Health Care: Employers Encourage Healthy Lifestyles with Penalties and Rewards

By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA How do companies curb health care costs? Do healthier employees lead to increased productivity?  Several progressive companies believe so and have committed to providing employees with programs to help engage them in a healthier lifestyle. As part of the incentives to lead a healthier lifestyle some employers have instituted a penalty and reward system tied to the companies’ benefits.  For example, smokers may incur a significant surcharge to the…

Read More...

Part 2: Guy Kawasaki Talks Social Media and 10 Tips for Enchanting Decision Making

By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA In Part 1 on Healthin30, “Guy Kawasaki Jumps the Curve with Enchanting Insights to Empower,” Kawasaki offers insightful tips to help companies succeed. Whether the company is a start-up, health care technology company, pharma company, medical practice, major health care organization, or a leading company listed on Forbes, “enchanting” insights can help different types of businesses (and people) thrive. Through Kawasaki’s journey, he offers insights for people to “see…

Read More...

Guy Kawasaki Jumps the Curve with Enchanting Insights to Empower

By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA Part 1 Guy Kawasaki referred to himself as a “Bozo” during his keynote address at the Health Tech Next Generation Conference this month in San Francisco. Speaker, author, former chief evangelist of Apple, founding partner at Garage Technology Ventures, and founder of Alltop.com, Kawasaki engaged his audience with humor and humility. Don’t Let the Bozos Grind You Down One important lesson which appears at the end of Guy Kawasaki’s…

Read More...

Speaking Event on Social Media: Health Tech: Next Generation Conference San Francisco

By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA I’m excited to part of the Social Media panel session at the upcoming Health Tech:  Next Generation Conference in San Francisco, CA. Health Tech:  Next Generation will feature expert speakers from both the Health Care and IT industries.  Guy Kawasaki, Co-Founder, Alltop.com, and author is the Keynote Speaker. The track sessions will address crucial topics such as Data Privacy and Security, Meaningful Use of Electronic Health Records, Role of…

Read More...

Patient-Centric Care at the Hub of Telehealth

By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA The conundrum continued behind conference doors last week at the American Telemedicine Association (ATA) conference in Tampa about the efficacy of mobile phone usage to improve patient health. Lively discussions followed about the ROI for chronic disease management through mobile health and outcomes for remote patient monitoring focusing on whether telemedicine is excluded from meaningful use and reasons why telehealth should be a key component in Accountable Care Organizations…

Read More...