Author Archives: Ted

About Ted

Edward B. J. (Ted) Winslow received an MD from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver and an MBA by the Kellogg School of Northwestern University. Before getting his MBA, Ted practiced Cardiology and Internal Medicine at several Chicago institutions (University of Illinois, Veterans West Side, Illinois Masonic, Northwestern Memorial and Evanston Northwestern Healthcare – each one at a time). As a practicing physician, Ted has had experience in managing a medical practice, and implementing the adoption of electronic medical record systems

Dr. Gawande has done it again – almost – a review of “Being Mortal”; Gawande, Atul; Metropolitan Books; New York; 2014

Posted on November 21, 2014 by Ted

This book is almost on track to be a potential game changer. The title is engaging. However, on my first reading, I found the book a little difficult to follow. Dr. Gawande has essentially written about two distinct components of … Continue reading →

Posted in General Interest | Leave a comment

General Shineski Needn’t Have Been Ousted – He Was Betrayed

Posted on June 9, 2014 by Ted

At the end of May, after a series of exposés and congressional hearings, General Eric Shinseki, was pressured to resign as Secretary of the Department of Veterans’ Affairs… Could the VA scandal have been prevented? – In all likelihood yes. Would it have been easy to prevent? – No. Continue reading →

Posted in General Interest, Leadership, Policy | 2 Comments

Diagnosis may be the Achilles Heel of Incentive Based Payment.

Posted on January 22, 2014 by Ted

“Diagnosis is the mental act of selecting the one explanation most compatible with all the facts of clinical observation”.  – Raymond Adams in Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine – 4th edition In almost all instances, Government and other third party … Continue reading →

Posted in General Interest, Policy, Quality, treatment options | 2 Comments

What is Quality? It Depends on Who Does The Measurement

Posted on March 4, 2013 by Ted

There are more than a dozen sets of publicaly reported quality metrics … with between 8 & 80 individual components to each set. It is small wonder that they don’t agree. Continue reading →

Posted in General Interest | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

What is Evidence Based Medicine?

Posted on May 16, 2012 by Ted

One definition would be: Delivery of Medical Care based on results of best available evidence. This usually means finding or relying upon data, some of which will be from outside one’s immediate memory to help answer a clinical question. EBM … Continue reading →

Posted in effectiveness/efficacy, General Interest, Quality, treatment options | 2 Comments

Providers, Patient Care Delivery and Policy: Hospitalist story

Posted on August 24, 2011 by Ted

There are often perverse incentives in health care. These incentives can, at times, create competing drives where providers are encouraged to do things that directly increase the costs of care.  Consider the reaction to the mandate to cut down hours … Continue reading →

Posted in General Interest, Operational effectiveness, Policy, Quality | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Why do Physicians Behave the Way They Do?

Posted on July 25, 2011 by Ted

I believe that the vast majority of physicians do “the right thing” for their patients. I don’t think I’m being a Pollyanna. On the other hand, the “The Tragedy of the Commons”, which describes behavior in many cultures, doesn’t bypass … Continue reading →

Posted in General Interest, Quality, treatment options | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Registry Participation will help Develop Alignment and Improve Quality

Posted on May 23, 2011 by Ted

Many hospitals and hospital systems are trying to ensure that they are satisfying quality metrics to help with accreditation, and to confirm that they are satisfying their mission and providing community benefit. Superior performance in achieving clinical quality may allow … Continue reading →

Posted in Competition, CV, effectiveness/efficacy, Quality, treatment options | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

We should work to Identify Problems rather than try to Fix Blame in Medical Service delivery.

Posted on March 17, 2011 by Ted

Recently there have been stories of inappropriate cardiac procedures being. There are at least four glaring examples of instances in which cardiologists have acted in a way that was not consistent with what others would have considered optimal patient care. … Continue reading →

Posted in CV, Peer Review, Policy, Quality, treatment options | 3 Comments

Who worries about physician behavior? Who is ultimately responsible?

Posted on January 15, 2011 by Ted

There is a true story of a 30 yo woman who has a history of rheumatoid arthritis, and who developed unusual eye symptoms. She went to a physician who referred her to a neurologist (both were “independent medical practitioners”). The … Continue reading →

Posted in General Interest | 27 Comments