ABQAURP News
May / June 2010
As I sit to pen this article on April Fools’ Day, I realize that anything can happen. I hope that the news that President Obama will nominate Dr. Donald Berwick to lead the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a position that requires Senate confirmation, does not turn out to be a joke.
Dr. Berwick currently guides IHI (Institute for Healthcare Improvement), a non-profit organization founded in 1991 “… to improve the lives of patients, the health of communities, and the joy of the health care workforce by focusing on an ambitious set of goals adapted from the Institute of Medicine’s six improvement aims for the health care system” (http://www.ihi.org/ihi/about). What could it mean for those of us involved in the patient safety and quality movement if an individual so deeply committed to these issues, a creative thinker and scholar, and leader devoted to the rights of patients, the outcomes that a health care system owes them, and the realities of practice for the providers, were appointed to this position?
Would we see more resources dedicated to safety and quality initiatives on a local as well as a national and international scale? Would those resources be deployed more wisely? Would it be easier to get buy-in to change initiatives that align with safety agendas? Would stakeholders work together more readily as goals and agendas clarify and research improves? Would patient care and practitioner lives improve coincident with fiscal responsibility?
I hope that Dr. Berwick is both nominated and confirmed. Even if he isn’t, the public consideration of someone like him encourages me to believe that we are beginning to move in the right direction.
The intent of this column is to create dialogue, with the thought that our collective wisdom is greater than any individual contribution. We will use this column as a forum to search for questions and answers, from established experts and from ourselves. Readers are encouraged to send thoughts, problems, and resources to us; those contributions will form the backbone of future work. With luck and hard work, perhaps we can facilitate the development of a health care system that is patient-centered, safe, effective, timely, efficient, and equitable, as suggested by the IOM in Crossing the Quality Chasm. Or perhaps, we’ll come up with something else entirely…
** Please Note: Announced via White House Press Release on April 19, 2010, Dr. Donald Berwick has been nominated as Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Department of Health and Human Services (CMS). Senate confirmation is pending.
Please send inquiries and comments to rwillog@abqaurp.org, please use Quality Column in the subject line.
We look forward to your participation in this new column.
Health Care Quality & Patient Safety Conference
Value, Quality, Safety, and Integrity: The Essential Elements of Accountability
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Disney’s Yacht & Beach Club Resorts
Lake Buena Vista, FL
7:45am – 5:45pm
In 2010, America is facing a challenge. How can we improve care for all patients at a reasonable cost? Will aligning payment and measurement incentives improve patient safety and quality? What are the elements that are needed to ensure compliance, efficiency, and accountability in health care? What are the practical steps that payers, providers, and purchasers need to take now?
At the conclusion of the conference, attendees will:
- Understand how evidence-based principles are essential to the management of chronic pain treatment throughout the health care continuum.
- Evaluate the impact of program integrity on procedures, technologies, and pharmaceuticals.
- Appraise how accountable care organizations and global payment systems may support improved coordination and management of patient care.
- Identify the challenges of computerized physician order entry (CPOE) systems.
- Discuss how organizations have utilized coordination of care to promote health system change.
- Recognize the value of interoperability in connecting health care across providers.
- Describe how Unique Device Identification (UDI) initiatives support patient safety outcomes.
- Explain to your health care system how compliance initiatives support patient safety and quality of care.
- Define Meaningful Use (MU) in electronic health information systems and how it can improve patient health care behaviors.
|
We are now accepting applications for the 2010 International Health Care Quality and Management (HCQM) Board Examination Window. Testing will be from September 15 to November 15, 2010.
ABQAURP is the only Health Care Quality and Management (HCQM) organization with an examination developed, administered, and evaluated through the National Board of Medical Examiners’ (NBME) testing expertise. ABQAURP and the NBME collaborate on the planning, development, analysis, and scoring of the certification examination. The NBME’s involvement in the certification process reflects ABQAURP’s dedication to establishing Health Care Quality and Management as a specialty with definable standards upheld by knowledgeable experts.
Professionals who have achieved certification in Health Care Quality and Management (HCQM) are deeply committed to patient safety, health care quality, and effective care. Those certified in HCQM have demonstrated superior skills in their ability to critically evaluate the literature, identify evidence-based best practices, and make a recommendation that balances appropriateness of services with cost and quality. HCQM certification addresses the need for effectiveness, efficiency, equity, safety, and timeliness.
Please apply early to ensure your testing date and location will be available.
Visit the website at www.abqaurp.org and choose Certification for more information.
ABQAURP
welcomes applications for joint sponsorship of educational activities
for continuing education credit. ABQAURP accredits a variety of
activities, including:
| • Live Activity | • Internet Activity Live |
| • Enduring Material | • Internet Activity Enduring Material |
| • Journal-based CME | • Performance Improvement |
ABQAURP
is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical
Education (ACCME) to sponsor continuing medical education for
physicians and is also accredited by the Florida Board of Nursing to
sponsor nursing contact hours. As an accredited provider, ABQAURP is
here to work with each joint sponsor organization to ensure the
accreditation process runs as smoothly as possible. Benefits of working
with ABQAURP include: one-on-one assistance, on-site assistance,
contact for speakers and commercial supporters, evaluation compilation,
one-time mailing list to drive attendance, website placement, and
advertising in Patient Safety & Quality Healthcare magazine.
ABQAURP
believes that ongoing continuing education in new research, identified
problem areas in clinical practice, and areas of interest in the
quality assurance, utilization review, risk management, and managed
care fields is a worthy endeavor to pursue. Participants improve the
efficiency, effectiveness, and quality of health care delivered to the
patients to improve the overall clinical outcome. Plus, each activity
encourages participants to put into practice knowledge learned and
assess the impact. Innovative courses provide important updates and
practical tools for all health care professionals. These activities
ensure that participating health care professionals receive up-to-date
information on the ever-changing health care environment.
|
ABQAURP |
|