Such simple reforms might include •Regulating catheter use. Studies have found that death rates plummet when doctors are required to consistently follow a simple five-step checklist.51 •Requiring autopsies. Around 40 percent of autopsies reveal the original cause-of-death diagnosis to have been incorrect.52 But autopsy rates are way down, from a high of 50 percent in the 1950s to a current rate of about 5 percent.53 •Getting doctors to wash their hands consistently. Compliance for best handwashing practices hovers around 40 percent.54 Some of these problems are downright scandalous, and yet,
...more
