Health Care Quote of the Year
by Brian Klepper
I was reading through some other peoples’ blog posts yesterday and came across this straightforward statement by Paul Levy, the CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. Paul made news by establishing a blog called "Running a Hospital."
I think he's probably taken some good-natured ribbing by his more straight-laced colleagues. But I admire that fact that he's broken the bounds of decorum and speaks openly about the many tremendously difficult issues that face hospital executives.
While many many hospitals (and doctors and health plans and...) are still doing everything possible to hold back the transparency tide, here's his take, published recently on Matthew Holt's Health Care Blog:
"The main value of transparency is not necessarily to enable easier consumer choice or to give a hospital a competitive edge. It is to provide creative tension within hospitals so that they hold themselves accountable. This accountability is what will drive doctors, nurses, and administrators to seek constant improvements in the quality and safety of patient care. So, even if we can't compare hospital to hospital on several types of surgical procedures, we can still commend hospitals that publish their results as a sign that they are serious about self-improvement."Nothing could be truer, or more central to the mission of fixing American health care.
Thank you, Mr. Levy.
