Julie Miller

If the healthcare delivery business were likened to the restaurant business, payers might play the role of the waiter who takes the guest's order, brings out the meal and provides the check. Physicians might be compared with the chef who creates the meal for the guest.

Students who aspire to become medical directors because they think it's a laid-back desk job are in for a rude awakening. Unlike the clinical executives of the past, today's medical directors and chief medical officers (CMOs) have enterprising issues on their desks, sprawling out to the remotest edges in the continuum of care.

Physician plan executives tap into daily experiences to serve even the tiniest of members

Through a network of regional alliances with employers, providers and health plans, the Institute for Health and Productivity Management (IHPM) builds the evidence-based business case for managing employee health as a source of corporate value and a means to increase productivity.

After attending the delivery of a baby in a community hospital in Louisville, Ky., Dr. Larry Cook paused for a moment in the hallway, still in his green hospital scrubs. The new baby's grandmother, a woman in her 50s, beaming with joy, approached Dr. Cook and threw her arms around him instinctively. Hugging him she said, "Dr. Cook, 21 years ago you attended the delivery of my daughter and provided her newborn care. And just now, you've attended the delivery of her child."

Finicky travelers seek five-star hotels; avid movie-goers-two thumbs up. And now, healthcare consumers who once thought they'd never have a reliable rating system for hospitals and physicians will be pleased with the progress of the many organizations that now are providing user-friendly quality reports.

Hospitals that use bar codes for medication administration will see decreases in medical errors and considerable return on investment

As an educator at Harvard Medical School, scientist, researcher, former senior executive of a hospital-based health system, national spokesperson, and executive vice president and chief medical officer of Anthem Inc., Samuel Nussbaum, MD, certainly has the credentials to lead the industry in the clinical quality and healthcare management arena.