Running a Hospital

Running a Hospital is a blog actually written (not ghostwritten) by the CEO of a large Boston-area hospital, the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. The blog covers hospital/health-care issues as well as some unrelated topics. The emergence of this sort of open and frank discourse from leaders (particularly in medicine) is a real sea change. Just a few years ago, this sort of relatively unedited discussion would have been shut down by the lawyers. It’s an interesting variation on the “medium is the message” concept. Of course, everything this CEO (and others) are writing doesn’t require the web or weblogs. The same content could easily have been provided in a printed newsletter (setting aside the minor cost issue). Weblogs have established new norms, however, that enable openness even in particularly liability-sensitive areas like medicine.

For example, see this entry about fatal infections resulting from central lines. On a lighter note, should the hospital use cage-free eggs? (I said yes.)

[Tags]Weblogs, Health Care[/Tags]

3 comments

  1. Tom Apr 10

    I have never heard the term ‘cage-free’ before; it strikes me as an odd term, sounds like the chickens have always been in cages and through some great foresight you have freed them from this great oppression.

    Anyway love the link, thank Bevan for the NHS (however messed up it is).

  2. Paul Levy Apr 10

    Thanks, Adam, for checking in at my site and for the nice comments. On your point, weblogs also offer the potential for immediate feedback from readers, and a great opportunity for back-and-forth’s on various topics.

    Tom, I’m not big on farming, but I think that layers (i.e, egg-bearing chickens) are actually usually kept in cages, from which their eggs automatically roll down into some collection area. I think cage-free birds are left free to roam (well, not totally free!), and someone actually has to find the eggs and collect them! Anyway, ask my daughter. It was her idea . . .

  1. Hospital Thoughts | The Substantially Similar Weblog

Leave a Reply

(Markdown Syntax Permitted)