This is most likely a transformational time for the entire world, certainly for our nation, and definitely for health care. You may or may not be reassured by authors Strauss and Howe, who believe that history shows that as a nation, we are exactly where we need to be (as we have been at this point in each of the preceding three centuries). Either way, there is no arguing that the pace of change right now is absolutely frenetic. More than a few saying tiring, too; it's not just you.
In between panic attacks, it's also extremely exciting. There are so many social, technological, economic and other forces coming together in some kind of painfully transparent hot fusion in an increasing small world. At HCI, see our job as pulling disparate pieces into some kind of focus, and sorting out which will impact women's and children's services first, and which will come later. To that end, we talk constantly with bright people from many different disciplines, although we'll admit many are dominated by women. Economics, health strategy gurus, marketing (outside of health care), sociology, education, philanthropy, organizational development and change, veteran's administration, definitely IT...you name it, we are constantly gathering information.
Reflecting many larger trends, in women's and children's this is the year of less is better (spending and interventions), West meets East (functional medicine), telehealth apps (and payment!), and a much stronger focus on inexpensive, highly effective digital/social media. Gender medicine gives birth to precision medicine almost before anyone heard of it...to which boomer women immediately say, "I knew there were better answers!"
Perhaps most importantly, it's becoming even more clear that women are the critical connectors in a population health environment If you made the jump from an OB-Gyn condition-based service line to a real women's health service line--what mag describes as "age 13 to 113"--you're exactly where you need to be for population health initiatives. Here are just a few of the initiatives on which we are very actively working, with all new materials, information and research.
In between panic attacks, it's also extremely exciting. There are so many social, technological, economic and other forces coming together in some kind of painfully transparent hot fusion in an increasing small world. At HCI, see our job as pulling disparate pieces into some kind of focus, and sorting out which will impact women's and children's services first, and which will come later. To that end, we talk constantly with bright people from many different disciplines, although we'll admit many are dominated by women. Economics, health strategy gurus, marketing (outside of health care), sociology, education, philanthropy, organizational development and change, veteran's administration, definitely IT...you name it, we are constantly gathering information.
Reflecting many larger trends, in women's and children's this is the year of less is better (spending and interventions), West meets East (functional medicine), telehealth apps (and payment!), and a much stronger focus on inexpensive, highly effective digital/social media. Gender medicine gives birth to precision medicine almost before anyone heard of it...to which boomer women immediately say, "I knew there were better answers!"
Perhaps most importantly, it's becoming even more clear that women are the critical connectors in a population health environment If you made the jump from an OB-Gyn condition-based service line to a real women's health service line--what mag describes as "age 13 to 113"--you're exactly where you need to be for population health initiatives. Here are just a few of the initiatives on which we are very actively working, with all new materials, information and research.
HCI Trend Watch![]() We continue to see increasing initiatives to decrease interventions
in birth, with Gen
Y (mag's 'Whole Foods generation') asking
how they can use their own resources best for birth. Nurse-miidwives and doulas
and even Nitrous Oxide are getting reintegrated into birth as
innovators look for ways to decrease the iatrogenic impact of interventions. It's a new
post 39-week initiative of "natural childbirth" that is not a
definite "no" to epidurals...but it does mean childbirth is coming
home to less intervention.
![]() And, of course, mag just managed to research and publish a 350+ page book about marketing to women, and marketing a women's service line in both a FFS and population health/ACO environment. Here's a tip: Don't miss the secret information (see the bottom of the Table of Contents for the link for everything the editor left out!), and we continue to follow the transition of the balance between traditional media and digital and social media very carefully. In 2013, we began to see how the balance might play out, and in 2014 it really became clear how it works.
Generations of women alive today
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Our 2015, internal research focus
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