External link to The Road to Wellville: Design Observer by Jay Parkinson

The Road to Wellville: Design Observer by Jay Parkinson

Here are my thoughts on designing healthcare around our country’s health needs, rather than history and profitability published today in Design Observer (and that’s no coincidence). I think Design Observer is one of the most relevant sites on the internet. I grew up outside St. Louis, Missouri. When I was a child, my grandparents lived in northern Arkansas. I made that road trip countless times. … Continue reading The Road to Wellville: Design Observer by Jay Parkinson

Yesteryear’s healthcare pilot projects are inadequate for today’s problems.

I just finished reading Atul Gawande’s latest article in the New Yorker, Testing, Testing: The healthcare bill has no master plan for controlling costs. Is that a bad thing? He draws parallels to the history of agriculture in America: At the start of the twentieth century, another indispensable but unmanageably costly sector was strangling the country: agriculture. In 1900, more than forty per cent of … Continue reading Yesteryear’s healthcare pilot projects are inadequate for today’s problems.

External link to A clinic with two doors– the future of healthcare in America.

A clinic with two doors– the future of healthcare in America.

At the Lenox Hill clinic, on the insurance side, Helen waited 15 days to get an appointment. On the day of her mammogram, she stood in line at the reception desk in a crowded waiting room. An elderly patient wandered the reception area in her hospital gown, pleading for someone to help her. In the changing room, Helen’s gown was the usual thin seersucker. The … Continue reading A clinic with two doors– the future of healthcare in America.

What they should have been taking away all of this time – and have increasingly begun to – are the concepts of the constant beta and agile development,” he says. “Marketers need to abandon the time-limited campaign online and start to think of it as a constant application of a rigorous discipline. They should think of their marketing the same way that Facebook puts out … Continue reading

Need a hernia surgery? That’ll be $2500, $5000, or $20,000.

The other night I met a really awesome general surgeon here in NYC at my regular haunt, Hotel Delmano, to discuss Hello Health and what it means to surgeons. His name is Dr. Evan Goldstein and his practice is Tribeca Surgical. Should you need a surgeon, you’d be hard pressed to find one better than Evan. He’ll give you his email and mobile number and … Continue reading Need a hernia surgery? That’ll be $2500, $5000, or $20,000.

…those who have the ability to imagine new services, new opportunities and new ways to recruit work [are] being retained. They are the new untouchables. That is the key to understanding our full education challenge today. Those who are waiting for this recession to end so someone can again hand them work could have a long wait. Those with the imagination to make themselves untouchables … Continue reading

External link to What would happen if everyone was required to spend up to 10% of their salary out of pocket on healthcare before insurance kicks in?

What would happen if everyone was required to spend up to 10% of their salary out of pocket on healthcare before insurance kicks in?

This would apply to everyone making 300% over poverty. And of this group, how many actually spend over 10% out of pocket on healthcare? A fraction. These stats are hard to find, but I’d wager that 80-85% of people could spend less than $5,000 per year on actual healthcare usage. If you make $50,000 a year as a family, you spend $5,000 out of your … Continue reading What would happen if everyone was required to spend up to 10% of their salary out of pocket on healthcare before insurance kicks in?

When it starts in silos, it will never “go social.”

I’ve been an avid Google fan for quite some time. I pretty much love almost everything they do. I would pay a pretty penny every year just to use gmail, reader, calendar, and docs. And over the years, it’s been fascinating to watch them try to become social. Google’s greatest hits (search, gmail, and maps) were made for me in my own personal silo. I … Continue reading When it starts in silos, it will never “go social.”