Radio Silence: Preparing for Health 2.0

Dear Readers -

Today GruntDoc declared Health Management Rx "dead" and removed it from his blogrollls.

This means:
1. Posts have been slow, and;
2. Posts have had little value to readers whom I respect and admire.

GruntDoc, my apologies.

This was an excellent reminder to get back in the saddle, despite other commitments (and a love affair with new channels, especially Twitter), and blog, blog, blog.

I'm currently working with more than 80 speakers and 55 volunteers to prepare for Health 2.0 - User-Generated Health.

The above photo is from a live demo I did this Friday with Rex Jacobovits for MyPACS.net (McKesson), the "YouTube" of radiology - one of the companies I'm helping prepare to present October 22-23rd.

This means Monday's calendar is packed with 14 (yes 14) demos, not counting calls, emails, etc.

Health Management Rx content has suffered as a result, and many thanks to GruntDoc for throwing down the gauntlet.

A desire to connect online and offline worlds, and provide a healthy dose of pessimism and optimism when viewing the diverse (and often disjointed) world of health management was the impetus behind my entry to blogging last April.

That commitment, despite what's happening with my career, has not changed.

Blogging is not a hobby. Connecting people, online and offline, interested in improving healthcare management and delivery the world over, is most definitely a career.

But more than that. It's probably a calling.

I'm still too idealistic to have the enthusiasm and passion for change beaten out of me.

I'm still excited by new tech I believe has healthcare applications (hello, new friends at Mingle360). I still want to connect those interested in being innovators, interrogators, and implementors.

Offline, I've been working on Medical Education Evolution things and getting a new thing off the ground - starting a "geeky" Tech Brunch series in DC (with now comfy collaborator Ted Eytan). Look for a time/place for the first "geek" brunch after Health 2.0.

Online, I've been advising friends who are starting new businesses and working on longer-term commitments like the Innovation Challenge, which, for the first time this year, has a health component sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

That sounds suspiciously like I'm making excuses.

I'm not. I want Health Management Rx to be a continual reflection of this myriad of possibility, this maelstrom of recombinent communication, a place readers come for first looks, innovation soundbites, and sometimes smarmy commentary, despite how much sleep I'm getting or what big hairy audacious goal is stealing my hours.

Or, as @alexismadrigal said recently on Twitter, it's probably what I've dedicated my life to.

GruntDoc, every once in awhile you don't need platitudes, you need a kick in the ass. Thanks for mine. Consider HMRx back from the dead.