"The Four Frank Principles"

I have to write this down as it is still fresh on my mind: I greatly enjoyed Prof. Art Frank's keynote speech at the 2015 Imagine Project! What an inspiring and truthful depiction of the challenges in health care, brilliantly set into words by such an accomplished scholar! In his speech, Prof. Frank enumerated 4 principles that I will call "The Four Frank Principles":

1. Responsible response. Take one idea per month and track the progress! (Yes! Who needs 13 organizational goals, each with 6 sub-goals?!). This is how many hospital institutions became huge success stories. Look up the Cincinnati Children's Hospital, Virginia Mason Medical Centre, Jonkoping County in Sweden, Kaiser Permanente. They all 'gold-plated the bolt'.

2. Small and specific demands. Please, do not talk about 'transformational change'...a small change in attitude can have great effects (for example respect patient's time and dignity; establish open charting etc.). Change starts with small steps. And as Hugh MacLeod, the CEO of the Canadian Patient Safety Institute, exclaims: Stop calling healthcare a system!