UNLEASHED: Episode 26

I suppose the question is just how safe can medicine become?

Healthcare is one of the most complicated industries in the world.

It's so complicated.

And so I liken it to running a nuclear power plant.

I liken it to the airline industry.

The mention of nuclear power got my attention.

I used to work in that environment.

And sure, the consequences of failure are very high.

At the same time, I think safety in healthcare is even harder to manage because in nuclear power, the everyday work processes are highly scripted and highly repeatable.

In healthcare, there's just a much wider span for judgment.

So we train the best clinicians we can, but we're all human, right?

No one bats a thousand.

And in Chi's view, when humans make errors, we must remember first that...

No one went into medicine to want to hurt anyone.

Usually, the problem's not a bad clinician.

It's a system that could be improved.

I always strive for a system that's redundant, that is careful, that prevents humans from making mistakes.

Every year, 100,000 lives are lost in the United States.

And those 100,000 lives are important to everyone, including their family and including to me.

Estimates of the number of lives lost annually to adverse events in hospitals vary widely, from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands.

But look, anywhere in that range, it's a heavy burden.

And yes, systems and processes can be made safer and more redundant.

But Qi might start at an even more fundamental level with values.

To Qi, his potassium story

symbolizes looking back, courage.

I suppose the question is just how safe can medicine become?

Healthcare is one of the most complicated industries in the world.

It's so complicated.

And so I liken it to running a nuclear power plant.

I liken it to the airline industry.

The mention of nuclear power got my attention.

I used to work in that environment.

And sure, the consequences of failure are very high.

At the same time, I think safety in healthcare is even harder to manage because in nuclear power, the everyday work processes are highly scripted and highly repeatable.

In healthcare, there's just a much wider span for judgment.

So we train the best clinicians we can, but we're all human, right?

No one bats a thousand.

And in Chi's view, when humans make errors, we must remember first that...

No one went into medicine to want to hurt anyone.

Usually, the problem's not a bad clinician.

It's a system that could be improved.

I always strive for a system that's redundant, that is careful, that prevents humans from making mistakes.

Every year, 100,000 lives are lost in the United States.

And those 100,000 lives are important to everyone, including their family and including to me.

Estimates of the number of lives lost annually to adverse events in hospitals vary widely, from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands.

But look, anywhere in that range, it's a heavy burden.

And yes, systems and processes can be made safer and more redundant.

But Qi might start at an even more fundamental level with values.

To Qi, his potassium story

symbolizes looking back, courage.