RWL #167 - double bonus COVID-19, you shall not pass! issue
Greetings from the University of New Hampshire - Forward Operating Base Last Homely House (FOB LHH)! Well, so much for coming back to in-person teaching on April 6 - UNH has joined most other universities and announced it is going to online teaching for the remainder of the semester. I’ll be honest - I’m not thrilled. My limited experience with online teaching tells me it’s not my comparative advantage. I prefer the immediate feedback of seeing my students drift off to sleep right in front of me, rather than waiting to see view counts on the learning management system. But we will do what we have to do - and we will survive! (see Bonus Watch below)
I’ve had a lot of material to think about this week, so I am publishing a double issue of RWL with a bonus link for each category this week. It’s my little act of resistance against the virus, aside from staying home. It’s not quite Gandalf standing up to the Balrog, but we can’t all be wizards. We have to make our contributions where we can.
Picture above is homemade caramel popcorn. That’s a little “what have I got in the cupboard” cooking, COVID-19 style. Recipe is here, I did a half recipe of the topping, which was more than enough sweetness.
From FOB LHH to yours, stay safe out there!
'It is the small things, everyday deeds of ordinary folk, that keep the darkness at bay. Simple acts of kindness and love.' - Gandalf (The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey)
Read
What: AP, To keep seniors safe at home, Medicare expands telemedicine
https://apnews.com/58e118636f3e39c53370131561127a54
Why: While COVID-19 is raining on everyone’s parade, there are a few silver linings. One of them is the virus has broken a log jam on paying for telehealth by Medicare. While many Medicare C plans have already been paying for telehealth, the main fee for service plan has been stuck in 1992 (which, by the way was a great year - I graduated from college, got commissioned, and got married - but we had no telehealth). The laggard nature of Medicare’s main Part B not paying for telehealth is a great illustration of what is wrong with fee for service in general, and what is wrong with government run plans. A broader lesson to be had here is that there are a number of other policies that we realize are unnecessary and we are eliminating under the duress of the virus’s attack. For example, Massachusetts is now allowing physicians with licenses in other states to see patients in Massachusetts via telemedicine. If you’re not familiar with the challenges to telehealth, this has been one of them. If you’re going to see a patient via telemedicine in a state, you generally have to be licensed in the state where the patient is located, even if you are licensed in the state where you are actually sitting. I hope we see more reciprocity across the states for healthcare providers (and any other kind of licensed professional) going forward and a reduction of protectionist regulations.
Of course there is a risk of governments making permanent more intrusive powers. As citizens, we need to be on the watch for that dark side. Emergency powers that limit individual freedoms need to be ended as soon as conditions allow.
Bonus - What: HRB, 3 Reasons It’s So Hard to “Follow Your Passion”
https://hbr.org/2019/10/3-reasons-its-so-hard-to-follow-your-passion
Why: I’m going to send this out to my students later today, along with this article from Inc. Why You Need a Vision for Your Life. We’ve got a crop of seniors getting ready to launch on their careers in 45 days and they’re starting to explore those first job opportunities. “Follow your passion” is popular graduation advice, but as this article points out, it’s hard to do for most of us. I like this line from the article, “Focus on What You Care About, Not on What Is Fun”. I’m kind of old fashioned in my beliefs about happiness. I think our popular culture puts a lot of stress on happiness as hedonia (physical/emotional pleasure, joy, enjoyment, satisfaction, fun) as opposed to eudaimonia (authenticity, excellence, growth, and meaning) (for more on hedonia/eudaimonia see this article by Huta). Many of my students tell me that they would feel successful in their careers if they were happy, but I am afraid they are thinking too much of hedonia and not enough of eudaimonia. Finding eudaimonia takes discipline, and often the deferral of hedonia. To find the strength to defer hedonia, one needs to have a vision of eudaimonia. Now might be a good time to give voice to your personal vision and pursuit of eudaimonia.
Watch
What: WCBV5, Local man allowed to sing outside love's assisted living home window
https://www.wcvb.com/article/man-allowed-to-sing-outside-loves-home-window/31786321
Why: I’ve been a board member of the NH Board of Examiners of Nursing Home Administrators for several years, and last Wednesday, back in the pre-quarantine days, we had our quarterly meeting. I was chatting with a couple of the administrators who are on the board and one of them told me her biggest challenge was trying to convince family and friends to reduce their visits to their loved ones. This was before the state placed prohibitions on outside visitors.
When the time comes, I hope the nursing homes we are all in have this problem for us. I think it is a sign of a life well lived.
Bonus - What: I Will Survive, Coronavirus version for teachers going online
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCe5PaeAeew&feature=youtu.be
Why: I have never taught a course strictly online. I have taught a hybrid course before, and did not particularly enjoy it. Now, like pretty much every other university professor, I am having to switch mid-semester to online teaching and I am dreading this. I know many of my colleagues teach online and like it. I guess I’m going to get my baptism by fire. Anyway, this video is a bit of fun for people like me who are dreading this.
Listen
What: Health Leader Forge, Mark Mellott, Senior Director, Cerner Corporation
https://healthleaderforge.blogspot.com/2020/03/mark-mellott-senior-director-cerner.html
Why: My latest Health Leader Forge podcast is with my good friend Mark Mellott. Mark and I met while teaching at the Army-Baylor MHA/MBA program when we were both on active duty with the Army. Mark was a health IT CIO-type in the Army with an obsession with EHRs, particularly in the deployed environment. Since he retired he has been working with Cerner on a variety of projects, most recently being one of the leaders in Cerner’s new contract to deploy their medical record to the DOD and VA. We have a great conversation about his career journey and conclude with some discussion about leadership. It was great to talk with an old friend - I hope you check it out!
Bonus - What: Econtalk, Tyler Cowen on the COVID-19 Pandemic
https://www.econtalk.org/tyler-cowen-on-the-covid-19-pandemic/
Why: I know I just shared an Econtalk last week, but I really enjoyed this thoughtful discussion about the economic implications of the COVID-19 situation with two thoughtful, easy to understand economists (the latter part is what makes them unique). Cowen in particular has been collecting and processing information about the pandemic on his blog, Marginal Revolution, which I recommend. He has tons of good material if you are thinking and/or teaching about the virus.
Thanks for reading and see you next week! If you come across any interesting stories, won't you send them my way? I'd love to hear what you think of these suggestions, and I'd love to get suggestions from you. Feel free to drop me a line at mark.bonica@unh.edu , or you can tweet to me at @mbonica .
Also, if you find these links interesting, won’t you tell a friend? They can subscribe here: https://tinyletter.com/markbonica
See you next Friday!
Mark
Mark J. Bonica, Ph.D., MBA, MS
Assistant Professor
Department of Health Management and Policy
University of New Hampshire
(603) 862-0598
mark.bonica@unh.edu
Health Leader Forge Podcast: http://healthleaderforge.org
"I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by a conscious endeavor." - Henry David Thoreau