Can technology be good for health? Investigating health-promoting strategies in the private sector.

Introduction: This research investigates what might motivate tech companies and impact-driven investors to adopt a health-promoting strategy in their product development and capital allocation strategies. Methods: Participants were recruited for semi-structured interviews through purposive and snowball sampling. From 83 outreach attempts, thematic saturation required 19 completed interviews out of the 46 consumer technology executives and impact-focused investors who responded. Interviews were analyzed using grounded theory-based content analysis. Results: Seven coding categories resulted from inductive coding, with 83 sub-codes. The primary themes were: product-based health impact is magnified when matched to user demographics (making an equity mindset important); stakeholders are eager for reliable health metrics, especially those that hold across industry verticals; when capturing health impact, it is critical to include positive (i.e., economically beneficial) externalities. These results allowed for the creation of a logic model with a recommended theory of change for the private sector to develop health strategy. Discussion: Intentional integration of impact strategy with business priorities will allow teams to design products that promote health, driving buy-in and resource allocation while attracting investment and double returns. For policymakers, it is clear that tech policy and regulation for corporate reporting need to keep pace. These findings are limited by the purposive recruitment of participants, introducing potential bias and risk to generalizability.

Factors influencing the intention to use e-wallet among generation Z and millennials in the Philippines: An extended technology acceptance model (TAM) approach.

The use of E-wallets in the Philippines experienced remarkable growth in recent years. This study investigated the key factors influencing the intention to use E-wallets among Generation Z and Millennials in the country, employing an extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) framework. A total of 500 respondents from these demographic groups participated in an online survey featuring 24 indicators, selected through a stratified sampling method. Using Partial Least Square - Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), the analysis revealed that perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, social influence, attractiveness of alternatives, perceived trust, perceived security, and perceived value significantly influenced users' intention to adopt E-wallets. Notably, perceived trust emerged as a stronger predictor than perceived value. This research provided valuable insights into the factors shaping user intentions and consumer satisfaction, enhancing the understanding of E-wallet adoption in the industry. Furthermore, the incorporation of the extended TAM strengthened the theoretical framework for studying E-wallet adoption in developing countries like the Philippines.

How effective is business climate on CO2 emissions? A MMQR analysis for OECD countries.

Business climate measures regulations' impact on establishment, competition, and growth. In markets with high business climate levels, adopting new environmentally friendly and sustainable technologies and practices contributes to protecting the environment. For instance, a business climate that encourages the use of renewable energy sources like solar or wind power can significantly reduce CO2 emissions. This study analyzes the impact of business climate on CO2 emissions. The study uses data from 37 OECD countries, a widely recognized and reliable source, from 2007 to 2020. The Moments Quantile Regression (MMQR) method was preferred for data analysis due to its ability to handle non-normal distributions and outliers, ensuring robust results. According to MMQR estimates, business climate causes CO2 emissions to decrease. The effect of business climate on CO2 is negative up to the 90th quantile. According to MMQR estimates, the negative impact of business climate on CO2 has statistical significance up to the 80th quantile. Therefore, in all countries where CO2 levels are low or high, business climate helps protect the environment. However, the impact coefficients of business climate on CO2 are much higher than renewable energy. For this reason, it is essential for countries that want to reduce CO2 levels to consider the business climate level along with renewable energy.

Blockchain Based Auditable Access Control For Business Processes With Event Driven Policies.

The use of blockchain technology has been proposed to provide auditable access control for individual resources. Unlike the case where all resources are owned by a single organization, this work focuses on distributed applications such as business processes and distributed workflows. These applications are often composed of multiple resources/services that are subject to the security and access control policies of different organizational domains. Here, blockchains provide an attractive decentralized solution to provide auditability. However, the underlying access control policies may have event-driven constraints and can be overlapping in terms of the component conditions/rules as well as events. Existing work cannot handle event-driven constraints and does not sufficiently account for overlaps leading to significant overhead in terms of cost and computation time for evaluating authorizations over the blockchain. In this work, we propose an automata-theoretic approach for generating a cost-efficient composite access control policy. We reduce this composite policy generation problem to the standard weighted set cover problem. We show that the composite policy correctly captures all the local access control policies and reduces the policy evaluation cost over the blockchain. We have implemented the initial prototype of our approach using Ethereum as the underlying blockchain and empirically validated the effectiveness and efficiency of our approach. Ablation studies were conducted to determine the impact of changes in individual service policies on the overall cost.

Accounting and Enterprise Finance for the Practicing Hand Surgeon.

The business of medicine has become more complex and difficult over the last decade, and the success of a medical practice is dependent not just on the quality of patient care but also effective financial management. Medical school and residency curricula often do not include finance and accounting instruction, leaving physicians ill-prepared to open and run a small business. Physicians must learn how to navigate the challenges of accounting and enterprise finance to ensure the viability and growth of their practice. This article discusses the essential aspects of financial management tailored specifically for the physician/hand surgeon.

Vehicles for Consolidation and Expansion of Physician Practices: Private Equity, Medical Services Organizations, and Strategic Partnerships.

As reimbursements decline and the health care sector experiences consolidation, running a small practice is increasingly difficult. The past 15 years has seen a significant rise in practice consolidation, private equity investment, and regional health system affiliation. In a rapidly changing health care landscape, positioning one's practice for the future is challenging. The trade-off between financial stability and loss of control over the business and physician autonomy is often front and center in choosing our strategic partnerships. The long-term effects of these changes in practice dynamics on the quality and cost of care remain unknown but are concerning.

Establishing a successful cardiovascular computed tomography service: Financial and regulatory challenges facing radiologists and cardiologists.

Cardiac imagers, radiologists or cardiologists, do not receive adequate training or preparation for the harsh realities of running imaging programs and most of the training follows graduation where they are learning on the job and from their own mistakes. There are many factors and skill sets need to help imagers to run a successful and financially independent practice that are easily not easily acquired or researched independently. The intent of this review is to provide a checklist of steps recommended to create a successful program and to give insight into the financial considerations associated with workforce, equipment, training and sustainability. The challenges faced are broadly similar between practice types, but some distinct differences do exist within varying practice environments.

Population density as the attractor of business to the place.

Firm location studies traditionally assume that this is business that attracts other business to a given location. They focus on knowledge transfers between the most productive and innovative firms and analyse agglomeration economies arising from matching, learning and sharing mechanisms. We argue that the population density also attracts firms to the place. Therefore, we extend this stream of research by using the concept of economies of density to discuss the effects of the attraction of firms by population. Our study explores the existence of the hierarchical causal mechanism that occurs when 2nd line firms understood as non-innovative, less productive retail and service businesses together with human settlement create an environment that attracts 1st line firms - the most innovative and productive businesses. We show that population density and business agglomeration jointly affect the location of firms in different sectors and should be considered as complementary rather than substitutable attraction factors.

Does corporate digitization affect shadow banking business? Evidence from Chinese listed companies.

How to govern non-financial enterprises engaged in shadow banking activities is of great practical significance. This study investigates whether and how corporate digitization affects shadow banking. Using a sample of Chinese listed companies for the period 2012-2022, we find that corporate digitization has a significant negative effect on shadow banking business. Mechanism tests show that corporate digitization is conducive to enhancing product core competencies, broadening market channels, and improving operational efficiency, thus inhibiting firms from engaging in shadow banking activities. Moreover, the negative impact of corporate digitization on corporate shadow banking is especially noticeable for non-state-owned companies and in areas where local governments have more stringent financial risk regulations. The findings contribute to enriching the literature on the determinants of corporate shadow banking business, and deepen our understanding of the economic consequences of corporate digitization.

How are companies going to business digitalization? An explanation based on the implementation of e-commerce with data of SMEs.

The data presented in this article is based on a questionnaire survey regarding e-commerce and business digitalization of SMEs in Mexico answered by the CEOs of the companies. A valid sample of 4121 Mexican SMEs was collected covering many industries, such as primary sector, extractive industries, manufacturing industries, energy, water, recycling, construction, trade, services, and others. The data includes information about the implementation of e-commerce, business digitalization, operational efficiency, corporate performance, and other demographic indicators of the sampling firms. The link between e-commerce and corporate performance is still underexplored in SMEs, even more so between companies from Latin America, being Mexico a perfect example to explore how different SMEs adapt and thrive due to the rapid growth of their e-commerce and the diversity of their business sectors (Santos-Jaén et al., 2023 [2]). Data analysis was conducted using SPSS and Smart PLS. The data are useful as the data can be reproduced, reused and reanalyzed paying special attention to group-specific effects. This data article also opens up better research opportunities going forward through collaboration with other researchers.

Handling Complexity in Decentralized Research Networks: The Data Sharing Framework Allowlist Management Application.

INTRODUCTION: With the establishment of the Data Sharing Framework (DSF) as a distributed business process engine in German research networks, it is becoming increasingly important to coordinate authentication, authorization, and role information between peer-to-peer network components. This information is provided in the form of an allowlist. This paper presents a concept and implementation of an Allowlist Management Application. STATE OF THE ART: In research networks using the DSF, allowlists were initially generated manually. CONCEPT: The Allowlist Management Application provides comprehensive tool support for the participating organizations and the administrators of the Allowlist Management Application. It automates the process of creating and distributing allowlists and additionally reduces errors associated with manual entries. In addition, security is improved through extensive validation of entries and enforcing review of requested changes by implementing a four-eyes principle. IMPLEMENTATION: Our implementation serves as a preliminary development for the complete automation of onboarding and allowlist management processes using established frontend and backend frameworks. The application has been deployed in the Medical Informatics Initiative and the Network University Medicine with over 40 participating organizations. LESSONS LEARNED: We learned the need for user guidance, unstructured communication in a structured tool, generalizability, and checks to ensure that the tool's outputs have actually been applied.

Perceptions of HIV self-testing promotion in black barbershop businesses: implications for equitable engagement of black-owned small businesses for public health programs.

BACKGROUND: HIV self-testing (HIVST) offers an innovative and promising approach to increasing HIV testing among Black men in the United States, a population disproportionately affected by HIV. However, engaging Black men in traditional HIV prevention programs has been challenging due to stigma, medical mistrust, and limited access to preventive health services. This formative qualitative study aimed to explore the potential of utilizing barbershops as an example of a nontraditional healthcare venue to promote and distribute HIVST. METHODS: Four virtual focus group discussions (FGDs) consisting of 19 participants in North Carolina were conducted with Black men, including barbershop business owners, barbers, and their customers, to assess perceptions of HIVST and the acceptability of partnering with barbershop businesses to promote HIVST. FGDs were digitally recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using a deductive coding approach to thematic analysis. RESULTS: Participants reported that the trusting relationship between barbers and their customers, which may not exist between Black men and health care providers, is a facilitator of collaborating with barbershop businesses to reach Black men for HIVST distribution. Participants recommended providing education for barbers on the use of HIVST, as well as how to inform self-testers about linkage to care following HIVST to build the credibility of the barbers in delivering the intervention. Participants also raised the issue of the cost of HIVST to barbershop customers as a potential barrier to implementation, as well as the possibility that the implementation of such interventions could be seen as out of place in a barbershop business venue. Participants also expressed a strong belief that compensation to barbershops and their employees should accompany any intervention. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that barbershop business venues may provide an appropriate venue for HIVST promotion and distribution, though factors like cost, training, and incentivization of implementers are necessary to consider in implementation planning. Furthermore, partnerships between public health actors and the business community must be built on equitable engagement to ensure the long-term viability of these critical initiatives.

The change in food service costs associated with increasing the healthiness of ready-to-eat food provision: A systematic scoping review.

Increasing the healthiness of food retail environments is an identified mechanism to help halt rising rates of diet-related non-communicable diseases. Previous studies on healthy food environment adoption report that retailers' perceptions of loss of profitability and higher food costs are often barriers to change. Despite this, actual changes to profitability and food costs have not been fully explored. This study aimed to systematically scope the evidence relating to changes to food costs or profitability when changes are made to increase the healthiness of food and drinks sold by food service retailers. Nine databases were searched, with studies included from settings that sold ready-to-consume items, with interventions to increase the healthiness of menus, and reporting food environment/nutrition outcomes, and cost/profit outcomes. Of the 12 studies included, the majority were conducted in the United States and in school settings. Most studies indicated that increasing the healthiness of food service retail environments resulted in neutral or favorable financial outcomes. Food costs and/or profit changes were most often monitored via simple accounting measures. While further research is needed to strengthen the evidence on financial outcomes of healthier food provision, this review indicates that some perceived barriers to change may not be warranted.

The Egg Hub Model: A Sustainable and Replicable Approach to Address Food Security and Improve Livelihoods.

Background: Despite progress in improving living standards and reduced poverty, food insecurity and malnutrition remain a significant issue worldwide. Childhood is a critical time for the intake of protein to support physical and cognitive growth, including animal-source foods like eggs which can effectively mitigate stunting in low- and middle-income countries. In Malawi, high malnutrition rates among women and children represent a significant public health challenge, but high-quality sources such as eggs remain costly, scarce, and rarely consumed by children in Malawi. The Egg Hub model, identified and piloted by local agri-food entrepreneurs and the Sight and Life Foundation in Malawi, tackles the obstacles faced by smallholder farmers, working to increase egg production, enhance availability, and improve consumption within rural communities by supporting small-scale farmers transition from unsustainable and unproductive backyard rearing to small-scale farm through access to high-quality inputs, training, loans, and a guaranteed market for their eggs. Objectives: This paper provides a detailed account of the implementation of the pilot of the Egg Hub Model in Malawi including the demand creation process, the impact of the model on producers, consumers, and operators, and the social, economic, and environmental sustainability aspects of the model. Methods: Qualitative and quantitative surveys (n = 217 consumers) were used for demand creation and qualitative surveys were used with 15 retailers to determine egg sales. With 16 farmers and the egg hub operator, business metrics, including profits and loss records, were analyzed. Results: The pilot of the Egg Hub model in Malawi supported 85 farmers to triple their egg production, allowing their communities to purchase eggs at prices reduced by 40%, benefiting an estimated number of 180,000 rural poor. Egg consumption among the target population increased from an average of 2 to 9 eggs/month and led to reduced egg wastage and better biosecurity, reducing the risk of children's exposure to chicken feces and infections. The achievements of this Egg Hub in Malawi allowed the model to be replicated in Ethiopia, Peru, and Brazil, producing 40 million eggs annually and benefiting more than half a million consumers. Conclusion: The Egg Hub model is a comprehensive and scalable solution to increase egg supply, address malnutrition and food insecurity, and improve livelihoods. The advantages include centralizing key activities through a community-centered approach, empowering female farmers, increasing access to a highly nutritious food, and economic benefits for farmers and their communities.

Industry 4.0 technologies for the adoption of the circular economy: An analysis of institutional pressures and the effects on firm performance.

The present research proposes a model to investigate the influence of institutional pressures on the adoption of circular economy (CE) principles, whether Industry 4.0 technologies support this adoption, and its effect on the performance of firms. To evaluate these relationships, we collected data from 248 companies operating in Brazil. Our findings reveal the importance of external stakeholders as drivers of the transition from the linear economy to CE, highlighting the normative pressures to foster CE adoption. The study brings additional evidence in support of Industry 4.0 technologies that embrace CE implementation and shows the positive effect of their integrated adoption on firm performance. Several managerial and theoretical implications emerge from this investigation: (i) efforts to adopt both CE principles and Industry 4.0 technologies positively impact the performance of firms, and CE implementation can be facilitated when integrated with these technologies; (ii) the institutional context shaped by normative and coercive pressures can have a significant influence on CE adoption; (iii) the discussion of these novel results posits theoretical insights on CE, Industry 4.0, and their relationships with firm performance.

Social entrepreneurship and public health nursing knowledge: Opportunities for innovating nursing education in population health.

Public health nursing (PHN) competencies are fundamental for addressing population health inequities. Few pathways exist for employing these competencies in the United States (US). Social entrepreneurship in nursing education might provide opportunities for innovating engagement in population health. Partnerships between business and nursing schools have the potential to fulfill this opportunity. PURPOSE: Explore opportunities for re-invigorating public health nursing through social entrepreneurship education in nursing-business partnerships in U.S. universities. METHODS: Reviewed programs in nursing/business school partnerships from Carnegie-classified R1 Universities. Identified appropriate coursework. RESULTS: Of 96 identified nursing schools, eight had business school partnerships, providing 12 programs. Most programs (n = 11) targeted graduate students and addressed core competencies for entrepreneurship. Five business schools had entrepreneurship expertise. Five nursing schools had PHN expertise. Three programs included population health competencies. DISCUSSION: Despite missed opportunities for advancing social entrepreneurship education among undergraduate and graduate nursing students, existing curricular offerings in the partnerships provide promise. Business/nursing partnerships and PHN knowledge can stimulate the preparation and agency of nurses in addressing population health inequities.

Exposing the pitfalls of plastics mechanical recycling through cost calculation.

The plastic industry needs to match the recycling goals set by the EU. Next to technological hurdles, the cost of plastics mechanical recycling is an important modality in this transition. This paper reveals how business economic cost calculation can expose significant pitfalls in the recycling process, by unravelling limitations and boundary conditions, such as scale. By combining the business economic methodology with a Material Flow Analysis, this paper shows the influence of mass retention of products, the capacity of the processing lines, scaling of input capacity, and waste composition on the recycling process and associated costs. Two cases were investigated: (i) the Initial Sorting in a medium size Material Recovery Facility and (ii) an improved mechanical recycling process for flexibles - known as the Quality Recycling Process - consisting of Additional Sorting and Improved Recycling. Assessing the whole recycling chain gives a more holistic insight into the influences of choices and operating parameters on subsequent costs in other parts of the chain and results in a more accurate cost of recycled plastic products. This research concluded that the cost of Initial Sorting of flexibles is 110,08-122,53 EUR/t, while the cost of subsequent Additional Sorting and Improved Recycling ranges from 566,26 EUR/t for rPE Flex to 735,47 EUR/t for rPP Film, these insights can be used to determine a fair price for plastic products. For the Quality Recycling Process it was shown that rationalisation according to the identified pitfalls can reduce the cost per tonne of product by 15-26%.

Green innovation imperative for natural resource-driven sustainable economic recovery: Linking rights Structure, corporate social responsibility, and renewable energy contracts.

This study examines the complex relationships necessary for a sustainable economic recovery, focusing on the interplay between contracts for renewable energy, natural resource use, corporate social responsibility (CSR), and rights frameworks. Motivated by the increasing scrutiny of environmental practices, this research aims to highlight the need for sustainable business models during the transition to a more environmentally sensitive economy. The study area encompasses diverse sectors where CSR goals can be aligned with renewable energy project frameworks through natural resource utilization. Methodologies include a novel composite CSR evaluation indicator designed to complement industry rankings and a thorough analysis of CSR within the mining industry. Results demonstrate how aligning CSR with renewable energy initiatives can reshape profit models for stakeholders and emphasize the changing green product market as a catalyst for economic resurgence. Recommendations in the area of policies focus on the reasoned utilization of natural resources and the application of innovations following the principles of CSR. This research provides critical guidance to relevant authorities and institutions charged with ethical responsibility, ensuring the proper utilization and implementation of renewable energy sources to create a more ecological future based on green technology and sustainable resource management.