Donald Berwick - Biography

Biography

Berwick graduated from Nathan Hale-Ray High School in Moodus, Connecticut. Berwick graduated with a B.A. from Harvard College, and received an M.P.P. from John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and an M.D. from Harvard Medical School. He completed his medical residency in pediatrics at Children's Hospital Boston.

Berwick began his career as a pediatrician at Harvard Community Health Plan; in 1983 he became the plan's first Vice President of Quality-of-Care Measurement. In that position, Berwick investigated quality control measures in other industries such as aeronautics and manufacturing and considered their application in health care settings. From 1987-1991, Berwick was co-founder and Co-Principal Investigator for the National Demonstration Project on Quality Improvement in Health Care, designed to explore opportunities for quality improvement in health care. Based on this work, Berwick left Harvard Community Health Plan in 1989 and co-founded the IHI (Institute for Healthcare Improvement).

Berwick is Clinical Professor of Pediatrics and Health Care Policy in the Department of Pediatrics at the Harvard Medical School and Professor of Health Policy and Management at the Harvard School of Public Health. He is also a pediatrician, Adjunct Staff in the Department of Medicine at Children's Hospital Boston, and a Consultant in Pediatrics at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the IHI works to accelerate improvement by building the will for change, cultivating promising concepts for improving patient care, and helping health care systems put those ideas into action. Employing a staff of approximately 100 people and maintaining partnerships with hundreds of faculty members, IHI offers programs that aim to improve the lives of patients, the health of communities, and the satisfaction of the health care workforce. The IHI's work is funded primarily through fee-based programs and services, and also through the support of foundations, companies, and individuals. IHI provides program scholarships, research and development, professional education, and initiatives in developing countries.

IHI's vision for health care is an adaptation from the Institute of Medicine's six improvement aims for the health care system: care that is safe, effective, patient-centered, timely, efficient, and equitable:

• No Needless Deaths
• No Needless Pain or Suffering
• No Helplessness in Those Served or Serving
• No Unwanted Waiting
• No Waste
• No One Left Out

Berwick has published over 129 articles in professional journals on health care policy, decision analysis, technology assessment, and health care quality management. He is the co-author of several books, including Cholesterol, Children, and Heart Disease: an Analysis of Alternatives (1980), Curing Health Care (1990), and New Rules: Regulation, Markets and the Quality of American Health Care (1996).