Warren Buffet For Sale

If you saw the movie, the Pursuit of Happyness, you’ll be aware of GLIDE, the Bay-area center for humanitarian programs.   Somehow or other, they’ve got Warren Buffet involved and if you bid quickly, you can have lunch with him for a mere $80,000. I do like that the “Free Shipping” tag.   Nice to know you won’t...

Why RFPs are a Waste of a Hospital’s Time

It’s that time of year again: time for the RFPs. Every time June rolls around it seems as though the website project that’s been shelved comes around again for its due and to sum up the hopes and dreams of said project, we receive an RFP. Let me share with you the sad truths about RFPs and why we reject 90% of the ones we get: a good...

Why Hospitals Force HIT Vendors to Take VC Money

One of the funny things about running a web company in the healthcare space is that there’s a lot of interest from the venture capital community.   And about once a month, someone from a VC firm will call me up, ask me a few questions about the space, and conclude that yes, we don’t need their money.  (Admittedly, I start the...

Social Media as Prescription for What Ails You

I’m back from the AMA Houston SIG meeting on healthcare and technology, presented by: Jay Drayer, CEO, CareFlash Jennifer Texada, Webmaster, MD Anderson Chris Ferris, Webmaster, St. Lukes Plus Katie Laird, from Schipul, moderated the panel.   We had about two hours to present, take questions, and wrap it up.  I felt the Q&A could have...

More Retail Health News: Walgreens Enters CVS Market here in Masssachusetts

From the Boston Globe, Walgreens looks to open retail clinics in Mass: A Take Care spokeswoman, Lauren Tierney, said yesterday that the company expects to open the first of its Bay State clinics in the fall. The company currently operates 173 clinics in 14 states and intends to have 400 running nationwide by the end of the year. Tierney said the...

Blue Cross Blue Shield to Offer Google Health in Massachusetts

Remember when Cerner dissed Google Health?  This news came out today in the Globe about Google Health and BCBS of Mass: Come this fall, members of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts will be able to go online to look up their healthcare claims and some medical records, which the insurer says will help patients manage their medical care...

Updating Your Hospital Brand from the 1970’s?

About 50% of the time we get asked to do a project for a new client, they are doing so in response to updating their brand. Research has shown — to no one’s surprise — that the tri-colored yellow, pink, and blue marks do not signify academic excellence. Or there’s been an adjustment to the moniker, usually to broaden the...

Great Example of Cost-Effective Social Media

Kudos to the NY Times for an engaging piece about infertility.  With bright, compelling photos of the women in their homes and an audio accompanyment, it’s remarkable how well the piece works online.  After all, aren’t they a newspaper? This is exactly the kind of content health consumers want to read — real stories, decisions,...

What if Wal-Mart Ran Your Hospital?

Today, I attended a talk by Alicia Ledlie, Senior Director, Health Business Development of Wal-Mart Stores, about the future of retail clinic care within the largest retailer on the planet. Wal-Mart has already changed healthcare for low-income, underinsured Americans by lowering the cost of generic prescriptions to $4 — and, by extension,...

Talking about the Future…

One of my favorite things about being a CEO is that I believe it is forwarding my life’s dream of becoming a pundit. Pundits, you will note, only discuss the future and, the future being a distant and murky place, by the time one can prove you wrong, you’ve already moved on to the next, future subject. I attend many, many conferences...