Researchers deploy new framework for eliminating defects in health care value A new paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine Catalyst states that the U.S. health care system spends in excess of $1.3 trillion annually on sub-optimal behavior and outlines a roadmap for reducing costs by eliminating defects in health care value. The paper, entitled Making a Dent in the Trillion-Dollar Problem: Toward Zero Defects, can be found here: https:/ / 1064. A lead author, Peter Pronovost, MD, PhD, Chief Quality and Clinical Transformation Officer at University Hospitals and Clinical Professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, developed the concept of "defects in value." He and co-first author John W. Urwin, MD, of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, and the Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy, University of Pennsylvania, wrote their model "offers a hopeful path forward for improving value in health care."