"I will guarantee to make the hand a 100 percent perfect hand," the doctor said to his patient, who suffered a serious burn from an electric wire. The year was 1929, the place was New Hampshire, and soon everyone would be in court.
Nine years after a burn that badly scarred his right hand, Mr. Hawkins was approached by Dr. McGee about a skin graft. Promising he would make the hand as good as new, McGee took some skin from Hawkins' chest and sewed him up a new hand.
That's when things got hairy.
When the bandages came off, Mr. Hawkins started growing thick hair on his palm. And no, it wasn't because of anything his grandma warned him against. More likely is that the hair follicles from his chest took root and sprouted in their new adoptive homeland. So Mr. Hawkins did what all red-blooded Americans do when they have a problem. He sued. And won.
So began the infamy of Hawkins v. McGee, a case that has entertained generations of law students. The case stands for various legal propositions we won't bore you with here - our apologies, Professor Snyder - but also for one common-sense idea: if you're a doctor, never, ever guarantee outcomes. Medicine is just too unpredictable to promise more than best efforts.
Oddly enough, some doctors today are ditching conventional wisdom, ignoring the plight of the good Dr. McGee and actually offering warranties on their surgeries. And even more curious: It's working. Naturally we had to investigate.
Geisinger Health System, a hospital group in Pennsylvania, offers a 90-day warranty on heart surgery, and possibly other procedures as well. The group is so confident it can get the job done right the first time that it's actually willing to eat the cost of any complications or hospital visits for three months after an operation.
This is a hairy-handed slap in the face to the status quo, which practically incentivizes mediocrity. When patients have to pay for follow-up treatment, where's the motivation to get it exactly right the first time? As long as it doesn't dip into the realm of malpractice, why be excellent when you can earn more by merely being competent?
Geisinger's gamble makes financial sense only if far more often than not, patients don't suffer complications. There are two ways to reduce this risk: treat only patients with a lower likelihood of complication and - gasp - perform safer surgery. Geisinger chooses the latter. Its approach to medical procedures could revolutionize medicine.
In complex, stressful situations where life is on the line, the human brain can process and remember only so many details without forgetting something. That's why pilots have preflight checklists with dozens of items to check each time they fly. And now, so do doctors. Geisinger's doctors use checklists that contain 40 action items, and readmissions have fallen 44 percent. The warranty program is making people healthier for less money. It would make Doctor McGee grin, accidental trailblazer that he was.
Geisinger's success is premised on discovering - and actually using - best practices. What works for Geisinger should be replicated far and wide.
Even though it took the better part of a century to figure out that Dr. McGee may have been on to something, it shouldn't take you that long to realize the benefits of top-notch, effective habits for all areas of life. In government, in business and in personal interactions, we say to you, future leaders of the United States - let's be the best we can.
Incidentally, this goes for schoolwork, too. Study right the first time and have no fear of retaking a class or being ashamed of your work. And who knows, you may just walk out of AU with "a 100 percent good hand" ... or grades, whichever.
Dr. McGee would be so proud.
Ben Moss and Brittany Meyer are students in the Washington College of Law and columnists for The Eagle. You can reach them at edpage@theeagleonline.com.
