What on earth does Southwest Airlines have to do with healthcare?

In the time I’ve spent in healthcare and clinical informatics I’ve spent my fair share of time with physicians. Although my experience with most physicians has been positive, there are always horror stories about how docs are unfeeling or just don’t care about patients. I’ve found Dr. Woods writings refreshingly clear and informative about how physicians think. His recent article What on earth does Southwest Airlines have to do with healthcare? is very interesting and worth checking out. Here’s an insightful snippet:

The most frequent excuse I hear from healthcare providers when they are asked to implement something new (whether it is leadership coaching, communication and interpersonal skills training, electronic health records, patient satisfaction surveys, effective risk management strategies, etc.) is “I don’t have time� or “I have responsibilities.� Richard Bach, in his book “Illusions� writes, “The easiest way to avoid responsibility is to say ‘I have responsibilities.’�