We spend a lot of time writing about all of the things that are going wrong, so it's nice to highlight some promising news periodically. In particular, it seems like there have been a lot of positive news stories about hospitals lately.
The Washington Post's Ceci Connolly profiles Pennsylvania's Geisinger Health system, which is demonstrating that it's possible to save money on healthcare by doing procedures right the first time.
At ProPublica, Sherri Fink describes the orderly evacuation of hundreds of patients from North Dakota hospitals and nursing homes, and finds that increased investment in hospital disaster preparedness has paid off.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation highlights an initiative that found hospitals were able to cut the transmission of MRSA bacteria by involving front-line staff in tackling the problem.
The Boston Globe's Kevin Cullen reports that Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center President and CEO Paul Levy didn't want his hospital's lower-wage workers to be hurt by the cuts he'd have to make. So, he asked the higher earners to make sacrifices, and got an overwhelming response. The Boston Globe's Elizabeth Cooney describes the measures the hospital will be taking, and you can also read about them on Paul Levy's blog.