Healthcare Business & Trends

A new medical television show premiered
giving viewers a glimpse into medicine that other shows haven’t touched on much before; errors in patient care. Unlike most medical shows today, Monday Morning’s focal point is the doctor as human rather than hero, emphasizing that mistakes do occur.

There is no doubt that some professions are held to higher standards especially when it comes to our safety and wellbeing. We are more likely to care about our airline pilot’s performance than our travel agent’s. We hold our medical community to a similar higher standard. While no one is perfect, it is challenging to allow our healthcare providers to remain under the same umbrella. The issue of medical mistakes is a reality—and a harsh one at that. According to a report by the Institute of Medicine (IOM), at least 1.5 million preventable medical errors occur in U.S. hospitals annually, with up to 98,000 deaths. Read full post »

These days, healthcare discussions start with
figures – so here are some basic Russian statistics.

According to UN estimates the average life expectancy in Russia is only 69 years (in the US, ranked only 49^th out of 200 countries, life expectancy is over 78 years). To take one example, the mortality rate of vascular diseases is 900 cases on every 100,000 people – almost three-folds that of the US, but more importantly one-third higher than in neighboring Bulgaria and twice as much as Hungary. Similar patterns are observed in oncology, trauma and even infectious diseases.  Read full post »

As patent cliffs continue to crack and crumble into the sea and send shock waves through big pharma around the world, global healthcare PR strategists continue to train their skilled teams’ eyes and ears on the future trends of big pharma, urgently trying to discern the shape of the new emerging landmass to keep ahead of the game.

Over the next three years, six Big Pharma companies have more than half of their portfolio at risk due to patent expirations.  I’d imagine that this creates anxiety among communications agencies around the world asking what this all means for them and future revenue streams. Should we start prophesying that the end is nigh for “big pharma”? Long-term, can viable business models continue to be sustained around portfolios of products that have such short patent shelf lives? Read full post »

“People who need people…are the luckiest people
in the wo rld,” crooned Barbra Streisand.  The new tune for medical schools may be “people who are good with people” are likely to be future doctors.

In a startling departure from strictly academic criteria, at least eight medical schools in the U.S. (including Stanford University and UCLA) and 13 Canadian schools are screening prospective students for people skills.  Through a process called Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI), candidates undergo a series of short interviews (think speed dating) to see how well they can work as a team and think on their feet. Read full post »

U.S. News & World Report just released their 2011 list of “best hospitals.”
This list, hugely popular with consumers, is the source of much angst among the nation’s hospitals.  And for good reason; these rankings of best hospitals in 16 specialties are big drivers of reputation.

Johns-Hopkins was ranked number one for the 22^nd year.  If Hopkins were an athlete, you would have to retire its jersey.  Massachusetts General Hospital secured the second top spot, moving the Mayo Clinic to number three. Read full post »