When one thinks of healthcare innovation, chances are Mayo Clinic is at the top of the list. Not surprisingly, Mayo does not disappoint when it comes to social media, as well, because Farris Timimi, MD serves as Medical Director for the Mayo Clinic Center for Social Media and led the collaboration for the newly launched book, Bringing the Social Media Revolution to Health Care. Dr. Timimi will share with our listeners the real value of engagement that stretches beyond the bottom line – patients, families, and healthcare professionals. We will also explore the crowdsourcing experience and the valuable perspectives gained while co-creating

Social Media is not coming to healthcare, it’s already here. Social Media is changing healthcare conversations and will be integral in driving innovation in 2013. Dr. Kevin Pho is highly recognized as an early adopter to social media, trusted influencer and convener of thought leadership in the healthcare industry. Please join me and Symplur co-founder, Tom Lee as we inteview Dr. Kevin on the many shades of social media in healthcare. Dr. Kevin is cited by major media, including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times,Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, FoxNews.com, British Medical Journal, SmartMoney Magazine, Detroit Free Press, Forbes.com, NPR, CNN.com,Newsweek, TIME.com, Chicago Sun-Times, Boston Globe, Indianapolis Star, AOL News, and American Medical News.

Sometimes we get it wrong. Einstein did not invent the theory of relativity; it was Galileo. We do not have five senses; we have nine. And the business competitive spirit is not lost; it’s trying to reignite. Business leaders know they need to rethink competition – in the March issue of Harvard Business Review, Editor-in-chief, Adi Ignatius, and Dean of Harvard Business School, Nitin Nohria, posed a difficult question, “has the United States lost its competitive edge?” While I’m not convinced that we have lost our competitive edge, I will submit that it does originate with competitive leaders and that is where we are in short supply. Think about the 2012 Right Management survey, where the top concern of companies is the lack of high-potential leaders within an organization. In light of the market changes, how do emerging leaders instill the qualities of competitive advantage throughout a company?
For those holding on to traces of skepticism let me share that competitive leaders in healthcare do exist and they are driving their own trajectory with vision, innovation and competitive advantage. Innovation performance expert Drew Marshall and I had the privilege of interviewing the respected CEO of Teladoc, Jason Gorevic, who embraces the new reality of retaining top talent and thrives on the business imperative of innovating for current customers. Gorevic is a refreshingly present CEO, who understands why Teladoc is in business and confidently manages the competitive edge of his company…for the full blog post take a gander at Innovation Excellence!

Brian Solis has it right, it is the end of business as usual, and healthcare is no exception. Has the market reality produced a new set of assumptions, emerging opportunities, or a better climate for disruptive innovation? In my interview with Jack Corrao, the managing director of the Corrao Group, he stated that the healthcare landscape is being challenged by innovations such as cloud computing, microsensor devices, and most of all, healthcare consumerism. Just as Solis wrote his book to “groom a new generation of leaders, people who want to lead and are looking for the answers and inspiration necessary to guide others into uncharted territory,” Corrao observed that there is a new generation of innovators and entrepreneurs who want and need to learn quickly how to diminish any probability of failure.

Corrao’s perspective is also in sync with the recent PricewaterhouseCoopers 15th Annual Global CEO Survey which indicated that CEO’s are “slightly less optimistic than they were last year, but are still focused on growth. Further, customer demand is the primary driver of corporate strategy which includes getting the product and service portfolio right…and encouraging the free flow of ideas and innovation regardless of where they originate.” The report also notes that “almost all US CEO’s are revising their innovation strategies with 72% focusing on creating new products and services within existing business models.” As an example, many in healthcare have recently focused on Aetna, as a company that is just not talking about innovation, but leading change by leveraging innovation as a vehicle for growth. Check out what Aetna and Chairman and CEO, Mark T. Bertolini, @mtbert is tweeting: “…DC is not the answer, just the catalyst. Disruptive technology in the hands of the doc and consumer will disrupt healthcare!” Corrao agrees that, “Aetna serves as a perfect example that ‘seeing what is next’ does not only come from startup’s – Aetna is responding to the new demands of the market place, and hopefully we will see more companies doing the same; it’s important to realize that the market is much more peer-to-peer connected due to social media and technology platforms.”

Another company that seems to have responded to the connected customer and consumer is Salesforce.com, the enterprise cloud computing company, which has built an ecosystem that allows companies to bring their ideas to market. Corrao states that, “they recognize that companies need innovation to succeed and have responded to the impact of social media; companies are changing the way they collaborate and communicate with customers and Salesforce.com provides the ability for businesses to transform themselves into a social enterprise – a tremendous tool for healthcare innovators.”  The full length of my interview can be found at Innovation Excellence!