advantage? Easy to work with? Results-oriented? Communicative? Are you trend-aware early adopters or behind the curve, hoping nobody notices?  Do you produce "best possible" results with "lowest necessary" investments? It's a wired, connected, free-agent world out there, with heightened standards and expectations.  Measure up or prepare to be moved out.

Newswise.com : " George Washington University researchers have been awarded two grants from the McKesson Foundation as part of its Mobilizing for Health initiative , an initiative to improve the health of underserved populations with chronic diseases through the use of mobile-phone technology. The Mobilizing for Health grants, of up to $250,000 each, will support studies on diabetes care and management." One grant supports a study examining SMS messaging's potential to reduce ER visits for people with diabetes. The other study is a randomized, controlled trial of a cell phone-based software application for patients with diabetes and hypertension.

Medical News Today : The 'digital divide' among primary care patients adopting an online personal health record (PHR.) "PHRs aim to increase patient access to personal health information, however wide use of PHRs will be difficult to achieve if patients cannot access this information because of a lack of Internet or computer access." [...] "In this study, we found the presence of a digital divide in a diverse population. Specifically, racial/ethnic minorities and patients with lower socioeconomic status were less likely to adopt a PHR. However, both of these groups used the PHR as much as other groups if they were able to adopt it. Whether the digital divide was caused by barriers in access to technology or reflects long-standing disparities in health-seeking behavior is less clear."

Look WAY beyond the hospital.  Jean Mah and Robin Guenther, two health-care design experts at architecture firm Perkins + Will, look at what the future holds for our health care system; "Today’s health care delivery system was developed in an era of infectious disease, trauma, technological breakthroughs, and the rise of medical education; it is not optimized for the day-to-day management of 21st century chronic diseases. It is huge, unwieldy, and it lacks agility. It is not about health promotion or disease prevention; it is optimized for disease treatment. [...] "...while there will always be the need for high-acuity, high-technology hospital buildings, the question is whether the majority of health care encounters can be facilitated in low-impact, low-energy community and home settings. " Read more, here , from Fast Company's Co.Design.

As an innovator and investor, I'm acutely interested in the local business climate for startups and venture capitalists. It looks like more Chicago-area tech startups are able to stick around thanks to local incubators and funding sources.   Still, many entrepreneurs hear "You need to move to Silicon Valley (or Austin, or...) before we'll consider funding you." Is that siren song fading?  I hope so. More about Chicago and start-ups, here . Quote for the day:  "Perception is strong and sight weak. In strategy it is important to see distant things as if they were close and to take a distanced view of close things." (Miyamoto Musashi 1584-1645, legendary Japanese swordsman)

Rock Health , San Francisco's newest incubator, is focused on health apps in the mHealth and Health 2.0 space. Fellows receive operational and strategic support, mentoring and access to capital.  (The graphic is from Rock Health's web site.) Thanks to Brian Dolan at MobiHealthNews for the heads-up.

ATTN: Inventors, mentors and engineers! From MedCity News: "The University of Minnesota’s Medical Innovation Fellows Program is recruiting a four person cross-disciplinary team of postgraduate engineers, seasoned medical device professionals, bioscientists and physicians to collaborate in medical device product and development for one year. The program is sponsored by the UMN Medical Devices Center, part of the Institute for Engineering in Medicine. "Applicants must be dedicated to the creation of new medical devices to improve human health and well being. Those with a special interest in medical technology development are encouraged to apply as are physicians in their residency or fellowship training. "Applicants should apply for the Medical Devices Center Innovation Fellow Position (Requisition Number 170512) through the University of Minnesota’s Online Employment System . They will be asked to submit a cover letter, resume or curriculum vitae, statement of medic...

Whenever I'm appointed to another committee, I'm tempted to ask what must I do to be impeached. “ A committee is a cul-de-sac down which ideas are lured and then quietly strangled.” (Sir Barnett Cocks) "If computers get too powerful, we can organize them into a committee -- that will do them in." (Bradley's Bromide) "If Columbus had an advisory committee he would probably still be at the dock." (Arthur Goldberg) "Football is a mistake. It combines the two worst elements of American life. Violence and committee meetings." (George F. Will) "A committee is a group of the unprepared, appointed by the unwilling to do the unnecessary." (Fred Allen) "What is a committee?  A group of the unwilling, picked from the unfit, to do the unnecessary."  (Richard Harkness) "Meetings are a great trap. Soon you find yourself trying to get agreement and then the people who disagree come to think they have a right to be persua...

Wrong.  From Carl Schramm at Forbes : "In the past 15 years, despite a doubling of federal funds for biomedical R&D, the number of new drugs approved by the FDA and coming to market has decreased by nearly half — from around 40 per year in the late 1990s to a little over 20 per year since 2005. Pre-market testing to meet FDA requirements has become such a huge factor in drug development budgets that it’s hard for companies to even consider working on new products with limited market potential." Biomedical innovations are likely to come first to market in faster-moving regions - Singapore, the more progressive Arab states, perhaps India and China.  Health providers may think this is Big Pharma's problem to solve.  They're wrong.  Anything encouraging medical tourism - as earlier access to life-saving innovations certainly does - is one more hole in the bottom of providers' already-leaky lifeboat.  It's in everybody's interest to see that innovation ...

From MedCity News:  Cleveland, OH's Access Mobility has developed a mobile patient adherence system it calls CellepathicRx. The app sends medication reminders and wellness tips to patients, as well as coupons and advertisements. From Bay News 9 in Tampa Bay, FL: Health care goes mobile, but who pays? "...the market for telemedicine hardware has grown to an estimated $125 million, according to research firm InMedica. The sector encompasses everything from self-dispensing pill boxes - designed to prevent medication errors - to smart phone applications that help diabetics manage their blood sugar levels. "The tricky part is finding a way to pay for telemedicine which doesn't fit into the traditional U.S. health care model centered around visits to the hospital and the doctor's office. . " But you need not wait until hospitals reinvent the health care business to benefit from telemedicine.   There are already roughly 17,000 health-related applications...

Has Health Industry Group Purchasing Assn. president Curtis Rooney heard of Michael Porter or his "five forces" scheme for assessing an industry's competitive structure?  Doubtful. Notice off to the left there, a force titled "Bargaining Power of Suppliers?" (Click on the graphic for a better view.)  Apparently in Rooney's health care, that force only works in one direction. Instead of seeing Medtronic's canceling of several GPO contracts as a predictable attempt to shift some bargaining power back to device manufacturers, Rooney calls it “nothing short of an attack on America’s hospitals.” Yeah, that'll help. Funny, I can't find 'the power of the pulpit" anywhere on Porter's chart.  Those who can compete, do.  Those who can't, issue whiny, self-serving proclamations.

Put "Random Acts of Kindness" on your brand strategy's radar screen for the next little while. Why? From the the folks at Trendwatching.com , "R.A.K. appeal to the vast (and ever-growing) number of consumers who make up GENERATION G (that’s G for Generosity not Greed). Disgusted with big, arrogant, sloppy and out of touch institutions, fed-up consumers around the world increasingly expect businesses to be socially, ethically and environmentally responsible: 71% of people “make it a point to buy brands from companies whose values are similar to my own.” (Source: Young & Rubicam, August 2010.) In 2006, ‘strong financial performance’ was the third most important factor for US consumers in determining corporate reputation. By 2010, financial returns had fallen to the bottom of Edelman’s rankings, while ‘transparent and honest practices’ and ‘company I can trust’ were the two most important. (Source: Edelman Trust Barometer, 2010.)  87% of UK consumers expect ...

 I see many hospitals building their competitive position around 'things' - bricks and mortar, shiny procedural technologies, robotics.  Why might this be a really bad idea? Because as competitive positions go, those based on so-called gadgets and gizmos go 'poof' the minute a deep-pocketed competitor writes a big check.  Hospital 'A' may have had it first, but, worst case, they've now spent their time and money educating the marketplace on their new competitor's behalf.  "You have a robot?  Hey, so do we!"  Back to the status quo ante , thank you very much.  'Things' are just means to an end, inputs to desired outputs.  Achieve those ends, produce those outputs better and cheaper than anybody else and you've really got something on which to build. Enduring competitive advantages are based on unique capabilities that cannot be purchased but must be developed through intense processes of learning and listening, innovating a...

An old joke: Q: What's the difference between lawyers and laboratory rats?  A: Lawyers are more numerous, they don't engender as much emotional attachment and there's some things lab rats just won't do.  Why the legal-beagle rag?  Maybe it's time for a modern re-write of the joke, comparing lawyers to  software engineers and car designers. Or just blame it on an interesting juxtaposition of articles in the NY Times .  First, armies of expensive lawyers are being replaced by cheaper software.  Software that doesn't get tired, suffer from headaches or demand to be made partner.  Software that slogs through millions of documents, looking for key words, patterns, inferences...the raw materials of legal leverage. No longer called simply document review (which isn't billable) it's now "inferential analysis" (which might be.)   "“The economic impact will be huge,” said Tom Mitchell, chairman of the machine learning department at Carnegi...