LivingGoods sends its version of Avon ladies—white-uniformed “health promoters"—knocking on doors in hundreds of Ugandan communities.
Social media is helping people self-assemble for social action.
THE INSANITY OFFENSE: How America’s Failure to Treat the Seriously Mentally Ill Endangers Its Citizens by E. Fuller Torrey Review by Stephen P. Hinshaw
Grassroot Soccer uses the world’s most popular sport to educate kids in sub-Saharan Africa about HIV and its prevention. —By Corey Binns
Public nursing homes outshine nonprofits and for-profits.
Three Stanford health policy experts tackle the challenge of making healthcare affordable; they suggest creating a health care "exchange" that offers a variety of plans, as well as the creation of a federal agency to monitor these exchanges and the rates offered. The planners believe that a variety of options will allow consumers to choose the plan that tailors best to their medical and financial needs.
Medical malpractice policy has allowed for increased accountability for doctors and protects victims of physician negligence, but has recently come under fire because of its role in rising medical costs. Professors Daniel Kessler and Mark McClellan examine what factors of malpractice laws incentivize doctors to do well, fear of high financial consequences or the possibility of being sued in court.
A formerly homeless man tells what he most wanted for Christmas when he was on the streets. —By Wes Browning
How one nonprofit uses an NFL team’s celebrity to improve poor children’s eyesight - and life chances. —By Melinda Tuan & Fay Twersky
How Merck and the WHO have sustained a fragile balance
of power in their battle against river blindness.
Michael Kremer and Rachel Glennerster argue that the creation and dissemination of vaccines that target neglected diseases would be the most efficacious means of addressing the spread of infectious and parasitic diseases in the developing world.
Well-run organizations, not bleeding hearts, are the key to increasing organ donations.
Social media is helping people self-assemble for social action.
A look at how community advisory committees are faring in the health field.
Nurturing a fledgling nonprofit takes dedication, focus, and maybe even a few miracles. In this audio lecture, Van Jones offers a compelling look at life in the nonprofit sector, sharing his own story and some key tips for making a real difference. Collaboration, communication, tenacity, integrity, and irrational exuberance are just a few of the qualities needed to grow a good idea into a sustainable force for social progress.
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In 1982, ophthalmologist Oliver Foot founded Orbis Flying Eye Hospital, a unique mobile teaching facility housed in a DC-10 jet aircraft. In this audio interview With Globeshakers host Tim Zak, he discusses how his organization brings dedicated eye care professionals to the developing world to restore eyesight through surgery and other treatments.
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DaVita is the largest independent provider in the United States of dialysis services to people with chronic kidney failure. In 2000, DaVita was being investigated by the SEC and sued by shareholders. In this audio lecture recorded at Bridging the Gap, the Stanford 2005 Net Impact conference, Kent Thiry explains how building community and shared values bumped DaVita's market capitalization to $3 billion and turned it into a leader in its field.
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In the early 1990s, Cheryl Dorsey got a fellowship from Echoing Green to launch the Family Van, a community-based mobile health unit that provides basic medical and outreach services to at-risk residents of inner-city Boston neighborhoods. Now president of Echoing Green, Dorsey talks with Globeshakers host Tim Zak in an audio interview about the challenge of building on the impressive track record of one of the world's leading investors and supporters of worldwide social change.
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Recipient of the 9th Annual Heinz Award for the Human Condition, Paul Farmer is a medical doctor and a professor of anthropology at Harvard's Medical School. He shuttles between Harvard and Haiti, where he maintains a practice at Clinique Bon Saveur, a charity hospital he founded. Farmer talks in this audio interview with Globeshakers host Tim Zak about the challenges and rewards of providing health care to the poorest of the poor, and the evolving, innovative models for getting drugs to those who need them most.
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Liberty and Justice, a for-profit, socially minded company, is creating jobs and improving health care for Liberian women
What if visiting the doctor to get a CT scan was as fun as sailing on a pirate ship? asked Doug Dietz, veteran designer of MRI and CT scan machines. Dietz had seen the widespread anxiety of children who came into the hospital and wanted to change that negative experience.
Investors provide insight on early-stage startup fundraising and advice to those interested in starting their own ventures in healthcare.
How did the global tobacco epidemic start? And what can we learn from it?
What can pharmaceutical companies do to contribute to global health?
Amidst much debate and acrimony, Congress has at last passed the Affordable Care Act -- the new health law. The law makes health coverage available to those denied health insurance by private insurance companies because of a pre-existing condition. In this panel discussion at Stanford, medical and public health experts consider what's strong and weak about the new measure, and how it will change our health care system.
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Q&A with Stefano Zenios on his new book, Biodesign: The Process of Innovating Medical Technologies.
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A leukemia diagnosis for Sameer Bhatia is the start of a nation-wide project to create a bone marrow registry in India. Robert Chatwani describes one family's innovative effort to create social change and, in the process, find a perfect match for Sameer.
The Canary Fund supports the development of methods for early cancer detection. This second case presents the results of the sponsorship created to raise funding and awareness.
The Kinetics and Michael J. Fox Foundations both support research on Parkinson’s disease. This second case explores how these two organizations collaborate toward a common mission.
VaxGen is working to obtain approvals for phase III clinical trials in Thailand for an experimental vaccine against HIV. The company must cope with a host of ethical questions.
This case details the 2006 decision by the United Kingdom to deny coverage for a new form of inhaled insulin. In doing so, it highlights the challenges to innovators in managing conflicts over the costs, benefits, and risks of new technology.
In December 2004, the president of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement challenged U.S. hospitals to reduce unnecessary deaths by 100,000 in the next 18 months. The case describes a campaign that incorporated lessons from politics and social activism.
Gilead Sciences designs a strategy for delivering an AIDS drug to developing nations in Africa. This first part of the case describes the organization's initial considerations.
Gilead Sciences designs a strategy for delivering an AIDS drug to developing nations in Africa. This second part of the case explores the company’s experience with a distribution program.
Two social ventures collaborated with each other to help expand one’s solar energy services from southern Brazil into the Amazon region. The case highlights the core factors that led to the project’s ultimate outcome.
Riders for Health is a U.K.-based nonprofit dedicated to the improvement of transportation systems for health workers in Africa. In 2007, after 11 years in existence, the organization was at a critical point and had to decide what strategies were necessary to expand.
The Kinetics and Michael J. Fox Foundations both support research on Parkinson’s disease. This first case describes the creation, mission, and strategy of the two organizations.
A massive South African mining conglomerate was debating how to confront the ravages of HIV/AIDS on the workforce. It considered challenges associated with launching an antiretroviral program.
In an unprecedented move in 1998, Blue Cross of California filed a citizen petition to switch three drugs to over-the-counter status. When the FDA approved, the pharmaceutical companies faced the challenge of developing a strategy for dealing with the threat.
Phyto-Riker, a pharmaceutical company in Ghana, contemplates the effects of the HIV epidemic in Africa on its business plans. It is not certain what resources will be available, and how they will be distributed.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest, started in 1971, was a nonprofit consumer group that focused on nutrition and health. The case describes the center’s media and marketing strategy, which led it to develop a reputation for eye-opening reports about restaurant food.
It’s August 2000, and Maitri AIDS Hospice is reevaluating its approach to fundraising. The associate director for individual gifts is struggling with defining his purpose, and that of individual donors, with an organization for which individual donations still account for only 8 percent of operating expenses.
Seasonal influenza leads to >200,000 hospitalizations and >8,000 deaths in the United States each year. The influenza vaccine is widely available at low cost and reduces mortality, morbidity, and healthcare costs. Nevertheless, many of those for whom vaccination is indicated fail to comply with CDC recommendations for vaccination. If low compliance is the result of careful calculations by individuals weighing the costs and benefits of vaccination, it may be difficult and expensive for policymakers and organizational leaders to increase vaccination rates. However, if low compliance is the result of forgetfulness or procrastination, low-cost interventions that use psychological tools may be effective at increasing vaccination rates and improving public health.
Evidence suggests that the medication lists of patients are often incomplete and could negatively affect patient outcomes. By predicting drugs the patient could be taking, collaborative filtering can be a valuable tool for reconciling medication lists.
Health care providers may vertically integrate not only to facilitate coordination of care, but also for strategic reasons that may not be in patients’ best interests.
Workers who earn just below the Social Security tax threshold receive a larger tax preference for health insurance than workers who earn just above it.
Young companies trying to enter parts of the health care industry by focusing on helping patients stay healthy and allowing safety net providers to use their resources have a hard time attracting venture capital funds that focus more on traditional profit. A recent article by two Stanford Graduate School of Business researchers argues that it's time to change this pattern.
The two-quarter Elective Course series provides lectures from a diverse group of faculty that expose students to the practical aspects of technology invention and development. The class features a presentation or discussion from one of the guest speakers or faculty. Students work in small project teams in the Biodesign prototyping lab or bench space, collaborating with the fellows of the program.
The purpose of this class is to provide students with the economic tools and the institutional and legal background to understand how markets for health care products and services work. The class utilizes case studies, lectures, and visits from individuals in the industry.
This course examines health care businesses and how they use technology (primarily biotechnology, medical technology, and information technology) to improve patient outcomes and manage costs. Through case studies, students gain an in-depth understanding of how new technologies get developed and commercialized in health care, and of how the whole health care value chain adapts to new technologies.
This course examines the application of cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit analysis, along with other evaluation techniques, to products and services such as medical care, whose "output" is difficult to measure. It critically reviews studies that apply cost analysis techniques to specific clinical problems.
Vision care is something that is practically taken for granted in the United States, but that’s not the case throughout much of the world. Some 300 million around the globe suffer from correctable vision loss, leading, as Ashanthi Mathai, MBA '04, says, “to people accepting their vision impairment and adjusting their lives around it.” The result? A lower quality of life, restricted job options, and even further economic distress.
Jane Chen's passion for helping others has taken her on an incredible journey from doing social work in China to founding Embrace, a company that sells premature infant incubators.
Caring for aging parents is a challenge many face, yet there is no clear path or pattern for how to manage this stage of life. Karen Routt shares her expertise at the nexus between technology and caring for the elderly.
With a high-tech background, an MBA, and an M.D., Dr. Patty Einarson has a unique perspective on the intersection of technology, business and medicine. She leverages this knowledge by contributing to math/science education in the public schools, encouraging the kids of today to become future innovators.
Mark Cafferty is passionate about empowering individuals to be all they can be. He channels funds to employment and youth service programs.
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Successes in global health, such as the eradication of small pox or lowering the rate of infant mortality, take an integrated approach, one that brings countries and agencies together to address the scope and intensity of these problems. In this audio lecture from the 2011 Global Health Series, Donald Shriber of the United States Centers for Disease Control (CDC) speaks about the agency's role in strengthening health systems through partnerships, innovation, and policy.
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Despite falling to number 49 on the list of countries ranked by life expectancy, the United States still spends roughly twice as much on health care per capita as other top-ranked nations. In this panel discussion, Dr. David Shern and Father Larry Snyder discuss the role of the voluntary sector in this period of necessary reform, and what their organizations specifically are doing to improve the quality of American lives.
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The U.S. medical malpractice liability system aims to compensate patients who are injured through the negligence of healthcare providers and to deter providers from practicing negligently. Though the system has failed to deliver on these goals, evidence from several studies suggests that wisely chosen reforms may reduce healthcare spending significantly with no adverse impact on patient health outcomes.
Julie Miller, Editor in Chief of the magazine Managed Healthcare Executive, interviews Professor Alain Enthoven on a recently instated healthcare reform, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).