Using the Recession as an Opportunity

A primary theme of the high-energy general session on Day Two of the Nielsen Consumer360 conference was encouraging attendees to use the current recession as a learning opportunity, in order to build better relationships with consumers and/or reinvent business models. Read full aricle...

The 80-20 Rule of Healthcare

Seeking to understand what patients are using emergency departments most frequently and find solutions, the nonprofit group Integrated Care Collaboration discovered that 9 Austin-area patients accounted for almost 2,700 ED visits over 6 years - an average of one visit per week. Read full article...

A Visit With EMR From the Patient's Perspective

In the EMR business, we often talk about the EMR experience for clinicians, but not as often about the experience for patients. This article from the Huffington Post blog gives us perspective on the positives and negatives (mostly positives) of EMR from the patient's point of view. Read full article...

Poor Communications Cost US Hospitals $12 Billion Annually

A University of Maryland study has put a quantitative value on poor communications and lack of information technology in hospitals: $12 billion annually. Read full article...

Stimulus Funds Raise Hopes for Increased Adoption of EHRs

Provisions of the federal economic stimulus package could encourage more physicians and hospitals to invest in electronic health record systems, although at least one stakeholder says adoption will fall short of government projections. Read full article...

HELP! I need to get better at negotiation!

Eh, no Sparky, you need to get better at everything else so that you NEVER have to negotiate – or at least negotiate 90% less. Negotiation is for people who are lousy at selling, don’t understand buying motives, haven’t provided value, are unable to differentiate themselves from the competition, can’t build trust, and have utterly failed at building relationships. Read full article...

Stimulus Requires Fast Action on Health Care IT

Although many of the details of the health IT provisions included in the stimulus packaged still need to be worked out, health care providers should start planning the rollout of electronic health record systems now to gain the maximum financial incentives. Read full article...