The Burness Effect Blog

An article by The Scientist highlights why we should push to get scientists to engage with the public in a language they'll understand.

Health insurance costs continue to rise, hitting consumers with high premiums and co-pays despite the downturn in the economy. Adding insult to injury, a new report from Consumers Union (a Burness client) has found that over the past decade, nonprofit Blue Cross and Blue Shield (BCBS) health insurers accumulated vast amounts of surplus cash.

Today at the Federal Reserve in Washington, D.C., a unique event is in progress: leaders from the health, finance and community development sectors are coming together to discuss how their collaboration could help build healthier communities.

David Pogue, the technology writer at The New York Times, used last month's announcement from the Times' standards editor that reporters shouldn't use the word "tweet," to provide a basic primer on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Foursquare, and Yelp.David Pogue, the technology writer at The New York Times, used last month's announcement from the Times' standards editor that reporters shouldn't use the word "tweet," to provide a basic primer on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Foursquare, and Yelp.

Rethinking the Mission of Medical Schools

As the U.S. girds for an influx of newly-insured patients under health reform, attention is shifting to whether medical schools are producing doctors that meet the country’s health care needs. Helping to spark this debate is a recent study that ranks U.S. medical schools in a new, provocative way: on the extent to which they produce doctors who practice primary care, work in underserved areas, and are minorities.

One thing about the transformed world of news and information that is quite different from the past: you now have more opportunity than ever to get your story out. This is good news, and all it takes is a brief blog post—ideally with some photos or video. Check this out: The New York Times has started a blog, Scientists at Work allowing you to report about your own research in the field.

This month, the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement recognized two extraordinary conservationists grappling with precisely these issues. Dr. Laurie Marker of the Cheetah Conservation Fund and Dr. Stuart Pimm of Duke University will join environmental superstars like E.O. Wilson and Jane Goodall as Tyler Prize Laureates. (Burness works with the Tyler Prize.

Next time you’re at a cocktail party and someone asks you “where do you work?” make sure you have a great answer—a memorable message about what your work means to me.

“We have to start seeing health information systems as a mainstream technology that is part and parcel of medical practice, not something that is appended to it as an afterthought, not something that’s imposed on it, but something that will very soon be integrated into it and indistinguishable from all the other work that physicians and other health professionals do every day.”

Two decades ago, the controversial decision to allow patents on human genes sparked a genetic gold rush. Corporations and universities rushed to file a flurry of claims on genes linked to specific diseases like breast cancer and Alzheimer's. Since then, the patents themselves have invited plenty of criticism, but recently it’s the exclusive licenses often granted to companies developing diagnostics tests that have come under fire as anticompetitive – and damaging to patient care.