Will Healthcare Innovation Fail in the UK in 2013? – Maybe.

What’s it All For?

Why are we doing this?

Why?

Why do we talk about innovation, change and impact when it comes to healthcare? Why is the spotlight now on eHealth, mHealth, ‘BigData’ and so many other new phrases that have entered the proverbial lexicon of 21st century healthcare? Why do health policy think-tanks, research institutes and healthcare startup accelerators exist?

It depends on who you really are. Are you an employee, a civil servant, an investor, manager entrepreneur, researcher, doctor or even a patient? It may be obvious but as much as we all believe in the altruistic nature of healthcare the reality is that it is a business like any other. The training of doctors is one of the greatest bureaucratic races of all and the bottom line for the hospital manager is still the bottom line.

It’s business time.

When I stopped practising clinical medicine to focus on healthcare management and entrepreneurship it wasn’t immediately clear to me where to turn to become part of this community. Was there even a community? I mean I found all the usual suspects such as the Nuffield Trust and The Kings’ Fund and their body of work was certainly of great interest but still where were the ‘doers’? The people pushing the frontiers of hospital medicine, inspiring a new generation of  doctorpreneurs?

Oh Say Can you See…

Apparently, it’s all happening in the good ole’ US of A from FutureMed@Singularity University, Eric Topols’ ‘Creative Destruction of Medicine’, Health2.0 to the numerous healthcare accelerators. A community is growing everyday thriving on the work of its diverse members whilst accepting that they all have differing purposes but a shared worldview.

Let’s be honest with ourselves. Venture capitalists, investors and the device & pharma industries want to turn a profit. They NEED to turn a profit otherwise everything grinds to an ugly halt. The government is looking for savings wherever it can find them and managers want to the keep their jobs.

So I look back home at the UK. What are we doing? Where’s our community? Where’s our open forum where we accept the premise of profit and incentives to drive healthcare innovation and entrepreneurship? When are we going to put together teams of engineers, investors, doctors and patients together to innovate and apply their work in the real world? When will we recognise that innovation can fail but it’s a dynamic process we must foster and nurture so that it can succeed?

United We Stand

Well, it’s starting to happen here. We have Health2.0 London, the Faculty for Medical Leadership, NHS Change and HealthBoxEurope as well as biotech hotspots such as where I am now at the Cambridge Science Park.

But we’re all operating separately preaching our objectives independently whilst still expecting to have meaningful impact. We need to come together to tackle the great challenges we face ranging from healthcare reform to the ageing population and unacceptable standards our elderly face.

We need to foster greater relationships between our scientists, investors and doctors and we also need to make a clear channel for doctors to enter the world of innovation and management. The lines of communication need to be open between all of us so that we’re no longer acting as disparate groups. You see we’re allowed to fail as long as we are working together, learning and sustaining our community and its momentum.

So today I ask you only one question:

Can we work together in 2013 to push the boundaries of healthcare?

Dr Saif F Abed
Founding Partner
AbedGraham Healthcare Strategies Ltd
www.abedgraham.com

The NHS Grad Scheme: The Key to Our Success?

Baby Steps for a Better Future?

Who’d want to do it? Becoming an NHS manager where you’re strapped for cash and resources, are pressured to meet government targets and have to deal with ego fueled doctors (I can say that!) and stressed nurses!

Well, the NHS Graduate Management Scheme 2012 just kicked off and that’s precisely the challenge this years’ crop are embracing. With all the talk of innovation, change and ‘shared purpose’ we need to appreciate that often prevailing attitudes can be nigh on impossible to change.

However, investing these values and perspectives in our trainees will pay off many times over. So let’s take a look at some of the key skills our grads will need to develop over the next few months and years.

Communication

 

You know it. I know it. Then for goodness sake let’s learn to say it! Communication is the single key skill you need to develop to become an effective manager.

Communication isn’t just talking. It’s listening. It’s also about body language and recognising when to open your mouth and when to keep it shut. It’s about understanding the language you use with different people. You don’t talk to the orthopaedic registrar the same way you talk to a Patient Representative or the same way you talk to your accounts manager.

Recognise the differences, communicate accordingly and unite everyone to achieve the improvements you aim to bring about.

Lateral Thinking

Lateral Thinking [Definition]

‘A heuristic for solving problems; you try to look at the problem from many angles instead of tackling it head-on.’

Basically, you have no money. Not everyone will agree with you. People will expect many different solutions which are often conflicting.

What do you do? Think outside the box. You need to consider the fact that management involves managing personalities as well as figures on paper and you’ll be juggling many expectations. You need to think of cost-effective ways of achieving your goals and you have to be brave enough to plan these and turn them into reality.

Just because someone hasn’t tried your way before doesn’t mean you shouldn’t.

Time Management

Another obvious one. Get a diary. Set up your Linkedin Calendar. Get used to your iPad’s Reminder settings.

Punctuality, organisation and delivery are appreciated by everyone you work with and advance warning if you think something isn’t going to work out on time.

It will do your reputation and career no end of good when you master time management.

Courage

Look, many graduate schemes are tremendous opportunities to develop yourself but they are often sheltered environments. I may have spent six years at medical school but I didn’t fully understand the harsh realities of medicine until my last year or so and really only when I started working.

The NHS is a large, stressful, demanding machine the continues to march on day by day.

You’re entering that world. We expect you to work with people like me to deliver change and improve patient outcome and to keep this machine moving! So stay true to your convictions, be willing to adapt and be prepared to embrace the challenge.

SHARE, FORWARD AND RETWEET!

Dr Saif Abed
Founding Partner
AbedGraham Healthcare Strategies Ltd
www.abedgraham.com

 

‘Hey! Mr Doctor! Step out of your Comfort Zone!’

It Might not be so Bad

Today’s blog is a selfish blog.

There it is.

I said it.

You see today as much as anything I’m discussing why doctors (like me) and nurses must be the ones who define the evolution of healthcare. But there’s a problem. Many doctors and nurses by themselves don’t know the whole picture when it comes to the trials and tribulations of running a hospital, clinic or governmental organisation etc etc Often times those who do are trapped by their own career issues to learn or work in healthcare management.

I recently made a presentation about why my team of doctors were perfectly placed to tackle the issues of hospital management and strategy (find it here) and today I’m going to go through why it’s worth doctors and nurses taking the plunge into management.

1. Reality Check

You can be the reality check. I know you’ve moaned about how your ward, theatre, admin or clinic operates.

I know that for a FACT. So why haven’t you spoken up? Don’t think people will listen to you? Maybe you’re right but that’s because you’re not operating in their world. Take a bit of time to learn about their world, their jargon and their issues and then you can translate your issues into a language they’ll understand.

More importantly, you can turn your issues into ACTION.

2. Rapport

If we all made an effort to understand each other maybe, just maybe we can cause positive change.

It works both ways. If doctors and nurses who are interested in management take the time to learn the subject and managers who want to work in healthcare take the time to experience the wards and emergency rooms then we develop the most important commodity.

INSIGHT. With insight we can figure out which solutions are actually innovative, acceptable and implementable.

3. Remember the Patients?

Patients? Remember them? The reason we do our jobs? Ok, ok enough of that. We all know why we’re here and quite frankly management issues often stop us from doing our jobs properly, efficiently or effectively.

Whether it’s a distracting rota issue, missing paperwork or malfunctioning equipment the bottom line is if it’s stopping us from looking after our patients then we have a duty to do something about it.It’s easy to retreat into our shells and procrastinate with our friends and colleagues but that’s not going to make a difference.

If you have the interest, the will and the solutions to make a difference then you should take the time and make the effort to immerse yourself in that world because ultimately you’re still caring for your patients.

4. Managers want to Work with You!

Contrary to popular belief the majority of managers and executives in healthcare do it because they care.

They value your opinions, your experiences and your solutions. In my experience, I’ve had profoundly positive experiences with every manager I’ve met from junior to senior and we’ve often, with a bit of pushing, managed to develop some plans for action. Often when they’ve heard that I’ve made the effort to learn and understand management they’ve then made the effort to understand my world.

We’re in a time of change and management groups are increasingly recognising the value of real world experience to solve problems.

Not least in healthcare.

So whether you’re a doctor, manager, nurse or executive if you believe in collaborative healthcare then check out my team’s interactive presentation , visit our website here and let me know what you think!

SHARE, FORWARD AND RETWEET!

Dr Saif Abed
Founding Partner
AbedGraham Healthcare Strategies Ltd
www.abedgraham.com

“Being a Doctor. It’s all Talk. Well, so’s being a Manager!”

‘Talk isn’t Cheap!’

When I was practicing medicine I spent 90% of my time, if not more, talking.

Talking to patients. Talking to nurses. Talking to the lab. Talking to other doctors, other hospitals, admin and even on the odd occasion to managers.

You could not possibly do your job if you’re not talking. It didn’t matter how good your grades were at med school or how many weird sounding diseases and syndromes you knew. If you couldn’t communicate effectively you were done for.

You were useless. The thing is being able to communicate effectively isn’t unique to medicine. Remembering to talk and listen is essential for most jobs especially in a complex system where everyone is rushing around trying to get their priorities in order.

So lets’ take a second to go over some of the different ways that effective communication can help you whether you’re a doctor, nurse, manager or executive.

1. ‘Excuse me. Who are you?’

Know who you’re talking to. It’s absolutely essential to recognise the people involved in any system. Taking the time to get know the people in your department, system or organisation helps you on several levels:

• Making an effort, is polite and builds rapport
• We all have agendas and objectives, identifying them allows us to understand and continue building rapport
• Knowing what everyone does lets you know who can help you
• Knowing the structure let’s you know what the internal hierarchy is

2. ‘Listen Up!’

As much as I love talking one of the most important skills to learn is the art of listening. Whether you’re starting a new project or you’re trying to assess the state of play you need to learn to listen.

If you show you’re capable of listening then people will talk to you. I cannot emphasise how useful this skill is. For one, it builds rapport and that’s the most valuable currency any consultant, manager or healthcare professional can have.

Beyond that listening allows you to build effective strategies and plans. As skilled as you are, you only have one mind. Listening to everyone will reveal both problems AND solutions you probably have never considered. It will reveal the reasons for internal conflicts and provide you with the hidden answers to problems you previously would not have had access to.

3. ‘Communication is Precision of Thought’

At one time or another we all have suggestions, ideas and plans we want to get across.

We have thoughts. We’re not all born orators but the more we talk and present we learn to translate our ideas into simple, clear and accessible messages. Whether you’re a born number cruncher or you’re a great physician being able to communicate your ideas concisely and to people of all backgrounds will lead to ACTION.

4. ‘Rapport is Everything.’

That’s why we talk. On so many levels as human beings talking builds relationships. We learn about each other, our priorities and our motivations. The bonds we form allow us to work together and become more effective units. If you are a leader you need to be connected with your team otherwise you’ll never execute your plans effectively and your team won’t feel the need to give you honest feedback.

If you’re in a team whether its’ in the backroom or on the front-lines having rapport allows you to get through the most difficult situations but also gives you the confidence to suggest plans and ideas which will improve productivity and efficacy.

And if you’re a management consultant or such like, well, if no-one trusts you or feels like you understand them then don’t expect your plans and solutions to be taken seriously. You become impotent.

Being a leader, innovator, advisor or pioneer can’t be done alone. You will always rely on others and having effective relationships are essential.

Communication is the key to these relationships.

In the immortal words of Bob Hoskins,”It’s good to talk.”

SHARE, FORWARD AND RETWEET!

Dr Saif Abed
Founding Partner
AbedGraham Healthcare Strategies Ltd
www.abedgraham.com

‘Doctors & Managers. We’re on the Same Side. Right?’

You forgot we’re a Team.

So recently I was part of a NHS Change Model Twitter Discussion between managers, consultants, some doctors and some patient group representatives. About a third of the way through a patient group representative made a statement along the lines of, “Aren’t we all on the same side?”.

It got me thinking.

Are we really?

I mean in a perfect world we’re all their to treat the sick and to relieve the pain of those who sadly can’t be treated anymore. Everything from budgets, to equipment procurement, leadership and clinical practice is supposedly there to treat patients and improve peoples’ health.

But is that how we really think about things? Let’s take a closer look.

‘I want to be a Doctor so I can help People!’

Oh really? Did you consider social work or charity work in that case?

I kid, I kid! A little…

You see doctors and nurses treat people on a daily basis so it becomes second nature and because we’re just humans other factors start to take precedent. Whether it’s overly complex and bureaucratic training systems, the hunt for jobs or the never-ending chain of exams and assessments somewhere along the line everyone gets a little jaded.

With the weight of the world they’re carrying on their shoulders from house officer to consultant it can become and endless struggle even for the most optimistic. It’s there and politics doesn’t make it any easier because we all have mortgages and bills to think about.

BUT. Above all, we all care about our patients and many doctors know what will make a difference but suggestions from the frontline often fall upon deaf ears so much so that they succumb to the world of procrastination because…

‘We’ve got to balance the books!’

‘Money, money, money. That’s right, I’m a manager and I need to balance the budget. I need to generate income and cut costs any way I can.’

I exaggerate. Slightly.

Doctors often complain that’s all managers care about and nothing else. Here’s the thing guys we can’t have hospitals without money.

That’s the world we live in and somehow we need to get around often enormous costs to even get by on a daily basis let alone forecast the future. We’re happy to give managers that burden and expect them, often with no experience of healthcare, to be able to balance the books whilst thinking directly about life on the frontline.

Even patient care has become a set of statistics and numbers because of never ending government targets. Not meeting targets? Get fined! More numbers! No wonder none of them have any time to even consider taking the time to learn about the stresses and strains frontline healthcare staff go through on a regular basis.

And where do all these good natured targets come from?

‘Vote for Us and We’ll put the NHS first!’

Promises. Party politics. Oh they’d promise us the world to get into Westminster, the White House or wherever else.

It’s an unenviable task to balance the ultimate national budget and often the decisions come from people who have never spent a day in hospital beyond the occasional visit to declare a new facility open. Even if you spend days shadowing doctors unless you do the night shifts and  the on-calls with dwindling resources or staff then you don’t really get a flavour of the harsh realities of healthcare.

If you haven’t been at least a manager in a hospital and tried to negotiate and compromise with doctors and nurses then you’ll never understand the dynamics at play.

But you’re calling the shots. You can invest in think-tanks and what not but unless they’re engaging immensely closely with doctors, nurses and managers and listening to patients then it all won’t mean anything.

The biggest problem is that whenever anyone tries anything meaningful by the time they get anything from paper to reality they’re out of power and everything gets repealed by the new government or administration and we’re back to the drawing board.

So What do we Do?

Sure, we have to talk. We have to listen.

It’s not enough. We have to experience. We have to develop insight.

Doctors need to spend time observing what managers do and we need to develop a training program for junior doctors with an active interest in management.

Managers need to experience what it’s like to be working as a doctor or nurse in the middle of the night or on call. The trials and tribulations of accessing patient records, getting equipment and handling emergencies and failing computer systems.

Just a little insight could take us all a step forward. On the same side. Caring for our patients the best way we each know how.

SHARE, FORWARD AND RETWEET!

Dr Saif Abed
Founding Partner
AbedGraham Healthcare Strategies Ltd
www.abedgraham.com

 

20 THINGS DOCTORS WISH WOULD HAPPEN

1. Printers working.

2. Computers working.

3. Fully stocked equipment storerooms.

4. Logically laid out equipment storerooms!

5. Rotas with an appropriate number of staff.

6. Locum staff who understand the word ‘responsibility’.

7. Not being bleeped 4 times within two minutes by the same person.

8. Understanding that you can’t be in more than one place at the same.

9. Other specialties understanding that when you’re calling them it’s not to ruin their lives but because you’re asking for their help.

10. Councils realising that doing an audit because it’s compulsory doesn’t improve clinical practice.

11. Managers realising that statistics can’t replace frontline experience.

12. A ‘Thank You’ from anyone goes a long way.

13. ‘I’m sorry’ works both ways and also goes a long way.

14. When you call me make sure you’ve you’ve got your facts straight.

15. If its 1430 and I’m free give me work to do NOT when it’s 1755.

16. Porters arriving on time.

17. iPads. We need more of them.

18. Doctor’s rooms that are stocked and have no rats.

19. We’re not rich. Courses & exams don’t have to cost so much.

20. We’re human.

SHARE, FORWARD AND RETWEET!

Dr Saif Abed
Founding Partner
AbedGraham Healthcare Strategies Ltd
www.abedgraham.com

“How Hospitals Waste My Time…”

It’s 3am and You’re the only Doctor On Call…

You’ve got a sick patient who you’ve been called to see on a ward you never knew existed, you can’t find the nurse who called you, you can’t find a blood test bottle, you can’t find the right investigation request form and the operator seems to be on strike. Whether you’re a doctor, nurse, manager or hospital executive you’ll have encountered someone who’s been through one of those nights.

So it got me thinking. I spoke to a few people. Doctors, nurses and managers.

We got chatting about what really annoyed us about the wards, clinics and hospitals we worked at. What would we change?

If I had a penny for every gripe we came up with then I would cash those gripes in at the bank right now and officially retire. Alas, instead I am blogging about the aforementioned, yet cathartic process we went through. So let’s look at some of the organisational issues facing your average hospital.

1. Equipment

My goodness the total amount of time I have wasted on a solitary night on-call trying to find a needle, syringe or blood bottle, nothing really important obviously, verges on hours. It’s not like I had an ill patient to look after or anything. Some rather clever designer clearly felt that every ward should have its storeroom cupboards arranged differently and subsequent managers felt it was best to layout all the LIFE PRESERVING  equipment in completely obscure places. I haven’t even got to the evening I spent an hour searching for a mythical endoscope…

2. Portering

Patients with chest problems quite often need chest x-rays. When patients have advanced chest conditions they require chest CT scans. When patients have abdominal pain they quite often need abdominal CT scans.

So. The genius who thought the CT scanner should be located on the equal and opposite end of the hospital must be a real sadist…

But we have porters I hear you cry! Alas, it often seems to be a portering system supplemented by untrained junior doctors and nurses. No matter, it’s not like the patients’ care is being delayed in any way shape or form. Its not that the patient needs to be transferred to Intensive Care or really needs to be taken for dialysis (located somewhere in Narnia).

3. Operator

“Microbiology.”

“You are being put through to Mr James Holliday.”

“No, Micro…”

“Sorry I did not catch that, please repeat your request.”

“Microbiology.”

“You are being put through to Neuroradiology.”

And that’s a human operator…

4. Paperwork

Whether its’ filling in or finding paperwork it’s all infuriating. From the patients’ folders that seem to have an uncanny ability to spill their contents everywhere or their ability to lose the all important test results or the request forms that always seem to be elusive at the best of times.

Paperwork. Man’s worst enemy since AD 105.

The Solution?

Now that list was by no means exhaustive but it gives you a flavour of the types of issues that really aggravate healthcare professionals on the front line. I haven’t even got to the patient referral systems but I digress. What’s the answer?

Well, the good news? It’s all a matter of thoughtful re-organisation. A collective feng shui.

The bad news? It’s going to require some cash money.

The reason I transitioned from practicing physician to healthcare consultant was because many of the problems facing healthcare can’t be summarised on a spreadsheet or in a pie chart. They are experiential, frontline experiences. They can be fixed but it requires a collaborative  effort on all sides to sit together and brainstorm the solutions (some prefer painstorming).

Since we can’t go around tearing down hospitals and rebuilding them there are limitations on what we can do but we can still make marked improvements. What’s exciting though is that there is significant global investment occurring in healthcare especially in the Middle East, Asia and Latin America and it’s in those locations where we can cultivate effective healthcare systems from the get go.

A little bit of talk might save us all a lot of time.

Agree/Disagree? Have Your Say, Tweet Me @Saif_Abed & if you enjoyed my blog please ReTweet, share and forward it on!

Dr Saif F Abed

Founding Partner

AbedGraham Healthcare Strategies Ltd

http://www.abedgraham.com

“This is how I would sell the NHS Brand.”

In my last blog post I put forward my applause and support for the governments’ plans to encourage NHS trusts to sell and develop their brands abroad such as Great Ormond Street Hospital. Today I want to explain how I would go about taking the NHS brand to the global market. 

It’s going to involve some harsh truths.

First thing’s first. The NHS and the way it’s run here at home, in Britain cannot work abroad. The system is bureaucratic, lackadaisical, financially unsound and unsustainable. Well meaning chief executives are constrained by government targets and middle management lack the necessary skills to manage single units let alone hospitals and trusts. The system is only getting by because of a combination of continued (though eventually dwindling) funding and the vocational efforts of healthcare staff ( though increasingly demoralised).

No-one wants to buy that. And that’s not what we’re selling.

We have to shift away from the mentality of the suffering NHS to that of the awe inspiring British healthcare system. We have to start thinking like a corporation because we will now be in competition with a range of international healthcare institutions.

We have to start thinking like a multi-national.

So how do we do it? What is there to sell? Quite a lot actually but of all there is one key factor.

Reputation

Let’s be under no illusions here. Britain has been one of the pioneers in healthcare research and application for decades if not the majority of the history of modern medicine. From Gray’s anatomy (the book!), Jenner’s smallpox vaccine to the invention of the CT scanner we’ve always been on the cutting edge. That’s recognised with hundreds of foreign students coming to train here and even more coming as medical tourists.

No matter what your impression is of our hospital wards or your local GP they are not synonymous with the views of the global markets we will target. The British education system attracts foreign students aplenty and that’s because the country is seen as having great minds and systems to impart knowledge and skill. It is those very assumptions, based on fact, which will enable us to take our services abroad.

So where do we go? We needs markets with money, an appetite for investment and preferably those who already have ties with Britain.

Location, Location, Location!

The money’s in the middle east. Specifically, it’s in the gulf region. Especially, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar.

The governments are pro-active in their involvement with foreign investors especially if it leads to the increasing development of profitability of their nations. Particularly, nations like the UAE, Kuwait and Qatar value the role of infrastructure development and knowledge services. In time so will previously war torn nations such as Iraq.

Healthcare fulfils both these needs. We’re not limited to medical care either, we have world renowned medical training facilities which we can expand abroad too. Harvard Medical School signed a contract to develop an equivalent satellite facility in Dubai in 2009. I can foresee this can be tied into the funding for our homegrown doctors and nurses but I digress.

So How do we Do it?

We have to treat healthcare as an industry and we need to treat the global NHS brand as a profit making exercise. We have to plan the process as a means to get as much money back to Britain to fund our own services.

The bottom line is profit.

We need to extract dedicated individuals from the NHS Confederation, UK Trade and Investment, Foreign Office and the appropriate Royal Colleges of Medicine and Nursing to form a union of experts to analyse the most profitable trust brands, the market, repackage the product and aggressively seeks global partnerships and contracts.

To allow each NHS trust, with some (yet, unspecified) assistance to go about this mammoth task itself is absurd.

Business 101

These are the questions that needs to be answered by the task force I suggest needs to be formed:

1. Which services do medical tourists demand when they come to the United Kingdom?
2. Which private hospitals do they use in the United Kingdom?
3. In which NHS trusts are high demand private practice doctors based?
4. Which NHS trusts have the highest percentage of private practice as a part of their balance sheets?
5. How do their financial books look?
5. Which nations do we have already active, high-yield investments with especially in knowledge based services?
6. Can they provide the necessary infrastructure for us to use or must we provide it ourselves or is their a relevant home firm we can partner with?
*7. What role can private British healthcare firms (providers/insurers) play?*

*(I have put point 7 between asterisks simply because it’s a factor that has not been considered or spoken of yet. I am an ardent advocate of public-private sector collaboration and I believe profit creates an incentive for innovation and initiative but I will reserve discussing point 7 for a future blog.)

There are still many unanswered questions but we need to accept why this initiative has been proposed. It’s to make money so that we can fund healthcare at home. It can be done as long as we start thinking and behaving like we are a private sector institution but it has to be a facilitated, regulated and closely monitored.

Providing excellent clinical care abroad could be the reason we can keep providing it at home.

So that’s my view! Tomorrow I will discuss how we have to regulate this process so that patients at home reap the dividends.

Agree/Disagree? Have Your Say, Tweet Me @Saif_Abed & if you enjoyed my blog please ReTweet, share and forward it on!

Dr Saif F Abed
Founding Partner
AbedGraham Healthcare Strategies Ltd
www.abedgraham.com

 

The Social Networks Driving Healthcare Forward

Social media is everywhere. It’s an intrinsic part of your life whether you’re really aware of it or not.

If you’re reading this then you’ve engaged in social networking. We’ve connected whether it’s through LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, WordPress or whatever else. However, and as I’ve mentioned before, healthcare lags behind most industries in its uptake of management solutions and innovation.

In my last blog I discussed a surge in the use of iPads in hospitals and it therefore only makes sense to look at the social networks and apps that propel smartphones and the like. Since the primary premise of a social network is to connect and formulate a community then it can have a perfect role in healthcare connecting patients, relatives, carers and physicians. So let’s look at some examples:

1. Curetogether.com

An open-source, crowd-sourcing type of website where patients with conditions in common can come together to share qualitative and quantitative information regarding their conditions and treatments. The purpose of this is to provide accurate information for patients but chiefly to spur the development of ideas and research in their respective fields.

2. PatientsLikeMe.com

A for profit company that allows patients to share quantitative and qualitative information providing a database of information for people to browse and learn from about conditions, treatments and interventions. Information is then shared with private healthcare firms and is another way of driving research or feedback in the private sector.

3. MedHelp.org

Another community website to share information but uniquely it has a range of monitoring tools that can be used for self-monitoring and reporting. A great way of getting patients to become more pro-active in managing their health which can be shared with their doctors to allow them to be more acutely involved in the management of their patients.

Since, information is a powerful currency by itself, both the pharmaceutical industry and the medical community has taken an interest in social media. Almost every major pharmaceutical company and large hospital trust or body has a social media presence in the form of Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or even a blog.

Pharmaceutical companies are beginning to study consumer trends and perceptions so that they can develop, improve and target their products more effectively. Hospitals are using social networks to gather and respond to patient feedback and experiences. The Mayo Clinic is a case point with a fantastic social networking web presence through their Mayo Clinic Center for Social Media.

As patients become more web savvy there is a range of social networks offering direct, online consultations but these traverse a grey area in terms of the extent of care that can be provided reasonably and ethically over the internet. But one great perk is the role of the social network to connect physicians to one another to confidentially and anonymously discuss patient cases either within their own hospital or through a wider network. An example of such a website is iRounds.net which allows physicians in a hospital to share data, communicate and even manage their schedules.

Most of these websites are ridiculously difficult to find unless you know where you’re going and what you’re looking forward. The research into the efficacy of these services is minimal at best but a trend is clearly developing and it’s unlikely to slow down any time soon.

As a tech savvy doctor (if I do say so myself!) I think this technology is great because it would improve my ability to look after my patients and do my job. As a management consultant I think it can only improve productivity, reactivity and even profitability. Here’s the thing though if we’re going to do it then we need a concentrated effort with investment and education by both private and public services.

It’s not like money is growing on trees but this may be one investment that will reap dividends for many years to come.

Have any more examples? Have your say, Tweet me @Saif_Abed & if you enjoyed today’s blog please ReTweet and share it!

Dr Saif F Abed
Founding Partner
AbedGraham Healthcare Strategies Ltd
http://www.abedgraham.com

Managing Diplomacy: Julian Assange

This morning I had planned to continue my ‘Health Systems…’ series by looking at healthcare in Ecuador. Then a moment of rebellion struck me. Call it a thought rebellion but I thought,  “You know what, let’s spice things up a little today!”.

So instead of discussing healthcare I’m going to discuss the pitfalls of management strategy when it comes to international diplomacy. It just so happens that I have a wonderful piece of political soap opera going on on my doorstep here in London.

For those of you unaware of the situation (where have you been?!), Mr Assange, the chief proprietor and star of Wikileaks is wanted in Sweden for questioning in regards to alleged crimes of a sexual nature. At the same time he’s wanted in the United States for alleged crimes related to Wikileaks. Mr Assange has been in an ongoing battle against being extradited from the UK to Sweden for fear that he will then extradited to the States where he may face the death penalty.

Straight forward eh? Well it got even more interesting two months ago.

Following, exhausting all his legal appeal options in court he sought asylum in the two room, share office space that is the Ecudorian embassy.

Today, he was granted asylum.

President Correa. Mr Assange’s New BFF

William Hague, the British foreign minister quickly made a forthright declaration that Assange would not be given safe passage out of the United Kingom. There were even stirrings that the the British government has threatened to storm the embassy after possibly enacting a rare law that would waive the embassy’s diplomatic status (Diplmatic and Consular Premises Act 1987).

Clearly, the foreign office, its strategists and the minister’s advisors are working overtime to find a solution. Some have suggested that this is a debate about whether we value the relationship with Sweden or Ecuador more. Some say that it’s obviously Sweden, others suggest the burgeoning growth of Latin America would make Ecuador the obvious option as it represents a much wider set of relations.

There’s then the threat of precarious effect.

Storm the Ecuadorian embassy and what will that mean for the sovereignty of British embassies around the globe? I mean they are certainly not a world power and the last thing I can imagine they want is to be in the bad books of the UK let alone the US of A. However, they may stand for a genuine fear of human rights and ethics or Mr Assange, who knows?

Options that have been put out there include making Assange a member of staff to grant him immunity (not legally viable) or even to dispatch him in a diplomatic bag or case to Ecuador (breaching the Vienna Convention).

Get ready to be raided.

Then there’s Sweden, a nation which is considered neutral and a beacon of democracy and justice as far as stereotypes go. This quadrumvirate of nations faces an unprecedented battle that scales the heights of strategic chess playing which may eventually end up in the International Courts of Justice.

Regardless, the ramifications could ripple for years to come. That is unless Mr Assange does indeed give his planned speech ‘outside’ the  embassy this Sunday in which case he will be arrested instantly for breaching bail. Maybe he’s planning to become some kind of political martyr?

Who knows? I certainly don’t have the answer but I can’t wait to see how this all turns out.

What would be your strategy? Have Your Say, [RE] Tweet me @Saif_Abed

Dr Saif F Abed
Founding Partner
AbedGraham Healthcare Strategies Ltd
http://www.abedgraham.com