2010 IHI National Forum Highlights

Several CRHC staff had the opportunity to attend the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s (IHI) National Forum in early December in Orlando. Each year, the Forum provides its almost 6,000 attendees with seminars and workshops on topics related to improving patient care and health care performance. Here are some of the highlights CRHC staff took away from this year’s conference:

• Patient experience needs to be central in all redesign and improvement efforts, and needs to become the focus of patient centered medical care, not just clinical outcomes for patients.
• Coordination of care between clinics and hospitals is going to take on new emphasis as EHRs are implemented.
• The informed, activated patient is integral to every initiative and process from transforming care to transitioning out of the hospital.
• Understanding the connectivity and interdependency between each healthcare facility, system, and department is essential to establishing effective processes and improvements. We are each a piece of a larger puzzle and cannot operate in silos.