The Affordable Care Act also offered protections that allow for preexisting conditions, as people know, that you're provided coverage and you can maintain steady coverage. And that's an important part of being able to stay in care and do better over the long run.

The definition of what it means to be dying has changed radically. We are able to extend people's lives considerably, including sometimes, good days.

What is the alternative to understanding the complexity of the world?

Just look at the list of who the lowest-paid people are. Pediatricians are at the bottom. You would also look at internists. You would look at psychiatrists. You would look at family physicians, HIV specialists. People who take care of chronic illnesses by seeing people carefully over time, those are the people who get the least money. The people who have the most are people like orthopedic surgeons, interventional cardiologists. And my point isn't that there is something wrong with heroism.

Coaching done well may be the most effective intervention designed for human performance.

No one teaches you how to think about money in medical school or residency. Yet, from the moment you start practicing, you must think about it. You must consider what is covered for a patient and what is not.

You know, 97 percent of the time, if you come into a hospital, everything goes well. But three percent of the time, we have major complications.