On April 4, 2012, American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) together with 9 other leading physician societies launched the Choosing Wisely® program, which they describe as, “an initiative of the ABIM Foundation to help physicians and patients engage in conversations about the overuse of tests and procedures and support physician efforts to help patients make […]
Give 'Em That Old Razzle Dazzle
I frequently am in a position to tell young companies that our firm is not ready to invest in them because their business model is, at least in the current world, overly dependent on consumers paying for the product or service being offered. While there are a few examples of successful consumer-pay healthcare companies, they […]
Enter the Consumer
I was in Newport Beach last week to chair IBF’s Consumer Health and Wellness Innovation Summit. It was a very interesting event with about 100 people from many different segments of the health and wellness industry—a very eclectic crowd. There were people there from healthy food purveyors (Nestle, Kelloggs), provider organizations (MDVIP), health insurance firms (United […]
50% of Doctors are Worse than Average
If you hired a lawyer who the world’s nicest office and excellent coffee in the lobby, but who lost the case for you every time, what would you think of that lawyer? How about if you hired a hairdresser who was always on time and had some great gossip for you when you sat in […]
mHealth: Hallelujah or Bah Humbug?
3600 people and I went to the mHealth Summit earlier this week in Washington, DC and, having spent the better part of 48 hours listening, I am still not sure what to make of this emerging healthcare sector. Given the incredible energy and high attendance at the conference, it would be easy to get caught […]
Doing the Right Thing: Priceless
I saw an article when I woke up today and it compelled me to dash off this quick post. Entitled “Wal-Mart Cuts Some Health Care Benefits,” the article details Wal-Mart’s decision to eliminate coverage for new part-time workers who work less than 24 hours/week and to increase costs, including deductibles and premiums, for virtually all […]
Smoke on the Water: Fireworks in Cleveland
I spent the early part of this week attending the Cleveland Clinic Medical Innovation Summit and, despite the fact that the Cleveland Clinic stubbornly insists on holding it’s conference in Cleveland (aka The Mistake on the Lake), it was well worth attending. Cleveland is an interesting town. Once upon a time, when old white men […]
World’s Healthiest Guinea Pig
The video at the bottom of this post is a 16 minute piece featuring author and Esquire columnist AJ Jacobs speaking at the TEDMed conference (the healthcare spin-off of the TED conference) about his journalistic quest to be the “healthiest man alive”. I got this video link from a friend, John Spongberg, who is a […]
World's Healthiest Guinea Pig
The video at the bottom of this post is a 16 minute piece featuring author and Esquire columnist AJ Jacobs speaking at the TEDMed conference (the healthcare spin-off of the TED conference) about his journalistic quest to be the “healthiest man alive”. I got this video link from a friend, John Spongberg, who is a […]
TMI, Dude!
If you are a baseball fan like I am, it is not unusual for you to spend time with your fellow sports fanatics comparing statistics. A player’s batting average, on base percentage, runs batted in, earned run average, home run stats and how those compare to their team mates’ stats–all fair game for friendly conversation. […]
