Berwick collects a decade's worth of opening speeches delivered at the National Forum on Quality Improvement in Health Care, an annual event of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, of which he is cofounder and president. He uses a range of metaphors to address questions of innovation, quality of care, and organizational structure and change (the title refers to a firefighter's burning a small patch of ground in order to escape a larger approaching fire). Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR More Reviews and Recommendations

Donald M. Berwick, MD, MPP, is president, CEO, and cofounder of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement in Boston, Massachusetts. Dr. Berwick is a clinical professor of pediatrics and health care policy at the Harvard Medical School, and a pediatrician. An associate in pediatrics at Boston’s Children’s Hospital, he is also a consultant in pediatrics at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Berwick is the coauthor of the books, Curing Health Care and New Rules, also available from Jossey-Bass.

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