Disruptive innovation

At the MinuteClinic inside a CVS pharmacy in Potomac, Rachel Herman, 6, checks in with nurse practitioner Anne Pohnert. Rachel's sore throat is typical of problems seen at retail-based clinics, which are gaining in popularity. (By Preston Keres -- The Washington Post).

1. Ever since the quick health centers have been discussed in the trade press starting in 2005, I mentioned them as a model for rethinking how to provide community-based health services on the part of government agencies, similar to school-based clinics.

Today's Post has an article about Minute Clinic and other limited, quick care health services offered by pharmacies such as CVS. Extend the model to government. See "Is 'Quick' Enough?," subtitled "Store Clinics Tap a Public Need, but Many Doctors Call the Care Inferior."

The point is to think about these clinics in terms of providing limited care, and wellness services, but not thinking of the clinics as full replacements for doctors or emergency care services.

There's an article in the December issue of Harvard Business Review about this kind of thinking, and I was having a hard time fully understanding it. This idea is a perfect illustration. See "Disruptive Innovation for Social Change."

This is based on the work of Clayton Christiansen, on Disruptive Innovation.

2. Yesterday's blog entry about rethinking WMATA subway line routing sparked interesting discussion in the comments. Dan of BeyondDC suggests that the blue line in Virginia could be replaced by an extended yellow line, and that the forthcoming Silver Line could provide service to Largo Town Center.

Worth thinking about. (I'm hoping we can get Dan to do a graphic image outlining how this would work... like his proposed MD-DC-VA--with smatterings of PA and WV--regional railroad passenger system map.)

3. Speaking of Virginia and transit planning and promotion, Reid points us to a graphic simulation of the proposed streetcar on Columbia Pike, suggesting that DC needs to be better at marketing what it intends to do with streetcars. Check out this very large video download.

I hadn't mentioned this article about the DC Streetcar planning process that appeared in the New York Sun last month, "Washington Plans $25M Project To Bring Back Its Trolley Cars." Fortunately, it does discuss the more expansive view to routing that was on the table during the original DC Transit Future study process, before routing got slimmed down to four lines during the Comprehensive Plan process.