I like to read. OK, I love to read. And, I’m somewhat of a nerd so I really enjoy reading books about healthcare, especially when they have a user experience vantage point. Here are a few of my favorites I’ve read this year.

Safe Patients, Smart Hospitals: How One Doctor's Checklist Can Help Us Change Health Care from the Inside Out by Peter Pronovost, MD

The most important thing I learned from this book is that technology isn’t always the best or right solution to apply to a problem. Sometimes, the simplest solution is the best. Dr. Peter Pronovost implemented a simple checklist in his operating rooms to reduce the number of central line infections patients experiences. Dr. Pronovost emphasizes the importance of teamwork in solving these problems: one practice he put in place was for surgical teams to introduce themselves to one another and state their roles in the OR before surgery began. He also espouses cultural change. Nurses were empowered to question surgeons who were not following the checklist, and given the cell phone number of the CEO to back them up, just in case. This book follows the study of checklist development, the decrease in infections as a result of checklists, and the further improvements in patient safety when teamwork and cultural change were also applied.

The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande

I’m a devoted Gawande fan, and I have enjoyed all of his books and articles. I read this book based on a client’s recommendation, as it was the basis for a project we worked on together. Gawande’s book is also about checklists – why we need them, what kinds of mistakes they protect us against, how effective ones have been developed, and what can happen both when we use them, and when we don’t.

The Innovator’s Prescription by Clayton Christianson

Disruptive business models have changed a variety of industries, and Christianson describes in this book how they have the potential to revolutionize healthcare. This book is a fascinating and ground-breaking take on what needs to happen to improve access, quality, and reduce costs in the American healthcare system and who might be responsible for making it happen.

Lee Farabaugh
Director of User Experience