Value by Design: Developing Clinical Microsystems to Achieve Organizational Excellence, Second Edition

PREFACE

IMPROVEMENT AT THE FRONT LINE OF CARE

• Discussion of health care reform has grown ubiquitous in our nation's and states' capitals, in our newspapers, on our television, on the Internet, at the office water cooler, and, of course, within our homes. There is good reason for such discussion and for the deep concerns that prompt it: whether we are employers, politicians, payers, patients, families, or health care professionals, we are also participants in a health care system that too often fails to deliver the quality, safety, and value of care we individually and collectively require. But although government policies, community resources, and payer pressures will increasingly shape a health care environment that is more conducive to quality ...