A familiar face to the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, Dr. Kenneth Kizer, center in left photo, president and CEO of The National Quality Forum, testifies at a joint hearing on the subject of medical errors. Dr. Kizer is a former VA Under Secretary of Health. Listening to him are, Dr. Donald M. Berwick, left, president and CEO of the Institute of Healthcare Improvement, and Mr. Randall Bovbjerg, Principal Research Associate of The Urban Institute. Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL), at left in above photo, chairman of the Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Health, questions one of the witnesses. At right is Rep. Michael Bilirakis (R-FL) chairman of the Commerce Subcommittee on Health and Environment and a senior member of the Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Health.

Dr. Thomas Garthwaite, at left, VA Deputy Undersecretary of Health, listens to the testimony of Dr. James Bagian, Director of the National Center for Patient Safety. They were joined on the panel by Dr. Audrey Nelson (partially hidden), RN, Director of Patient Safety Center of Inquiry, James A. Haley VA Hospital in Tampa, FL; Dr. Janet Heinrich, Associate Director, Health Financing and Public Health Issues, General Accounting Office; and Diane Cousins, Vice President, Practitioner and Product Experience Division, U.S.Pharmacopeia. Above, Rep. Ciro Rodriguez (D-TX) makes a point to one of the panels.