This Viewpoint summarizes rules in health care organizations that their own leaders identified as ones that contribute little or no value to care, impede the work of clinicians, frustrate patients and families, and waste time and resources. Administrative burdens and complexity are alleged to be among the most costly forms of waste in US health care, at levels far exceeding those in other nations. Further, such requirements are said to detract from the care experience of patients and to drain time and morale from physicians and other staff, for whom they disturb value-added interactions. This Viewpoint describes an effort undertaken in a network of North American hospitals and clinics to explore the types and magnitudes of such waste at the front lines of care.

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