Dr. Atul Gawande, Health Care, and Costs: A Dim Prognosis

        Diane Rehm interviewed Dr. Atul Gawande, author of The Checklist Manifest, and he was interviewed on CSpan (links below). His advice and observations are sound and cogent, often simple but profound. His goal is to improve medical care and reduce health care costs.
        Three decades ago, Dr. Jonathan Miller, when asked what the most significant medical advancement were, he said covered, underground sewers. What about the polio vaccine? What about penicillin? Clean water and food preservation. What about x-rays? Understanding what newborns should and should not eat. And so with Dr. Gawande. His suggestions were much less high-tech and futuristic, than they were down to earth and practical.
        For me, the cynical optimist, when he talked about cost reductions, I knew he was right, but that his suggestions were only from the medical side, and could never match let alone cut out the cancer that is fraud. Diane Rehm said that he was the must-read author for the Obama administration’s efforts at healthcare reform. And so, the cancer remain inoperable. The prognosis is dim.

Diane Rehm, 01.06.10 interview with Dr. Atul Gawande: “The Checklist Manifesto.”
http://wamu.org/programs/dr/10/01/06.php#29280
CSpan (Video on Demand) “Interview with Dr. Atul Gawande”
http://www.c-span.org/Topics/Health-Care-Insurance-Reform-Legislation-Town-Hall.aspx