We wrote the other day about a gathering in DC of 10 communities that had improved the quality of local health care while controlling costs. Here are a few quick links to what others had to say:

Julie Rovner at NPR  included some great material about how quality and efficient care also makes demoralized doctors rediscover the joy of caring for patients. (It's not in the abbreviated online print version, listen to the story audio).

John Lumpkin at RWJF's Users' Guide to the Health Reform Galaxy wrote about what doctors see when they take a data-driven look at what they do:

Yesterday, the chief medical officer of a multispecialty group practice in Cedar Rapids told how doctors there were startled to discover that they had ordered a whopping 52,000 CT scans in one year in an area with a population of 300,000.  They decided collectively to institute protocols to quit ordering unnecessary scans.

Phil Galewitz at KHN picked up on themes similar to those I touched on -- 

In most of the communities, hospitals work closely with doctors. In addition, most of the health systems use electronic medical records to track patients and improve care, and encourage a culture of restraining spending, involving physicians in changing health care delivery systems and collaborating with competitors to help patients. All the communities were dominated by nonprofit health systems.