The dangers of pursuing the “silver bullet”
Occasionally we update and repost a favorite commentary from the past. This post originally appeared in 2012. In her remarks at the ninth annual World Congress on Health Care, Shari M. Ling, MD, deputy chief medical officer of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services wisely pointed out that there is “no silver bullet” to achieve better value. Dr. Ling emphasized, “When we start to talk about value, that discussion is really formulated on the foundation of quality.” Given the daunting challenges and demands health care leadership teams face to increase quality while reducing costs, it is easy to see why looking for the “silver bullet” is so tempting. I still get asked by some accomplished, experienced health care leaders, “Isn’t there something simple we can