Health Thought Leadership One-to-One

From the front lines, as well as behind-the-scenes, Robert Hitchcock, MD, FACEP, an Emergency Medicine physician at Manatee Memorial Hospital and Lakewood Ranch Medical Center, Bradenton, FL,  manages complex Emergency Department operations.

In his role as chief medical informatics officer for T-System, Inc. he guides strategies for addressing the critical issues that arise in hospital Emergency Departments. T-System, based in Dallas, TX, develops Emergency Department solutions by turning data into … Continue Reading

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Humana, based in Louisville, KY, is a Fortune 100 company in the process of transforming itself from a health insurance company to a business model that focuses on health, wellness, and well-being. To that end, Paul Gerrard, director of Corporate Affairs and chairman of the Corporate Social Responsibility Council at Humana leads enterprise-wide task forces on behalf of strategic initiatives of the CEO and other Humana officers which require change management, innovative solutions or organizational development.

Humana volunteers assemble to celebrate the company's 50th anniversary.

Paul helps to … Continue Reading

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Frances Loshin-Turso, co-founder and CEO of Defran Systems, Inc., New York, NY, since 1984, fulfills her vision of providing health and social service organizations, run by not-for-profit organizations and government agencies, with the same state-of-the-art software technology that one finds in the private sector.

Fran demonstrates a software enhancement to her staff.

Fran oversees a rapidly expanding, nationwide business that serves the specialized needs of this niche market, characterized by perennially tight budgets, further slashed by this challenged economy.

Fran leverages … Continue Reading

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Kel Smith provides thought leadership on accessibilities to the Havas Worldwide Health network.

Kel Smith on Team Building: I align myself with people who share my moral compass.

A fact that gives pause—Americans with disabilities number around 54 million. It’s estimated they have $175 million in discretionary income to spend on services, devices, software and other products that will make their lives easier. These are technologies and tools that help people with disabilities access the same level of information and services that non-disabled individuals enjoy.

Kel’s projects apply … Continue Reading

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Dr. Cindy Haines gives consumers and patients practical advice on navigating the precarious waters of the U.S. healthcare system.

Cindy Haines, MD, is a family physician who serves on the faculty of St. Louis University School of Medicine, medical journalist, and chief medical officer of HealthDay, an award-winning consumer and professional news service.

This podcast takes its title, How to Get the Best Health Care in a Broken System, from the recently published book authored … Continue Reading

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Randy Vogenberg, featured in the April 2010 post and podcast, has published Pharmacy Benefits: Plan Design and Management, an essential guide for benefits professionals and trustees responsible for a prescription pharmacy or medical benefits program. The guide addresses benefit plan design, the selection of a pharmacy benefits manager and pharmacy network, compliance, specialty pharmacy, cost-savings strategies and more.

Wayne Sensor, formerly CEO of Alegent Health, that serves the region around Omaha, Nebraska, shares lessons learned when instituting organizational change. The scale of change we discuss in the podcast is transforming a fee-for-service health system to an employed-physician model. I can think of few greater challenges a health system CEO and his leadership team will face.

Wayne Sensor, formerly CEO of Alegent Health

Wayne presided over a health system cited by The Network for Regional Healthcare Improvement as the #1 health system in the United … Continue Reading

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With widespread adoption of handheld devices, such as the iPad®, iPhone® and Smartphones by consumers and physicians, Rob Dhoble closes the gap between information technology and achieving engagement between health professionals and patients to deliver measurable, improved outcomes. Rob is president of Omnicom’s Diversified Agency Services Health group.

Rob logs on to view his invention on a laptop, but he can also use a Smartphone or other handheld device with Internet access.

He bridges the divide with his patent pending mobile solution that … Continue Reading

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One of the most popular podcasts in the Health Thought Leadership series, here is the link to Alan Morrison’s article as a PDF, Rethinking the Gene Patent, published in the Biotechnology Law Report. The article accompanies the November 2010 post and podcast on the Myriad decision rendered by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Read why Alan reasons that “the court did not properly apply existing law. Instead it relied on what appears to be a new and problematic doctrine excluding isolated DNA from the realm of … Continue Reading

In March 2010, Pandora’s box was opened when a federal District Court judge invalidated patent claims of Myriad Genetics, Inc., directed to two isolated human genes associated with breast cancer. These genes are used in genetic tests that Myriad has on the market for breast cancer. The tests cost over $3000 each. Their cost is not universally reimbursed. Therefore, the tests are not accessible to many women as a diagnostic tool. Without a license, other companies cannot develop an alternative, competitive test to provide a second opinion.

The controversy brings to a head many legal, ethical, and policy issues, … Continue Reading

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