Coworking – An Emerging Trend in Non-Traditional Workplaces

in Public Relations

To my left is a recovering media producer who now uses her powers as the campaign manager for a not-for-profit called Hope Phones. They recycle our old mobiles and use the proceeds to give cell phones to health workers in developing countries to expand the reach of their health services. A table away, is an intellectual property attorney who […]

Brattleboro Retreat’s Uniformed Services Program

in Health Care, Public Relations

The Brattleboro Retreat is a not-for-profit mental health and addiction treatment center located in Southern Vermont. It provides a range of diagnosis and treatments for children, adolescents, and adults throughout New England. More than 175 years old, the Retreat is located on a historic campus in beautiful Brattleboro, VT. It was the first mental health […]

2011 TEDxAustin Reflections

in Public Relations

***UPDATE: The TEDxAustin talks have been added to YouTube. Watch them here. Last month, if you followed my contributions to social media (@dmw911), you likely caught one of the many snippets from my experience at TEDxAustin. On Saturday, February 19th, 2011 Austin, Texas played host to an all day, locally organized TED event. (Yes, sadly […]

Google, Inc Studies Attributes of Their Best Leaders

in Leadership, Public Relations

Have you ever wondered what were the attributes of the best leaders? Statisticians at Google, Inc did as well. Enter “Project Oxygen”. So, the masters of data poured over multiple sources of information providing insight into the success factors within their organization and conducted hundreds of interviews. The results are eight rules and three pitfalls […]

The Stout Archives for EMS

in Public Relations

As an undergraduate student studying emergency health services (EHS) management, I was exposed to the work of EMS consultant Jack Stout and a series of articles he authored in the Journal of Emergency Medical Services (JEMS) in the 1980s and 90s. Mr. Stout has long been retired and I sadly have never met him, but […]

New article in Canada’s Qmentum Quarterly

in Public Relations

Qmentum Quarterly: Quality in Health Care is new publication produced by Accreditation Canada. This month’s issue (July 2010) is focused on Emergency Health Services in Canada, including pre-hospital and in-hospital care. I contributed a piece called “Enhancing Organizational Performance Through Process Improvement” (pp. 18-20). Using an ST Myocardial Infarction (STEMI) cases as an example of […]

Obama to Appoint IHI’s Berwick to Lead CMS

in Public Relations

Over the weekend, the NY Times reported that President Obama is expected to appoint Donald Berwick, MD, CEO of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Dr. Berwick has been one of the leading advocates and scholars in the area of improvement science and applying those principals to […]

Talk: UT LBJ School’s Center for Health & Social Policy

in Public Relations

Today, I had the pleasure of speaking to a group at the University of Texas LBJ School’s Center for Health and Social Policy about prehospital emergency health services systems. As a former paramedic, EMS research, and organizational systems improvement advisor with my colleagues at Fitch & Associates, I was able to share a unique understanding […]

Health Care Reform & High Frequency Utilizers

in Public Relations

As the health care debate continues, political pundits, as well as hacks, talk in sound bites about insurance reform without understanding many of the challenges that face the system and add to its cost. Imagine if the discussion was about solutions to real problems instead of hot button, polarizing topics. What if we were truly […]

Gallup CEO – The Next Evolution of Leadership

in Leadership, Public Relations

In an interview for the Gallup Management Journal, Jim Clifton, Chairman and CEO of Gallup, predicts the end of the Deming, Six Sigma, process improvement era. He describes process improvement as one of the big evolutions of leadership, but that it has reached its plateau as organizations have maximized efficiencies and have run out of […]