There are often misconceptions as people talk about "transparency" in the
health-care field. They say the main societal value is to provide
information so patients can make decisions about which hospital to visit
for a given diagnosis or treatment. As for hospitals, people believe the
main strategic value of transparency is to create a competitive advantage
vis-à-vis other hospitals in the same city or region. Both these
impressions are misguided.

Transparency's major societal and strategic imperative is to provide
creative tension within hospitals so that they hold themselves
accountable. This accountability is what will drive doctors, nurses, and
administrators to seek constant improvements in the quality and safety of
patient care.

Paul F. Levy '72 has been President and CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess
Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts since 2002. Previously, he served
as Executive Dean of Administration at Harvard Medical School, Executive
Director of the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA),
Commissioner and Chairman of the Massachusetts Department of Public
Utilities, and Director of the Arkansas Department of Energy. At the MWRA,
he had primary responsibility for the “Boston Harbor Cleanup,” one of the
largest pollution control projects in the world.

Mr. Levy has been a visiting lecturer and adjunct professor at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a consultant in the
energy, water, and telecommunications industries

Mr. Levy is the author of numerous articles in a variety of fields and
co-author of Negotiating Environmental Agreements (Island Press, 1999).
He is author of a blog entitled “Running a Hospital,” and in that regard
is one of very few hospital CEOs to share thoughts publicly about
hospitals, medicine, and health care issues.

Mr Levy is a member of the MIT Corporation, and serves also on the boards
of ISO-New England, the Risk Management Foundation, and the Celebrity
Series of Boston.

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