Toxic workplaces reflect leadership failure

Regarding the recent commentary “Toxic workers put organizations at risk”, toxic behavior can also be linked to the “fear factor,” which is alive and well in healthcare organizations. Unstable environments promote fear. As the author points out, management strategies to deal with toxic individuals have been reflected in the business literature for some time.

When organizations do not intervene, it reflects significant failure on the part of leadership. Who is more at fault, the physician who acts out when under stress, or senior leaders who tolerate the behavior and do not act to decompress a negative situation? Volume/admission concerns are a poor measure when safety is compromised.

Sandra Sperry

Staten Island, N.Y.

Regarding the recent article “Reform Update: Medical-home adoption growing; evidence of effectiveness still elusive”, I love these self-serving studies, hundreds of thousands of dollars wasted to come up with nothing.

There is nothing wrong with the patient-centered medical-home concept. The problem is with the implementation of it. To justify the enormous fees associated with these programs, the developers of the programs generate them with such complicated features that the man-hours and attention that they require outshine the practicality of the system.

Doctors are against it because it tends to take control of the patient away from them, not to mention the enormous time and effort it takes to monitor them. What is needed is a system that is simple, cost-effective and gives the necessary core data to the physician to manage the patient properly.

David Hold

Global Telehealth SolutionsHollywood, Fla.

The story “Hospitals squeezed as revenue growth slows to all-time low” should come as no surprise to anyone who has been involved in the business of healthcare over the past couple of years. In an effort to reduce the cost and increase the efficiencies of healthcare, almost all countries have initiatives to do more with less when it comes to delivery of healthcare services.

The second driver that will squeeze healthcare spending further and put more pressure on hospital profits is the trend for people to take more responsibility for their personal well-being. You see this manifested in the rapid growth of personal health-monitoring devices, with entry into that market by giants such as Apple, Google and Samsung. There's also the awareness among businesses that keeping their employees healthy is good for the bottom line.

The need for healthcare-delivery organizations—and businesses that sell into this market—to develop long-term strategies to adapt to this change is a requirement for their future. As the article points out, the change has started and will only accelerate over time.

Dennis Lottero

Global M2M business developmentmanager, healthcareVodaphoneNew York

Regarding the article “Audit: Obamacare medical-device tax not meeting revenue target”, as a person who has worked for more than one medical-device manufacturer over the past 25 years, this article is spot on. There is very little hiring in the industry. HR keeps jobs postings open so they can keep the budget dollars and not have to apply for a new requisition.

Also, medical diagnostics is suffering immeasurably, which is harming patient care as a result of laboratories cutting corners to save money.

The purpose of the Affordable Care Act was to improve healthcare, and it has done everything but that.

Pamela Lyon

Grapevine, Texas