How Do Pop Culture and Office Culture Affect Business?

As you picked up this issue of The O&P EDGE, you may have been surprised to see the words zombie apocalypse on the cover. What could this movie/tv/novella genre have to do with the business of O&P? Pop culture is often a window into the collective psyche of the society from which it arises, and the popularity of the zombie genre is no exception. I haven’t watched any of the recent series in this vein, but I was intrigued by the notion that the story conventions might illustrate something about the strategies O&P professionals use to survive amidst an uncertain healthcare landscape. The parallels and insight that a study of the zombie genre can reveal about the mindset of people within the profession runs even deeper than I expected, as John T. Brinkmann, MA, CPO/L, FAAOP(D), describes in the cover feature. The representation of a small group fighting against attacks by a mindless, soulless mob may be an apt description of the anxiety many O&P professionals feel as they confront the shifting reimbursement policies and changes in healthcare policy.