(ASQ: Milwaukee) -- While Congress debates the best options for reform, a new poll of U.S. health care quality improvement experts shows that solving payment problems and restructuring the malpractice suits/tort reform top the list of areas that would help to eliminate waste. Recent studies estimate U.S. health care system waste at $600–$800 billion annually.

The online poll was conducted with 120 health care quality professionals who are members of The American Society for Quality (ASQ). These quality experts work in a diverse range of health care organizations from hospitals to public health departments. While quality improvement methods have proven successful in manufacturing environments, these management methods have recently been applied in health care, as well. For example, lean is a tool which emphasizes removal of waste from health care organizations and processes and focuses on delivering more value to patients.

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