Encourage your employees to speak up and to bring up any issues that are interfering with their ability to carry out their tasks.

But for those patients who do worry about the prospect of going in for elbow surgery and coming out with a titanium hip, the final line of defense may be the most powerful: speak up.

"I've always been interested in turning the process inside out, exposing the plumbing so to speak, not covering up the walls," he says.