Tag: business brokerages

The principal value of a business broker is to act as a buffer between the buyer and the seller

3 ways to build an equitable health system, according to a Black doctor

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While the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted our daily lives for one year, it has also further illuminated the inequities in our healthcare system experienced daily by racial and ethnic minorities. When we look at a past pandemic, the 1918 Flu, and compare it to the COVID-19 pandemic today, it’s clear there are still health disparities for Black Americans today—even 100 years later. It is critical that doctors like myself, as well as healthcare innovators and policymakers, work to break down these barriers and improve care for members of the Black community. While experts believe racial segregation may have contributed to Black Americans contracting the 1918 Flu at lower rates than white Americans, Black patients were more likely to die from the flu if they did become ill compared to white patients. Beyond the pandemic, Black Americans were suffering from higher rates of illness and death compared to white people. Reports in 1900 assert that Black communities were experiencing a 69% higher death rate from a number of diseases, such as tuberculosis and pneumonia, compared to white people. And now, more than 100 years later, Black Americans are disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, dying at 2.4 times the rate of white Americans. In several states across the country, the difference in mortality is shocking. For instance, in Chicago, it has been reported that Black people account for nearly 60% of COVID-19 deaths while only making up 30% of the population. Several major cities across the country have the same disproportionate trend. In 1918, Black people were often disbarred from care , leading to local and decentralized efforts to provide care within the community. We see these same disparities today. Poverty, redlining, poorer housing conditions, unequal access to quality physicians, and jobs that don’t allow individuals to work from home all create greater health risks for Black Americans, resulting in higher rates of acquiring COVID-19 and subsequently poorer outcomes. Read More …

3 ways to build an equitable health system, according to a Black doctor

Posted onAuthoradmin

While the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted our daily lives for one year, it has also further illuminated the inequities in our healthcare system experienced daily by racial and ethnic minorities. When we look at a past pandemic, the 1918 Flu, and compare it to the COVID-19 pandemic today, it’s clear there are still health disparities for Black Americans today—even 100 years later. It is critical that doctors like myself, as well as healthcare innovators and policymakers, work to break down these barriers and improve care for members of the Black community. While experts believe racial segregation may have contributed to Black Americans contracting the 1918 Flu at lower rates than white Americans, Black patients were more likely to die from the flu if they did become ill compared to white patients. Beyond the pandemic, Black Americans were suffering from higher rates of illness and death compared to white people. Reports in 1900 assert that Black communities were experiencing a 69% higher death rate from a number of diseases, such as tuberculosis and pneumonia, compared to white people. And now, more than 100 years later, Black Americans are disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, dying at 2.4 times the rate of white Americans. In several states across the country, the difference in mortality is shocking. For instance, in Chicago, it has been reported that Black people account for nearly 60% of COVID-19 deaths while only making up 30% of the population. Several major cities across the country have the same disproportionate trend. In 1918, Black people were often disbarred from care , leading to local and decentralized efforts to provide care within the community. We see these same disparities today. Read More …

My doctor wants me to pay a yearly subscription fee—and that’s increasingly common

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At the beginning of this year, I received an email from my doctor, who informed me her practice would be switching to a membership model. “I have found myself at a crossroads—to either continue practicing high-volume medicine or evolve my practice to deliver more personalized medical care via the concierge model,” she wrote in the announcement email. Concierge health is a type of practice that promises patients more time with their doctor and more comprehensive healthcare. My doctor wrote that she would see fewer patients more consistently under the new arrangement. To get in, I would have to pay a yearly fee of $1,850 in addition to my health insurance. The pandemic has put an incredible strain on primary care doctors. Approximately 16,000 physician practices closed because of COVID-19, according to a survey from Physicians Foundation Read More …

T-Mobile wants your employer to give you home-office wireless broadband

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T-Mobile’s latest sales pitch might as well show up wearing a suit and slippers. On Thursday, the nation’s third-biggest wireless carrier announced a bundle of services for business and government customers that have been forced by the pandemic to pivot to work-from-home workforces. Called WFX Solutions , the new package combines a suite of calling and collaboration tools, business smartphone plans with generous mobile-hot spot data allocations, and a home internet service built on T-Mobile’s 4G and 5G networks Read More …

Watch a popular bag maker roast Amazon for ripping off its design in this clever video

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For years, merchants on Amazon have accused the company of ripping off their ideas and selling much cheaper versions under the Amazon Basics brand, but no one’s made the case quite like Peak Design. In a new YouTube video , the San Francisco-based bag designer points out the many similarities between its popular camera bag and Amazon’s, both of which are called the Everyday Sling. They have similar shapes, aesthetics, and pockets, and even their logos are in the same place. A key difference, though, is that Peak Design’s sling starts at $55 , while Amazon’s version currently sells for $21. The video then pretends to look in on the “crack team at the Amazon Basics department,” wearing googly-eye glasses and marveling at Peak Design’s sales before resolving to “Basic this bad boy.” Amazon Basics straight up ripped off the @peakdesignltd Everyday Sling (they even stole the product name). I know Basics does this all the time, but this is basically a carbon copy (minus quality). https://t.co/pGJmBZYn6C — Justin Duino (@jaduino) March 3, 2021 Of course, the two bags are not exactly the same. In the video, Peak Design calls out the areas where Amazon’s version falls short—plastic buckles instead of aluminum, cheaper zippers, floppy dividers—while also pointing to its own bag’s recycled materials, lifetime warranty, carbon neutrality, and “fairly paid factory workers.” “If you’re tired of supporting companies who innovate, and just not willing to pay for responsibly made products, don’t,” the video says, warning that “you’ll get exactly what you pay for.” Peak Design is the latest in a long line of product makers who say Amazon has copied their products and undercut them on price. As Bloomberg reported in 2016 , a company called Rain Design said sales of its popular laptop stand slipped after Amazon started selling a look-alike at about half the cost. In a 2019 interview with Fast Company , the shoe maker Allbirds accused Amazon of copying its Wool Runner shoe, but without the same sustainable design practices . A Wall Street Journal report last year also documented how Amazon would use data from third-party vendors to track popular items and launch its own versions. Those included a car-trunk organizer similar to one sold by a small startup called Fortem, and an office chair seat cushion from a company called Upper Echelon Products. Amazon had previously told Congress that it didn’t track data from third-party sellers when deciding which products to make under the Amazon Basics brand. Regulators have started to step in. Read More …