The Conductor of the Online Health Reform Innovation Forum Interviews Himself - A Trial Run

He himself said it.

Anonymous

Q: Can we talk frankly?

A: Please do. Why not? Nobody can interfere. We can let it all hang out

Q: Why the emphasis on innovation?

A: Because, above all else,  “Innovation” is a positive concept . It carries a message of hope.  The United States, and its health system, teems with would-be innovators and entrepreneurs.  That’s what we are known for and that's what we pride ourselves upon.  Besides,  innovation is a logical way out of the healtg cost and spending quagmire in which  we find ourselves drowning.

Q:  Why you?

A: Because I’ve written a book and  hundreds of blogs on the subject of innovation, have personal experience,  and know a lot of innovators first hand.

Q; Why on online forum on innovation?

A:  Because online is how people communicate these days, It’s cheap,   accessible, and convenient to learn what other innovative people are thinking and what works and doesn’t work.

Q: Any other reasons?

A:  In any innovative arena, especially one as difficult and tangled and snarled  as healthcare,  you need to set priorities and to emphasize the big idea. Only people who have been there and done that can clarify what needs to be done and in what order.

Q: Why interviews?

A: A couple of reasons.    One,  it is convenient  and comfortable for the person being  interviewed.   They know the subject, they are proud of their knowledge, and most of them want to share their successes and those  of their institution  or business with a wider world.  They want to make a difference.  They want to say it clearly and plainly.   Besides, the interview  takes only 30 minutes to 45 minutes of their time and can be conducted by phone.

Q:  What are the hot topics these days?

A:  It varies.

Some are clearly political.  What policies are needed to make the system more efficient, equitable, and productive.

Some are economic.  What gives the best return on investment and best rewards its participants?

Some are payment-related.  How should doctors be paid – fee-for-service, performance, salary, or by a mix of ways?

Some are institutional.  What business models work best and have stood the test of time?

Some are technological.   What new technologies and apps are out there that show promise and can fundamentally change how we do and view things?

Some are cultural.   What fits best with the social, personal, and philosophical values of Americans.   What affords the most freedoms of choice and individual latitudes  yet are equitable.

Some are communicative.  It is clear that the social electronic media have changed the way we talk to each other and how we communicate.   The print media – newspapers, magazines, books, and other paper-based media – have been hurt or transformed beyond recognition.  Yet we’re all interconnected now – instantaneously and intimately and sometimes even transparently .   Privacy has been eroded.  The informational playing field has been leveled.  The information gap between patients and provider is being closed. The social media is on the ascendancy.  Everybody seems to be online all the time. 

Breaking Through

Breaking through and rising above this sea of information has become a problem.  Perhaps personal interviews with savvy people speaking their mind and spilling their gut in plain English can help the breakthrough.  Perhaps more of us can become high informative innovators.