Health 2.0 Moving Forward, Going ROPE, Doing Good: Ted Eytan, Matthew Holt , Organized Wisdom Push the Envelope

The combined talent, willpower, business acumen, and capital in the room at Health 2.0 will be a force with which to be reckoned...and getting ready for the event usually kickstarts some interesting discussions as everyone prepares to bring the A-game.

Two of my favorite bloggers this morning offer up innovative views on work environments and 'do good, be well' initiatives.

Here are the goods and why they're relevant to Health 2.0 and consumer-centric care:


1. Ted Eytan details a new "Results Only Patient Experience" (ROPE), built on the platform of Best Buy's Results Only Work Experience (ROWE).

Why Does it Matter?

• It's already happening in the Health 2.0 sphere - Organized Wisdom is the first Health 2.0 company to go completely ROWE. Better yet, OW takes a collaborative approach, sharing their "Getting Results Toolkit" - read all about it here.

• I've been a ROWE worker 2x, first as an analyst and business development director, now as an all around healthcare ranger, blogger, and social startup junkie. It's not all peaches and cream and working in your pajamas (although yes, I have worked in PJs). The typical day Ted posts comes perilously close to describing some of my weekdays, especially when I lived in downtown Baltimore or when I'm at home in Rotterdam. Self-management is a must. And yeah. It can be a hell of a lot of fun. I don't think anyone who knows me would call me a slacker (at least I hope not...).
  

• ROWE works 'best' for certain types of organizations and personalities, but certainly does privilege the knowledge-worker class who can afford to do work from anywhere (literally - I'm typing this blog entry sitting in a tent at Chincoteague Island, Va). LOTS more healthcare organizations could go ROWE, or, more appropriately, could "ROPE & ROWE" (nice nautical imagery there Ted).
  

• The bottom line about why I love being a ROWE (and shortly, advocating for a ROPE environment using the Nexthealth app) worker: it's all about results. What I get done. Not when I get it done, or even necessarily how long it takes me. And the real beauty is that I get a hell of a lot more done working from anywhere I'm comfortable than when I'm stuck in a cubicle drinking lame coffee or listening to my coworkers rave about the Sex and the City movie.
  

• Also, consider this: in a daily 'normal' work or classroom environment, the time you spend with rear parts in the seat is the most important thing - it's more about attendance than it is about output. In class, I'd finish work early and whip out a book. In a 'traditional' 9-5 I'd finish work early and be bugging supervisors for something else to do, a new project, etc. I was a pest. A productive pest, but a pest nonetheless. Now, if I finish something early, it's on to the next thing.
  

• MARKET RESEARCH: If you want to get a better look about what kinds of organizations in your area are offering ROWE environments, just go to your local Craigslist jobs page. Click the "telecommute" button, et. voila. Search results tailored to ROWE workers or organizations exploring the concept. Note there probably aren't many healthcare orgs in the list of results. Here's an example of results from my home-away-from-home, Washington DC, this morning at 9:07 am.
  

2. Over at The Health Care Blog, Matthew Holt and his wife Amanda share their own 'do good' goals. Matthew's asking companies who want to mine his brilliance to help buy a kid a bike. Amanda, who just had some pretty serious back surgery, will also sport supporting companies' colors on during her upcoming training rides (and yep, we'll probably see some photos on THCB).

Why Does it Matter?

• Social entrepreneurship is arriving early to the Health 2.0 stage, considering the conferences themselves have been around for just under 2 years. Matthew and Amanda are doing something really neat here, and bravo to both of them for helping spread the wealth to benefit Saigon Childrens' Charity. To my knowledge, it's the first time they've 'asked' us, the readership, to help out a crusade. This is an awesome step and the first time I've seen something like this done outside of Doc Rob's sending Zippy all over the world and outfitting us all in Zippy wear to help fight kids' brain cancer.
  

• A fascinating conversation from #gnomedex on Twitter.com last week began when Beth Kanter (@kanter) raised almost 4k in under an hour SIMPLY by having those in attendance begin to tweet about the event. Her social philanthropy demonstrated a few things brilliantly: peer pressure in giving works (for good or ill), almost anyone will give $10, and you have to coordinate a few things brilliantly to cut through the noise with an 'ask' - right time, right place, right people spreading your message, and right amount.
  

• Doing good is contagious. Doing good is viral. But we don't always (or even usually) give because we're saints.
  

• If your competitors start do-good initiatives, and you don't, you'll look like a boob. Is this the 'right' reason to give? Probably not. Nor is the fact that giving in this case will get you a photo and nice writeup on The Health Care Blog.
  

• I had a great Twitter discussion with @michah, who was at #gnomedex (type this into the search field at www.summize.com for all the #gnomedex Twitter feeds) about whether or not people were giving to Beth's initiative because of competitive pressures or a desire to 'help.' To a certain extent, the values conversation in giving is often overly simplified, and this type of value judgment is only relevant if we're speaking from the pulpit, or Valhalla, which none of us are.
  

• BOTTOM LINE: Give for whatever reason you give. The important thing is that you give. Try not to judge others for what they get in return. This is the hybrid model of social philanthropy at work - do some good, get something good in return. Call it the bartering of philanthropy if you will, but it's how this system has always worked (sponsorships for events, launches, etc). Even those little balloons you buy in the checkout line at the grovery store are the barter system of philanthropy at work: You get to write your name and paste it on the window proving what a generous person you are. Final bottom line: Try not to fool yourself about reasons and motivations for giving. Be clear about what you want people to give, and what they'll get in return, just as Matthew's done at THCB. And if you don't want anyone to know what a good person you are, give and keep quiet about it.
  

And for goodness' sake people - buying a bike for a kid in Saigon is only 25 pounds....