If We Took Away The Ability To

Just Using A Checklist Requires [doctors] To Embrace Different Values From Ones We've Had, Like Humility, Discipline, Teamwork.

Good Checklists, On The Other Hand Are Precise. They Are Efficient, To The Point, And Easy To Use Even In The Most Difficult Situations. They Do Not Try To Spell Out Everything--a Checklist Cannot Fly A Plane. Instead, They Provide Reminders Of Only The Most Critical And Important Steps--the Ones That Even The Highly Skilled Professional Using Them Could Miss. Good Checklists Are, Above All, Practical.

People Who Reach Certain Levels Of Frailty, More Important Than Getting Their Mammogram, More Important Than Getting Their Blood Pressure Tweaked, They're At High Risk Of Falling. If They Fall And Break Their Hip, They Not Only Die Sooner, They Die Miserably.

I Talked To Over Two Hundred Patients And Family Members About Their Experiences With Aging, Serious Illnesses, And The Big Unfixables. But I Also Spoke With Scores Of Physicians, And Especially Geriatricians, Palliative Care Doctors, Hospice Nurses, And Nursing Home Workers. The Biggest Thing I Found Was That When These Clinicians Were At Their Best, They Were Recognizing That People Had Priorities Besides Merely Living Longer. The Most Important And Reliable Way That We Can Understand What People's Priorities Are, Besides Just Living Longer, Is To Simply Ask. And We Don't Ask.

And In Stories, Endings Matter.