“Offshore outsourcing of some functions not directly related to patient care can deliver savings of 20 percent or more, said John Lovelock, a health care analyst with Gartner Inc. Gartner estimates health care organizations save an average of about 23 percent on outsourcing contracts, including IT and non-IT outsourcing, with some organizations seeing savings up to 45 percent on some outsourcing contracts, said Lovelock, who spoke at the Gartner Healthcare IT Summit in Baltimore.”
“We are moving toward this simply because healthcare is under a lot of pressure,” Lovelock said during a forum on healthcare outsourcing. “Healthcare needs to focus on its core business. We need to do what we do well, and stop focusing on what we don’t do well.” Lovelock listed a number of functions that could be outsourced, including IT jobs, claims administration, Web-enabled customer self-care, medical call centers and even radiology.
Some of you as well may have heard also of the One Day Blog Silence, the blogosphere’s latest meme, which calls on bloggers everywhere to be silent on April 30 to honor the Virginia Tech victims:
All you have to do is spread the word about it and post the graphic on your blog on 30th April 2007. No words and no comments. Just respect, reflect and empathy.
The day of blog silence has been extended to include “all the victims of our world”–which I assume to mean all those who have also perished by violence.
What I am about to say intends no disrespect to the many good-intentioned bloggers–including those who are my friends and colleagues–who are participating in the April 30 event. It certainly in no way is meant to diminish the heart-breaking tragedy of these senseless deaths.
But I have to ask, why? Why be silent? What is the point? Why not use this as an opportunity to speak out? To rage against the machine? To stand up for whatever cause you believe in that will reduce human suffering or end violence? Provide better treatment and interventions for the mentally ill? Increase safety on college campuses? Take action against handgun violence? End the war in Iraq? The crisis in Darfur? Any one of the thousand conflagrations that burn around the world?
Or, better yet, get away from the keyboard and actually do something?
It will be business as usual at this blog on Monday, April 30. I won’t be silent.
posted by Diane Levin @ 6:46 AM 2 comments
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Dispute management biggest cost control opportunity companies have, in experience of one in-house counsel
Early dispute resolution saves moneyOne of the biggest–and costliest–mistakes that businesses make is the failure to properly address disputes early in their life cycle. More and more though in-house counsel recognize the virtues of alternative dispute resolution as a cost- and time-saving device for the organizations they advise.
Monday, November 15, 2004
Microsoft Goes to India
Times Online reports Microsoft dramatically increased its presence in India, opening a major new campus on the subcontinent and unveiling a key joint venture with Infosys Technologies to provide software and consulting services.
In a bid to capture a greater share of the lucrative and expending market, Microsoft and Infosys will initially invest $8 million to develop a portfolio of services for companies worldwide, Microsoft’s chief executive Steve Ballmer said.