The Capital Region heard a provocative and stimulating message from Dr. Atul Gawande, the Harvard surgeon and renowned health care quality expert ("Albany leads way in health care reform," Jan. 18).
Per Gawande, our region is a "positive deviant" in the value equation of high-quality health care at lower cost. While we're in the top quartile, we're not the "best," and Gawande was invited to encourage our health care leadership and systems to be better.
He described three characteristics of communities required to create a truly high quality, cost-effective health care system: humility, discipline and teamwork.
Gawande observed the new world of health care needs more "pit crews," high-performing teams that share leadership, rather than "lone cowboys." An expert panel responded, describing their performance but didn't have time to truly reflect on Gawande's encouragement. The audience and broader community would be interested in what such a conversation might yield.
One hopeful voice late in the panel was Dr. Louis Snitkoff from CapitalCare Medical Group. He said he was amazed at "how much he and his group had to learn about their patients, themselves, their operations and the community." This is new knowledge learned through humility in listening and through improvement by professionals who formerly viewed themselves as "cowboys" learning how to be members of a "pit crew."
The session was a challenge our region: To live up to our strengths and learn how to become one of the best "health care pit crews" in the nation.
ALDEN (JOE) DOOLITTLE
Health care consultant
and former co-executive director of
the Institute for Behavioral
HealthCare Improvement
Scotia