Apparently, It's Just Not That Simple!

In our previous post regarding surgical checklists, we asked the question "Can it really be that simple?" The answer is -- apparently not!

For a lively and informative discussion, see Paul Levy's blog post (including the comments) on the same topic. Barriers to change include a "broken" medical education system, a physician culture that resists "standardization," and a lack of consumer/patient input. Also, it seems that if the medical community cannot adopt such system changes (like the use of a surgical checklist) relatively soon, the likelihood of further burdensome regulation and legislation is very real. While the exchange is fascinating to read, I found it quite dizzying trying to sift through the differing perspectives and important issues raised!

I guess the appropriate question then would be -- Are we making any real headway or just continuing to spin our wheels?