Browse by Tags

• Ambulatory/Primary Care
• Diagnosis/Clinical Reasoning
• Efficiency
• Health Policy
• Hospitalists/Hospital Medicine
• Industry/Pharma
• Information Technology
• Medical Education/Academia
• Medical Ethics
• Nurses/Nursing
• Patient Safety/Medical Errors
• Pay-for-performance
• Quality Improvement
• Quality Measurement
• Transparency and Reporting

• UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital: A Tale of Great Leadership in Three Acts

  This is an amazing tale of leadership – by my hospital CEO, our former chancellor, and, most importantly, a remarkable philanthropist. I’ll start with the latter, veer off to describe the former two, and then return, on this special day, to the philanthropist.The Read More... Posted Thu, Jun 17 2010 8:33 AM by Bob Wachter | 4 Comments Filed under: Hospital Care, Medical Education/Academia, Industry/Pharma, Media/Press Coverage

• The Times Hits the Right Notes on Hospitalists

  You probably saw yesterday’s hospitalist piece in the New York Times, arguably the best lay article on the movement to date. It hit all the right notes, and did so with uncommon grace and fairness. The piece, written by the Times’ Jane Gross, profiled Read More... Posted Fri, May 28 2010 8:05 AM by Bob Wachter | 5 Comments Filed under: Hospital Care, Hospitalists/Hospital Medicine, Ambulatory/Primary Care, Media/Press Coverage

• In Defense of Paul Levy

  Paul Levy, the blogging CEO of Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, found himself in hot water last month over an inappropriate relationship with a female subordinate. While some of the details of the transgression remain sketchy, I think I Read More... Posted Mon, May 24 2010 7:07 AM by Bob Wachter | 6 Comments Filed under: Hospital Care, Transparency and Reporting, Medical Education/Academia, Health Policy, Media/Press Coverage, Medical Ethics

• Badness in Baltimore: Can Peer Review Catch Rogue Doctors?

  A couple of months ago, a Baltimore reporter called to get my take on a scandal at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Towson, an upscale suburb. A rainmaker cardiologist there, Dr. Mark Midei, had been accused of placing more than 500 stents in patients who didn’t Read More... Posted Tue, May 11 2010 6:42 AM by Bob Wachter | 15 Comments Filed under: Quality Improvement, Hospital Care, Quality Measurement, Health Policy, Media/Press Coverage, Medical Ethics

• Rainy Day Interviews, Oscar Winners’ Mortality, and a Randomized Trial of Niceness in the ER: The Extraordinary Mind of Don Redelmeier

  One of the great joys of a life in academic medicine is the opportunity to work with lots of very smart people. But one regret is that there is something about academia that tends to homogenize – faculty learn that, when it comes to competing for the Read More... Posted Mon, Dec 21 2009 3:53 PM by Bob Wachter | 10 Comments Filed under: Hospital Care, Medical Education/Academia, Diagnosis/Clinical Reasoning, Health Policy, Media/Press Coverage

• December 1, 2009: The Patient Safety Field Turns Ten

  On December 1, 1999, the Institute of Medicine released a report entitled To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System. Although its authors hoped to spark a national movement, they had little cause for optimism. After all, early efforts by advocates Read More... Posted Tue, Dec 01 2009 7:22 AM by Bob Wachter | 4 Comments Filed under: Hospital Care, Information Technology, Patient Safety/Medical Errors, Health Policy, Media/Press Coverage

• "This American Life" on Why the Healthcare System is Out of Control

  If you can spare 2 hours, do yourself a favor by listening to the two-part healthcare series on NPR's extraordinary show, This American Life. By using examples that are memorable for their simplicity and lack of hyperbole, the series (the episodes are Read More... Posted Wed, Oct 21 2009 5:22 PM by Bob Wachter | 2 Comments Filed under: Hospital Care, Efficiency, Industry/Pharma, Health Policy, Media/Press Coverage

• Death Panels, Palliative Care, and the Dangers of Modern McCarthyism

  It’s time to fight back. The “death panel” nonsense is not a harmless and amusing political canard – it is modern McCarthyism: the shameless, heinous use of lies and distortions to scare and confuse people. The tide will only turn if all of us begin speaking Read More... Posted Thu, Aug 20 2009 6:06 PM by Bob Wachter | 13 Comments Filed under: Hospital Care, Health Policy, Media/Press Coverage, Medical Ethics

• Gawande Nails It on Healthcare Costs

  I just finished reading Atul Gawande’s June 1st New Yorker piece – it's the Talk of the Health Policy Town – on healthcare’s “Cost Conundrum.” Like most of Atul’s work, the article is lyrical, powerful, insightful, and correct.As you’ve probably heard, Read More... Posted Fri, Jun 05 2009 10:55 PM by Bob Wachter | 4 Comments Filed under: Quality Improvement, Hospital Care, Efficiency, Health Policy, Media/Press Coverage, Medical Ethics

• Is Hospital Peer Review a Sham? Well, Mostly Yes

  Dr. Sidney Wolfe, healthcare’s answer to Ralph Nader, spends most of his days unhappy with somebody. Pragmatic, see-both-sides types like me naturally recoil from Wolfe’s reflexive indictment of institutions ranging from the FDA to Medicare. But Wolfe’s Read More... Posted Mon, Jun 01 2009 4:25 AM by Bob Wachter | 16 Comments Filed under: Hospital Care, Transparency and Reporting, Patient Safety/Medical Errors, Health Policy, Media/Press Coverage, Medical Ethics

• Announcing This Year’s Hospital Medicine CME Course – With a Keynote by Captain Sully!

  A quick note to let you know about my 13th annual Hospital Medicine CME course, September 24-26 at the Fairmont Hotel in SF. The big news this year is the keynote speaker: Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, the pilot who landed US Airways Flight 1549 Read More... Posted Fri, May 22 2009 6:06 AM by Bob Wachter | 0 Comments Filed under: Hospital Care, Medical Education/Academia, Hospitalists/Hospital Medicine, Patient Safety/Medical Errors, Media/Press Coverage

• On Quality Measurement, Babies, and Bathwater

  Quality Measurement mavens are reeling these days, as a result of the air being let out of high-profile measures such as tight glucose control, door-to-antibiotic time, and beta-blockers. Some critics have even suggested that we put a moratorium on new Read More... Posted Thu, Apr 16 2009 7:17 AM by Bob Wachter | 6 Comments Filed under: Quality Improvement, Hospital Care, Pay-for-performance, Transparency and Reporting, Quality Measurement, Health Policy, Media/Press Coverage

• Are We Finally Entering the Golden Age of Healthcare Transparency?

  When will patients start reviewing quality data before choosing their doctors and hospitals? The answer has been “soon” for several years, but “soon” may finally be the right answer. If you doubt it, check out the Commonwealth Fund’s new site, “Why Not Read More... Posted Sat, Dec 27 2008 3:15 PM by Bob Wachter | 8 Comments Filed under: Hospital Care, Pay-for-performance, Transparency and Reporting, Quality Measurement, Information Technology, Health Policy, Media/Press Coverage

• Resident Duty Hours and Patient Safety: Did The IOM Get It Right?

  The Institute of Medicine just released its long-awaited report on trainee duty hours. It is well researched and balanced, and its recommendations appropriately reflect what we know vs. what we believe. Now the fun begins.Let’s start with a little background, Read More... Posted Sat, Dec 06 2008 5:23 PM by Bob Wachter | 10 Comments Filed under: Hospital Care, Medical Education/Academia, Hospitalists/Hospital Medicine, Patient Safety/Medical Errors, Health Policy, Media/Press Coverage

• Can a Hospital Afford to Share Its Warts With the Public?

  Paul Levy, the blogging CEO at Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, has staked his – and his hospital’s – reputation on a culture of transparency. Although no doubt partly driven by Paul’s ethical compass, he must also hope that his unique brand Read More... Posted Sun, Nov 02 2008 4:56 PM by Bob Wachter | 1 Comments Filed under: Hospital Care, Transparency and Reporting, Health Policy, Media/Press Coverage