In the late 1990s, treatment-related deaths or “complications” were the fifth leading cause of death for Americans. Spurred by the crisis, a group of dedicated physicians like Paul Batalden and Don Berwick made it their goal to study the concepts of “quality improvement” used at Toyota and NASA, and to apply them to the practice of medicine. This book tells their story, and how these “heretical” ideas have blossomed into a movement, bringing the focus back to where it should have always been: the patient.

Charles Kenney is the author of five works of nonfiction. A former Boston Globe journalist, he has served as a consultant to Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts on the company's quality and safety initiative.