Thinking about Chromebooks? Here's Everything You Need to Know First

Visit the web site for the Richland School District Two in Columbia, SC, and you will see the district’s motto proudly displayed on every page: Inquire. Ignite. Inspire. They are not mere words. The district tries to put those goals into action with all aspects of its educational strategy. And according to Technology Integration Coordinator Donna Teuber, they are also fitting descriptions of the Chromebooks experiment there, and the interest it has brought from other school districts.

(Read my entire article at THE Journal)

 

Trading for healthcare services

If there is one sure way to beat the high cost of offering healthcare benefits, it is to not pay for it. At least, not directly.

That is the strategy for a growing number of small businesses that are bartering to get healthcare services they otherwise couldn’t afford. It’s a strategy that also offers benefits for the healthcare businesses providing the services.

(Read my complete blog on the topic at Healthcare Finance News)

Analytics Tools Figure Out Social Media Users' Intent

In legal circles, intent is nine tenths of the law. In other words, what someone meant to do or say is equally important as what they actually did or said.

For example, someone can be positive they didn't have the experience they expected when they shopped with an online retailer. If you don't read carefully, it might seem the experience was "positive." More likely, however, it was not.

The same holds true for social analytics, as companies discover that social media listening and measuring tools can provide misleading results. Determining customer intent is the new goal for marketers and social media experts.

(Read my complete blog on the topic at Internet Evolution)

Female doctors more positive than males

In a profession full of flux and uncertainty, America’s physicians say they are generally not a happy lot. But female physicians do seem to be a bit less miserable overall, according to a recent study by The Physicians Foundation.

A survey of 13,750 physicians by Merritt Hawkins on behalf of The Physicians Foundation suggests there are some differences in attitudes and opinions between male and female physicians about their careers, the profession and the future of healthcare – but on a number of key points, both genders are really pessimistic or unhappy. The study also confirms the trend of women being more heavily represented in primary care roles, while their male counterparts are more heavily represented in specialty healthcare areas. This may have some impact on reported morale levels.

(Read my complete blog on the topic at Healthcare Finance News)

Trash to treasure

Administrators at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston firmly believe that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. As a result, this month the hospital is starting a pilot program that could potentially take a common hospital trash item and turn it into a bit of profit.

The material in question is so-called blue wrap material that is consumed in large quantities by operating rooms. Blue wrap is the blue bubble wrap material that surgical instruments come wrapped in. The hospital hopes to save and sell the blue wrap for reuse rather than constantly throw the product into the general waste stream. If successful, the hospital would like to see a double benefit: reducing the amount of its hauled trash, and getting some amount of cash back.

(See my complete blog on the topic at Healthcare Finance News)

Know Your Board Members: Ferdinand Jahnel

Born and raised in Munich, Germany, Fredinand Jahnel now makes New York City his home. He is currently Vice President and Treasurer at Henry Schein, Inc. Headquartered in Melville, New York, Henry Schein is the largest global distributor of healthcare products and services to office-based practitioners in the Dental, Medical and Animal Health space (i.e. dentists, physicians, and veterinarians).

Ferdinand knew early in life that we wanted a career in business and economics. After high school he attended the University of Augsburg, Germany, where he studied business administration. He earned his BA degree in 1991 and followed it 10 years later with an MBA at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business in 2001.

(See my complete profile in Exchange Magazine)

Doctors Embrace E-Prescription Elixir

The Internet is rapidly becoming the preferred delivery vehicle for placing medical prescriptions and tracing medication history, according to two current studies on e-prescribing. That spells good news for pharmacists who have long struggled with trying to read a hurried physician’s scribbling on a paper prescription pad.

A record 788 million prescriptions were routed electronically in 2012, according to the soon-to-be-released “National Progress Report on E-Prescribing and Safe-Rx Rankings,” by Surescripts, a national healthcare information network in Crystal City, Va. That's up from 570 million in 2011, with 69 percent of office-based physicians now using e-prescribing in their practice.
(See my complete blog on the topic at www.internetevolution.com)