Better health care can actually cost less as we look to new, smarter ways to deliver it. We can improve the quality of health care. We can offer universal coverage. We can provide faster access. We can do it all, all if it can be achieved, Joe says, if we are smarter about how we do it.

According to Flower,

“We waste 30 percent of the U.S. health care dollar. How much is that 30 percent? CMS projects that we will spend $2.4 trillion on health care in the United States in 2008; 30 percent of that is $720 billion.” Read more here >>

Who is Joe Flower?

Joe Flower is a thought leader in health care. His nearly 30 years’ experience has allowed him to identify the deep forces changing health care in the United States and around the world. He has explored the future of health care with clients ranging from the World Health Organization, the Global Business Network, and the U.K. National Health Service, to the majority of state hospital associations in the U.S.

Joe was also a contributing writer for Wired Magazine in its explosive early years, and a columnist for the pioneering health websites DNA.com and HealthCentral.com.

Why is WebEx hosting this event?

We believe ideas get better when they are shared. Regardless of your point of view, we think it’s important to provide a forum for discussion and idea exchange. That’s why we created PassTheBall.com. We want to hear your ideas as well.

Join the discussion on Wednesday. Listen to his ideas. Share your own. Discover how to make health care better and cheaper.

Register now.

We are reposting from our archives today because based on what we are seeing on Twitter, the crisis is not over. Multi-tasking seems to be even more rampant now as we Tweet, post, search, and share like crazy! Do you have the virus?

I've been in a good number of training sessions and meetings the past few weeks, so in catching up on my reading, I saw this apropos post from Nicholas Carr about the multitasking virus. Josh Waitzkin (of Searching for Bobby Fischer fame) initiated the discussion on Tim Ferriss' blog. Christine Rosen also weighs in at The New Atlantis.

The idea behind Josh Waitzkin's post, his experience watching today's students multitasking during a lecture from one of his favorite professors, has strong correlation to meeting behavior both in-person and online. We've all seen people bring their notebook PCs into a meeting. The rest of us are left wondering if they spend the time checking email, chatting in IM, and watching YouTube.

Bringing a notebook PC to a meeting is akin to chewing gum in same, so if you bring one, plan on sharing. Last week I participated in a couple meetings in which all the participants hunkered down for a couple hours at a stretch in a conference room to work on a project. We all brought our notebooks, but we actively used WebEx to share content, co-edit and transfer files. It definitely streamlined the process.

In fact, WebEx might help you reduce your need to multi-task! Because WebEx includes a visual component, we find people have an easier time focusing on the discussion than they do on a teleconference.

So is multi-tasking a virus? Do we need a cure? I'm not sure but I know I have it and no matter how hard I try - I can't seem to kick it!

Michael Caton is a Collaboration Evangelist at WebEx.

Update: Josh Waitzken published a great blog called, Seven Habits Essential for Tackling the Multitasking Virus that might help if you think you have a problem! In Auigust of this year, he wrote about his next visit to the same classroom one year later...things had not gotten any better.

The awards will be judged by LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, PY Gerbeau, the famous French entrepreneur and business consultant, and James Campanini, the head of Cisco WebEx for EMEA and Latin America. 

The winner of each category will be awarded a live WebEx session with one of the judges, with the final overall winner receiving an expenses-paid trip to travel to London for their personal meeting with PY Gerbeau.

To win, professionals and businesses will have to demonstrate how they have found exceptional business success as a result of collaboration and sharing ideas and provide tangible proof of achievement.

Click in and add your recommendations! Winners will be announced in March 2010.

Rock the Vote in hosting an online event in conjunction with WebEx to get people talking. To share ideas – ideas like the ones below.

Register now.

While the debate about health care continues, you may feel like you don’t have a voice or you don’t understand or that it can’t possibly affect you. But you do, you can and it will. Health care will affect all of us – our parents, our siblings, our friends – and Rock the Vote wants to make sure you have access to information. So you can understand what it all means.

Join this event on Wednesday, Oct. 21st as we bring together a fascinating array of panelists including speakers like Heather Smith, president of Rock The Vote and Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy.

Share your ideas.

Prior to the event, we want to hear from you. Post your ideas and stories at PasstheBall.com and we’ll share that information with the team prior to the event. Here are just a few to get the ball rolling (click on the link to see the idea-in-full):

Roll-over Minutes for Health Insurance: Wouldn’t it be nice if you could have roll over type of minutes with your health care provider? Or some type of bonus if you don’t get sick or use your health insurance for a specific amount of time. The individual or family that’s insured could then donate those unused minutes or “bonuses” to a family of need or a charity.

Link to Heal: This social networking site will allow patients and their families to form virtual communities around specific topics of interest or medical conditions and let anyone, “from any part of the world” to be a part of this virtual community…

Re-instate the Lunch Hour: Corporations today, especially those in the high tech industries are promoting unhealthy lifestyles. Eating lunch is a thing of the past. If eaten, it is done while on conference calls at the worker’s desk. The negative implications on our physical and mental health are already visible. Corporations are rewarding those that do not maintain a healthy balance. 

Have an idea of your own? Want to rate what’s there? Visit PasstheBall.com and share, rate or just look around. And in the meantime, register now for this week’s event.

Online Event Details: Wednesday, Oct 21st at 4PM PST |  7PM EST

On Tuesday, October 13th, Rock the Vote and its allies in the youth movement stood with Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other members of Congress to announce the inclusion of a key provision in the final House of Representatives health reform bill: allowing young adults to stay on their parents’ health insurance plans until the age of 27.

It was a major victory for Rock the Vote; they fought hard to get it included. A similar provision is in one of the Senate bills and they are also fighting to make sure it is in the final Senate bill as well. Rock the Vote is doing this work because 18-29 year olds are the most uninsured age group in America.

You’re invited to help “rock” health care – register for the event.

Join Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy, Heather Smith, President of Rock The Vote, and others at this incredible national event on Oct. 21st to talk about how today’s health care decisions will shape your future.

Register Now.

Pete Wentz put together a short video about the event (can't see it? click here).

Speak up, be heard.

Prior to the event, we want to hear from you. Post your ideas and stories at PasstheBall.com. We’ll share that information with the team. It’s a great way to participate before the discussion. This event belongs to you and we want to make every effort to tailor the content to the issues that concern you most. You can also post your questions when you register to attend.

At WebEx, we believe sharing your ideas makes them better. So share them, rate them and join the discussion.

Register now.

Event Details: Wednesday, Oct 21st at 4PM PT | 7PM ET

First and last, the purpose of Blog Action Day is to create a discussion. We ask bloggers to take a single day out of their schedule and focus it on an important issue. 

By doing so on the same day, the blogging community effectively changes the conversation on the web and focuses audiences around the globe on that issue. 

This year the topic is Climate Change.

Rather than try and come up with a new blog about all the ways WebEx helps people save time, money and cuts down on travel costs, we thought it might be easier to let you choose the story that fits you best - and we've thrown in a few that don't include WebEx! 

The founders of Blog Action Day believe that,"Out of this discussion naturally flow ideas, advice, plans, and action." That's what we believe too and why we started PasstheBall.com. 

We invite you to come to PasstheBall.com and share you ideas about Climate Change in our Environment area. Ideas get better when then are shared.

What to join the conversation?

It's not too late to blog. And if you want to follow what else is happening today, go to Twitter and search on #BAD09.

Interested in Healthcare Reform?  Learn What’s at Stake for You

Join this incredible national event on Oct. 21st as we bring together a fascinating array of panelists including Heather Smith, President of Rock The Vote, Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy, and U.S. Secretary of Health & Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius (you may have seen her on The Daily Show).

Register now. 

At WebEx, our goal is to foster discussion  - in this case it’s about healthcare – especially among younger people who may not be aware of the long term impact of the decisions being made in Washington D.C.

You can’t afford to be uninformed.

Did you know 18-29 year olds are the most uninsured age group in America? It's true. And without affordable healthcare, many of us could be exposed to a lifetime of hurt. We'll discuss how reform will affect young people in particular, and we'll help answer key questions about what's at stake for you and all Americans. For a great example of how quickly the lack of healthcare can impact a young person, take a look at this very personal story supported by Pete Wentz. It got very personal, very fast for Pete.

What are your thoughts?

Prior to the event, we want to hear from you. This event belongs to you and we want to make every effort to tailor the content to the issues that concern you most. Post your ideas and stories at www.PasstheBall.com. It’s a great way to participate before the discussion. And when you register, be sure to include a question you’d like the panelists to address.

Register Now!

Event Details: Wednesday, Oct 21st at 4PM PT | 7PM ET

There are a few problems we can’t solve – like this one:

Who schedules a WebEx for 5pm?!?!
 What is wrong with you? From @thatguyjr

There will always be people with bad timing and no understanding that many of us really do want to stop working at some point during the day! But here is a creative suggestion on how to avoid this problem:

WebEx is great. I can give control of my computer to someone else
 which prevents me from doing real work.. From @chrisdail

Mythbuster: You don’t have to give up control!
When you are in a WebEx and someone is sharing their desktop, just double click on the window and you will be able to control the size and shape of the window like you can in all other programs. Suddenly you can see the rest of your screen!

You can also use Alt+Tab to toggle through your programs and send your meeting to the back. Now you can multi-task while you are listening and waiting for your turn to present (just don’t close the WebEx browser tab by mistake or you’ll dump the meeting).

Mythbuster: You can share without revealing it all!
Here’s another common question that has an easy solution:

If only WebEx had a way to share slides without sharing your desktop..... From @frmist

With WebEx, you have a choice of sharing a document, an application or your desktop. All three modes can be very useful depending on what you are doing.

Document share is very focused, it’s only about the specific document you want people to see. Application share will let you change files within an application – say PowerPoint – you can quickly switch between different PowerPoint files and work away. Finally, desktop sharing is probably the most popular way to work with colleagues (in a non-presentation mode) because you can open any application or resource at any time.

The one big caveat is when you are desktop sharing, your guests will see anything that happens on your desktop – including an embarrassing instant message or when you  decide to check email. They will see it all! So choose your “share” state accordingly.

We’ll keep trolling on Twitter to see if we can provide more helpful tips for problems with easy answers. In the mean time, for problems like this one:

12:30PM and I am already entering my 4th WebEx
 session of the day... geez... @Marianokon

All we can say is @Marianokon, may we suggest investing in an iPhone so you can at least be mobile in your next WebEx meeting!
  

Idea: Break the Chain – Improving Teen Self Esteem and Goal Setting
There are a lot of underprivileged students in my community. Over 50% the students at the middle school I work at qualify for free or reduced lunch, which qualifies us as a Title 1 school. A lot of the homes they come from are not only in a state of poverty, but the adults maintain a “poverty mentality” in which they create situations, real or not, to keep them from moving forward. My idea is to create a group that would assist in showing these students the consequences of their poor choices and to assist them in reaching their dreams. This group would come into the schools and set up a club, provide presentations, and empower the students to create better choices for a better lifestyle. [See the idea.]

Idea: Connect retired mentors with current learners.
Allow students or workers to share their problems with experienced retirees in a virtual problem-solving setting looking for workable solutions and answers. [See the idea.]

Did you know you can get a free trial of WebEx to start working on your idea? Give it a try and see how easy it is to start meeting online. And if you aren’t ready for that, then at least come share your ideas (or rate others) at PasstheBall.com.

His enthusiasm was contagious as he passionately discussed the results of his efforts.

Woz, as he is affectionately known, is a huge supporter of teachers and education. He spoke of his great experiences in school as a child and his incredible respect for his teachers and the schools that he attended. 

He acknowledged that testing has its problems, that it’s not as powerful as a subjective judgment. He’d rather see a way to evaluate that takes into account the individual and his or her talents and needs. 

Making the computer part of the process

His idea to inspire the kids is to get them using computers to do the things they are already doing by hand. By making the computer a natural part of the process – from doing homework to completing projects – kids have a way to get comfortable using the tool. 

Along the way, he encourages them to be more creative, to try new things and to not sacrifice communication – large, funky fonts might look fun, but they don’t necessarily help get the idea across.

You can learn more about what Steve is doing with kids and with technology at his website: Woz.org. 

Learn more about our presentation series

This presentation was one of a series being hosted by Cisco WebEx as part of our Pass the Ball efforts. You can click here to see future and past events. You can also subscribe to this blog or join our group on Facebook to learn about new events as they become available.

And don’t forget to Pass the Ball

Visit us at PasstheBall.com and share your ideas. When you share or rate an idea, we’ll make a donation to Teachers Without Borders. We believe when you share your ideas, they get better and we are working to help that become a reality for the ideas growing on PasstheBall.com.