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I was struck (again) by the recent story of the high school student who entered his school campus after hours with a couple of friends to post a large sign asking his girlfriend to accompany him to the upcoming prom. Needless to say, his name was on the sign and as a result he was nabbed for trespassing on the school property and banned from attending the prom due to “school policy.” Initially, the principal ...

Health care is, in its essence, about people – people caring for, confiding in, supporting and listening to one another. Clearly, technical knowledge and skills are crucial, but so too is the ability to “read between the lines.” Good providers must interpret not only what is said but also what is not said, interpreting the feelings that lie beneath the words. That entails focusing on the context and the details, but also being able to ...

My mother is a no-nonsense German immigrant who lived through the Second World War and does not generally take any guff from “any-von.” My father is a rugged blue-collar small business owner who grew up just north of Detroit, the kind of guy who always has dirt under his nails. People like my parents have a penchant for strong opinions and a flair for sharing them with just about anyone who will listen. Rarely have ...

Surviving and thriving in health care today means you need to achieve higher and higher levels of quality while somehow using fewer resources. As one executive said to me, “We’re doing a lot more work with fewer people than before, and I don’t expect it to change. Realistically, it’s going to get even more challenging than it is right now.”

The sources of all this change are mostly external (health care reform, federal budget cuts, ...