Is the below story an opportunity for a design change in healthcare? Notice the attachment to the symbolism of the doctor white coat, it won’t be so easy to get rid of or change (tradition and old habits die hard, never underestimate social factors):

The AMA To Consider Whether Hospitals Should Adopt “Bare Below The Elbows” Dress Code.   In the Wall Street Journal Health Blog, Laura Yao wrote, “One of the policy questions that AMA delegates will consider at their annual conference next week is whether doctors should forgo their iconic white coats for something a little more casual — and a little less dangerous for patients.” Under the proposal, hospitals would be urged “to adopt dress codes of ‘bare below the elbows,’ to avoid carrying bacteria between patients via coat sleeves.” Although “there has been no conclusive evidence linking infected cuffs” to the number of patient deaths “from infections contracted in hospitals,” supporters “argue that as long as there’s the slightest potential of transmission, everything possible should be done to avoid it.” Still, some physicians “prefer the professionalism the white coat implies.”

This debate on doctor’s white coats reminds me of the research from a few years ago showing that doctors ties can harbor lots of bacteria. Considering the evidence is not conclusive on the design of doctors white coats, I am wondering if getting rid of the sleeves might actually make matters worse because then patients and doctors would be exposed directly to more of the human skin which harbors tens of thousands of bacteria (see link for a great NPR report on this).