Stefan Larsson, credit: Ted.com
We were all struck by the power and potential of this Ted Talk video at Sermo and we wanted to share it with everyone. Stefan Larsson, a physician by training, currently a researcher in the “transparency of medical outcomes,” has a way to improve healthcare both for the patient and for the bottom line.
During the talk, Larsson discusses hip replacements in Sweden and creating a loop of ever improving information. Orthopedic surgeons came together to discover the best surgical techniques keeping the patient at the center of their research.
They discovered that putting cement in the femur before inserting the replacement joint greatly improved longevity of the joint. Often patients wouldn’t need another operation … ever. They published their findings and the technique became standardized in Swedish medicine. Now, where statistics are available, Sweden is known for the best outcomes globally for that surgery.
Larsson goes on to discuss the dramatic differences between outcomes at different facilities around Europe. Surgery for prostate cancer in one hospital can have a 5% risk for incontinence and in another as high as 50%. By bringing surgeons together and providing the same feedback loop that physicians used over hip surgery, the crowdsourcing of information can lead to a 5% risk overall. At least that’s the goal.
Larsson says, “physicians are always very competitive, if someone can show them that their results they perform for their patients is no better than what others do, they will do whatever it takes to improve it. But most of them don’t know the numbers.”
He goes on to say that physicians enjoy sharing information to improve healthcare as a whole. Larsson has helped to create an organization called ICHOM, (International Consortium for Health Outcome Measurement). ICHOM’s goal is to improve patient care in the exact same way Swedish orthopedics improved hip replacements. Create teams of physicians, centered on a specific health issue, and discover best practices for each.
Their goal is that within 3 years they’ll have covered 40% of the global disease burden. Already early results have come in and they will be releasing results later this month about prostate cancer, cataracts, coronary artery disease and prostate cancer.
At Sermo we frequently talk about crowdsourced medicine. Our iConsult is a good example of sharing best practices among physicians, and we consider it the heart of what we do. By taking this idea and creating a global opportunity for physicians to share information, we can only imagine the potential results. So please take 13 minutes and watch the video and let us know your thoughts. We will also be discussing this inside Sermo so if you’re an M.D. or a D.O. please join us inside.
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