Atul Gawande notes that improving quality while reducing costs should be focus

In a keynote address at the AHA and Health Forum Leadership Summit, Atul Gawande, M.D., stated that improving the quality of health care while controlling costs is the fundamental issue for our generation, according to AHA News Now.

The article states that Gawande said that hospital leaders need five skills to reduce cost: they need to collect data to recognize failure and success; develop solutions to problems based on that data; implement solutions effectively; identify the most important projects; and lead the community or organization through the process.

(Sources: AHA News Now, http://ahanews.com, July 19, 2011)