If I want my radical idea to be picked up, it has to look familiar to them.
Build a bridge.
Otherwise, they’re left with two choices: jump across the gorge or go home. What would anyone choose?
In the words of Seth Godin, “It’s far easier to sell someone on a new kind of fruit than it is to get them to eat crickets.”
What precedents have been set? If they did it before, it’s easier for them to do it again.
What Does It Look Like? Read More »
_______ leads to research.
Research leads to answers.
Answers lead to messages.
Messages lead to content development.
Content development can move customers.
(Fill in the blank)
That first sentence, which is the foundation for everything else to come, is usually overlooked.
What would happen if builders overlooked the foundation of a skyscraper? Could it even become a skyscraper if the foundation was overlooked?
But First, Questions Read More »
In Trevor Noah’s words: ‘It’s a never a good thing when the solution to your problem SOUNDS like a problem.’
We’re the first to point out holes in others’ ideas…but will never—ever—accept the slightest fault in our own.
Wharton professor Adam Grant outlines four distinct thinking styles we use to approach problems
“I think too many of us spend too much time thinking like preachers, prosecutors, and politicians,” Grant insists.
Grant mentions one Italian study which taught budding business owners to view their plans as hypotheses for testing. Compared to a control group “those entrepreneurs that we taught to think like scientists brought in more than 40 times the revenue of the control group,” he reports (40 times!).
Grant has a point.
The truth works.
All of this is just another way to convey the importance of a learning mindset.
What can I do to be a better scientist? Why is it so hard to be a good scientist?
How Can My Solution Actually Be a Problem? Read More »
Peter Pitts and Jason Zemcik wrote a brilliantly simple article later last week dissecting the CMS Best Price Rule.
Manufacturers offer copay assistance coupons for many drugs in order to offset cost share. Evidence from a Massachusetts Health Policy Commission study suggests that these coupons indeed promote adherence and better outcomes.
Unfortunately, a critical drug pricing rule finalized by CMS towards the end of 2020 could unintentionally jeopardize coupons. The rule requires that manufacturers ensure the benefit of their coupons go solely to the patients. If the coupon’s full value is not realized by the patient, the manufacturer will be required to count it as a discount to the drug’s Medicaid price (manufacturers are required to give Medicaid programs their ‘best price,’ which is the lowest price they offer to any other purchaser of a drug).
How could a coupon possibly benefit anyone else other than a patient? Payers have figured out how to flip coupons on their head in order to remain profitable. Copay accumulators. Under the copay accumulator tactic, the coupon value is not counted against the deductible. Therefore, once the coupon funding is exhausted, beneficiaries are forced to pay their full deductible. When faced with this situation, many patients are forced to decide between paying their rent/mortgage or seeking medical care.
In this accumulator scenario, coupons can be viewed as a price concession to an entity other than a patient since it lowers payers’ cost for the drug. As a result, CMS would require the full coupon value to be factored into Medicaid discounts.
If the best price is brought down further with coupon values, how likely is it for manufacturers continue offering coupons?
If they are forced to thus stop offering coupons, how will this impact patient access to necessary treatment?
CMS Final Rule Threatens Existence of Manufacturer Coupons Read More »
If the market demands conflicting outcomes, embrace it (before someone else does).
The market is demanding health care delivery that is affordable + effective—highly conflicting priorities!
Harvard Business Review narrated a successful case of embracing conflicting goals:
‘When designing what became the Lexus line, Ichiro Suzuki, Toyota’s chief engineer, stipulated that the new car needed to be faster, lighter, and more fuel efficient than existing luxury sedans. The order was full of contradictions. Making a car faster usually meant having a bigger, heavier engine; making it lighter without compromising power meant stripping out luxury that was essential for this segment. So, the Lexus team returned to fundamentals and re-evaluated their most basic assumptions about how to build a car. Alongside tens of smaller new ideas, they designed and built a first-of-its-kind aluminum engine that made the car 120 pounds lighter, improving weight and fuel efficiency, thereby delivering on a seemingly impossible demand.’
Right now, all eyes are on payers and PBMs. What are they doing to make health care affordable + effective? Drugs are only effective is they’re used for the right patients at the right time.
Lexus Came From Toyota Embracing Conflicting Goals Read More »
‘I must govern the clock, not be governed by it.’ –Golda Meir
Golda Meir lived for a single goal that was impossible to achieve. All of her efforts were for this particular goal. She achieved it.
In the process, she set an example for what a person in control of her situation is capable of:
…and yes, she was a woman.
I Must Govern the Clock, Not Be Governed by It Read More »
Once a hunter cast a net over a flock of birds busy pecking at grains. Flustered, the birds scrambled to escape in every direction—but in vain. Until a wise leader amongst them said, ‘We can still escape. Stop trying to fly in all directions. All of you fly in this direction,’ as he pointed up. ‘One, two, three!’ As ordered by their leader, the birds took off together. And they took the net with them.
How many birds needed to move upwards in order for this escape plan to work? ALL. Could any single bird have managed to escape alone? Absolutely not.
There is an important lesson about teamwork in this kids’ story. Think about the laggards in your team. A team is only as strong as the weakest person.
By definition, humans make mistakes (otherwise we wouldn’t be humans, we would be God). We’re in this together.
Even if they don’t have the self-confidence to say, ‘today I’m going to do the best job,’ I don’t believe anyone intentionally comes to work saying, ‘today I’m going to do a terrible job.’
We can all benefit from encouragement and upliftment.
Catch 3 people doing something right everyday (and I don’t mean false praises). Challenge yourself to do this for a month. This is the posture of good-finding. Blaming undoes us, whereas good-finding nourishes us (both the person on the giving as well as receiving end).
Pandurang Shastri Athavale (my friend, philosopher, and guide) puts it very simply: ‘The other is not another, he is my Divine brother.’
How can we all fly upwards TOGETHER (because we NEED to fly together)?
AMCP held an insightful webinar on preapproval information exchange (PIE) in June 2020. I encourage you to check it out.
Lisa Cashman (Director of Clinical Account Services, MedImpact Healthcare Systems), Laura Randa (Vice President Market Access, HEOR and Public Policy, Mycovia Pharmaceuticals), and Jay Jackson (Senior Vice President, Consulting, Xcenda) shared generous insights on payers’ perception of preapproval information exchange (PIE).
Payers want information as early as possible because they might make budgeting decisions a year-out—up to 25% of payers initiate this process 18 months from launch (depending on their plan size). The information they want can broadly be categorized into 3 buckets: volume, patient profile, and cost.
Unfortunately, many PIEs occur too late to be useful for this purpose.
The panelists suggested the following timeline:
Respect Time if you want your investment to work for you.
‘If you’re early, you’re on time. If you’re on time, you’re late. If you’re late, [hopefully you’re not dead. Because if you’re still alive, you get a second chance].’
When do you engage with payers in PIE?
Ensure Preapproval Information Exchange (PIE) Is On Time Read More »
Everyone has a problem.
Believing that your customers have no problems is just as true as believing that everyone posting smiling photos on Instagram has no problems.
What’s the problem of your customers? What keeps them up at night? What makes it dreadful for them to come back to work the next day? Why are they right to think this way?
The sequel to this would be: How can you show up to delight them? But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
Customers feeling like they’re heard is in itself a TREMENDOUS stride forward.
Nurture trust. Nurture relationship.
If your neighbor knocked at your door with freshly baked cherry pie, would you accept it? What if a stranger did the same thing: would you accept it?
Your Customers Should Feel Heard Read More »
The J Curve has come up in several of my conversations over the past couple days. I first learned about it in Thanks for the Feedback: The Science and Art of Receiving Feedback Well.
The journey towards a goal is not a straight upward line, but rather a J curve.
When tracing the letter ‘J,’ we start in the middle>>dip down>>then swing back up to the top.
The Dip (also called the Valley of Death by some sources) is inevitable in the J curve. The dip is when we feel the struggle and discomfort. It’s in the dip where the majority quits. The deeper/wider the dip, the more likely it is that people will give up and go home.
Be ready for the Dip. When it arrives, do not run away. Tell it, ‘I’ve been waiting for you—there you are.’ Embrace the pain. Lean into the Dip in order to come out the other end. Dance with the struggle.
Once I saw the J curve, it was hard to un-see it. It’s everywhere: career development, relationships, spirituality, education, physical fitness, learning a new skill, sales, manufacturing, distribution….
It’s easy to be a CEO. What’s hard is getting there.
You do 8 reps in weight training so that you can get the benefits from pushing through the last 2.
Staying in the game is magical.
When you face the Dip, how do you stay in the game?
Dance With the Struggle Read More »
