What is Quality Anyways?: James Hinton, the CEO of Baylor Scott and White, got a good laugh from the audience when he said that he was proud to be one of the five or six hundred hospitals in the nation’s top 100 hospitals. And looking at the multiple “ego wall” slides we saw in day one and day two of the conference, all of which systems or companies were recognized for their outstanding quality and achievements, it brings to mind the old Lake Woebegon comment by Garrison Keillor that their town is a place where all of the children are above average. As some/many may ask, if everyone is doing so well per the awards, then how is it that we as a nation are not doing well with our health and our healthcare system? Is it just “those other guys” who are not winning those awards that are so far below average and dragging us all down in quality and exceeding in costs? Perhaps there is a place for some new thinking on measuring quality based on meeting patient goals, rather than third party quality organization goals. Put another way, healthcare today still is focusing more on process than results. Did you get your mammogram is the question, rather than did you make it another year without succumbing to a major disease.
Continue Reading Day 2 Notes from the 2019 JPMorgan Healthcare Conference