It has taken 13 years for us to revisit the issues in To Err Is Human, the 1999 landmark government report that shocked our nation with its revelation that 98,000 people died yearly in hospitals due to doctors’ errors. For decades, and through one administration after another, the lack of safety in our healthcare system has gone un-addressed, placing us at greater and greater risk. Hospitals have disappeared, …

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As the health reform debate rages on, the central issue of how to improve care while reducing costs remains unaddressed.

Fee-for-service has reduced doctors to assembly line pieceworkers, paid by the office visit and procedure rather than by effectiveness of treatment. The result is an inefficient, costly and dangerous system. It is not unusual for a five minute office visit, which excludes clinical examination or note taking. Many patients/consumers can be …

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