What we're reading
In this monthly blog post, members of the MATTER team highlight articles from across the web that cover some of the most relevant business and healthcare topics today.
Eliminating ‘tensions’ in healthcare: a litmus test for innovation, Joseph S. Salama, Alex Lee, and Ashkan Arshin
“My daily commute is an hour each way. If I’m not checking emails, I’m either listening to the news or reading articles on a host of subjects. This article from Stat News dives into the term ‘innovation’ specifically as it relates to healthcare. The piece talks about how today’s healthcare innovation is centered around digital health — mainly because money is flowing in from that direction. They suggest that when innovation is framed around easing tension between stakeholders (patients, nurses, doctors, custodians, administrators, payers, parents, etc.), non-digital opportunities to innovate emerge.”
–Peter Strandquist, Senior Director of Operations
Mental Health Problems Need to Be Destigmatized in The Workplace — Here’s How to Do It, Samantha Todd
“As the mental health stigma in American society is slowly receding and self-care and mental health are becoming more of a point of interest in personal wellness, addressing mental health in the workplace should be a non-issue. It shouldn’t be something that is swept under the rug as it directly affects employee performance. No matter how professional one has to be, what’s on their mind carries on to how they feel that day, or a length of days. As this past Thursday was World Mental Health day, this article stresses the fact that destigmatizing mental health in the workplace saves money, time, and most importantly the lives of organizations as a whole.”
–Nick Morales, Operations Coordinator
Interaction Quotient, Atılım Şahin
“As someone who interacts with MATTER members on a daily basis, learning how to build and improve our community has always been interesting to me. I believe that having a strong community is part of the foundation for a collaborative environment that fosters innovation. This blog post from ATÖLYE shares their data-driven approach to quantify and strengthen community interactions.”
–Noelle Sales-Griffin, Operations Associate
Why I Hope to Die at 75, Ezekiel J. Emanuel
“Because we work in a space that is constantly focused on improving the health and wellbeing of people, it’s interesting to read something that suggests that our priorities may be out of whack. In particular, the aging population is a huge focus for a number of our member companies and our strategic partners. This being said, it’s fascinating to hear a different perspective which suggests that our money and efforts need to be shifted away from ‘prolonging the dying process’ and the idea of ‘the American Immortal’. In traditional conversations about healthcare, there’s an ethical component that comes into play; however, conversations around healthcare innovation don’t typically cater to those philosophical questions in the same way and I think we could benefit from having more discussions like that.
–Daniel Wexler, Program Coordinator