Insights from the Armstrong Institute
One night, a woman is examined in the emergency department complaining of vertigo. Her physician orders a CT scan, and when the tests come back… Read More »Why Public Reporting of Diagnostic Errors Might Come Sooner than You Think
If there was a wonder drug to save the lives of infants with serious heart abnormalities, doctors would be sure to prescribe it. Parents would… Read More »Blockbuster Data: How Reporting Surgical Volumes Could Save Lives
Johns Hopkins ophthalmologist Oliver Schein has found a simple way to save a half a billion dollars a year from our country's health-care bill, with… Read More »A Clear-Eyed Approach to Reducing Costly Health Care Regulations
Her voice cracked with strain. I could imagine the woman at the other end of the line shaking, overcome with remorse about the hospital where… Read More »Why Surgical Volumes Should Be Public
If you understand statistics and possess the intestinal fortitude to examine a ranking methodology, you will recognize that it involves ingredients that have to be… Read More »More Science, Less Sausage-Making Needed for Hospital Quality Measures
In recent years, Johns Hopkins Medicine has grown increasingly sophisticated in its use of patient safety and quality dashboards, not just to spur internal improvement… Read More »5 Lessons for Creating Health Care Performance Dashboards
Selecting the right hospital to receive care can save your life, lower your risks of getting a complication, or even reduce your financial hardship. The… Read More »Why It’s So Hard to Pick the Right Hospital
Wanted: Talented, highly driven individuals to take on multiyear work assignment with potential for benefiting humankind. Requires the highest levels of technical skill, teamwork and… Read More »Seeking the Right Stuff for Teams: In the Hospital or Distant Space
Fifteen-year anniversaries often come and go without fuss, overlooked in favor of those we can mark in full decades. Yet recently, at Johns Hopkins and… Read More »Patient Safety at 15: How Much Have We Grown?
In this post, I present the case that U.S. News & World Report’s patient safety score, a component of its annual Best Hospitals rankings, has… Read More »Potential Bias in U.S. News Patient Safety Scores