
UK health service abandons massive IT centralization plan
The UK Department of Health (NHS) announced plans to scrap a single, nationwide health IT system, signaling an end to the “greatest IT disaster in history.”

Should We Take a Global Sourcing Approach to Meeting the Need for Doctors?
One of the major challenges of insuring the millions of US Citizens who don’t currently have health coverage will be paying for it, which we discussed earlier this week. Another challenge will be having enough doctors and nurses — not to mention other patient-facing medical professionals — to meet demand. A recent WSJ article on […]

Fast Food’s Commodity Inflation Conundrum: Raise Prices vs. “Where’s the Beef?”
With commodity price inflation forecast to hit food commodities ranging from hogs to ground beef, the restaurant business may soon find itself faced with the dilemma of either raising prices or skimping on portions. A recent WSJ article that I came across highlights the particular challenge the fast food business faces. The story begins by […]

Risk Pools and Healthcare Reform
The fundamental challenge the health insurance, or any insurance business for that matter, faces is how to blend risk pools so that the customers who consume few services pay for those who consume many services.
In other words, my premiums will go down because healthy young people who currently get by without insurance will […]

Health Reform: Taking the Wrong Risks
This week the NY Times explores how failing to pass health reform will have an impact on innovation — and archetypal Silicon Valley startups. In the cradle of American innovation, workers are making career choices based on co-payments, pre-existing conditions and other minutiae of health insurance. They are not necessarily making decisions based on what […]

Our friend Don
Don Bowen, The Wizard of Identity Management, was a wonderful man and a true friend of RedMonk. I am still finding it hard to believe that he won’t pop up on skype for a chat any more.
As you probably know, I am not a religious man but I have to say thanks to God for […]

Me, My Mo and I
People keep asking me – what’s with the moustache? What’s with the caterpillar on your top lip? What’s with the bum fluff? Insert bad ‘tache gag here.
The answer, my friends, is pretty simple. I have joined the Movember movement, in support of prostate cancer awareness. How I plan to raise awareness when you could hardly […]