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Fixin' Healthcare

Sunday, June 11, 2006

The Lifestyle Chronicles - A Thorn In The Lion's Paw

A Healthcare Systems Engineering Workshop is scheduled for June 15-16th in Arlington, Virginia. A recent joint study by the National Academy of Engineering and the Institute of Medicine identified involvement from the systems engineers and researchers as a means to improve quality, safety, and efficiency in healthcare in America. This workshop will build upon that study and begin to envision a program to go forward.

Instead of getting bigger, re-organize to do it better. What a novel idea! There is absolutely no doubt the premise is correct but the implementation will be a nightmare. My suggestion is to pick a few demonstrations to prove the point and follow through with a plan that changes crucial pieces with an expanding boundary. Hospitals, Medicare and Medicaid are good areas to address once on a roll. Don't expect to be welcomed with open arms. There will be a lot of excuses and a few reasons given to slow the effort.

I have another suggestion, however, that will be more productive and could bring great change to health care. Why not design a new system for health promotion and primary and secondary prevention? If well done, the results would be amazing. And, the program will meet with far less resistance. Just a thought.

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