Take Two

(via hellonewyork) Heading back tomorrow. Home sweet (second)...

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:26:35 -0500

Heading back tomorrow. Home sweet (second) home.

innonate: Republican Bob Marshall on why women with...

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 09:45:15 -0500

Republican Bob Marshall on why women with disabled children ”deserve” it. Sign the petition for him to resign.

There is no place for this idiocy in government (or society in general). I am amazed the good people of Virginia haven’t come after him with torches and pitchforks.

I spent Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning in Los Angeles....

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 10:00:00 -0500

I spent Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning in Los Angeles. It was warm and sunny. I have to tell you, I think time outs from winter should be mandatory.

(via hellonewyork) I was here yesterday. Need to go back.

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 09:44:00 -0500

(via hellonewyork)

I was here yesterday. Need to go back.

jayparkinsonmd: Sam Loman This would have made my anatomy...

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 13:27:16 -0500

jayparkinsonmd:

Sam Loman

This would have made my anatomy classes much more interesting.

This is a very busy travel week for me. Tomorrow, I’m...

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 07:11:12 -0500

This is a very busy travel week for me. Tomorrow, I’m flying to Orange County, California to meet with a new client. On the plus side, it’s supposed to be warm and sunny in SoCal. This minus is it takes six hours on a plane to get there. Ugh.

Wednesday, I’m flying from LAX to JFK in New York. Another six hour plane ride. Another ugh. I have meetings in New York on Thursday morning and will be flying home Thursday night. Three days. 6200 miles. Both oceans.

It’s going to be a long week.

I have been super busy this week. I took an equity position in...

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 16:39:55 -0500

I have been super busy this week. I took an equity position in a new company that I can’t talk about just yet but it will be awesome. Trust me on that.

Anyhow, today’s feature artist is the incomparable Tony Bennett. Since the passing of Frank Sinatra, Mr. Bennett is the epitome of what is cool and classy. This is one of my favorite songs of his as well. Enjoy.

sweethomestyle: (via obliteratedheart) I strive (and fail) for...

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 08:43:28 -0500

sweethomestyle:

(via obliteratedheart)

I strive (and fail) for this type of organization.

Elevation Church in Charlotte is pastored by Steven Furtick and...

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 15:32:13 -0500

Elevation Church in Charlotte is pastored by Steven Furtick and is one of the most progressive and creative churches in the country. This is the opening for their Easter service this years. It incites major chills. Enjoy.

A Week with Nothing?

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 09:37:07 -0500

I just noticed my last two posts were music Friday posts with nothing in between. That’s kind of sad because it’s not like nothing’s been going on. I need to get with it and blog more. Jeez!

Music Friday today features Jason Mraz whom I have not listened...

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 09:33:23 -0500

Music Friday today features Jason Mraz whom I have not listened to a whole lot but really enjoy this particular song. Nice melody and counter melody, very singable. Enjoy.

Today’s Friday offering is from the band REO Speedwagon....

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 14:11:43 -0500

Today’s Friday offering is from the band REO Speedwagon. True story- I’ve seen them in concert a couple of times and they put on a great show. I love this particular song. Kind of an anthem here of late. Enjoy.

nevver: Is that all there is? That’s just sad…

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 16:58:28 -0500

nevver:

Is that all there is?

That’s just sad…

This is exactly why I use Google Voice.

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 09:06:00 -0500

This is exactly why I use Google Voice.

BusinessWeek: How to Redesign Health Care by Jay Parkinson

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 19:06:44 -0500

BusinessWeek: How to Redesign Health Care by Jay Parkinson:

jayparkinsonmd:

It currently costs employers, on average, nearly $11,000 per year per employee for health insurance. In 2019, it’s going to cost $28,000. That means the 90% of Americans who have few medical needs every year will soon be paying $28,000 a year for the privilege. This is insane.

Going to the doctor, having routine surgery, buying bulk medications online—all could be radically reinvented with the application of one type of medicine: designed disruptive innovation. Combining the principles of disruptive innovation with design thinking is exactly what health care in America needs. We need to disrupt the current business model of health-care delivery. And we need these disruptions to be designed experiences that are consumer-focused. Imagine: a health-care experience truly on par with a visit to the Apple (AAPL) Genius Bar or buying a book from Amazon.com (AMZN).

But as executives at those two companies know, elegant experiences don’t just happen. They are designed from the ground up to ensure an enjoyable interaction every time. Smart, forward-thinking companies should start applying these same principles to health care. Established brands or even companies that aren’t currently in the health industry should design the future health experience today, delighting customers with innovative services and products that optimize health and happiness. These companies will be the big winners of tomorrow’s health-care system. Here’s how a design process can help them get there:

Define the Problem

Today’s health-care delivery processes are unpleasant for multiple reasons. Patients aren’t the real customers; insurance companies are. Doctors profit from sickness. Most importantly, the fee-for-service business model values quantity over quality. When doctors are paid for the frequency of illness and treatments in an aging population, health care will inevitably become more expensive—until eventually it becomes financially out of reach for many consumers.

Reframe the Problem

As premiums for traditional insurance skyrocket, consumers will look for more affordable options. The 90% of Americans who don’t need serious, complex care will turn to high deductible health plans (HDHPs) and learn to pay their own way. That’s 270 million people and some serious buying power: well more than $750 billion a year within the next 10 years. Companies that help consumers spend their money wisely will win. Because guess what?—these consumers will learn to think carefully about what they’re buying. Are they going to pay their own cash for the same tired health experience of today? Would you? I know I’d be angry paying $200 for the anxiety of an eight minute visit to a doctor’s office that wasted most of my working day or $15,000 for a routine hernia repair carried out in the opaque abyss of a large institution.

As the balance of power shifts back to the patient, the opportunity to provide a well-designed experience is also an opportunity to tap into this new market. For instance, I would pay $2,500 to have that hernia repaired in a highly focused, beautifully designed outpatient surgery center. I would also pay for affordable iPhone apps that let me know if my health is worsening and connect me to professionals who can prevent expensive problems down the line. I would pay for a robot that helps me live on my own rather than in an exorbitantly priced nursing home. Thinking differently about how to approach the field of health care could lead to exciting, radically different solutions.

Try Something Now

Time and time again, people pay for a designed experience that makes their lives better. So how about creating a Starbucks (SBUX) of urgent care? Would patients use it? I think so. The health industry should take lessons from retail. Build scalable service experiences that people love. Learn from the “positive deviants” who are experimenting outside the current business models to come up with new ideas. Design a health insurance product akin to AppleCare, the customer service guarantee offered by Apple.

Create an open source, online platform for communication, payments, and secure medical records that connects my robot, my biometric monitor (like the new Fitbit), and my calorie-tracking iPhone app (like Daily Burn) with professionals who can help me stay on top of my health and my health care-related finances. People would search out services that connect to the platform knowing that a quality experience stems from data-driven, personalized solutions. And pay doctors a bit more to join these experimental groups. After all, doctor salaries are only about 10% of total health-care costs. Everyone needs to be on board. And everyone needs to keep pushing. Iterate like hell, and improve all the time.

Most importantly, don’t meddle within traditional health care. That’s the biggest mess imaginable. Differentiate and go straight after the cash-paying consumer with elegant experiences that are human-centric, simple, data-driven, and connected to the platform. Create a network of effective, convenient solutions for simple problems. Meet 90% of the health needs of 90% of the people. Disrupt health care with design. Is it easy? No. Is it do-able? Let’s hope so.

Jay Parkinson, MD, launched the online healthcare service, Hello Health, in 2008. More recently he co-founded innovation firm, The Future Well, to design services and products that create health and happiness.

I recently started following Jay on Twitter and Tumblr. It is nice to see disruptive innovation in the healthcare field.

Women, the best freaking firewall in the world!

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 07:07:32 -0500

Women, the best freaking firewall in the world!:

jayparkinsonmd:

franklieu:

One human cell contains 75MB genetic information.
One sperm contains a half of that; that is 37.5MB.
One ml of semen contains 100 million sperms.
In average, ejaculation lasts for 5 sec and contains 2.25 ml semen.
This means that the throughput of a man’s member is equal to (37.5MB x 100,000,000 x 2.25)/5 = 1 687 500 000 000 000 byte/second = 1,6875 Тerabyte/sec
This means that the female eggcell withstands this DDoS attack at 1,5 terabyte per second, and only lets through one(!) data package, thereby being the best freaking hardware firewall in the world!

The downside of it is that this only small data package that it lets through, hangs the system for the whole of 9 months!

The intersection of science and technology. I love it!

I’m going to start posting a song every Friday, just to...

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 07:02:54 -0500

I’m going to start posting a song every Friday, just to shake things up.

Today’s offering is from the 80’s rock band Loverboy. I admit that I did see them in concert in my youth. Working for the Weekend is my favorite song of theirs. I can’t help but think of Chris Farley and Patrick Swayze when I hear it. RIP

juliasegal: moosiemoose:yorob:tiffanyarei:sistermarymartha:cathe...

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 16:27:51 -0500

juliasegal:

moosiemoose:yorob:tiffanyarei:sistermarymartha:catherine-eliza:reallykatie:

Brb, printing this out for my office.

This is magnificent.

I loved the original. Can’t wait for this one.

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 14:49:21 -0500

I loved the original. Can’t wait for this one.

"As President Barack Obama began his first State of the Union address Wednesday night, Kevin Fischer..."

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 08:49:06 -0500

“

As President Barack Obama began his first State of the Union address Wednesday night, Kevin Fischer glanced at television above him and compared his 2008 vote for the president to ordering from an infomercial.

“You listen to the sales pitch and you’re so excited and then it arrives and you open the box and it just crumbles,” Mr. Fischer said. “It turns out you didn’t get what you thought you were going to.”

”

- From the Wall Street Journal, January 28, 2010.

This would be me.