E! News Anchor Giuliana Rancic in Concord

E! News anchor, fashion expert and breast cancer survivor
Giuliana Rancic will speak Sept. 15 in Concord at "Women's Symposium: Empowering Women to Better Health."

Rancic, at right, had a double mastectomy in late 2011. She is co-star of E!'s popular "Fashion Police" team and has been on the red carpet interviewing celebrities at the Oscars, Grammy Awards and Golden Globe events. She is the author of two books, "I Do, Now What?" and "Think Like a Guy: How to Get a Guy By Thinking Like One."

The daylong event, sponsored by Carolinas HealthCare System, will also feature physician-led sessions on various health conditions, interactive exhibits, demonstrations, a fashion show, and Zumba class.


It will be held at the Embassy Suites, 5400 John Q. Hammonds Dr. NW from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Registration is $35 at the door, $20 in advance. Lunch and refreshments included. See www.carolinashealthcare.org/womens.

What doctors can learn from Cheesecake Factory

Surgeon and writer Dr. Atul Guwande has a new piece in the Aug. 13 edition of the New Yorker about how to improve medical care by taking hints from managers of Cheesecake Factory, the national restaurant chain.

On an interview with NPR today, I heard him describe his mother's knee replacement surgery and how they chose her surgeon because of his "factory-like" approach -- standardizing the surgical techniques and equipment so that outcomes could be more predictable.

It makes a lot of sense, as Guwande always does.

Here's a link to his article, "Big Med," with the subtitle: "Restaurant chains have managed to combine quality control, cost control, and innovation. Can health care?"