I. Description of Project The project for this week or course was to: "Identify one of the waste "wedges" or categories identified in the JAMA article by Berwick and Hackbarth and explore the opportunities where managerial epidemiology principles applied in accountable care models of care can reduce waste". The reason for the project is to explore the reasons why, and possible changes that can take place to lower the costs of healthcare. Healthcare in the United States is at an astounding 18% of GDP and is definitely demanding a change to lower the costs of healthcare. Not only does the United States pay more for healthcare than other leading countries, it sees less quality of care. As per the article by JAMA, the minimum believed to be spent on wasteful spending is $558 billion per year, and a midpoint of $910 billion per year. Eliminating that alone is enough to make a change in our healthcare system. In order to elaborate on the topic, this project identifies one of the waste wedges I decided to write about, tells why I chose the particular one that I did, what exactly the wedge is and how it produces waste while affecting healthcare, and then finally what we can do to lessen the waste, as well as a proposition to eliminate waste in said category while looking at a proposal to better the organization and population.
II. Selection of Topic For this project I chose Failures of Care Delivery as my waste wedge to explore. A. What is Failures of Care Delivery
Failures of Care Delivery as defined in the JAMA article is:" the waste that comes with poor execution or lack of widespread adoption of known best care processes, including, for example, patient safety systems and preventative care practices that have been shown to be effective. The results are patient injuries and worse clinical outcomes. Better care can save money. We estimate that this category