health department

Today's topics: VA health care politics; a clear-eyed and sane report from a bastion of managerialism, with related observations on innovators trying to create real bottom-up value. It's the last day of the year, so let's get this done. Owing to various largely unforeseen challenges, happily now largely behind us, this "Dander" series was interrupted for some time. Apologies to anyone who

Big foundations often claim that they are out to improve society.  For example, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation claims to be the nation’s largest philanthropy dedicated solely to health. Its goal is to improve health care for all, that is, help raise the health of everyone in the United States to the level that a great nation deserves, by placing well-being at the center of every aspect

Giant pharmaceutical/ biotechnology/ device company Johnson & Johnson has its famous "credo" which starts with We believe our first responsibility is to the doctors, nurses and patients, to mothers and fathers and all others who use our products and services.  In meeting their needs everything we do must be of high quality.. Nonetheless, the company has a long history of ethical

Hospitals exist to take care of sick people, with the goal of making them better.  Hospitals employ and work with health care professionals, again who are sworn to put taking care of patients ahead of all other concerns. However, since we founded Health Care Renewal, we have noted striking examples of hospital leaders threatening their hospitals' fundamental mission and/or health care

Introduction: the Cult of the CEO Although the US and most developed countries are nominally democratic, many of us seem to be again yearning for a man on a white horse, and in the current era, the horse ridden is corporate. On Health Care Renewal, we having been talking about this pheonomenon for a long time. We have written about it in terms of the messianic (or visionary, or charistmatic)

On Health Care Renewal we have frequently written about individual and institutional conflicts of interest.  The landmark but often ignored 2009 report by the Institute of Medicine on Conflicts of Interest in Medical Education, Research and Practice defined institutional conflicts of interest as arising when an institution's own financial interests or those of its senior officials pose risks of

Introduction - Health Care Corporations Profess Social Responsibility As we noted recently, large health corporations, which must deal with patients, health professionals, and government regulators, usually profess their social resonsibility.  For example, Biotechnology firm Genentech, now a subsidiary of giant Swiss biotechnology and pharmaceutical company Roche, has an elaborate web page