Why Industry Leaders in Healthcare IT Coauthor and Review Books
It’s been the honor of my career to help lead in defining the fields of Mobile Medicine and Advanced Health Technology. Being committed to my last set of books as editor and looking at preparing other leaders to take on the editor role and responsiblities (and extraordinary benefits); I wanted to provide this resource on four topics:
- How to think about who should serve as a book reviewer and why they do it, a critical aspect of book success. It is different in a few ways from traditional academic peer review. Explained below in 1–5
- How to explain to stakeholders not in the know, why industry insiders respect and amplify graduate level textbooks.
- In the past and where it still applies, academic publishers have sought out top Deans and department chairs to spearhead definitive texts; however if those don’t exist in your field and many different people tell you you’re the authority; then you’re the most qualified person to write the book. As described below, there are many company benefits that result so long as the books are commercially successful.
- We have 1–2 spots open for our next book and are taking applications click here due September 30, 2022.
Notes About Why Industry Leaders Review Our Books:
- They do it as part of their regular obligation to their organization’s visibility
- Intended to be an honor whereas we seek out high performing role models, industry leaders as reviewers as a mechanism to spotlight them.
- Reviewer Benefits: Reviewers of our books receive an editor signed book copy, recognition within the front matter of the book, online on Amazon (if they meet deadline), online Routledge, Taylor & Francis (if they meet deadline); in online listings everywhere fine books are sold. Featured to an audience of 8700+ health system executives, engineers, healthcare IT & cybersecurity experts, investors, analysts, board members, and physicians.
- It’s fun and they do it for friendship and networking, not just to selfishly be recognized.
- The biggest industry leaders do it to amplify their impact
What did we as editor and coauthors get out of our books?
- Team onboarding and building; there is no educational or other “on-ramp” for software in medical technology
- Partner and ecosystem relationships and skills development
- Recognition, speaking, podcast, blog opportunities and job promotions for colleagues that boost careers and companies.
- Skill building for all, including the readers
- Developed or strengthened relationships for the whole ecosystem of coauthors, core team, reviewers, and advisors
- Unfortunately remittance is insignificant as explained here as graduate textbooks serve a similar, yet exponential purpose as academic papers. The only people who make real money from textbooks target undergraduate courses.
- Women leaders in deep tech (like Lisa Su CEO of AMD) and medicine alike all require robust publishing records to gain support of their ecosystem.
Solving the Eminence Problem
I was told by a legacy tech executive that a specifically famous medical educator would be trusted to innovate in this field. I found the statement curious given that the specific individual being discussed had no reputation with insiders for technology acumen or related subjects such as privacy, cybersecurity, or healthcare IT. I wasn’t offended by the comment, though I wondered why he made it and that’s one of the things that led me to publishing.
Best-Selling Books Are the Most Prestigious Markers of Expertise
High quality academic books lend even more credibility to executives in particular, our field such as healthcare IT than any type of or actual University or advanced degree conferred. This is widely accepted as true within key opinion leaders of the insider ecosystem, especially when that publisher is #3 in the world to Cambridge and Oxford and has published Einstein. We were then thrilled to perform very competitively with that same famous medical educator’s book across a number of dimensions.
Why Go For a Repeat Round? Build Your Own Spacesuit Against Toxicity
As a side note, why did I go for a second textbook? Even though the first best selling textbook, Mobile Medicine delivered more than the effects we wanted, including protecting me as the editor from a pattern of the 99% of microaggressions and isms previously encountered on a regular basis.
1) There was work in progress that there wasn’t room for in the first book.
2) I’m honored and grateful that both books were recognized as best seller new releases in their critical categories of medical technology and more.
3) The first time people can say you’re lucky; the second time they can’t minimize you or denigrate you as a fluke or “one hit wonder.” When you’re not the prototype of the past centuries of success; there are always people seeking to discredit you and downplay you however they can and at every possible turn. People of all walks of life and gender. Don’t let that stop you. Turn the pain into motivation.
Knowledge gaps are extremely dangerous territory and books help to both close knowledge gaps as well as protect you as the author if the books perform well.
Credibility is the Foundation for Consensus in Medical Technology
You can be the best at what you do but if no one understands or knows about it, then they can’t act on it. What you must do in medical technology that is unlike any other tech market is build consensus; the foundation of consensus is credibility. Coauthors contribute in exchange for prestige to drive action.
Consensus is Required in Medical Technology
Credibility for consensus in healthcare IT and medical technology has to be built across
- Engineering
- Healthcare IT
- Medicine
- Cybersecurity
- There has to be exceptional management, leadership, and product marketing powering all of the above
One managing editor explained in their survey, why most authors who are business leaders write books and this was their feedback adapted to our situation:
- We want to create a tangible tool for personal development for my colleagues and followers
- Transform lives with a positive winning philosophy of life and work
- Codify proven business and leadership principles in writing, in a way that helps others to become more effective
- Build further credibility as subject-matter experts
- Amplify voices as thought-leaders and change agents [1]
Further notes on a few of the above:
Build credibility as subject-matter experts:
The best way to establish yourself to the larger public as a subject-matter expert in any field is to write an authoritative book on that subject [1]
Amplify coauthor voices as thought-leaders and change agents:
People look to published authors when they go to look for answers and speakers to questions. [1]
To create a tangible tool for professional development for our collaborators and followers: In our books, we seek to document and codify elements of all the essential other disciplines required for successful literacy, empathy, and collaboration across disciplines, in a way that helps others to become more effective.
Should you write a textbook or even be in healthcare at all as a tech firm?
In this linked post below, we illustrate how to recognize if you can produce and deliver a high performing textbook which should also tell a person if their organization should work in healthcare at all. This is because in part, that it’s hard, potentially impossible in clinical facing products to achieve acceptance from the right stakeholders across medicine and IT without the right level of quality publications. If you look across drugs, medical devices, and technologies –physicians just see these all as tools in patient care and they will all go through their evidence and credibility filters. The quality of the publication is crucial in this filtering process.: https://sherridouville.medium.com/how-to-know-if-you-have-what-it-takes-to-publish-a-high-quality-graduate-level-medtech-textbook-9ef2f21a30eb
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By Sherri Douville, CEO at Medigram, the Mobile Medicine company. Recognized in 8 categories of top CEOs by Board Room Media (Across SMS, mHealth, iOS, IT, Database, Big Data, Android, Healthcare). Top ranked medical market executive worldwide and #1 ranked in mobile technology categories (mhealth, iOS, Android), #1–2 (on any given day) for the cybersecurity market in the U.S. on Crunchbase. Best selling editor/author, Mobile Medicine: Overcoming People, Culture, and Governance & Advanced Health Technology: Managing Risk While Tackling Barriers to Rapid Acceleration, Taylor & Francis; Series Editor for Trustworthy Technology & Innovation + Trustworthy Technology & Innovation in Healthcare
