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The Managed Care Insider eNews
Volume 4 Number 2
February 2002
Welcome to The Managed Care Insider eNews.
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Managed Care Insider eNews is published, copyrighted, and owned by The Scheur
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This issue of The Managed Care Insider eNews features Barry Scheur's insights
into the simple but elusive truths about entrepreneurial leadership - what differentiates
a leader and what difference a leader can make. Read on and, as always, please
email your comments to insider@scheur.com.
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Insider Vision:
Insights into Living and Leadership
by Barry S. Scheur
Some public relations materials describe me as "one of the most catalytic
and innovative thinkers in the evolution of the managed care arena since first
entering the industry in the late 1970s." Yet many days I feel like the
Dr. Seuss character, Bartholomew Cubbins, in his book about the 500 hats. To
some I am considered an iconoclast, a contrarian, not the easiest individual
to work for or get along with, but above all else, a person who is very bullish
on both the healthcare and the health insurance industries from an entrepreneurial,
opportunistic, economic, and "making a difference" perspective.
As the former chairman of a healthcare incubation venture company, the chairman
of an HMO acquisition and turnaround company (The OATH, Inc.), and the president
of a healthcare operations consulting firm (Scheur Management Group), when I
try to take off one hat, inevitably another is still there. But, like all of
us, it's not the hats that make the difference -- it's what's underneath them.
The personal side: somewhat introspective, sometimes struggling, often the "raging
bull" at unfairness and injustice, always striving to succeed, father, husband,
son, brother, friend, boss ... yet more hats!
Blind since birth, I have never taken the attitude that I am entitled to anything
because of it -- success is earned one small step at a time. Often, the misperceptions,
attitude, or stupidity of others is what proves to be the greatest barrier. Quite
frequently, I feel like the court jester or the "invisible man" in
Ralph Ellison's book, not because of color, but because I know I will always
be different from 99.9 percent of the world. Some of that difference reflects
admiration, some is unrealistic awe, and a lot is uncomfortableness.
But that's okay! I am a fortunate entrepreneur -- not because of money, power,
or the other vital statistics too often utilized by my brethren to measure their
success, but because, at critical junctures in my professional and personal life,
I was able to grasp some simple but elusive truths about myself and about how
I needed to live and work in order to be successful and not continue to swim
upstream. I call these my insights into living and leadership.
The Insights
Growing up as a blind person, you don't find a lot of successful role models.
In the 1960s, blind people didn't become lawyers or doctors or presidents of
multimillion-dollar companies. What I did know was that I wasn't going to make
brooms in a sub-minimum-wage sheltered workshop and that I needed to find an
occupation where I could use my love of thinking and writing. That was Insight
Number 1.
Insight Number 2 came to me as a freshman at Tufts University. Most above average
high school students compete in something -- usually sports. That wasn't an avenue
for me. But I had a drive to succeed and prove to myself my own abilities and
my equality to others from whom I didn't quite feel entitled to have respect.
Then I discovered that one could compete with words in the NCAA arena of competitive
forensics -- oratory and debate. The problem was that Tufts' debating team was
defunct. I realized that I was going to have to build a team, recruit a coach,
and convince the university administration that the dream of creating a national
debating powerhouse to compete with the likes of UCLA and Northwestern was possible.
It all happened and, some 100 trophies later, I found myself admitted to Yale
Law School largely on the strength of what I didn't realize at the time was an
exercise in leadership and organizational development. That second insight was
one I would only come to understand later -- other people help, but you are the
only person who can truly know what you want and make sure that it happens. Insight
Number 2: You alone have to make something happen.
After graduating from Tufts and Yale, I had a myriad of jobs and those challenges
have been addressed before in my writings here. Those years had other, less tangible
benefits for beginning to shape the key elements that would make the next thirteen
years so successful. Insight Number 3: The recognition that motivated people
and long-standing relationships are the ultimate tools of the entrepreneur, and
that creativity, energy, motivation, perseverance, and loyalty are just as important
as a platinum resume.
The refuge of the transitionally unemployed and unemployable is often consulting
and, much to my own surprise, I found CEO's across the country who wanted my
advice on operational improvements. What I couldn't put into words then, but
understand better now, is that my experiences of not quite fitting into organizations,
both because of my disability and my nature as an iconoclast, were the chemicals
that, when mixed together, created a compound of several beliefs about the way
businesses need to be run.
I created the Scheur Management Group out of a personal need and over ten years
it became a $40 million business filled with incredibly professional and loyal
employees. Two years ago, because of our expertise and because of my own challenges
in health care, I formed an HMO acquisition firm, going against the trends and
taking risks, to reshape the practice of managed care one health plan at a time.
The company is The OATH, Inc., and the name sets the brand, the image, and the
vision: a promise to return health care to what it was meant to be, raising the
bar, putting us under scrutiny, and accepting and facing these inherent challenges.
In two years, The OATH, Inc. (formerly Venture Health Partnership Group) has
grown to over 700 employees and revenues in excess of $500 million.
Not that we haven't had our problems, and big ones! The unavailability of money
has been the biggest one and so I've had to go it alone, which honestly isn't
very different from the way it has always been. I have also carried loyalty to
an extreme and maintained my steadfast belief in the goodness and trustworthiness
of certain people, even in the face of information that unfortunately proved
otherwise. Yet, in the thirteen years that SMG has existed as a healthcare turnaround
management and operational troubleshooting firm, and in the two years that The
OATH, Inc. has acquired HMOs, these insights and their consequences have become
the focus for running a business. They form the foundation of my belief that
while there are many times that you will face disappointments, if you have the
strength and faith, you can turn those disappointments into opportunities.
And when all of the conservative doubters and so-called advisers keep reminding
me that what I am doing places me at personal financial and reputational risk,
I do what I have always done. As one who has challenged the preconceived notions
of a sighted world for fifty years, my reply is: "Thanks for the input.
I'll just keep on doing what I believe in -- I don't know any other way."
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Sites and Sounds on the 'Net
In keeping with this issue's focus on entrepreneurs and leadership, we present
the following sites that cover this area.
The Healthcare Leadership Council home page is located at http://www.hlc.org
CEO Refresher, "brain food" for leaders, offers an interesting article
on creating an interactive workplace. Visit http://www.refresher.com/!foursuggestions.html
Entrepreneur magazine has a gateway page of resources in leadership and management
at
http://www.entrepreneur.com/Your_Business/YB_Node/0,4507,498-----,00.html
You can search for a local branch of Healthcare Executive Groups and Women's
Healthcare Executive Networks, offering educational programs and professional
development resources at http://www.ache.org/mbership/HEG_WHEN/
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What's New at SMG?
Our Web site has a new look! We've simplified and reorganized our site to make
it easier for you to find the information you need. Universal navigation enables
you to make selections quickly from anywhere on the site. The critical industry
resources you value are easily accessible. Stop by, review our services, and
meet our team up close and personal - http://www.scheur.com.
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Healthcare Business - THE MONEY IS IN THE MESSAGE . . .
SMG has just introduced its new Strategic Marketing service to help your group
practice, health plan or hospital build market share. We will help you enhance
your revenue stream and differentiate yourself from competitors through market
research, competitive analysis, knowledge management, marketing and sales campaign
design, public relations and branding.
We develop comprehensive communications and marketing action plans that deliver
your message to your target audience, create trust and confidence in your products
and services, and strategically distinguish you in your market niche: from brand
image to sales, from public relations to advertising, from email to Web site
design, from analysis to implementation.
Learn more about how SMG will help you meet, then exceed your business goals
at http://www.scheur.com or contact us at
nbelle@scheur.com.
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Speaking Engagements
February 27, 2002
Louisiana Business Leadership Network Kickoff Breakfast
Location: Governor's Mansion, Baton Rouge, LA
Topic: "Expanding the Workforce: Disabled Employee Doesn't Mean Inept"
Speaker: Barry S. Scheur
April 18, 2002
ViPS interAct 2002
Location: Baltimore, MD
Topic: "Building a Winning e-Health Team for the Future of Healthcare"
Speaker: Barry S. Scheur
April 25, 2002
Indianapolis Association for Healthcare Quality
Location: TBA
Topic: "Resuscitating Managed Care"
Speaker: Nancy K. Belle
April 25, 2002
Indianapolis Association for Healthcare Quality
Location: TBA
Topic: "Getting People to Yes Without Killing Yourself, or Them"
Speaker: Nancy K. Belle
If you are interested in contracting either Barry Scheur or any SMG/Oath associate
for your organization, please contact Nancy Belle at nbelle@scheur.com.
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End of The Managed Care Insider eNews,
Volume 4, Number 2.
Scheur Management Group (SMG) is one of the most experienced specialized healthcare
operations management and business revitalization consulting firms in the country.
Our expertise is in time-sensitive analyses, strategic business and market planning,
operational re-engineering, and communications, as well as implementation of
start-ups, expansions, and new products. The firm's clients cover the spectrum
of insurers, managed care organizations, physician groups, integrated delivery
systems, hospitals, employers, governmental entities, vendors, and other providers.
Contributing to this edition is Barry S. Scheur. Editing and Research by Judith
Jaffe. Production Coordination by Nancy K. Belle.
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