Healthcare: Not just another business

Health | Ano Lobb | Friday 20th November 2009

A reader comment on a posting about electronic medical records (EMR) suggests that medicine needs to follow other industries into the digital age. This is likely inevitable: Medical record keeping is bound to become more digitized over time. The primary reasons are monetary: It facilitates the generation of bills to send to patients and payers, the jury is still out on whether it increases quali
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Leading News and Opinion

	Valuing Yourself & Being Paid Responsible Careers \| Cynthia Stringer \| Monday 16th November 2009 In this economic climate businesses have available to them a gluttony of well-qualified if not over qualified candidates. Because of this companies can and are not paying people what they are worth, asking people to work well below their financial threshold or are encouraging unpaid internships. There are ways to move beyond this. What is important is to position youself in a way that will make a difference and add value. Don't allow others to set your worth, do it for yourself. The first step is to set in your minds eye a definite plan of action and goal for your career and integrate into that plan a specific amount of money that your skills and talents are worth. You have to begin first valuing yourself and your professional plan before anyone else will. The next step is a reality check to see what the market is paying in your region and around the world. Identify how you compare to others with your similar background and skills. Begin to do research and network with others who are doing what you do and who are hiring people like you. The more timely information that you have the easier it is to negotiate and speak your value to others. One very important step is to gain or highlight your specific skills in the area you are applying for. What works very well is developing an on line portfolio of your work as well as hard copy samples. This is a tremendous way to keep yourself focused and on target as to what you are accomplishing. It also facilitates you in speaking the specific results and value you have provided. Read More

	Global Entrepreneurship Week Social Enterprise \| Marcia Stepanek \| Monday 16th November 2009 Innovators have always been heroes, whether or not the marketplace liked their inventions or immediately recognized them for their brilliance. [Think Philo Farnsworth (TV), Preston Tucker (1948 Torpedo automobile), Alexander Fleming (Penicillin) and Steve Jobs, just for starters.] But today's entrepreneurial landscape is different. More than any other time in recent history, it is crowded with new venture ideas. Today's business and non-profit worlds favor the young and the globally conscious, and even in the most destitute corners of the world, young social innovators are more start-up savvy than ever. They're not waiting for permission to get started: the world's problems have rarely seemed so daunting. To commemorate Global Entrepreneurship Week (#GEW), which runs this week in 85 nations [including the United States], this blog will be posting three short "Changemaker" profiles spotlighting a few of the most dynamic new social entrepreneurs using the mobile Internet today. To be sure, we profile many innovators on this blog -- regardless of what week it is. But this week and next, we'll focus on a few who are testing new ways to use new "right here, right now" mobile technologies to improve the world as we know it. Read More

	Green Isn't Everything Social Enterprise \| Marcia Stepanek \| Monday 16th November 2009 It's critical that consumers and employees hold businesses accountable to their social marketing hype, says Adam Werbach, the former Sierra Club President-turned-sustainability chief for advertising giant Saatchi and Saatchi. And "we've got to get out of this thinking that says sustainability is only about being green," he told attendees of this year's Net Impact Conference, a national gathering of social innovators at Cornell University. Werbach, the CEO of Saatchi and Saatchi S -- the marketing icon's new sustainability arm -- is also the author of the new book, Strategy for Sustainability, in which he urges the business world to consider long-term profitability and transparency and not just environmentalism in its sustainability goals going forward. At 23, Werbach was named to head the Sierra Club; he was its youngest-ever president. Now 35, Werbach -- who sold his global PR and marketing firm, Act Now, to Saatchi last year -- says he has expanded his definition of sustainability to include "internal innovation" by companies in every aspect of how they make, buy, sell, and produce their products. Just as key now as being green, Werbach says, is how closely aligned companies are with their employees and customers -- and how outspoken these stakeholders are in making sure the companies they work for or patronize walk the talk. "The financial meltdown marked the beginning of a new relationship between companies and their customers," Werbach said Saturday, "... and acting on the right values across the board is critical." Read More

	That Turkey Isn't All That Ethical Ethical Consumption \| Caitlin Chock \| Monday 16th November 2009 Out with the bird and in with the Tofurkey?! Okay, you may think that this is an almost criminal suggestion or shudder at the thought of removing the staple that is turkey from your Thanksgiving day feast from the table. But before you grab your fork and head for that piece of thigh meat consider what I have to say. I'm sure it's not a huge shock that Thanksgiving constitutes one of the greatest days of turkey consumption each year, and in the United States alone that can be upwards of 45 million gobblers! Take that and then add this: the meat industry is a black hole for greenhouse gas emissions. In being a more ethical shopper, you may do well to sing the praises of soy meat, or a vegetarian entree. How in the world could your turkey be contributing to global warming you may ask? Well this is due to a few different reasons. Firstly, the amount of grain that is fed to turkeys around the world is astronomical. In fact, it was documented in a study at Cornell University, that a whopping 40% of the world's grain supply does not go to any human source, but instead down the gullet of turkeys. And of course what goes in, must come out, and in going through their natural processes, these turkeys are responsible for soil erosion and other land altering effects. Further, these birds are drinking up a large amount of water, and this of course is in a supply that is not everlasting. Read More

	Being Ethical Turkey Day Consumers Ethical Consumption \| Caitlin Chock \| Monday 16th November 2009 In thinking about all it means to be an ethical shopper this time of the year, I think it is worth noting that there is definitely something to giving back that which we have. Certainly with Thanksgiving on the immediate horizon, there are those all eagerly anticipating the basting, the mashing, the stuffing, the chopping, and the the pie baking that is to be had. But of course that pales in comparison to the eating that will follow suit! Yes, for those lucky enough to be surrounded by their friends and family (Yes, even an Aunt Laura who always knows best, or an Uncle Mike who simply knows it all!) this time of the year can be both blessed and joyous. Yet there are plenty of those who are going without, or celebrating alone, and even families that fill their homes with love but the table dressing may be lacking. When it comes to the holidays, especially Thanksgiving and the Christmas season in particular, they are often met with a mixture of happiness and sadness. It is true that around these times the crime rates rise, as do the suicide rates, which can lead some to think that this could potentially be a depressing time of year too. Yet it doesn't necessarily need to be that way, as even the power of a friendly smile has been known to brighten the mood or day of a stranger. It is often overlooked the many ways we can effect others as we go about our daily lives; the opening of a single door for an elderly citizen struggling with arthritis, the suggestion of accurate directions for the lost, and the wave across the street could unknowingly hold a great impact on the receiving end. Read More

	Be rigorous, but don't be fair Health \| Ano Lobb \| Sunday 15th November 2009 Last week I was one of about 13,000 people attending the annual meeting of the American Public Health Association. Despite the thousands of scientific, programmatic and policy presentations, mine was one of few addressing the general area of corporate social responsibilities, conflicts of interest, and business ethics. My presentation applied these lenses to the pharmaceutical industry, and just like it was last year, the response was enthusiastic, with organizers requesting more for next year. (I'll discuss some of my paper findings in an upcoming posting.) It seems that the very topics that fuel Justmeans are in great demand in the world of public health. As in any scientific setting, the role of advocacy can sometimes become strained. There is often a perception that rigorous science is an objective activity steeped in fairness that takes no sides in political or policy battles. This is a misconception in my book. Tam Ormiston, a wonderful man and the chief deputy attorney general for the state of Iowa, once admonished a room of colleagues at a public health meeting that "we must be rigorous, but not fair." Trained as a lawyer, he has advocacy in his veins, and that belief that rigor does not necessarily equal fairness has become one of my central professional beliefs every since I heard Mr. Ormiston utter those words. When objectivity puts arrows in your opponents quiver, its best avoided. Read More

	End Petitions to End Hunger Sustainable Development \| Sara Wolcott \| Friday 13th November 2009 Today, I was going to write about the upcoming World Summit on Food Security hosted by the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), the major UN organization concerned with food, hunger, nutrition, agriculture, etc etc etc, and highlight the rising role of business in ending hunger. Then I checked out their website. And I, with a great deal of respect for FAO's ongoing struggle to contribute to sustainable development, got rather pissed off. What got me was the call on the website for a global petition to end hunger, a problem that effects over 1 in 6 people around the world. It's a serious problem in sustainable development. Those numbers have only gone up in recent years, due largely to domestic food prices, lower incomes and increasing unemployment - a result in part to the financial crisis slowly rippling down and around the world. Why are people hungry? They can't afford to buy food or are not able to produce their own. Solution? Various solutions can (and have) included: lower food prices, enable them to produce their own food (or produce higher quantities/better yields), enable them to buy food (cash transfers, for example), increase their income/spending power, end extreme poverty, food programs (giving out food during certain periods/for specific groups of people), improving access/transportation/distribution (so that the food we have goes to the people who need it. Read More

	Grocery Gleaning: Second Harvest Reduces Food Waste Sustainable Food \| Tricia Edgar \| Friday 13th November 2009 There's a second harvest going on in my neighborhood. It's a harvest that happens throughout the year, regardless of the season or the weather. What is it? It's a harvest of unused fruits and vegetables from the local grocery stores. A long, long time ago, I was in high school. I was interested in canning, so I went to the local grocery store to buy some pears. A staff person was loading the overripe pears into a cart. I asked to buy the pears so that I could can them that day, but I was told that they were no longer suitable for sale. When I asked the management of the store, they confirmed that they needed to move out the older produce and replace it with newer items that people would buy. Things have changed, at least somewhat. Now we recognize that a vast quantity of food is wasted in grocery stores. There is also recognition that people can still eat much of this food - it's not overripe, it's just too ripe to sell. Yes, it's an issue that is carefully monitored by health departments, but food banks and soup kitchens have started grocery store gleaning programs, and they're getting fruit and vegetables into the hands and mouths of those who need them. Even college campuses are getting into the act. Determined to reduce the amount of food that is wasted from campus cafeterias, the Campus Kitchen Project redirects cafeteria food to those in need. Student volunteers deliver the meals. Read More

	School for Change-makers Social Enterprise \| Marcia Stepanek \| Thursday 12th November 2009 Last Saturday, I had the privilege of being a "pitch coach" at dosomething.org's Social Action Boot Camp in New York City. I was one of 60 official "old persons" [people in business over 30] invited by the organization's CEO [and chief old person] Nancy Lublin, to help coach some of the 14- to 22-year-old participants on their pitches to start and sustain a cause. Their training for the day included how to write a not-for-profit business plan and how to build a successful Web site for less than $10, as well as how to brand and market their causes and start a social enterprise. I and my fellow coaches, which included VH1 President Tom Calderone and Deutsch Bank Managing Director Steven Beck, didn't participate until the final hours; the young entrepreneurs practiced the funding pitches they'd created earlier in the day and then tried them out on us. It was our job to critique them. Each of the best three pitches were later awarded $1,000. I consider myself a tough listener; as a journalist and a media executive, I'm pitched daily by nonprofits and social enterprises. But these kids? Most of them had me at hello, and not simply because of their idealism. Their fearless pragmatism and their clarity of purpose, process, and design distinguished them. Read More

	American Policy: Saving Trillions Part 2: Economic Spillovers Climate Change \| Juan Carlo Pascua \| Thursday 12th November 2009 Part two of the American Policy portion of the Climate Change Policy Series: Act America, act now, sooner than later. Climate change inaction stands to cost Americans trillions of dollars due to loss of biodiversity, economic spillovers, national security, and migration. The bottom line, mitigating climate change now and swiftly will save Americans more money than inaction or slow action. Unfortunately, many of today's American policy makers misuse climate models for short term gain. These models should be taken with a grain of salt; they are educated predictions of the future that leave out major considerations. Considerations oft ignored include economic spillovers, which are side effects of economic activity that affect an industry in a positive or negative way. In terms of climate change, most effects on countries and their industries are negative; there are no net winners of climate change. Economic spillovers caused by climate change stand to harm American supply, demand, and financial markets (Freeman & Guzman, 2009). Regarding supply and demand shocks, the United States is a net importer. Among all the products and goods available to US consumers, from beverages and tobacco to machinery and transport goods, the USA is only a net exporter (by small margins) of food, live animals, and crude non-fuel, inedible materials (U.S. Census Bureau, 2009). Not only does the US rely heavily on foreign countries for oil, but it relies on foreign countries for everything else as well. American exports also share reliance on foreign markets: in 2007 US exports accounted for $1.6T and every year since 1997 exports have accounted for about 10% of US GDP (Freeman & Guzman, 2009). Just a 5% drop in demand for US exports would cost the US $80B a year; a 10% decrease in exports will cost $160B annually, so on and so forth. Many foreign markets stand to shrink due to climate change, and so will their demand for US goods. Over time, this represents trillions of lost US dollars. Read More

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	Valuing Yourself & Being Paid Responsible Careers \| Cynthia Stringer \| Monday 16th November 2009 In this economic climate businesses have available to them a gluttony of well-qualified if not over qualified candidates. Because of this companies can and are not paying people what they are worth, asking people to work well below their financial threshold or are encouraging unpaid internships. There are ways to move beyond this. What is important is to position youself in a way that will make a difference and add value. Don't allow others to set your worth, do it for yourself. The first step is to set in your minds eye a definite plan of action and goal for your career and integrate into that plan a specific amount of money that your skills and talents are worth. You have to begin first valuing yourself and your professional plan before anyone else will. The next step is a reality check to see what the market is paying in your region and around the world. Identify how you compare to others with your similar background and skills. Begin to do research and network with others who are doing what you do and who are hiring people like you. The more timely information that you have the easier it is to negotiate and speak your value to others. One very important step is to gain or highlight your specific skills in the area you are applying for. What works very well is developing an on line portfolio of your work as well as hard copy samples. This is a tremendous way to keep yourself focused and on target as to what you are accomplishing. It also facilitates you in speaking the specific results and value you have provided. Read More

	Global Entrepreneurship Week Social Enterprise \| Marcia Stepanek \| Monday 16th November 2009 Innovators have always been heroes, whether or not the marketplace liked their inventions or immediately recognized them for their brilliance. [Think Philo Farnsworth (TV), Preston Tucker (1948 Torpedo automobile), Alexander Fleming (Penicillin) and Steve Jobs, just for starters.] But today's entrepreneurial landscape is different. More than any other time in recent history, it is crowded with new venture ideas. Today's business and non-profit worlds favor the young and the globally conscious, and even in the most destitute corners of the world, young social innovators are more start-up savvy than ever. They're not waiting for permission to get started: the world's problems have rarely seemed so daunting. To commemorate Global Entrepreneurship Week (#GEW), which runs this week in 85 nations [including the United States], this blog will be posting three short "Changemaker" profiles spotlighting a few of the most dynamic new social entrepreneurs using the mobile Internet today. To be sure, we profile many innovators on this blog -- regardless of what week it is. But this week and next, we'll focus on a few who are testing new ways to use new "right here, right now" mobile technologies to improve the world as we know it. Read More

	Green Isn't Everything Social Enterprise \| Marcia Stepanek \| Monday 16th November 2009 It's critical that consumers and employees hold businesses accountable to their social marketing hype, says Adam Werbach, the former Sierra Club President-turned-sustainability chief for advertising giant Saatchi and Saatchi. And "we've got to get out of this thinking that says sustainability is only about being green," he told attendees of this year's Net Impact Conference, a national gathering of social innovators at Cornell University. Werbach, the CEO of Saatchi and Saatchi S -- the marketing icon's new sustainability arm -- is also the author of the new book, Strategy for Sustainability, in which he urges the business world to consider long-term profitability and transparency and not just environmentalism in its sustainability goals going forward. At 23, Werbach was named to head the Sierra Club; he was its youngest-ever president. Now 35, Werbach -- who sold his global PR and marketing firm, Act Now, to Saatchi last year -- says he has expanded his definition of sustainability to include "internal innovation" by companies in every aspect of how they make, buy, sell, and produce their products. Just as key now as being green, Werbach says, is how closely aligned companies are with their employees and customers -- and how outspoken these stakeholders are in making sure the companies they work for or patronize walk the talk. "The financial meltdown marked the beginning of a new relationship between companies and their customers," Werbach said Saturday, "... and acting on the right values across the board is critical." Read More

	That Turkey Isn't All That Ethical Ethical Consumption \| Caitlin Chock \| Monday 16th November 2009 Out with the bird and in with the Tofurkey?! Okay, you may think that this is an almost criminal suggestion or shudder at the thought of removing the staple that is turkey from your Thanksgiving day feast from the table. But before you grab your fork and head for that piece of thigh meat consider what I have to say. I'm sure it's not a huge shock that Thanksgiving constitutes one of the greatest days of turkey consumption each year, and in the United States alone that can be upwards of 45 million gobblers! Take that and then add this: the meat industry is a black hole for greenhouse gas emissions. In being a more ethical shopper, you may do well to sing the praises of soy meat, or a vegetarian entree. How in the world could your turkey be contributing to global warming you may ask? Well this is due to a few different reasons. Firstly, the amount of grain that is fed to turkeys around the world is astronomical. In fact, it was documented in a study at Cornell University, that a whopping 40% of the world's grain supply does not go to any human source, but instead down the gullet of turkeys. And of course what goes in, must come out, and in going through their natural processes, these turkeys are responsible for soil erosion and other land altering effects. Further, these birds are drinking up a large amount of water, and this of course is in a supply that is not everlasting. Read More

	Being Ethical Turkey Day Consumers Ethical Consumption \| Caitlin Chock \| Monday 16th November 2009 In thinking about all it means to be an ethical shopper this time of the year, I think it is worth noting that there is definitely something to giving back that which we have. Certainly with Thanksgiving on the immediate horizon, there are those all eagerly anticipating the basting, the mashing, the stuffing, the chopping, and the the pie baking that is to be had. But of course that pales in comparison to the eating that will follow suit! Yes, for those lucky enough to be surrounded by their friends and family (Yes, even an Aunt Laura who always knows best, or an Uncle Mike who simply knows it all!) this time of the year can be both blessed and joyous. Yet there are plenty of those who are going without, or celebrating alone, and even families that fill their homes with love but the table dressing may be lacking. When it comes to the holidays, especially Thanksgiving and the Christmas season in particular, they are often met with a mixture of happiness and sadness. It is true that around these times the crime rates rise, as do the suicide rates, which can lead some to think that this could potentially be a depressing time of year too. Yet it doesn't necessarily need to be that way, as even the power of a friendly smile has been known to brighten the mood or day of a stranger. It is often overlooked the many ways we can effect others as we go about our daily lives; the opening of a single door for an elderly citizen struggling with arthritis, the suggestion of accurate directions for the lost, and the wave across the street could unknowingly hold a great impact on the receiving end. Read More

	Be rigorous, but don't be fair Health \| Ano Lobb \| Sunday 15th November 2009 Last week I was one of about 13,000 people attending the annual meeting of the American Public Health Association. Despite the thousands of scientific, programmatic and policy presentations, mine was one of few addressing the general area of corporate social responsibilities, conflicts of interest, and business ethics. My presentation applied these lenses to the pharmaceutical industry, and just like it was last year, the response was enthusiastic, with organizers requesting more for next year. (I'll discuss some of my paper findings in an upcoming posting.) It seems that the very topics that fuel Justmeans are in great demand in the world of public health. As in any scientific setting, the role of advocacy can sometimes become strained. There is often a perception that rigorous science is an objective activity steeped in fairness that takes no sides in political or policy battles. This is a misconception in my book. Tam Ormiston, a wonderful man and the chief deputy attorney general for the state of Iowa, once admonished a room of colleagues at a public health meeting that "we must be rigorous, but not fair." Trained as a lawyer, he has advocacy in his veins, and that belief that rigor does not necessarily equal fairness has become one of my central professional beliefs every since I heard Mr. Ormiston utter those words. When objectivity puts arrows in your opponents quiver, its best avoided. Read More

	End Petitions to End Hunger Sustainable Development \| Sara Wolcott \| Friday 13th November 2009 Today, I was going to write about the upcoming World Summit on Food Security hosted by the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), the major UN organization concerned with food, hunger, nutrition, agriculture, etc etc etc, and highlight the rising role of business in ending hunger. Then I checked out their website. And I, with a great deal of respect for FAO's ongoing struggle to contribute to sustainable development, got rather pissed off. What got me was the call on the website for a global petition to end hunger, a problem that effects over 1 in 6 people around the world. It's a serious problem in sustainable development. Those numbers have only gone up in recent years, due largely to domestic food prices, lower incomes and increasing unemployment - a result in part to the financial crisis slowly rippling down and around the world. Why are people hungry? They can't afford to buy food or are not able to produce their own. Solution? Various solutions can (and have) included: lower food prices, enable them to produce their own food (or produce higher quantities/better yields), enable them to buy food (cash transfers, for example), increase their income/spending power, end extreme poverty, food programs (giving out food during certain periods/for specific groups of people), improving access/transportation/distribution (so that the food we have goes to the people who need it. Read More

	Grocery Gleaning: Second Harvest Reduces Food Waste Sustainable Food \| Tricia Edgar \| Friday 13th November 2009 There's a second harvest going on in my neighborhood. It's a harvest that happens throughout the year, regardless of the season or the weather. What is it? It's a harvest of unused fruits and vegetables from the local grocery stores. A long, long time ago, I was in high school. I was interested in canning, so I went to the local grocery store to buy some pears. A staff person was loading the overripe pears into a cart. I asked to buy the pears so that I could can them that day, but I was told that they were no longer suitable for sale. When I asked the management of the store, they confirmed that they needed to move out the older produce and replace it with newer items that people would buy. Things have changed, at least somewhat. Now we recognize that a vast quantity of food is wasted in grocery stores. There is also recognition that people can still eat much of this food - it's not overripe, it's just too ripe to sell. Yes, it's an issue that is carefully monitored by health departments, but food banks and soup kitchens have started grocery store gleaning programs, and they're getting fruit and vegetables into the hands and mouths of those who need them. Even college campuses are getting into the act. Determined to reduce the amount of food that is wasted from campus cafeterias, the Campus Kitchen Project redirects cafeteria food to those in need. Student volunteers deliver the meals. Read More

	School for Change-makers Social Enterprise \| Marcia Stepanek \| Thursday 12th November 2009 Last Saturday, I had the privilege of being a "pitch coach" at dosomething.org's Social Action Boot Camp in New York City. I was one of 60 official "old persons" [people in business over 30] invited by the organization's CEO [and chief old person] Nancy Lublin, to help coach some of the 14- to 22-year-old participants on their pitches to start and sustain a cause. Their training for the day included how to write a not-for-profit business plan and how to build a successful Web site for less than $10, as well as how to brand and market their causes and start a social enterprise. I and my fellow coaches, which included VH1 President Tom Calderone and Deutsch Bank Managing Director Steven Beck, didn't participate until the final hours; the young entrepreneurs practiced the funding pitches they'd created earlier in the day and then tried them out on us. It was our job to critique them. Each of the best three pitches were later awarded $1,000. I consider myself a tough listener; as a journalist and a media executive, I'm pitched daily by nonprofits and social enterprises. But these kids? Most of them had me at hello, and not simply because of their idealism. Their fearless pragmatism and their clarity of purpose, process, and design distinguished them. Read More

	American Policy: Saving Trillions Part 2: Economic Spillovers Climate Change \| Juan Carlo Pascua \| Thursday 12th November 2009 Part two of the American Policy portion of the Climate Change Policy Series: Act America, act now, sooner than later. Climate change inaction stands to cost Americans trillions of dollars due to loss of biodiversity, economic spillovers, national security, and migration. The bottom line, mitigating climate change now and swiftly will save Americans more money than inaction or slow action. Unfortunately, many of today's American policy makers misuse climate models for short term gain. These models should be taken with a grain of salt; they are educated predictions of the future that leave out major considerations. Considerations oft ignored include economic spillovers, which are side effects of economic activity that affect an industry in a positive or negative way. In terms of climate change, most effects on countries and their industries are negative; there are no net winners of climate change. Economic spillovers caused by climate change stand to harm American supply, demand, and financial markets (Freeman & Guzman, 2009). Regarding supply and demand shocks, the United States is a net importer. Among all the products and goods available to US consumers, from beverages and tobacco to machinery and transport goods, the USA is only a net exporter (by small margins) of food, live animals, and crude non-fuel, inedible materials (U.S. Census Bureau, 2009). Not only does the US rely heavily on foreign countries for oil, but it relies on foreign countries for everything else as well. American exports also share reliance on foreign markets: in 2007 US exports accounted for $1.6T and every year since 1997 exports have accounted for about 10% of US GDP (Freeman & Guzman, 2009). Just a 5% drop in demand for US exports would cost the US $80B a year; a 10% decrease in exports will cost $160B annually, so on and so forth. Many foreign markets stand to shrink due to climate change, and so will their demand for US goods. Over time, this represents trillions of lost US dollars. Read More