In Every Issue Alumni NewsWharton in the News Featured ArticlesIn Upcoming IssuesAdditional Perspectives on the Supreme Court Decision on the ACAWhere is the "I" in team? - Why Collaboration Matters in Healthcare, Part 2Trends and Issues in Specialty PharmacyHealth Disparities Series From the Halls of AcademiaTrends in Oncology Care – Locust Walk Partners Quick LinksGet InvolvedArchives  To learn more about Duane Morris, LLP, please click on the icon above. | Editor's LetterBack in April, primary elections were held in my state as well as for county judgeships and positions on the school board. When I went to vote, I was dismayed by the practically non-existent turnout. Granted it was the week of Spring break as well as in the midst of the Easter and Passover holidays, so certainly less than optimal timing for exuberant participation in the democratic process.
However, in a year of many "You just can't make this stuff up" moments, I had hoped there would actually be a long queue at the polling place. Perhaps it is naïveté, wishful thinking, or eternal optimism on my part, but I'm still holding out for that long and winding road in November.
Regardless of which side of the aisle you sit or don't sit at all, 2012 will be a year both to remember and to go down in the political history books. To that end, this month we have hot-off-the-presses commentary on the recent Supreme Court decision, with additional perspectives to follow in October.
In addition to our standing columns, among the portfolio of articles featured this quarter is our first "From the Halls of Academia" offering as well as two articles of significance relative to their historical ties to the Wharton School - (1) the initial installment of a four-part series on collaboration from CFAR, a private management consulting firm the roots of which were as a research center at the Wharton School, and (2) an interview with Mitch Goldman, WG'75 of Duane Morris, LLP, who shares his experience starting GLS Associates, Inc. with 4 classmates, another of the first healthcare starts-ups to emerge from the early days of the Wharton Healthcare Program.
Heads Up:
Shortly after the release of the October edition, we will be sending a brief survey to solicit your feedback as we close out the first year of the Wharton Healthcare Quarterly. Your input and active engagement are crucial to our planning for 2013 and to our optimizing the ability of the WHQ to meet your needs in support of the WHCMAA. Just look at it as an “early voting” practice run for November!
Z. Colette Edwards, WG'84, MD'85
Managing Editor
To learn more about Colette, click here.
As always, special thanks go to Jeff Voigt for his continued Board "executive sponsorship" of the e-magazine and Gabriela Sanchez for pulling everything together into the e-magazine template and providing other administrative and project management duties. We are also excited about and grateful for our first Wharton Healthcare Quarterly sponsor, Duane Morris, LLP. The President's DeskColumn Editor: Jay Mohr, WG'91, Managing Director and Co-Founder, Locust Walk PartnersFellow Alumni, WHCMAA Members, and Colleagues,
Summer 2012 is now well underway, and parts of our country have been feeling the full, if not devastating, effects of record setting heat waves. Protracted tropical storms, out-of-control wild fires, and power outages are likely impacting many of us during a time when we look forward to relaxing vacations with family and friends.
While not the perfect metaphor, I thought the theme of "heat" was an appropriate one. Despite the recent decisions by the Supreme Court, the Affordable Care Act will be hotly debated throughout the Presidential election cycle. Whether it is implemented "intact" or repealed will likely not be decided until the November elections. Whatever the case, it will be modified along the way. In this issue of the WHQ, we are privileged to have a respected member of the WHCM community, Dr. Bill Winkenwerder (WG'86 and the newly selected CEO of Highmark in Pittsburgh) offer his opinion on last week’s Supreme Court decision. And in the October edition, additional perspectives will follow from Skip Rosoff (Professor of Health Care Management) and others in the industry. Regardless of our political viewpoints, we all have a great deal invested in the outcome – professionally and personally - and having access to the informed views of the WHCMAA to vet important policy matters is a valuable resource. [Read more] Open WideGetting to the Heart of the Matter?
Column Editor: Harris Contos, DMD, WG'80Previously this column has looked at the theme that "oral health is integral to general health" more from the perspective of how dental care is organized in this country than in spelling out its relationship to more broadly systemic diseases which affect general health. The pain of a toothache, the possibility of life-threatening infection from unchecked disease, the difficulty in chewing and change in nutrition due to tooth loss, and the effects on self-esteem, facial appearance, educational performance, social interaction, and emotional well-being are all real and rather self-evident. But what about linkages between poor oral health and conditions that are regarded as more "medical" in nature, specifically heart disease and stroke? [Read more] The Philosopher's CornerThis eclectic standing column features insightful musings, words of wisdom, life lessons, and stepping stones to business success. We'd love to hear from you, so click here to participate in future editions.
This month's philosopher is Rocky Lee, WG'95. [Read more] The Supreme Court Ruling on Obamacare: Where Does It Leave Health Care Reform?Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts surprised conservatives and liberals alike when he sided with the Court's four liberal justices to uphold as constitutional the individual mandate to purchase health insurance and much of the rest of the Obamacare health reform law, known more officially as the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Writing for the majority in a 5-4 opinion, Roberts found, however, that the mandate was not permissible under the "Commerce" and "Necessary and Proper" Clauses of the Constitution, which gives Congress broad leeway to regulate interstate commerce, but instead it was allowable because Congress has authority to levy taxes. Roberts determined that the penalty that enforces the mandate is in fact a tax, albeit a modest one. [Read more] Where is the "I" in Team? – Why Collaboration Matters in HealthcareThis is the first in a series of four articles exploring opportunities to improve collaboration in healthcare settings - between institutions, between physicians and administrators, and within inter-professional teams. In addition to making the case for more effective collaboration, we will describe practical tools that can be applied to improve collaboration and thereby overall institutional performance, with the overarching goal of providing better patient care.
On Friday, May 9, 2003, a 5-year-old boy was undergoing diagnostic testing for his epilepsy at Children's Hospital in Boston when he suffered a massive seizure. Two days later, on Mother's Day, he died. Despite the fact that he was in intensive care at one of the world's leading pediatric hospitals, none of the physicians caring for him ordered the treatment that could have saved his life. [Read more] "Patient-Centric" Not "Test-Centric" Colorectal Cancer ScreeningContributor: David Nikka, CEO, ScreenCancerColorectal cancer is a major health issue. In 2012, it is estimated that 143,000 people will be diagnosed with the disease, and 52,000 will die from it. The cost of treating metastatic colorectal cancer has skyrocketed with the advent of new chemotherapeutic agents and now runs as high as $150,000 to $200,000 per patient. Fortunately, colorectal cancer is one of the most curable cancers when detected early, thereby avoiding the high mortality and expense of late-stage disease, and it is well documented that such early detection can be achieved through effective screening programs. Yet despite the significant effort and expense of education and advocacy programs, insurance reforms, and technology development over the last decade, colorectal cancer screening has perhaps the lowest participation rate of all screening tests, with nationally reported compliance rates of 54%, according to the HHS Healthy People 2020 initiative. This raises several questions. "Is this due to the execution of our current plan or do we need a different strategy? Would a more patient-centric (vs. test-centric) approach be a more effective strategy to actually accomplish screening rates greater than 54%?" [Read more] From the Halls of AcademiaIn recent years the field of behavioral economics has received increasing attention because its depiction of people as 'humans' who are predictably irrational rather than 'econs' who behave like rational, expected utility maximizers has both been empirically validated through extensive academic work and because this perspective fits better with the life experiences of many individuals. As humans, people tend to: (1) be disproportionately affected by the present (as opposed to the future), (2) make decisions based on how they feel (as opposed to numeric calculations of expected utility), (3) change their minds often (as opposed to having time-consistent preferences), (4) evaluate decisions based on their starting point (reference point), and (5) be very susceptible to framing effects and loss aversion. These common decision errors (relative to full rationality) often conspire to make unhealthy behaviors, such as those leading to obesity, more likely. [Read more] The Wharton Healthcare Quarterly Interviews Mitch Goldman WG'75, Equity Partner of Duane Morris, LLPMitch Goldman WG'75 recounts his experience starting a health care consulting business, GLS Associates, Inc., with four of his Wharton Healthcare classmates in 1974. The business, which was sold in 1990, was one of the first healthcare start-ups to emerge from the early days of the Wharton Healthcare Program. He is currently an equity partner in the health law practice group at Duane Morris, LLP where he advises health care start-ups and health care providers.
WHQ: Mitch, thanks for your time today and for inviting us to take a look back to the early days of the program. What was it like then and how does it compare to the opportunities available in 2012? Mitch: Wharton was a very different place then than it is now. In the 70's, Wharton offered only one course on entrepreneurship - "How to Write a Business Plan." Only one of us took it. Most classmates came to Wharton to go into finance. Healthcare was a relatively new program. Now, a significant number of students come to Wharton to start their own businesses, and healthcare is an integral part of the MBA experience. There are business plan competitions for funding, and Wharton is turning out young, successful entrepreneurs who know how to raise money, build enterprise value, and execute exits. [Read more]
Docs Walkin' the Talk of Healthier LifestylesAs a Penn Med student in the late 1980's, I recall being lectured on the importance of medical research. We were told the results of such work would occasionally lead us in directions that were not anticipated. We were also reminded of the importance of analyzing the results critically and comprehensively without bias and following them wherever they might lead. At the time the advice seemed obvious, but in the years since I have come to appreciate such action is not always easy. I believe that my personal health journey has relevant public health implications and reinforces why we must pay attention to research, even when such results may bring into question current dogma, and even implicate our culture. Several years ago, at the time of my routine physical exam, my doctor informed me that I was pre-diabetic and my LDL (bad) cholesterol was elevated. I was also obese. As a physician in my mid-40's at the time, I was quite aware that these were risk factors for premature death. I was feeling much more like a patient - quite vulnerable, concerned, and helpless. [Read more] What's On Your Mind? 2012 Healthcare TrendsWorld Congress is a leading global provider of health care conferences and forges communities by convening senior executives from all segments of the health care industry. The research conducted to produce an event in the World Congress Leadership Summit Series is performed almost entirely through actual interviews with the target market. Consequently, powerful insights can be gained into what is on the minds of myriad stakeholders. The trends which follow reflect what World Congress conference producers have taken away from telephone interviews they've conducted over the last few months on a variety of topics. [Read more] top |
