If you don't work in healthcare, then you may not know that radiologists are known as "hedgers." That is, radiologists will say things in ways that avoid being definitive on anything. Maybe this is pneumonia. Maybe that is a mass. "No definitive fracture is seen"—does that mean a possible fracture is seen? Admittedly, radiologists can … Continue reading Confidence Without Certainty: If there’s one thing I know, it’s that I don’t know
Technology
20% Dreamer, 80% Builder
The other day I was walking by a construction site. I wondered what they were building. The fence around the site was covered by blocking material, and there was a sign with the construction company's name on it. I walked up to the sign and saw a picture of a gleaming building, with a central … Continue reading 20% Dreamer, 80% Builder
Designing with bias in mind
You may remember this alert from 2018, when a ballistic missile warning went out to the people of Hawaii. If you don't remember it, that’s OK—it turned out to be a false alarm. Although the full cause was never made public, there was widespread speculation that it stemmed from a poorly designed UI—the user interface … Continue reading Designing with bias in mind
Start designing telehealth now
One lesson from COVID has been that some things we thought were impossible are not only possible, but also necessary. Working from home is one of those and another is telehealth. Why have we been making patients come in to see us when many of them would rather stay home because of comfort, transportation issues, … Continue reading Start designing telehealth now
The gift of empathy
I was part of a facilitated discussion for a charitable group, and the question posed to us was: How do we increase empathy? It was a diverse group of entrepreneurs, educators, and others (I include myself as an "other"). There were a lot of thought-provoking questions raised: How and when do you start teaching kids … Continue reading The gift of empathy
Redefining “better”
In Seth Godin's podcast Akimbo, he discusses the concept of being supple, or being resilient in a changing world. In the subsequent episode, he answers listener questions about the previous week. A filmmaker asks what he should do, given that much of the creation of pictures and videos has shifted away from experienced professionals to … Continue reading Redefining “better”
How do we manifest the checklist?
I did two things last week which at first seemed unrelated. First, I finished reading the book The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande. Second, I attended a roundtable discussion on the topic of utilization management, with a focus on the history and use of pre-authorization. In The Checklist Manifesto, Gawande describes his quest to increase … Continue reading How do we manifest the checklist?
Red Goggles 