Tag Archives: healthcare

Vision Without Execution is Hallucination

Posted on January 29, 2012 by
Thomas Edison: Turn on your heartlight

Recently Steve Case wrote an Op-Ed in the Washington Post called Give Entrepreneurs Room and They Will Grow the Economy. For those not familiar with him, Case was the original founding CEO of AOL and he has been an active healthcare investor, among other things, for the past 7 years. My firm, Psilos Group, has previously co-invested with Case’s Revolution Health Fund.

Anyway, it was a very good editorial and one of the statistics within it particularly stood out to me in light of my venture capital role: firms less than five years old have produced 40 million American jobs over the past three decades — accounting for basically all of the net new jobs created in that period. That is a pretty stunning fact and also one that really makes a person scratch their head about current U.S. policy towards start-ups. It is worth watching this Kauffman Foundation 3 minute video that is very instructive about start-ups and job creation.

No where is this issue more relevant than in the healthcare industry, which conveniently happens to be the only thing I know anything about. In a world where … (read the rest)

Posted in General Business Issues, Healthcare Information Technology, Healthcare Policy, Healthcare private equity, Healthcare Reform, Healthcare Venture Capital, Innovation, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Where The Boys Are…And Not The Girls: Tales from the 2012 JP Morgan Healthcare Conference

Posted on January 14, 2012 by

I set off for five straight days at the annual JP Morgan healthcare conference last Monday, but on the way drove the carpool to my daughter’s high school that morning in a last ditch attempt to act like a responsible and caring parent. My poor daughter gets completely abandoned during JP Morgan week every year and, as she so aptly put it, it is a mixed blessing. When I arrived home finally yesterday afternoon she said to me that she likes that I am not there to tell her what to do, but not that I am not there to act as her personal assistant and laugh at her jokes. I must admit, she is pretty funny. Especially that part about the personal assistant.

Anyway, during my last parental act of last week, my daughter’s friend, who also happens to be a JP Morgan orphan (her dad is also a healthcare venture capitalist), asked me from the back seat, “So, are there many women at this conference?”

It was interesting to get that question from a 15 year old, as it certainly wasn’t the kind of thing I worried about … (read the rest)

Posted in Girls Rule!, Healthcare, Healthcare private equity, Healthcare Venture Capital, Uncategorized, Women in Venture Capital & Private Equity | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Come Forth into the Light of Things

Posted on January 2, 2012 by
SonyHoliday_14_0814

Come forth into the light of things, let nature be your teacher–William Wordsworth

So here it is, the last day of my winter vacation, and I am sitting inside watching people play ball outside at the Rose Bowl.  It might not seem so crazy to those of you who either love football or live in a cold climate that one would spend January 2nd indoors; but where I live it is about 60 degrees and sunny.  While I do love watching football, there is no legitimate weather-related excuse for being indoors, particularly since I have TIVO.

In addition to watching large men smash into each other on TV, I also used today to catch up on old magazines that are currently forming a looming architectural structure in my home that is getting large enough to require a light to alert approaching airplanes.  The fact that I am staring into a screen (while my daughter is next to me playing Temple Run on her iPhone) and not frolicking out in nature became particularly poignant as I finally got to a November 7th Newsweek article entitled “Don’t Let the … (read the rest)

Posted in Health and Wellness, Preventive Health, Random Thoughts of the Day, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Healthcare Reform is Coming to Town!

Posted on December 18, 2011 by
santa

Last year about this time of year I wrote a parody of Twas the Night Before Christmas about the coming of healthcare IT and meaningful use.  I decided to make these holiday parody songs an annual event.  I figure I have years of material, as there are so many ways of ruining an otherwise joyous holiday gem by mixing it with healthcare and public policy.

This year’s victim:  Santa Claus is Coming to Town, was written by J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie in 1934.  The original lyrics to the song can be found HERE.  The song is a little weird because it lets kids know that Santa Claus is watching them all the time like some sort of red velvet-clad big brother machine. If the children aren’t good they won’t get any presents for Christmas, so the song has the extra-added attraction of veiled threat. Kind of reminded me of what’s happening with health reform and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).  For those in the healthcare industry, there is definitely a feeling the eyes of government are upon them.  Insurers, employers, medical device and … (read the rest)

Posted in Healthcare, Healthcare Policy, Healthcare Reform, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

I Know What You’re Thinking

Posted on September 29, 2011 by
Do you really want to know what this guy dreams about?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WofFb_eOxxA”>

No, seriously, I actually do know what you’re thinking.  Or I would, anyway, if I subjected you to what has got to be the most alarming development in neuroscience that I have seen lately or ever.

According to a story I read in Gizmodo entitled Scientists Reconstruct Brains’ Visions Into Digital Video In Historic Experiment,  “UC Berkeley scientists have developed a system to capture visual activity in human brains and reconstruct it as digital video clips. Eventually, this process will allow you to record and reconstruct your own dreams on a computer screen.”

Okay my fellow UC Berkeley colleagues, nice trick. But seriously, are you sure you want to continue with this research?  I am guessing that most of us have had enough weird dreams–forget waking thoughts—to know that most should be permanently shielded from public scrutiny.

Yet according to Professor Jack Gallant, UC Berkeley neuroscientist and coauthor of the research published in the journal Current Biology, “This is a major leap toward reconstructing internal imagery. We are opening a window into the movies in our minds.“  Lead research author Shinji Nishimoto adds,”…this is the first step to … (read the rest)

Posted in Diagnostics and Screening, Healthcare, Healthcare Information Technology, Real Science, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Machine That Goes Ping!

Posted on September 20, 2011 by
The_Machine_that_goes_Ping

Sometimes when I write this blog I have the funny punch line in mind before I find the story to highlight it;  other times the healthcare story finds me and then I look for the humor in it.  This is an example of the former.  I have been saving what is one of my all time favorite medical comedy videos from my comedy idols, the Monty Python guys, for when I saw the perfect story.  Today is that day.  You’re welcome.

I came across an article from yesterday’s Los Angeles Times entitled, “Doctors should learn how to help manage healthcare costs.”   in which to Dr. Steven E. Weinberger, chief executive of the American College of Physicians, talks about how physicians, during their residency, should be specifically trained in how to help reduce costs of unnecessary procedures, particularly extra diagnostic tests and other hospital-based interventions.  According to Dr. Weinberger, it is not enough to teach physicians medical knowledge and patient care skills; they must learn “how to provide high-quality medical care without breaking the bank.”  This assertion would have been considered heresy not long ago, and probably still is in … (read the rest)

Posted in Diagnostics and Screening, Healthcare, Healthcare Information Technology, Medical Devices, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

96 Ways To Say “Bite Me”

Posted on September 17, 2011 by
The forgotten codes...

Once upon a time we marveled at the fact that Baskin Robbins had come up with 31 flavors—what a smorgasbord of opportunity.  Then they branched out into seasonal flavors, regional flavors, even frozen yogurt, which vaulted them upwards into having more than 50 flavors.  What a joy to behold:  more is definitely better when it comes to ice cream.

Same story for television.  Some of you, those that are resting comfortably next to me in a nursing home, will remember the old days when we had ABC, CBS, NBC and Channel 13 as the primary TV channel choices.  Then there were 13 channels, then around 20, and now my mercenary cable providers shows me more than 700.  This example is a little sketchier.  More than 4 channels is definitely better.  As many as 700?  Well, I guess it works if you figure that they are trying to capture everyone in the world’s tastes, even those that want to watch Jersey Shore and Deadliest Catch.

So what do we make, then, of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid’s (CMS) recent announcement of the updating of the diagnosis codes that … (read the rest)

Posted in Diagnostics and Screening, Healthcare, Healthcare Information Technology, Healthcare Policy, Healthcare Reform, Random Thoughts of the Day | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Building a Mickey Mouse Organization

Posted on July 18, 2011 by
mickey

Each year the swallows return to San Juan Capistrano on March 19 and the Summer Solstice occurs on June 21.   July 1 is also a date to remember, as it should strike terror in hearts of those who find themselves in need of hospitalization.  This is because July 1 is the traditional date on which new medical residents start their practice of medicine in earnest each year, taking care of patients in the hospital without their doctor training wheels.  It is a well-documented phenomenon that, in contrast to all other months of the year, July is the month when medication errors, surgical mistakes and other patient safety problems spike.   Note to self, if you get sick on July 1, try leeches first.

The New York Times wrote last week about a recent study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine,  in which, ”…researchers at the UCSF School of Medicine looked at 39 published studies and concluded that while there is mixed evidence, “our analysis suggests that mortality increases during the changeover months,” says co-author John Young, associate program director of the residency training program in the school’s department of … (read the rest)

Posted in Health and Wellness, Healthcare, Healthcare Policy, Patient Safety, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

General Hospital

Posted on July 13, 2011 by
General Hospital's Luke and Laura

 

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 medical center, the other a very small community hospital.  Fortunately, neither visit was as a patient. In both cases I was there to talk about healthcare information technology and the hospitals’ respective strategies for innovation in that general area.

It is always really interesting to talk with hospitals about how they want to use technology to enhance their operations. There is an inherent tension between the desire to, on the one hand, do the right thing for patients by continuously improving quality of care and, on the other hand, to respond to the fiscal challenge that sometimes doing the “right thing” might just cost more or at least take a while to pay off.  Often times the decision to provide better care can result in hospitals actually losing money, because it means that patients need … (read the rest)

Posted in Healthcare, Healthcare Information Technology, Healthcare Reform, Patient Safety, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

TMI, Dude!

Posted on June 26, 2011 by
Hopefully the tracking technology is improving!

If you are a baseball fan like I am, it is not unusual for you to spend time with your fellow sports fanatics comparing statistics.  A player’s batting average, on base percentage, runs batted in, earned  run average, home run stats and how those compare to their team mates’ stats–all fair game for friendly conversation.  The personal analysis of players’ worth doesn’t stop there, as each of them has their height, weight, age and home town displayed on the screen as they step up to bat.  Can you imagine if every time you went to work a big Jumbotron screen with all your vital statistics followed you around for all to see.  “Look, there’s Lisa on deck.  Man, she really is that short.”

Well, you might be horrified to think that the intimate descriptive details of your being might be published and used to compare your value to others, but there is a growing cadre of people who willingly do exactly that despite the complete impossibility that they will ever be found sliding into home plate. In case you have missed it, there is a burgeoning movement built around “self-knowledge … (read the rest)

Posted in Health and Wellness, Healthcare, Healthcare Information Technology, Healthcare private equity, Healthcare Venture Capital, Preventive Health, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment