Further Flattening of the arth

Several months ago, I read Tom Friedman's, "The World Is Flat", a book discussing and debating globalization and the development of "third world" countries. Every day, we see more flattening of the earth with outsourcing of American jobs to other countries, telephone services ran by nations on the other side of the world, etc.

Another "flattening" is through travel. Nowadays, our society is more mobil than ever. I can, after all, be on a plane and at my dentist(a mere 1000 miles away) in under three hours.

Just now, sitting in Orlando, FL, I saw a TV commerciall advertising the Cleveland Clinic. At first, I thought it was kinda odd to advertise a hospital which is four states away. Then, I remembered that the world is flat...and if you're ever going to jump on a plane for a doctor, you're probably going to be sure that doc is one of the best. The Cleveland Clinic is. Along with Johns Hopkins, UCLA, Yale, Vanderbilt, Barnes and Mayo, Cleveland Clinic is one of the best medical institutions in America.

Smart thinking, smart advertising and smart medical care-Cleveland Clinic has broken some new ground and helped flatten the world a bit further. In our world of constantly changing health care practices and the good, the bad and the ugly of patient care, it is smart moves like this which will help certain hospitals get better reputations than others.