Michael Porter: Solving the Health Care Conundrum

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Harvard Strategy Guru Michael Porter on Solving the Health Care Conundrum. He summarized some key learnings here:

  • The U.S. health care system is a paradox in that it has competition yet fails to deliver improving value.
  • The root cause of these problems is that the competition taking place has been the wrong kind.
  • The key to addressing these problems is moving to value-based, positive-sum competition.
  • Moving to value-based competition has important strategic implications for providers as well as health plans and employers.

Wisconsin Senator Herb Kohl on the Induce Legislation

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I received a belated response today to an inquiry I made to Senator Kohl’s Washington Office on the Leahy/Hatch Induce Act (Kohl sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which held a hearing on the bill this past July).
The Senator’s thin response leaves me disappointed in several ways:

  • Kohl uses the term “piracy” which Hollywood has artfully used to try and kill all fair use rights (except, as the Professor says, the right to hire a lawyer). Let’s think about Wisconsin constituents interests. I can’t imagine a vote for the Hollywood Lobby in any way benefits Badger residents.
  • He does not take a position on a bill which would outlaw the iPod and similar music players. I find that strange.
  • The Copyright Cartel is going for the big score and trying to ram a copyright reform act through the lame duck Congress. I would like to see the Senator take a citizen friendly position on fair use rights. Perhaps he should try some podcasts…

His letter can be read by clicking the link below.

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SBC Moves (slightly) closer to reality

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Customer choice, in small steps, gets a win with SBC’s announcement that they will begin selling VOIP services to DSL only clients in 2005. Up to this point, many telco’s have required a conventional POTS (Plain Old Telephone System or land line for local calls) be part of a dsl agreement. Some consumers get around this by paying more for DSL only service (like me; in this case, I can upload files at the same speed I download them) and using a VOIP provider such as vonage or packet8.net (which I use and has provided generally good service).

U2’s Vertigo

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Jon Pareles:

U2 is almost alone now among rock bands in its determination to merge lofty ambition and pop impact. With songs that determinedly blur divine and earthly love, seeking grace as often as romance, the band doesn’t pander to vulgar impulses. Yet U2 has no interest in being a hipsters’ cult band; it has always aimed for audiences that can fill arenas, where its music is most at home.