2003-2011 - Our History 2003-2011

  • Dr. Atul Gawande forms research group to develop tools that improve the delivery of care for patients. By 2007 he is joined by Dr. Bill Berry.
  • Gawande and Berry lead the global effort to create the Surgical Safety Checklist as part of the World Health Organization’s Safe Surgery Saves Lives campaign.
  • Inspired by the Surgical Safety Checklist, WHO convenes global maternal health and patient safety experts led by Gawande to develop the Safe Childbirth Checklist.
  • Pilot study of the Surgical Safety Checklist in 8 hospitals around the world demonstrates a 47% decrease in deaths and a 36% reduction in complications.
  • Idea that a simple tool like a checklist can save lives in medicine goes mainstream after the TV show ER features the Surgical Safety Checklist and Gawande’s Checklist Manifesto becomes a New York Times bestseller.
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention consults with Gawande and his research team to create the H1N1 Checklist.
  • The South Carolina Hospital Association signs on to implement the Safe Surgery Program statewide.
  • The Safe Childbirth Checklist field tested in 17 sites in India, Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana, Nigeria, Mali, Pakistan, Egypt, and China.
  • Dr. Susan Block leads a team of palliative care experts to develop and pilot a conversation-based intervention that improves care for patients with serious illness.
  • Gawande founds Lifebox to spread the Surgical Safety Checklist, and make surgery and anaesthesia safer on a global scale.