by Christopher Cornue

Many of you have probably already seen "10 Steps to Better Health Care," the Op-Ed in The New York Times printed last week by Drs. Atul Gawande, Don Berwick, Elliott Fisher, and Mark McClelland. If you haven't, it deserves a read.

Whether or not you support the ongoing efforts by President Obama and Congress to create Health Care Reform, this op-ed makes a very striking point: that all healthcare/medicine is local. In reflection, I believe this is one of the fundamental differences of our healthcare system here in the United States compared to the rest of the world.

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I hadn't really given that aspect of our system much thought in the past; however, their discussion of several communities across America demonstrate this fact in a very clear way. Additionally, we've seen the Mayo and Cleveland Clinics held up as great examples of how to address our healthcare woes; yet they've repeatedly been challenged because of their "unique" structure.

Other "models of success" are discussed in this op-ed that support the assertion that our solutions to healthcare are already out there. As I've stated before, we have 50 unique laboratories--one for each state--here in the U.S. to test healthcare solutions and find the best solution. After reading this op-ed, I believe we have many more than 50 laboratories when we look at individual "local" examples of healthcare success.

Enjoy the read, and the continuing healthcare reform debate.