How Safe is the Hospital--what consumers can do

this sounds like a book all of us need to read; too many people are dying or getting sicker, in the hospitals.

As at many hospitals, we had dysfunctional teamwork because of an exceedingly hierarchal culture. When confrontations occurred, the problem was rarely framed in terms of what was best for the patient. It was: “I’m right. I’m more senior than you. Don’t tell me what to do.” With the thing that Josie King died from — an infection after a catheter insertion, our rates were sky high: about 11 per 1,000, which, at the time, put us in the worst 10 percent in the country.

A Conversation With Dr. Peter J. Pronovost - Doctor Leads Quest for Safer Ways to Care for Patients - Interview - NYTimes.com