About hospitalimpact.org

Join our online community!

Latest Posts



Hospital Leadership Series


Hot Topics

  • Last comments
  • Subscribe to this blog!



    Subscribe in NewsGator Online

    Hospital Impact can also be seen through:

    What Baseball can teach us about Healthcare

    October 24th, 2008

    by Tony Chen

    Apparently a lot more than we thought. Read this op-ed in the WSJ on an op-ed piece in the NYT. Here's the money quote from the article written by Newt Gingrinch, John Kerry, and the data-driven-decision-making GM of the Oakland A's:

    America’s health care system behaves like a hidebound, tradition-based ball club that chases after aging sluggers and plays by the old rules: we pay too much and get too little in return. To deliver better health care, we should learn from the successful teams that have adopted baseball’s new evidence-based methods. The best way to start improving quality and lowering costs is to study the stats.

    [More:]

    They are calling for a national institute of evidence-based medicine. Good idea in theory, and a good start, but the devil's in the details. There is indeed a need to get battle-tested best practices out there to physicians from a neutral source. It simply takes too long for that too happen today. But a lot of the new research and emerging data coming up would have to be treated very carefully - that's where it gets sticky.

    For me, this baseball season hasn't been a lesson about data-driven decision-making as it has been about the importance of strong leadership. Those pesky, underpaid Tampa Bay Rays are a case study on leadership and teamwork. Multi-million dollar ballplayers can work together with their admin people to focus solely on the experience of their customers -- the fans. Then why can't we?

    Comments:

    Comment from: Havana626 [Visitor]
    a big problem with the baseball analogy.

    - the two best statistical teams watched the world series on television.
    Permalink 10/27/08 @ 14:21
    Comment from: hospitaltony [Member]
    That's the beauty of baseball and sports. The smart teams and players always go with the high percentage plays. It doesn't guarantee a win, but it does maximize the chances.
    Permalink 10/27/08 @ 15:20

    Leave a comment:

    Your email address will not be displayed on this site.
    Your URL will be displayed.
    Allowed XHTML tags: <p, ul, ol, li, dl, dt, dd, address, blockquote, ins, del, a, span, bdo, br, em, strong, dfn, code, samp, kdb, var, cite, abbr, acronym, q, sub, sup, tt, i, b, big, small>
    URLs, email, AIM and ICQs will be converted automatically.


    authimage

    Options:
     
    (Line breaks become <br />)
    (Set cookies for name, email & url)

    Google
     

    Get Hospital Impact in your inbox!

    Enter your Email

    Preview