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Clinton: 'Encrusted' Health System is Killing Patients

The former president spoke at an OC summit including medical device makers, doctors and surgeons about how to eliminate the 200,000 yearly unnecessary patient deaths in the U.S.

Speaking in Orange County Monday Former President Bill Clinton blamed an increasingly complex and "encrusted" U.S. healthcare system for ballooning expenses, sicker patients and unnecessary deaths.

Clinton said decades of adding conflicting rules and stopgap measures to an outdated health bureaucracy has led to a bewildering and Byzantine system that accidentally kills 200,000 patients per year in the U.S.

"There’s no devil here," he said. "We have an encrusted system that's killing people, not because there's somebody lurking behind the curtain.

"There need be no evildoers in this story. There's just human nature and the nature of human development,” he added. “Institutions have become ossified and rigid... where position is more important than purpose, or people get overwhelmed by complexity."

Clinton spoke Monday at the Inaugural Masimo Patient Safety Science and Technology Summit at the Laguna Niguel Ritz Carlton. The aim of the conference is to sign up manufacturers and developers of health monitoring devices to share information with one another to reduce unnecessary patient deaths in the United States.

Eight major manufacturers Monday announced their commitment to share information with each other to create a "health data superhighway," which would automatically warn clinicians, patients and families of symptoms indicating an upcoming heart attack, seizure or other health threat.

The U.S. spends 18 percent of its gross domestic product on healthcare, six percentage points higher than the nation with the next most healthcare spending, said Clinton.

Yet the U.S. has poorer outcomes for patients than other Western countries, despite spending more, he said.

Clinton commended the patient safety summit participants for getting together with their knowledge and expertise to help solve the problem of unnecessary patient deaths. Solving the problem would also help address the high cost and poor outcomes that plague the U.S. healthcare system.

“Networks of creative cooperation will dominate the 21st century, for good or for ill -- the cumulative impact of people thinking together, talking together, working together,” Clinton said. “The failure to continuously improve the system... is undermining the productivity of the country.”

Clinton discussed several of his Clinton Global Initiatives that he says have improved the lives of more than 4 million people who now have health clinics near their villages, can afford AIDS medication, or have access to healthier and less sugary foods in schools.

It was these initiatives that inspired Mission Viejo-based Masimo Corporation founder Joe Kiani to organize the patient safety conference. The $500 million-per-year company makes medical devices that monitor hemoglobin levels, the amount of oxygen in the blood and brain function, among other data.

Central to the strategy hashed out at the conference would be to allow medical monitoring devices to communicate with each other and allow computers to collate patient data to keep an eye out for something going wrong. A fluctuation in hemoglobin, for instance, may not mean much alone, but when coupled with some other fluctuations, it could mean disaster for the patient, Kiani said.

Another improvement to patient healthcare addressed at the summit would be to reduce errors in administering drugs and the number of blood transfusions using older blood, which deteriorates over time and can harm patients. Also, instituting basic checklists during surgeries and other procedures -- similar to those used in the aerospace industry -- can help save lives.

 “I know that none of you want to be a part of a system that leaves us sicker and broke, or you wouldn’t be sitting here,” he told the crowd. “I think our future belongs to creative networks of cooperation.

“We’ve got to share data, not hoard it. It’s not unrealistic to think that by 2020, you can get rid of unnecessary deaths in the American healthcare system."

ms.sc. January 15, 2013 at 10:37 pm
William, your last sentence about Monica and Hillary is sick! You sound like you must be God's gift to women! Who are you to judge what a person's physical appearance is deemed worthy of acceptance?
JustUs January 15, 2013 at 10:38 pm
Tiny, what's that got to do with a bankrupted medical system and a former President who betrayed his wife, daughter and country?
Now that you've lost the argument you have to throw up a smoke screen? Sorry, not buying it.
JustUs January 15, 2013 at 10:39 pm
Thank you. ms.sc.
I am glad you see through his public persona. The writing is all over the wall. Some just choose to ignore it.
tiny January 15, 2013 at 10:44 pm
"Man will never solve the problem".
ms.sc. January 15, 2013 at 11:08 pm
Yes, Clinton is quiet "charming" in person. He is a gifted speaker just like Obama is. I do agree with you JustUs, that Clinton loves the "limelight" and as-soon-as it fades, he is jet-setting to yet another attention seeking podium. He is book smart and common sense "stupid". So is Obama.
MFriedrich January 15, 2013 at 11:30 pm
JustUs,
I'd be very curious to know who your "role model" politicians really are. You seem to believe that leaders and politicians are always to be morally superior beings, and that we should hold expectations of such superiority, lest we become a corruptible society. This is all well and good to say this on the surface, such as: "I expect the President to adhere to his oath". Perfectly understandable. Except everyone knows that they don't. Everyone is disappointed when they don't. But not everyone is shocked when they don't. That's the difference. So if you're accusing me of the death of outrage in political circles, I'm not ashamed to admit my guilt. While you're at it, add in the Olympics, Major League Baseball and the Tour de France to your indictment of me. I'm confident that my sentiment hardly lies on the outskirts of the Bell curve of American public opinion. Am I wrong to view things this way? Maybe. We glamorize and vilify historical figures to undue extremes and then express disappointment when facts come to light. The excrement always floats to the surface, as it did with Bill Clinton, Ulysses S. Grant, George Washington and other historical figures. This is the way of things. No one is morally perfect, especially politicians. I try not to get all emo about it. That is all.
MFriedrich January 15, 2013 at 11:34 pm
Did I say it was not a "problem"?
No, I didn't. You're putting words in people's mouths that they did not say. I simply said that Bill could have probably chosen better. This is not say that cheating on his wife was morally acceptable behavior. It was a terrible thing to do in all cases.
JustUs January 15, 2013 at 11:48 pm
It's true. Man is too devious, selfish and greedy. The laws of math are the only solution. And it won't be pretty. It won't be pretty a 'tal. heh.
MFriedrich January 15, 2013 at 11:50 pm
Thomas Jefferson was a great man in my opinion and a great US president. He wrote the Virginia Statutes on Religious Freedom which was the framework to our country's great and unprecedented 1st amendment in the Bill of Rights.
But Jefferson owned slaves (as many contemporaries die), and there's also historical evidence that he sired children with these slaves. He then sold and re-bought and re-sold these slaves again, splitting up the new family fabric he himself had created, with little regard. Jefferson did all of this after promising his wife Martha on her deathbed never to re-marry (and to live a celebate life). Does this make Thomas Jefferson a inveterate liar and a scum bag? Perhaps. Certainly through the eyes of an arrogant, holier-than-thou personality, the answer is "yes". And anyone who disagrees with this is surely an untrustworthy moral relativist scum himself. Instead, I like to think of Thomas Jefferson of a very intelligent, well-educated and brilliant man. He was not morally perfect by any means, but the preponderance of his life deeds and contributions were significant and not completely cancelled out by his moral imperfections. Few question the net positive and benefit regarding the life and contributions of Thomas Jefferson.
JustUs January 15, 2013 at 11:51 pm
Referring to his "choice of mistress" vs. his act which betrayed his wife, child and country is very telling.
I am not fooled easily.
JustUs January 15, 2013 at 11:57 pm
When Mr. Townsend write a blog on "Thomas Jefferson" I would be happy to comment on him as well. But since this blog focuses on WIlliam Jefferson Clinton he is the subject matter and no matter how you try to divert or change the subject - I will not bite. Either you decry hideous immoral activity of those in high positions who are supposedly defacto role models for our nation - or you turn a blind eye to it and therefore condone it. And if you want to drag the nation's morals through the sewer I will oppose you every step of the way.
tiny January 15, 2013 at 11:59 pm
Math is not the reality just as money is not reality. The laws of the universe and our abilty to understand and to be creative are what is impt. I know it's dark, but try not to despair.
JustUs January 16, 2013 at 12:03 am
"Math is not the reality just as money is not reality"
HAH! Are you a government bean counter by trade or just by hobby??? HAH! Obama might be interested in making you our next Secretary of Treasury! HAH! I urge you to apply!!! HAH! At the very least you could be Paul Krugman's water boy. You could help him pave the way to hell with good intentions!!! HAH! :^)
MFriedrich January 16, 2013 at 12:06 am
Yes, he failed with Rwanda, but you left out his failures in Somalia? Why?
You also left out some of his involved successes: 1. Reversed ethnic cleansing in Kosovo via 79 day war vs. Serbia via NATO. Ditto Bosnia-Herzegovina. 2. Brokered Good Friday Peace Accord in Northern Ireland 3. Brokered Wye River accords with Israel and neighbors. 4. Brokered peace talks and protected democracy in East Timor. 5. Advocated financial relief to alleviate Mexico's currency crisis. There were many failures as well in public policy, etc. But overall Clinton's presidency appears to be largely viewed as a net positive for the country compared to his predecessor and successor.
tiny January 16, 2013 at 12:15 am
Even a bean counter can decipher you can't tax or cut enough to put Humpty Dumpty back together again.
tiny January 16, 2013 at 12:17 am
You've got to go GS, 3rd National Bank and rebuild. Or not.
JustUs January 16, 2013 at 12:18 am
I would never choose a poltician as a role model. Never have. Never would. I would be as likely to choose a harlot as a role model. But that does not deter me from pointing out the disgust that I have with either.
But we expect harlots to act like they do. But we should not take for granted or expect the leaders of our nation to behave like harlots. The fact that YOU have been desensitized is YOUR problem. Please don't PROJECT your problem upon the rest of us. :^)
MFriedrich January 16, 2013 at 12:21 am
I'm not sure we can ever afford healthcare for all either. At the same I do not think the HMO insurance model was working. Neither was leaving 60 million Americans (including women and children, i.e. our future taxpayers) completely uninsured.
To come closer to affording such massive entitlement schemes like Obamacare something else has to change. I can't be certain, but I bet the answer has something to do with an American future where it's consciously decided that we start making more butter and a lot less guns. No country has been involved in more elective military interventions and expensive misadventures over the last 50 years than the United States. Few empires survive this for very long. Also Keynesian economic policy - e.g. govt subsidized demand coupled with massive over-consumption by nation's citizens and an uncontrolled central bank- must all die a fast death. Then again maybe our nation's destiny really is to become a hybrid of 1989 Japan and 2011 Greece?
MFriedrich January 16, 2013 at 12:25 am
"The fact that YOU have been desensitized is YOUR problem.
Please don't PROJECT your problem upon the rest of us. :^)" I'll remember your words, JustUs.
JustUs January 16, 2013 at 12:34 am
"Even a bean counter can decipher you can't tax or cut enough to put Humpty Dumpty back together again."
Yes, but Humpty is still in mid-flight and has not hit the ground yet. When he hits the ground you'll know it. Trust me you will. And that will be the laws of math at work. It will force us to rebuild from the ground up. Unfortunately it will also destroy both our political and economic systems as we know them today. And the cure could be worse than the disease. So there are no guarantees. And chances are good it won't be better. It will be worse. World history tells us so. But the laws of math are VERY real. When Humpty connects with the pavement you will learn how real they are!
MFriedrich January 16, 2013 at 12:44 am
Clinton cheated on his wife. This was morally reprehensible. As rational persons we can choose to dwell on that negative behavior, or consider the greater sum of the individual's works.
The same approach can be applied to Thomas Jefferson, or George W. Bush or any other historical figure. One does not have to "drag the country's morals threw the sewers" to do this and make an objective assessment. That's all I'm saying.
JustUs January 16, 2013 at 12:45 am
mfriedrich, we are pretty much in agreement on your last comment.
The problem is when your country is dying you have to steal from others to survive. Why do you think we attack oil rich nations and not the poor African nations where people have been slaughtered by the millions? Simply because the African nations have nothing that we want. The oil-rich nations do. It's not hard to figure out. And the defense contractors own the Pentagon and Congress and the POTUS. Just like the oil-companies own them. Just like the banks own them. The nation is owned by the corporation and only managed by the politicians who are owned by the big money. Public unions are also part of that mix. So there you go. Only the laws of mathematics will solve the puzzle in the end. US healthcare is on life-support. They won't tell you this. But it is. In a few years they will be denying anyone over 70 a heart bypass, hip or knee replacements. Organ replacements are out of the question unless you are independently wealthy. They will give those in pain NSAIDS or opiates and tell them to grin and bear it. The unspoken message will be "You've lived a long enough life. Now it's time for you to move on and make room for the younger generations". And in a way I agree with them. You are going to see massive changes in US healthcare. And you can bet your bippy on that. The money has all but run out. And the games are about over.
JustUs January 16, 2013 at 12:55 am
A man is only as good as his weakest link.
We can do MUCH better than Clinton. We have much higher quality material in America and they should be encouraged to step forward. Unfortunately, just like with street gangs, the DC gangsters have to hold certain personal credentials to reach the top. And those credentials are mostly deplorable. One is the ability to look into a camera and lie without flinching or smiling or smirking. And the credentials build from there. But that is one of the BASIC requirements. The problem is that they laugh at the moral code in the highest ranks of governement and business. And world history tells us that morals are the glue that hold society together. This is very basic stuff, mfriedrich. You should already know it. That's why I wonder if you are just in denial or willfully ignorant in this regard? Quite serious I am. He should not be praised. He is unworthly of it. He should be scorned.
tiny January 16, 2013 at 01:12 am
"Only the laws of mathematics will solve the puzzle in the end". Mathematics is only a measuring device, like a ruler. The most impt thing is to understand iscwhat it is you're trying to measure.
tiny January 16, 2013 at 01:36 am
musical respite: www.youtube.com/watch?v=03YUgHAshSo
JustUs January 16, 2013 at 02:31 am
" Mathematics is only a measuring device, like a ruler. The most impt thing is to understand iscwhat it is you're trying to measure."
You're full of nonsense tonight, aren't you? You're not helping your credibility on these boards. Much more of that and I will heavily discount anything you claim in the future.
Joker Joe January 16, 2013 at 01:13 pm
ms.sc.
Is this the sentence that has your panties in a twist??? "I can see where he would rather have Monica then Hillary though"!! What is sick about it? I was referring to intellect, not physical appearance. You gotta read the words put down and not your own biases..... "Am I God's gift to women"? I never said I was but what is your opinion? I was born in the likeness of God! I was created by God! God is great!
tiny January 16, 2013 at 01:41 pm
I'm agree with many of the things you argue are bad or insane. But if one wishes to correct things is where we would differ. While I acknowledge that gov't has grown too large in many areas, if you try to cut the big programs anywhere close to what is required you're going to increase deaths and probably have people in the streets like happened in Eastern Europe, but maybe not with the happy outcome as occured in 1989. Plus it wouldn't solve anything because the problem is our real economy is so small and the Fed can't print enough money to bail out all the financial obligations of the banks. You would to go with the full FDR approach today if you were looking for a national soloution. And Congress would regulate commerce instead of Wall Street. I know thinking Congress regulating the economy would be like a nightmare to you, but you can see where "free trade" has taken things.
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tiny January 17, 2013 at 12:41 am
Perspective: www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJqyIPPd1rk

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