Berwickians Unite!

Don Berwick, by publishing a recent article in JAMA about eliminating waste in the US health care system, has opened up a path for the rest of us to follow.  Health care providers around the country should be repeating the "6 categories of waste" defined by Berwick as a mantra.   We should be echoing these ideas to each other, to our patients, and to our communities.  We really have to get this right if there is to be any reasonable future for health care in the US.   There is no time (or health care dollars) to waste.   Wise spending of our health care resources not only ensures the future of medicine, but also helps make available funds for other social priorities as well.   Our current path is unsustainable, and Berwick has shown us a way to move forward.