Perspective
by Eric J. Thomas, MD, MPH; Jan Patterson, MD, MS; Sherry Martin, MEd; Doris Quinn, PhD; Gary Reed, MD; Ken Shine, MD
Health care in the United States is undergoing profound changes due to societal demands to improve the quality of care and simultaneously reduce costs. Hospitals and office practices are responding by using quality improvement (QI) tools developed in other industries and successfully applied in health care. As noted by leading experts, "The application of improvement tools is not only essential to modernizing care delivery but also the key to preserving the values to which our current system aspires."(1)
Unfortunately, most front-line caregivers complete their professional training with almost no exposure to even rudimentary QI concepts or methods.(2-5) To address this need, a few programs have been developed for practicing physicians and other caregivers to teach them how to improve quality (Table). These programs are targeted at professionals who have finished training, are not degree granting, and focus on relatively quick acquisition of practical skills and concepts. The model for many of these courses is the Advanced Training Program led by Brent James at Intermountain Healthcare.(10,13)
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center began such a course in 2005 (The Clinical Safety and Effectiveness Course [CS&E]), and its success led us to implement courses in four of the six health campuses in the University of Texas system. This perspective provides an overview of our experience, and we compare and contrast our program with others in order to inform efforts by other universities and health care systems that want to address this urgent need.
full-text:
AHRQ WebM&M: Perspectives on Safety
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario