VGM | Mike Mallaro

Win with great team players

Posted On: September 21, 2020 by Mike Mallaro in: Employee Ownership, Social commentary, VGM, Work Culture

The other day I clicked on the link to a video of a basketball game played 40 years ago – and had an epiphany - mostly the best teams win, not the team with the best player(s). The game was Iowa vs. Georgetown, with the winner going to the Final Four. The Iowa team had no all-Big Ten players that year. Of their five leading scores that game, four never played a minute in the NBA, and the one that did was a...

Tags: team, team players, vgm

More updates on Healthcare during the Pandemic

Posted On: September 8, 2020 by Mike Mallaro in: Healthcare, VGM

The business of healthcare continues to face serious headwinds as a result of the pandemic. A few newsworthy developments: A recent Kaufman Hall analysis found hospital and health system operating margins were down 96% in 2020 (through July) as compared to same period of 2019. A meaningful amount of that decline was offset by government intervention and financial support. But even after all stimulus and support aid from the government, hospitals and...

Update on healthcare trends during pandemic

Posted On: August 25, 2020 by Mike Mallaro in: Healthcare, VGM

Healthcare activity continues to be muted due to impact of the pandemic. Elective medical procedures are still tracking nearly 20% below “normal” levels. The pipeline for new candidates for procedures in not re-filling as fast as historically. Hip and knee replacement volume was actually slightly lower in recent weeks than in June, speaking to the pipeline issue. This same rationale will impact HME patient pipelines. Prescription volumes were 8-10% below...

Healthcare Trends during the Pandemic

Posted On: July 30, 2020 by Mike Mallaro in: Healthcare, VGM

We know the pandemic has had a huge impact on the healthcare business and consumption of healthcare, and with second quarter data being reported over these past couple weeks, we can quantify some of the impacts: In reviewing second quarter financial results of the three largest health insurers reporting (UnitedHealth, Cigna and Anthem), it is clear that the pandemic is resulting in lower numbers of visits, procedures and healthcare incidents, which results in healthcare spend being meaningfully...

Great Teams

Posted On: July 13, 2020 by Mike Mallaro in: Employee Ownership, Social commentary, VGM, Work Culture

The summer when I was twelve I played on the Gibson Red Sox baseball team. Our team finished the season with a record of zero wins and sixteen losses. We were what our record said we were. Today most of us are part of teams – maybe a company, a department, a family or a community group. We each have a job to do as part of a team, with individual job duties and responsibilities. But perhaps more importantly, we each have an...

35 years

Posted On: June 26, 2020 by Mike Mallaro in: Opinions, VGM, Work Culture

June 24 was the 35th anniversary of my professional career. On that day in 1985, I joined Touche Ross in their Omaha office. Touche Ross was an accounting firm and was part of the “Big 8”, a term for the eight national accounting firms in existence at that time. It was a proud firm, with high expectations and a strong culture of serving clients. I worked at that firm for eleven years. I loved that job and it was very good for me. I thought this a good...

Tags: 1985, career, lessons learned

Choices

Posted On: June 22, 2020 by Mike Mallaro in: Healthcare, Social commentary, VGM, Work Culture

We all exercise freedom of choice. We choose our partner, how to spend our time and where we buy groceries. We choose the shows we watch, our religion and our favorite teams. The people we serve exercise their freedom of choice as well. Every person we do business with has a choice. They can choose to work with us. Alternatively, they can choose to do business with someone else, or use alternative methods that do not include us. Success comes when make...

Addressing Inequality

Posted On: June 4, 2020 by Mike Mallaro in: Social commentary, VGM

Our nation is in a very difficult moment. Not only are we adjusting to a devastating pandemic, but we are confronting the scourge of racial injustice, yet again. This tumult arrives amid a foundation of an us-versus-them tribalism that has increasingly infected our country and escalated divisiveness. The pandemic will wane. Science and healthcare will advance upon it and destroy it, but that is probably going to take eighteen months. In the meantime, new habits of rigorous hand-washing, social...

Tags: vgm, racism, race, inequality

Power of One Principle – Make a Difference 

Posted On: May 11, 2020 by Mike Mallaro in: Employee Ownership, VGM, Work Culture

Few things in life are more satisfying than knowing that you’ve made a difference. No matter our role – employee, leader, parent, competitor, volunteer – making a difference must always...

Power of One Principle – Welcome Change

Posted On: May 4, 2020 by Mike Mallaro in: Employee Ownership, VGM, Work Culture

The pace of change has never been faster, and it will never be this slow again. Innovation will continue, customer demands will evolve and disruption of all sorts will continue, including a pandemic. As Darwin famously said, “It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” Our sixth Power of One Principle encourages all of us to be adaptable, be curious, adopt a growth mindset, and remain open to new ideas...

Tags: Power Of One