Frectally speaking

Just in time for the end of the months post and there’s a useful story on TED.com to mention.

If you haven’t come across TED.com before, please take a look. Its a powerful force for sharing ideas across the globe.

Yesterdays addition to TED was from Atul Gawande, a physician trying to improve healthcare.

The transcript of the session is worth a read. It highlights some key points;

• The incredible cost of healthcare.
• The quick move from hospitals as places for rest, offering shelter, food and attention to places that can offer 1000’s of drugs and procedures, in just a few generations.
• Interesting data ” In 1970, the number of doctors a patient at a hospital saw, on average, was 2. By the end of the 20th century, it was 15.”
• Too many specialists rather than generalists.
• The risks of modern healthcare, from basic stuff e.g. lack of proper hand hygiene.
• Amazing clinicians with amazing technologies, that rarely come together.
• Wide gap between best results and worst results
• Outcomes don’t match costs
• “When your a specialist you cant see the whole story.. you need to be incredibly interested in data..”