October 23rd, 2011 by BarbaraFicarraRN in Opinion
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You Can’t Ignore It…Social Media Networking Isn’t Going to Go Away…
Engaging in social media networking by health care professionals continues to cause hesitation.
Despite the uncertainty surrounding social media networking, nurses at Scripps Cancer Center in San Diego, CA embrace it. They decided to educate themselves for a deeper understanding of this powerful form of real-time communication.
They are proactive and they step outside the box to gain knowledge to help them navigate through the social media networking maze.
In a recent interview with Guy Kawasaki, New York Times Best-Selling author, co-founder Alltop.com, and former chief evangelist of Apple, Kawasaki talked about the value of companies jumping the curve to excel. (Kawasaki’s latest book, Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions.)
At the 31st Annual Scripps Oncology Nurses Symposium in San Diego, CA, Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Health in 30*
October 11th, 2011 by DavedeBronkart in Health Policy, Opinion
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Last week the New York Times reported that some health insurers have applied to regulatory agencies to push premiums sharply higher – usually double-digit increases, while citizens are suffering. This falls on top of the 11 year history reported last year by the Kaiser Family Foundation: wages and inflation are up ~40%, while health costs and worker contributions were up 138% and 159%:
No wonder we feel squeezed. (Last week’s announcement comes on top of this history.)
This has enormous human impact. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at e-Patients.net*
October 1st, 2011 by Jessie Gruman, Ph.D. in Opinion
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Emerging from a foggy year of treatment for stomach cancer, I am vividly aware of how much time and energy it takes to meet the daily demands of a serious illness. When I think back over the past 35 years and my treatment for now four different cancer-related diagnoses, I am amazed by how much has changed. The diagnostic and treatment technologies are light years more sophisticated and effective.
I am also taken aback by how much more we, as patients, and our loved ones who care for us, must know and do to organize and administer our own care in response to a serious diagnosis.
From an economic standpoint, this makes sense: the marketplace drives innovations to become simpler and cheaper. In modern American health care, this means that new drugs, technologies and procedures are re-engineered so they can be offloaded from expensive professionals to patients and those who care for them – and who work for free.
Think about it: Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Prepared Patient Forum: What It Takes Blog*
September 23rd, 2011 by BarbaraFicarraRN in Opinion
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In a recent Harvard Business Review Blog, David Armano writes about the six pillars of influence that lead to measurably favorable outcomes.
To achieve measurably better health, the pillars Armano explains can certainly be adopted.
He notes how the “social web can amplify signals, influence behavior and lead to action.”
Social networking has changed the landscape in health care. Technology has paved the way for instant communication and feedback.
While some companies continue to question the value of social media networking, debating whether or not they should be on Twitter or Facebook, others have superseded the hesitation, and are presently into the next phase of social networking. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Health in 30*
September 1st, 2011 by StevenWilkinsMPH in Health Policy, Opinion
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The first experience patients are likely to have with your hospital is not in an ER visit or inpatient stay. A patient’s first experience will most likely be in one of your primary-care physician offices. That because a person is 10 times more likely during a year to end up in the physician’s office for a routine visit than they are to require an overnight hospital stay.
As a hospital marketer or patient experience officer this should raise an interesting question. How well do your physicians–particularly your primary-care physicians–represent your brand?
Take “patient-centeredness.” Lots of hospitals these days are promoting themselves as providing patient-centered care. You know … when the hospital and its staff try where possible to be sensitive to and honor the wishes of patients. But when it comes to patient-centeredness, “walking the talk” is hard in physician offices and even tougher in the hospital.
The fact is that most physicians, with some exceptions, are Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Mind The Gap*
