Promising Care: How We Can Rescue Health Care by Improving It
Donald M. Berwick has been an internationally acclaimed champion of health care improvement throughout the course of his long and storied career as a physician, health care educator and policy expert, leader of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), and administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.Promising Careoffers a stellar collection of Berwick's landmark speeches delivered at IHI's annual National Forum on Quality Improvement in Health Care from 2003 to 2012, and additional selected speeches, that clearly show why our medical systems don't reliably contribute to our overall health. As a remedy he offers a vision for making our systems better—safer, more effective, more efficient, and more humane.Each of Berwick's compelling speeches is preceded by a brief commentary from a prominent figure in health care, policy, or politics who has a unique connection to that particular speech. Contributors include such notables as Paul Batalden, James Reason, and Lord Nigel Crisp. Their commentaries reflect on how it felt to hear the speech in the context in which it was delivered, and assess its relevance in today's health care environment.