Different hospitals produce different results on different procedures. Only, patients don’t know that data, making choosing a surgeon a high-stakes guessing game. Stefan Larsson looks at what happens when doctors measure and share their outcomes on hip replacement surgery, for example, to see which techniques are proving the most effective. Could health care get better -- and cheaper -- if doctors learn from each other in a continuous feedback loop?

What doctors can learn from each other

Healthcare systems often focus on cutting costs, while patient outcomes vary dramatically from one hospital to another. In one example, prostate surgery in two German hospitals produced incontinence rates of 50 percent versus just one in twenty. When doctors measure and share results, as Swedish hip surgeons did, best practices quickly spread and costs drop. Tracking outcomes that matter to patients transforms staff from frustrated bystanders into the real engines of healthcare improvement.

Measuring Medical Outcomes Drives Better Care And Lower Costs

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