Despite spending $800 billion on technology last year, health care productivity is flat and preventable patient harm remains the third leading cause of death in the U.S. One reason is that health care is grossly under-engineered: medical devices don't talk to each other, treatments are not specified and ensured, and outcomes are largely assumed rather […]
system design
A powerful idea from the nuclear industry
Posted by Peter Pronovost | Designing Safer Systems, Measurement of Safety and Quality, Preventing Patient HarmWhere health care has fallen short in significantly improving quality, our peers in other high-risk industries have thrived. Perhaps we can adapt and learn from their lessons. For example, health care can learn much from the nuclear power industry, which has markedly improved its safety track record over the last two decades since peer-review programs were […]
Sep 3, 2013 4 comments