RWL #302
back from Portland
Greetings from the University of New Hampshire! I spent Wednesday through Saturday of this past week in Portland, Maine, for the Northern New England Association of Healthcare Executives (NNEAHE) annual meeting. The NNEAHE is the local chapter of the ACHE, and is a great partner with my department. This week was no exception: they allowed me to bring 21 students (juniors and seniors) to attend the Thursday night social and the Friday portion of the meeting, free of charge. Some people would be inclined to say bringing 21 students to an open-bar event might not be a good idea, but my students showed up with style. They were well-dressed and well-mannered, and made a terrific impression on everyone. I was so proud of them all. I am still shaking my head and laughing about the evening, because we had a group of sponsors who had tables set up around the room. And you know how people treat sponsors at a conference - most people avoid eye contact and stay as far away as possible. Not my students. My students went after the sponsors like they were part of the appetizer bar, alongside the bacon wrapped scallops and tiny egg rolls. They were asking them about entry-level opportunities with their firms and whether they had any summer internship programs, effectively reversing the roles and turning the event into a mini job fair. And I have to say, it was great. Three of the sponsors wound up giving me their organization’s HR contacts because they were so impressed with my students’ professionalism.
Friday was a great day, too. We started with a performance by Articine, a new, non-profit dedicated to integrating “the arts and medicine to inspire healthcare providers to deliver more empathetic and effective patient care.” They presented their show, “The Anxiety Piece”, followed by a talk-back, which was very well received by the audience. After that we had panels about resilience and burnout, and an update from our three state hospital associations (NH, VT, ME) and the regional director of the AHA. All in all, a great day.
I’ve attended these meetings for years, but this was the first time I was in charge of organizing it, and I have to say, the main thing I was looking forward to was Friday afternoon. If you’ve run something like this, you know what I mean. I was happy it went well, and I was really happy it was finally over. Until next year. But since I already had a hotel in Portland, my wife decided to come up after the conference and bang around Portland with me to celebrate. Portland is a great town. Lots of great restaurants and brewers. We visited Banded Brewing’s taproom downtown, and Allagash on the way home. But we also finally made a point of visiting the Bug Lighthouse, which I had drawn and/or painted several times, but had never actually seen in person. I have no idea why - it’s only an hour away. Cute little lighthouse, which is why it is called the Bug. It’s funny how you can live somewhere for years and never make the time to experience it. My wife and I will definitely be going back up to Portland again.
It’s been a crazy week, so this RWL is short. As usual, willing good for all of you, have a great week and I present you with the links!
Read
What: Advisory Board, Is a 'cash pay revolution' coming for hospitals?
https://www.advisory.com/daily-briefing/2022/10/19/cash-pay-hospitals
Why: Short discussion of the advances on cash-pay for healthcare. I’ve been a fan of cash-pay for years, and I see it growing in popularity with certain providers. Specifically primary care (called “direct primary care”), and with many behavioral health providers. During our meeting this past week, we heard quite a bit about the challenges of dealing with insurance companies from hospitals and other providers. One of the things I make a point of when I teach about insurance is that we use insurance in healthcare differently than we use it in almost every other aspect of our lives. You don’t buy oil change insurance because oil changes are completely predictable. So is most primary care. It’s unfortunate that the healthcare market has evolved to rely on insurance as the primary mechanism for paying because it drives up costs. I think moving back toward cash-pay is one way where we might see some genuine improvement in healthcare.
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Watch
What: Zeihan on Geopolitics, The Beginning of the Fall of Crimea (11 min)
Why: Zeihan continues to provide excellent explainers about what is actually happening in Ukraine. This video includes maps if you get about 2 minutes in, which I find really useful in understanding what is actually happening. You really can’t understand ground war if you don’t understand the geography, and Zeihan is excellent on the geography. He makes me hopeful that the Ukrainians will not only get back most of their territory, but also possibly take back Crimea. There are some other, interesting comments about drone warfare that present challenges to the status quo. I think we are at a pivot point in warfare not unlike how armor and aircraft carriers changed warfare in WWII. Aircraft carriers are likely to be diminished, and drones are just beginning to emerge. Defensive armor may become even more important. Anyway - check it Zeihan - as I have said a few times. You can get on his mailing list - he publishes short videos most days.
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Listen
What: Wisdom From The Top with Guy Raz, Tiny Habits: BJ Fogg (47 min)
Why: I am a huge fan of BJ Fogg. His book, Tiny Habits, has changed the way I think about things like weight loss, work productivity, and anything else that seems to require discipline and grit. Instead of focusing on character, Fogg asks us to redesign our environment. If you make something easy to do, you are much more likely to do it. This is a great book to read as we head into the new year when everyone tries to make New Year’s resolutions (and they rarely stick). He’s also big on being kind to yourself and not trying to change everything all at once. I highly recommend the book.
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 .
If you’re looking for a searchable archive, you can see my draft folder here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1jwGLdjsb1WKtgH_2C-_3VvrYCtqLplFO?usp=sharing
Finally, if you find these links interesting, won’t you tell a friend? They can subscribe here: https://markbonica.substack.com/welcome
See you next week!
Mark
“The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.” – Pablo Picaso