I just finished reading a book called The History of Rock’n’Roll In Ten Songs by Greil Marcus. I am a big music fan and I like the premise of this book: that the history of rock’n’roll music has been told wrong. Marcus says that this story has always been told from a conventional wisdom sort […]
Building a Mickey Mouse Organization
General Hospital
General Hospital is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest-running American soap opera currently in production (according to Wikipedia). What a perfect metaphor this is for the real hospital industry, which is facing more drama than ever. This week I visited two hospitals, one a very large and well-known academic […]
Your Cell Phone IS Trying to Kill You
Many people are talking about (or actively trying to ignore) the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recent declaration that cell phones might actually cause cancer. WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer did a review of dozens of published studies on cell phones and cancer before classifying cell phones as “possibly carcinogenic.” “Possibly carcinogenic” is a […]
How Health Insurers Can Avoid Being Blockbuster in a Netflix World
Talking about health insurance is a good way to clear a room. It is a rare person who is excited to interact with their insurance company or who can understand the explanation of benefits they receive in the mail detailing all of the things that the insurance carrier has decided not to pay on their […]
Hair of the Dog
In the category of “duh, do they really need to spend money to study the obvious?” an April 2011 study in the Archives of Surgery reports that surgeons who are hung-over from excessive alcohol intake make a significantly higher number of medical errors as compared to those who do not drink to excess the night […]
There is Only One Pretty Child in the World, and Every Mother Has It
There is only one pretty child in the world, and every mother has it. ~Chinese Proverb Nobody ever thinks their kids are ugly, but it is especially gratifying when you get independent verification that they are, well, awesome. As a venture capitalist, my portfolio companies come to feel like my kids. I am invested in […]
There is Only One Pretty Child in the World, and Every Mother Has It
There is only one pretty child in the world, and every mother has it. ~Chinese Proverb Nobody ever thinks their kids are ugly, but it is especially gratifying when you get independent verification that they are, well, awesome. As a venture capitalist, my portfolio companies come to feel like my kids. I am invested in […]
Hands Off the Merchandise
You may think of it as the first week of Christmas, but there are some out there that think of this first week of December as National Handwashing Awareness Week. Pay attention Hallmark–another greeting card opportunity is upon you. I’m sure the one you sent me, blog reader, is in the mail. Christmas has Santa […]
Welcome To Your HIT Parade
The Cleveland Clinic recently published an annual Top 10 list of what their leadership believes to be the most significant advances in medicine in each of the last five years. In 2007-2008 all of the items on the top 10 lists were either medical devices, clinical diagnostics,pharmaceutical or biotech products. These sectors were basically the […]