Monday, August 10, 2009

When Crises Collide



With so much arduous and ugly argument over reform, healthcare seems mired in debate and atrophied by politics. What are we missing?

An article I wrote about the potential for entrepreneurial opportunities in healthcare is the cover story for the latest issue of One magazine. I get lots of interesting people to talk shop, including Donna Shalala. Here's an excerpt.
When graphic designer Deborah Adler picked a topic for her master’s thesis at New York’s School of Visual Arts, she decided to address a very personal matter. Adler’s grandmother, Helen, took the wrong medication after mistaking her husband’s prescription pill bottle for her own. Other than the addition of childproof lids in the 1970s, the ubiquitous amber-colored vial had not changed since the First World War, even though polling found 60 percent of prescription drug users were taking medication incorrectly. Adler decided to revamp the prescription pill bottle, and the result was a revolutionary design born from a simple need: clear and detailed labeling that included different color-coded rings for different users. In 2004, a creative director at Target saw her work, and the company quickly purchased patent rights. The bottle went into the store’s pharmacies the following year. The product instantly captured the attention of the press and the design industry, which lauded its simple ambition. Adler not only effectively addressed a major health care concern, her work also raised an interesting question: Why hadn’t anyone thought of this before? READ MORE



Deborah Adler's new prescription bottle at Target.