Monday, October 8, 2012

How the Best Boards and Best Directors Operate


How the Best Boards and Best Directors Operate

 
Sitting on the board of a Fortune 500 company, or any large organization, is a great responsibility. Personally, I've learned a tremendous amount in the nearly one year since I was appointed to the Starbucks board of directors.
Having learned so much, I was delighted to be able discuss best practices for boards and directors at the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit in Laguna Niguel, CA earlier this week.
With insights from Carol Bartz (former CEO of Yahoo! and before that CEO of Autodesk, now director on several boards including Cisco) and Anne Mulcahy (former CEO of Xerox, now Chairman of the Board of Save the Children and board director at Johnson & Johnson, Target, Washington Post, etc.), and moderated by the talented Carol Loomis, we had a great discussion about how the best public boards and companies operate.
In a nutshell:
  1. Directors have the courage and culture to constructively disagree with one another and with management without anyone taking it personally.
  2. There is ample diversity of backgrounds and opinions on board to carefully consider all options and angles in the case of important decisions. The board is large and diverse enough to encompass the full breadth of the corporation’s businesses, market segments, and geographies, but not so large that it becomes unwieldy or clumsy.
  3. Greater care and consideration should be given during both the director selection and onboarding process. Board members need to remain committed to continual learning, preparation, and relationship-building with other board members and management.
All in all, the Fortune Summit was fantastically run, thanks in large part to conference organizers Pattie Sellers and Stephanie Mehta. To read more about my experience at the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit, head over to the Hearsay Social Blog.

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Friday, October 5, 2012

2012 Science of Eliminating Health Disparities Summit.



Register today for the 2012 Science of Eliminating Health Disparities Summit. 
Remember, registration is a two-step process.  You must first complete the 
general registration to obtain a password to select your breakout sessions.

If you have not yet made your selections, you can choose from more than 100 sessions 
in three different tracks under 16 different themes including: 

·         Social, Biological, Environmental and Economic Disparities in Childhood 
Developmental Health Outcomes

·         Testing and Linkage to Treatment/Care for Vulnerable Asian American, 
Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Communities

·         Elder Abuse in Diverse Communities: Scope, Culture, and Policy Implications

·         Public Policies, System-level and Environmental Strategies to Address Obesity 
 Prevention and Health

·         Research and Community Efforts to Address Inner-City Asthma

·         Patient-Centered Outcomes and Effectiveness Research in Health Disparities

·         Place Matters for Health:  Using Locally-Tailored Community Health Equity 
Reports to Compel Action to Eliminate Health Inequities

·         Racial and Ethnic Differences and Disparities in Pain:  The State of the 
Science of Inclusion 

·         The Hidden Toll of Occupational Health Disparities

·         10 Years Later: Lessons Learned in a Community-based Rheumatology 
Clinic with an Underserved Patient Population

·         Developing and Implementing the 2012 HHS Environmental Justice Strategy: 
The Importance of Stakeholder Engagement

If you have questions, please contact 2012summit@mail.nih.gov or call 240-395-0549.

Health Disparities Partnership Forum. October 22-23, 2012

Minority Health Action Alert

Provided by the Office of Minority Health Resource Center
October 04, 2012

NPA - National Partnership for Action

American Diabetes Association's Fifth Disparities Partnership Forum, 

October 22-23, Washington, D.C.

Registration is now open Exit Disclaimer  for the American Diabetes Association's Fifth Disparities Partnership 
Forum on diabetes care in high risk populations. The goal of the forum is to encourage collaboration 
with partners to address the disparity of cultural competency, health literacy and health equity in 
diabetes care, specifically in populations at highest risk for type 2 diabetes, such as African 
Americans, Hispanic/Latinos, American Indian/Alaskan Natives, 
Asian American/Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders, older adults, women, low-income and 
uninsured persons. Scheduled speakers include:
 
  • Dr. J. Nadine Gracia, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minority Health (Acting) and the Acting Director of the Office of Minority Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
  • Dr. Augustus A. White III, Author and Professor of Medical Education and Orthopedic Surgery at 
  • Harvard Medical School
  • Dr. Kenneth Moritsugu, chair of the Johnson & Johnson Diabetes Institute
  • Dr. Pedro Jose Greer, Professor of Medicine and Chairman of the Department of Humanities 
  • Health and Society at Florida International University 

  • For more information on the forum, please contact Monique Lindsy at mlindsy@diabetes.org.
  • Thursday, October 4, 2012

    Health Alert: Meningitis and Stroke from Steroid Injections



    HAN
    This is an official
    CDC HEALTH ADVISORY
    Distributed via the CDC Health Alert Network
    October 4, 2012, 17:05 ET (5:05 PM ET)
    CDCHAN-00327
    Meningitis and Stroke Associated with Potentially Contaminated Product
    Summary
    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are coordinating a multi-state investigation of fungal meningitis among patients who received an epidural steroid injection. Several of these patients also suffered strokes that are believed to have resulted from their infection.  As of October 4, 2012, five deaths have been reported. Fungal meningitis is not transmitted from person to person.  These cases are associated with a potentially contaminated medication.  Investigation into the exact source is ongoing; however, interim data show that all infected patients received injection with preservative-free methylprednisolone acetate (80mg/ml) prepared by New England Compounding Center, located in Framingham, MA.
    BackgroundOn September 21, 2012, CDC was notified by the Tennessee Department of Health of a patient with the onset of meningitis approximately 19 days following epidural steroid injection at a Tennessee ambulatory surgery center (ASC).  Initial cultures of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and blood were negative; subsequently, Aspergillus fumigatus was isolated from CSF by fungal culture. On September 28, investigators identified a case outside of Tennessee, possibly indicating contamination of a widely distributed medication. As of October 4, a total of 35 cases* in the following six states have been identified with a clinical picture consistent with fungal infection: Florida (2 cases), Indiana (1 case), Tennessee (25 cases, including 3 deaths), Maryland (2 cases, including 1 death), North Carolina (1 case), and Virginia (4 cases, including 1 death).  Fungus has been identified in specimens obtained from five patients, one of whom also had Propionobacterium acnes, of unclear clinical significance, isolated from a post-mortem central nervous system specimen.
    Infected patients have presented approximately 1 to 4 weeks following their injection with a variety of symptoms, including fever, new or worsening headache, nausea, and new neurological deficit (consistent with deep brain stroke). Some of these patients’ symptoms were very mild in nature.  CSF obtained from these patients has typically shown elevated white cell count (with a predominance of neutrophils), low glucose, and elevated protein.
    RecommendationsOn September 25, 2012, the New England Compounding Center located in Framingham, MA voluntarily recalled the following lots of methylprednisolone acetate (PF) 80mg/ml:
    • Methylprednisolone Acetate (PF) 80 mg/ml Injection, Lot #05212012@68, BUD 11/17/2012
    • Methylprednisolone Acetate (PF) 80 mg/ml Injection, Lot #06292012@26, BUD 12/26/2012
    • Methylprednisolone Acetate (PF) 80 mg/ml Injection, Lot #08102012@51, BUD 2/6/2013
    On October 3, 2012, the compounding center ceased all production and initiated recall of all methylprednisolone acetate and other drug products prepared for intrathecal administration.
    Physicians should contact patients who have had an injection (e.g., spinal, joint) using any of the three lots of methylprednisolone acetate listed above to determine if they are having any symptoms.  Although all cases detected to date occurred after injections with products from these three lots, out of an abundance of caution, CDC and FDA recommend that healthcare professionals cease use of anyproduct produced by the New England Compounding Center until further information is available.
    For patients who received epidural injection and have symptoms of meningitis or basilar stroke, a diagnostic lumbar puncture (LP) should be performed, if not contraindicated. Because presenting symptoms of some patients with meningitis have been mild and not classic for meningitis (e.g., new or worsening headache without fever or neck stiffness), physicians should have a low threshold for LP.  While CDC is aware of infections occurring only in patients who have received epidural steroid injections, patients who received other types of injection with methylprednisolone acetate from those three lots should also be contacted to assess for signs of infection (e.g., swelling, increasing pain, redness, warmth at the injection site) and should be encouraged to seek evaluation (e.g., arthrocentesis) if such symptoms exist.
    For guidance on diagnostic testing that should be performed on patient specimens, physicians can go tohttp://www.cdc.gov/hai/outbreaks/meningitis.html.   State health departments should be informed of patients undergoing evaluation.  Clinicians should report any suspected adverse events following use of these products to FDA's MedWatch program at 1-800-332-1088 or www.fda.gov/medwatch.
    *Case Definition
    1: A person with meningitis1 of sub-acute onset (1-4 weeks) following epidural injection after July 1, 2012. 
    2: A person, who has not received a lumbar puncture, with basilar stroke 1-4 weeks following epidural injection after July 1, 20122.
    3. A person with evidence of spinal osteomyelitis or epidural abscess at the site of an epidural injection diagnosed 1-4 weeks after epidural injection after July 1, 2012.
    1clinically diagnosed meningitis meaning 1 or more of the following symptoms: headache, fever, stiff neck, or photophobia and a CSF profile consistent with meningitis (elevated protein/low glucose/pleocytosis)
    2These people, if possible, should have an LP.
    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) protects people's health and safety by preventing and controlling diseases and injuries; enhances health decisions by providing credible information on critical health issues; and promotes healthy living through strong partnerships with local, national, and international organizations.


    RECOMMENDED READING LIST

    Search This Blog

    ARCHIVE List 2011 - Present