Filed under: Books in General, Small Business, health care | Tags: books, Business, business book, business books, health care, Small Business
Here at Soundview we’re experts at condensing books that number in the hundreds of pages down to eight essential pages of information. Our purpose in doing this is to provide executives with concentrated knowledge that’s meant to give maximum impact for minimum time invested. Knowing the amount of effort that we put into this work, I can only tremble at the thought of tackling the bill that’s currently sitting on Capitol Hill. The health care reform bill that awaits the House of Representatives is nearly 2,000 pages. While I can’t give you eight compact pages, I’d like to discuss one aspect of the bill that is currently causing debate amongst a key segment of the American economy: small businesses.
Take a look at this article from The Dayton Business Journal for an inside track on the debate. I was glad to see that the reporter indicated there are people who are in favor of the bill, as well as covering the vocal element that are against it. While I don’t state my political opinions in this forum, I bring up the bill and its impact on small businesses because I’m anticipating a bump in business books dealing with health care if the bill is passed.
To date, Soundview has really only featured one title that dealt explicitly with health care. The Innovator’s Prescription by Clayton Christensen, Ph.D. remains a valuable resource for understanding the nature of the American health care system and the history of the system’s development.
We had the opportunity to speak with Christensen at a Soundview Live event in July 2009. Looking back on that conversation, I continue to reflect on Christensen’s argument that the government’s efforts had little to do with the care that patients actually receive. “This is a debate about reforming health insurance, not health care,” he told us at the time. While I think there is truth in his argument, I can’t help but feel that the thousands of small business owners across the U.S. are more concerned with the bill’s potential effect on their bottom lines at present.
I revisit Christensen’s book quite often, particularly when I read stories about the progress of health care reform. Regardless of the size of your company, it wouldn’t hurt to take a second look at our summary of The Innovator’s Prescription. In the event a new system dawns, those who stay informed will likely be the ones to have the smoothest transition.
Filed under: Books in General, Human Resources, health care | Tags: books, Business, business book, business books, health care, Human Resources, Leadership
If you look closely at many of my posts, you’ll notice that I rarely give out any personal details. Truth be told, I’m quite a private person, despite the fact that I communicate with all of you a few times each week. I sometimes feel as though the continued dominance of social media in our lives has led people to willingly give up their privacy with nary a second thought.
Strangely, some of the same folks who don’t mind posting photos from a company happy hour on their Facebook pages are likely to bristle at corporate requests for info for a health and wellness survey. They may not have a choice in the near future. This article from CNNMoney.com discusses the increase in Human Resource departments asking employees to fill out a health and wellness questionnaire prior to enrolling in the company’s health insurance program.
I found this article to be loaded with the type of issues that define life in today’s corporate world. The survey can ask an employee about the number of alcoholic drinks he or she consumes each week. However, it can’t ask the same employee whether or not there is a history of cancer in his or her family. This is due to a fear of lawsuits due to genetic discrimination. To help ensure employee cooperation, some companies are offering incentives such as lower insurance premiums for workers willing to participate in smoking cessation programs. Yet, companies are at risk if they bar employees coverage for not agreeing to fill out the survey.
However, I think my favorite quote from the article is this one: “Maybe you think you’ll fudge the truth? Don’t. That’s fraud, and could be grounds for dismissal.” I can almost guarantee that some people reading that statement would reply, “How will they ever know?” I suspect that these are the same folks that would thrill us with a Twitter tweet about low cigarette prices at a local gas station.
Human Resource professionals are in a bind that I, for one, do not envy. As they continue to walk a tightrope between lowering their health care expenses and breaching privacy issues, one has to wonder whether it will be employee or employer who has to make the biggest changes.
For a great read on the difficulties facing HR departments (and how to solve them), check out our summary of The HR Scorecard by Brian Becker, Mark Huselid and Dave Ulrich.
Filed under: Books in General, Conference/Event, health care | Tags: books, Business, business book, business books, Conference/Event, health care, Innovation
The debate continues to gain momentum concerning the potential changes to health care in the United States. I took a few moments to read (and reread) this article from the Wall Street Journal that discusses the impact on small business of the proposed $1.04 trillion health care legislation. Our client base is quite diverse, something of which we’re very proud, but small businesses make up a vital (and vocal, I might add) segment of our subscribers. So many of the books that we summarize are intended to provide the information that can help entrepreneurs and small business owners to propel their businesses beyond the corporate equivalent of living paycheck to paycheck.
While it’s not my intention to offer any political commentary on the bill that is currently circulating in the House of Representatives, I will say that I was glad to see the Wall Street Journal put the issue “above the fold” as they say in the newspaper business. (Quick editorial aside: With the way newspapers continue to move away from print and toward online-only offerings, what will editors say in future? Above the scroll?). Small businesses are often glossed over while the two sides of the aisle lob legislative shells at one another.
While this goes on, we at Soundview continue to refer back to The Innovator’s Prescription. We’re only two weeks away from our Soundview Live event with the book’s lead author Clayton M. Christensen. Will you be joining us? If you’re currently a subscriber, visit our Web site and sign up FREE. If you’re not a subscriber, just click this link to learn more about how easy it is to become a Soundview subscriber and receive free admission to our Soundview Live audio events.
The upcoming edition of Soundview Live will feature extensive Q&A with Clayton Christensen. This is driven largely by the questions submitted by our subscribers. I, for one, hope our friends in the small business sector ask Christensen’s opinion of the proposed legislation and how it relates to the vision outlined in his book. Should make for great listening!
Filed under: Books in General, Conference/Event, Innovation, Politics, health care | Tags: books, Business, business book, business books, Conference/Event, health care, Innovation, Soundview Live
If we’re able to push aside the celebrity-related news for two seconds, what remains on the front page is an intense focus on the health care system here in the United States. Opposing sides are dissecting and scrutinizing every aspect of this hot-button issue. Today, with great interest, I checked out the story of Wal-Mart weighing in on the issue.
As the summer rolls on, this issue may generate the most heat of all. This is partly pleasing to me since we opted to select The Innovator’s Prescription as one of the 30 best books of 2009. I have to tell you, this was a book that generated some considerable debate amongst our selection committee. It had nothing to do with the quality of the content. We knew it was great material. We were somewhat concerned that our existing subscribers may feel the book didn’t have direct application to their own business. How times change, eh? With the prospect of major shake-ups in health care, there’s never been a better time to arm oneself with much-needed info about the health care industry and possible ways to improve it. This summary gives an in-depth look at a top-to-bottom overhaul of the health care industry via disruptive innovation.
And for you subscribers out there, you’ll be able to sign up for FREE for our Soundview Live event featuring Dr. Clayton M. Christensen, co-author of The Innovator’s Prescription. This live audio broadcast on the Web will give you the chance to send your questions in to Dr. Christensen. Who knows? By the end of the month, we could be looking at a whole new landscape in health care. I, for one, can’t wait to hear what Dr. Christensen has to say about it!
Filed under: Books in General, Hands-On Management, Strategic Management, Technology, health care | Tags: books, Business, business book, business books, health care, Innovation, Leadership, Strategic Management
Health care is on everyone’s mind right now. A quick scan of today’s headlines tells you all you need to know. The American system of health care draws its share of bullets, both domestically and (especially) internationally. Yet there are hundreds of individuals who have made it their goal to help the public become aware of ways to fix what’s wrong. An informed populous can in turn influence its leaders, but with so many lives and so many dollars at stake, the right moves must be made. Maybe this is why so little has been done.
Fortunately, into this breach steps author Clayton Christensen and physician Jason Hwang. They collaborated, along with the late Jerome Grossman, MD on The Innovator’s Prescription: A Disruptive Solution for Health Care. This book is a comprehensive solution plan to enact needed change in the health care industry. The authors leave no stone unturned when addressing a variety of targets: hospitals, prescription plans, medical schools, even patients. Each subject area is given careful analysis and the solutions provided should probably line any Congressional legislation relating to health care. It’s a unique book from a set of authors whose passion for the subject matter is matched by their intensity in providing answers while others only offer complaints.
The best part? This summary is on its way to subscribers in the June edition of Soundview Executive Book Summaries. And now if you’ll indulge my secret dream to appear in an infomercial, “But wait, there’s more!” In the month of June, we’ll be featuring audio of an exclusive interview with Dr. Jason Hwang on Summary.com. I got the chance to listen to a preview and I came away with a new appreciation for how great an impact The Innovator’s Prescription could have on health care. Dr. Hwang is fascinating! While you’re counting the days until it debuts, take a moment to check out his blog.
If any of the authors’ suggestions come to fruition, it should certainly take some of the sting out of your next check-up … that is, unless it’s time for an injection of some sort.
