New York and the New England Journal of Medicine

Yesterday, I was in New York for a series of meetings with a health-care related theme. For instance, I ran with the Mighty Milers of PS 128 in Washington Heights who are part of an innovative program to get children moving and to stem the epidemic of childhood obesity. And later that day, I met with doctors and administrators at the NYU Medical School and Langone Medical Center where I saw firsthand how they are using cutting-edge technology – in the operating room and in the executive suite -- to improve patient outcomes, reduce costs, and to constantly push their organization toward higher-quality medicine. 

Finally, yesterday the New England Journal of Medicine published an essay that I co-wrote with my colleague Zeke Emanuel in which we review how the Affordable Care Act (ACA) can bring health care costs under control. It makes some points that avid readers of OMBlog will recognize, and overall argues that ACA not only is deficit-reducing from a purely "green eyeshade" viewpoint, but also puts in place "dynamic and flexible structures that can develop and institute policies that respond to real changes in the system in order to improve quality and restrain unnecessary cost growth."

Check out the article, and even though it’s in the New England Journal of Medicine, you don’t need a MD to read it.