Blog 5

The speech made some really good points. I really liked the point of moving into phase II for the Internet. The speaker made some points on how in you need a product or service then it should be there instantly. The example he used had to do with tax service, if somebody needs help with their taxes then they go online and there is always someone to help them. And they would be charged for the time used instead a lot of unnecessary services. Also collaboration was a interesting point on how the network would bring the content to the user instead of the user finding the content.

Assignment 4

Nucor Steel is a great example of how to use knowledge management and be very good at doing it. Nucor made sure whenever they built new plants; they were built in rural areas with an abundance of hard-working and mechanically inclined people. The company became a leading employer in those locations and offered a top-of-the-line compensation package. That type of approach created a hunger for a new knowledge through a high-powered incentive system for every employee. There was no limit as to where how high the bonus could be. Some payouts in the 1990s for production employees averaged 80% to 150% of base wage.

Whenever employees are encouraged to experiment there is always a chance of failure. Nucor understood that if they did not tolerate failure it would severely inhibit experimentation, whereas a company that experiences in nothing but failures will not survive. Because Nucor's social ecology drove every employee to search for better and more efficient ways to make steel and steel-related products, its operating personnel had a deeper mastery of the industry's manufacturing processes than personnel at other steel companies.

Nucor also had great policies about making sure that their employees did not leave and take their knowledge elsewhere.  When hit by a recession, the company reduced the workweek rather than the workforce. Employees regarded a reduced workweek and the corresponding lower wages as a relatively attractive option when compared with the prospect of being laid off in a rural area where Nucor was the leading employer. Any reduction in worker's compensation was accompanied by a greater reduction in managers' compensation and a still greater cut in the CEO's pay. Nucor enjoyed the lowest turnover rate of any company in its industry.

The mission of the Columbia Basin Health Association (CBHA) is to provide equal access to quality health care to all persons – regardless of age, sex, race/ethnicity, or ability to pay. CBHA provides a variety of medical, dental, prescription, and other services to nearly 25,000 patients in central Washington.
CBHA was one of the first community health centers in the United States to fully transition to an electronic health record (EHR) system from paper-based charts. CBHA sought to use its EHR system to better deliver health care in rural areas.

CBHA has used health IT to improve efficiency for both providers and patients. For example, through practice management software, CBHA has decreased ‘no-shows’ for dental patients’ appointments by about 50 percent, and has filled 100 percent of available appointment slots, allowing clinicians to see more patients and to provide timely care.

Since implementing their health IT systems, provider productivity at CBHA (as measured by the number of patients seen per provider in a day) has roughly doubled. And since implementation, CBHA has consistently ranked above the 95th percentile nationally in total medical and dental team productivity, as reported in the Bureau of Primary Health Care Uniform Data System.


Beyond preventive services, CBHA has harnessed the power of electronic health records to enable improved continuity and coordination of care across health care institutions when patients become ill. CBHA partnered with the nearby Othello Community Hospital to enable both organizations to have access to each other’s EHR systems, while ensuring patients’ privacy. As a result, patients enjoy a fluid continuity of care regardless of where they are treated.

Blog 2

In the video Systematic Irrationality Dan Ariely made some excellent points. One point that I found interesting was the fact that some students were given a test and had to complete as many problems in five minutes. If the students did not have to turn in their papers then they would lie a little about how many they got correct. I think that this has to do with human nature and having to be the best at every thing they attempt. Also if the students were told to shred the papers the number correct the students would say would go up even more. I think that the students felt comfortable about lying and cheating because in their minds there was no way they would have gotten caught. But in the long run this type of behavior will only catch up with people.