The Innovator’s Prescription. A disruptive solution to healthcare Clayton M. Christensen, Grossman & Hwang. 2008. ISBN 9780071592086. Ten years in the making, this is another very useful analysis by the Christensen team.    I quickly found seven immediate money making ideas for the tech industry in healthcare in this book.  As ever, the book is clear and well written, with fascinating footnotes in every chapter (almost a book within the book) . The author(s) are no fans of govt all in one funded ( ie Canada-style) healthcare – but they have an equal dislike of the present US model.

He echoes one of the results of the Rocket Builders – NRC Healthcare opportunities study – which was that opportunities lie in the interstitials between silos and layers o f the US and Canada system.  He extends it further by illustrating the fundamental and repairable structural flaws in the present systems.  The disruptive opportunities he shows up are very near, real and often just waiting for th erigth group to sieze onto them.

As ever he points out how to start with a less than ideal solution for the unserved market – which is easier in the US vs Canada, where we have a poor but working solution – we then require a dramatically better solution for disruption. He also suggests that a democracy is not the tool to effect change, unless the change is so subtle, few notice.  For every change proposed in a democracy, someone will lose from the status quo, and they have lots of political levers to pull to keep things the same.  He also repeats that it is impossible to effect the change from within- reminding us  that IBM was the only company to survive multiple disruptions, each time through first creating a distinct stand alone division , outside of the corporate culture.

Doctors  will cry out No! when reading the section on commoditization of health care services  – but if they look around they will see that it is happening . Using Christensen’s view, hospitals should finally be able to decide what type of business they are in (He IDs three distinct types)  and then they will be able to carve ot the metrics to help them change to a sustainable model.

A very good book for all of us, expecially if you have any interest in heathcare and healthcare dollars.

Get it here

Related articles by Zemanta

• Innovating based upon what really matters
• Disrupting Class. How disruptive innovation will change the way the world learns. Clayton Christensen, Michael Horn & Curtis Johnson.
• Clayton Christensen Q&A; – An IEEE Spectrum Radio Special
• Perspectives and the Future of Education
• Reengineering Health Information Technology to Wire The Medical Home
• Let’s Reboot America’s HIT Conversation Part 2: HIT Beyond EHRs

Chi Running. A revolutionary approach to effortless, injury-free running. Danny Dreyer. 2004. ISBN 9780743251440.  Some of you may know that I am a recovering runner – still coming back from an Achilles injury last February. Up until I read this book I expected that I would face a series of re-occurrences of my leg injuries, one time hamstrings, another the quads, many sore ankles and then now a weakened Achilles.  I turned to swimming and thanks to Timothy Ferris (4 hr workweek) found a wonderful resource called Total Immersion by Terry Laughlin (wait for the review).  Laughlin referenced this book by Danny Dreyer.  What a find. As aging runners we now have a plan and a program that really pulls a lot of the “good stuff” together. Certainly over the years I have tried to run barefoot in the summer to smooth out my landing and take the hits off my heels. I have learned to lean forward  like the Kenyans. This book takes it all much further with a crystal clear logic and a full preventative and recovery plan.  If you harbor any desire to run like a youngster again or like me, a desire to enjoy it, and perhaps get back to a competitive level, I suggest this as a lifelong resource for you.  Very easy to read and thoroughly pragmatic. I am now running painfree!