Articles - Dr. Josh Luke

Millennials & Healthcare: One Critical Resume Mistake to Avoid, by Dr. Josh Luke

January 28, 2018/in Articles, Linkedin, Uncategorized /by Dr. Josh Luke

It is the time of the year that new grads start ramping up the job search and dressing to the 9’s for more interviews. As a healthcare policy faculty member at the University of Southern California, I discuss this with my students each semester and several have shared that this was one of their favorite discussions of the semester because it’s a position they had not heard prior.

And you know I love to write about Millennials and the importance of understanding millennial values! Well, here is some advice for millennial graduates!

There is one critical resume mistake that healthcare candidates make routinely.

I just can’t let this summer interview season pass without getting something off my chest. There is one critical resume mistake that healthcare candidates make routinely.

And it’s not just healthcare. New grads are very proud and want to share what they have recently accomplished. Whether undergrad or graduate students, it’s quite an accomplishment to add to your resume that you just completed a degree.

But before I share this one critical mistake, I have a question I would like each of you to ponder: Is your graduation year being listed on your resume hurting you or helping you? Only you know the answer to that, and it can work either way. So here is my first suggestion. Leave your graduation year off of your resume altogether. If nothing else, what a great talking point for your initial interview. That is, if you have a well-thought out talking point to spin the graduation year in your favor.

Since I am known for long-winded stories and my goal for this article is to stay short, I will get to the point now. As a ten year hospital CEO and now public speaker educating Fortune 500 companies and mid to small sized businesses on how to reduce healthcare spending by 30% a year, I have a major pet peeve when it comes to resumes.

It’s really simple. If the first section under your name is titled “Education”, then what you are telling me is that your education is the best qualification you have to offer me. Don’t get me wrong, I teach at the University of Southern California. If you are not getting a 3.8 in high school it’s likely you need not apply to USC. So when I see a resume with “USC Graduate” listed, no doubt I am impressed.

“…this tells me that the work experience you have is not relevant. It is as simple as that.”

However, regardless of your institution, when education is the top item listed on a resume it tells me that the work experience you have is not relevant. It is as simple as that.

I’ll pause for impact here.

You would be amazed at how interesting and important candidates can make an internship, apprenticeship or part-time job sound. Remember, it’s the organization that the candidate worked for that is most impressive in most cases, not the title of their position.

Interestingly, I have learned that universities throughout the country have resume workshops for graduation candidates and that these students are almost always told to list their education first. Regardless of how reputable the institution is, by listing your education first, even if it is a graduate level degree, you are diminishing any value your prior work experience has.

Please don’t argue with me on this, I am the guy on the other side of the desk. Almost ten years as a CEO. We saw this routinely. Those resumes with education first went into the circular file.

Imagine a candidate who is a new grad with a master’s degree in healthcare administration. The top section on their resume is “Education.” Beneath the education section you see listed, “Intern, Hospital X,” and then “Administrative Resident, Health System Y.”

Now imagine the same candidate whose resume leads with the following: “Relevant Work Experience, Quality Improvement Team, Hospital X (Top 3% National Quality Ranking), and then “Lean Six Sigma Workgroup, Health System Y ($30,000 in Monthly Savings on Initial Emergency Department exercise).” Underneath that section, the second section is titled “Education” and list a Masters Degree in Healthcare Administration.

Dab! You are hired!

If you listed your education first, I assume that you personally do not believe that your internships and work experience are relevant to the work that you would do if hired. Is that the message you want to send? Absolutely not!

So, the basic rules for your resume as a healthcare candidate, and likely in other fields as well are:

1. Do not list your education first on your resume, even as an entry level candidate. If you do, you missed an opportunity to make any work experience, no matter how different it might seem, relevant!

*No matter how proud you are of your degree and the great institution you attended, imagine how much more powerful that looks when you delegate it to the second section of your resume. You are essentially saying, “Of course I am proud to be a graduate of an elite institution, but this work experience was awesome as well!”

Do not list your education first on your resume, even as an entry level candidate.

2. Bonus: Empower yourself to leave your graduation year off your resume, whether graduate degree, undergrad or even high school. Strategize how to make your age or experience work to your advantage and use it as a talking point.

Leave your graduation year off your resume & strategize how to make your age work to your advantage .

Remember, if your college career center or workshop tells you otherwise, remind yourself who signs their paycheck and then ask what their motivation might be for suggesting “our institution is so great it should be listed first on your resume.” That’s their job to promote the university – not yours. Your job is to get hired! And not to promote on their behalf. So strategize to get hired.

Anxious to hear your comments on this!

Click here to nominate Josh Luke or another writer as one of LinkedIn’s Top Voices. To book Dr. Luke as a speaker for your business, university or healthcare event, email Arlene@NationalReadmissionPrevention.com.

Bio Brief: Dr. Josh Luke is an award winning healthcare futurist, a Forbes Book Author, a #1 Best Seller and the author of the book Ex-Acute: A former hospital CEO tells all on what’s wrong with American healthcare, What every American needs to know. He teaches in the Sol Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern California and serves as CSO/Sr. Health Policy Strategist for Nelson Hardiman Law.

He served as a hospital CEO for ten years and is an advocate for Alzheimer’s care. Luke is also a professional speaker sharing with executives how changes in healthcare will impact them and their employees. Please follow Josh on LinkedIn if these topics are of interest to you and check www.JoshLuke.org for speaking appearances.

Healthcare, Sales, Hiring – 4 Sales mistakes to avoid, by Dr. Josh Luke

January 28, 2018/in Articles, Linkedin, Uncategorized /by Dr. Josh Luke

After serving as a hospital CEO for almost ten years, I was able to hear a lot of sales pitches on how my hospital could improve. “Our product will save you $X thousand a year!” or, “sign with us and you will generate $XX million of new revenue monthly!”

Hospitals were swimming in cash flow for years, so it was a lucrative market for sales teams. It did not really hit me until after I retired from hospital administration how many sales team members were forgetting a few of the most basic rules in life – not just in sales. And for you Human Resources Directors, keep these in mind when interviewing for sales candidates!

I believe most leaders are successful because they always take the time to assess their audience before addressing them.

I am now a keynote speaker presenting at trade events, leadership and sales meetings for all industries, teaching companies and individuals how to save money on healthcare. But shortly after retiring from the hospital C-Suite I served as a healthcare strategist for a few years. In that role I was asked by several companies to introduce them to hospital executives and sit in on the initial meeting.

While a few of the sales teams had mastered the art of identifying a need or gap, and then communicating how their product or service could solve that problem and bring added value to the organization, the majority of the individuals failed to listen. Or missed a key cue.

Let me explain. I have never had any formal sales training. But I have had a lot of leadership training, which I know is very similar. I believe most leaders are successful because they always take the time to assess their audience before addressing them. Further, if the opportunity presents itself to ask the audience questions in advance of speaking, instead of just observing visual cues, I always take advantage of that opportunity.

After all, if you do not understand the audience and how your communication is likely going to be interpreted, you are ignoring a key component of the sales process. The power of listening! I am amazed at how many sales team start to tell a company how they can solve their problem, when they have not even taken time to ask what the problem is. And I see it happen all the time.

So here are a few basic sales rules. Please, for all our sakes (especially yours) avoid these selling mistakes.

1. Don’t forget to start by asking about the problem or the gap that needs to be filled. Don’t tell someone how you can solve their problem when you have not even stopped to ask what their problem is. Its not only ignorant, its borderline disrespectful…and embarrassing.

Every single hospital is different. I always use the example of this national hospital company with hundreds of hospitals all over the country. But in Southern California they previously owned 3 hospitals within 15 minutes of each other. Guess what? If you asked each of those three hospital executives what their top three problems were, they would all have a different answer. And more importantly, the manner in which they wanted to solve the problem would differ from the other as well. So when you enter a room and start telling them how you are going to solve their problem without even asking, the meeting is essentially over before it starts. There’s the door!

2. Constant product development. Stop developing a product that no one has asked for. If you have no clients, you are not solving anyone’s problem. You’re developing an imaginary solution that no one has asked for. And for that matter, no one likely ever will. Stop developing a hypothetical solution and go find a client who gives a damn. Develop the product specific to them.

Once again, everyone’s problem is different than the other, and more so how the leadership intends to address the problem is always a different tactic as well. Don’t assume you know. Trust me, you don’t.

3. Don’t say no. When a client requests a change or accommodation, say yes. When your client, or a potential client requests a slight deviation from your existing offering, be prepared to immediately respond with an affirmative answer of “I will have our engineers begin that process immediately and keep you posted.” I can’t tell you how many times I have seen sales teams trip on that opportunity and say, ‘I don’t know,’ or “we will have to see” only to lose the opportunity altogether.

Even worse, don’t fall victim to telling the client “no, we can’t do that or won’t do that because….” See the three dots at the end of that sentence? That’s arrogance and ignorance. My apologies for being so blunt but forgive me, I thought the goal was to make a sale and to solve the client’s problem, not tell them how great the hypothetical solution is. If only the client’s problem could be converted into one that your solution solved! Imagine that (it’s not to hard to imagine as that’s what the client just asked and was abruptly told “no!”

Sales is about solving client’s problems, not trying to fit the client’s problem into a box you have created.

In sales, trust is built on being an active listener, and then using critical thinking to offer solutions on how to help that person accomplish their goals.

4. Don’t ignore the client’s need if you can’t solve it. Help the client with their problem, even if its outside your scope. Relationships drive a capitalistic society. If the prospect is not ready to retain your services initially, see if there is a referral you can make to help them solve their most significant challenges at present. Then when the time comes you will be the vendor of choice. Don’t miss that cue. If you do, you’re being short-sighted.

My advice for sales? It’s not all that different than leadership. Relationships drive everything, and relationships are built on trust. In sales, trust is built on being an active listener, and then using critical thinking to offer solutions on how to help that person accomplish their goals. If your product or service can play a role in that process, well, you just might make a sale after all. Good luck!

ForbesBooks Press Release:Health-Wealth by Dr. Josh Luke, Becomes Amazon #1 Best seller on Launch Day

January 28, 2018/in Articles, Uncategorized /by Dr. Josh Luke

NEW YORK (January 25, 2018) – Dr. Josh Luke, healthcare futurist, veteran hospital CEO, and award-winning speaker, announces the publication of Health-Wealth: Is Healthcare Bankrupting Your Business? 9 Steps to Financial Recovery (available now). The book is published with ForbesBooks, the exclusive business book publishing imprint of Forbes Media.

In the midst of heated healthcare debate, inflated costs, and skyrocketing annual premium increases, bestselling author, Dr. Josh Luke, breaks down America’s complex and controversial healthcare delivery system in his latest book, Health-Wealth. Luke, an outspoken industry insider, calls on his years of knowledge and experience to help business leaders regain control of their company’s excessive, sometimes irresponsible spending on healthcare. He teaches readers how businesses can realistically provide enhanced, personalized, and specialized healthcare options for their employees, while simultaneously reducing overall spending on healthcare. Luke introduces nine simple, turnkey tactics that can transform a business through millions of dollars in savings from unnecessary over-spending. This book is a business’s roadmap to reducing spending and enhancing care for its employees.

“Healthcare is the only uncontrollable cost on your balance sheet,” said Dr. Luke (#HealthWealth). “Year over year, hyperinflation in healthcare spirals out of control with no end in sight. In many ways, American businesses have been forced to choose between employees’ health and organizations’ wealth. Until now. It is my mission to make healthcare affordable again.”

Significant savings for the employer, reduced out-of-pocket costs for employees, and a healthier workforce. This three-pronged approach results in a happier all-around work environment, and may in fact save many businesses from failure. In Health-Wealth, Dr. Luke aims to revive businesses across the country by guiding business owners and leadership teams through the nine simple steps to maximize healthcare services at a significantly reduced cost.

Health-Wealth: Is Healthcare Bankrupting Your Business? 9 Steps to Financial Recovery officially launched today, January 25th. The celebration included a publication announcement in Times Square, and culminated with a panel discussion on healthcare affordability and a reception at Forbes’s private event space, Forbes on Fifth.

About Dr. Josh Luke

Dr. Josh Luke, a faculty member at the University of Southern California, is America’s healthcare affordability authority. He began his career as a successful sports marketer, but frustration over the lack of communication between his aging grandmother’s caregivers led him to make a dramatic change to his career path at age 27. By age 32, he had become a hospital CEO, and after ten years in that role, became an award-winning healthcare strategist, social media influencer and in-demand international public speaker and author. His most recent book Ex-Acute: A Former Hospital CEO Tells All on What’s Wrong with American Healthcare is an Amazon bestseller, and Dr. Luke now hosts the Health-Wealth Podcast and Radio Show, as well as The Health-Wealth Daily Minute on LinkedIn. For more information, visit Health-Wealth.com.

Featured Health-Wealth Article: Dr. Luke’s favorite local medical tourism article: Why one California county went surgery shopping

January 24, 2018/in Articles, Uncategorized /by Dr. Josh Luke

Chad Terhune, Kaiser Health News

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Retiree Leslie Robinson-Stone and her husband enjoyed a weeklong, all-expenses-paid trip to a luxury resort — all thanks to the county she worked for.

The couple also received more than a thousand dollars in spending money and a personal concierge, who attended to their every need. For Santa Barbara County, it was money well spent: Sending Robinson-Stone 250 miles away for knee replacement surgery near San Diego saved the government $30,000.

“The only difference between our two hospitals is one is expensive and the other is exorbitant,” said Andreas Pyper, assistant director of human resources for Santa Barbara County, referring to the local options.

Frustration with sky-high hospital bills and a lack of local competition is common to many employers and consumers across the country after years of industry consolidation. Fed up with wildly different price tags for routine operations, some private employers are steering patients they insure to top-performing providers who offer bargain prices. Santa Barbara County, with about 4,000 employees, is among a handful of public entities to join them.

The county has saved nearly 50 percent on four surgery cases since starting its out-of-town program last year, officials said. The program is voluntary for covered employees.

At a Scripps Health hospital in the San Diego area, the county paid $61,600 for a spinal fusion surgery that would have cost more than twice as much locally. It avoided two other operations altogether after patients went outside the area for second opinions.

Typically, employers are seeking deals through “bundled payments” — in which one fixed price covers tests, physician fees and hospital charges. And if complications arise, providers are on the hook financially. Medicare began experimenting with this method during the Obama administration.

Santa Barbara County is among about 400 employers on the West Coast working with Carrum Health, a South San Francisco start-up that negotiates bundled prices and chooses surgeons based on data on complications and readmissions.

“Not all surgeons are equal. We don’t want to give Scripps a blank check. That defeats the whole purpose,” said Sachin Jain, Carrum’s chief executive.

Santa Barbara officials try to persuade workers and their family members to participate in its program by waiving copays and deductibles. The county pays about $2,700 in travel costs and still comes out way ahead.

“If that doesn’t speak to the inefficiencies in our health care system, I don’t know what does,” Pyper said. “It’s almost like buying a Toyota Corolla for $50,000 and then going to San Diego to buy the same Corolla for $16,000. How long would the more expensive Toyota dealership last?”

Even as more employers and insurers embrace bundled payments, the Trump administration is applying the brakes. In August, Medicare officials proposed canceling mandatory bundled payments for certain surgeries and scaling back the program for knee and hip replacements. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, when he was still a member of Congress, accused Medicare of overstepping federal authority and interfering in the doctor-patient relationship. Hospital trade groups have voiced similar objections.

That leaves some health-policy experts dismayed.

“These bundled payments put pressure on medical providers … and the savings are astonishing,” said Bob Kocher, a former health official in the Obama administration and now a partner in the venture capital firm Venrock.

Santa Barbara County officials said they had no choice after seeing their medical costs soar by 15 percent in each of the past two years. Like many local governments, it has an older workforce prone to chronic illness, blocked arteries and bum knees.

But health costs run higher than the state average in this scenic coastal county of about 450,000 people, according to data from Oakland-based Integrated Healthcare Association. By one measure, the average health insurance premium in the individual market runs $660 a month in Santa Barbara, 27 percent higher than in Los Angeles.

Still, Maya Barraza, the county’s manager for employee benefits and rewards, knew the program would be a hard sell to workers. “You don’t want to be away from your family and what’s familiar,” she said.

Cottage Health, the county’s largest health system, says it wants to keep patients in town for treatment and follow-up care.

Established in 1891, it’s grown from a single hospital to more than 500 beds across three hospitals, and annual revenue hit $746 million last year.

Maya Barraza, Santa Barbara’s manager for employee benefits and rewards, said she knew it would be a hard sell persuading workers to head elsewhere for surgeries. “You don’t want to be away from your family and what’s familiar,” she said. (Heidi de Marco/KHN)

Valet attendants greet visitors at two entrances outside the group’s white, Spanish-style hospital in the city of Santa Barbara. In the main lobby, the names of wealthy donors are splashed across one wall, including billionaire investor and Donald Trump confidant Thomas Barrack.

“We are continually looking at reducing costs and improving quality,” said Cottage Health spokeswoman Maria Zate. “Cottage Health has some of the top surgeons in California.”

Sixty miles north in Santa Maria, the state’s largest hospital chain, Dignity Health, offers another option: Marian Regional Medical Center.

Both Cottage and Dignity hospitals in Santa Barbara County have quality scores of fair to excellent for joint replacements, spinal procedures and coronary bypass surgeries, according to three years of Medicare data analyzed by research firm Mpirica Health.

Dignity Health didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Carrum tries to help employers like Santa Barbara County find more affordable options. It has struck bundled price deals for various procedures with Scripps hospitals in the San Diego area, Stanford Health Care in the Bay Area and Swedish Medical Center in Seattle, part of the Providence Health chain.

Several other companies, such as Health Design Plus, are also assisting employers, insurers and patients with the logistics of surgery shopping. Boeing and other large employers are the most aggressive at pursuing bundled pricing and sending workers across the country for care.

Since 2014, more than 2,000 joint replacement and spinal surgeries have been performed for fixed prices through the Pacific Business Group on Health’s “centers of excellence” program, which includes employers such as JetBlue and Lowe’s. It added gastric bypass and other bariatric surgeries last year, and the employer group is working on bundled prices for cancer treatment.

Some companies have gone so far as to send patients overseas for cheaper care, but most employers favor a more regional approach, experts say. Workers still rely on local physicians for follow-up care.

Municipalities, school districts and other public employers have been slower to adopt some of these strategies, perhaps to avoid the political risk of antagonizing local providers, some researchers suggest.

For some hospitals, there are advantages in offering deep discounts: They get patients they otherwise would never see and are paid in full right after the patient is discharged, avoiding the onerous billing and collections process.

They also have the financial capacity to offer such sharply reduced prices.

Michael Bark, assistant vice president of payer relations at Scripps Health, said most hospitals significantly mark up their commercial rates for orthopedic procedures and cardiac surgeries to compensate for lower government reimbursements.

Leslie Robinson, a Santa Barbara County retiree, sits on her front step at her home in Lompoc, Calif., on Friday, August 18, 2017. Hidi de Marco/KHN)

“There are immense profit margins built into those cases,” Bark said.

Robinson-Stone, a former county sheriff’s deputy and a computer support specialist, was initially wary of traveling for her surgery. But the 62-year-old Lompoc resident had ongoing pain that kept her from biking, walking her dogs and tending to her fruit trees. Medication and cortisone shots didn’t work, and she had no ties to local surgeons. So she signed up online and was given a choice of six orthopedic surgeons at Scripps Green Hospital in La Jolla.

In June 2016, she and her husband, Frank Stone, checked in at the Estancia La Jolla Hotel and Spa.

Robinson-Stone met the surgeon on a Wednesday, had the operation the next day and returned to her hotel room by Saturday. She continued physical therapy at the hotel and returned to the hospital a few days later to have the staples removed.

She was back on her bike within two months and eventually lost about 20 pounds.

“I just celebrated one year from surgery,” she said, “and I’m a happy camper.”

Heidi DeMarco contributed to this story.

This story was produced by Kaiser Health News, which publishes California Healthline, an editorially independent service of the California Health Care Foundation.

A Feature on Dr. Josh Luke on Linkedin #UNCONVENTIONAL: Dr. Josh Luke

January 24, 2018/in Articles, Linkedin, Uncategorized /by Dr. Josh Luke

By Manu Goswami

There is so much to say about Dr. Josh Luke. Best known these days for his ability to captivate audiences with his humour and entertaining personal stories, his healthcare genius, and his success as an author, I first wanted to share a few details about his much-anticipated book coming out titled “Health-Wealth: 9 Steps to Financial Recovery”. He is offering a special promotion for readers of this story – any readers who purchase this book between noon and 2 pm EST on Thursday January 18, 2018 will receive a free personalized copy of his prior book “Ex-Acute” mailed to them! Just forward the email receipt to Info@Health-Wealth.com.

Spending much of his time busy with speaking engagements, Dr. Luke has not always been a part of the keynote speaking world. There is much more to him than meets the eye, and his progression and story serve as an inspiration to those who know him. It is unconventional.

Having had the opportunity to speak at conferences, invitationals, and as a featured speaker in the Masters of LinkedIn Summit coming in May, Dr. Luke enjoys sharing his message to help people live their lives and be as informed as possible when making decisions that affect their healthcare. He has become the leading mind for the future of healthcare, and is motivated on a daily basis to improve the healthcare climate on a daily basis. He has earned the title as a “Healthcare Futurist” as his work has been truly influential.

Dr. Luke started his career as a jet-setting sports marketer working with some of the most famous athletes in the world. He enjoyed the lifestyle, and business was good. His brother Matt even played in the major leagues in the 1990s! He was intrigued by the glamor and the fame, until reality set in – his grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Realizing he was in no position to help, right then and there he decided to change careers and become involved in the healthcare industry. Through is inherent grit and motivation, Dr. Luke ascended to become a hospital CEO at the young age of 32.

In his years as a hospital CEO, Dr. Luke successfully addressed the challenges and disconnects existing between different levels of care. He implemented revolutionary solutions that improved the post-discharge and readmission processes in his facility, and emphasized the importance of home and hospice care. Unfortunately, hospital ownership changed, and he was pushed out of his job after delivering results for 10 years. He lost his benefits, had no health insurance for himself or his family, and was dealt another blow – his mom was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

As is his resilient nature, Dr. Luke penned his first book, “Readmission Prevention: Solutions Across the Provider Continuum”, where his ideas influenced components of ObamaCare. Becoming a best-selling author, Dr. Luke donated $25,000 to contribute to the fight against the disease that has stricken his family. His involvement in different Alzheimer’s related organizations has brought us closer than ever to finding a cure.

In his subsequent books, Dr. Luke made waves within healthcare, sharing ideas that were often seen as “brutally transparent, but credible”. By exposing the long-kept secrets of the healthcare trade, and helping businesses and families keep healthcare from bankrupting them, he approaches these sensitive topics enthusiastically to inform his audiences. Now an educator at the Price School of Public Policy at USC, Dr. Luke is arming the next generation of policy makers with his transparent views about the future of healthcare.

Dr. Luke told me, “Did you know that almost 50% of a millennials lifetime earnings will go to healthcare in America? This is tragic. I am a huge proponent of older generations accepting and growing comfortable with millennial culture as there is so much to learn. I have two slides specific to this in my presentation deck!” He went on to explain “my kids are Gen Z and I am beginning to research common tendencies of Gen Z young adults – the first batch graduates high school this year.” I think I speak for many when I say I can’t wait to see what he comes up with!

Dr. Josh Luke can best be found on LinkedIn or at DrJoshLuke.com. He is currently conducting a huge media and speaking tour to promote his next book “Health-Wealth: 9 Steps to Financial Recovery”, and enjoys being involved in mentorships. Dr. Luke’s ascension in healthcare is truly #unconventional, but it has been the perfect application for his brilliance.

Co-written by Brian Ford – https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-ford-711744b7/

Connect with Dr. Luke if his thoughts resonated with you, share them on Twitter and LinkedIn using the #UNCONVENTIONAL and follow along with the series!

Video Killed the LinkedIn Star, by Dr. Josh Luke

January 22, 2018/in Articles, Linkedin /by Dr. Josh Luke

Since the launch of video, views of long-form news articles on LinkedIn appear to be down as much as 80%. Co-written for LinkedIn by Manu Goswami & Dr. Josh Luke

The first video ever played by MTV in August 1981 was Video Killed the Radio Starby the Buggles.

Is history repeating itself 36 years later on LinkedIn? Is the launch of LinkedIn video killing the LinkedIn long form story?

No one loves this platform more than the two of us. We are both honored to be featured in the Masters of LinkedIn Summit in Los Angeles on May 10, 2018. But as writers, we are very concerned about user trends in recent months since LinkedIn made a temporary platform change to encourage video.

Quick disclaimer: We love LinkedIn video and are both LinkedIn video enthusiasts! But is the content of the majority of the LinkedIn video’s popping-up meaningful business content? Or have we swayed closer to a true “social” media platform instead of the true meaningful business content platform that LinkedIn strives to be?

“I welcomed the opportunity to produce video. But my last few stories prior to the platform change were averaging 10,000 views. My last few stories since the platform change are averaging less than 1,000.” – Dr. Josh Luke

Something tells us that the folks at LinkedIn and all their data are way ahead of us on this one and that they likely have some platform tweaks in store for us in the near future. But leave it to the two of us LinkedIn lovers, one GenXer and one millennial, to state the obvious. We both interact with LinkedIn executives regularly and we each have been to regional offices and met some of the most brilliant people we’ve ever met who work for LinkedIn. That’s why we suspect they are way ahead of us on this!

We are both influencers who love to write. Sure, we can do video too. But in a sense, impactful writing is a talent that requires years of skill to master. Video on the other hand, while many are skilled, simply requires the click of a button, even for those who have not mastered the craft…And maybe the courage to be seen on camera as well! As a result, video content can be suspect. Herein lies the problem.

“I’m pumped to be speaking at the Masters of LinkedIn Summit and debating video vs. short form text posts, but even that is a separate subject. LinkedIn was becoming the true first source of relevant, first person business news and I fear that video might put that in jeopardy.” – Manu Goswami

For those unfamiliar, LinkedIn previously had “Pulse” channels for different industries: human resources, sales, leadership, etc. Midyear 2017 LinkedIn removed the Pulse’s and added a “What People Are Talking About Now” feature on the right of the home screen and on the home screen of your app (on most phone’s anyway!). LinkedIn also sends you a #DailyRundown email each morning in your Notification section of hashtags that are trending.

“When I started doing video on LI, I purposefully named my daily video the Daily Video Minute & Hashtag of the Day to emphasize brevity, consistency and a trending topic to stay consistent to the platform goals.” – Dr. Josh Luke

On the surface this shift to trending news feature appeared to be a smart tactic to encourage users to return to the site multiple times daily… the two of us certainly do! The unintended consequence however was the death of the long form news story. Along with it, at least for the time being, the death of the true LinkedIn Super Hero who not only could write, but had the business acumen to understand what qualified as relevant business content!

Lets take a look at a true LinkedIn Super Hero. Jim Rossi became a Top Voice in 2016 and just passed 250,000 Followers as a result of being a skilled writer, with 28 articles to date on LinkedIn dating back to January 2016. 250,000 Followers in less than 2 years…that’s a great writer!

“I teach at USC & asked my grad students their top news sources. None of them named a newspaper & almost all named an app on their phone. I was encouraged when two of them said ‘LinkedIn, I think your stories are more credible than the New York Times.’” – Dr. Josh Luke

According to the grad students at USC, LinkedIn and Twitter were winning this battle to become the true news sources for the millennial generation. Newspapers are truly dead! But that was early 2017. Then the LinkedIn platform changed.

We are both very hopeful that video maintains a strong presence on LinkedIn. More importantly, it is imperative that those making videos understand that LinkedIn users are seeking meaningful business content. Videos that have no business relevance and hashtag campaigns that do not provide insight to improve business acumen have started to pop up. We believe this could turn-off a lot of frequent users.

We have seen a lot of hashtag campaigns that brought valuable business input from across the globe, including the first hashtag campaign ever #LetsGetHonest and the highly successful #InItTogether that was launched by LinkedIn itself January 8, 2018. We are not offering an answer to this dilemma but pointing out an observation.

Julie Kliger for example is a three time LinkedIn Top Voice in Healthcare. Since video was launched and the Pulse channels were eliminated her story views and resulting interaction (like’s, reply’s and shares), like everyone else’s appear to be down more than 80%. Her story quality has not changed, just the platform.

A similar topic will be debated at the upcoming Masters of LinkedIn Summit in Los Angeles by some of LinkedIn’s most popluar personalities. Amy Blaschka will moderate a debate style panel pitting Manu Goswami and Allen Gannett arguing for video while Aaron Orendorff and Josh Fechter will argue on behalf of the short form “poetic” style writing posts that Fechter is credited for pioneering.

“Josh Fechter and Aaron Orendorf don’t know what’s about to hit them haha. But no, as a fan of both video and text based posts, I am very much looking forward to discussing how both these mediums will affect the future of LinkedIn and where its headed.” – Manu Goswami

We by no means believe we are in position to advise LinkedIn and they have the data, but the data we have access to says the long-form story is dead and LinkedIn is no longer, at least for the time being, the primary platform to share your views in writing. That’s tragic. As we stated earlier in this article, we’re guessing that LinkedIn brass are equally concerned about this topic and are already planning a platform tweak to address it.

As for the two of us, we will press forward creating both video and long form story content, that’s just how we both roll. We love LinkedIn and we are #InItTogether! So let’s pose the question to you the reader now, do you agree that video is killing the long-form story and that video content is often not valuable business content?

Of course, less than 1,000 of you are ever likely to see this story anyway…

Swish Goswami is a 20 year old TEDx speaker (signed with the National Speakers Bureau and The AAT Project), venture capitalist (at JB Fitzgerald Venture Capital founded by Brooklyn Nets PF Trevor Booker), LinkedIn Youth Editor (over 55K followers) UN Youth Ambassador and serial entrepreneur. Swish is the co-founder of Dunk, a media network of over 10M followers hyper-focused on basketball and the founder of SuperFan, a tool to help influencers and celebrities discover, connect with and reward their top fans. Swish has notably won Plan Canada’s Top 20 under 20, the United Nation’s Outstanding Youth Leadership award and Startup Canada’s Young Entrepreneur of the Year.

Dr. Josh Luke (a proud GenXer) is America’s Healthcare Affordability Authority, a former hospital CEO and faculty for the University of Southern California, Sol Price School of Public Policy. He is a keynote speaker on healthcare affordability, Blockchain in healthcare and healthcare reform. He is an Amazon Best Selling Author and serves on Forbes Coaches Council. He hosts the Health-Wealth Podcast & Radio Show at Health-Wealth.com, on iTunes and YouTube (Dr. Josh Luke). Find him as Dr. Josh Luke on LinkedIn as well. For speaking gigs visit www.DrJoshLuke.com or at www.Health-Wealth.com.

The Masters of LinkedIn Summit is a first of its kind event being hosted in Los Angeles on May 10, 2018 featuring top LinkedIn personalities from all across the globe. The event is being hosted by the Social Media Masters Series non-profit organization and additional Masters of LinkedIn events are being planned for Toronto, San Francisco, New York and Miami. For more information on registering for or sponsoring the Masters of LinkedIn event, please visit http://www.socialmediamastersseries.com/.

Healthcare Bankrupting Your Company? Here’s What You Can Do About It

January 22, 2018/in Articles, Uncategorized /by Dr. Josh Luke

Let’s start with few questions that could make or break your company in 2018.

1. What was your company’s health insurance premium increase for 2017? 10 to 15%? That’s about the norm. Year after year.

2. How much of that increase was passed on to employees? 8 to 10%? Usually done through creative measures, of course.

3. Is healthcare your second largest company expense or third? Other than salaries and occasionally real estate, it’s always in the top three expenses.

When will your company reach its tipping point on healthcare spending and say enough is enough? And who will be the brave, yet common-sensical executive to stand up and declare the tipping point has been breached? Is it you? If not, who?

Why is it, then, with healthcare, we often shrug our shoulders and sigh, “another year, another 15% increase,” (with reduced services each year, might I add)? Every company has executives in place to manage top expenses to ensure business success. Why not make 2018 the year that you no longer shrug your shoulders at the annual increase and do something about it?

Make 2018 the year your company makes reducing wasteful healthcare spending its top priority.

Companies that prioritize reducing healthcare spending are focusing on what’s known as consumer-driven healthcare — sometimes just called consumerism. Consumer-driven healthcare forces the employee to engage in making healthcare decisions and, as a result, saves significant money. Companies that prioritize consumer-driven healthcare are also creating a healthy corporate culture, one that encourages engaged healthcare consumers and healthy lifestyles; everything in these workplaces is designed to support these initiatives.

Many Americans are familiar with high-deductible insurance plans. While on the surface, these new plans appear as if companies are simply shifting costs to employees, the truth is that there is a significant opportunity for the employee and employer to save thousands annually over prior years if the employee actually engages in the process as they would buying a car or house. If the employee does not engage in the process, healthcare costs will continue to skyrocket for the employee and employer.

Consumer-driven healthcare requires companies to support employees in identifying centers of excellence — either doctors or hospitals. These centers not only provide great quality care but are contracted to provide services at much lower rates. Organizations provide a list of these centers to employees, and savings would benefit both the employee and the employer.

Another example is medical tourism. No, not flying to Costa Rica for a procedure, but driving an extra hour or two to save anywhere from $2,000 to $20,000 on a simple procedure. Santa Barbara County in California, for example, is contracted to provide all of its knee and hip surgeries at hospitals three hours south in San Diego, or employees can take a plane trip north to Seattle. When employees choose this option, they get a five-day, expenses-paid trip at a nice resort to recover as well. This example alone illustrates the disparity in costs between providers.

Other employers and communities are implementing DNA testing programs as well as new offerings that encourage telehealth and remote monitoring. There are steep discounts for employees who choose those offerings. Geisinger in Pennsylvania and the Desert Research Institute in Reno, Nevada were both overwhelmed with consumer interest when they launched their programs.

In addition to these examples, a number of specialized programs have emerged nationwide that are being offered to companies to reduce spending on their heaviest users. The list of medical service providers who come in and partner with a company as an additional layer is growing by the month, saving corporations thousands by simply enhancing the services available to their chronically ill patients and those with diabetes and other expensive diseases.

These specialized programs have put an end to a number of companies’ annual increase in healthcare spending. While many of the programs are still a well-kept secret, there are enough of them with proven track records that almost every company can identify one or two that will be an appropriate fit for savings, and the services are all provided.

Some of the most well-known companies helping corporations bend the hyperinflating healthcare cost curve include Canary Health, HealthEquity, Hixme, Quantum Health, Livongo, Omada Health, PeerWell, Transcend and many more. Before running out to research them each directly, conduct an assessment to best determine which will best fit your company’s needs, culture and community.

With this in mind, I’ll ask another question. Is healthcare bankrupting your business? If not now, when? And if not you, then who will be the leader who steps up to declare the tipping point and begins the journey for your company? The time is now, and the resources are here.

So as you carry out your New Year’s resolutions, will you be the leader who makes healthcare spending your company’s top priority in 2018? Your people depend on it.

Forbes.com Press Release: Forbes Coaches Council Members Release Books This Month Tweet

January 22, 2018/in Articles, Uncategorized /by Dr. Josh Luke

In this news roundup, read about the books members released in the first few weeks of 2018.

To kick off the new year, these members of Forbes Coaches Council are excited to announce the launch of their books — on topics ranging from developing effective leaders to understanding the healthcare system. Below, we highlight two members and their big news.

Karima Mariama-Arthur Releases New Book, Poised For Excellence

Karima Mariama-Arthur

On January 8, Karima Mariama-Arthurreleased her new book, Poised for Excellence, which offers actionable insights on leadership effectiveness in the boardroom and beyond. In today’s constantly evolving global business ecosystem, the need to develop effective leaders is more important than ever. Organizations all around the world are searching for smart ways to build and maintain their talent pipelines. Individuals are eager to capture key skill sets to help them advance their careers and gain a competitive advantage. In Poised For Excellence, Karima shares her insights on this global challenge.

Karima is founder and CEO of WordSmithRapport, an international consulting firm specializing in professional development. In her work with high performers and high potentials, as well as leading organizations around the world, Karima has observed firsthand how the principles of effective leadership can impact success at every level. She views leadership as a dynamic and complex skill set that can be developed and improved with continued practice.

In the book – available now on Amazon and Palgrave Macmillan– Karima offers astute guidance on how to develop leadership skills by mastering the principles that address performance challenges at every level and help to increase overall effectiveness.

Dr. Josh Luke Releases Book, Health-Wealth: Is Healthcare bankrupting your business? 9 steps to financial recovery

Dr. Josh Luke

Today, Dr. Josh Luke releases his third book, titled Health-Wealth: Is Healthcare bankrupting your business? 9 steps to financial recovery. The book is being released by Forbes Books, which will be hosting a launch party at private NYC club Forbes on 5th on January 25.

This book will be followed by the September 2018 release of Health-Wealth: Is healthcare bankrupting your Family? 9 options to save $5,000 a year.

Luke is on a mission to help American businesses and families understand how the healthcare system became broken beyond repair. He exposes the underbelly of a broken healthcare delivery system. Since resigning as a hospital CEO and becoming a full time keynote speaker, Luke has spoken to Fortune 500 Companies, national trade organizations, sales teams and churches – all with the same message: teaching Americans how to make healthcare affordable again.

Health-Wealth: Is Healthcare bankrupting your business? 9 steps to financial recovery is available on Amazon. His prior book was an Amazon bestseller. Luke also launched the Health-Wealth podcastearlier this month.

Read more about this exciting news here.

These are just a handful of Forbes Councils members’ recent exciting achievements. Read about what other members are working on here

Press Release Announcing Forbes Appointment Healthcare Futurist Dr. Josh Luke Releases New Book from Forbes Books on Reducing Healthcare Spending, Named to Forbes Coaches Council

January 17, 2018/in Articles, Uncategorized /by Dr. Josh Luke

— Forbes inks former hospital CEO, Amazon #1 Best Seller and USC faculty member to ink groundbreaking book teaching American businesses how to reduce spending on healthcare –

NEW YORK, Jan. 17, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — Forbes Books announces the third release from former hospital CEO Dr. Josh Luke titled Health-Wealth: Is healthcare bankrupting your business? 9 steps to financial recovery. Health-Wealth exposes secrets of the healthcare industry in the name of reducing healthcare costs and provides a turn-key guide for corporations to begin saving up to 30 percent annually. Luke’s prior book, Ex-Acute: A former hospital CEO tells all reached #1 on Amazon’s best seller list and helps Americans learn how to save thousands on healthcare.

Health-Wealth from Forbes Books, by Amazon #1 Best Seller Dr. Josh Luke is available on Amazon on Thursday, January 18, 2018. Dr. Luke, a former hospital CEO and faculty member at the University of Southern California is a public speaker and well known as America’s Healthcare Affordability Authority and teaches businesses how to reduce healthcare spending while enhancing offerings.

Steve Forbes will join Dr. Luke as Luke embarks on a launch week that includes presenting to a distinguished group of Fortune 500 executives and top media at Forbes on 5th private club in New York City prior to the launch party and a photo shoot in Times Square where the book will be featured on the big screen.

“I am honored that Forbes recruited me to publish Health-Wealth and invited me to be a featured contributor,” Dr. Luke said. “There are businesses that have proven that you can reduce healthcare costs for your company and employees, but they remain a well-kept secret. I scoured the country and identified nine simple steps for companies to end the annual 10% health insurance premium increase.”

Luke, who is well-known as a LinkedIn featured writer and personality is now also a featured columnist and blogger on Forbes.com. He is a well-known keynote speaker and podcast host known as America’s Healthcare Affordability Authority.

“Forbes Books relayed to me that Health-Wealth has a realistic shot of jumping onto the best seller list on launch day so has asked me to encourage anyone planning to buy the book to do so between 1:00-3:00 pm EST on January 18, 2018. We will mail a signed copy of my prior book to anyone who purchases in that time frame.”

To receive the free book individuals need to forward proof of purchase email time stamped between 1-3 pm EST on January 18, 2018 to Info@Health-Wealth.com. To listen to the podcast or learn more about Health-Wealth, visit www.Health-Wealth.com.

Andy Shearer
ashearer@forbesbooks.com
(917) 742-9795

SOURCE Dr. Josh Luke

Quote from Dr. Luke on Forbes.com:11 Early Career Tips You Need To Know

December 27, 2017/in Articles, Forbes /by Dr. Josh Luke

Looking back, it’s easy to see places where you’ve taken a wrong step, or approaches that didn’t work as well as you thought they might. Maybe you didn’t have enough information to make the correct decision, or maybe it was simply a learning moment, one of many people have to suffer through.

To help you avoid early career mistakes, members from Forbes CoachesCouncil have compiled a list of things they wished they’d known when they were starting out. This advice is something they often share with new clients or colleagues, in hopes of steering them away from accidentally hampering their professional lives or business. Here’s what they learned:

1. Focus On Listening

Listen first and listen well. Don’t bring answers into a meeting — you have not even asked the questions to identify the specific problems yet. Capitalism is a simple concept: You build trust and win business by listening well, identifying the problem and making yourself an asset by delivering solutions, whether or not it gets you a sale. – Josh Luke, Health-Wealth

2. Be Comfortable Saying ‘I Don’t Know’

As a leader, it’s critical to feel comfortable saying “I don’t know.” I was an executive director at 23, and felt constant pressure to demonstrate my capabilities. I had to learn the harsh lesson that leadership doesn’t have all the answers. Self-confidence and team trust are built from exposing your vulnerability. – Karin Naslund, Naslund Consulting Group Inc

3. Ask If You’re Offering The Right Information

As a recruiting leader, I’ve noticed that during successful interviews, candidates often “checked in.” This means they would share information, but pause and ask questions like “is this what you’re looking for?” or “does that help?” When being interviewed, it’s really common to provide as much information as possible. Checking in makes sure you’re delivering the right information. – Mike Manoske, Mike Manoske Coaching

4. Invest In Your Business

When I started my business, I did not think I would have to invest very much money. Now I tell my clients that the sooner you are willing to invest in your business tools, continued education, and good mentors, the sooner you will be able to earn real money. If you treat your business like a hobby, it will pay you like a hobby: nothing. – Hanna Hermanson, Dream Life is Real Life

5. Hire Outside Experts

One thing I should have done is to build a team of employees, freelancers or consultants who are more skilled in areas that are not in my wheelhouse. It is often considerably cheaper in the long run to hire a professional than to learn from your own mistakes. – Kimberly Guiry, Alchemy Leadership Coaching

6. Don’t Settle For Small Game

One thing I wish I had embraced earlier in my career is to “hunt elephants, not rabbits.” I’m really not talking about tracking down Thumper. I’m talking about going after the big projects, ones that may seem impossible to capture, rather than chasing after a scattered assortment of little projects that seem like they should be easier to catch. – Steven Maranville, Maranville Enterprises.

7. Treat Your Career Like An Experiment

The biggest piece of advice I offer to my coaching students is to treat their career like an experiment. It’s OK to fail earlier on, if it means you’re getting closer to identifying your career aspirations. It’s also extremely advantageous to build strategic networks earlier on in your career and nurture that network. “The people you know” is half the battle. – Gaurav Valani, CareerSprout

8. Embrace Redirection

There’s value in leaving things “broken” for awhile. Not everything needs to be fixed right now, or fixed by you — and, sometimes, not fixed ever. Take a moment to take stock on what went wrong, how it fell apart and if it can be improved, not just repaired. If it can’t be improved, then it probably shouldn’t be repaired. Mistakes happen to correct, teach and redirect us. Embrace redirection. – Lynita Mitchell-Blackwell, Leading Through Living Community

9. Make Sure You’re Moving To Where You Want To Go

When starting your career, carefully consider what type of services and clients will lead to creating the lifestyle you desire most. It’s very possible to make great money and not enjoy your day-to-day schedule. As business people, we must look at long-term goals and make sure what we are doing today will lead us where we want to go. – Monique Alvarez, Monique Alvarez Enterprises

10. Don’t Compare Yourself To Others

Early in my career, I often compared myself and my performance to others around me. I always felt as though I was searching for something, which in turn meant that I pushed myself at breakneck pace. What I now understand is that “I” was what I was looking for. Staying in my unique lane and being authentically who I am is enough. – India Martin, Leadership For Life

11. You Can Only Control Three Things

The most powerful advice I’ve ever heard is that you can only control three things: Everything you say, everything you do and everything you think. And that’s enough. What might have changed for me in my career had I learned this earlier? That’s why I always share this insight with my clients, helping them focus only on what’s in their control — and letting go of the rest. – Darcy Eikenberg, Red Cape Revolution